2/3rds of US Corporations Pay ZERO (0) Federal Taxes

2/3rds of US Corporations Pay Zero Federal Taxes

By Allison Kilkenny, The Nation
Posted on March 27, 2011, Printed on March 31, 2011

Saturday marked US Uncut's second big nationwide protest. From coast-to-coast, more than forty cities joined in a day of action protesting the tax-dodging practices of massive corporations that they see as the real source of the country's deficit.

"I'm tired of people calling for shared sacrifice and it's all coming from the workers and nothing's coming from the top," says protester Dave Sonenberg. "I'm sick of companies like Bank of America not paying their taxes."

Bank of America hasn't paid a nickel in federal income taxes for the past two years, and in fact raked in an additional $1 billion in tax "benefits." The bank is enjoying these profits after accepting $45 billion from taxpayers, which the company then got to count as a deduction when they paid back the money.

Big corporations get to play by a whole different set of rules, says tax expert Bob Willens of New York-based Robert Willens LLC:

It's also not unusual for a company to pay no federal taxes, while still paying state and local taxes, Willens said. Items that can be deducted for federal purposes aren't always deductible for state and local returns, he said. State taxes can also be based on the amount of capital deployed in a state, not pre-tax income.

This is why two-thirds of corporations in America pay no federal income taxes. If they were forced to, we're told, the whole country would suffer. Jobs would be lost, salaries slashed. Thank heavens we've avoided such calamity by allowing corporations to shape legislation in their favor.

In 2010, Bank of America handed out $2.2 million in campaign contributions to Congressional representatives and PACs (36 percent went to Democrats, 64 percent to Republicans). By throwing around that much cash, huge companies like BoA have a big say when it comes to crafting legislation that permits them to escape paying taxes, according to US Uncut organizer J.A. Myerson.

"The reason it's not illegal is because they have bought and paid for the people who make the laws. The laws are made to accommodate this sort of nefariousness," he says, adding that the process is wrong, and ordinarily that would mean approaching Congress to ask them to fix it, but there's no point in attempting that when the system is so heavily rigged in favor of the rich and well connected. "So what US Uncut is doing right now is not Capitol Hill lobbying because that doesn't seem like it's a fruitful avenue. It's trying to directly undermine the ability of Bank of America to earn record windfall profits by depleting the public trust that they are an upstanding member of society."

The rigged game has left citizens feeling burnt and angry. An activist named Sally says BoA's practice of evicting people from their homes without the original mortgage notes is illegal, but that "illegal doesn't seem to matter."

Want BEEF AND CHICKEN?

Large American cattle farms actually feed chicken manure to cattle because it is so cheap and because we produce way too much of it to properly dispose of as fertilizer.

Wal-Mart CEO says consumers should expect "serious inflation" in food and clothing in the coming months

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2011-03-30-wal-mart-ceo-expects-inflation_N.htm

Fukushima meltdown update: Cesium in the soil, ocean waters contaminated and fuel core meltdown now under way

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor 

(NaturalNews) Here are the latest developments on the Fukushima catastrophe, including quotes from a well-known physicist who is now raising the alarm over "three raging meltdowns" at the Fukushima complex.

• As the Wall Street Journal reports (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...), the U.S. government has now admitted that radiation is being found in milk from Washington state. They say it's "safe" to drink, of course. That's the U.S. government for you: Irradiated milk is safe, but raw milk is dangerous! 

• The battle to save Fukushima is now over, as Japanese officials admit the nuclear power complex must now be abandoned and entombed (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...). The Dailymail published, "officials said it would mean switching off all power and abandoning attempts to keep the nuclear fuel rods cool." The problem with that, of course, is that there are already "three raging meltdowns" under way as Dr. Kaku explains (below). If you abandon efforts to cool the fuel rods, then an accelerated meltdown is "inevitable," says Dr. Kaku.

• Japanese nuclear experts now admit it will require 20 years to decommission the Fukushima nuclear reactors. (http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/20...)

• Cesium-137 has now been found 25 miles from Fukushima at such dangerously high concentrations that they far exceed the threshold of land abandonment used by the Soviet Union following the Chernobyl catastrophe (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/w...). This is raising questions of whether the evacuation zone around Fukushima should now be expanded.

• It has now been revealed that Japan's nuclear disaster preparedness plans were written by complete morons. The entire Fukushima power plant complex, for example, called for only one emergency stretcher to be on-site, and only 50 protective suits (even though hundreds of people worked there). Do you see shades of the TITANIC at play here? (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...)

