Officials Secretly Added Cancer Causing Chemicals to City’s Water Supply

In 2013 and 2014, the City of Sacramento performed a water treatment experiment at the expense of residents of the city “to save money,” according to a local news investigation.

Area residents were never informed about the toxic chemical contamination of their water that resulted from the experiment. “Cancer, miscarriages, and birth defects” are the consequences of consuming those chemicals, but the extent to which Sacramento residents are likely to experience these symptoms is not yet known.

City officials allowed the experiment to continue for an entire year —despite knowing early on that very process was creating carcinogens. For how long that contamination will be suspended in the water supply is up in the air.

Officials experimented on the water with a new added chemical to aid in removing sediment, silt, and other impurities in the water supply: aluminum chlorohydrate (ACH). It was due to replace the chemical known as ALUM that was regularly used to take the larger particles out of river water to treat it. Both chemicals weigh down the sediment to make it easily removable.

However, the addition of ACH to the city’s water supply wound up being ineffective as a treatment — so an excessive quantity of chlorine was added to the water, as well.

An astonishing failure, the combination of excess chlorine and aluminum chlorohydrate ended up yielding carcinogenic toxins known as “DBPs” — disinfection byproducts. Specifically, these are in the class of chemicals known as THMs, or Trihalomethanes.

According to Water Research, THMs are in the same chemical class as chloroform; and, although this water experiment ended about a year ago,the THMs remain in Sacramento’s water supply in levels that exceed EPA regulations. Several readings of THM levels provided to ABC10 exceeded 80 parts per billion, the EPA limit.

The ABC10 investigation says “data showing dozens of readings in excess of the EPA standard of 80 parts-per-billion during the year-long trial. In the Westlake neighborhood, near Sleep Train Arena, during a two-month period between August and October 2013, 11 of 13 readings were above EPA limits. Then in March of 2014, readings were way up across the city. Some people were drinking water with DBP levels above 130 parts-per-billion.”

Sacramento’s Utility Director, Bill Busath, told ABC10 the entire issue had to do with saving money: “There was an expectation that we would be able to save quite a bit of money.”

Bob Bowcock grew up working in the water treatment industry. His description, as reported by ABC10, is telling:

“This community was basically looked at as a laboratory guinea pig, in that they were exposed to violation level trihalomethanes for up to one year without any proper notification whatsoever […] Every corner you turn, on this particular project, it’s red flag, red flag, red flag. It’s like peeling back an onion. There is just another layer. The closer you get to the center, the stronger the smell.”

According to an ABC10 news report:

“Pregnant women and unborn babies, Bowcock said, are especially vulnerable to DBPs. In first trimester pregnancies, there’s a significant rise in miscarriages, and in third trimester there’s evidence of low birth weight,” he said, describing how the DBP-tainted water is even more dangerous when its mists are breathed in while showering or washing dishes.”

This isn’t the only water contamination that affects greater Sacramento — Northside residents need to be aware that McClellan Air Force Base is rumored to be the source of contaminated water, as a “chromium plume” of groundwater contamination radiates from out from the base.

Our water, in other words, is polluted with cancer-causing chromium-6.

According to a June article from the Sacramento Bee:

“Water from six of 11 wells in the Rio Linda-Elverta district tested above the state’s maximum contaminant levels for chromium-6 […] Wells closest to the former McClellan Air Force Base have the highest levels of hexavalent chromium, or chromium-6, a known carcinogen […] Exposure to chromium-6 can lead to skin irritation, occupational asthma, and kidney and liver damage, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.”

A woman from North Sacramento lamented: “I know [the water] gave me cancer.”

Rio Linda resident, Anna Marie Tomlinson, hasn’t touched her tap water in years — because she was the fourth person on her block to get cancer. “I drank it every day,” she said.

How do we allow officials to blindly add chemicals to our water supply? Unfortunately, most of us probably weren’t even aware the first chemical, ALUM, had been added to our drinking water — much less the insane chemical soup that resulted as a byproduct of this reckless experiment.

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Mapping The Correlation Between Thoughts And The Human Body

Psychosomatic interconnectedness refers to the mind (psyche) and body (soma) acting one upon the other in a way that can either prove incredibly synergistic or highly maladaptive to the organism. In a simplistic example, if we have a physical experience in which we are very cold, then it is more difficult to focus on our own thoughts and the activities that we are engaged within. After experience such conditions over an extended period of time, if the cold is substantial, mood will undoubtedly begin to shift towards displeasure as well.

