Wal-Mart Wants to be Your Stock Broker
May 27th, 2007While Goldman Sachs creates a private stock exchange for clients with assets in excess of $100 million, Joe and Jane Six Pack are going to make informed investment decisions after buying grape soda and tater tots…
Sounds about right.
Via: CNN:
A small item in The Wall Street Journal caught my eye recently about a new tie-up between mega-retailer Wal-Mart (WMT) and a discount brokerage company in Washington state called ShareBuilder Corp. The Journal reports that Wal-Mart recently has begun including ShareBuilder’s services on its Web site and plans to begin testing discount brokerage in its stores. This after the Beast of Bentonville recently backed away from its bid for a charter to run an industrial bank.
No one has paid much attention to this fascinating little report, but they should. Wal-Mart opponents will cite this as an example that Wal-Mart wants to sell everything. Already Wal-Mart offers other financial services, including money orders, bill payment and check-cashing services, according to the Journal. The better question is whether or not Wal-Mart has any business in the financial services business and whether its customers want to attend to their portfolio while they’re shopping for groceries.
Related: Wal-Mart to Open 400 In-Store “Health†Clinics
Research Credit: Life After the Oil Crash
Some Soft Drinks Cause Cell Damage
May 27th, 2007Remember DCA as a possible cancer therapy? That targeted functioning of the mitochondria:
Scientists and doctors have used DCA for decades to treat children with inborn errors of metabolism due to mitochondrial diseases. Mitochondria, the energy producing units in cells, have been connected with cancer since the 1930s, when researchers first noticed that these organelles dysfunction when cancer is present.
Until recently, researchers believed that cancer-affected mitochondria are permanently damaged and that this damage is the result, not the cause, of the cancer. But Michelakis, a cardiologist, questioned this belief and began testing DCA, which activates a critical mitochondrial enzyme, as a way to “revive” cancer-affected mitochondria.
Now, look what we find out about soft drinks! Guess which organelles they damage: That’s right, mitochondria.
Look at the prevalence of soft drinks on the one hand, and the level of obscurity of the DCA research on the other.
Does Cryptogon need a Kill Off category?
Via: Independent:
A new health scare erupted over soft drinks last night amid evidence they may cause serious cell damage. Research from a British university suggests a common preservative found in drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi Max has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA.
The problem – more usually associated with ageing and alcohol abuse – can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s.
The findings could have serious consequences for the hundreds of millions of people worldwide who consume fizzy drinks. They will also intensify the controversy about food additives, which have been linked to hyperactivity in children.
Concerns centre on the safety of E211, known as sodium benzoate, a preservative used for decades by the £74bn global carbonated drinks industry. Sodium benzoate derives from benzoic acid. It occurs naturally in berries, but is used in large quantities to prevent mould in soft drinks such as Sprite, Oasis and Dr Pepper. It is also added to pickles and sauces.
Sodium benzoate has already been the subject of concern about cancer because when mixed with the additive vitamin C in soft drinks, it causes benzene, a carcinogenic substance. A Food Standards Agency survey of benzene in drinks last year found high levels in four brands which were removed from sale.
Now, an expert in ageing at Sheffield University, who has been working on sodium benzoate since publishing a research paper in 1999, has decided to speak out about another danger. Professor Peter Piper, a professor of molecular biology and biotechnology, tested the impact of sodium benzoate on living yeast cells in his laboratory. What he found alarmed him: the benzoate was damaging an important area of DNA in the “power station” of cells known as the mitochondria.
He told The Independent on Sunday: “These chemicals have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it: they knock it out altogether.
“The mitochondria consumes the oxygen to give you energy and if you damage it – as happens in a number if diseased states – then the cell starts to malfunction very seriously. And there is a whole array of diseases that are now being tied to damage to this DNA – Parkinson’s and quite a lot of neuro-degenerative diseases, but above all the whole process of ageing.”
