From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Wed Jul 1 07:26:18 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 13:26:18 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] Happiness Economics!!!! Message-ID: <161003.79257.qm@web27406.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> ? Now, you have heard it all.......Happiness Economics! ? ? ??? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happiness_economics ? ? R.Searle -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Wed Jul 1 15:48:05 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 14:48:05 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: Nutrition Headlines This Month Message-ID: <000001c9fa95$a25c5140$e714f3c0$@net> From: Dole Nutrition Institute [mailto:dolenutrition at marsys.com] Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 6:15 AM To: maryrose333 at att.net Subject: Nutrition Headlines This Month To view an online version of this email, click here. To ensure that these emails go to your inbox, add us to your safelist. Wednesday, July 1, 2009 Hot News LYCOPENE BONE BOOSTER CURB FAT WITH CURRY Yellow Spice Also Protects Liver, Brain, Skin Here's a way to spice up your diet while keeping trim and boosting health: add curry. Or more specifically, turmeric (most curries' main ingredient) which contains a compound called curcumin, shown to curb weight gain in animal studies. Read more >> OBESE, IN-FLIGHT Oversized Passengers Prompt New Policies During the summer travel season you expect long lines, flight delays, crying babies -- but what about having to "share" your seat because your obese neighbor needs more room? United Airlines received 700 complaints last year from passengers who felt squeezed by the oversized passenger sitting next to them. Read more >> MURDOCK BLOGS Dole Food Owner on Huffington Post The chairman and owner of Dole Food Company is known as a philanthropic leader, successful businessman and an occasional guest on shows like Oprah and Martha Stewart. Now the 86-year-young powerhouse has added another credential to the list: blogger. Read more >> LYCOPENE BONE BOOSTER Eat More Tomatoes, Watermelon, Guava Want to build stronger bones? Then eat more tomatoes , watermelon , guava and red grapefruit. All contain lycopene, the red-pigmented antioxidant whose long list of benefits include heart health and protection against various cancers. Read more >> HOT DOG DANGERS Processed Meat & Stomach Cancer Risk It's nearly the 4th of July and barbecue season is upon us. But given the research linking processed meat and stomach cancer, you may want to try expanding your grilling menu beyond hot dogs to include fish , veggies and even fruit . Read more >> EGGPLANT VS. BLOOD SUGAR Veggies Help Manage Type 2 Diabetes Add eggplant to your anti-diabetes arsenal to help keep blood sugar levels under control. Often brought on by excess weight, diabetes undermines insulin production, sending blood sugar soaring. Read more >> RATIONING RATIONALE Controlling Kids' Diet Won't Make Them Fat Many people think that parental efforts to control what kids eat are bound to backfire. But new research suggests that moms who meddle in mealtime choices may actually succeed in limiting kids' unhealthy weight gain.. Read more >> SPICY 'N' LIGHT SHRIMP CURRY See Recipe Dole Diet Center CURB FAT WITH CURRY OBESE, IN-FLIGHT MURDOCK BLOGS Nutrition News Desk LYCOPENE BONE BOOSTER HOT DOG DANGERS EGGPLANT VS. BLOOD SUGAR Kids' Corner RATIONING RATIONALE Tell a friend about DNN. EGGPLANT TIMER Read more >> SPINACH AND CHICKEN STIR-FRY WITH RASPBERRIES Raspberries are a top fruit source of fiber and an excellent source of vitamin C. See the video >> OBESE IN-FLIGHT Last year United Airlines received 700 complaints from passengers forced to "share" their seats with an obese neighbor. America's obesity epidemic is making airplane tight quarters even tighter -- and sparking controversial policies from air carriers. What are your thoughts about obesity in-flight? Go >> Subscriber Tools Update your Email address | Signup | Send Feedback | Email this Brief | Topic Search | Issue Guide | Update your Information Editorial Team Dole Nutrition Institute | Lead Editor: Jennifer Grossman Service Providers MARSYS | Advance Publishing System You are receiving this email because you have previously consented to receive promotional email offers from third-parties. If you do not wish to receive future offers from this sender, then please so indicate by using the "Unsubscribe" link below or sending a written request to the address below. This email was sent to: maryrose333 at att.net This email was sent by: Dole Nutrition Institute One Dole Drive, Westlake Village, CA 91362-7300 Click here to unsubscribe from this mailing list. Click here to view our privacy policy. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Wed Jul 1 15:48:06 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 14:48:06 -0700 Subject: [GJM] Health Officials to Military: Ban Smoking Message-ID: <001001c9fa95$bd09d8a0$371d89e0$@net> Thanks to Chris Pirillo host of GEEKS for this one. I have been a member of GEEKS for several months now and thoroughly enjoy the information Chris provides for members. http://www.lockergnome.com/jfk/2009/06/30/health-officials-to-military-ban-s moking/ Please read this article from the above website if you are interested in knowing more about GEEKs . Health Officials to Military: Ban Smoking Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 by JFK Medical experts say they have a solution for the military's increasing smoking rates: Ban it. And not just in basic training - stop selling cigarettes and chewing tobacco on post, stop with the discounts at the PX, don't allow it in hospitals, and come up with a deadline when everyone should be smoke-free. Why? It cost the Veterans Affairs Department $5 billion to treat smoking-related emphysema in 2008, and in 2006, the Military Health System spent about $564 million on tobacco-related costs. That's almost as much as the $611 million worth of tobacco military stores sold in 2005. According to the Committee on Smoking Cessation in Military and Veteran Populations, in a report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, the math just doesn't add up for an organization that depends on physical fitness from its employees. It's not just money. Smokers are more likely to drop out of the military before they fulfill their enlistment commitments; they have worse vision and night-vision; they don't perform as well on fitness tests; and they miss more work. On the battlefield, they bleed harder after surgery, heal slower after injury and are at higher risk for infection. After deploying to Iraq or Afghanistan, smokers return home only to face a startling statistic: About half of them will eventually die from a smoking-related illness, according to the Institute of Medicine report. They face cancer, stroke, heart disease, emphysema and diabetes. "These troops are essentially putting their lives at risk twice: once in service to their country and once in service to tobacco," wrote Stuart Bondurant, chair of the committee. "Tobacco is a long-term engagement - it kills slowly and insidiously." Even the good news was mixed with bad: In 1980, 51 percent of the military smoked. That had dropped to 32 percent in 2005, but it has been going back up. In the VA health system, 22 percent of patients smoke. Though the committee determined both the Defense Department and VA are doing some things right - such as anti-smoking campaigns and, for the VA, smoking-cessation programs - they're far behind on other measures. "DoD and each of the armed services have a stated goal of a tobacco-free military, but tobacco-control efforts have not been given high priority by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs or the individual services' Office of the Surgeon General," the report states. And, "The committee believes that DoD should not subsidize an activity that adversely affects military health and readiness." In other words, why are cigarettes cheaper on-post? The committee acknowledged that the military and VA face special challenges: Troops tend to take up smoking when they deploy, and cigarettes are highly addictive. That means they're less likely to stop when they get home. In fact, 50 percent of smokers attempt to stop every year, but only between 4 and 7 percent succeed. And, people with depression or post-traumatic stress disorder are more likely to smoke. "That is of concern, given the increased numbers of veterans returning from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan with PTSD and the number of Vietnam veterans who have PTSD," the report states. The committee recommended: * Making sure troops and veterans know that smoking-cessation programs exist. * Making sure those programs are consistent and evidence-based. * Making VA and military health-care facilities smoke-free. * Banning smoking in military academies, officer candidate schools and Reserve Officer Training Corps programs. * Eliminating the sale of tobacco at all military installations * Setting a specific, mandatory date by which the military will be tobacco-free. By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer Permission to reprint granted 06.30.09 Source: Army Times Comment by Mary Rose: Recall my use of the terms "life-enhancing" and "death-defining" with regard to creating systems and suggesting it would be better to choose "life-enhancing" activities rather than "death-defining ones. Well here is a good example of a "death-defining" activity that is an accepted part of lifestyles everywhere today, although it has been on the decrease due to the concerns of those increasingly concerned about the overall health of the American system as a whole. The above article provides us with a good look at just how devastating this field called "smoking" is to human life, not only in terms of financial pain, but as a "quality of life" indicator as well. I'm not going to go on and on about this, but one point that flashes through my mind as I contemplate this scenario is: How many activities like this are inherent in our present lifestyle system because they provide "jobs" so that people can earn money to take home in order to purchase food and shelter? And, when looked at in this respect, isn't there something really wrong within our present system that demands we create all of these death-defining products in order to create a job and a pay check for someone? Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Isn't it time we began to practice sanity? FutureDawning.org Mary Rose dustysummerrose at gmail.com Always have my latest info Want a signature like this? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Wed Jul 1 19:45:57 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 18:45:57 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Anxious Oil Giants Pass on Iraq Message-ID: <000001c9fab6$e9080aa0$bb181fe0$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 8:24 AM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Anxious Oil Giants Pass on Iraq (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/30/AR2009063000 568.html?hpid=artslot Anxious Oil Giants Pass on Iraq On Day of Auctions to Develop Fields, the Country Strikes Just One Deal Iraq contains some of the world's richest oil reserves, but low fees being offered by Baghdad kept refiners away. Iraq contains some of the world's richest oil reserves, but low fees being offered by Baghdad kept refiners away. (By Nabil Al-jurani -- Associated Press) Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, July 1, 2009 BAGHDAD, June 29 -- Iraq's effort to woo foreign energy companies to help resurrect its ailing oil fields fell flat Tuesday, as most companies balked at the financial terms offered by the government despite the lure of the country's vast reserves. The impasse on deals for all but one field was a setback for the oil firms eager to gain access to the largest reserves in the world outside Saudi Arabia, and for Iraq, for which oil revenue could hold the key to prosperity. The impasse was also a setback for the United States, which has encouraged Iraq to make use of foreign investment and expertise to help bring stability to the most important sector of the country's economy. During a day-long live auction for eight 20-year service contracts, the Iraqi Oil Ministry was able to nail down just one deal -- for the giant Rumaila field in southern Iraq. The Iraqi Oil Ministry reached an agreement with British Petroleum and China National Petroleum Corp. only after BP and CNPC accepted a much lower fee than they originally sought in return for raising the field's output beyond current levels. Rumaila, Iraq's biggest oil field, has an estimated 17 billion barrels of oil reserves, an amount equivalent to more than half the reserves of the entire United States. "It's tough to walk away from the opportunity to get your foot in the door in Iraq," said Robert E. Ebel, an expert on Iraqi oil at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "When you look at all the oil in the ground, you figure 'I better be here.' But when you think about all the above-ground problems, you might think that 'I better strike a better deal.' " In the current bidding round, Iraq said it would reimburse companies for costs and pay them a per-barrel fee for increases in production from the country's abundant but long-neglected fields. But it did not offer the companies an ownership stake in the crude, which would have been a more attractive type of contract. It also demanded nearly $3 billion in "signing bonus" loans for the six oil fields, which are active but underproducing, and two largely undeveloped gas fields. ad_icon BP and China's national oil company submitted a joint bid to raise output at Rumaila from about 1 million barrels a day to 2.85 million barrels a day for a $3.99-per-barrel fee. The ministry said it would pay a maximum of $2 a barrel. In the end, the companies agreed to that price. "We're pleased with the process so far and look forward to concluding the contract in due course," said BP spokesman Toby Odone. But the bids on other fields came nowhere close to the government's offers. The televised session at the al-Rasheed Hotel, near Baghdad's Green Zone, ended shortly before the clock struck 5 p.m. in the Iraqi capital. Oil Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said the ministry was satisfied with the outcome of the auction. He said that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's cabinet would review the bids and that further negotiations with the companies were not out of the question. Oil industry sources yesterday said the situation remained "fluid." A major European company said it expected further word today. "This is an important step to develop the oil industry, and it's a good sign that this type of event took place in Iraq," Jihad said. "It was transparent and it sent a good message about stability in Iraq." But some oil experts said it would be hard to bridge the large gap between oil company bids and the Iraqi oil ministry's expectations. In recent days, several Iraqi lawmakers and some veterans of its oil sector criticized the service contracts as giveaways to Big Oil. For Maliki, the controversy became a political liability just as he was proudly proclaiming Iraq to be sovereign. Awkwardly, the auction coincided with a national holiday declared to mark that sovereignty. Iraq not only possesses huge proven reserves, it also holds the world's best oil prospects. Because its reservoirs are large and tend to be relatively shallow, drilling is relatively easy and cheap. Little exploration has been done since 1980 and much of the western part of the country remains unexplored. Moreover, many other oil-rich countries have nationalized or otherwise maintained tight control of their energy sectors. The auction yesterday represented the first opportunity for major oil companies to return to Iraq since they were expelled in 1972 amid a regional move toward nationalization. For half a century before that, the Iraq Petroleum Co. was run by the precursors of Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Total. BP has information dating to the 1920s on Iraq's oil reservoirs. Many of the companies have already been informally advising Iraq's government on how to keep up production in existing fields. Iraq is currently producing about 2.4 million barrels a day, well below its peak output. Many of the fields have been damaged or neglected during three decades of war and sanctions. Oil Minister Hussain Shahristani has said that the goal of the bidding was to raise the country's output to 4 million barrels a day. Oil industry executives say that Iraq could eventually produce 6 million barrels a day. While eager to tap into Iraq's fields, oil executives were apprehensive about injecting themselves into a country with volatile politics and an active insurgency. "The security issue is a very serious question," said James Placke, a senior associate at Cambridge Energy Research Associates. "It introduces an uncertainty that is just irresolvable because you just don't know what the security situation is going to be like five years from now." Another disincentive for oil firms has been Iraq's failure to enact a hydrocarbons law. But in the end, price was a key issue. In the Kirkuk field, for example, which was discovered in 1927, a consortium led by Royal Dutch Shell said it could double current production to about 800,000 barrels a day for a fee of $7.90 a barrel. Iraq's Oil Ministry wanted to pay only $2 a barrel in that field. A consortium led by Exxon Mobil said it could boost production in the West Qurna field alone to 2.35 million barrels a day for $4 a barrel. The Iraqi government wants to pay $1.90 a barrel there. No company bid on the Mansuriya field in the violent Diyala province. The biggest gap between bid and Oil Ministry targets came from a Conoco Phillips-led consortium. The oil firms offered to develop the Bai Hassan field for a fee of $26.70 a barrel; Iraq's target was $4. Other bids were closer to the Iraq government's targets. From maryrose333 at att.net Wed Jul 1 19:54:44 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 18:54:44 -0700 Subject: [GJM] Black and White and Dead All Over Message-ID: <001601c9fab8$154500e0$3fcf02a0$@net> Is the era of newspapers coming to an end? >From Mother Earth News: http://www.motherjones.com/media/2009/07/black-and-white-and-dead-all-over FutureDawning.org Mary Rose dustysummerrose at gmail.com Always have my latest info Want a signature like this? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Wed Jul 1 20:02:06 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 19:02:06 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: My take on Tobacco Message-ID: <002301c9fab9$1bca0d10$535e2730$@net> Comment from Stephanie Sutton on Health Officials to Military: Ban Smoking ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Stephanie Sutton Date: Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 6:03 PM Subject: My take on Tobacco To: Mary Rose AS A CURRENT SMOKER OF A "natural cigarette" - I so agree that this substance should be at the same level as Heroin. Alcohol and cigarettes are the bain of our existence and when I worked in the mental health field - coffee and cigarettes were the food of choice which always left me scratching my head. Why are they allowed when we have all been educated to their disastrous effects? Because they aid in death and keeping the population down - way down down. It is true insanity that they are the mainstay of many humans to get a quick High and not be censored when all the while, these two substances (and let's not forget "firearms" go in tandem with these two and when you put them all together you it spells.......Madness.) Could we, as a collective, cultured, civilization recognize this blatant disgrace of "instilling illness" where "wholeness" could be applied? As a smoker, and a mild one with careful choice of tobacco, could I still proclaim that I know how addictive this substance is and would I welcome the banning of it so that it wouldn't be easy to get, prohibitive and hence, no where to be found? Yes, Yes! Yes!!!! I would bless those parties that found a way to make it inaccessible for the next 1000 years and after that we could all (us helpless addicts) cheer the irradication of the herb and leave it to our Native Americans to apply it in ceremony - where it belongs. Stephanie Thanks to Chris Pirillo host of GEEKS for this one. I have been a member of GEEKS for several months now and thoroughly enjoy the information Chris provides for members. http://www.lockergnome.com/jfk/2009/06/30/health-officials-to-military-ban-s moking/ Please read this article from the above website if you are interested in knowing more about GEEKs . Health Officials to Military: Ban Smoking Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 by JFK Message truncated. FutureDawning.org Mary Rose dustysummerrose at gmail.com Always have my latest info Want a signature like this? -- >From the desk of mary rose dustysummerrose at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Thu Jul 2 03:24:07 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 09:24:07 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] Soros at the Wall Street Journal Message-ID: <50067.82007.qm@web27405.