Kissinger On Integrity

This selection is from the print edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer:

"CIA to Reveal Long-Secret Documents" by Scott Shane, NYT News Service

There was also a conversation in which Henry A. Kissinger, then serving as both secretary of state and national security adviser, denounced the efforts of CIA director William E. Colby to push an aggressive investigation of the agency’s past transgressions.

Kissinger said the accusations then appearing daily about agency misconduct were “worse than in the days of McCarthy.”

“What Colby has done is a disgrace,” Kissinger said.

“Should we suspend him?” Ford asked.

“No,” Kissinger said, “but after the investigation is over, you could move him and put in someone of towering integrity.” A year later, Ford replaced Colby with George H. W. Bush.

[George H. W. Bush a man of "towering integrity"?  No comment!]

Common Preservative Damages DNA

From the Epoch Times:

Research from Sheffield University, U.K., into a common food and drink preservative suggests that it can damage DNA. Sodium benzoate, a mold inhibiter commonly found in Pepsi, Coke, Sprite, other soft drinks, pickles, and sauces, is the culprit.

Peter Piper, professor of molecular biology and biotechnology, who has been working on sodium benzoate since 1999, tested sodium benzoate on living yeast cells. He was alarmed to find that it damaged their mitochondria's DNA.

Concerned, Piper made his research public, telling British newspaper, The Independent, on Sunday, May 27: "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 consume the oxygen to give you energy, and if you damage it—as happens in a number of 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 neurodegenerative diseases, but above all, the whole process of aging."

Sodium benzoate occurs naturally in cranberries, apples, milk products, cinnamon, and cloves. According to http://inchem.org, sodium benzoate occurring naturally in foods is about 40 mg/kg. Used as a preservative, it is about 2,000 mg/kg. Historically, benzoic acid came from a dry distillation of gum benzoin. Industrial preparation is now cheaply made from toluene. Sodium benzoate is made from benzoic acid.

The studies the FDA lists are mainly rat and mice studies, which don't appear to show toxicity. Tests made on limited numbers of individuals showed no adverse effects from the 1960s to the 1980s, therefore sodium benzoate and benzoic acid are considered safe by the FDA.

The Hyperactive Children's Support Group of Great Britain takes exception to that and recommends the avoidance of both sodium benzoate and benzoic acid. Piper considers tests done by the FDA "out of date."

A short-term study on rats—feeding them 1,800 mg/kg of sodium benzoate/benzoic acid—produced central nervous system damage. Benzoic acid caused liver pathology and reduced weight. However, these studies are deemed inadequate to determine safety.

The vitamin C (ascorbic acid) added to soft drinks reacts with sodium benzoate to make benzene, a known carcinogen and air pollutant.

Sources:
http://www.inchem.org/documents/cicads/cicads/cicad26.htm#SubSectionNumber:11.1.1
http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article2586653.ece

Giuliani's Press Secretary Has Reporter Arrested

First Amendment to the Constitution:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

In other words, by the government's own laws, it is illegal for the government to interfere with the activities of the press. Yet last night, freelance reporter Matt Lepacek was arrested for asking a question. During a press meeting after the New Hampshire presidential debate, Lepacek directed his question to Giuliani’s press secretary. Lepacek asked the press secretary to clarify Giuliani’s assertion to Peter Jennings that he had foreknowledge that World Trade Center Building 7 was going to collapse. (Watch Giuliani’s statement here)
This is newsworthy, as it is unclear how anyone could have predicted that WTC 7 could have collapsed. Unlike WTC 1 and 2, building 7 was not hit by any jetliner. Furthermore, it was only minimally damaged by falling debris and its small pockets of fire were nearly extinguished.

Giuliani’s press secretary refused to answer the question and instead attacked the press credentials of Lepacek. Lepacek affirmed that he was a fully accredited reporter, working for infowars.com. Upon hearing this, the press secretary began to run away from Lepacek and his question. When Lepacek repeated his questioning, the press secretary called over New Hampshire state troopers to have him arrested.

According to Luke Rudkowski, Lepacek’s friend and fellow press member, Lepacek called Rudkowski during his police questioning and revealed that he had been threatened with deportation to a secret detention facility. The state police had considered charging him with espionage for using a webcam during the event. Of course, using a webcam during a press meeting is not espionage. Lepacek was finally released on bail, possibly on the charge of criminal trespass. Again, Lepacek was a fully accredited reporter, so he was not trespassing.