The Zombie Consumer, Uncomfortable Chuckles and Don’t-Go-There Memes
May 27th, 2007I’ve been writing about the zombie consumer death urge on Cryptogon recently. I don’t know how I came up with that. I was just trying to think about a simple way of summing up the general mentality out there. It’s not a very profound or original concept. The more interesting question for me is: Why now? Why did that meme suddenly stick in my consciousness?
Now, look at this: Brain-Eating Zombies Invade SF Apple Store:
A horde of decaying zombies invaded San Francisco’s downtown Apple store on Friday evening, hunting for brains, terrifying the customers, and gnawing on iMacs.
Zombie gnaws on iMac but prefers human brains (Photo: Declan McCullagh)I’ve placed some photos here. I’m pleased to report that the zombies ultimately decided human brains were tastier than plastic iMacs, although it wasn’t for lack of effort in trying to vary what must be a monotonous diet.
It was difficult to judge the exact number of zombies that shuffled through the city’s shopping district, losing limbs, blood, and unmentionable body parts along the way, but probably at least 150 converged on Union Square. Then they decided to visit nearby businesses, including the Apple store, Nordstrom, the Disney store, and the Westfield Mall.
The event was titled “SF Zombie Mob 2007,” and it was organized by the gruesome-minded folks at eatbrains.com. It’s akin to a flash mob, though because the participants trek around the city after gathering, the Zombie Mob was closer in concept to the Critical Mass bicycle ride, which coincidentally was happening at the same time along the same street. In truth, it was a pretty polite affair: only passers-by who volunteered to become zombie-fied were, and no arrests took place.
I understand that it’s all just a practical joke, and, yes, San Francisco is big bowl of fruit and nuts, etc.
Fine. (Forget, for a moment, about the weirdness surrounding the flashmob mentality, and the pathological urban loneliness/meaninglessness that is making this nonsense increasingly popular. That’s an entirely different can of worms.)
I guess, what I’m wondering is: Did I chose that meme, or did that meme chose me?
No tinfoil or anything, and excuse me if this sounds lame to you, but I find it somehow disturbing that I’ve written about zombie consumers recently, and revealed the mantra I use to avoid zombie doctrine… All, you know, with a bit of hyperbole…
But then I sit down to check the news and I see a girl in a bloody zombie costume, about to take a bite out of an iMac in an Apple store.
I chuckled. Uncomfortably. The way I do when I force myself to listen to actual audio of George Bush trying to speak, or when I read about fundamentalist Christians at science fairs, or the whole Hillary 2008 thing.
I looked at the pictures of this zombie stunt, and, given my position on the zombie mentality, I actually had to wonder how I would have reacted if I had been in San Francisco and seen this thing for myself. Would I have panicked? Would I have been able to force an uncomfortable chuckle after a few seconds?
There are several topics that I acknowledge as having a strong diabolical nature about them. I am, in fact, not willing to subject my consciousness to a deeper understanding of them, or more importantly, who or what is actually behind them. I already wish I could forget about what I know about mind control, elite deviance and research into autonomous robotic weapon systems. I’ve started to research things like alternate reality games (World of Warcraft and Second Life, in particular) and intelligence connections to “adult entertainment.” After cursory glances, I simply looked away. That shit falls into the I don’t want to know anymore category.
The zombie consumer thing is another one of these topics. It’s like an ominous, pulsing blackness. What damage can result simply from trying to look at it? Mythology teaches us about the dangers of even gazing upon certain things. I don’t know why, but this feels like one of those things.
I can calmly look at state narcotics trafficking, big brother, false flag terror, mass kill off/population reduction policies, etc… All of that stuff makes logical sense in the study of fascism. However, looking at a mainstream news site and seeing my absurd, allegorical nightmare scenario being acted out in flesh and, uh, fake blood…
I want to believe in coincidences.
Judicial Watch Uncovers Three Deaths Relating to HPV Vaccine
May 26th, 2007UPDATE: Read the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) Reports
That document is 1,637 pages long.