Conversely, in say the mind of a schizophrenic, if they are convinced that someone is following them, chasing them, or reading their thoughts, the body will react in a way as if it is actually occurring regardless of whether it truly is or isn’t. The “lizard brain” of the limbic system in the humans, especially in the emotional response processing center in the amygdala, will flood the perceiver’s’ body with stress hormones e.g. adrenaline, cortisol, norepinephrine all the same.

We combine this notion of a mind-body feedback loop and find the notion of self-fulfilling prophecy tucked away very neatly in this paradigm. Coined as a term by sociologist Andrew K. Merton in 1948, a self-fulfilling prophecy is a concept in which one commits a heavy amount of mental energy into believing a possible outcome will occur, and if/when it does, then uses the resulting event as proof that the one’s “prophecy” was true all along. The alternative holds true for the opposite concept of self-defeating prophecy.

When we look at both psychosomatic connections and self-fulfilling prophecies, there exists a great potential for healing to occur. In his 1990 book titled Quantum Psychology, Robert Anton Wilson details two studies conducted in 1988, both included in the Brain/Mind Bulletin, that explains as such.

The first, conducted by John Barefoot (May 1988) of Duke University studied a sample size of 500 older men and women tracked over a period of 15 years. He found that those who scored high on suspiciousness, cynicism, and hostility died sooner than all the others. This high mortality remained constant when compared by age, sex, previous health, diet, and even “bad habits” e.g. smoking. Those individuals who scored highest on hostility had a death rate more than six times higher than the others.

The second study published shortly after in August 1988 by Shelley Taylor of UCLA and Jonathan Brown of SMU found that those who scored high on “mental health” have a number of illusory beliefs. These individuals hold overly positive views of themselves, conveniently forget negative facts about themselves, hold illusory beliefs about having more control than they do have, have “unrealistic” optimism about themselves, “unrealistic” optimism about the future in general, and lastly, “abnormal” cheerfulness according to Taylor & Brown.

What these two studies show is that we have a choice between two poles. We can choose to submit to what Wilson calls, “hard realism” and be battered down by statistics, unfortunate circumstances, and foreboding probabilities thus creating self-defeating prophecies that create an even larger “reality tunnel” (a term coined by Timothy Leary) that propels us into a never ending chase after further negative “realities” in our own lives.

Conversely, we could likewise choose to begin to attend more to the positive, “illusory beliefs” about the world around us and our own physical bodies and life stories. Whether it is a belief system that promotes faith healing, miracles, crystal healings, and/or regular vitamin intake, or to merely hold a position that is extremely optimistic in its outlook, our mental disposition pertaining to our environment, reality, what is possible, and ourselves within the context of these dynamics carries significant consequences as to our own physical health.

I’m not advocating for ignorance, inaction, or disengagement from any acts of inhumanity or injustice around us in our world today. I am however advocating the opportunity to become more aware of your own perceptions, uncovering more positive truths and understandings of yourself, and to comprehend how the very nature of these truths will undoubtedly affect our health and well being.

References:

Klein, S. April 19, 2013. Adrenaline, Cortisol, Norepinephrine: the Three Major Stress Hormones Explained. Huffington Post.

Troncale, J. April 22, 2014. Your Lizard Brain: the Limbic System and Brain Functioning. Psychology Today.

Wilson, R.A (1990). Quantum Psychology: How Brain Software Programs You & Your World. New Falcon Publications. Tempe, Arizona. U.S.A.

source:

timewheel.net

Shy Shelter Dog FLIPS OUT After Realizing He’s Been Adopted

Since November, Benny, an 8-month-old pit bull, has been on death-row like all other unfortunate abandoned dogs at Carson Animal Care Center, a high-kill shelter in Gardena, California. For weeks nobody wanted to take this shy but sweet doggie home, until a miracle happened.

On December 10th, Benny’s life was spared. He was noticed by a sweet family who decided to adopt him. When the pooch was about to be taken out of the cage, he was so confused and happy, he could barely stay still.

Sadly, way too many kind-hearted dogs spend their last days behind bars and end up being euthanised instead of finding a loving home. Visit this site to know more about how you can help them.

