Feds demand 25 more bundles of Indian wood from Gibson Guitars

(NaturalNews) The federal government simply will not leave Gibson Guitars alone. According to a recent report in the Nashville Business Journal , federal authorities have now demanded that Gibson hand over 25 more bundles of legally-obtained Indian wood on top of the several others it already confiscated during a massive raid back in August (http://www.naturalnews.com/033454_Gibson_Guitar_armed_raid.html). Like practically every single other guitar company in the world, Gibson imports a special type of wood known as Madagascar rosewood, as well as ebony, to produce its fretboards. Gibson has long obtained this wood legally from India and other places where it is grown, and has never knowingly violated any laws in producing its guitars which, unlike many other guitar brands, are still produced in the US. But federal agents, acting on behalf of their own subjective interpretation of Indian law (which is not their job to enforce, by the way, especially when the Indian government has viewed the actions as legal), decided to target Gibson for the second time in two years, even though the company has not violated any US laws. Federal authorities claim that Gibson’s wood and ebony imports violate the Lacey Act of 2008, but both the US and Indian governments have long allowed the materials to be imported and exported without issue. You can read a full transcript of Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz’ media statement following the August raid at the following link: http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/News/gibson-0825-2011/ You can also watch a YouTube video of his statements here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_-taqM5Sk0 Despite the fact that Gibson has never even been formally charged with breaking any law, federal officials are now demanding that the company hand over 25 additional bundles of the expensive wood, which is easily worth several million dollars. And why, exactly, are they doing this? Because the Feds allege that in order for the wood to be legal, it would have had to have been manufactured into its finished product in India rather than in the US — and it was exported from India in only a semi-finished state. Yes, outsourcing labor production is the only way Gibson can satisfy the US government at this point. And it appears that unless it complies with this ridiculous misinterpretation of the Lacey Act, Gibson can expect to be completely run out of business. According to a recent report by The Foundry , federal officials are increasingly using the Lacey Act to target legitimate businesses and “create legal traps for the wary and unwary alike.” In other words, by manipulating the interpretation of laws in varying countries, the Feds are deliberately trapping businesses and individuals with illegitimate “violations,” and self-vindicating their illegal and unconstitutional search and seizure activities that follow (http://blog.heritage.org/2011/10/03/gibson-guitar-plays-the-overcriminalization-blues/). Sources for this story include: http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2011/09/28/feds-to-gibson-give-us-more-wood.html

Wannabe experts claim healthy eating is a mental disorder

(NaturalNews) Do you avoid foods that contain artificial colors and sweeteners, and stick to whole, unprocessed foods instead? If so, you just might have orthorexia, an imaginary “disease” created in 1997 by Dr. Steven Bratman that appears to be gaining more attention in recent days. According to a recent report in Yahoo! News, restricting one’s diet to healthy, pure foods is a compulsive disorder that requires cognitive behavior therapy in order to cure. Written about in so-called respected health journals like the Journal of the American Medical Association and Psychology Today , “orthorexia nervosa,” which means “nervous about correct eating” in Latin, allegedly causes malnourishment, anxiety, and social disorders. Its creators claim it stems from a type of obsessive compulsive disorder, and that it can lead to anorexia. As bizarre as it all sounds, there are actually individuals out there that have fallen for the crazy tale that eating healthy is a disease, and some actually take these claims seriously. In other words, eating processed foods filled with artificial chemicals, pesticides, and genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) is considered normal behavior, while eating raw, organic broccoli could potentially land you in a psychiatric hospital filled with pharmaceutical drugs designed specifically to treat your “illness.” NaturalNews covered the issue of orthorexia last summer (http://www.naturalnews.com/029098_orthorexia_mental_disorder.html), but the fictitious disease is once again making the rounds in the mainstream media. According to reports, orthorexics “may start by eliminating processed foods, anything with artificial colorings or flavorings as well as foods that have come into contact with pesticides, and eventually shun other things like caffeine and alcohol.” This ridiculous criteria, of course, includes millions of health-conscious Americans that choose to eat healthy and avoid chemicals. Currently, however, this fake disease has not yet been officially added to the American Psychiatric Association’s ridiculous Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). So any supposed “treatments” that are sure to be developed by drug companies will not qualify for insurance reimbursement. Sources for this story include: http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/new-eating-disorders-are-they-real