This is the most ominous thing that I have seen in recent memory. Profit motivation isn’t a sufficient explanation. They are targeting young women at or approaching reproductive maturity.
WHAT IS BEING DONE TO THESE GIRLS!?
WHAT ARE THE LONG TERM IMPLICATIONS OF THIS?
The range of terrifying reactions experienced by the victims is astonishing, everything from extended pain and discomfort, to passing out on the spot after receiving the shot (falling off the exam table), but for the really chilling stuff, use your PDF viewer to search for the phrase LIFE THREATENING, or GUILLAIN.
— End Update —
Watch Merck’s PR machinery and trolls kick into high gear in an attempt to manage this catastrophic news about their latest miracle drug/poison.
Via: Judicial Watch:
Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released documents obtained from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, detailing 1,637 reports of adverse reactions to the vaccination for human papillomavirus (HPV), Gardasil. Three deaths were related to the vaccine. One physician’s assistant reported that a female patient “died of a blood clot three hours after getting the Gardasil vaccine.†Two other reports, on girls 12 and 19, reported deaths relating to heart problems and/or blood clotting.
As of May 11, 2007, the 1,637 adverse vaccination reactions reported to the FDA via the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) included 371 serious reactions. Of the 42 women who received the vaccine while pregnant, 18 experienced side effects ranging from spontaneous abortion to fetal abnormities.
Side effects published by Merck & Co. warn the public about potential pain, fever, nausea, dizziness and itching after receiving the vaccine. Indeed, 77% of the adverse reactions reported are typical side effects to vaccinations. But other more serious side effects reported include paralysis, Bells Palsy, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and seizures.
“The FDA adverse event reports on the HPV vaccine read like a catalog of horrors,†stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Any state or local government now beset by Merck’s lobbying campaigns to mandate this HPV vaccine for young girls ought to take a look at these adverse health reports. It looks as if an unproven vaccine with dangerous side effects is being pushed as a miracle drug.â€
Flashback: Texas Requires HPV Vaccine for Girls
Great Pyramids Made Out of Concrete
May 26th, 2007Via: Yahoo / Live Science:
…The mysteries had actually been solved by Joseph Davidovits, Director of the Geopolymer Institute in St. Quentin, France, more than two decades ago. Davidovits claimed that the stones of the pyramids were actually made of a very early form of concrete created using a mixture of limestone, clay, lime, and water.
“It was at this point in the conversation that I burst out laughing,†says Barsoum. If the pyramids were indeed cast, he says, someone should have proven it beyond a doubt by now, in this day and age, with just a few hours of electron microscopy.
It turned out that nobody had completely proven the theory…yet.
…
A year and a half later, after extensive scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations and other testing, Barsoum and his research group finally began to draw some conclusions about the pyramids. They found that the tiniest structures within the inner and outer casing stones were indeed consistent with a reconstituted limestone. The cement binding the limestone aggregate was either silicon dioxide (the building block of quartz) or a calcium and magnesium-rich silicate mineral.
The stones also had a high water content—unusual for the normally dry, natural limestone found on the Giza plateau—and the cementing phases, in both the inner and outer casing stones, were amorphous, in other words, their atoms were not arranged in a regular and periodic array. Sedimentary rocks such as limestone are seldom, if ever, amorphous.
The sample chemistries the researchers found do not exist anywhere in nature. “Therefore,†says Barsoum, “it’s very improbable that the outer and inner casing stones that we examined were chiseled from a natural limestone block.â€
More startlingly, Barsoum and another of his graduate students, Aaron Sakulich, recently discovered the presence of silicon dioxide nanoscale spheres (with diameters only billionths of a meter across) in one of the samples. This discovery further confirms that these blocks are not natural limestone.
…
Why do the results of Barsoum’s research matter most today? Two words: earth cements.