Watch the video below for Benny’s heart-melting reaction.

source:

www.thedodo.com

www.boredpanda.com

State of Emergency Declared in Michigan City After Lead Found in Children’s Blood

Flint, Michigan– “The City of Flint has experienced a Manmade disaster,” said the city’s mayor Monday evening, as she declared a state of emergency over evidently staggering levels of lead in the city’s tap water. Mayor Karen M. Weaver has requested federal assistance to deal with the fallout from over a year’s worth of tainted water delivered to Flint residents and, allegedly, falsely declared safe by government officials.

In September, news broke that lead contamination was on the rise in Flint. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha of the Hurley Medical Center concluded that since the water supply switched from the Detroit system to Flint River in April 2014, the number of infants and children with elevated levels of lead in their blood had doubled, from 2.1% to 4%. While the rise seems small, it is statistically significant. Even so, Attisha warned: “My research shows that lead levels have gone up. I cannot say it’s from the water. But that’s, you know, the thing that has happened.“

The World Health Organization says“lead affects children’s brain development resulting in reduced intelligence quotient (IQ), behavioral changes such as shortening of attention span and increased antisocial behavior, and reduced educational attainment. Lead exposure also causes anemia, hypertension, renal impairment, immunotoxicity and toxicity to the reproductive organs. The neurological and behavioral effects of lead are believed to be irreversible.”

The high levels of lead have beenattributed to old pipes and plumbing, which researchers say rubs off more into Flint River water than it does other sources. Because the water itself is more corrosive than other supplies, it erodes the pipes it flows through, picking up lead along the way.

Flint River is one of the filthiest rivers in Michigan. Over the years, it has housed raw sewage,tires, old refrigerators — which residents have attempted to sift out — and lead. In spite of this, officials declared it safe to drink in April 2014, when they switched the supply to the tainted river.

The change was widely attributed to the city’s switch from Detroit’s water system to the Flint River under the leadership of the city’s previous mayor, Dayne Walling. The shift in supply was a result of failed procedures and negotiations to continue purchasing the water.

Shortly after the April switch, residents complained the water emitted a foul odor and was cloudy in appearance, but local and state officials insisted the water was safe. In spite of these assurances, in January 2015,MLive reported the State Department of Environmental Quality had “issued a notice of violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act for maximum contaminant levels for trihalomethanes — or TTHM — a group of four chemicals that are formed as a byproduct of disinfecting water.”

These chemical byproducts are linked to cancer and other diseases, and presented a separate issue from the lead.

The water was so dirty that in October 2014, General Motors announced it would no longer use treated Flint River water at its engine plant out of fears it would cause corrosion.

Amid growing concerns, parents started buying gallons of bottled water to avoid the Flint River supply. Those who couldn’t afford it, as the Washington Post noted, “drank it straight from the tap all the same, knowing that they would be paying for it later. When it came to bathing, some slowly filled bathtubs with pots of boiled water for their children.”

By October 2015, protests, petitions, and public outrage led Governor Rick Snyder to promptly switch the water supply back to the Detroit System, until Lake Huron’s Karegnondi Water Authority pipeline is ready for use. It is estimated to be operating by the end of 2016.

According to the governor’s press secretary, David Murray, an “action plan” created by Snyder amid the protests provides “free water testing, free water filters and the accelerating of corrosion controls in the drinking water system.”

Even so, concerns over lead poisoning remain at the forefront of many resident’s lives. In November, a class-action suit representing tens of thousands of residents was filed against Snyder, the city, the state, and 13 other public officials. It claims that “For more than 18 months, state and local government officials ignored irrefutable evidence that the water pumped from the Flint River exposed [residents] to extreme toxicity. The deliberately false denials about the safety of the Flint River water was as deadly as it was arrogant.” The suit claims officials deprived residents of their 14th amendment rights by deliberately providing them with water they knew to be toxic.

The plaintiffs allege their health complications include “skin lesions, hair loss, chemical-induced hypertension, vision loss and depression.” Four families are described in the complaint, two of which say they ceased using the water and still suffered medical hardship.

Murray said the governor’s office disagreed with points in the suit but declined to comment further.

As a result of the apparent health ramifications, Mayor Weaver anticipates an increased need for certain services in the years to come. In her declaration of emergency on Monday, she argued increased learning disabilities and lower IQs caused by lead will require increased special education services, among other resources. She called for a Special Meeting of the Genesee County Board of Commissioners no later than this month.

