Egyptian protester set fire to Ruling Party Headquarters

Four days of protests by tens of thousands of people have brought rioting crowds to set fire to the Ruling Party Headquarters in Cairo. The blaze, set Friday, January 28, 2011, has led to worries that President Mubarak’s Egyptian government may be overthrown. A revolution in Egypt threatens stability in Middle East and may have repercussions in the United States.

In a statement tonight, President Obama urged the Egyptian government to refrain from using violence against the demonstrators, and to stop blocking public access to cell phone service and internet access.

“I want to be very clear in calling upon the Egyptian authorities to refrain from any violence against peaceful protesters," Obama said.

In a statement earlier today, Mubarak said he would replace his cabinet by Saturday and begin enacting reforms, in an effort to end the rioting.

Thus far, Mubarak remains in control of Egypt. However, if the military is unable to control the crowds without excessive force, the government is likely to tumble, according to MSNBC.

Most of the Egyptian protesters are under the age of thirty.

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Obama wants bi-partisan roll back on tax cuts for the rich

In his 2011 State of the Union address, President Obama called for an end to the high income tax breaks the republican leadership insisted on in the Lame Duck session of the 111th Congress. The reason is simple; the United States cannot afford to give money to the wealthiest Americans while the country is running on borrowed funds. But does the current Republican Congress have the ability to apply fiscal policy that raises revenue through taxes on the wealthy?

Republicans and the Tea Party have made no secret of the fact that they are pro-big business, and believe that trickle-down economics is an effective tool for growing the economy.

Contrary to the rhetoric, there is little evidence to support the benefits of Trickle-down economics for anyone but the rich. In fact, the gap between the rich and poor has grown steadily since the 1980’s, when President Regan began redistributing wealth in the form of tax cuts for Americans with the most income.

Along with Reagan’s economic policies came lower wages for the middle-class and a lower standard of living for millions. Furthermore, Trickle-down economics has failed to create promised jobs. While the Bush tax cuts were in place, America suffered the worst economic recession since the Great Depression of the 1930’s.

In December 2010, republican leadership refused to agree to any extension of the Bush era tax cut package, unless it included an extension of the tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans.

“Former IMF chief economist, Simon Johnson said, the “financial industry has effectively captured our government and is blocking essential reform”.

In what the Obama Administration called a ‘compromise,’ the deal was made with GOP lawmakers in exchange for their votes on the legislation. The portion of the tax cut package that benefits only the wealthy is costing America some $450 billion dollars, all of it borrowed money.

Decades of conservative political pandering to Corporate America has lead to budget deficit chaos, and the Republican controlled Congress may not have the ability to stop giving away money to those who need it the least.

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Why are republicans against healthcare reform for Americans?

After President Obama’s State of the Union address on January 25, 2011, republican Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann responded with remarks on behalf of the Tea Party. The main threads of Bachmann’s comments were against the new healthcare reform laws passed by the last Congress.

With the benefits of healthcare reform now beginning to take effect, polls show that the majority of Americans favor the new advantages. This raises questions as to why republicans like Michelle Bachmann are making claims that the laws should be repealed.

The Congressional Budget Office study on healthcare reform concluded that the legislation would reduce the federal deficit. It also offers people with pre-existing conditions an opportunity to obtain health insurance that would have been denied prior to the reform package.

Referring to healthcare reform, Bachmann said, “We must work hard to dismantle the massive government expansion that has happened over the past two years.” However, Bachmann never explained how cracking down on insurance company abuse is bad for the American public. Nor did she elaborate on why she is against something that the majority now favors.

The basis of the GOP spin against healthcare reform has been rooted in scare tactics without facts. On that level, Bachmann held true to form on Tuesday night. She exaggerated claims that had no basis in an effort to frighten the public about a non-existent monster hidden inside ‘Obamacare.’

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Healthcare repeal will cost American lives

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee: Healthcare repeal will kill Americans

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Democrat of Texas, was very candid rebuking republican attempts to repeal healthcare reform.

Jackson Lee said, "Frankly, I would just say to you, this is about saving lives…..this is killing Americans if we take this away, if we repeal this bill,” according to The Hill.