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> --- On Wed, 1/7/09, George Soros wrote: From: George Soros Subject: Soros at the Wall Street Journal To: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Date: Wednesday, 1 July, 2009, 6:15 PM Dear Friends and Colleagues: Yesterday morning George Soros spoke at a Wall Street Journal "Viewpoints" Breakfast. In conversation with Alan Murray, he discussed his outlook for the economy and his view of the current debate over regulation and other topics. Click the link below to watch the 40-minute video. http://online.wsj.com/video/viewpoints-soros-on-obama-and-ailing-banks/B3353A69-8BA2-4CCA-9D41-B346D92F801E.html Next Wednesday, July 8th at 3pm (Eastern), George will be a guest on FireDogLake's book salon; he will be taking questions from readers over the web. Go to http://firedoglake.com to join the discussion. Best regards- Michael Vachon ***Please do not hit reply to this message. The email was generated automatically and responses are unmonitored. ---- This email was sent to dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk. To unsubscribe, go to: ? http://www.georgesoros.com/unsubscribe -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Thu Jul 2 06:35:15 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 05:35:15 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] AMA president: Group open to government-funded insurance Message-ID: <006401c9fb11$8f189ae0$ad49d0a0$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 8:33 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] AMA president: Group open to government-funded insurance (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) July 1st, 2009 AMA president: Group open to government-funded insurance Posted: 05:30 PM ET http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/01/ama-president-group-open-to-governme nt-funded-insurance/ (CNN) - The new president of the American Medical Association, which represents the interests of the nation's doctors, said Wednesday the group is open to a government-funded health insurance option for people without coverage. Dr. J. James Rohack told CNN that the AMA supports an "American model" that includes both "a private system and a public system, working together." In May, the AMA told a Senate committee it did not support a government-sponsored public health insurance option. "The AMA does not believe that creating a public health insurance option .. is the best way to expand health insurance coverage and lower costs across the health care system," the organization wrote, explaining that a public insurance plan could lead to "an explosion of costs that would need to be absorbed by taxpayers." Rohack, who recently became AMA president, suggested Wednesday that the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program available to Congress members and other federal employees could be expanded as a public option. That would avoid having to create a new program from scratch, he said. "If it's good enough for Congress, why shouldn't it be good enough for individuals who don't have health insurance provided by their employers?" Rohack said. He said AMA opposed expanding Medicare coverage for senior citizens into a broader general public plan, noting that the plan is "going broke" and fails to cover the costs of participating doctors. His comments come as President Barack Obama increases pressure on Congress to push through a comprehensive bill to reform the nation's ailing health care system this year. Obama told a town hall meeting on health care Wednesday that the rising costs of health care threatened the economy and were unsustainable. He also noted that health-related industries including drug companies were now acknowledging the need for reform. Rohack called 2009 "the year we need to have affordable health insurance coverage for all Americans." He said a reformed system must include access for everyone, the freedom to choose your doctor, and the freedom for doctors to provide the best possible care. Rohack also called for efficiency measures such as electronic record-keeping to reduce administrative costs, as well as protection for doctors from excessive malpractice lawsuits. The 162-year-old AMA has about 250,000 members, including practicing physicians along with medical students and retired doctors. Overall, there are more than 900,000 doctors in the United States. Obama recently delivered a major health care policy speech at the AMA's annual meeting in Chicago. From maryrose333 at att.net Thu Jul 2 06:35:15 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 05:35:15 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Treasury details new consumer agency, and banks cry foul Message-ID: <006501c9fb11$9149f9d0$b3dded70$@net> This move will certainly set off another round of assaults on President Obama from those whose intention it is to hold on to the old ways of corruption in order to continue to fleece we-the sheeple. It will be interesting to find out just how Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones, Sean Hannity, Rachael Maddox and others of their ilk are going to twist this one. -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 8:20 AM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Treasury details new consumer agency, and banks cry foul http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/71052.html Treasury details new consumer agency, and banks cry foul June 30, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Obama administration on Tuesday sent Congress a detailed plan to create one of the most ambitious parts of the president's proposed overhaul of financial regulation, a Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The Treasury Department's proposal would gather consumer protection powers that now are spread among many bank regulators and place them under a single roof. If it's enacted, this would be a huge step by government into private banking after a hands-off approach for the past two decades. For ordinary Americans, the most important feature is that the agency would have the sole mission of consumer protection. One lesson of the financial crisis is that the several agencies that shared that responsibility made it a lower priority than their other missions and failed to protect consumers. President Barack Obama proposed the agency in response to the nation's deep financial crisis, which is rooted largely in shoddy mortgage-lending practices that exploded in the first half of this decade thanks to regulatory gaps and weak enforcement of consumer protection rules. The proposed legislation would give the new agency powers to set and enforce standards for things such as mortgage and credit-card disclosure statements. It also would cover payday lending and other forms of consumer credit, even stored-value gift cards from retailers. Its reach would span at least 16 existing consumer-protection laws and numerous federal agencies. "We have the view that the market, left to its own devices, isn't always going to lead to an optimal outcome for consumers," Michael Barr, the assistant treasury secretary for financial institutions, said in a news briefing. Financial institutions said the move went beyond a step back to regulation. "This is going in headfirst," said Scott Talbott, the senior vice president of government affairs for the Financial Services Roundtable, the lobby for the nation's biggest financial firms. "This could take us back to the 1950s." While denying that the legislation is heavy-handed, Barr acknowledged that it would open a new era of financial regulation. "I don't think it's a surprise that big banks and institutions that benefited from the status quo want to keep it that way. It's unacceptable to us," he said. In a nod to concerns raised by financial institutions, the new agency would be required to weigh beforehand the potential costs and benefits of any actions it might take, and to monitor how those actions worked to ensure that they weren't proving burdensome to commercial activity. Although financial firms have voiced support for the concept of greater regulation, this proposal could get in their way significantly. For example, the new agency would have the power to restrict certain kinds of mortgages or credit card terms. That might protect consumers, but financial firms fear that it also might inhibit legitimate business practices. "It allows the agency to set the terms of a financial product, and that could have a chilling effect on creativity and innovation of products," Talbott said. He also worried that the agency would set not a ceiling but a floor for consumer protection rules. "States are encouraged to go further to provide additional consumer protections, which will create a patchwork of 50 state regimes. The result of that will be to raise the cost of doing business," Talbott said. One of the agency's main powers would be enforcing the credit card legislation that Congress passed earlier this year. It aims to end unfair rate increases and will impose new rules on late-payment fees to prevent nasty surprises to consumers. "When a customer can't read the papers at a mortgage closing or make a quick comparison of credit cards to see which ones have hidden terms, the credit market is broken," said Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard University professor who's the head of a congressional watchdog panel that's overseeing the spending of Wall Street bailout money. The idea of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency is widely credited to Warren, a longtime consumer advocate. She said it "will stop tricks-and-traps pricing and give customers the chance to make real comparisons among financial products. The market can work for customers and for the small banks and credit unions that want to serve those customers with good products." Importantly, the legislation would require mortgage brokers to find the best available deals for prospective homebuyers. The lack of any such requirement was a key element of the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Many homeowners were pushed into exploitive mortgages, wrongly assuming that mortgage brokers, who help arrange financing from underwriters, had their best interests at heart. In fact, mortgage brokers had no fiduciary responsibility to homebuyers. Many received legal kickbacks from lenders called "yield spread premiums," which were essentially bonuses, when they got homeowners into loans with interest rates higher than they'd qualified for. The Obama legislation would ban these payments. The legislation will move first through the House Financial Services Committee. Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., has said he hopes to move the measure through his panel by the end of July. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said Tuesday that a Consumer Financial Protection Agency was long overdue. "Creating an independent agency whose sole focus is protecting consumers - be it credit card holders, anyone with a bank account or families with mortgages or student loans - is really the key to creating the foundations for a stronger economy," Dodd said in a statement. "It is unbelievable that some of the same irresponsible actors that helped create the current financial mess would argue that we are doing too much for consumers. Don't they realize that they need a healthy customer base if they want to continue to be successful?" ON THE WEB Treasury's proposed bill http://www.financialstability.gov/docs/CFPA-Act.pdf From maryrose333 at att.net Thu Jul 2 06:51:22 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 05:51:22 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Mark Levin: Obama's Policies Are "Bernie Madoff Times A Thousand" Message-ID: <008101c9fb13$cf94b6b0$6ebe2410$@net> What freedom means to some people is the right to continue to rape, pillage and plunder others in order to "preserve the Great American Lifestyle" at all costs. Meanwhile, back at the ranch it becomes obvious that the Great American Lifestyle is really the Great American Nightmare, particularly as other countries around the world want to claim their fair share of it and discover to their dismay that on a finite planet, things like over consumption, excessive technology and just plain greed, simply don't work. -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 9:28 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Mark Levin: Obama's Policies Are "Bernie Madoff Times A Thousand" WATCH Mark Levin: Obama's Policies Are "Bernie Madoff Times A Thousand" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/01/watch-mark-levin-obamas-p_n_224530. html Huffington Post | Nicholas Graham First Posted: 07- 1-09 10:19 PM | Updated: 07- 1-09 10:49 PM Right-wing talk radio firebrand Mark Levin was a guest on Sean Hannity's self-titled Fox News show and unleashed a diatribe against President Obama. Responding to Hannity's question of why his book "Liberty and Tyranny" is doing so well, Levin lit into Obama, calling his policies "Bernie Madoff times a thousand;" Obama "is taking a wrecking ball to this;" and that Obama's ultimate goal is to "destroy the middle class." Hannity cheers him on the whole way through (his favorite way of referring to Levin is as "The Great One"), although it's questionable if the Republican party wants Levin out there as the face of their ideology considering the man has a history of embarrassing himself and conservatism. WATCH Mark Levin to Hannity: Because I think the American people are fundamentally liberty-loving people. And what's going on in this country is really anti-liberty. The President, you know, they just put Bernie Madoff away for life; the President's policies are Bernie Madoff times a thousand. He is taking a wrecking ball to this society. The American people love this country. They love its institutions; they revere the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. What the President is peddling is something utterly foreign. He's dragging us into what de Toqueville called a 'soft tyranny.' And really I don't know what the limits are on the power of the presidency anymore. They used to call Bush an imperial president, which was ridiculous, this is a real, live imperial president, who wants to dictate light bulbs to what medicines you get, to student loans and credit card interest rates. He doesn't have the constitutional authority to be doing all these things. [...] He lied. Matter of fact he's taken his page right out of Saul Alinsky's rules for radicals. Saul Alinsky essentially said, look, you gotta sound like you're for the middle class. You gotta sound like you're from the middle class. And then you destroy the middle class. From maryrose333 at att.net Thu Jul 2 07:01:24 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 06:01:24 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Schwarzenegger Declares Fiscal Emergency In California Message-ID: <008a01c9fb15$37cfa590$a76ef0b0$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 8:30 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Schwarzenegger Declares Fiscal Emergency In California Schwarzenegger Declares Fiscal Emergency In California http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/01/schwarzenegger-declares-f_n_224244. html July 1, 2009 03:30 PM EST SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a fiscal emergency to address California's deficit and has ordered state offices closed three days a month to save cash. The Legislature will have 45 days to send him a plan to balance the state's budget, which ended the fiscal year with a $24.3 billion deficit. The shortfall is expected to grow by $7 billion because the Legislature did not enact several stopgap measures Tuesday. If lawmakers fail to act within the 45 days, they cannot adjourn or act on other bills until they solve the crisis. The government shutdown will lead to a third furlough day each month for 235,000 state employees, bringing their total pay cut to about 14 percent. California began its new budget year Wednesday without a balanced spending plan, which will force the controller to issue IOUs. From maryrose333 at att.net Thu Jul 2 07:01:24 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 06:01:24 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] CIA and Pentagon Deploy RFID "Death Chips." Message-ID: <008b01c9fb15$3ada4d80$b08ee880$@net> We are going to have to come to grips with "What is appropriate technology and what is not". What is the meaning of "life-enhancing" and what is the meaning of "death-defining" is a new criteria for a future dawning. We must choose wisely. Our grand-children and great-grandchildren are depending on us to make wise decisions today in order to ensure them a life in this paradise as we have had. It is about "entitlement'. What are you doing about it? -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 8:27 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] CIA and Pentagon Deploy RFID "Death Chips." (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) http://blacklistednews.com/news-4467-0-22-22--.html CIA and Pentagon Deploy RFID "Death Chips." Coming Soon to a Product Near You! Published on 06-11-2009 By Tom Burghardt - BLN Contributing Writer What Pentagon theorists describe as a "Revolution in Military Affairs" (RMA) leverages information technology to facilitate (so they allege) command decision-making processes and mission effectiveness, i.e. the waging of aggressive wars of conquest. It is assumed that U.S. technological preeminence, referred to euphemistically by Airforce Magazine as "compressing the kill chain," will assure American military hegemony well into the 21st century. Indeed a 2001 study, Understanding Information Age Warfare, brought together analysts from a host of Pentagon agencies as well as defense contractors Boeing, Booz Allen Hamilton and the MITRE Corporation and consultants from ThoughtLink, Toffler Associates and the RAND Corporation who proposed to do just. As a result of this and other Pentagon-sponsored research, military operations from Afghanistan to Iraq and beyond aim for "defined effects" through "kinetic" and "non-kinetic" means: leadership decapitation through preemptive strikes combined with psychological operations designed to pacify (terrorize) insurgent populations. This deadly combination of high- and low tech tactics is the dark heart of the Pentagon's Unconventional Warfare doctrine. In this respect, "network-centric warfare" advocates believe U.S. forces can now dominate entire societies through ubiquitous surveillance, an always-on "situational awareness" maintained by cutting edge sensor arrays as well as by devastating aerial attacks by armed drones, warplanes and Special Forces robosoldiers. Meanwhile on the home front, urbanized RMA in the form of ubiquitous CCTV systems deployed on city streets, driftnet electronic surveillance of private communications and radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips embedded in commodities are all aspects of a control system within securitized societies such as ours. As Antifascist Calling has written on more than one occasion, contemporary U.S. military operations are conceived as a branch of capitalist management theory, one that shares more than a passing resemblance to the organization of corporate entities such as Wal-Mart. Similar to RMA, commodity flows are mediated by an ubiquitous surveillance of products--and consumers--electronically. Indeed, Pentagon theorists conceive of "postmodern" warfare as just another manageable network enterprise. The RFID (Counter) Revolution Radio-frequency identification tags are small computer chips connected to miniature antennae that can be fixed to or implanted within physical objects, including human beings. The chip itself contains an Electronic Product Code that can be read each time a reader emits a radio signal. The chips are subdivided into two distinct categories, passive or active. A passive tag doesn't contain a battery and its read range is variable, from less than an inch to twenty or thirty feet. An active tag on the other hand, is self-powered and has a much longer range. The data from an active tag can be sent directly to a computer system involved in inventory control--or weapons targeting. It is hardly surprising then, that the Pentagon and the CIA have spent "hundreds of millions of dollars researching, developing, and purchasing a slew of 'Tagging tracking and locating' (TTL) gear," Wired reports. Long regarded as an urban myth, the military's deployment of juiced- up RFID technology along the AfPak border in the form of "tiny homing beacons to guide their drone strikes in Pakistan," has apparently moved out of the laboratory. "Most of these technologies are highly classified" Wired reveals, But there's enough information in the open literature to get a sense of what the government is pursuing: laser-based reflectors, super- strength RFID tags, and homing beacons so tiny, they can be woven into fabric or into paper. Some of the gadgets are already commercially available; if you're carrying around a phone or some other mobile gadget, you can be tracked--either through the GPS chip embedded in the gizmo, or by triangulating the cell signal. Defense contractor EWA Government Systems, Inc. makes a radio frequency-based "Bigfoot Remote Tagging System" that's the size of a couple of AA batteries. But the government has been working to make these terrorist tracking tags even smaller. (David Hambling and Noah Shachtman, "Inside the Military's Secret Terror-Tagging Tech," Wired, June 3, 2009) Electronic Warfare Associates, Inc. (EWA) is a little-known Herndon, Virginia-based niche company comprised of nine separate operating entities "each with varying areas of expertise," according to the firm's website. Small by industry standards, EWA has annual revenue of some $20 million, Business First reports. According to Washington Technology, the firm provides "information technology, threat analysis, and test and evaluation applications" for the Department of Defense. The majority of the company's products are designed for signals intelligence and surveillance operations, including the interception of wireless communications. According to EWA, its Bigfoot Remote Tagging System is "ideal" for "high-value target" missions and intelligence operations. EWA however, isn't the only player in this deadly game. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Pentagon's geek-squad, has been developing "small, environmentally robust, retro reflector- based tags that can be read by both handheld and airborne sensors at significant ranges," according to a presentation produced by the agency's Strategic Technology Office (STO). Known as "DOTS," Dynamic Optical Tags, DARPA claims that the system is comprised of a series of "small active retroreflecting optical tags for 2-way data exchange." The tags are small, 25x25x25 mm with a range of some 10 km and a two month shelf-life; far greater than even the most sophisticated RFID tags commercially available today. Sold as a system possessing a "low probability of detection," the devices can be covertly planted around alleged terrorist safehouses--or the home of a political rival or innocent citizen--which can then be targeted at will by Predator or Reaper drones. The Guardian revealed May 31 that over the last 18 months more than 50 CIA drone attacks have been launched against "high-value targets." The Pentagon claims to have killed nine of al-Qaeda's top twenty officials in north and south Waziristan. "That success" The Guardian avers, "is reportedly in part thanks to the mysterious electronic devices, dubbed 'chips' or 'pathrai' (the Pashto word for a metal device), which have become a source of fear, intrigue and fascination." According to multiple reports by Western and South Asian journalists, CIA paramilitary officers or Special Operations commandos pay tribesmen to plant the devices adjacent to farmhouses sheltering alleged terrorists. "Hours or days later" The Guardian narrates, "a drone, guided by the signal from the chip, destroys the building with a salvo of missiles. 