Her declaration received mixed reviews from city councilmen. Scott Kincaid praised the move for alerting federal authorities of the dire situation. Josh Freeman, however, warned residents not to expect immediate change because of the mayor’s statement. “We need to find a way to actually fix the problem,” Freeman said. “This declaration does not [fix the problem].“

Either way, one sentiment remains consistent: As the class-action suit alleges, authorities “violated the constitutional rights of Plaintiffs and Plaintiff Class members by acting in a manner that shocks the conscience and was deliberately indifferent to the those constitutional rights, as well as to the health and well-being of the Plaintiffs.

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HUNDREDS OF ISIS JIHADISTS ALREADY IN EUROPE PREPARING PARIS STYLE ATTACKS

Hundreds of ISIS jihadists have already slipped into Europe and are preparing Paris-style attacks, with hundreds more on the way, according to a source that spoke to Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet.

“The first wave is said to already have travelled to Europe. The second wave is still with the terror group in Syria – after having received training in a militant camp between Sinjar and Mosul in Iraq. The Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) confirms to Dagbladet that they are familiar with the information,” reports Dagbladet, Norway’s second largest newspaper.

The source, whose information has previously been proven accurate, told the newspaper that 300 jihadists were trained to carry out massacres in Europe. 28 lost their lives in Syria but 272 made it into Europe and have been “instructed to lay low.”

The second wave of jihadists numbers 150, with 112 having already received training in a militant camp between Sinjar and Mosul in Iraq before traveling to ISIS’ Raqqa stronghold in Syria where they are waiting to cross into Europe.

The first wave of terrorists, who were trained in Raqqa, consists of some who have been “completely brainwashed” in preparation for martyrdom suicide attacks, while another set has been “trained to plan attacks using handguns and suicide belts.”

As we previously highlighted, numerous jihadists, including some of the terrorists involved in the Paris massacre, have already exploited the “refugee” program to sneak into Europe.

Austrian police recently arrested two men who had been hiding amongst refugees at a migrant camp in Salzburg. The men, who entered Greece on fake Syrian passports, reportedly, “travelled with members of the terror cell that carried out the 13 November attacks that killed 130 people.”

A further three individuals who posed as “refugees” were also connected to the November 13 Paris attacks, including the mastermind behind the plot, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who brazenly revealed how he exploited the migrant red carpet to plot bloodshed.

Authorities also discovered images of ISIS flags and severed heads on the cellphones of hundreds of asylum seekers crossing into Norway.

An 18-year-old asylum seeker was recently arrested in the Netherlands after he reportedly told other refugees that he fought alongside Al-Qaeda and ISIS in Syria.

Earlier this month, a newly uncovered ISIS manifesto bragged about how the terror organization was planning on exploiting the refugee program to infiltrate jihadists into Europe and set up radicalized Muslim ghettos in major cities.

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Reporter Asks Obama Question About ISIS He Doesn’t Want To Hear

President Obama blames media coverage for the lack of confidence Americans have in his policy to contain ISIS. In an interview with National Public Radio released Monday, Obama also said that America “is not threatened” by ISIS.

“What is the public missing about your strategy?” NPR Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep asked Obama in an interview that took place before Obama jetted off to his vacation in Hawaii. “And I say that simply because, according to polls, you don’t have much approval for it.”

“Well, I think what’s fair is that, post-Paris, you had a saturation of news about the horrible attack there. And ISIL combines viciousness with very savvy media operations. And as a consequence, if you’ve been watching television for the last month, all you’ve been seeing, all you’ve been hearing about is these guys with masks or black flags who are potentially coming to get you,” Obama said.

“So I understand why people are concerned about it,” he added. “This is a serious situation. But, it’s important for people to recognize that the power, the strength of the United States and its allies, are not threatened by an organization like this.”

Commentator Stephen R. Miller poked holes in Obama’s logic on National Review Online.

“Blaming such anxiety on faulty messaging and over-saturation of terror coverage by networks might be a more plausible assessment if there hadn’t been an actual pattern of recent attacks and attempts both at home and abroad, even as the president has written ISIS off as the junior-varsity team and has focused more on the fate of the polar bear,” Miller wrote.

“The Islamic State and its ideological affiliates are trying, and sometimes succeeding, to come get us, and Americans have noticed. They have come to both Fort Hood and Garland in Texas. They have come to Chattanooga. They have come to Boston, and, of course, to San Bernardino,” he wrote.

Miller noted that the White House has said it will increase the number of media events designed to show Obama engaged with Middle Easy policy.