Some of the benefits of ‘Obamacare’ include insurability for people with pre-existing conditions, additional money for seniors on Medicare to pay for drugs and tax credit for employers who provide health insurance to their workers.

Approximately 46,000 Americans die each year due to lack of health insurance. President Obama’s healthcare reform was designed to reduce those numbers by making healthcare more accessible and affordable for an additional 32 million Americans.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2tJOSXi-fQ&feature=player_embedded

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Republican scare tactics on 'job killing' health care reform falling apart

There were no death panels, as Sarah Palin claimed. And no, it is not a ‘job killing’ bill, as House speaker, John Boehner claims. In reality, health care reform will actually create jobs in the health care industry. Congressional Budget Office data finds that Obama care will even reduce the federal deficit. So a year’s worth of GOP scare tactics about health care reform turns out to be nothing but unfounded, partisan babbling.

The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obama care, is gaining support from all except the new Republican Congress, who are planning a vote to repeal the new health care laws.

Politico reports health insurance industry insiders are coming around to the changes and see Obama care as an opportunity.

According to Mother Jones, “Such realities could undercut Republican claims that federal health reform will massively disrupt the insurance and health-care marketplace, with industry-choking regulations that bankrupt insurers.”

In a recent Gallup poll, only 30% of Americans strongly oppose “Obama care.”

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Dead bird outbreak worsens across Southeast US

The latest bird deaths in the wildlife mystery appeared on the roadside of Interstate 65, near Huntsville, Alabama on Saturday. The 300 black-colored grackles strewn over a white blanket of white snow was an eerie scene for motorists driving past the carcasses.

Since the beginning of 2011, thousands of dead birds and millions of dead fish have been reported worldwide. In Faenza, Italy, more than 700 doves were found dead with blue stains on their beaks. Authorities say it was a sign of suffocation. Sweden also reported dead birds last week. In the United States, strange bird deaths have been reported in Kentucky, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama and California. Dead fish and crabs have been reported by the millions in Maryland, Illinois, Arkansas, New Zealand, Brazil.

A recent report in the Huffington Post claims scientists have discovered the cause of death for the Doves in Italy. "We are fairly confident the birds died as a result of massive indigestion brought on by over-eating," Rodolfo Ridolfi, a director at the regional zoological institute, told The Daily Mail.” Additional data suggest that dead birds across the United States are the cause of blunt trauma and internal bleeding.

What all the reports lack is what prompted the bird deaths. Why did the birds in Italy suddenly eat themselves to death? In the US, the internal bleeding claimed to be the cause of death of the birds in Beebe, Arkansas could have been caused by impact, after falling from the sky. But what cause the birds to fall in the first place?

Birds and fish are at the top of the food chain, so whatever affects them also soon affects humans. There is some speculation that pollution from chemicals and oil from the BP Gulf oil spill has infiltrated the environment on a global scale. NOAA had suggested this possibility last year, during the height of the crisis.

However, much of the Gulf oil spill data has been hidden through contracts between BP and scientists, so the connection may be difficult to document. Concealing oil spill damage data was the purpose of the BP contracts, to reduce the company’s monetary damage penalties.

There are any number of reasons for the sudden death of birds and fish worldwide. Climate change, pollution, and theories of the Apocalypse are among them.

One thing is certain; there is a reason for the sudden death of wildlife across the globe, we just have no solid evidence to support any of them right now. Until we do, the speculation, and perhaps the birds deaths, will go on.

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Gun convention hires Sarah Palin

The Safari Club International, an organization that promotes hunting and gun ownership, has hired Sarah Palin to give the keynote address at their upcoming meeting on January 29, 2011.

Since the Arizona shootings on January 8, 2011, which left six dead and 14 other wounded, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Sarah Palin has been in the spotlight. Palin had a map on her website that featured Rep. Giffords name as a target; her state, Arizona was depicted under the crosshairs of a gun sight.

Palin was also recently criticized for killing a moose with a rifle on her television show, Sarah Palin’s Alaska.

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Dead birds fall in Alabama

Three hundred dead birds fell from the sky in Alabama on Friday. The carcasses of grackles, who appear similar to blackbirds, were found along Interstate 65 in Alabama.

Wildlife biologist, Bill Gates told WAFF television he saw the bodies of the dead birds scattered all over the snow along the side of the highway.