Feds raid Amish dairy and threaten action over raw milk sales

(NaturalNews) The U.S. government gestapo is at it again in its crusade against raw milk. Recently, the jackboots swarmed a Pennsylvania Amish man’s private dairy farm for the second time, falsely accusing him of violating the ridiculous prohibition on selling raw milk across state lines. Farmer Dan Allgyer’s farm was raided by the same agents who paid him a visit back in February, telling him both times that they were there for an “inspection”. Just like last time, the agents drove flagrantly past “No Trespassing” and “Private Property”, this time arriving around 4:30 a.m. when Allgyer’s family was still asleep and as he was preparing to milk his cows. The group began to interrogate Allgyer, and served him a warrant claiming they had “credible evidence” that he was involved in interstate commerce involving raw milk. According to Allgyer’s personal account, upon being questioned as to why the agents were at the farm so early when the warrant clearly stated that it was valid only at “reasonable times during ordinary business hours”, one of them retorted that “ordinary business hours for agriculture start at 5 a.m.” After scouring farm equipment and taking a bunch of pictures, the agents eventually left. But the next morning, Allgyer received an overnight, urgent letter from officials about “regulatory action” that would be taken if he failed to take “corrective action”. Some people might not know this, but according to the precedent set by the Wickard v. Filburn case , practically everything can now be considered to affect “interstate commerce” and thus fall under federal jurisdiction. In the little-known case, then President Franklin Roosevelt coerced the Supreme Court into supporting certain New Deal proposals that revolutionized the definition of “interstate commerce”. Wickard v. Filburn had to do with a farmer who was growing too much wheat during a time when there were wheat quotas. To make a long story short, the courts established that even growing your own wheat and feeding it to your cattle falls under the banner of “interstate commerce” because there is the potential to affect interstate commerce. It is under this faulty premise that federal and state agents are challenging Farmer Allgyer and others who may be selling raw milk products directly to consumers. Though Allgyer is running a private farm, federal agents are operating on illegitimate precedent by accusing him of being involved in interstate commerce. For more information about the case and to help fight federal government tyranny against food freedom, please visit the following link: http://www.nicfa.com Sources for this story include: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=144557 http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2010/02/08/fda-agents-invade-amish-farm-in-pa/ http://www.conservapedia.com/Wickard_v._Filburn

Amino acids shown to be effective at treating brain injuries

(NaturalNews) Researchers from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have found in a lab study that amino acids are highly effective at restoring cognitive function and balancing neurochemical levels in those who have undergone brain trauma. Conducted on mice who had been inflicted with traumatic brain damage, the study holds promising potential for humans with similar injuries. The study appeared in the online journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In it, researchers fed brain-injured mice leucine, isoleucine, and valine, three branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) that have been shown to heal severe brain injuries. The result was that the brain-injured mice demonstrated a full cognitive recovery, visibly responding the same as uninjured mice following their treatment. The BCAAs used in the study are the precursors to two important neurotransmitters, glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) which jointly balance proper brain activity. Damage to the hippocampus, the portion of the brain that sustains memory and higher learning, is typical during a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and results in reduced BCAA levels. Supplementation with BCAAs has proven to rejuvenate the brain and restore it to normal function. Intravenous nourishment with BCAAs has been done before, however in this study the BCAA mixture was added to the mice’s drinking water. Dr. Akiva Cohen, Ph.D. and author of the study, recommends dietary supplementation with BCAAs for human TBI treatment. He believes oral rather than intravenous supplementation is preferable because, rather than flood the brain with too high a dose intravenously, drinking BCAAs will provide a more sustained dose with increased benefits. Comments by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger This is interesting research because it shows how dietary supplements can give the brain the raw materials it needs to heal itself. The fact that this process exists at all is considered utterly impossible by the FDA, which maintains the ridiculous position that there is no such thing as a nutritional supplement that has any therapeutic effect on the human body whatsoever. If BCAAs actually worked, the FDA says, they would be “drugs” instead of supplements. And they would be regulated and available only by prescription. The FDA cannot tolerate the existence of a nutritional supplement that actually works to accelerate healing while being freely available to anyone who wants to buy it. Reality, however, stands in contrast to the FDA. In the real world, nutrients do help the brain heal. In the real world, food is medicine . The FDA, to its own embarrassment, continues to deny this simple fact of human physiology. Sources for this story include: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/with-amino-acid-diet-mice-improve-after-brain-injury-78772612.html