'There are body parts everywhere,' said Wazir, who witnessed the aftermath of a strike." It is a high-tech assassination operation for one of the world's most remote areas. The pilotless aircraft, Predators or more sophisticated Reapers, take off from a base in Baluchistan province. But they are guided by a joystick-wielding operator half a world away, at a US air force base 35 miles north of Las Vegas. (Declan Walsh, "Mysterious 'chip' is CIA's latest weapon against al-Qaida targets hiding in Pakistan's tribal belt," The Guardian, May 31, 2009) But while American operators may get their kicks unloading a salvo of deadly missiles on unsuspecting villagers thousands of miles away, what happens when CIA "cut-outs" get it wrong? According to investigative journalist Amir Mir, writing in the Lahore- based newspaper The News, "of the sixty cross-border Predator strikes...between January 14, 2006 and April 8, 2009, only 10 were able to hit their actual targets, killing 14 wanted al-Qaeda leaders, besides perishing 687 innocent Pakistani civilians. The success percentage of the US Predator strikes thus comes to not more than six percent." So much for "precision bombing." But as CIA Director Leon Panetta recently told Congress, continued drone attacks are "the only game in town." A "game" likely to reap tens of millions of dollars for enterprising corporate grifters. According to Wired, Sandia National Laboratories are developing "Radar Responsive" tags that are "a long-range version of the ubiquitous stick-on RFID tags used to mark items in shops." A Sandia "Fact Sheet" informs us that "Radar-tag applications include battlefield situational awareness, unattended ground sensors data relay, vehicle tracking, search and recovery, precision targeting, special operations, and drug interdiction." Slap a tag on the car or embed one of the devilish devices in the jacket of a political dissident and bingo! instant "situational awareness" for Pentagon targeting specialists. As Sandia securocrats aver, Radar Responsive tags can light up and locate themselves from twelve miles away thus providing "precise geolocation of the responding tag independent of GPS." But "what happens in Vegas" certainly won't stay there as inevitably, these technologies silently migrate into the heimat. Homeland Security: Feeding the RFID Beast One (among many) firms marketing a spin-off of Sandia's Radar Responsive tags is the Washington, D.C.-based Gentag. With offices in The Netherlands, Brazil and (where else!) Sichuan, China, the world capital of state-managed surveillance technologies used to crush political dissent, Gentag's are a civilian variant first developed for the Pentagon. According to Gentag, "the civilian version (which still needs to be commercialized) is a lower power technology suitable for commercial civilian applications, including use in cell phones and wide area tracking." Conveniently, "Mobile reader infrastructure can be set up anywhere (including aircraft) or can be fixed and overlaid with existing infrastructure (e.g. cell phone towers)." One member of the "Gentag Team" is Dr. Rita Colwell, the firm's Chief Science Advisor. Headquartered at the University of Maryland, College Park and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, according to a blurb on Gentag's website "Colwell will lead development of detection technologies that can be combined with cell phones for Homeland Security applications." Another firm specializing in the development and marketing of RFID surveillance technologies is Inkode. The Vienna, Virginia-based company specializes in the development of low power devices "for integration into all types of products." According to a 2003 article in the RFID Journal, the firm has developed a method for "embedding very tiny metal fibers in paper, plastic and other materials that radio frequency waves can penetrate. The fibers reflect radio waves back to the reader, forming what Inkode calls a 'resonant signature.' These can be converted into a unique serial number." Indeed, the fibers can be embedded in "paper, airline baggage tags, book bindings, clothing and other fabrics, and plastic sheet," Wired reported. "When illuminated with radar, the backscattered fields interact to create a unique interference pattern that enables one tagged object to be identified and differentiated from other tagged objects," the company says. "For nonmilitary applications, the reader is less than 1 meter from the tag. For military applications, the reader and tag could theoretically be separated by a kilometer or more." The perfect accoutrement for a drone hovering thousands of feet above a target. More recently, the RFID Journal reports that Queralt, a Wallingford, Connecticut-based start-up, received a Department of Homeland Security grant to design "an intelligent system that learns from data collected via RFID and sensors." Tellingly, the system under development builds on the firm's "existing RFID technology, as well as an integrated behavioral learning engine that enables the system to, in effect, learn an individual's or asset's habits over time. The DHS grant was awarded based on the system's ability to track and monitor individuals and assets for security purposes," the Journal reveals. And with a booming Homeland Security-Industrial-Complex as an adjunct to the defense industry's monetary black hole, its no surprise that Michael Queralt, the firm's cofounder and managing director told the publication, "The reason this development is interesting to us is it is very close to our heart in the way we are going with the business. We are developing a system that converges physical and logical, electronic security." The core of Queralt's system is the behavioral engine that includes a database, a rules engine and various algorithms. Information acquired by reading a tag on an asset or an individual, as well as those of other objects or individuals with which that asset or person may come into contact, and information from sensors (such as temperature) situated in the area being monitored, are fed into the engine. The engine then logs and processes the data to create baselines, or behavioral patterns. As baselines are created, rules can be programmed into the engine; if a tag read or sensor metric comes in that contradicts the baseline and/or rules, an alert can be issued. Development of the behavioral engine is approximately 85 percent done, Queralt reports, and a prototype should be ready in a few months. (Beth Bacheldor, Queralt Developing Behavior-Monitoring RFID Software," RFID Journal, April 23, 2009) Creating a "behavior fingerprint," Queralt says the technology will have a beneficial application in monitoring the elderly at home to ensure their safety. Homes are laced with humidity, temperature and motion-sensing tags that can for example, "sense when a medicine cabinet has been opened, or if a microwave oven has been operated." In other words, the Orwellian "behavioral engine" can learn what a person is doing on a regular basis. But given the interest--and a $100,000 DHS grant, chump change by current Washington standards to be sure--corporate and intelligence agency clients have something far different in mind than monitoring the sick and the elderly! Indeed, the RFID Journal reports that "a company could use the system, for instance, to monitor the behavior of employees to ensure no security rules are breached." Want to surveil workers for any tell-tale signs of "antisocial behavior" such as union organizing? Then Queralt may have just the right tool for you! "The workers could be issued RFID-enabled ID badges that are read as they arrive at and leave work, enter and exit various departments, and log onto and off of different computer systems," the RFID Journal informs us. "Over time, the system will establish a pattern that reflects the employee's typical workday." And if a worker "enters the office much earlier than normal on a particular occasion," or "goes into a department in which he or she does not work," perhaps to "coerce" others into joining "communist" unions opposed let's say, to widespread surveillance, the ubiquitous and creepy spy system "could send an alert." Queralt is currently designing an application programming interface to "logical security and identity-management systems" from Microsoft and Oracle that will enable corporations to "tie the RFID-enabled behavioral system to their security applications." The Future Is Now! This brief survey of the national security state's deployment of a literally murderous, and privacy-killing, surveillance technology is not a grim, dystopian American future but a quintessentially American present. The technological fetishism of Pentagon war planners and their corporate enablers masks the deadly realities for humanity posed by the dominant world disorder that has reached the end of the line as capitalism's long death-spiral threatens to drag us all into the abyss. The dehumanizing rhetoric of RMA with its endless array of acronyms and "warfighting tools" that reduce waging aggressive imperialist wars of conquest to the "geek speak" of a video game, must be unmasked for what it actually represents: state killing on a massive scale. Perhaps then, the victims of America's "war on terror," at home as well as abroad, will cease to be "targets" to be annihilated by automated weapons systems or ground down by panoptic surveillance networks fueled by the deranged fantasies of militarists and the corporations for whom product development is just another deadly (and very profitable) blood sport. From ceasig at gmail.com Thu Jul 2 01:04:10 2009 From: ceasig at gmail.com (Centre For Ecological Audit, Social Inclusion & Governance) Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 12:34:10 +0530 Subject: [GJM] Black and White and Dead All Over In-Reply-To: <001601c9fab8$154500e0$3fcf02a0$@net> References: <001601c9fab8$154500e0$3fcf02a0$@net> Message-ID: <31f677a30907020004l30ff7848g2e23453feda8c47c@mail.gmail.com> I do not think so as there are many like me who would never give up leisurely reading in hard copy. Online reading for many is a great pain. Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam On Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 7:24 AM, mary rose wrote: > Is the era of newspapers coming to an end? > > > > From Mother Earth News: > > http://www.motherjones.com/media/2009/07/black-and-white-and-dead-all-over > > > > > > FutureDawning.org > > *Mary Rose* > dustysummerrose at gmail.com > > *Always have my latest info* > > *Want a signature like this?* > > > > _______________________________________________ > Discussion mailing list > Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net > > http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net > > -- Endeavoring for ecological safety ,social inclusion and distributive justice for the renewable resource based livelihoods and habitats, Centre For Ecological Audit, Social Inclusion and Governance (CEASIG) , an initiative of Labour League Foundation, Sewa and Sufi Trust , Delhi aims for socially inclusive and ecologically safe future for all through organizing and communicating fcarbon neutral neighborhood discussions/ consultations, building capacities in ecological audit, ecologically safe networking ,advocacy, interfaith dialogue & other related domains for multiplying personal, community , governmental and corporate actions for ecologically safe education, ecological audit ,and, ecologically safe and socially inclusive governance best practices Contact Details: 58-C,DDA Flats, Ashok Vihar-III, Delhi-110052 Phones: 9968345380,9210490942 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Thu Jul 2 19:15:44 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 18:15:44 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: Health Insurance Executive Resigns, Reveals Plans to Stop Health Care Reform Message-ID: <004401c9fb7b$cd9b8380$68d28a80$@net> From: PEERS: WantToKnow.info Email List [mailto:emaillist at peerservice.org] Sent: Thursday, July 02, 2009 9:04 AM To: maryrose333 at att.net Subject: Health Insurance Executive Resigns, Reveals Plans to Stop Health Care Reform To subscribe to or unsubscribe from this list (one email every few days) or to reply to this message, see end of email This message is available online at http://www.WantToKnow.info/health/health_insurance_industry_corruption "I have seen how the industry's practices ? especially those of the for-profit insurers that are under constant pressure from Wall Street to meet their profit expectations ? have contributed to the tragedy of nearly 50 million people being uninsured as well as to the growing number of Americans who, because insurers now require them to pay thousands of dollars out of their own pockets before their coverage kicks in ? are underinsured. An estimated 25 million of us now fall into that category." ? Wendell Potter, former executive for the health insurance industry, 6/24/09 Dear friends, Wendell Potter is a health insurance insider who led a highly successful career for 20 years in health care, serving eventually as a top public relations executive. After some deep soul searching, last year he made the critical decision to resign without pension and talk openly about the corruption he has personally seen and experienced in the increasingly profit-driven health care industry. His essay below reveals in detail how the industry's former priority of quality health care has now given way to the bottom line. To honor this courageous man, let us spread the word and work together to find equitable ways to provide needed health care for all. With best wishes, Fred Burks for PEERS and the WantToKnow.info Team Former language interpreter for Presidents Bush and Clinton The Health Care Industry vs. Health Reform By Wendell Potter June 24, 2009 I'm the former insurance industry insider now speaking out about how big for-profit insurers have hijacked our health care system and turned it into a giant ATM for Wall Street investors, and how the industry is using its massive wealth and influence to determine what is (and is not) included in the health care reform legislation members of Congress are now writing. Although by most measures I had a great career in the insurance industry (four years at Humana and nearly 15 at CIGNA), in recent years I had grown increasingly uncomfortable serving as one of the industry's top PR executives. In addition to my responsibilities at CIGNA, which included serving as the company's chief spokesman to the media on all corporate and financial matters, I also served on a lot of trade association committees and industry-financed coalitions, many of which were essentially front groups for insurers. So I was in a unique position to see not only how Wall Street analysts and investors influence decisions insurance company executives make but also how the industry has carried out behind-the-scenes PR and lobbying campaigns to kill or weaken any health care reform efforts that threatened insurers' profitability. I also have seen how the industry's practices ? especially those of the for-profit insurers that are under constant pressure from Wall Street to meet their profit expectations ? have contributed to the tragedy of nearly 50 million people being uninsured as well as to the growing number of Americans who, because insurers now require them to pay thousands of dollars out of their own pockets before their coverage kicks in ? are underinsured. An estimated 25 million of us now fall into that category. What I saw happening over the past few years was a steady movement away from the concept of insurance and toward "individual responsibility," a term used a lot by insurers and their ideological allies. This is playing out as a continuous shifting of the financial burden of health care costs away from insurers and employers and onto the backs of individuals. As a result, more and more sick people are not going to the doctor or picking up their prescriptions because of costs. If they are unfortunate enough to become seriously ill or injured, many people enrolled in these plans find themselves on the hook for such high medical bills that they are losing their homes to foreclosure or being forced into bankruptcy. As an industry spokesman, I was expected to put a positive spin on this trend that the industry created and euphemistically refers to as "consumerism" and to promote so-called "consumer-driven" health plans. I ultimately reached the point of feeling like a huckster. I thought I could live with being a well-paid huckster and hang in there a few more years until I could retire. I probably would have if I hadn't made a completely spur-of-the-moment decision a couple of years ago that changed the direction of my life. While visiting my folks in northeast Tennessee where I grew up, I read in the local paper about a health "expedition" being held that weekend a few miles up U.S. 23 in Wise, Va. Doctors, nurses and other medical professionals were volunteering their time to provide free medical care to people who lived in the area. What intrigued me most was that Remote Area Medical, a non-profit group whose original mission was to provide free care to people in remote villages in South America, was organizing the expedition. I decided to check it out. That 50-mile stretch of U.S. 23, which twists through the mountains where thousands of men have made their living working in the coalmines, turned out to be my "road to Damascus." Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when I reached the Wise County Fairgrounds, where the expedition was being held. Hundreds of people had camped out all night in the parking lot to be assured of seeing a doctor or dentist when the gates opened. By the time I got there, long lines of people stretched from every animal stall and tent where the volunteers were treating patients. That scene was so visually and emotionally stunning it was all I could do to hold back tears. How could it be that citizens of the richest nation in the world were being treated this way? A couple of weeks later I was boarding a corporate jet to fly from Philadelphia to a meeting in Connecticut. When the flight attendant served my lunch on gold-rimmed china and gave me a gold-plated knife and fork to eat it with, I realized for the first time that someone's insurance premiums were paying for me to travel in such luxury. I also realized that one of the reasons those people in Wise County had to wait in long lines to be treated in animal stalls was because our Wall Street-driven health care system has created one of the most inequitable health care systems on the planet. Although I quit my job last year, I did not make a final decision to speak out as a former insider until recently when it became clear to me that the insurance industry and its allies (often including drug and medical device makers, business groups and even the American Medical Association) were succeeding in shaping the current debate on health care reform. While the thought of speaking out had crossed my mind during the months leading up to the day I gave notice, I initially decided instead to hang out my shingle as a consultant to small businesses and nonprofit organizations. I decided to take the shingle down, though, at least for a while, when I heard members of Congress reciting talking points like the ones I used to write to scare people away from real reform. I'll have more to say about that over the coming weeks and months, but, for now, remember this: whenever you hear a politician or pundit use the term "government-run health care" and warn that the creation of a public health insurance option that would compete with private insurers (or heaven forbid, a single-payer system like the one Canada has) will "lead us down the path to socialism," know that the original source of the sound bite most likely was some flack like I used to be. Bottom line: I ultimately decided the stakes are too high for me to just sit on the sidelines and let the special interests win again. So I have joined forces with thousands of other Americans who are trying to persuade our lawmakers to listen to us for a change, not just to the insurance and drug company executives who are spending millions to shape reform to benefit them and the Wall Street hedge fund managers they are beholden to. Take it from me, a former insider, who knows what really motivates those folks. You need to know where the hard-earned money you pay in health insurance premiums ? if you lucky enough to have coverage at all ? really goes. I decided to speak out knowing that some people will not like what I have to say and will do all they can to discredit me. In anticipation of that, here are some facts: * I am not doing this because my former employer was pushing me out the door or because I had become a disgruntled employee. I had not been passed over for a promotion or anything like that. As I noted earlier, I had a financially rewarding career in the industry, and I'm very grateful for that. I had numerous promotions, raises, bonuses, stock options and stock grants over the years. When I left my last job, I was as close on the corporate ladder to the CEO as any PR person has ever climbed at the company. I reported to the general counsel, the company's top lawyer, whose boss is the chairman and CEO, a man I like and worked closely with over many years. * The decision to leave was entirely my own, and I left on good terms with everybody at the company. In fact, I agreed to postpone my last day at work by more than two months at the company's request. My coworkers gave me a terrific going-away party, and I received dozens of kind notes from people all across the country including friends at other companies and at America's Health Insurance Plans, the industry trade association. I still consider all of them my friends. In fact, the thing I have missed most since I left is working as part of a team, even though I eventually came to the conclusion that I was playing for the wrong side. Being a consultant has its advantages, but I have missed the camaraderie. After a few months, I thought that maybe I should consider working for another company again. At one point, a former boss told me that another insurer had posted a PR job and encouraged me to contact a former CIGNA executive who worked there about it. Against my better judgment, I did, but I immediately decided not to pursue it. The last thing I wanted to do was to go from one big insurer to another one. What the hell was I thinking? I'm writing this because, knowing how things work, I'm fully expecting insurers' PR firms to quietly feed friends of the industry (which include a roster of editorial writers and pundits, lawmakers and many others who fall under the broad category of "third-party advocates,") with anything they can think of to discredit me and what I say. This will go on behind the scenes because the insurers will want to preserve the image they are working so hard to cultivate ? as a group of kind and caring folks who think only of you and your health and are working hard as real partners to Congress and the White House to find "a uniquely American solution" to what ails our system. I expect this because I have worked closely with the industry's PR firms over many years whenever the insurers were being threatened with bad publicity, litigation or legislation that might hinder profits. One of the reasons I chose to become affiliated with the Center for Media and Democracy [CMD] is because of the important work the organization does to expose often devious, dishonest and unethical PR practices that further the self interests of big corporations and special interest groups at the expense of the American people and the democratic principles this country was founded on. After a long career in PR, I am looking forward to providing an insider's perspective as a senior fellow at CMD, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to speak out for the rights and