Scientists have not confirmed if the mysterious Alabama bird deaths are related to other sudden birds deaths being reported in the southern United States and worldwide.

On New Year’s Eve, 5,000 blackbirds died suddenly in Beebe, Arkansas. Two days later, 500 blackbirds fell dead in Pointe Coupee Parish Louisiana. More birds were then reported dead in Gilbertsville, Kentucky, and thousands of doves inexplicably died in Italy.

In addition to the bird deaths, millions of fish have washed up dead, during the same period of time.

The cause of the massive increase in dead birds and dead fish has occurred simultaneously over the past three weeks. No solid data has been discovered to explain the deaths.

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Is Sarah Palin sinking her presidential hopes with ‘blood libel’ remark?

How a public figure handles themselves in a crisis is often an indication of what kind of leader they will make. Sarah Palin, with her eyes on the White House in 2012, may be taking the ultimate test in the aftermath of the Arizona shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

On January 8, 2011, Jared Loughner, 22, opened fired in a Safeway parking lot in Tucson, Arizona. He killed six people and wounded 14, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, a democrat.

In the days following the shooting, Sarah Palin was criticized for having a map of democratic candidates on her website with a gun targets on specific states. Individual candidates were listed as targets. Gabrielle Giffords was one of them.

The map was taken down after the shooting.

On Wednesday, Palin wrote on her Facebook page, “…After this shocking tragedy, I listened at first puzzled, then with concern, and now with sadness, to the irresponsible statements from people attempting to apportion blame for this terrible event.”

A Palin staff member told Alaska radio Sunday that there was "nothing irresponsible" about the images of crosshairs used in a map of the 20 congressional districts targeted by Palin's PAC,” according to the Washington Post.

Palin went on to defend herself against media attacks, calling them, "blood libel," which is an anti-Semitic term that refers to Jewish rituals that involve killing, according to MSNBC.

Political pundits claim George W. Bush used his popularity during the September 11 World Trade Center attacks to will re-election. His widely criticized handling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster contributed to his  extraordinary unfavorable ratings when he left office.

The Palin controversy over the Arizona shootings may leave a scar on the Palin political machine that the former Alaska governor may not recover from.

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Arizona shooting: There is no such thing as an ordinary American

When Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in an Arizona parking lot, it wasn’t the CEO of a corporation who immediately came to her aid. When the Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed by Timothy McVeigh, and when the World Trade Center was attacked by terrorists on September 11^th, the first responders were not high-ranking government officials. They were not part of an elite group of highly trained professionals. They were what our lawmakers often refer to as ordinary Americans. Yet there is nothing ordinary about them.

On January 8, 2011, Daniel Hernandez said, "When I heard gunshots, my first instinct was to head toward the congresswoman to make sure that she was okay." He added, "Once I saw that she was down, and there were more than one victim, I went ahead and started doing the limited triage that I could with what I had…. It was probably not the best idea to run toward the gunshots," he told the Arizona Republic, "But people needed help."

The 20 year old Junior at Arizona University had only limited medical training, but is still being credited with saving Congresswoman Giffords life.

Six people were killed by Jared Loughner, 22, when he sprayed the Safeway parking lot with bullets at Congresswoman Giffords Saturday morning rally. Their names are: Judge John Roll, 63; Dorothy Morris, 76; Dorwin Stoddard, 76; Christina Greene, 9; Phyllis Scheck, 79; and Gabriel Zimmerman, 30. Sixteen others were wounded.

Over time, we sometimes forget the names of the victims and heroes of tragedies. But as it has been proven time and again, there is no such thing as an ordinary American.

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The decline of America in the crosshairs of a gun

 

When you announce publicly that your primary goal as a public servant is to make sure your president fails, you are not a patriot. Nor are you truly a public servant. Republican and Tea Party spin may not be the only reason six people were killed at a political rally in Arizona last Saturday, but it cannot be overlooked either.

Sarah Palin had gun sight cross hairs pasted over 2010 democratic candidates on her website. Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was one of them. She was shot in the head on January 13, 2011, along with 16 others. Six were killed, including a nine year old girl.