“How energy intensive and/or complicated can a 4,500 year old technology really be? The answer to both questions is not very,†Barsoum explains. “The basic raw materials used for this early form of concrete—limestone, lime, and diatomaceous earth—can be found virtually anywhere in the world,†he adds. “Replicating this method of construction would be cost effective, long lasting, and much more environmentally friendly than the current building material of choice: Portland cement that alone pumps roughly 6 billion tons of CO2 annually into the atmosphere when it’s manufactured.â€
“Ironically,†says Barsoum, “this study of 4,500 year old rocks is not about the past, but about the future.â€
Democrats in Oblivion
May 26th, 2007The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead, the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can ‘throw the rascals out’ at any election without leading to any profound or extensive shifts in policy.
—Carroll Quigley, Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in our Time
People who think of themselves as Democrats need to look in the mirror and deal with reality. They want so hard to believe that their party isn’t responsible for this catastrophe (and offers a solution to it), but, deep down, they must know that there’s only one party allowed in the Legion of Doom. Democrats need to come clean with themselves. No more lies.
There are no Democrats. There are no Republicans. There are only fascists.
My unwavering cynicism toward the Democratic Party has NEVER let me down. That’s why, with total confidence, I wrote the following before the last midterm election:
Please understand: THERE ARE NO POLITICAL SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS THE U.S. IS FACING. The outcome of this election is meaningless, one way or the other. The more you keep grasping for glimmers of hope within the political system, the worse off you will be.
…
Will a big Democratic win calm people down? Maybe that’s what They’ll allow. It might ease the panic, so the ship of fools can sail on for another few months. If They were smart, that’s what They’d do.
I got emails from smart, kind, well-meaning people, telling me that I wasn’t “thinking positively” and that I should give the Democrats a chance…
Where are those people now? Why don’t I hear from them? Will any of you admit to sending me those emails now?
Well, it’s “another few months” on and the panic is setting in again.
Democrats are like victims of domestic abuse. They keep coming back, no matter what, until the abusers eventually kill them. That abuser/victim cycle is incredibly difficult to break, and I think that much of what motivates Democrats is misguided energy borne out of a subconscious realization that they are helpless in a time of increasing chaos. They have a desire to save themselves, but are running back into the arms of the abuser, the cause of their grief. The abuser offers solutions and protection, but, as we know, that just means more insults and savage beatings.
Embrace that desire to save yourself, but not the abuser.
Stop worrying about trying to “save the world.” Sorry, friend, but that me-too ego trip is going to get flattened under the weight of almost unbelievable ignorance, greed and what has become an endemic zombie consumer death urge. Besides, how can you save the world if you can’t even save yourself…
Want to learn necessary skills for the future, improve the environment and constrain the RepubliCrat vampire?
Drastically reduce your requirements for—and your pursuit of—money and the rest will follow. How? There are as many ways as there are people. Think about it. Turn off the TV, the radio. Take a vacation from the Internet for a while. Listen to yourself.
My wife and I offer an example, but ours is just one way. It’s not for everyone, but then again, what is? Hmm… Well, we all need clean air, food and water. Those are a few factors to consider in your plans, whatever they happen to be. Again, the Democrats and Republicans have nothing to offer you on these issues.
Realize that, while there’s no out of the Matrix, you can hack the thing in innovative, interesting and efficient ways. Politics, though, is a prison inside the Matrix. It’s a honeypot designed to trap your consciousness. There’s nothing useful or even interesting about politics. It’s a mechanism of formalized, legalized graft. Why look to it to improve the situation?
Turn your back on politics and take responsibility for your own life. Set your own priorities. Plan. Execute.
For the rest of the victims, there’s always the next election and another black eye.
Man Threatened with Arrest for Taking Photo of His Freedom Fries
May 25th, 2007Via: ctnow.com:
Take a picture of the french fries on the Bridgeport ferry, and you might as well just admit that you’re a charter member of Al Qaeda.
This was going to be a happy story about how two of my nephews love the french fries on the Bridgeport-Port Jefferson Ferry. “Ferry fries,†they call them. But that story went out the window Sunday night, when I took the photograph below and was threatened with arrest by the Ferry Fascists for doing so.