dignity of ordinary people. The people of Wise County and every county deserve much better than to be left behind to suffer or die ahead of their time due to Wall Street's efforts to keep our government from ensuring that all Americans have real access to first-class health care. Note: You can follow Wendell's incisive health care blog at this link. To see the original version of this article on the website of the Center for Media and Democracy, click here. For another revealing article on this topic, including links to excellent articles on CNN and ABC, click here. What you can do: * Inform your media and political representatives of this important information. To contact those close to you, click here . Urge them to stop investing in health insurance and related companies interested largely in profit and work to find an equitable health system which protects all people.. * Learn more about the powerful influence of the drug companies over Congress at this link . * Learn more key information of vital importance to the health of you, your family, and your loved ones in the powerful lesson on health available here . * Explore inspiring ideas on how we can build a brighter future for all by reading this short essay . * Spread this news to your friends and colleagues, and bookmark this article on key news websites using the icons at the bottom of this page, so that we can fill the role at which the major media is sadly failing. Together, we can make a difference. Final Note: WantToKnow.info believes it is important to balance disturbing cover-up information with inspirational writings which call us to be all that we can be and to work together for positive change. Please visit our Inspiration Center at http://www.WantToKnow.info/inspirational for an abundance of uplifting material. See our archive of revealing news articles at http://www.WantToKnow.info/indexnewsarticles Your tax-deductible donations, however large or small, help greatly to support this important work. To make a donation by credit card, check, or money order: http://www.WantToKnow.info/donationswtk Explore these empowering websites coordinated by the nonprofit PEERS network : http://www.momentoflove.org - Every person in the world has a heart http://www.WantToKnow.info - Reliable, verifiable information on major cover-ups http://www.inspiringcommunity.org - Building a Global Community for All http://www.weboflove.org - Strengthening the Web of Love that interconnects us all http://insightcourse.net - The Insight Course: Best of the Internet all in one free course Educational websites promoting transformation through information and inspiration To reply to this message, visit http://www.WantToKnow.info/contactus.php To subscribe to or unsubscribe from the WantToKnow.info list (one email every few days): http://www.WantToKnow.info/subscribe _____ Change email address / Leave mailing list Powered by YourMailingListProvider -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Thu Jul 2 19:15:44 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 18:15:44 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: Brainwashed; new release by George Harrison Message-ID: <004901c9fb7b$d33b0720$79b11560$@net> What do you see here when you view this? Something life-enhancing or death-defining? At some level of our consciousness, I feel we all know that the great American lifestyle all has to go. ALL OF IT!!!! Nothing about it is realistic is it? And This is not just about THEM IS IT? We all bought into the lies because our egos wanted a share of the pie. Isn't it time we began to think about "authenticity" and began to be the change we wish to see in our lives? From: lawrence kiely [mailto:topdownyoga at gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, July 02, 2009 10:41 AM To: lawrence kiely Subject: Brainwashed; new release by George Harrison http://www.FreedomsPhoenix.com/Find-Freedom.htm?At=0061576 &From=News -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Fri Jul 3 03:40:56 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 02:40:56 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: Black and White and Dead All Over Message-ID: <000001c9fbc2$5fe414a0$1fac3de0$@net> Well, Mukhtar, I guess you would rather keep on cutting down trees so you can enjoy your "hard copy," news rather than get a "Kindle" from Amazon. Com on which to read. www.amazon.com/Kindle-Amazons-Wireless.../B00154JDAI While Kindle is not the most "green" of products since it is made from plastic, at least you purchase it and use it to read all of your books and papers rather than ordering a lot of books and papers. Especially when the papers only end up in the garbage dump. Once through is the answer for recycling, and papers and magazines printed in color cannot be recycled. From: discussion-bounces at globaljusticemovement.net [mailto:discussion-bounces at globaljusticemovement.net] On Behalf Of Centre For Ecological Audit, Social Inclusion & Governance Sent: Thursday, July 02, 2009 12:04 AM To: Discussion Forum for Global Justice Subject: Re: [GJM] Black and White and Dead All Over I do not think so as there are many like me who would never give up leisurely reading in hard copy. Online reading for many is a great pain. Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam On Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 7:24 AM, mary rose wrote: Is the era of newspapers coming to an end? >From Mother Earth News: http://www.motherjones.com/media/2009/07/black-and-white-and-dead-all-over FutureDawning.org Mary Rose dustysummerrose at gmail.com Always have my latest info Want a signature like this? _______________________________________________ Discussion mailing list Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemo vement.net -- Endeavoring for ecological safety ,social inclusion and distributive justice for the renewable resource based livelihoods and habitats, Centre For Ecological Audit, Social Inclusion and Governance (CEASIG) , an initiative of Labour League Foundation, Sewa and Sufi Trust , Delhi aims for socially inclusive and ecologically safe future for all through organizing and communicating fcarbon neutral neighborhood discussions/ consultations, building capacities in ecological audit, ecologically safe networking ,advocacy, interfaith dialogue & other related domains for multiplying personal, community , governmental and corporate actions for ecologically safe education, ecological audit ,and, ecologically safe and socially inclusive governance best practices Contact Details: 58-C,DDA Flats, Ashok Vihar-III, Delhi-110052 Phones: 9968345380,9210490942 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: ATT00216.txt URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Fri Jul 3 04:53:31 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 03:53:31 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] The Great American Bubble Machine Message-ID: <008b01c9fbcc$8461ec80$8d25c580$@net> As the economic crisis deepens, the truth becomes more exposed. And, I cannot help but feel that in the end, those responsible for the chaos will become its victims as well, since the whole shebang has been built on "bubbles" for many years. And sooner or later it all has to come tumbling down in order for the true Phoenix to rise again. -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Thursday, July 02, 2009 9:29 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] The Great American Bubble Machine The Great American Bubble Machine Matt Taibbi on how Goldman Sachs has engineered every major market manipulation since the Great Depression http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/28816321/the_great_american_bubbl e_machine MATT TAIBBIPosted Jul 02, 2009 8:38 AM In Rolling Stone Issue 1082-83, Matt Taibbi takes on "the Wall Street Bubble Mafia" ? investment bank Goldman Sachs. The piece has generated controversy, with Goldman Sachs firing back that Taibbi's piece is "an hysterical compilation of conspiracy theories" and a spokesman adding, "We reject the assertion that we are inflators of bubbles and profiteers in busts, and we are painfully conscious of the importance in being a force for good." Taibbi shot back: "Goldman has its alumni pushing its views from the pulpit of the U.S. Treasury, the NYSE, the World Bank, and numerous other important posts; it also has former players fronting major TV shows. They have the ear of the president if they want it." Here, now, are excerpts from Matt Taibbi's piece and video of Taibbi exploring the key issues. The first thing you need to know about Goldman Sachs is that it's everywhere. The world's most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money. Any attempt to construct a narrative around all the former Goldmanites in influential positions quickly becomes an absurd and pointless exercise, like trying to make a list of everything. What you need to know is the big picture: If America is circling the drain, Goldman Sachs has found a way to be that drain ? an extremely unfortunate loophole in the system of Western democratic capitalism, which never foresaw that in a society governed passively by free markets and free elections, organized greed always defeats disorganized democracy. They achieve this using the same playbook over and over again. The formula is relatively simple: Goldman positions itself in the middle of a speculative bubble, selling investments they know are crap. Then they hoover up vast sums from the middle and lower floors of society with the aid of a crippled and corrupt state that allows it to rewrite the rules in exchange for the relative pennies the bank throws at political patronage. Finally, when it all goes bust, leaving millions of ordinary citizens broke and starving, they begin the entire process over again, riding in to rescue us all by lending us back our own money at interest, selling themselves as men above greed, just a bunch of really smart guys keeping the wheels greased. They've been pulling this same stunt over and over since the 1920s ? and now they're preparing to do it again, creating what may be the biggest and most audacious bubble yet. The basic scam in the Internet Age is pretty easy even for the financially illiterate to grasp. Companies that weren't much more than pot-fueled ideas scrawled on napkins by up-too-late bong-smokers were taken public via IPOs, hyped in the media and sold to the public for megamillions. It was as if banks like Goldman were wrapping ribbons around watermelons, tossing them out 50-story windows and opening the phones for bids. In this game you were a winner only if you took your money out before the melon hit the pavement. It sounds obvious now, but what the average investor didn't know at the time was that the banks had changed the rules of the game, making the deals look better than they actually were. They did this by setting up what was, in reality, a two-tiered investment system ? one for the insiders who knew the real numbers, and another for the lay investor who was invited to chase soaring prices the banks themselves knew were irrational. While Goldman's later pattern would be to capitalize on changes in the regulatory environment, its key innovation in the Internet years was to abandon its own industry's standards of quality control. Goldman's role in the sweeping global disaster that was the housing bubble is not hard to trace. Here again, the basic trick was a decline in underwriting standards, although in this case the standards weren't in IPOs but in mortgages. By now almost everyone knows that for decades mortgage dealers insisted that home buyers be able to produce a down payment of 10 percent or more, show a steady income and good credit rating, and possess a real first and last name. Then, at the dawn of the new millennium, they suddenly threw all that shit out the window and started writing mortgages on the backs of napkins to cocktail waitresses and ex-cons carrying five bucks and a Snickers bar. And what caused the huge spike in oil prices? Take a wild guess. Obviously Goldman had help ? there were other players in the physical-commodities market ? but the root cause had almost everything to do with the behavior of a few powerful actors determined to turn the once-solid market into a speculative casino. Goldman did it by persuading pension funds and other large institutional investors to invest in oil futures ? agreeing to buy oil at a certain price on a fixed date. The push transformed oil from a physical commodity, rigidly subject to supply and demand, into something to bet on, like a stock. Between 2003 and 2008, the amount of speculative money in commodities grew from $13 billion to $317 billion, an increase of 2,300 percent. By 2008, a barrel of oil was traded 27 times, on average, before it was actually delivered and consumed. The history of the recent financial crisis, which doubles as a history of the rapid decline and fall of the suddenly swindled-dry American empire, reads like a Who's Who of Goldman Sachs graduates. By now, most of us know the major players. As George Bush's last Treasury secretary, former Goldman CEO Henry Paulson was the architect of the bailout, a suspiciously self-serving plan to funnel trillions of Your Dollars to a handful of his old friends on Wall Street. Robert Rubin, Bill Clinton's former Treasury secretary, spent 26 years at Goldman before becoming chairman of Citigroup ? which in turn got a $300 billion taxpayer bailout from Paulson. There's John Thain, the asshole chief of Merrill Lynch who bought an $87,000 area rug for his office as his company was imploding; a former Goldman banker, Thain enjoyed a multibillion-dollar handout from Paulson, who used billions in taxpayer funds to help Bank of America rescue Thain's sorry company. And Robert Steel, the former Goldmanite head of Wachovia, scored himself and his fellow executives $225 million in golden-parachute payments as his bank was self-destructing. There's Joshua Bolten, Bush's chief of staff during the bailout, and Mark Patterson, the current Treasury chief of staff, who was a Goldman lobbyist just a year ago, and Ed Liddy, the former Goldman director whom Paulson put in charge of bailed-out insurance giant AIG, which forked over $13 billion to Goldman after Liddy came on board. The heads of the Canadian and Italian national banks are Goldman alums, as is the head of the World Bank, the head of the New York Stock Exchange, the last two heads of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York ? which, incidentally, is now in charge of overseeing Goldman. But then, something happened. It's hard to say what it was exactly; it might have been the fact that Goldman's co-chairman in the early Nineties, Robert Rubin, followed Bill Clinton to the White House, where he directed the National Economic Council and eventually became Treasury secretary. While the American media fell in love with the story line of a pair of baby-boomer, Sixties-child, Fleetwood Mac yuppies nesting in the White House, it also nursed an undisguised crush on Rubin, who was hyped as without a doubt the smartest person ever to walk the face of the Earth, with Newton, Einstein, Mozart and Kant running far behind. Rubin was the prototypical Goldman banker. He was probably born in a $4,000 suit, he had a face that seemed permanently frozen just short of an apology for being so much smarter than you, and he exuded a Spock-like, emotion-neutral exterior; the only human feeling you could imagine him experiencing was a nightmare about being forced to fly coach. It became almost a national clich? that whatever Rubin thought was best for the economy ? a phenomenon that reached its apex in 1999, when Rubin appeared on the cover of Time with his Treasury deputy, Larry Summers, and Fed chief Alan Greenspan under the headline the committee to save the world. And "what Rubin thought," mostly, was that the American economy, and in particular the financial markets, were over-regulated and needed to be set free. During his tenure at Treasury, the Clinton White House made a series of moves that would have drastic consequences for the global economy ? beginning with Rubin's complete and total failure to regulate his old firm during its first mad dash for obscene short-term profits. After the oil bubble collapsed last fall, there was no new bubble to keep things humming ? this time, the money seems to be really gone, like worldwide-depression gone. So the financial safari has moved elsewhere, and the big game in the hunt has become the only remaining pool of dumb, unguarded capital left to feed upon: taxpayer money. Here, in the biggest bailout in history, is where Goldman Sachs really started to flex its muscle. It began in September of last year, when then-Treasury secretary Paulson made a momentous series of decisions. Although he had already engineered a rescue of Bear Stearns a few months before and helped bail out quasi-private lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Paulson elected to let Lehman Brothers ? one of Goldman's last real competitors ? collapse without intervention. ("Goldman's superhero status was left intact," says market analyst Eric Salzman, "and an investment-banking competitor, Lehman, goes away.") The very next day, Paulson greenlighted a massive, $85 billion bailout of AIG, which promptly turned around and repaid $13 billion it owed to Goldman. Thanks to the rescue effort, the bank ended up getting paid in full for its bad bets: By contrast, retired auto workers awaiting the Chrysler bailout will be lucky to receive 50 cents for every dollar they are owed. Immediately after the AIG bailout, Paulson announced his federal bailout for the financial industry, a $700 billion plan called the Troubled Asset Relief Program, and put a heretofore unknown 35-year-old Goldman banker named Neel Kashkari in charge of administering the funds. In order to qualify for bailout monies, Goldman announced that it would convert from an investment bank to a bank-holding company, a move that allows it access not only to $10 billion in TARP funds, but to a whole galaxy of less conspicuous, publicly backed funding ? most notably, lending from the discount window of the Federal Reserve. By the end of March, the Fed will have lent or guaranteed at least $8.7 trillion under a series of new bailout programs ? and thanks to an obscure law allowing the Fed to block most congressional audits, both the amounts and the recipients of the monies remain almost entirely secret. Converting to a bank-holding company has other benefits as well: Goldman's primary supervisor is now the New York Fed, whose chairman at the time of its announcement was Stephen Friedman, a former co-chairman of Goldman Sachs. Friedman was technically in violation of Federal Reserve policy by remaining on the board of Goldman even as he was supposedly regulating the bank; in order to rectify the problem, he applied for, and got, a conflict-of-interest waiver from the government. Friedman was also supposed to divest himself of his Goldman stock after Goldman became a bank-holding company, but thanks to the waiver, he was allowed to go out and buy 52,000 additional shares in his old bank, leaving him $3 million richer. Friedman stepped down in May, but the man now in charge of supervising Goldman ? New York Fed president William Dudley ? is yet another former Goldmanite. The collective message of all of this ? the AIG bailout, the swift approval for its bank-holding conversion, the TARP funds ? is that when it comes to Goldman Sachs, there isn't a free market at all. The government might let other players on the market die, but it simply will not allow Goldman to fail under any circumstances. Its edge in the market has suddenly become an open declaration of supreme privilege. "In the past it was an implicit advantage," says Simon Johnson, an economics professor at MIT and former official at the International Monetary Fund, who compares the bailout to the crony capitalism he has seen in Third World countries. "Now it's more of an explicit advantage." Fast-forward to today. It's early June in Washington, D.C. Barack Obama, a popular young politician whose leading private campaign donor was an investment bank called Goldman Sachs ? its employees paid some $981,000 to his campaign ? sits in the White House. Having seamlessly navigated the political minefield of the bailout era, Goldman is once again back to its old business, scouting out loopholes in a new government-created market with the aid of a new set of alumni occupying key government jobs. Gone are Hank Paulson and Neel Kashkari; in their place are Treasury chief of staff Mark Patterson and CFTC chief Gary Gensler, both former Goldmanites. (Gensler was the firm's co-head of finance.) And instead of credit derivatives or oil futures or mortgage-backed CDOs, the new game in town, the next bubble, is in carbon credits ? a booming trillion- dollar market that barely even exists yet, but will if the Democratic Party that it gave $4,452,585 to in the last election manages to push into existence a groundbreaking new commodities bubble, disguised as an "environmental plan," called cap-and-trade. The new carbon-credit market is a virtual repeat of the commodities-market casino that's been kind to Goldman, except it has one delicious new wrinkle: If the plan goes forward as expected, the rise in prices will be government-mandated. Goldman won't even have to rig the game. It will be rigged in advance. From maryrose333 at att.net Fri Jul 3 05:00:04 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 04:00:04 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Israel's Act Of Piracy Message-ID: <008f01c9fbcd$6d444d30$47cce790$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Thursday, July 02, 2009 10:24 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Israel's Act Of Piracy Israel's Act Of Piracy By Paul Craig Roberts http://www.countercurrents.org/roberts020709.htm 02 July, 2009 On June 30, the government of Israel committed an act of piracy when the Israeli Navy in international waters illegally boarded the "Spirit of Humanity," kidnapped its 21-person crew from 11 countries, including former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and Nobel Laureate Mairead MaGuire, and confiscated the cargo of medical supplies, olive trees, reconstruction materials, and children's toys that were on the way to the Mediterranean coast of Gaza. The "Spirit of Humanity," along with the kidnapped 21 persons is being towed to Israel as I write. Gaza has been described as the "world's largest concentration camp." It is home to 1.5 million Palestinians who were driven by force of American-supplied Israeli arms out of their homes, off their farms, and out of their villages so that Israel could steal their land and make the Palestinian land available to Israeli settlers. What we have been witnessing for 60 years is a replay in modern times, despite the United Nations and laws strictly preventing Israel's theft of Palestine, of the 17th, 18th, and 19th century theft of American Indian lands by US settlers. An Israeli government spokesman recently rebuked the President of the United States, a country, the Israeli