Republican leader Mitch McConnell, along with other outspoken conservatives, have spent the past two years blocking Obama Administration appointments, and every piece of legislation and they can by using the filibuster more than any other legislative body in a generation.

This what America has become.

We are no longer a nation striving toward self-improvement. We are a land of power-mongers who will stop at nothing to seize control of our government.  Their goal is to redistribute wealth, and only protect those who can afford to buy their own protection.

America is on an untraveled road that is taking her into a dark forest. In the dense shadows, our freedoms are being dealt away, because the power-mongers are willing to harm many for the gains of a few.

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Gun laws questioned after shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords

Out of tragedy often comes progress. But will Tea Party Republicans surrender their anti-gun control rhetoric to help prevent a repeat of the tragic shooting on January 8, 2011 in an Arizona parking that took six lives, and seriously wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords?

"It's a real tragedy, but it's also a real opportunity," said Mark McKinnon, co-founder of No Labels, a nonpartisan group founded last month. The Republican consultant sees potential to change the hyper-partisan political environment, which he has described as "MoveOn.org on the Left and the Tea Party on the Right," according to the Washington Post.

Seven years ago, former President George W. Bush responded to gun rights special groups, and in 2004 allowed the 1994 assault weapons laws, which allowed Jared Loughner, 22, to kill six people at a political rally in Arizona and wound 16 others, including congresswoman Giffords, who was shot in the head.

Doctors are hopeful Giffords will survive, but brain swelling continues to give them cause for deep concern.

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2012 Doomsday scenarios may not be what you think

There are all sorts of prophesies and predictions about the end of the world as we know it. Some claim the skies will darken and all life will suddenly cease to exist. Others say many will die and those left will be forced to exist in a world of a living Hell. The Mayan prophesies of the end of days on December 21, 2012 is most intriguing to many. It predicts a catastrophic event that will change the world, but is not specific as to whether it is natural or human-induced.

“The 2012 phenomenon comprises a range of beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on December 21, 2012, which is said to be the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mayan Long Count calendar. Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae related to this date have been proposed.”

Some interpretations of this suggest that during this time Earth and its inhabitants may undergo “a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 2012 may mark the beginning of a new era.”

There is an aspect to transition philosophies that omit a factor that is more prevalent in today’s world than almost any other. That factor is money.

The 21^st century has been marked as a period of great financial turmoil. In 2008, the United Sates financial markets collapsed, causing the foundation of capitalism to be compromised in a way never seen before. The government was forced to give trillions of dollars of borrowed money to keep intertwined world financial markets from total destruction. This single event may be the key to predictions of some doomsday scenarios, particularly the 2012 Mayan prophesy, because due to its size, the United States economy is so crucial to the global marketplace. If America ‘goes down’ the rest of the world goes with her.

By 2012, the U.S. debt which is currently $14 trillion dollars and growing, may become un-payable.  That means America will have finally reached the point where she no longer has enough income or ability to borrow to pay her bills. Credit default by the United States will change the world in an instant.

Millions of Americans who rely on payments, pensions and jobs from the government would stop, sending all of them into abject poverty. Around the world, foreign governments that depend on aid from the U.S. would also see their incomes end. In short, the result would be utter chaos on a global scale. Riots would break out; cities would be burned; governments would collapse, and society as we know it would go through a transformation through anarchy.

The specific date of December 21, 2012 in the Mayan prophesies may point to a stock market crash, or other such economic event. Or it could refer to an equally catastrophic financial crisis in another of the world’s largest economies like China.

However the event occurs, it is entirely possible that 2012 doomsday scenarios may not take the form many people think it will.  And it may not occur on the specific date the Mayan’s predicted.

Yet one thing is clear; money is the most powerful influence in the everyday lives if individuals on this planet. It decides what you eat, where you live and whether or not you received medical care when you need it most.

2012 doomsday scenarios may be the result of ancient visions of the tumultuous after effects of a twenty-first century financial event that primitive prophesies simply could not describe in terms so foreign to the culture of their days.

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Dead birds, dead fish, climate change, the Gulf oil spill and the Apocalypse

How quickly people seem to forget the anger and frustration they felt when they were watching the BP Macondo well erupting a volcano of black poison into the Gulf of Mexico. Nine months later, millions of fish and birds are suddenly, inexplicably dropping dead all over the world. Is the fear brewing among a confused population a subtle admission that we have finally lost the war we have been waging on our planet?