Is this the America Giuliani wants? Does Giuliani desire for reporters to be arrested, in complete violation of their First Amendment rights, whenever they ask a question his press secretary does not like? Furthermore, why did the press secretary not answer the question? He could have even replied with something vacuous, like, “The proper authorities notified the mayor when they were aware that the building’s collapse was imminent.” Or, he could have simply said, “No comment,” or “I don’t know.” Instead, the press secretary became angry and ran away, as though he were afraid. What has Rudy Giuliani to hide? If there is nothing wrong with Giuliani’s foreknowledge that WTC 7 was going to collapse, then Giuliani should clear his name and reveal the source of his foreknowledge. Furthermore, if Giuliani is really dedicated to being the leader of the free world, he should show his commitment to the First Amendment by firing his press secretary and personally apologizing to Matt Lepacek.

As for the State Troopers who arrested Lepacek, it would be easy for me to call for their firing. Indeed, they probably should be, and on their way out of the department, they should be handed a copy of the Constitution so that they finally come to learn what laws they should have upheld and protected. But this brings us to one of the bigger problems: police officers do not even know the law. In some cases, it reaches high levels of absurdity, as when these police officers claimed that a woman who refers to the Constitution and cites a Supreme Court case “don’t believe in our laws”.

And here is the second big problem: how is Giuliani’s press secretary able to order around New Hampshire state troopers? How was this cozy relationship established between a PR representative and the state’s enforcement arm? Something bad is happening to our county when both law enforcement and the representative of a presidential candidate are both willing to act in total disregard of the law and suppress real journalism.


More may be read here:

“Reporter Arrested on Orders of Giuliani Press Secretary”

“News Of Reporter's Arrest For Asking a Question Makes Major Headlines”

The First False Flag Terror Attack?

Plutarch, a classical Greek historian, has written biographies of prominent Greeks and Romans, compiled in his work Parallel Lives. In Plutarch's biography of Solon, we learn that there were three factions competing for political dominance in Athens. One of these factions was headed by Pisistratus, who gave the impression that he was leading the masses to equality, though in fact he was merely ambitious for power. Pisistratus, in order to make himself favorable to the populace, put on a false front:

“he had the reputation of being a cautious and law-abiding man, who set great store by equality... [but he] completely deceived most people on these points” *

Yet, his greatest deception was but to come:

“The day came when Pisistratus deliberately wounded himself, drove into the market-place in a chariot and tried to rouse the people with the story that his enemies had organized a conspiracy to murder him because of his political programme.” (73)

The masses bought into his story, and when they came together in the Assembly, it was agreed that Pisistratus should have armed bodyguards to protect him from his supposed enemies. Initially, it was argued that the number of bodyguards be limited to fifty men, but the Assembly finally voted to allow Pisistratus an unlimited number of guards, whom he could take anywhere in the city. After having gathered his bodyguards, Pisistratus marched them straight into the Acropolis. He took over Athens and became tyrant over the city.

It is worthwhile to reflect on Solon’s admonitions to the Athenians, both before and after Pisistratus had secured himself as ruler. Following the purported attack on Pisistratus, many Athenians, including Solon, saw through the plot. However, many Athenians were too afraid to make a stand. Plutarch writes the following:

“Solon saw that the poorer classes were thoroughly roused and were determined to support Pisistratus, while the rich were too frightened to make any kind of stand against him. So he left the Assembly with a parting shot to the effect that he possessed more sense than the one party and more courage than the other; he was wiser than those who could not see through the plot, and braver than those who, although they were not taken in, were afraid to stand up to a tyrant.” (74)

As we have seen, both idiocy and cowardice put Athens into the hands of a tyrant; for after Solon left the Assembly, it had voted in favor of allowing Pisistratus to have armed guards, which were subsequently used against the city. Once Pisistratus had already seized power, and it was clear to all that Pisistratus was a tyrant, Solon attempted to rouse the courage of the Athenians so that they could take back their city. Plutarch writes of Solon:

“It was on this occasion, too, that he uttered the famous remark that it would have been easier at an earlier stage to forestall the tyranny while it was still being hatched, but that it was an even greater and nobler task to destroy it now that it was already established and fully grown.” (74)

No one in Solon’s day listened, and Pisistratus remained in power. All of this occurred circa 560 B.C. This may not be the earliest false flag terror event, but it is certainly an early demonstration of a “self-inflicted wound” used for political gain. Moreover, we should remember that Plutarch was not writing merely to inform his readers about past events: he was hoping that his readers would learn from them. Perhaps we should heed Solon’s words in our own time.

* The Rise and Fall of Athens. Ian Scott-Kilvert, trans. Penguin Books, 1960. P. 73.