said, who stole all of its land from Indians, for complaining about Israel's theft of Palestine. I knew the "Spirit of Humanity" would fall to Israeli piracy the minute I received on June 25 from an official of an Israeli peace organization a "public advisory" that the government of Cyprus had withheld permission for the "Spirit of Humanity" to leave for Gaza. The US State Department had advised that "The Israeli Foreign Ministry informed U.S. officials at the American Embassy in Tel Aviv that Israel still considers Gaza an area of conflict and that any boats attempting to sail to Gaza will not be permitted to reach its destination." The "Spirit of Humanity" obtained permission to leave Cyprus when all aboard signed a waiver absolving Cyprus of all responsibility for the crew's safety at the hands of the Israelis. As President Obama has called for humanitarian aid to be sent to Gaza, and as the International Red Cross has damned the inhumanity of Israel's blockade of Gaza, the question that immediately comes to mind is why did not the United States send sufficient US Navy escort to see the "Spirit of Humanity" safely through international waters to Gaza? We send ships against Somalian pirates, why not against Israeli ones? We all know the answer. The US talks a good "human rights" game, but never delivers--especially if the human rights abuser is Israel. After all, Israel owns the US Congress and President Obama. Israel even has an Israeli citizen and former member of the Israeli Defense Forces as the Chief-of-Staff in Obama's White House. Israel owns millions of American "Christian Zionists" and "rapture evangelicals." When it comes to Israel, the American government is a puppet state. It does what it is told. Macho Americans might stand tall, but not when Israel snaps its fingers. Israel, of course, will get away with a mere act of piracy. After all, Israel has been getting away with its war crimes and violations of international law for 60 years. If the UN tries to do anything, the US will veto it, as the US has done for decades. What will happen to the kidnapped foreign nationals? Most likely they will be released and sent back to their respective countries. Israel, of course, will keep the stolen "Spirit of Humanity" to foreclose any further attempts by human rights activists to run Israel's inhumane blockade of Gaza. On the other hand, Israel might declare its captives to be terrorists on the ground that the Gazans elected in a free election Hamas as their government. Hamas, unlike Israel, is declared to be a terrorist organization by the puppet American State Department in Washington. Thus the human rights activists onboard the "Spirit of Humanity" are aiding and abetting terrorists by delivering goods to them. The US Department of Justice (sic) prosecutes American citizens and charities for sending aid to Palestinians on the grounds that Palestinians, if not everyone a terrorist, are governed by terrorists. I wouldn't be surprised if a Nobel Laureate and a former member of the US House of Representatives, along with the rest of the crew, are handed over to the Americans for indefinite detention and for torturing and waterboarding in the American torture facility at Bagram. I am certain that "Homeland Security" and the US Government are desperate to be rid of all of critics, and knocking off a Nobel Laureate and a member of the House sets a precedent for getting rid of the rest of us. Meanwhile, California, which has become a failed state, has been denied bailout money from Washington. Israel, which has been a failed state for 60 years, can, unlike the American state of California, always count of Washington to deliver the money and the weapons to keep Israel going. The same week that "our" government in Washington told the Governor of California "not one red cent," President Barak Obama handed over $2.775 billion to Israel. Online Journal (June 29) reported that the handover to Israel of the unemployed Americans' tax dollars took place in a "tiny Capitol room" to which members of the press were denied access. I mean, really, who wants the media writing about US taxpayer dollars for Israel's nuclear weapons while Americans are being kicked out of their homes. Not that, of course, the "Christian" supporters of Israel would mind. Unlike every other recipient of US military largesse, Israel is permitted to bypass the Pentagon and to deal directly with US suppliers. Consequently, the Israel Lobby's influence multiplies, because military suppliers fight for Israel in congressional committees in order to get Israel's business. This lets Israel turn the screws on Iran. According to Grant F. Smith writing in Online Journal, Republican US Representative Mark Steven from Illinois has received $221,000 in campaign contributions from Israel political action committees (PACs). Therefore, it was a sure thing that he would introduce legislation preventing the Import-Export bank from providing loan guarantees to countries doing business with Iran. Americans think that they are a superpower, but in fact they are a stupor-power. A puppet state if truth be known. There is a great deal of evidence, even in Time magazine that Israel is a child abuser. "God's Chosen People" routinely abuses captured Palestinian children. The Israelis also abuse Palestinian children by shooting them down in the streets. Don't take my word for it. The Geneva-based Defense for Children International says, according to Time Magazine, that "the ill-treatment and torture of Palestinian child prisoners appears to be widespread, systematic and institutionalized, suggesting complicity at all levels of the political and military chain of command." According to Time Magazine, "Often, children suffer lasting traumas from jail. Says Saleh Nazzal from the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoner Affairs, 'When soldiers burst into a house and drag away a child, he loses his feeling of being protected by his family. He comes back from prison alienated from his family, his friends. They don't like going back to school or even leaving the house. They start wetting their beds.' Says Mona Zaghrout, a YMCA counselor who helps kids returning from prison: 'They come out of prison thinking and acting like they are men. Their childhood is gone.' And they often turn to another father figure--the armed militant groups fighting the Israeli occupation.'" And so it goes. There's no money for California, or for Americans' health care, or for the several million Americans who have lost their homes and are homeless, because Israel needs it. Israel need the Americans' taxpayers money to that it can create even more enemies, and, therefore, need more American money to spend with the American armament industries to oppress more Palestinians and to make more enemies, requiring more American money to protect Israel from its folly and its evil. And the brainwashed American public goes along year after year. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during President Reagan's first term. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal. From maryrose333 at att.net Fri Jul 3 05:07:05 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 04:07:05 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Israel's Act Of Piracy Message-ID: <009501c9fbce$687c4860$3974d920$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Thursday, July 02, 2009 10:24 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Israel's Act Of Piracy (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) Israel's Act Of Piracy By Paul Craig Roberts http://www.countercurrents.org/roberts020709.htm 02 July, 2009 On June 30, the government of Israel committed an act of piracy when the Israeli Navy in international waters illegally boarded the "Spirit of Humanity," kidnapped its 21-person crew from 11 countries, including former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and Nobel Laureate Mairead MaGuire, and confiscated the cargo of medical supplies, olive trees, reconstruction materials, and children's toys that were on the way to the Mediterranean coast of Gaza. The "Spirit of Humanity," along with the kidnapped 21 persons is being towed to Israel as I write. Gaza has been described as the "world's largest concentration camp." It is home to 1.5 million Palestinians who were driven by force of American-supplied Israeli arms out of their homes, off their farms, and out of their villages so that Israel could steal their land and make the Palestinian land available to Israeli settlers. What we have been witnessing for 60 years is a replay in modern times, despite the United Nations and laws strictly preventing Israel's theft of Palestine, of the 17th, 18th, and 19th century theft of American Indian lands by US settlers. An Israeli government spokesman recently rebuked the President of the United States, a country, the Israeli said, who stole all of its land from Indians, for complaining about Israel's theft of Palestine. I knew the "Spirit of Humanity" would fall to Israeli piracy the minute I received on June 25 from an official of an Israeli peace organization a "public advisory" that the government of Cyprus had withheld permission for the "Spirit of Humanity" to leave for Gaza. The US State Department had advised that "The Israeli Foreign Ministry informed U.S. officials at the American Embassy in Tel Aviv that Israel still considers Gaza an area of conflict and that any boats attempting to sail to Gaza will not be permitted to reach its destination." The "Spirit of Humanity" obtained permission to leave Cyprus when all aboard signed a waiver absolving Cyprus of all responsibility for the crew's safety at the hands of the Israelis. As President Obama has called for humanitarian aid to be sent to Gaza, and as the International Red Cross has damned the inhumanity of Israel's blockade of Gaza, the question that immediately comes to mind is why did not the United States send sufficient US Navy escort to see the "Spirit of Humanity" safely through international waters to Gaza? We send ships against Somalian pirates, why not against Israeli ones? We all know the answer. The US talks a good "human rights" game, but never delivers--especially if the human rights abuser is Israel. After all, Israel owns the US Congress and President Obama. Israel even has an Israeli citizen and former member of the Israeli Defense Forces as the Chief-of-Staff in Obama's White House. Israel owns millions of American "Christian Zionists" and "rapture evangelicals." When it comes to Israel, the American government is a puppet state. It does what it is told. Macho Americans might stand tall, but not when Israel snaps its fingers. Israel, of course, will get away with a mere act of piracy. After all, Israel has been getting away with its war crimes and violations of international law for 60 years. If the UN tries to do anything, the US will veto it, as the US has done for decades. What will happen to the kidnapped foreign nationals? Most likely they will be released and sent back to their respective countries. Israel, of course, will keep the stolen "Spirit of Humanity" to foreclose any further attempts by human rights activists to run Israel's inhumane blockade of Gaza. On the other hand, Israel might declare its captives to be terrorists on the ground that the Gazans elected in a free election Hamas as their government. Hamas, unlike Israel, is declared to be a terrorist organization by the puppet American State Department in Washington. Thus the human rights activists onboard the "Spirit of Humanity" are aiding and abetting terrorists by delivering goods to them. The US Department of Justice (sic) prosecutes American citizens and charities for sending aid to Palestinians on the grounds that Palestinians, if not everyone a terrorist, are governed by terrorists. I wouldn't be surprised if a Nobel Laureate and a former member of the US House of Representatives, along with the rest of the crew, are handed over to the Americans for indefinite detention and for torturing and waterboarding in the American torture facility at Bagram. I am certain that "Homeland Security" and the US Government are desperate to be rid of all of critics, and knocking off a Nobel Laureate and a member of the House sets a precedent for getting rid of the rest of us. Meanwhile, California, which has become a failed state, has been denied bailout money from Washington. Israel, which has been a failed state for 60 years, can, unlike the American state of California, always count of Washington to deliver the money and the weapons to keep Israel going. The same week that "our" government in Washington told the Governor of California "not one red cent," President Barak Obama handed over $2.775 billion to Israel. Online Journal (June 29) reported that the handover to Israel of the unemployed Americans' tax dollars took place in a "tiny Capitol room" to which members of the press were denied access. I mean, really, who wants the media writing about US taxpayer dollars for Israel's nuclear weapons while Americans are being kicked out of their homes. Not that, of course, the "Christian" supporters of Israel would mind. Unlike every other recipient of US military largesse, Israel is permitted to bypass the Pentagon and to deal directly with US suppliers. Consequently, the Israel Lobby's influence multiplies, because military suppliers fight for Israel in congressional committees in order to get Israel's business. This lets Israel turn the screws on Iran. According to Grant F. Smith writing in Online Journal, Republican US Representative Mark Steven from Illinois has received $221,000 in campaign contributions from Israel political action committees (PACs). Therefore, it was a sure thing that he would introduce legislation preventing the Import-Export bank from providing loan guarantees to countries doing business with Iran. Americans think that they are a superpower, but in fact they are a stupor-power. A puppet state if truth be known. There is a great deal of evidence, even in Time magazine that Israel is a child abuser. "God's Chosen People" routinely abuses captured Palestinian children. The Israelis also abuse Palestinian children by shooting them down in the streets. Don't take my word for it. The Geneva-based Defense for Children International says, according to Time Magazine, that "the ill-treatment and torture of Palestinian child prisoners appears to be widespread, systematic and institutionalized, suggesting complicity at all levels of the political and military chain of command." According to Time Magazine, "Often, children suffer lasting traumas from jail. Says Saleh Nazzal from the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoner Affairs, 'When soldiers burst into a house and drag away a child, he loses his feeling of being protected by his family. He comes back from prison alienated from his family, his friends. They don't like going back to school or even leaving the house. They start wetting their beds.' Says Mona Zaghrout, a YMCA counselor who helps kids returning from prison: 'They come out of prison thinking and acting like they are men. Their childhood is gone.' And they often turn to another father figure--the armed militant groups fighting the Israeli occupation.'" And so it goes. There's no money for California, or for Americans' health care, or for the several million Americans who have lost their homes and are homeless, because Israel needs it. Israel need the Americans' taxpayers money to that it can create even more enemies, and, therefore, need more American money to spend with the American armament industries to oppress more Palestinians and to make more enemies, requiring more American money to protect Israel from its folly and its evil. And the brainwashed American public goes along year after year. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during President Reagan's first term. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal. From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Fri Jul 3 05:10:33 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 11:10:33 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] Mark Thomas Message-ID: <39977.40261.qm@web27408.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> ? Mark Thomas is a comedian, and activist. His site maybe of interest. He was also give a show in my area too. ? ?????? http://www.markthomasinfo.com/ ? ? R.Searle -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mukhtaralam2000 at yahoo.com Fri Jul 3 05:23:26 2009 From: mukhtaralam2000 at yahoo.com (Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam) Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 16:53:26 +0530 (IST) Subject: [GJM] FW: Black and White and Dead All Over Message-ID: <701352.8207.qm@web94908.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Dear Mary, ? Indeed, if we were to print all that is being written now, I am sure , more than 50 Earth would be required with trees. I do however, like to read some of things that I need to attend. On many occassions, your long posts led me to go for a printed copy. Reading from the Holy Qur'an for me is best sitting quietly at home. Having said this and with expression of so much concern for eco-safety, I would rather go for more online reading and that also in New Delhi not in my village, where many children do not have money to pay for the notebooks.Recalling my childhood, we used slate for improving handwriting and doing mathamatics till class IV. Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam 58-C,DDA Flats, Ashok Vihar-III,Delhi-110052 Tel:9968345380 --- On Fri, 3/7/09, mary rose wrote: From: mary rose Subject: [GJM] FW: Black and White and Dead All Over To: discussion at globaljusticemovement.net, FixGov at yahoogroups.com Date: Friday, 3 July, 2009, 3:10 PM Well, Mukhtar, I guess you would rather keep on cutting down trees so you can enjoy your ?hard copy,? news rather than get a ?Kindle? from Amazon. Com on which to read.? www.amazon.com/Kindle-Amazons-Wireless.../B00154JDAI While Kindle is not the most ?green? of products since it is made from plastic, at least you purchase it and use it to read all of your books and papers rather than ordering a lot of books and papers.? Especially when the papers only end up in the garbage dump. Once through is the answer for recycling, and papers and magazines printed in color cannot be recycled.? ? ? From: discussion-bounces at globaljusticemovement.net [mailto:discussion-bounces at globaljusticemovement.net] On Behalf Of Centre For Ecological Audit, Social Inclusion & Governance Sent: Thursday, July 02, 2009 12:04 AM To: Discussion Forum for Global Justice Subject: Re: [GJM] Black and White and Dead All Over ? I do not think so as there are many like me who would never give up leisurely reading in hard copy. Online reading for many is a great pain. ? Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam On Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 7:24 AM, mary rose wrote: Is the era of newspapers coming to an end?? ? ? >From Mother Earth News: ? http://www.motherjones.com/media/2009/07/black-and-white-and-dead-all-over ? ? FutureDawning.org Mary Rose dustysummerrose at gmail.com Always have my latest info Want a signature like this? ? _______________________________________________ Discussion mailing list Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net -- Endeavoring for ecological safety ,social inclusion and distributive justice for the renewable resource based livelihoods and habitats, Centre For Ecological Audit, Social Inclusion and Governance (CEASIG) , an initiative of Labour League Foundation, Sewa and Sufi Trust , Delhi aims for socially inclusive and ecologically safe future for all through organizing and ?communicating fcarbon neutral neighborhood discussions/ consultations, building capacities in ecological audit, ecologically safe networking ,advocacy, interfaith dialogue ?& other related domains for ?multiplying personal, community , governmental and corporate actions for ecologically safe education, ecological audit ,and, ecologically safe and socially inclusive governance best practices Contact Details: 58-C,DDA Flats, Ashok Vihar-III, Delhi-110052 Phones: 9968345380,9210490942 -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ Discussion mailing list Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net See the Web's breaking stories, chosen by people like you. Check out Yahoo! Buzz. http://in.buzz.yahoo.com/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Fri Jul 3 05:26:23 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 04:26:23 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: Nuclear weapons: the only solution Message-ID: <00bf01c9fbd1$1b9e0fd0$52da2f70$@net> From: Luis Morago - Avaaz.org [mailto:avaaz at avaaz.org] Sent: Thursday, July 02, 2009 1:39 PM To: maryrose333 at att.net Subject: Nuclear weapons: the only solution Dear friends, The only real solution to the proliferation crisis is the elimination of all nuclear weapons worldwide. Sign the petition calling for global zero and bring a powerful democratic voice to the US-Russia summit next week: Sign the petition Whether in the Korean peninsula, in unstable Pakistan, or in the volatile Middle East, the risk of military or terrorist nuclear attacks is escalating daily. Yet one of the most real chances to rid the world of nuclear weapons is happening and will be won or lost far from the headlines. Next week in Moscow, Presidents Medvedev and Obama could make history by agreeing to reduce their nuclear arsenals and set the world?s course towards a nuclear-free world. A group of highly influential figures (1) called Global Zero has presented a four-step plan to achieve that goal and, though it seems incredible, they are successfully persuading the nuclear powers that the world is more secure without nukes. What's needed now is a massive surge of people power urging the US and Russia to take these bold steps to achieve global zero. Click below to sign the petition and help deliver a deafening call to action. Global Zero leaders will hand it over to Presidents Obama and Medvedev: http://www.avaaz.org/en/time_to_global_zero For decades the disarmament movement has sought to rid the planet of nuclear weapons. During the Cold War, the efforts of citizens across the world played a key role in curbing the nuclear arms race, helping prevent nuclear war. But all too often their goal has been regarded as utopian and improbable. Now, an alliance of the sound advice of security experts and the democratic force of citizens worldwide has a realistic possibility of achieving this goal. Last April, Obama and Medvedev said they were committed to a world free of nuclear weapons. But it will require a massive concerted effort to press them to turn rhetoric into action. In the face of a deepening crisis, the summit next week is a tremendous opportunity for human progress. Let's pile on the pressure to seize it. http://www.avaaz.org/en/time_to_global_zero With hope, Luis, Alice, Ricken, Pascal, Paula, Graziela, Paul, Brett, Milena, Ben, Margaret, Raluca, Alice W, Raj and the whole Avaaz team. (1) Global Zero includes former heads of state, such as Jimmy Carter and Mikhail Gorbachev, former foreign and defence ministers, national security advisors, and former top military commanders. More information at: http://www.globalzero.org/en/about-campaign Sources: IAEA Chief Warns Of Possible New Wave Of Nuclear Proliferation http://www.avaaz.org/nuclear_proliferation Global Zero offers plan to eliminate nukes by 2030, AP, 29 June 2009: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gSWX9EdJu8HH4xpD5AdAlSCkR_ewD994J2Q00 Putin Talks of Giving Up Nukes, The Moscow Times, 11 june 2009: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/1010/42/378483.htm Alert level raised on North Korea, BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8071175.stm Scrapping nuclear arms is now realpolitik. Six security experts urge America and Russia to act today http://www.avaaz.org/the_times_nukes Full Global Zero Action Plan available at: http://www.globalzero.org/en/global-zero-press-release-june-29 -------------------------- Want to support Avaaz? We're entirely funded by member donations and receive no money from governments or corporations. Our dedicated online team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way -- donate here . ABOUT AVAAZ Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in Ottawa, London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Buenos Aires, and Geneva. Call us at: +1 888 922 8229 or +55 21 2509 0368 Click here to learn more about our largest campaigns. Don't forget to check out our Facebook and Myspace and Bebo pages! You can also follow Avaaz on Twitter! You are getting this message because you signed "Stand with Tibet - Support the Dalai Lama" on 2008-03-30 using the email address maryrose333 at att.net. To ensure that Avaaz messages reach your inbox, please add avaaz at avaaz.org to your address book. To change your email address, language settings, or other personal information, https://secure.avaaz.org/act/index.php?r=profile&user=a98a963da1ffa62878f25e4ba46af430&lang=en, or simply go here to unsubscribe. To contact Avaaz, please do not reply to this email. Instead, write to info at avaaz.org. You can also call us at +1-888-922-8229 (US) or +55 21 2509 0368 (Brazil) If you have technical problems, please go to http://www.avaaz.