The Dispossession of the Population

Democratic governments find their legitimacy in their "service" to their populaces.

I've argued that the US and most purportedly democratic governments are shedding the last vestiges of democratic rule.

Two government institutions have failed in the wake of the Fukushima and BP oil spills to protect the US populace: the White House and the FDA.

So, the claim is that the FDA fails to prioritize human health. What is the evidence?

The most recent headline supports the argument quite effectively: 

"FDA OK's High Levels of Dangerous Carcinogens in Seafood" by Brad Jacobson, published first at Alternet and republished here

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/313-17/8994-fda-oks-high-levels-of-dangerous-carcinogens-in-seafood

[Excerpted] Now a recent study by two of the most tenacious non-government scientists reveals that FDA Gulf seafood "safe levels" allowed 100 to 10,000 times more carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in seafood than what is safe. The overarching issue the report addresses is the failure of the FDA's risk assessment to protect those most vulnerable to the effects of these chemicals, such as young children, pregnant women and high-consumption seafood eaters.

In an effort to pinpoint how the FDA decided to set its acceptable levels for PAH contaminants in Gulf seafood, researchers at the Natural Resources Defense Council, which performed the study - published in the leading peer-reviewed environmental health journal Environmental Health Perspectives- also scoured documents wrested from the FDA under the Freedom of Information Act.

These include internal emails and unreleased assessments that suggest the FDA not only downplayed the risk of contamination but also that the EPA, and even members of FDA staff, had proposed higher levels of contamination protection, which in the end were ignored.

Majia here: The FDA's decision to silence its own employees in order to claim safety mirrors the strategies adopted by both the White House and BP during the BP Gulf oil disaster. 

The White House attempted to block scientists from publishing results, BP tried to buy up entire marine biology departments with grants in order to censor their research, and these activities occurred even while evidence accumulated on the adverse health effects from the oil and corexit.

So, why would we think that these institutions' handling of the Fukushima crisis is any different? These institutions seem to have little concern for the welfare of the population when economic interests are at stake.

We already have evidence that the FDA accepts very high levels of radiation in milk

http://blogs.forbes.com/jeffmcmahon/2011/04/27/radioactive-strontium-found-in-hilo-hawaii-milk/

http://blogs.forbes.com/jeffmcmahon/2011/04/14/why-does-fda-tolerate-more-radiation-than-epa/#more-448

One has to wonder how much radiation is showing up in other food products regulated by the FDA...

Sources

The Guardian: White House Blocked Scientists From Publiczing Research on BP "Spill" Severity http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/guardian-white-house-blocked-scientists.html

http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/academic-shills.html

Corporations and Governments Tried to Hide Scope of BP Disaster http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/corporations-and-governments-tried-to.html

BP dispersants 'causing sickness.’ Jamail, Dahr. (2010, October 29). Al Jazeera. http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2010/10/20101027132136220370.html