“He apparently believes the realm of propaganda and media are all that really matter, and thinks that if his administration controls the message, then they can contain the problem and can hold the barbarians off just long enough for him to escape his second term mostly unscathed, despite having the lowest approval ratings of his presidency on his handling of terrorism,” he wrote.

Miller disagrees
“The reason the public is concerned is because we see ISIS coming to civilian metropolitan areas, and we see a dangerously disconnected president — one who golfs and fills out NCAA brackets after beheading videos go viral, or admits he pays more attention to ESPN in the mornings than to news,” Miller wrote.

Check out the interview here. The “what is the public missing” question comes about the 3:30 mark.

source:www.theblaze.combeforeitsnews.com

In an unprecedented protest against the routine offenses against due process and bodily integrity carried out in the name of the “war on drugs,” the union representing Pittsburgh police officers has condemned workplace drug and alcohol testing as a violation of the Constitution. Their zeal for the right to privacy only applies to themselves, however, not to the public they supposedly serve.

NBC affiliate WPXI reports that the Pittsburgh Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police “has filed a civil rights grievance against the city, claiming officers have been order to undergo drug and alcohol testing that is in violation of their contract.” Union attorney Bryan Campbell describes the policy as “an illegal search and seizure.”

To which those not protected by Blue Privilege might respond: Welcome to our world, FOP.

Under the contract between the City of Pittsburgh and its paramilitary affiliate, police officers can be subjected to drug or alcohol tests only in three circumstances: When an officer displays signs of impairment on the job, fires a weapon, or is involved in a vehicle crash. The union’s complaint arises from a recent pursuit that ended in a car crash. Two officers who participated in the chase but were not directly involved in the crash were required to undergo testing.

Another blatantly obvious reason for police opposing public scrutiny of their urine is that it could reveal the usage of such things as anabolic steroids. Police officers are no stranger to ‘Vitamin S’ as many of them have not only been caught using the rage-inducing hormones, but selling them as well.

Chief Cameron McLay insists that the terms of the contract allow him to require tests of all officers involved in a pursuit, irrespective of whether they were also involved in a collision. Union attorney Campbell suggests that the city is sacrificing the rights of his clients in order to protect itself in the event of a lawsuit: “They [the officers] don’t forfeit their constitutional rights to protect the city from a civil liability.”

The union complaint may be as much a negotiating tactic as an assertion of Blue Privilege:Since April it has been involved in highly contentious contract arbitration with the Mayor over budget restrictions imposed through the city’s “Act 47 plan,” a financial restricting program for municipalities trying to stave off bankruptcy. The plan called for a pay freeze this year, followed by a one percent raise next year, and raises of two percent in 2017 and 2018. These increases – which would be eagerly and gratefully received by people in the still-struggling productive sector – are disdained by the police union as insufficient.

Police in Pittsburgh have eagerly supplemented the revenue stream through the officially sanctioned theft called “civil asset forfeiture,” seizing more than $700,000 in cash and 11 vehicles in 2013-2014 (albeit much of the haul was collected subsequent to charges that generally resulted in a plea bargain). Special interest lobbyists associated with law enforcement are voluble in opposition to a proposed state bill that would place some restrictions on the practice. During the last legislative session, anti-reform lobbyists denounced the bill – which would reinforce the constitutional principle that punishment should be imposed following an actual conviction – as a “drug dealer’s bill of rights.”

Residents of Pittsburgh who are found in possession of small amounts of marijuana can still face criminal charges that “can cost [them jobs, housing, and leave them with a criminal record,” pointed out the Post-Gazette on November 17.

Criminal defense lawyer Patrick Nightingale, executive director of the Pittsburgh chapter of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), points out that someone found in possession of a minuscule amount of cannabis will “still have to be fingerprinted, they will still have their offense recorded in a national database. They will still have a rap sheet.”

The City Council is considering a measure that would permit the police to issue a non-traffic citation instead of a misdemeanor summons for possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana or eight grams of hashish. This would result in a city fine of $100 and seizure of the contraband – in other words, it would offer a reduction in prohibition-related penalties while preserving the drug war infrastructure. This helps explain why the proposed city ordinance is supported by the Pittsburgh Police Bureau, whose personnel are seeking to retain their special immunity against the kind of drug war-inspired infringements of personal liberty routinely inflicted by them.

source:

thefreethoughtproject.com