Normally this project has a negative effect on me. Today is a different story. A cardinal decided to relax – or chillax as some of my youth say – on my front porch. It’s much easier to read about the Postville horrors, robo-violence, or the encroaching fist of the state when such beauty is only a few feet away. Thanks for reading and share this with a friend. We are also looking for original content. Feel free to submit and article via email: burdockmidwest at gmail.com (delete the spaces an replace at with @). – Lentil
Natural Disasters
Strong Start Increases NOAA’s Confidence for Above-Normal Atlantic Hurricane Season
“In the August update to the Atlantic hurricane season outlook, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center has increased the likelihood of an above-normal hurricane season and has raised the total number of named storms and hurricanes that may form.”
National Fire News
The latest on wildfires
Firehouse.com
Wildfire Safety Tips
From the Red Cross.
Natural Disaster News
Human Disasters
This week the WF Report is paying close attention to the raid at a meat packing plant in Postville, Iowa. While this story could have fit in various different categories, we felt it would be best to file it under Human Disasters. Pay close attention to the various aspects of these events – slavery, working conditions reminiscent of The Jungle, and families being ripped apart.
The Postville Raid
“For a tiny town of 2000, Postville, Iowa has been tagged with a lot of superlatives lately. The biggest immigration raid in American history. The biggest Kosher meatpacking plant in the country.”
Court Interpreter Breaks Confidentiality Code to Speak Out for Workers Rounded Up in Largest Immigration Raid in U.S. History
“On May 12th, Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested nearly 400 workers at a meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa in the largest immigration raid in US history. Many were sent to prison. We speak with Erik Camayd-Freixas, a professor and Spanish-language court interpreter who was flown into Iowa for the trial.”
Captives of the Meatpacking Archipelago
“History records that Paul Weyrich, one of the founders of the Moral Majority, the Heritage Foundation and other conservative groups, used to present himself as a soul-brother to the American worker. In his heyday he railed against the “elitist upper class” and established his bona fides by saying, ‘I come from a poor district of working-class people.'”
Economics
Our $100 Trillion National Debt
“The “official” debt of the United States is only around $10 trillion dollars as of August 6, 2008. This is a manageable number; we could pay it off in a few decades if we quit buying luxuries like food and clothing, and take a few other minor economy measures. Unfortunately, the “$10 trillion” number was produced by government accounting, which among other things allows one to ignore Social Security, Medicare, and the new prescription drug benefit. This is like ignoring rent, food, and utilities in your household budget… it will lead to a few bounced checks. Our real debt is about ten times higher.” Bill Walker’s columns are worth reading: Strike The Root; LRC
Nanny State
Prince George’s Raid Prompts Call for Probe
“When the shooting stopped, two dogs lay dead. A mayor sat in his boxers, hands bound behind his back. His handcuffed mother-in-law was sprawled on the kitchen floor, lying beside the body of one of the family pets that police had killed before her eyes.
After the raid, Prince George’s County police officials who burst into the home of Berwyn Heights’ mayor last week seized the same unopened package of marijuana that an undercover officer had delivered an hour earlier.” The police do not exist to protect you.
Is Your Organic Food Really Organic?
A farmer once told me that he wouldn’t use the word organic because the government bastardized it’s meaning. This article shouldn’t really surprise anyone, but it should serve as a reminder that we should get to know the people growing our food. Of course we should also be growing our own.
House Votes to Grant FDA Control of Tobacco Regulation
“This week the US House of Representatives voted 326 to 102 to pass the Family Smoking Prevention Tobacco Control Act, which would grant the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) power to regulate tobacco products. If the legislation is enacted, consumers would see tougher warning labels on cigarettes, as well as tighter restrictions on how they’re marketed, especially to youth.” I often tell people that my sole act as supreme high dictator would be to destroy the advertising industry. However this sort of legislation won’t have any positive long-term effect. The advertising firms will get more money (and power) as “better” ads are developed. Youth will continue smoking. That is unless we see a paradigm shift including more involved parents and mentors.
Overwhelmingly Sufficient Grounds for Impeachment Will Be Sufficient
“Jeremy Rabkin, George Mason University Professor of Law, was one of the Republican, anti-impeachment experts to provide testimony at the Judiciary Committee, “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Impeachment, Non-impeachment Hearing,” on July 25, 2008. Since I’m in support of impeachment and he’s not, it might surprise you to learn that I thought he uttered the most important and spot-on statement of all the panelists.” A great blog post by Jim Babka, one of my favorite political activists.
“Development”
The Economic “Surge” in Haiti…
“Kelley Vlahos and Justin Raimondo (among others) have done a great job in pointing to the way the figures measuring the effects of the surge are being exploited by Bush, McCain and other members of the pro-war coalition.” Leon Hadar waxes poetic.
Western Medicine
Probiotics Use Decreases Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea
Antibiotic means anti-life.
Progress
Remote-Control Warriors Suffer War Stress
“The Air National Guardsmen who operate Predator drones over Iraq via remote control, launching deadly missile attacks from the safety of Southern California 7,000 miles away, are suffering some of the same psychological stresses as their comrades on the battlefield.” This just in – killing is bad whether it is hand to hand combat or via video games.
Shrinks Help Drone Pilots Cope With Robo-Violence
No comment.
The Totality
Anti-Empire Report
What is the Totality?
“It is everything to you. It is civilized existence and the mindset which maintains it.”
Stop Fucking Yourself
Foraging with the Wild Man
Insurgent American’s 35-Point Practical Guide for Action
Teaching Drum Outdoor School
Tamarack Song teaches here.
The We're Fucked Report 