• In a shocking video interview, physicist Dr. Michio Kaku explained, "If it goes to a full-scale evacuation of all personnel, it means that firefighters are no longer putting water onto the cores. That's the only thing preventing a full-scale meltdown at three reactor sites. Once they evacuate, then we past the point of no return. Meltdowns are inevitable at three reactor sites, leading to a tragedy far beyond that of Chernobyl, creating permanent dead zones in Japan." Watch that video at: http://naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=604AB...

• Meanwhile, the Fukushima denialists are in full swing, complaining that anyone talking about Fukushima's meltdown is "fearmongering." One especially idiotic journalist in the UK constructed a completely fabricated article today, claiming that "nobody has suffered or will suffer any radiological health consequences [from Fukushima]." How's that for a total denial of reality? This writer goes on to say, "The nuclear power plants in the stricken region have suffered less damage and caused less trouble to local residents than anything else that was there." (I'm not linking to this source because they don't deserve the attention, but trust me, this is from a major newspaper in the UK.) It just goes to show you that these spin doctors will stop at nothing to try to convince people that nuclear power is the safest thing in the world. There's little question that most of these denialists are on the payroll of the nuclear industry (or just hate the human race for their own twisted or demonic reasons).

• As reported by the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/w...), "The level of radioactive iodine 131 in the waters off the Daiichi plant continued to increase on Thursday, rising to 4,385 times the statutory limit... The increases raise the possibility that contaminants from the plant are continuously leaking into the sea."

• Fears about radioactive seafood are growing as Japan's ocean waters are increasingly contaminated with very high levels of radiation, now even exceeding the 3,300 times recently reported (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Taint...).

But remember, everyone: There's nothing to worry about according to your government! Don't be concerned about radiation. It's invisible, so it must be safe!

At least, that's the message we're hearing from many "official" sources. The FDA, laughably, thinks that drinking radioactive milk in the U.S. is just fine for you, but drinking RAW milk is extremely dangerous!

That's how twisted things have become in our world today: The stuff that's actually good for you is outlawed, criticized or suppressed. But the things that are really dangerous for your health -- ionizing radiation, vaccines, GMOs, chemotherapy and pesticides -- are all promoted as the solutions for our world.

It's insane, of course. Beyond insane. And it's all being done in the name of "science," which has proven itself to be the cause of needless suffering, death and destruction across our world. Beware of anything being done today under the claim of being "scientific." That's now a red flag keyword for something that will probably either harm your health or contribute to the destruction of the planet.

If you're not yet subscribed to NaturalNews, sign up now (it's free) to receive a daily email from me, containing breaking news for that day. We protect your email address and do NOT sell it to anyone. You can unsubscribe at any time. Register at http://www.naturalnews.com/ReaderRe...

Watch for more breaking news about the Fukushima catastrophe here on NaturalNews.

Fukushima beyond point of no return as radioactive core melts through containment vessel

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor 

(NaturalNews) The battle to save the Fukushima nuclear power plant now appears lost as the radioactive core from Reactor No. 2 has melted through the containment vessel and dropped into the concrete basement of the reactor structure. This is "raising fears of a major release of radiation at the site," reports The Guardian, which broke the story (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/201...). A former General Electric nuclear expert told The Guardian that Japan appears to have "lost the race" to save the reactor. 

The only feasible interpretation from this analysis is that radiation emissions from Fukushima could suddenly become much greater. It is also now obvious that the radioactive fallout from Fukushima will last for decades, if not centuries.

Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan last night admitted the situation at Fukushima remains "unpredictable." Meanwhile, the presence of plutonium in soil samples is proof that the nuclearfuel rods have been compromised and are releasing material into the open atmosphere. (http://www.breitbart.com/article.ph...)

But don't worry (and don't prepare)

How many times were we told over the last two weeks that the Fukushima situation was solved? How many times were we assured there was "no danger" to the world? President Obama even went out of his way to tell Americans they should not prepare for anything, since there was nothing to worry about.

Don't acquire any potassium iodide, people were told. The situation is completely under control and nuclear power is safe, clean and green!

That's the GE spin machine talking, of course, and I don't mean the spin cycle on your rusty old washing machine. It's the network of corporate lies that has characterized the nuclear power industry for at least the last three decades. And now those lies are coming back to haunt us all.

What's next: Radioactive gas

So what happens now that the fuel core from Reactor No. 2 has burned its way through the containment vessel and dropped to the concrete floor? It follows the laws of physics, of course: The super-heated nuclear fuel reacts with the concrete material in the floor, producing highly radioactive gas which now runs the risk of escaping into the atmosphere if it gets through the outer containment wall.

But that's precisely the problem, you see. The outer containment wall was partially destroyed by the original hydrogen gas explosion that rocked Reactors 2 and 3. So we may be looking at a situation right now where there is nothing in the way of a massive release of radioactive gas from Fukushima. It all has the makings of a ticking (dirty) time bomb.

When should Americans actually start preparing? Never!

It makes you wonder: At what point will the worsening situation in Fukushima cross the threshold of President Obama's resistance to urge Americans to take prudent precautions against the possibility of serious radioactive fallout? The policy in Washington today seems to be that no event is serious enough to warrant preparedness actions among the American people.

Our Nobel Peace Prize-winning President seems to be too busy declaring illegal wars in Libya to spend even five minutes urging people on the West Coast to take sensible precautions against the increasing possibility of increased radiation exposure.

That's what the alternative press is for, of course: Bringing people the news and information they won't get from "official" sources that have strong financial ties to the nuclear power industry. While Obama tells Americans to do nothing, NaturalNews urges Americans to take basic preparedness precautions to be ready for any event the world may throw our way.

Preparedness is a rarity in modern cities

As the citizens of Japan have recently learned the hard way, virtually no one has any extra stored water, food or medicine in the cities these days. Very few people are prepared for even small disruptions in basic infrastructure and supply lines. The average American living in a city today would die in less than 7 days if cut off from the grid supply of food and water. Their entire preparedness plan is to "trust the government."

That's what the Japanese people did, too. And now they're paying for that misplaced trust with what may soon become the most catastrophic nuclear disaster in the history of human civilization.

Although Fukushima doesn't look likely to suffer a large, one-time radiation explosion like Chernobyl, it's now clear that the Fukushima nuclear complex is going to emit radiation for a very, very long time. It now seems almost certain that Japan must bury the facility under millions of tons of concrete and sand.

How do you bury Fukushima for good?

The problem is that there's not even enough concrete in Japan to handle the job. To accomplish such a task, Japan would have to import not only thousands of pieces of industrial concrete-handling trucks and machinery; it would also have to import concrete materials by the ship-load. We're talking about millions of tons of concrete materials, shipped in by ocean, from all over the world.

Has anybody done the math on how long that will take to coordinate? Just getting the materials shipped to Japan within 30 days would be a miracle. And you can't just plop down concrete and hope it sticks: You have to engineer the concrete effort so that it can resist future tsunamis and earthquakes. Normally, this would be at least a five-year project.

Essentially, you have to build a whole new massive concrete containment structure on top of the existing nuclear complex. And remember: It was the corruption and cover-ups from the first such engineering project that helped cause this situation in the first place!

That's why this situation in Fukushima looks a lot more like Fubar than Fukushima. Fubar, of course, is an endearing snippet from American slang which means "don't worry; the government is here to save you!"

Watch for more reporting on this incident here at NaturalNews.com, and subscribe to our daily email alerts to be kept up to date on this developing situation:http://www.naturalnews.com/ReaderRe...

Japanese PM Signals 'Maximum Alert' Over Fukushima Nuke Crisis

(RTTNews) - Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has said his government is in a state of maximum alert over high-level radiation leaked from the quake-wrecked nuclear power plant in the country's northeast.

Speaking at the House of Councilors Budget Committee on Tuesday, Kan said the situation at the plant "continues to be unpredictable" and that the government "will tackle the problem while in a state of maximum alert."

He gave the assurance to the parliamentary committee after traces of radioactive water as well as highly toxic plutonium were detected outside the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Kan told the House that he planned to present a quake-relief budget by the end of April, and proposed a possible tax hike as the government struggled to secure funds.

Kan said he would be seeking advice from nuclear experts if it was necessary to extend the evacuation zone around the plant.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said they had detected seepage of radioactive water in the tunnel linked to the plant's reactor number 2 on Monday. Although the tunnel is only about 55 meters from the shore, TEPCO insisted that there was no evidence that the contaminated water had reached the sea.

It later admitted that traces of highly toxic plutonium, a byproduct of atomic reactions and also used in making nuclear bombs, have also been found in soil at five locations at the plant.

Claiming that the traces of plutonium found outside the reactor buildings were too small to threaten human health, the company stressed that the discovery would not suspend the ongoing efforts at the plant to avert a nuclear meltdown.

Experts suspect that leakage of plutonium may have been from the spent fuel rod storage at the plant or from reactor number 3, the only one among the plant's six reactors to use plutonium as fuel.

Meanwhile, the government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said radioactive water that had been filling up underground trenches of the plant had not been confirmed to have overflowed into the Pacific Ocean.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters that the situation at Fukushima was very serious, and said that the government was doing its best to control the damage.

Engineers are battling to restore power and restart the cooling systems at the power station, which was shut down following radiation leak caused by explosions and fires triggered by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami.

Several countries, including the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, China and Australia, have banned food imports from radiation-hit areas of Japan.

Japan has already suspended exports of milk, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and turnips after the nuclear plant, located 250 kilometers northeast of Tokyo, released radioactive materials.

Japanese government estimates that it would cost up to 25 trillion yen ($309 billion) to reconstruct the country ravaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that left more than 27,000 people dead or missing across a swath of northern Japan.

by RTT Staff Writer

For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com

EPA to Help Mainstream Media Obscure The Truth About Radiation Exposure to Americans

EPA to Help Mainstream Media Obscure The Truth About Radiation Exposure to Americans

Posted By admin On March 29, 2011 @ 4:42 am In Featured Stories |

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post ^[1]
March 29, 2011

As Americans focus on March Madness and Dancing With the Stars instead of the radioactive plume spreading all across the country, the US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is attempting to make the mainstream media cover up of the Fukushima cloud a bit easier.

The agency now notorious for its infamous claim ^[2] that the air was safe to breathe after 9/11 is now seeking to raise the PAGs ^[3](Protective Action Guides) to levels vastly higher than those at which they are currently set allowing for more radioactive contamination of the environment and the general public in the event of a radioactive disaster.

PAGs are policies established by the EPA that guide the agency in enforcing the various environmental laws such as the Clean Air and Water Act in the invent of a radioactive emergency such as a nuclear/dirty bomb or factory meltdown like that occurring in Japan.

The EPA had already established PAGs in this area in 1992. They can be found here ^[4]. However, the agency now plans to amend and revise these standards this year.

Because regulatory agencies form their own policies (although they can be directed by either the President or the Congress), there is no requirement to seek Congressional approval for these changes. All that is required is that the agency place the proposed changes in the Federal Register for public comment before it finalizes its draft into legal policy.

According to PEER ^[7] (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, the new standards ^[8] would drastically raise the levels of radiation allowed in food, water, air, and the general environment. PEER, a national organization of local, state, and federal employees who had access to internal EPA emails, claims that the new standards will result in a "nearly 1000-fold increase for exposure to strontium-90, a 3000 to 100,000-fold hike for exposure to iodine-131; and an almost 25,000 rise for exposure to radioactive nickel-63" in drinking water. This information, as well as the emails themselves were published by Collapsenet on March 24.

In addition to raising the level of permissible radiation in the environment, PEER suggests that the standards of cleanup after a radioactive emergency will actually be reduced. As a result, radioactive cleanup thresholds will be vastly lowered and, by default, permissible levels of radiation will be vastly increased in this manner as well.

As Michael Kane writes for Collapsenet, the current EPA numbers, as well as those generally agreed upon in the international radiation assessment community, all point to the fact that these increases in permissible levels would create a level of radiation where approximately 1 in 4 people would contract cancer from exposure to them.

The changes to the 1992 PAGs are not a new attempt by the EPA. The agency attempted similar changes in 2009 but the revisions were stopped largely by a barrage of FOIA requests and a lawsuit filed by PEER. However, in 2009 there was no massive radiation disaster the EPA needed to cover up as there is at the current time. In 2009, the EPA could afford to back off, regroup, and try again at a later date. Unfortunately, it is not likely to react the same way this time around.

As of the time of this writing, a toxic cloud of radiation has not only reached the US West Coast, but has spread all the way across the country to states like South Carolina ^[9], North Carolina ^[10], Florida, and Massachussetts ^[11]. Both the US government and the mainstream media have largely denied any risk associated with the radiation and have actively engaged in covering up the extent to which it has spread across the country.

In the event of any real journalism, the revelation of the danger and scale of the Japanese radiation cloud could be disastrous for those who hide the truth from the people who are sure to suffer the consequences. Indeed, the revelation that a toxic cloud of cancer-causing particles is littering the United States (especially in real time) might even be too much for the average television- and sports-obsessed American to handle.
However, the lowering of safety standards for radiation contamination would be a major victory for those wishing to cover it up. After all, the talking heads would then be able to claim that the radiation levels are within the safety range set by the EPA.

No cause for worry.

Regardless of the motivation behind these new changes, they must be actively opposed. We cannot allow the veil to be pulled even further over the eyes of the American people. At the very least, we cannot allow an agency charged with protecting both the environment and the people who live in it to set standards alleviating itself of that responsibility.

Brandon Turbeville is an author out of Mullins, South Carolina. He has a Bachelor's Degree from Francis Marion University where he earned the Pee Dee Electric Scholar's Award as an undergraduate. He has had numerous articles published dealing with a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, and civil liberties. He also the author of Codex Alimentarius – The End of Health Freedom ^[12]

Obesity Surgery Even Worse than Previously Thought

Posted By Dr. Mercola | March 28 2011 | 302 views

A study has found that nearly half of a group of patients who received gastric band surgery for weight loss over ten years ago had the bands removed because of medical complications.

The study is the first to track laparoscopic gastric band surgery outcomes over a long period. The bands eroded in almost a third of the patients, and sixty percent went on to undergo additional weight loss surgery in spite of the bands.

According to the New York Times:

"Researchers concluded that the adjustable gastric band surgery, which is growing in popularity in the United States, 'appears to result in relatively poor long-term outcomes.' The results 'are worse than we expected,' said Dr. Jacques Himpens ... lead author of the new study."

Sources:

  New York Times March 24, 2011 

These 7 Foods are a MASSIVE Waste of Your Money...

Posted By Dr. Mercola | March 29 2011 | 156,730 views

Did you know that even the lowest-priced supermarket is brimming with complete rip-offs? From health foods that aren't healthy to gourmet foods that aren't gourmet, every store is chock-full of items that can be a big wallop to your pocketbook, unless you know the secrets to shopping wisely.

A sample rip-off list comes with a couple surprises – for example, did you know that gluten-free bread may not be the bargain you expect or that cereal packages with cartoons on the front are red lights for rip-offs?

The good news is there's a nice long list of 40 items that not only give you a good bang for your buck, but a boost to your health as well, such as blueberries, cinnamon, and sweet potatoes.

Sources:

  Yahoo Health March 4, 2011 

  Menshealth.com 2010 

 

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

When it comes to the price of food, I think it's extremely important to remember that a food cannot be judged by its sticker price alone. Whether or not you're actually getting any nutrition from it is far more important. Believe me, a diet consisting of daily $1.99 hamburgers and other fast foods, while appearing to be frugal, is far from it when you consider what these foods are doing—or not doing—to your health.

This will be a progressively increasing concern as we are virtually assured in the United States and many other countries that there will be serious inflation coming as a result of the massive devaluation of the dollar.

Processed Foods are Massive Rip-Offs

While trying to list every single food that's a complete rip-off would result in a very thick book, I firmly believe it's safe to say that virtually all processed snacks and the majority of processed, pre-packaged meals are a massive waste of money. These types of foods consist mainly of fillers and additives, and very few actual nutrients. So while Funyuns made it onto Yahoo Health's list of rip-offs, I can't think of a single chip or puffed snack that doesn't belong on that list.

The same goes for virtually all breakfast cereals, whether they have cartoons on the box or not. Most cereals are frightfully high in sugar, and any nutrients they boast are in the form of suboptimal synthetic additives, or worse.

For example, iron fortified cereals can contain actual iron filings, which is a far cry from the bioavailable iron you get from iron-rich vegetables like spinach. If you haven't seen this eye-opening demonstration of what's really in that fortified breakfast cereal, take a look now—you'll probably never buy another box of cereal again, and rightfully so.

Organic Rip-Offs

I do agree with the contention that some organic foods are rip-offs, when their conventional counterparts are already grown using low amounts of pesticides and the food in question must be peeled anyway, such as bananas.

The Environmental Working Group is a reliable source when trying to decide on what to buy organic. According to their latest 2010 pesticide review, the following 12 foods rank as the most pesticide-free produce, even when conventionally-grown, so you can save a few bucks by opting for the conventionally-grown version of these:

Onions	Avocados	Watermelon
Pineapple	Mango	Frozen sweet peas
Asparagus	Kiwi	Cabbage
Eggplant	Cantaloupe

Frozen sweet corn was on the list above but I've removed it to avoid confusion. I do NOT recommend consuming non-organic corn and even organic corn should be consumed sparingly.

The foods you want to splurge on by buying organic are foods that have permeable or edible skins, and/or that are conventionally grown with higher amounts of pesticides. Based on the EWG's report, the top 12 foods to buy organic include:

Grapes	Potatoes	Kale / Collard greens
Cherries	Spinach	Sweet bell peppers
Nectarines	Blueberries	Apples
Strawberries	Peaches	Celery

For the whole list of produce, ranked from best to worst in terms of pesticide load, please see the EWG's listing.

Another major organic rip-off is organic milk. Because while organic milk must come from a cow that hasn't been fed artificial growth hormones or pesticide-laden feed, they're not necessarily pastured, or grass-fed cows. And worst of all organic milk (unless RAW) is still pasteurized, which destroys vital nutrients.

So, just because it's organic, doesn't mean it's worth a much higher price.

Rip-Offs in the Meat and Fish Aisles

When it comes to meats and fish, a lot of what you find in your local grocery store is not worth their price when you consider their nutrient to contamination ratio.

Yahoo Health' rip-off list includes swordfish, which is still considered a luxury by many. But when you factor in the high amounts of mercury you get from that swordfish, it just doesn't rank so high on the wish list anymore. Why would you want to pay $20 a pound or more knowing it's so contaminated that children and pregnant women shouldn't have a single serving of it?

I would also add any and all farmed fish to the list of rip-offs.

Nature didn't intend for fish to be crammed into pens and fed soy, GM corn, antibiotics, poultry litter and hydrolyzed chicken feathers. As a result of this practice, farmed salmon, for example, is lower in vitamin D and higher in contaminants, including carcinogens, PCBs, brominated flame retardants, and pesticides such as dioxin and DDT.

As for meat, I advise everyone to avoid conventionally-raised beef.

Why?

Because cattle were designed  to eat grass, not grains. But farmers today feed their animals corn and soybeans, which fatten up the animals faster for slaughter. Compared with corn-fed beef, organically-raised grass-fed beef is higher in beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega-3s, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), calcium, magnesium, and potassium.

Conventionally-raised beef is also very high in pesticides (due to eating conventionally grown grains, and perhaps even genetically modified grains). In fact, non-organic meats can have up to five times more pesticides than non-organic vegetables!

This is why I recommend always buying organic, grass-fed beef. If you have to choose between buying organic beef or organic produce—get the organic beef. It'll give you the greatest bang for your buck in terms of health benefits.

Diet as "Health Insurance"

You can't tune into the news today without hearing about rising food prices. But rest assured, by knowing what foods to spend your money on, you can still protect and optimize your health without going bankrupt in the process.

Men's Health offers a list of 40 nutrient-dense food items—and that's really the key here. By opting for foods that are rich in vital nutrients, your body can thrive. This will automatically cut down on the inevitable health care costs you'd incur by making foolish dietary choices.

Below is a list of foods rich in nutrients that can help stave off a majority of health problems—foods that really give you lots of value.

As I've discussed on numerous occasions, one of the primary risk factors of diseases of all kinds is chronic inflammation in your body. Low inflammation levels and a strong immune system typically go hand in hand, and together these two factors lay the groundwork for robust health.

Some of the foods below are both inexpensive and highly nutritious, while others do cost a bit more but can go a long way toward healing your body of chronic inflammation and boosting your immune system naturally, without resorting to either supplements or drugs.

High-Value Foods

Unpasteurized (raw) grass-fed milk -- Raw organic milk from grass-fed cows contains both beneficial fats, bacteria that boost your immune system, and a number of vitamins, minerals and enzymes. Although raw milk availability is limited in the US, depending on where you live, you can locate the source closest to you at RealMilk.com.

Whey protein -- Even if you don't have access to raw milk, you can use a high-quality whey protein derived from the milk of grass-fed cows to receive much of the same health benefits. Whey protein contains beta-glucans and immunoglobulins, which protect your immune system and support your body's natural detoxification processes.

Fermented foods -- One of the most healthful fermented foods is kefir -- an ancient cultured, enzyme-rich food full of friendly microorganisms that balance your "inner ecosystem" and strengthen immunity. Besides kefir, other good fermented foods include natto, kimchee, miso, tempeh, pickles, sauerkraut, and olives.

Raw organic eggs from pastured chickens – Raw, free-range eggs are an inexpensive and amazing source of high-quality nutrients that many people are deficient in, especially high-quality protein and fat. To find free-range pasture farms, try your local health food store, or go to http://www.eatwild.com or http://www.localharvest.org.

Grass-fed beef or organ meats -- Grass-fed beef is very high in vitamins A, B12 and E, omega-3 fats, beta carotene, zinc and the potent immune system enhancer CLA (conjugated linoleic acid, a fatty acid). But don't confuse "organic" with grass-fed, since many organically raised cows are still fed organic corn, which you don't want. However, most grass-fed cows are raised organically.

Coconut oil -- Besides being excellent for your thyroid and your metabolism, coconut oil is rich in lauric acid, which converts in your body to monolaurin – a compound also found in breast milk that strengthens a baby's immunity.

Its medium chain fatty acids, or triglycerides (MCT's) also impart a number of health benefits, including raising your body's metabolism and fighting off pathogens such as viruses, bacteria and fungi. Make sure you choose an organic coconut oil that is unrefined, unbleached, made without heat processing or chemicals, and does not contain GM ingredients.

Berries -- Blueberries and raspberries rate very high in antioxidant capacity compared to other fruits and vegetables. They are also lower in fructose than many other fruits.

Broccoli – Broccoli contains the highest amount of isothiocyanates, a cancer-fighting compound, of all the crunchy vegetables. Studies have shown that just 10 spears a week (5 servings) can make a difference in your health.

Chlorella –This single-cell freshwater algae acts as an efficient detoxification agent by binding to toxins (most of which promote chronic inflammation), such as mercury, and carrying them out of your system. The chlorophyll in the chlorella helps you process more oxygen, cleanses your blood and promotes the growth and repair of your tissues. (For more information, please see my interview with expert, Ginny Banks.)  

Tea – As for beverages, clean pure water is a must for optimal health, but if you want another beverage, a good choice with added health benefits is high quality herbal teas.

Matcha tea is the most nutrient-rich green tea and comes in the form of a stone-ground powder, completely unfermented. The best Matcha comes from Japan and has up to 17 times the antioxidants of wild blueberries, and seven times more than dark chocolate. Tulsi is another tea loaded with antioxidants and other micronutrients that support immune function and heart health.

Krill Oil—Krill oil is the only dietary supplement that makes it to this list, and that's only because the ideal food source for these essential omega-3 fats has been destroyed by widespread pollution. The dangers of eating fish simply outweigh the benefits due to the toxic mercury levels they now contain, with very few exceptions.

Antarctic krill oil is a pure marine oil loaded with powerful antioxidants and omega-3 oils, with NO heavy metal contamination.

I hope you'll find these suggestions helpful in making the most of your food budget in these economically challenging times.

MIT scientist develops artificial solar cell leaf that can power a house for a day with a single gallon of water

by Jonathan Benson, staff writer 

(NaturalNews) A scientist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) says he has successfully developed a type of synthetic leaf made largely of silicon and electronic components that is ten times more effective at photosynthesis than is a natural leaf. And this artificial leaf, he says, is capable of generating enough electricity with one gallon of water to power a house in a developing country for an entire day.

Daniel Nocera recently told attendees at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in California that when his prototype leaf is placed in a pool of water, it effectively captures sunlight and splits water into oxygen and hydrogen at ten times the rate of a natural leaf. Operating for at least a full 45 straight hours without any decline in performance, the leaf acts as a small, highly-efficient solar cell that produces energy for use in power generation.

"The artificial leaf shows particular promise as an inexpensive source of electricity for homes of the poor in developing countries," said Nocera in a statement. "Our goal is to make each home its own power station. One can envision villages in India and Africa not long from now purchasing an affordable basic power system based on this technology."

Reports indicate that Nocera has already made a deal with the Tata Group of India to develop a small power plant that uses the technology to distribute electricity. Within a year and a half, the power plant, which is roughly the size of a refrigerator, is set to be completed and ready to go.

Similar projects in the past that involved synthetic leaves have not been as successful as Nocera's endeavor. A Wired report explains that John Turner from the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory tried to build a synthetic leaf more than a decade ago. Unlike Nocera's inexpensive leaf technology, Turner's leaf used expensive and rare metals, and it did not even last a day before degrading and losing its viability.

Sources for this story include:

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-2...