From the earliest days of civilization, humans have been trying to conquer and harness the forces and resources of nature. Each time we are humbled by an earthquake, or tornado, we pick up the pieces and rebuild, as if falsely convincing ourselves that an act of nature will never touch us again.

With technology came unnatural disasters; namely oil spills. Since the 1950’s when widespread oil drilling began, a feeding frenzy for black gold has evolved. It has pushed us deeper and deeper into the bowels of the earth to fuel our growing thirst for energy. Along the way, political corruption and the drive for corporate profits have made oil spills one of the deadliest assaults on our world.

All oil spills are avoidable. Including the Deepwater Horizon disaster that polluted the Gulf of Mexico with so much oil, methane gas and toxic chemical dispersant, no one can say with certainty that the 5 million barrel event has not changed our environment forever.

In the midst of our delusions that the pollution of our atmosphere for the past 70 years has had no effect, we are fighting the battle of climate change. Science proves that our planet is changing. The debate revolves around whether it is natural, or if human pollution is either causing or accelerating it.

On New Year’s Eve 2010, thousands of birds, followed by millions of fish all over the world began to suddenly die. Like everything else we don’t truly understand, we manufacture what we think is a rational explanation for a disruption in our ecosystem that is mysteriously devastating the top of the food chain on four continents. Must be bad weather, authorities say, or perhaps noisy fireworks.

The always arrogant human race has blinded itself to the possibility that at the start of 2011 our planet reached a breaking point and finally said to us, “Enough. The damage is already done.”

Corporate greed and corruption has spread through our governments like a malignant cancer. And even if we found the strength to implement a ‘cure’ tomorrow, the decades of damage we have already done may be irrevocable and irreversible.

Prophesies of the Apocalypse do not always specify how or why we will meet our end, only that we inevitably will.

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Millions of dead birds, dead fish reported worldwide

It began on New Year’s Eve in Beebe Arkansas with the discovery of 5,000 blackbirds that had fallen from the sky dead. One day later, 100,000 fish suddenly died in the nearby Arkansas River. Forty-eight hours after the initial report of dead birds, 500 more, similar birds turned up dead in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, with dozens more dead in Gilbertsville, Kentucky. So far, none of the deaths have a solid scientific explanation.

Now reports are coming in from all over the world of millions more dead fish and dead birds.

In Brazil, ParanaOnline has reported 100 tons of dead catfish, croaker and sardines. In New Zealand hundreds of dead snapper have been found. And Swedish officials are reporting the deaths of dozens of birds. The Baltimore Sun is also reporting the sudden death of 2 million fish in the Chesapeake Bay.

Authorities have attempted to explain the massive numbers of dead birds and dead fish on natural occurrences, like fireworks and weather. However, conclusive scientific data is still elusive.

The sudden, worldwide death of millions of fish and thousands of birds has all occurred in less than one week.

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BP oil spill report: Expect more oil spill disasters with deregulation

President Obama’s oil spill commission has concluded that BP and Halliburton were both guilty of contributing to the cause of the Deepwater Horizon disaster which resulted in the worst oil spill in US history.

A 48 page final report released Wednesday found that BP failed to test the cement plug Halliburton used to seal the exploratory Macondo well.  The flawed cement mix failed, caused the rig to explode on April 20, 2010, and kill eleven crew members, dump nearly 5 million barrels of oil, and 2 million gallons of chemical dispersant into the Gulf of Mexico.

The commission concluded that short-cuts are an industry-wide practice that will result in continuing oil spill disasters, unless new, stiffer regulations are put in place.

The problem with preventing further oil spill disasters lies in the plans of the new republican congress.

Incoming chairman of the government Oversight Committee, Rep. Darrel Issa of California, has stated that he plans to roll back and remove as many government regulations as he can, including those that regulate the oil industry.

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Alec Baldwin for Congress?

Millions of women would probably vote for Hollywood hunk Alec Baldwin no matter what office he decided to run for, but at the moment, the most famous of the Baldwin brothers is eyeballing a congressional seat, perhaps in his hometown, New York.