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Fri Jul 3 08:19:38 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 14:19:38 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] An Odd Little Economic Theory...Solliticitism...... Message-ID: <127349.59064.qm@web27401.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> ? Sollicitism ? Clearly, our economy is in serious need of help: People have asked me for years, "Are you a communist or a capitalist?" Many times I've been told theres no middle ground; rather than try to find a safe-haven, I realized theres a better economic idea out there, and its called Sollicitism. What is Sollicitism? Latin- Sollicitudo (To care for others), and -Ism (a general suffix to end official sounding words). What are the core beliefs? 1) Capitalism is good, but it excludes and abuses the poor. 2) Many of the unemployed are not jobless out of their own free will, they are the victims of corporations that dominate the economy 3) In order to have a stable economy, all people must have the ability to purchase food, clothing, and shelter. How does it work? All those making between minimum wage and $9 an hour will have the option to shop at government facilities. These stores will consist of goods made by the formerly unemployed, who would be employed by the government with minimum wage and benefits. Those making such sums of money have the opperunity to buy these goods (Tax free) and the economy benefits by making 100% of the profits, and then later by having a larger and more stable workforce. This idea can be applied to the housing market, clothes, and food. A capitalist economy can continue to function for those who are "well-off," and who chose to buy more expensive goods. These generate tax revenue for the economy to prosper. Finally, to ENSURE that the government does not take advantage: a) Stores and Factories would be opened (in the US) on a managable timeframe b) Prices would be directly proportional to minimum wage, and minimum wage would be determined by the average expenses needed to provide for an American Family divided by hours So in essence, this type of economy favors neither the poor, or the rich, and allows members to participate in either a capitalist economy, or one that bolsters the workforce via Sollicitism. Who Benefits? 1) Only the unemployed would be hired by the government regulated facilities mentioned earlier. Therefore, they would be able to benefit from cheaper goods offered through government sponsorship and rejoin the workforce 2) The economy grows because a) the poverty cycle is broken via the above explanations, and b) the workforce grows and sends either 100% of profits from government stores back to the economy, or allows unemployed to break out of the poverty cycle and buy taxed goods that the economy generates revenue from. I encourage your support! Contact Details Email: Recent news Check Here for Updates! Members Displaying 8 of 16 membersSee All Rohan Kudtarkar Sean Walsh Joe Louis Alana Deluty Chris Gaulin Robert Searle Nicolas Mariscal Mike Caprio Discussion board Displaying 2 discussion topicsStart new topic|See All Transfinancial Economics 1 post. Updated 5 minutes ago President 2008 1 post. Updated at 14:13 on 12 February 2008 The Wall Displaying 5 of 10 Wall posts.See All Write something... Matt Motta (Wesleyan) wrote at 02:55 on 02 March 2008 Yeah I'm with you sean, If people are spending the economy does well, and therefore the dollar goes up. Its basically the polar opposite of the housing market now Report Sean Minahan (Lasalle Academy) wrote at 15:50 on 24 February 2008 I'm confused -- why would the value of the dollar go down? Isn't it better for the economy when more people are spending? Report Matt Rogers (Holy Cross) wrote at 23:34 on 13 February 2008 Its as simple as supply and demand. If everyone is employed and thus has money, than the price of money goes down. Report Matt Motta (Wesleyan) wrote at 03:34 on 13 February 2008 Idk if i think the dollar would get weaker- since thered be more people working, and hopefully more people breaking out of poverty and then being able to purchase taxed goods- i think the economy would be stronger. Even if that took away power from huge coreperations- america's infulence is so strong, that our 9 trillion dollar debt and war expendatures/debts dont equal to our global dominance Report Matt Rogers (Holy Cross) wrote at 01:37 on 13 February 2008 But having an even weaker dollar would make the divide even worse. Report See all 10 Wall posts Photos Displaying 2 photosAdd photos|See All Links Displaying 1 linkSee All Post a Link Repairing Rhode Island Source: rirepair.tripod.com No matter what the message is, spreading the word is never an easy task. According to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, Rhode Island is one of only 10 states which does not offer E85 to it's citizens. ... ????For anyone who cares about the enviornment???? Posted by Matt Motta Video No one has uploaded any videos. Add Videos. View Discussion Board Invite people to join Leave Group Share Group type This is an open group. Anyone can join and invite others to join. Officers Matt Motta (Wesleyan) Creator Dan Squizzero (Lasalle Academy) Opposition Leader- Keeps ideas in balance Vincent Lee (Lasalle Academy) Chief Advisor Admins Matt Motta (Wesleyan) (creator) Related groups Prioritize Organisations - Non-Profit Organisations No, I Don't Care If I Die At 12AM, I Refuse To Pass On Your Chain Letter. Common Interest - Beliefs & Causes race Against The States- Rhode Island Just for Fun - Facebook Classics Prayers For Ms. Fontaine! Student Groups - General ShareReport Group Advertise Play SET Online Play the card game SET online or on your iPhone! See if you can make it on the high scores list. ??? bankers get bonuses AGAIN Jobs lost, homes repossessed. Yet bankers are still getting massive bonuses. It's time to rein them in. Please sign our petition now. ??? More Ads -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ceasig at gmail.com Fri Jul 3 00:59:43 2009 From: ceasig at gmail.com (Centre For Ecological Audit, Social Inclusion & Governance) Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 12:29:43 +0530 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Mark Levin: Obama's Policies Are "Bernie Madoff Times A Thousand" In-Reply-To: <008101c9fb13$cf94b6b0$6ebe2410$@net> References: <008101c9fb13$cf94b6b0$6ebe2410$@net> Message-ID: <31f677a30907022359q1c5ac24fn216fd88526380443@mail.gmail.com> Dear all, US needs to lead on the path for ecologically safe future and in this it is critical to transform leisure use pattern. Being part of network of ecostrategic communicators http://ecostrategiccommunicators.ning.com let us multipy communication and practice for carbon neutral neighbourhood leisure. With warmest regards Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam On Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 6:21 PM, mary rose wrote: > What freedom means to some people is the right to continue to rape, pillage > and plunder others in order to "preserve the Great American Lifestyle" at > all costs. Meanwhile, back at the ranch it becomes obvious that the Great > American Lifestyle is really the Great American Nightmare, particularly as > other countries around the world want to claim their fair share of it and > discover to their dismay that on a finite planet, things like over > consumption, excessive technology and just plain greed, simply don't work. > > -----Original Message----- > From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net > [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of > TradingPostPaul > Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 9:28 PM > To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net > Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Mark Levin: Obama's Policies Are "Bernie > Madoff Times A Thousand" > > WATCH Mark Levin: Obama's Policies Are "Bernie Madoff Times A Thousand" > > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/01/watch-mark-levin-obamas-p_n_224530. > html > Huffington Post | Nicholas Graham > First Posted: 07- 1-09 10:19 PM | Updated: 07- 1-09 10:49 PM > > > > Right-wing talk radio firebrand Mark Levin was a guest on Sean Hannity's > self-titled Fox News show and unleashed a diatribe against President Obama. > > Responding to Hannity's question of why his book "Liberty and Tyranny" is > doing so well, Levin lit into Obama, calling his policies "Bernie Madoff > times a thousand;" Obama "is taking a wrecking ball to this;" and that > Obama's ultimate goal is to "destroy the middle class." > > Hannity cheers him on the whole way through (his favorite way of referring > to Levin is as "The Great One"), although it's questionable if the > Republican party wants Levin out there as the face of their ideology > considering the man has a history of embarrassing himself and conservatism. > > WATCH > > Mark Levin to Hannity: > > Because I think the American people are fundamentally liberty-loving > people. And what's going on in this country is really anti-liberty. The > President, you know, they just put Bernie Madoff away for life; the > President's policies are Bernie Madoff times a thousand. He is taking a > wrecking ball to this society. The American people love this country. They > love its institutions; they revere the Constitution and the Declaration of > Independence. What the President is peddling is something utterly foreign. > He's dragging us into what de Toqueville called a 'soft tyranny.' And > really I don't know what the limits are on the power of the presidency > anymore. They used to call Bush an imperial president, which was > ridiculous, this is a real, live imperial president, who wants to dictate > light bulbs to what medicines you get, to student loans and credit card > interest rates. He doesn't have the constitutional authority to be doing > all these things. > > [...] > > He lied. Matter of fact he's taken his page right out of Saul Alinsky's > rules for radicals. Saul Alinsky essentially said, look, you gotta sound > like you're for the middle class. You gotta sound like you're from the > middle class. And then you destroy the middle class. > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Discussion mailing list > Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net > > http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net > -- Endeavoring for ecological safety ,social inclusion and distributive justice for the renewable resource based livelihoods and habitats, Centre For Ecological Audit, Social Inclusion and Governance (CEASIG) , an initiative of Labour League Foundation, Sewa and Sufi Trust , Delhi aims for socially inclusive and ecologically safe future for all through organizing and communicating fcarbon neutral neighborhood discussions/ consultations, building capacities in ecological audit, ecologically safe networking ,advocacy, interfaith dialogue & other related domains for multiplying personal, community , governmental and corporate actions for ecologically safe education, ecological audit ,and, ecologically safe and socially inclusive governance best practices Contact Details: 58-C,DDA Flats, Ashok Vihar-III, Delhi-110052 Phones: 9968345380,9210490942 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Fri Jul 3 16:22:28 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 15:22:28 -0700 Subject: [GJM] You Are Here To Be Happy Message-ID: <000001c9fc2c$cac72860$60557920$@net> You Are Here To Be Happy! by Gabriella Kortsch, Ph.D. If the title of this article has caught you by surprise, I am going to assume that you think otherwise ... that you think that you are not necessarily here to be happy ... or at least, if that is part of the deal, it comes way down on the list, and not at the top. We've all been told about the Puritan work ethic (see also The Puritan Work Ethic, Wu-Wei, and Is Life Really Meant to be a Struggle?, many of us were raised within the confines of institutional religion, where we are generally taught to not think of ourselves, but of others (and therefore, by deduction, our happiness does not come very near the top of the list), most of us have been socialized over the course of our tender years into learning that being selfless is desirable (see also Intentional Focus, Your Happiness, Your Success and the Law of Attraction). Being Selfish & Loving the Self But there is a huge difference between being selfish and loving the self enough in order to want to be in a good place inside of oneself, to be happy, to have a high energetic frequency, so that life is good, or better said, so that, even when things are not good, one is in a place where one can choose to deal with the stuff that is not so good, or even that is very bad in a way that allows one to maintain an inner equilibrium which, while it may not be happiness, is, nevertheless, a place where one can live in peace, despite those outer circumstances. So this subject of selfishness and love of self is very important for us to understand. I've written quite a bit about it in the past: * The Only Person You Have to Make Happy Is You * Love Yourself First * Finding it Hard to Love Yourself? Check Out Your Boundaries * Giving Birth To Yourself * The Absolutely Best Way of Giving to Others This is so important to understand because the better off you are inside yourself, which in a sense is tantamount to saying that the better - even the happier - you feel inside yourself, by choice, and not only because today happens to be a good day, and that inner choice that you make has a lot to do with your inner strength and your belief in yourself and your capacity to stand strong and be well no matter what - so the better off you are inside yourself, the better you are for all those who surround you. FutureDawning.org Mary Rose dustysummerrose at gmail.com Always have my latest info Want a signature like this? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Fri Jul 3 16:22:28 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 15:22:28 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: FW: Black and White and Dead All Over Message-ID: <000701c9fc2c$d3185e80$79491b80$@net> From: discussion-bounces at globaljusticemovement.net [mailto:discussion-bounces at globaljusticemovement.net] On Behalf Of Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam Sent: Friday, July 03, 2009 4:23 AM To: Discussion Forum for Global Justice Subject: Re: [GJM] FW: Black and White and Dead All Over Dear Mary, Indeed, if we were to print all that is being written now, I am sure , more than 50 Earth would be required with trees. I do however, like to read some of things that I need to attend. On many occassions, your long posts led me to go for a printed copy. Reading from the Holy Qur'an for me is best sitting quietly at home. Having said this and with expression of so much concern for eco-safety, I would rather go for more online reading and that also in New Delhi not in my village, where many children do not have money to pay for the notebooks.Recalling my childhood, we used slate for improving handwriting and doing mathamatics till class IV. Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam 58-C,DDA Flats, Ashok Vihar-III,Delhi-110052 Tel:9968345380 Dear Mukhtar, Thanks for your response here. Electronic book publishing certainly has advantages as one can provide links within the page which connect the reader directly to references while also providing for a handy glossary for any particular page. It has always been my intent to publish ?The Sacred Quest? in an electric format so that diagrams of human consciousness may be displayed in such a way as to give further lucidity to the text. What we know today is that the written word is not easily assimilated as it engages mainly the left brain whereas graphic presentations engage both hemispheres of the brain. Combining graphics and text are the best ways of conveying information and if we are paying attention to the message You Tube is sending out, more and more people are turning to this means of disseminating information. Somehow, we need to get very creative here, and the economic/ecological crisis is certainly working to aid in the facilitation of change at this time as it pushes us, as the human family, to consider more ?earth-friendly? ways. One of the things we continually fail to do is to look for the ?good? in what we generally consider to be ?bad? or ?negative.? and in so-doing we miss much of the whole dynamic of situations. One dimension of the problem may be to look more to hemp and other fast- growing materials as a means of creating products formerly based on cutting trees. Not only can hemp be used to manufacture paper, but it can also be used to make plastics which then end up in products like Kindle, DVDs. cell phones, etc., all of which would be ?biodegradable? and solve much of the waste problem associated with disposal. Looking at all of the benefits to hemp, shouldn?t we be prioritizing hemp production as a way of fulfilling needs in a life-enhancing manner? There are no real shortages. Abundance means utilizing our resources more appropriately, along with incorporating ?appropriate? technology into the process. Another word to add to our list of ?words to live by? today: 1) cooperation, 2) integration, 3) flexibility, and 4) appropriate --- On Fri, 3/7/09, mary rose wrote: From: mary rose Subject: [GJM] FW: Black and White and Dead All Over To: discussion at globaljusticemovement.net, FixGov at yahoogroups.com Date: Friday, 3 July, 2009, 3:10 PM Well, Mukhtar, I guess you would rather keep on cutting down trees so you can enjoy your ?hard copy,? news rather than get a ?Kindle? from Amazon. Com on which to read. www.amazon.com/Kindle-Amazons-Wireless.../B00154JDAI While Kindle is not the most ?green? of products since it is made from plastic, at least you purchase it and use it to read all of your books and papers rather than ordering a lot of books and papers. Especially when the papers only end up in the garbage dump. Once through is the answer for recycling, and papers and magazines printed in color cannot be recycled. From: discussion-bounces at globaljusticemovement.net [mailto:discussion-bounces at globaljusticemovement.net] On Behalf Of Centre For Ecological Audit, Social Inclusion & Governance Sent: Thursday, July 02, 2009 12:04 AM To: Discussion Forum for Global Justice Subject: Re: [GJM] Black and White and Dead All Over I do not think so as there are many like me who would never give up leisurely reading in hard copy. Online reading for many is a great pain. Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam On Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 7:24 AM, mary rose < maryrose333 at att.net> wrote: Is the era of newspapers coming to an end? >From Mother Earth News: http://www.motherjones.com/media/2009/07/black-and-white-and-dead-all-over FutureDawning.org Mary Rose dustysummerrose at gmail.com Always have my latest info Want a signature like this? _______________________________________________ Discussion mailing list Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net -- Endeavoring for ecological safety ,social inclusion and distributive justice for the renewable resource based livelihoods and habitats, Centre For Ecological Audit, Social Inclusion and Governance (CEASIG) , an initiative of Labour League Foundation, Sewa and Sufi Trust , Delhi aims for socially inclusive and ecologically safe future for all through organizing and communicating fcarbon neutral neighborhood discussions/ consultations, building capacities in ecological audit, ecologically safe networking ,advocacy, interfaith dialogue & other related domains for multiplying personal, community , governmental and corporate actions for ecologically safe education, ecological audit ,and, ecologically safe and socially inclusive governance best practices Contact Details: 58-C,DDA Flats, Ashok Vihar-III, Delhi-110052 Phones: 9968345380,9210490942 -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ Discussion mailing list Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net _____ See the Web's breaking stories, chosen by people like you. 