We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Iraq records huge rise in birth defects

Click here to access article by Sarah Morrison from The Independent (UK).

I advise you not to read this shortly after consuming a meal--you may lose it.
The new findings, published in the Environmental Contamination and Toxicology bulletin, will bolster claims that US and NATO munitions used in the conflict led to a widespread health crisis in Iraq. They are the latest in a series of studies that have suggested a link between bombardment and a rise in birth defects.
But wait--didn't they have weapons of mass destruction that they were about to use on us? (sarcasm)