Mexico to Boost Tapping of Phones and E-mail with U.S. Aid
May 25th, 2007Finally, an ECHELON station with good Mexican food!
Via: Los Angeles Times:
Mexico is expanding its ability to tap telephone calls and e-mail using money from the U.S. government, a move that underlines how the country’s conservative government is increasingly willing to cooperate with the United States on law enforcement.
The expansion comes as President Felipe Calderon is pushing to amend the Mexican Constitution to allow officials to tap phones without a judge’s approval in some cases. Calderon argues that the government needs the authority to combat drug gangs, which have killed hundreds of people this year.
Mexican authorities for years have been able to wiretap most telephone conversations and tap into e-mail, but the new $3-million Communications Intercept System being installed by Mexico’s Federal Investigative Agency will expand their reach.
The system will allow authorities to track cellphone users as they travel, according to contract specifications. It includes extensive storage capacity and will allow authorities to identify callers by voice. The system, scheduled to begin operation this month, was paid for by the U.S. State Department and sold by Verint Systems Inc., a politically well-connected firm based in Melville, N.Y., that specializes in electronic surveillance.
Although information about the system is publicly available, the matter has drawn little attention so far in the United States or Mexico. The modernization program is described in U.S. government documents, including the contract specifications, reviewed by The Times.
They suggest that Washington could have access to information derived from the surveillance. Officials of both governments declined to comment on that possibility.
“It is a government of Mexico operation funded by the U.S.,” said Susan Pittman, of the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. Queries should be directed to the Mexican government, she said.
Calderon’s office declined to comment.
But the contract specifications say the system is designed to allow both governments to “disseminate timely and accurate, actionable information to each country’s respective federal, state, local, private and international partners.”
Iran Interest Rate Cut Sparks Panic Selling
May 25th, 2007I have no idea what this means, but with two U.S. carrier groups just off the coats of Iran… Let’s just hope nobody makes any sudden moves.
Maybe it’s related to the CIA ratf*cking that Bush recently authorized.
Via: Guardian:
Iran’s financial system suffered a fresh jolt yesterday with panic selling on the stock market after the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, abruptly ordered banks to cut interest rates sharply, despite surging inflation.
The order, which Mr Ahmadinejad issued by telephone during a visit to Belarus and which flew in the face of expert advice – has triggered warnings of a financial crisis and spiralling corruption amid fears of a capital flight from the country’s lending institutions.
Mr Ahmadinejad’s decree forced all state-owned and private banks to slash borrowing rates to 12%. Inflation is officially 15% but is generally believed to be much higher. State banks had been offering rates of 14%, while those in the private sector ranged from 17% to 28%.
The decision caused panic in the Tehran stock exchange, with private banks losing much of their share value overnight. Shareholders in one bank, Karafarin, queued on Wednesday to sell their stock when previously there had been 1.2 million applicants to buy its shares.
Bilderberg to be Held in Istanbul
May 25th, 2007Maybe I need a Them category.
Via: turkishpress.com:
ANKARA – Following are the highlights from today`s Turkish daily VATAN. The Anadolu Agency is not responsible of opinions expressed or the context of the articles and does not vouch for their accuracy:
The annual Bilderberg Meeting, which gathers high level officials from the world business, politics and media circles, will be held in Istanbul this year. The main topics of the meeting are Turkey, Iran and energy issue, Vatan daily writes.
According to the daily, the 3-day meeting is an important event during which participants also determine the following year`s agenda.
According to authoritative sources, the meeting which will be held from May 31st to June 3rd in Istanbul, will mainly focus on issues such as a probable operation against Iran, energy policies and Turkey`s EU membership process.
Previously, two Bilderberg Meetings were held in Turkey, first one in 1959 in Istanbul and the other one in 1975 in Cesme town of Aegean city of Izmir.
According to Vatan, re-chosing Turkey as a venue after 32 years, can be interpreted as “a signal hinting the opening of EU`s doors to Turkey”.