Last July, Baldwin told the Times UK that he was considering a bid for public office. Then just after the 2010 elections, Baldwin again mentioned taking a stab at a congressional bid.

In a recent interview, Baldwin said, "I do believe that people want to believe that someone who deeply cares about the middle class, for whatever reason... would like to seek public office." He added, "We've had men who are Ivy League-groomed running this country since 1988… and the problems aren't getting solved."

In addition to a successful film and television career in multiple appearances on Saturday Night Live and the popular 30 Rock, the admitted ultra-liberal Baldwin is also known for his temper and public verbal indiscretions surrounding his former wife, Actress Kim Bassinger.

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Could thousands of bird deaths in Arkansas and Louisiana be related to the BP oil spill?

Birds are the single most populous species on earth. There are literally billions of them inhabiting every inch of our world. Because of this, scientists call them an indicator species.

“Birds are excellent indicators because we know so much about their biology and life histories. Birds are found almost everywhere in the world and in almost every habitat. They eat a variety of foods and have a broad range of niche requirements,” according to Dr. Roger Lederer, who is a retired professor of Biological Sciences at CSU, and has been studying birds for more than 40 years.

Since birds are fairly high up on the food chain, changes in the environment are rapidly reflected in birds.

The recent sudden death of 5,000 blackbirds in Beebe, Arkansas, and more than 500 dead birds of the same species a few days later in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, plus additional bird deaths in Gilbertsville, Kentucky, raise questions about what the areas have in common and why all the birds died within days of each other.

Beebe, Arkansas and Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana are just 381 miles apart; a virtual stone’s throw for most birds. A map of the Southeastern United States shows that you can draw almost a straight line between the two towns. If you add the Kentucky location, another 781 miles away, the line only takes only a slight turn to the Northeast.

Geographically, the areas have variations topography and temperature, but all are considered temperate with seasonal changes, and ample variations in habitat for bird life to thrive. What they also have is common is weather influence from the Gulf of Mexico. Many storms that originate in the Gulf make their way inland, as far north as New York on occasion.

While some may consider it an unfounded speculation, one must consider the long term effects of the massive about of chemicals used in the Gulf oil spill as a possible cause for the bird deaths. Enough time has elapsed since the April 20, 2010 disaster to allow the chemicals to work their way through the environment.

During the height of the oil spill disaster, nearly 2 million gallons of Corexit was poured into the Gulf of Mexico. Corexit goes through a molecular change when it comes into contact with warm water; it changes from a liquid to a gas and evaporates into clouds. Corexit is toxic at only 2.61 PPM.

“Corexit is one of the most environmentally enduring, toxic chemical dispersants ever created to battle an oil spill.” Furthermore, “A report prepared for President Medvedev by Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources  warned that the BP oil spill would be the worst environmental catastrophe in all of human history, threatening the entire eastern half of the North American continent.”

The Russian study warned of years of toxic oil rain, resulting in profound changes in the ecosystem.

Could nine months of toxic oil rain have somehow concentrated in these two areas, causing the death of the birds, and more than 100,000 fish in the same area at the same time? Could the birds have ingested contaminated prey?

Chemically transformed Corexit may have nothing to do with the death of 5,500 birds, 381 miles apart, within 24 hour of each other. It may have nothing to do with the death of 100,000 fish in the Arkansas River. But then again, it might. The implications of a molecular invasion of Corexit in the Southeastern United States on a microbiological level are unimaginable, both ecologically and financially.

Since no one has ever used such a massive amount of toxic chemical dispersant on an oil spill before, there is no data to use as a guide for long term environmental damage.

The question is, if there were scientific evidence to support widespread damage from the BP oil spill, and that it was the cause of thousands of fish and birds suddenly dropping dead, would anyone admit it?

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Hundreds of Blackbirds found dead in Louisiana, more in Kentucky

Some 500 blackbirds have been discovered dead in Louisiana, just days after the discovery of 5,000 similar dead birds in Beebe, Arkansas.

The dead bird events began on New Year’s Eve when authorities claim 5,000 red-wing blackbirds were frightened by fireworks and fell from the sky dead. Necropsies of the birds revealed that the otherwise healthy birds died in midair, and suffered internal bleeding concentrated in the chest area.

