From the Vernon Herschberger trial still going on in Baraboo Wisconsin

From David E. Gumpert on the Complete Patient blog:

“Defense testimony from one of Vernon Hershberger’s buying club members since 2004, Joseph Plasterer, as to how he came to seek out the farm’s food.

Plasterer: “We were looking for some natural milk sources, in early 2004.”

Defense lawyer: Did you come and meet the Hershbergers?

Plasterer: “Yes. We asked if we could be part of the farm…

Defense: Did you have a reason?

Plasterer: “My son was not thriving…”

Prosecution: “Objection!”

Judge Guy Reynolds: “Sustained”

Plasterer: “We wanted access to unprocessed food that was higher quality than would not be available from the stores.”

Prosecution: “Objection!'”

Judge Reynolds: “Sustained. Strike the answer. The jury is to ignore that.”

World Health Org. comes out against the use of mercury in dental amalgams

Dr. Mercola has the scoop:

“The World Health Organization (WHO) released its final report on dental amalgam, and has taken a stance against the use of mercury in dentistry — a move that could signal the beginning of the end for this toxic, outdated practice.

In their report, Future Use of Materials for Dental Restoration, WHO committed itself “to work for reduction of mercury and … facilitate the work for a switch in use of dental materials.”

The report states that amalgam “has been associated with general health concerns” and releases a “significant amount of mercury” into the environment.

Dr. Ron Paul on “Liberty, Economy and the Pursuit of Raw Milk in America”

From Mercola.com, via Youtube.com:

As more GMO foods enter the market, non-labeling become a bigger problem

From Dr. Mercola:

“You can avoid sugar, aspartame, trans-fats, or MSG if you’re a savvy reader of labels. But if you want to avoid genetically modified organisms (GMO’s), it’s not so easy. They’re not listed on labels. You could buy organic foods, which by law can’t contain more than 5 percent GMO’s — but now that might not work either.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved three new kinds of genetically engineered foods — alfalfa, a type of corn, and sugar beets. And the FDA will likely soon approve GM salmon, which would become the first genetically modified animal to be sold in the U.S., but probably not the last. And the FDA and USDA will not require any of these products, or foods containing them, to be labeled as genetically engineered.

This despite the fact that over 95 percent of people polled say they think GM foods should require a label.

Bill Gates teams up with Monsanto

From Dr. Mercola on Mercola.com:

“Many have long suspected that U.S. policy on genetically modified (GM) organisms was being influenced by the multinational corporations that profit from genetic engineering and the export-oriented agribusiness. However, recently released Wikileaks cables document just how close that relationship has become.

The U.S. Department of State has virtually become an agency for promoting the private interests of the Monsanto Corporation.

As European social movements pressure their governments for an ongoing moratorium on GM seeds and foods, Monsanto and other biotech corporations have been pushing to find new market footholds, using hybrids even in impoverished Haiti following the January 12, 2010 earthquake. They have been pursuing such goals in collaboration with USAID, the U.S. State Department and the Gates Foundation Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

Obesity and food deserts in America

Via Mercola.com, here are 23 minutes from a program shown on the Qatar-based TV news network Al Jazeera, about obesity, food culture and food business in contemporary America:

“Domino’s Pizza’s domestic sales were falling last year. Then an organization called Dairy Management offered to help. They developed pizzas for Domino’s that contained 40 percent more cheese, and then devised and paid for a $12-million marketing campaign.

Where’s Senator Joe McCarthy when we need him? The TSA, raw milk, Bill S-510 — was the “red menace” ever this real?

What would Senator Joe McCarthy have said about Bill S-510. Would he have seen in it, a creeping communist menace?

Senator Joe McCarthy -- Hey Joe, there's a helluva lot of "unAmerican" activity going on these days. Where are you?

Of course Sen. McCarthy has long been discredited, and communism is dead or so we’re led to believe. But what if Russia was just a beta test for what’s starting to happen in America now, with S-510 and with random TSA checkpoints even on domestic travel?

Raw milk journalist David E. Gumpert is certainly seeing red, over the apparent collusion with the government, of farm and consumer groups who should know better. From his latest post on The Complete Patient blog:

“I keep asking myself, how did we ever get to this point, where political and economic control of America’s food system is on the verge of being turned over to a government agency whose leaders declared early this year we have “no absolute right” to “any particular food” or to “bodily and physical health.”

Dr. Mercola and Mark McAfee talk about raw milk emerging triumphant after many decades of demonization

Here’s a brief excerpt from an epic interview with Mark McAfee on Dr. Mercola’s site:

“…Should Humans Drink Cow’s Milk?

Some people believe that cow’s milk is food for calves only, and should not be consumed by humans to begin with.

However, this may be too simplified a view. As McAfee explains:

Mercola advocates raw milk, discusses A1 A2 beta casein in connection with autism, diabetes, heart disease, etc.

Readers have drawn my attention to the fact that Mercola is quoting the Bovine as a source for his recent story on A1 and A2 milk. Mercola gets most of the idea about how A1 milk is implicated in increased incidence of diseases such as diabetes and autism, and A2 is not. A2 is typically associated with older breeds such as the Guernsey, Asian and African breeds, as well as goats and sheep. Most Holsteins are primarily A1. And of course, the Holstein is by far the most popular breed in North America. 

How now, brown cow? Holstein (left) is typically A1, while Guernsey (right) is typically A2. Seemingly minor mutations of the beta-casein molecule translate into significant effects on human health.

However Mercola does miss one key point, which is that even Holsteins can be bred to be A2, although it typically takes 10 years of concerted effort to convert a herd to A2 by selective breeding. And of course that’s possible only if you know the A1 A2 status of the bulls you’re breeding with — information that’s commonly made available in New Zealand but, to my knowledge, not in many other places.

Still, it’s important that Mercola is taking an interest in the A1 A2 issue and drawing people’s attention to Keith Woodford’s book “Devil in the Milk”. Here’s a bit of what he says in his report:

“As many of you know, I do not recommend drinking pasteurized milk of any kind because the pasteurization process, which entails heating the milk to a temperature of 145 degrees to 150 degrees F and keeping it there for at least half an hour, completely changes the structure of the milk proteins into something far less than healthy.

Pasteurized cow’s milk is the number one allergic food in the United States. It has been associated with a number of symptoms and illnesses including: