Great piece by Alan Hart. For those not in the know, Gordon Brown is an honorary patron of the Jewish National Fund, as are David Cameron and (still) Anthony Blair.

There could not be a more graphic illustration of the double-standard that drives Western foreign policy and has prevented a resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict than Prime Minister Gordon Brown's explanation to the Chilcot Inquiry on why he, when he was Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer and wrote the cheques for it, backed the war on Iraq.

He said, "It was the right decision for the right reasons."

What were they?

Not 9/11 or the WMD assertions.

In an effort to distance himself from America's neo-cons and their soul-mate in London, Prime Minister (at the time) Tony Blair, Brown said: "I never subscribed to what you might call the neo-conservative proposition, that somehow, at the barrel of a gun, overnight liberty or democracy could be conjured up. What I believed was that the case for intervention was that international law had to be observed."

Putting some flesh on that bone, Brown said his view was that if the international community could not act together over Iraq, he feared that "the new world order we were trying to create would be put at risk."

Meaning?

"Aggressor states that refuse to obey the laws of the international community" have to be confronted. Iraq was a "serial violator of the rules of the international community."

There is, of course, some truth in that, but not nearly as much truth as in the statement that for 62 years the Zionist state of Israel has been, and continues to be, the biggest single violator of international law. No state on Planet Earth has been allowed to get away with defying UN resolutions for so long. And, I say, no state poses a bigger threat to the peace of the region and the world than Israel on its present course.

As I have previously written, the double-standard which allows Israel to behave as it likes with impunity was effectively put into place when the major powers, all of them, refused to condemn Israel as the aggressor in 1967 and demand that it withdraw from occupied territories without preconditions.

If Mr. Brown means what he says, and if by chance he remains prime minister after Britain's imminent election, logic suggests that he will take the lead with President Obama in putting together a coalition to require Israel, by war if necessary, to comply with "the rules of the international community."

Of course he won't because logic, like truth and reality, has no place in politics, domestic or international.

"Everyone should know that most cancer research is largely a fraud, and that the major cancer research organizations are derelict in their duties to the people who support them."

Another great post, as usual, by our friend the NotMilkMan. Some information to get you wanting more and then the research that has found evidence backing a non-dairy diet to prevent cancer.

A February 16, 2009 visit to the Susan Komen website reveals that YOPLAIT YOGURT is a member of Komen's "Million Dollar Council Elite" and the "National Presenting Sponsor" of the Komen organization.

YOPLAIT is there at every Susan Komen walk and event to distribute complimentary portions of breast cancer fuel (yogurt) for those women who ignorantly donate their time and dollars to a self perpetuating organization of doom.

Faced with scientific evidence linking dairy consumption to breast cancer, who in their right mind would purchase yogurt to prevent breast cancer? American women, that's who.

Delighted to link across to an anti-Israeli Apartheid Week post (sorry, make that selective propagandist rant) on the Huffington Post. Read all about it here, and watch this space for an article to come deconstructing pretty much every word. If Oxford only knew it was being described like this...

Thanks to the NotMilkMan, on the money as pretty much always.

• Are You Depressed?
• Are you irritable?
• Do you experience MOOd swings?

A February 10, 2010 press release cites a study in which "a child's sweet tooth" can lead to depression and alcohol use in adult life. See:

www.monell.org/news/news_releases/sweets_kids

There's medical support that a child's love for milk America's (and the UK's, thanks Cadbury, wait for the lawsuit) most frequently consumed candy "treats" (milk chocolate) might lead to depression. What's in milk and milk chocolate?

Imagine starting your day with an estrogen pill, followed by progesterone, prolactin, melatonin, oxytocin, and 50+ other hormones including gastrointestinal peptides and hypothalamic hormones.

If you consume dairy products you are doing exactly that.

It is no wonder that the Townsend Medical Letter noted the following in May of 1995:

"In reality, cow's milk, especially processed cow's milk, has been linked to a variety of health problems, including: mucous production, hemoglobin loss, childhood diabetes, heart disease, atherosclerosis, arthritis, kidney stones, MOOD SWINGS, DEPRESSION, IRRITABILITY, allergies."

Welcome back to the world of emotional stability with NOTMILK!

Thanks to New Profile for this digest of related news concerning the abuse of Palestinian human rights that is Israel. And thanks to an Israeli, Ilan Pappe, for calling during this particular week for the West to throw off its chains, ignore the Israeli propaganda claims of anti-Semitism, and call a "spade a spade". The UK has a debt to pay and an obligation to honour in restoring justice and peace to the Middle East - it can do that simply by recognising the wrongs that the Israeli Government perpetrates on the Palestinian community and doing something about it. And what can we do? Hear the call of Israeli Apartheid Week - Boycott (don't buy Israeli goods), Divestment (urge everyone not to invest in Israeli firms) and Sanctions (don't deal with Israel, don't deal with people who persist in dealing with Israel)

Nutrition expert Michelle Obama (that's irony, by the way) blames the Obesity epidemic on the consumption of soda and other sweets. Another great post from the purveyor of bad news about dairy, the NotMilkMan.

From the Chicago Sun Times, 1st March 2010, a piece by Lewis Lazare, apparently without irony.

The iconic "Got Milk?" milk mustache campaign is officially on board as a supporter of first lady Michelle Obama's recently unveiled effort to fight childhood obesity -- a project dubbed "Let's Move!"

In a new print ad debuting today, the "Got Milk?" effort encourages all readers to raise a glass of milk and toast Mrs. Obama's new project, designed to help families make healthier lifestyle and nutrition choices.

The new "Got Milk?" ad contains no image of the first lady herself, lest she appear to be using her elevated position for inappropriate commercial purposes. A "Got Milk?" spokeswoman said the first lady was never approached about appearing in the new print ad.

Read the whole story for facts & figures no how this is so not so...

Consumption of milk and dairy products represents the consumption of liquid proteins from the most abused of farm animals.

Dairy cows in the UK suffers the pain of being separated from her mother at birth.

Dairy cows in the UK suffer the pain of having their sensitive horn buds removed.

Most creatures receive no anaesthesia or post surgical pain killers. Every cow being milked suffers the ultimate indignity and pain of slaughter when she is uneconomic for the farmer.

The March, 2010 issue of the British Journal of Nutrition (Mar;103(5):714-23) contains a study which was designed to assess the association between protein consumption and bone mass accrual (BMC) in a 5-year study of 757 pre-pubescent Chinese girls (average age = 10.1 years).

The authors conclude:

“When protein intake was considered according to animal or plant food sources, protein from animal foods, particularly meat, had significant negative effects on BMC accrual…”

Hello Fair Pensions have started a campaign to get major investors in Shell and BP to vote on tar sands at Shell and BP shareholder meetings. A website has been set up where you can email some of Shell and BP’s most powerful investors (including your own pension fund, if you have one) to build the pressure at countingthecost.org.uk

Read the background at:www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/feb/21/fairpensions-responsible-investment

Neat summary of how the climate change message is being subverted by the big business and the mainstream media for short-term gain.

Check out this story on www.tomdispatch.com.

A candlelit vigil at St Michael's in Cornmarket helped bring home the message that climate change affects everyone, and everyone can do something about it.