On Tuesday, 500 starlings were found dead in Pointe Coupee Parish in Louisiana, in a town called Labarre on Highway 10. 

Dozens of dead blackbirds are also now being reported in Gilbertsville, Kentucky, after being discovered in a woman's backyard.

A number of theories are beginning to emerge as to the cause of the additional bird deaths in Louisiana, including chemical spraying from aircraft. However, no official cause of death has been discovered as of yet.

Authorities are not certain if all the dead bird events are related, or if they are somehow connected to the death of 100,000 fish that were found dead in Ozark, Arkansas 24 hours after the birds in Beebe died.

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Alarming results in studies on dead birds in Arkansas

Scientific studies have found that the 5,000 birds that died suddenly in Beebe, Arkansas on New Year’s Eve were otherwise perfectly healthy birds.

While early reports suggested that the birds died from being frightened by fireworks, Dr. George Badley told NBC News that the birds died in midair, not on impact as previously thought.

No sign of infection has been discovered by the Arkansas state veterinary team that has been examining the corpses of the red-wing blackbirds that fell from the sky by the thousands. However, data has confirmed that the internal bleeding was concentrated in the breast tissue of the dead birds.

In what authorities are calling a coincidence, just one day after the mysterious death of the 5,000 birds, some 100,000 fish also suddenly died in Ozark, Arkansas, about 100 miles away.

The updated data is alarming some who suggest that the sudden death of thousands of birds has implications tied to spiritual beliefs regarding the apocalypse.

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California Republican Darrell Issa declares war on Obama

It has been called everything from a ‘witch hunt’, to a waste of time, intended to do little more than distract the electorate, but California Congressman Darrell Issa has declared war on Barack Obama.

The New York Times called Issa, ‘Obama’s annoyer-in-chief,” adding, “Every Congress seems to produce a designated pest, adept at drawing attention to nuisance issues while making trouble for the other party when it controls the White House.”

The winner of this year’s Annoying Pest prize is Issa, whose sole mission appears to be unraveling as much of President Obama’s safety, environmental and banking regulations as he can.

“Now comes Mr. Issa, 57, who was charged with two long-ago auto thefts before eventually making a fortune selling car alarms,” according to the New York Times.

Issa may get support from a fellow republican, newly elected Florida Governor, Rick Scott, who “admitted to 14 counts of Medicare fraud and paid the federal government more than $600 million dollars in fines for his fraudulent billing practices.”

Issa is going to try to accuse the Obama Administration of being ‘corrupt.’ That sounds something like the ‘pot calling the kettle black.’

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Republican plans to roll back regulations raise risks to public safety

In their quest to take the White House in 2012, the GOP is laying the groundwork to unravel as much of the United States government as they can. But the consequences could spell an increase in illness and worker deaths through rollbacks of safety regulations.

Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) has announced  that his personal goal is to tie up the Obama Administration with excessive investigations. Additionally, Issa hopes to push through roll backs of government regulations, including those that include worker and public safety.

Among the GOP targets at public health and safety is the Environmental Protection Agency. Allowing industries to pollute at will, would raise risks to public health. Rollbacks of safety regulations could increase the likelihood of disasters, like the Deepwater Horizon, which killed eleven men, thousands of birds and marine mammals, and left a lingering scare on the environment.

Deadly accidents at mines have also been on the rise, due to safety violations. More are likely to die if safety regulations are removed.

The republican agenda is geared toward allowing corporations to maximize profits, by lowing the costs of environmental and human life protections.

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Incoming Republicans plan to undo bank regulations

After the unethical sale of mortgage-backed securities sparked the mortgage crisis and collapse of banking industry that required the federal government to step in and bail out the banks in 2008, the Obama administration implemented new rules designed to rein in Wall Street bankers to try to prevent another financial disaster.

However, the incoming republican financial services committee chairman, Spencer Bachus of Alabama has vowed to try to undo the new bank regulations.

According to the New York Times, “Bachus has pledged to carve away at the massive financial regulatory overhaul bill passed in 2010.”

Bachus told an Alabama newspaper that it is not the job of lawmakers to protect consumers. Bachus said, "we are here to serve the banks."

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