On Monday, a federal jury sentenced the former owner of the now defunct Peanut Corporation of America to 28 years in prison for his role in one of the largest salmonella outbreaks in U.S. history.

The outbreak happened in 2008 and 2009. It was blamed for nine deaths and hundreds of cases of salmonella, and it triggered one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history.

The 28 year sentence is the stiffest punishment that a producer has ever received in a case of foodborne illness.

But Parnell wasn't charged with killing or sickening anybody - even though the outbreak was connected to at least 9 deaths across 5 states.

No - even though his actions led to the equivalent of a killing spree across multiple states - he was charged for 67 counts of defrauding customers.

But this case is actually even more basic than fraud. At its roots is the simple motivator that has tainted business dealings since the beginning of time.

Greed.

As District Judge W. Louis Sands explained about the case: "these acts were driven simply by the desire to profit and to protect profits notwithstanding the known risks [from Salmonella]. This is commonly and accurately referred to as greed."

And that shouldn't be surprising to anyone - for-profit corporations exist first and foremost to make money.

Even our founding fathers knew that. James Madison wrote in 1817 that "there is an evil which ought to be guarded against in the indefinite accumulation of property from the capacity of holding it in perpetuity by...corporations. The power of all corporations ought to be limited in this respect. The growing wealth acquired by them never fails to be a source of abuses."

And for over a century - from the founding of America until the late 19th century - states maintained control over corporations and corporate power in order to keep that "source of abuses" in check.

Read more here.

-Thom

  

Community Square  

 "Engineering Earth, Exposing The Global Climate Modification Assault, Live Presentation"  

 

Wednesday's Daily Stack 

Hour One: The Pope vs. Conservatives
- Gianno Caldwell, Caldwell Strategic Consulting/The Hill  

Article: "Pope Deviates From Announced Parade Route" by TRNS.

Quote: "Some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and na�ve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system." - Pope Francis.

Article: "Read Pope Francis' speech on climate change" by Michal Addady.

Article: "Pope Francis' speech at the White House (transcript)" by Northeast Ohio Media Group.

Bible: "Matthew 25".

Bible: "Matthew 6:24" "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money".

Bible: "Isaiah 48:17" "Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go".

Bible: "John 13:29" "Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor.".

 

Book: The Urantia Book by Anon.

Bible: "Jeremiah 22:3" "This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place".

Bible: "Matthew 7:15" ""Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves".

Bible: "Jeremiah 23:1" "Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!" declares the LORD".

Article: "Robert H. Schuller" by Wikipedia.

Speech: "I Have a Dream" by Martin Luther King, Jr., 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

Bible: "Deuteronomy 8:17-18" "You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.".

Bible: "Matthew 25:40-45" ""The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.' ...".

Bible: "Matthew 22:39" "And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'".

Article: "Liberation theology" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Kim Davis (county clerk)" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Constitution of the United States" Article 6 section 3. "The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."

Article: "Ohio among worst states nationally for food security, report finds" by Catherine Candisky.

Article: "What Do the Koch Brothers Want?" (1980 Libertarian Party platform) by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Video: "Carson: Islam Incompatible With U.S. Law, We Shouldn't Have A Muslim President".

Article: "Fairness Doctrine" by Wikipedia.

Site: Feel the Bern.

Article: "Prosperity theology" (prosperity gospel, health and wealth gospel) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Trump sends 'cease and desist' letter to Club for Growth for being mean" by Joan McCarter.

Article: "Club For Growth Shoots Back At Trump's Lawsuit Threats, Calls Him A Whiner" by Tierney Sneed.

Article: "Donald Trump: No More Fox News For Me!" by Catherine Thompson.

Article: "Walker Urges Other Candidates to Exit: We Need A 'Positive Conservative Alternative To The Current Frontrunner'" by Matt Vespa.

Bible: "Luke 12:48" "... From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked".

Article: "China's President Xi Jinping begins first US visit in Seattle" by Reuters.

Bible: "3 John 1:2" "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.".

Article: "Frederick K. C. Price" by Wikipedia.

Book: "None Dare Call It Treason" by John A. Stormer.

 

Talk Radio News Segment:
- Luke Vargas 

Article: "Migrant crisis: EU splits exposed as summit begins" by BBC.

Article: "Visegr�d Group" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Egypt's Sisi pardons 100 prisoners, including Jazeera journalists" by Reuters.

Article: "Sanders, Cummings Introduce Comprehensive Legislation to Lower Soaring Drug Prices" by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Article: "Clinton pledge on drug prices knocks $15bn off biotechs" by David Crow.

Article: "Tuberculosis drug price jumps 2,000%, shocks doctors" by CBC News.

Article: "CEO: 5,000-percent drug price hike "not excessive at all"" by CBS News.

Article: "Even With Concessions, Martin Shkreli Still Gets A Massive Price Hike For Daraprim" by Matthew Herper.

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman.

Article: "TRNS News Notes- 9/23" by Victoria Jones.

Article: "TRNS News Notes- 9/22" by Victoria Jones.

Hour Three: Hottest Year on Record, plus AP on Climate "Deniers"
- Dr. Joe Romm, Climate Progress  

Article: "It's Official: Summer 2015 Hottest Ever in Recorded History" by Cole Mellino.

Article: "Here's Why 2016 Could Be Even Warmer Than 2015" by Joe Romm.

Article: "Associated Press Stops Calling Those Who Deny Climate Change 'Deniers'" by Lydia O'Connor.

Article: "AP Stylebook Switches Climate 'Skeptics' To 'Doubters' - I Deny That Makes Sense" by Joe Romm.

TV: "Years of Living Dangerously".

Article: "Encyclical Letter: Laudato Si'" by Pope Francis.

Article: "Climate change key in Syrian conflict - and it will trigger more war in future" by Tom Bawden.

 

Article: "All Our Patent Are Belong To You" by Elon Musk.

Quote: "It violates the essence of what made America a great country in its political system. Now it's just an oligarchy with unlimited political bribery being at the essence of getting the nominations for president or elected president. And the same thing applies to governors and U.S. senators and Congress members. So now we've just seen a complete subversion of our political system as a payoff to major contributors who want and expect and sometimes get favors for themselves after the election's over'." - President Jimmy Carter on unlimited money in politics on the Thom Hartmann Program, 28 July 2015.

Article: "Jimmy Carter on US 'Oligarchy' and Corrupting Power of Money on Politics" by Lauren McCauley.

Bible: "1 Timothy 6:10" "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs".

Petition: "Remove Debbie Wasserman Schultz as DNC Chair" by Dan DiZinno.

Bible: "Genesis 1: The Story of Creation".

Bible: "Genesis 2: The Garden of Eden".

Video: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert 9/18/2015 incl. Bernie Sanders.

TV: "Howard Stern Show".

Article: "Yogi Berra, Yankees Hall of Fame Catcher With a One-of-a-Kind Wit, Dies at 90" by Bruce Weber.

Quote: "... if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. ..." - Barry M. Goldwater.

Article: "Iran hostage crisis" by Wikipedia.

Book: "The Autobiography of Ben Franklin" by Ben Franklin.

Article: "'Argo' helps Iran's dictatorship, harms democracy " by Abolhassan Bani-Sadr.

Article: "First Amendment to the United States Constitution".

Book: Entangled Minds: Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality by Dean Radin Ph.D.

Article: "Eye of a needle" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Blood Moon 2015 Triggers Doomsday Fears for Some Religious Observers" by Kathryn Blackhurst.

Thursday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET 

 

Brian Malone will tell us about his film Patriocracy... how bad is it in Washington?

 

And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...

 

The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"

 

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