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Name: ATT00248.txt URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Fri Jul 3 16:29:33 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 15:29:33 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] ELEVEN INHERENT RULES OF CORPORATE BEHAVIOR by Jerry Mander Message-ID: <001f01c9fc2d$bf84a940$3e8dfbc0$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Friday, July 03, 2009 11:50 AM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] ELEVEN INHERENT RULES OF CORPORATE BEHAVIOR by Jerry Mander (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) from JayHanson at hawaii.rr.com In dominating other cultures, in digging up the Earth, corporations blindly follow the codes that have been built into them as if they were genes. ELEVEN INHERENT RULES OF CORPORATE BEHAVIOR by Jerry Mander The following list is an attempt to articulate the obligatory rules by which corporations operate. Some of the rules overlap, but taken together they help reveal why corporations behave as they do and how they have come to dominate their environment and the human beings within it. The Profit Imperative: Profit is the ultimate measure of all corporate decisions. It takes precedence over community well-being, worker health, public health, peace, environmental preservation or national security. Corporations will even find ways to trade with national "enemies"-Libya, Iran, the former Soviet Union, Cuba-when public policy abhors it. The profit imperative and the growth imperative are the most fundamental corporate drives; together they represent the corporation's instinct to "live." The Growth Imperative: Corporations live or die by whether they can sustain growth. On this depends relationships to investors, to the stock market, to banks and to public perception. The growth imperative also fuels the corporate desire to find and develop scarce resources in obscure parts of the world. This effect is now clearly visible, as the world's few remaining pristine places are sacrificed to corporate production. The peoples who inhabit these resource-rich regions are similarly pressured to give up their traditional ways and climb on the wheel of production-consumption. Corporate planners consciously attempt to bring "less developed societies into the modem world" to create infrastructures for development, as well as new workers and new consumers. Corporations claim that they do this for altruistic reasons to raise the living standard-but corporations have no altruism. Theoretically, privately held corporations-those owned by individuals or families-do not have the imperative to expand. In practice, however, their behavior is the same. Such privately held giants as Bechtel Corporation have shown no propensity to moderate growth. Competition and Aggression: Corporations place every person in management in fierce competition with each other. Anyone interested in a corporate career must hone his or her ability to seize the moment. This applies to gaining an edge over another company or over a colleague within the company. As an employee, you are expected to be part of the "team," but you also must be ready to climb over your own colleagues. Corporate ideology holds that competition improves worker incentive and corporate performances and therefore benefits society. Our society has accepted this premise utterly. Unfortunately, however, it also surfaces in personal relationships. Living by standards of competition and aggression on the job, human beings have few avenues to express softer, more personal feelings. (In politics, non-aggressive behavior is interpreted as weakness.) Amorality: Not being human, corporations do not have morals or altruistic goals. So decisions that maybe antithetical to community goals or environmental health are made without misgivings. In fact, corporate executives praise "non-emotionality" as a basis for "objective" decision-making. Corporations, however, seek to hide their amorality and attempt to act as if they were altruistic. Lately, there has been a concerted effort by American industry to appear concerned with environmental cleanup, community arts or drug programs. Corporate efforts that seem altruistic are really Public relations ploys or directly self-serving projects. There has recently been a spurt of corporate advertising about how corporations work to clean the environment. A company that installs offshore oil rigs will run ads about how fish are thriving under the rigs. Logging companies known for their clearcutting practices will run millions of dollars' worth of ads about their "tree farms." It is a fair rule of thumb that corporations tend to advertise the very qualities they do not have in order to allay negative public perceptions. When corporations say "we care," it is almost always in response to the widespread perception that they do not have feelings or morals. If the benefits do not accrue, the altruistic pose is dropped. When Exxon realized that its cleanup of Alaskan shores was not easing the public rage about the oil spill, it simply dropped all pretense of altruism and ceased working. Hierarchy: Corporate laws require that corporations be structured into classes of superiors and subordinated within a centralized pyramidal structure: chairman, directors, chief executive officer, vice presidents, division managers and so on. The efficiency of this hierarchical form (which also characterizes the military, the government and most institutions in our society) is rarely questioned. The effect on society from adopting the hierarchical form is to make it seem natural that we have all been placed within a national pecking order. Some jobs are better than others, some lifestyles are better than others, some neighborhoods, some races, some kinds of knowledge. Men over women. Westerners over non-Westerners. Humans over nature. That effective, non-hierarchical modes of organization exist on the planet, and have been successful for millennia, is barely known by most Americans. Quantification, Linearity, Segmentation: Corporations require that subjective information be translated into objective form, i.e. numbers. The subjective or spiritual aspects of forests, for example, cannot be translated, and so do not enter corporate equations. Forests are evaluated only as "board feet." When corporations are asked to clean up their smokestack emissions, they lobby to relax the new standards in order to contain costs. The result is that a predictable number of people are expected to become sick and die. The operative corporate standard is not "as safe as humanly possible," but rather, "as safe as possible commensurate with maintaining acceptable profit." Dehumanization: In the great majority of corporations, employees are viewed as ciphers, as non-managerial cogs in the wheel, replaceable by others or by machines. As for management employees, not subject to quite the same indignities, they nonetheless must practice a style of decision making that "does not let feelings get in the way." This applies as much to firing employees as it does to dealing with the consequences of corporate behavior in the environment or the community. Exploitation: All corporate profit is obtained by a simple formula: Profit equals the difference between the amount paid to an employee and the economic value of the employee's output, and/or the difference between the amount paid for raw materials used in production (including costs of processing), and the ultimate sales price of processed raw materials. Karl Marx was right: a worker is not compensated for full value of his or her labor-neither is the raw material supplier. The owners of capital skim off part of the value as profit. Profit is based on underpayment. Capitalists argue that this is a fair deal, since both workers and the people who mine or farm the resources (usually in Third World environments) get paid. But this arrangement is inherently imbalanced. The owner of the capital-the corporation or the bank always obtains additional benefit. While the worker makes a wage, the owner of capital gets the benefit of the worker's labor, plus the surplus profit the worker produces, which is then reinvested to produce yet more surplus. Ephemerality: Corporations exist beyond time and space: they are legal creations that only exist on paper. They do not die a natural death; they outlive their own creators. They have no commitment to locale, employees or neighbors. Having no morality, no commitment to place and no physical nature (a factory, while being a physical entity, is not the corporation). A corporation can relocate all of its operations at the first sign of inconvenience-demanding employees, high taxes and restrictive environmental laws. The traditional ideal of community engagement is antithetical to corporation behavior. Opposition to Nature: Though individuals who work for corporations may personally love nature, corporations themselves, and corporate societies, are intrinsically committed to intervening in, altering and transforming nature. For corporations engaged in commodity manufacturing, profit comes from transmogrifying raw materials into saleable forms. Metals from the ground are converted into cars. Trees are converted into boards, houses, furniture and paper products. Oil is converted into energy. In all such energy, a piece of nature is taken from where it belongs and processed into a new form. All manufacturing depends upon intervention and reorganization of nature. After natural resources are used up in one part of the globe, the corporation moves on to another part. This transformation of nature occurs in all societies where manufacturing takes place. But in capitalist, corporate societies, the process is accelerated because capitalist societies and corporations must grow by extracting resources from nature and reprocessing them at an ever-quickening pace. Meanwhile, the consumption end of the cycle is also accelerated by corporations that have an interest in convincing people that commodities bring material satisfaction. Inner satisfaction, self-sufficiency, contentment in nature or a lack of a desire to acquire wealth are subversive to corporate goals. Banks finance the conversion of nature insurance companies help reduce the financial risks involved. On a finite planet, the process cannot continue indefinitely. Homogenization: American rhetoric claims that commodity society delivers greater choice and diversity than other societies. "Choice" in this context means product choice in the marketplace: many brands to choose from and diverse features on otherwise identical products. Actually, corporations have a stake in all of us living our lives in a similar manner, achieving our pleasures from things that we buy in a world where each family lives isolated in a single family home and has the same machines as every other family on the block. The "singles" phenomenon has proved even more productive than the nuclear family, since each person duplicates the consumption patterns of every other person. Lifestyles and economic systems that emphasize sharing commodities and work, that do not encourage commodity accumulation or that celebrate non-material values, are not good for business. People living collectively, sharing such "hard" goods as washing machines, cars and appliances (or worse, getting along without them) are outrageous to corporate commodity society. Native societies-which celebrate an utterly non-material relationship to life, the planet and the spirit-are regarded as backward, inferior and unenlightened. We are told that they envy the choices we have. To the degree these societies continue to exist, they represent a threat to the homogenization of worldwide markets and culture. Corporate society works hard to retrain such people in attitudes and values appropriate to corporate goals. In undeveloped parts of the world, satellite communication introduces Western television and advertising, while improvements in the technical infrastructure speed up the pace of development. Most of this activity is funded by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, as well as agencies such as the US Agency for International Development, the Inter-American Bank and the Asian-American Bank, all of which serve multinational corporate enterprise. The ultimate goal of corporate multinationals was expressed in a revealing quote by the president of Nabisco Corporation: "One world of homogeneous consumption. . . [I am] looking forward to the day when Arabs and Americans, Latinos and Scandinavians, will be munching Ritz crackers as enthusiastically as they already drink Coke or brush their teeth with Colgate." Page 31 In the book, Trilateralism, editor Holly Sklar wrote: "Corporations not only advertise products, they promote lifestyles rooted in consumption, patterned largely after the United States.... [They] look forward to a post-national age in which [Western] social, economic and political values are transformed into universal values... a world economy in which all national economies beat to the rhythm of transnational corporate capitalism.... The Western way is the good way; national culture is inferior." Form Is Content Corporations are inherently bold, aggressive and competitive. Though they exist in a society that claims to operate by moral principles, they are structurally amoral. It is inevitable that they will dehumanize people who work for them and the overall society as well. They are disloyal to workers, including their own managers. Corporations can be disloyal to the communities they have been part of for many years. Corporations do not care about nations; they live beyond boundaries. They are intrinsically committed to destroying nature. And they have an inexorable, unabatable, voracious need to grow and to expand. In dominating other cultures, in digging up the Earth, corporations blindly follow the codes that have been built into them as if they were genes. We must abandon the idea that corporations can reform themselves. To ask corporate executives to behave in a morally defensible manner is absurd. Corporations, and the people within them, are following a system of logic that leads inexorably toward dominant behaviors. To ask corporations to behave otherwise is like asking an army to adopt pacifism. Corporation: n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. -Ambrose Bierce, 1842-1914. Excerpted from: IN THE ABSENCE OF THE SACRED: The Failure of Technology and the Survival of the Indian Nations, Sierra Club Books, 730 Polk St.. San Francisco, CA 94109. From maryrose333 at att.net Fri Jul 3 16:32:35 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 15:32:35 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Sarah Palin Resigning as Alaska's Governor Message-ID: <002501c9fc2e$2ba35770$82ea0650$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Friday, July 03, 2009 1:33 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Sarah Palin Resigning as Alaska's Governor (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) Sarah Palin Resigning as Alaska's Governor July 3, 2009 03:18 PM http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shannyn-moore/sarah-palin-resigns-as-al_b_2255 15.html After Sarah Palin's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week she has announced she will be stepping down in a few weeks. In a press conference call this morning, Alaska's Governor Sarah Palin has announced she will not run for re-election and is stepping down as governor. She had a brief statement. She took no questions. Her commissioners and Lt. Governor were with her at her home. Palin did not relinquished the reigns of the state to the Lt. Governor while running for vice president. Lt. Governor Sean Parnell will step in as governor at the end of the month. He was defeated by Congressman Don Young in the Republican primary last year. Rumors of an "iceberg scandal" have been circulating. Resignation is certainly out of character for Sarah Palin. Senator Mark Begich had a meeting with Sarah Palin two days ago with no mention of her leaving office. Palin's press secretary, David Murrow had posted on his facebook page Wednesday, "David Murrow is considering life's ironies." He was hired less than a month ago. Yesterday he wrote, "There's gonna be some fireworks this weekend!" Palin's brother, Chuck Heath, told Fox News he thought her resignation was due to the negativity from the media. According to Heath, the governor was unable to be affective while she was constantly having to defend herself against ethics complaints and the media. You betcha! From releyes at gmail.com Sun Jul 5 11:28:10 2009 From: releyes at gmail.com (Dr. Rima Laibow) Date: Sun, 5 Jul 2009 11:28:10 -0600 Subject: [GJM] New Email Address: Please Updae Your Files Message-ID: <503a10ac0907051028m31a81041w3ddc21a5aa67b5b0@mail.gmail.com> For the last 3 days I have not had any emails at all. While this was pleasant at first, it became very clear very quickly that here was a major problem with my email address: it allowed me to send mail, but not recieve it. Caring friends helped me run several different diagnostic programs but I am sorry to inform you that my private gmail address, releyes at gmail.com, appears to have developed a problem of some sort because although all of the diagnostics we have run show that the email is working perfectly well, it is not allowing any new emails to reach my box. Therefore, if you have sent an email to me within the last three days, please resend it to this new address, which I will be using in the interim until the problem is resolved. If you have not sent me an email in that time, but wish to keep me in your file, please change my email address from "releyes at gmail.com" to "dr.rima at email.it" Since I am using an Italian email server, it is possible that you might receive notification or information pertaining to this email address in Italian. I do not know what they mean, either! Thank you for your time and effort in making this correction. Yours in health and freedom, Dr. Rima Rima E. Laibow, MD Medical Director Natural Solutions Foundation www.GlobalHealthFreedom Valley of the Moon(TM) Eco Demonstration Project www.NaturalSolutionsFoundation.org From releyes at gmail.com Sun Jul 5 11:37:19 2009 From: releyes at gmail.com (Dr. Rima Laibow) Date: Sun, 5 Jul 2009 11:37:19 -0600 Subject: [GJM] New Email Address: Please Update Files Message-ID: <503a10ac0907051037i6bfcf7fbn820fe25dcdb07d5d@mail.gmail.com> For the last 3 days I have not had any emails at all. While this was pleasant at first, it became very clear very quickly that here was a major problem with my email address: it allowed me to send mail, but not recieve it. Caring friends helped me run several different diagnostic programs but I am sorry to inform you that my private gmail address, releyes at gmail.com, appears to have developed a problem of some sort because although all of the diagnostics we have run show that the email is working perfectly well, it is not allowing any new emails to reach my box. Therefore, if you have sent an email to me within the last three days, please resend it to this new address, which I will be using in the interim until the problem is resolved. If you have not sent me an email in that time, but wish to keep me in your file, please change my email address from "releyes at gmail.com" to "dr.rima at email.it" Since I am using an Italian email server, it is possible that you might receive notification or information pertaining to this email address in Italian. I do not know what they mean, either. Thank you for your time and effort in making this correction. Yours in health and freedom, Dr. Rima Rima E. Laibow, MD Medical Director Natural Solutions Foundation www.GlobalHealthFreedom Valley of the Moon(TM) Eco Demonstration Project www.NaturalSolutionsFoundation.org From rodney.shakespeare1 at btopenworld.com Sun Jul 5 13:35:51 2009 From: rodney.shakespeare1 at btopenworld.com (Rodney Shakespeare) Date: Sun, 5 Jul 2009 20:35:51 +0100 Subject: [GJM] Rodney Shakespeare: question --CENSORSHIP References: <447421.85473.qm@web54005.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <005401c9fda7$ce9cfb50$0301a8c0@your447023ae6b> Ryan, You have put my name into the heading of an email. Before I consider replying, may I have your assurance that you will post any reply from me? Two weeks or so back I sent you an email which you refused to post. It is usual for you to censor posts which smash your positions -- and I note Ellen Brown, Ken Palmerton and others are wiping the floor with you. In a phrase of Peter Hogwood, you are an ignoramus. And don't try doing any MODERATOR stuff -- you abuse the position of Moderator and always have done. In order that the whole Group may become aware of your nasty censorship practices and abuse of the position of Moderator, I am copying this email to a number of members. If you reply, kindly make sure that you copy it to everybody as I have done. Thankyou. Rodney Shakespeare. ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Sunday, July 05, 2009 3:44 PM Subject: [socialcredit] Rodney Shakespeare: question Shakespeare: "National bank-issued interest-free loans (e.g., for public capital projects and clean electricity generation etc) should still bear (relatively small) administration cost. You appear unable to comprehend the distinction between interest (unnecessary) and administration cost (necessary)." -------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Because there is no such distinction. It is an entirely artificial distinction in the mind of the money crank or con man who is trying to deceive. The truth in lending laws in the United States define interest as being anything whatsoever beyond principal that is returned to the lender. The failure to apply such a definition allows institutions such as JAK in Sweden to actually charge higher interest rates than conventional banks, yet claim to be "interest free." There are four components of the interest that is returned to the lender: 1. The default premium paid by those who are amortizing their loans to cover the defaulted portion of loans that are defaulted on by their borrowers--this is ordinarily the largest portion of interest that is collected. It also explains why secured loans cost less than unsecured loans; 2. The amount that is collected to cover the ordinary expenses of lending, including the salaries and wages paid to the financial sector's workers. The is ordinarily the second largest portion of interest that is collected; 3. The net profit of banking. This is ordinarily the smallest portion of interest that is collected. There is undoubtedly a charge made for the declining value of money due to projected inflation. This will vary by region and locality, with the lowest being in nations like the United States, and the highest being in nations like Zimbabwe, which presently is experiencing the highest rate of inflation that the world has ever seen. Will you please inform this list exactly what portion of interest that is collected that you regard as "unnecessary"? And please explain why you think this is the case. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mukhtaralam2000 at yahoo.com Sun Jul 5 20:23:16 2009 From: mukhtaralam2000 at yahoo.com (Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 07:53:16 +0530 (IST) Subject: [GJM] New Email Address: Please Updae Your Files Message-ID: <865205.49917.qm@web94903.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Thanks Rima. Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam 58-C,DDA Flats, Ashok Vihar-III,Delhi-110052 Tel:9968345380 --- On Sun, 5/7/09, Dr. Rima Laibow wrote: From: Dr. Rima Laibow Subject: [GJM] New Email Address: Please Updae Your Files To: "Ralph Fucetola JD" Date: Sunday, 5 July, 2009, 10:58 PM For the last 3 days I have not had any emails at all.? While this was pleasant at first, it became very clear very quickly that here was a major problem with my email address: it allowed me to send mail, but not recieve it. Caring friends helped me run several different diagnostic programs but I am sorry to inform you that my private gmail address, releyes at gmail.com, appears to have developed a problem of some sort because although all of the diagnostics we have run show that the email is working perfectly well, it is not allowing any new emails to reach my box. Therefore, if you have sent an email to me within the last three days, please resend it to this new address, which I will be using in the interim until the problem is resolved. If you have not sent me an email in that time, but wish to keep me in your file, please change my email address from "releyes at gmail.com" to "dr.rima at email.it" Since I am using an Italian email server, it is possible that you might receive notification or information pertaining to this email address in Italian.? I do not know what they mean, either! Thank you for your time and effort in making this correction. Yours in health and freedom, Dr. Rima Rima E. Laibow, MD Medical Director Natural Solutions Foundation www.GlobalHealthFreedom Valley of the Moon(TM) Eco Demonstration Project www.NaturalSolutionsFoundation.org _______________________________________________ Discussion mailing list Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net Love Cricket? Check out live scores, photos, video highlights and more. Click here http://cricket.yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mukhtaralam2000 at yahoo.com Sun Jul 5 20:34:41 2009 From: mukhtaralam2000 at yahoo.com (Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 08:04:41 +0530 (IST) Subject: [GJM] Rodney Shakespeare: question --CENSORSHIP Message-ID: <562278.86757.qm@web94906.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Dear Rodney, ? I would like to urge you to consider the following in response to the some of the conversations where people like Peter argue accepting the precepts in economics where charging usury is considered legitimate. Much earlier, I had pointed out that prevention of usury is an interfaith common provision. Is not it possible to focus on this while pointing out tha mathatecal impossibility of usury. Who is Ryan and what is the position of Ken as I have been posting some of my posts following the advice of David Moosa Pidcock, founder of Islamic Party in Britain and author of several books like ?nother Road to Serfdom''. I have great regard for?David Moosa Pidcock and his writings. He had been to Delhi and we met several times. ? With best regards Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam 58-C,DDA Flats, Ashok Vihar-III,Delhi-110052 Tel:9968345380 --- On Mon, 6/7/09, Rodney Shakespeare wrote: From: Rodney Shakespeare Subject: [GJM] Rodney Shakespeare: question --CENSORSHIP To: socialcredit at googlegroups.com, "Discussion Forum for Global Justice" , "Ellen Brown" , "Rodney Shakespeare" Cc: kenpalmerton at cix.compulink.co.uk, "Henry C.K. Liu" , "John Pemberton" , kenpalmerton at cix.co.uk, keithwilde at sympatico.ca, "Jamie Walton" , thomsonhiyu at shaw..ca, robert.klinck at gmail.com, wmcgunn at maxnet.co.nz, "John G Rawson" , radosc at radosc.x.pl, "Richard Cook" , helgenome at hotmail.com, watchman333 at gmail.com, "Graeme Taylor" , jschroeder at shaw.ca, terence at pristinelife.com.au, "Alistair McConnachie" Date: Monday, 6 July, 2009, 1:05 AM Ryan, You have put my name into the heading of an email. ? Before I consider replying, may?I have your assurance that you will post any reply from me? ? Two weeks or so back I sent you an email which you refused to post.? It is usual for you to censor posts which?smash your positions -- and I note Ellen Brown, Ken Palmerton and others are wiping the floor with you.? In a phrase of Peter Hogwood, you are an ignoramus. ? And don't try doing?any?MODERATOR stuff -- you abuse the position?of Moderator and always have done. ? In order that the whole Group may become aware of your nasty censorship practices and abuse of the position of Moderator, I am copying this email to a? number of members.? If you reply,? kindly make sure that you copy it to everybody? as I have done. ? Thankyou. ? Rodney Shakespeare. ? ? ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Sunday, July 05, 2009 3:44 PM Subject: [socialcredit] Rodney Shakespeare: question Shakespeare: "National bank-issued interest-free loans (e.g., for public capital projects and clean electricity generation etc) should still bear (relatively small) administration cost. You appear unable to comprehend the distinction between interest (unnecessary) and administration cost (necessary).." -------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Because there is no such distinction.? It is an entirely artificial distinction in the mind of the money crank or con man who is trying to deceive.? The truth in lending laws in the United States define interest as being anything whatsoever beyond principal that is returned to the lender.? The failure to apply such a definition allows institutions such as JAK in Sweden to actually charge higher interest rates than conventional banks, yet claim to be "interest free." There are four components of the interest that is returned to the lender:? 1. The default premium paid by those who are amortizing their loans to cover the defaulted portion of loans that are defaulted on by their borrowers--this is ordinarily the largest portion of interest that is collected.? It also explains why secured loans cost less than unsecured loans; 2. The amount that is collected to cover the ordinary expenses of lending, including the salaries and wages paid to the financial sector's workers.? The is ordinarily the second largest portion of interest that is collected; 3. The net profit of banking.? This is ordinarily the smallest portion of interest that is collected.? There is undoubtedly a charge made for the declining value of money due to projected inflation.? This will vary by region and locality, with the lowest being in nations like the United States, and the highest being in nations like Zimbabwe, which presently is experiencing the ?highest rate of inflation that the world has ever seen. Will you please inform this list exactly what portion of interest that is collected that you regard as "unnecessary"?? And please explain why you think this is the case. ????? -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ Discussion mailing list Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net Love Cricket? Check out live scores, photos, video highlights and more. Click here http://cricket.yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rodney.shakespeare1 at btopenworld.com Sun Jul 5 16:58:49 2009 From: rodney.shakespeare1 at btopenworld.com (Rodney Shakespeare) Date: Sun, 5 Jul 2009 23:58:49 +0100 Subject: [GJM] [socialcredit] Re: Rodney Shakespeare: question --CENSORSHIP References: <447421.85473.qm@web54005.mail.re2.yahoo.com><005401c9fda7$ce9cfb50$0301a8c0@your447023ae6b> <005f01c9fdb4$352c3500$6500a8c0@cc.shawcable.net> Message-ID: <014e01c9fdc4$29386970$0301a8c0@your447023ae6b> Joe, 1. The censored email is below. It was sent on 26th June. You can see that Ryan cut out the bits he did not like (i.e., paragraphs 1 and 3) and, only today (5th July), posted a section (paragraph 2) of it. 2. You say I have not replied to Ryan's question about paragraph 2. Are you serious? Ryan asked the question today. Very obviously, I have started by objecting to Ryan's censorship. And -- for your information -- I have had a ten hour working day today. And I now object to you claiming I have not replied within hours of the question. You have deliberately missed the point of my email -- that Ryan was censoring, as many people, except you apparently, know. 3. So tell me -- are you really unaware of Ryan's record on manipulation and censorship? 4. You will also notice that my censored email refers to Ryan's aliases which he uses (together with insulting and aggressive language) on various internet lists. His aliases are believed to be as follows:- a.. Silas Kline b.. Brock Moore c.. Zack Johnson d.. Peter Hogwood although, contrary to the clear belief of others, I fondly like to maintain that Myro Ashenopolitus is not an alias but rather has an independent existence as a likeable young man and student of Ryan whose weakness is that, instead of studying, he spends too much time watching football with a greasy hot dog in his hand..... Why don't you try Googling Ryan's name and the aliases? You will soon find that others are fed up with it.. Rodney Shakespeare. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bill, 1. I allege no Reptilian conspiracy -- it's just you using several aliases thereby setting a very bad example to your student Myro Ashenopolitus. 2. National bank-issued interest-free loans (e.g., for public capital projects and clean electricity generation etc) should still bear (relatively small) administration cost. You appear unable to comprehend the distinction between interest (unnecessary) and administration cost (necessary). 3. You're a quibbler -- I see no practical difference between a place established as a haven for cheats and criminals and a place which has become a haven for cheats and criminals. Rodney Shakespeare. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rodney.shakespeare1 at btopenworld.com Mon Jul 6 03:52:11 2009 From: rodney.shakespeare1 at btopenworld.com (Rodney Shakespeare) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 10:52:11 +0100 Subject: [GJM] Rodney Shakespeare: question --CENSORSHIP References: <562278.86757.qm@web94906.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <003701c9fe1f$6ee766f0$0301a8c0@your447023ae6b> Dear Mukhtar, You won't believe this but William Bill Ryan is Moderator of the Social Credit list -- yes, Social Credit. However, he is a truly remarkable Moderator of a Social Credit list in that:- a) he appears to uphold interest/riba in all respects b) he censors thirty per cent of emails sent to the list a) and b), of course, are connected -- Ryan appears to be a shill for the existing system. A copy of the latest correspondence is being forwarded to you. Rodney ----- Original Message ----- From: Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam To: Discussion Forum for Global Justice Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 3:34 AM Subject: Re: [GJM] Rodney Shakespeare: question --CENSORSHIP Dear Rodney, I would like to urge you to consider the following in response to the some of the conversations where people like Peter argue accepting the precepts in economics where charging usury is considered legitimate. Much earlier, I had pointed out that prevention of usury is an interfaith common provision. Is not it possible to focus on this while pointing out tha mathatecal impossibility of usury. Who is Ryan and what is the position of Ken as I have been posting some of my posts following the advice of David Moosa Pidcock, founder of Islamic Party in Britain and author of several books like ?nother Road to Serfdom''. I have great regard for David Moosa Pidcock and his writings. He had been to Delhi and we met several times. With best regards Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam 58-C,DDA Flats, Ashok Vihar-III,Delhi-110052 Tel:9968345380 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Mon Jul 6 04:24:11 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 10:24:11 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] AMI Fourth of July Message Message-ID: <519014.36889.qm@web27407.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> ??? A little belated! ? ???? R.Searle --- On Sun, 5/7/09, AMI wrote: From: AMI Subject: AMI Fourth of July Message To: "AMI" Date: Sunday, 5 July, 2009, 3:09 AM Friends please do recirculate and forward this message to your email contacts! A July 4th message to friends of the American Monetary Institute, Dear Fellow Americans, and friends around the Earth, This 4th of July as we proudly celebrate our declaration of independence from the tyranny of a mad Brit King, lets remember the victory a small group of dedicated, courageous men and women achieved against the world's most powerful military of their time. It was a victory that appeared extremely improbable at best, as they pledged their lives to fight for its success. And as events and battles were fought, the possibility of a favorable outcome grew even smaller. But at the right moment, help from France turned the tide and the British were defeated. Defeated militarily, but not monetarily. For soon after the Constitution was ratified, in 1791 the 1st Bank of the United States, a privately owned and privately controlled central bank was put through Congress by Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, modeled on the private Bank of England. The gang around that bank were more dangerous than King George the 3rd; and the Hamilton people thereby insinuated into the New World forces representing the most evolved secular form that evil had attained in the Old World. Thanks a lot Hamilton! Jefferson fought the bank, helping to bring it down and Burr killed Hamilton over public insults; but privately issued money had gained a foothold in America. It's still here, in control of our monetary system. It's the root cause of most of our social and economic problems. Whenever it caused crises in the past, our government had to come to the rescue. It's latest atrocity is the current monetary, banking and economic crisis, threatening to take the entire world economy down into depression, and destroy the lives of billions of people in the process. It must end now. This crisis gives us our only opportunity to reform our monetary system and eliminate the private creation of money; to eliminate the privilege banks have to create our money supply when they extend loans. The American Monetary Institute has published its research results in the book The Lost Science of Money (drawn from a study of over 800 monetary books and sources). The first 23 chapters focus on the monetary case studies from Aristotle forward. Then Chapter 24 summarizes what those studies teach us and how that should be applied to solving today's dilemma. The American Monetary Act puts that plan into legislative form. See http://www.monetary.org Each September (24th - 27th in 2009) we hold a monetary reform conference at Roosevelt University in Chicago where activists and advanced monetary researchers present talks and programs on monetary reform. There is a Discount ($295 instead of $395) for registrations mailed by July 15th. See the brochure now! http://www.monetary.org/2009conference.html The American Monetary Act (attached) is legislation which fundamentally reforms the private CREDIT/DEBT system now wrecking our nation, replacing it with a government MONEY system. HOW:? The Federal Reserve becomes incorporated into the U.S. Treasury. Banks no longer have the accounting privilege of creating our money supply. All their previously issued credit is converted into U.S. Money through an elegant and gentle accounting change, which has been described as brilliant by a former officer of the NY Fed. The banks are held accountable for this conversion. New money is then introduced by the government spending it into circulation for infrastructure, starting with the $2.2 trillion the engineers tell us is needed to properly maintain our infrastructure over the next 5 years. Infrastructure will include the necessary human infrastructure of health care and education. Banks are encouraged to continue lending as profit making companies, but are no longer allowed to create our money supply by loan making activity. Thus, The American Monetary Act nationalizes the money system, not the banking system.? Banking is absolutely not a proper function of government, but providing the nation?s money supply is a key function of government. No one else can do it properly. Talk of nationalizing the banking business may really act like a poison pill to block real reform. Despite prejudice against government, most people are surprised to learn that history shows government has a far superior record in controlling the money system than private controllers have. And yes that includes the continental currency, the Greenbacks and even the German Hyperinflation; which by the way took place under a completely privatized German central bank! WHO:? The American Monetary Institute, organized in 1996 as a publicly supported charitable trust, is the leading U.S. think tank on monetary history, theory and reform. WHY: ? Because the crisis our present malformed banking and money system has caused is crying out for reform, not merely regulation. It has visibly brought the world economy to its knees; it has concentrated wealth to unacceptable levels, and it now places the future development of humanity at risk. WHY? Considering the nature of modern weapons systems, leaving the same people and families in power risks the survival of the species. Some of them watching the past 16 years, must realize that. Lets hope they do the right thing. But lets not depend on it! Friends, almost all of us are under pressure in this environment. Stress causes illness unless you act. Action destroys fear! Join with us to understand the nature of our money system, how it should be structured and how we citizens can effect such change. Thats what our nation's founders would be doing now if they were from our time. Well thats it for now. Get in touch! Stay in Touch! Read the book. Come to the conference! Sincerely, Stephen Zarlenga AMI http://www.monetary.org (free monetary CDs can be ordered there) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Mon Jul 6 04:32:39 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 10:32:39 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] A Rare Opportunity to Serve the Greater Good Message-ID: <358825.93721.qm@web27408.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> --- On Sat, 4/7/09, Kosmos wrote: From: Kosmos Subject: A Rare Opportunity to Serve the Greater Good To: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Date: Saturday, 4 July, 2009, 8:44 PM Dear Friends, We all have a rare opportunity to serve the greater good, by bringing new paradigm thinking for the global common good into mainstream media. Kosmos Associate, James B. Quilligan, has been published in the Huffington Post on the new economy and the current financial situation.? He is by far the most experienced global economist we know. His wisdom derives from working with the highest level global economists and world leaders for over 30 years as well as from a commitment to in depth interior development. In short, a man we can trust. An interview with James by Christiana Wyly (another amazing woman Kosmos is working with on the 2020 Climate Leadership Campaign to take place in Brazil in early August) appears on the front page of the WORLD section of the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christiana-wyly/the-juggling-contest----b_b_225347.html We need your participation to keep this amazing interview visible on the Huffington Post. It only takes a few minutes of your time to register and comment. This is a rare opportunity to serve the greater good. Please let us know if you have responded and would like to receive more information about our 2020 Climate Leadership Campaign with the State of the World Forum and many new paradigm integral organizations. Warm wishes to all, Nancy Roof Founder, Kosmos Journal www.kosmosjournal.org P.S. Please reply to this email with Subscribe in the header to be added to our official email list. If you wish to be removed, please reply with unsubscribe in header. Thank you. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From peterchallen at googlemail.com Mon Jul 6 04:35:27 2009 From: peterchallen at googlemail.com (Peter Challen) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 11:35:27 +0100 Subject: [GJM] A Rare Opportunity to Serve the Greater Good In-Reply-To: <358825.93721.qm@web27408.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> References: <358825.93721.qm@web27408.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1155b3ea0907060335n22ecb36evef5a36278b69f1f1@mail.gmail.com> subscribe 2009/7/6 robert searle > > > --- On *Sat, 4/7/09, Kosmos * wrote: > > > From: Kosmos > Subject: A Rare Opportunity to Serve the Greater Good > To: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk > Date: Saturday, 4 July, 2009, 8:44 PM > > Dear Friends, > > We all have a rare opportunity to serve the greater good, by bringing new > paradigm thinking for the global common good into mainstream media. > > Kosmos Associate, James B. Quilligan, has been published in the Huffington > Post on the new economy and the current financial situation. He is by far > the most experienced global economist we know. His wisdom derives from > working with the highest level global economists and world leaders for over > 30 years as well as from a commitment to in depth interior development. In > short, a man we can trust. > > An interview with James by Christiana Wyly (another amazing woman Kosmos is > working with on the 2020 Climate Leadership Campaign to take place in Brazil > in early August) appears on the front page of the WORLD section of the > Huffington Post: > > > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christiana-wyly/the-juggling-contest----b_b_225347.html > > We need your participation to keep this amazing interview visible on the > Huffington Post. It only takes a few minutes of your time to register and > comment. > > This is a rare opportunity to serve the greater good. > > Please let us know if you have responded and would like to receive more > information about our 2020 Climate Leadership Campaign with the State of the > World Forum and many new paradigm integral organizations. > > Warm wishes to all, > > Nancy Roof > Founder, Kosmos Journal > www.kosmosjournal.org > > P.S. Please reply to this email with Subscribe in the header to be added to > our official email list. If you wish to be removed, please reply with > unsubscribe in header. Thank you. > > > > _______________________________________________ > Discussion mailing list > Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net > > http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Mon Jul 6 14:49:29 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 13:49:29 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] As retailers cut back cities confront 'ghostboxes' Message-ID: <001201c9fe7b$43e76340$cbb629c0$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 11:50 AM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] As retailers cut back cities confront 'ghostboxes' (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) http://www.seattlepi.com/national/1110ap_us_growing_ghostboxes.html As retailers cut back cities confront 'ghostboxes' July 5, 2009 9:03 p.m. PT By JAMES MACPHERSON ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER BISMARCK, N.D. -- Hundreds of anxious shoppers watched as city officials used power saws to cut 2-by-4s during Home Depot Inc.'s ribbon-cutting ceremony for its 102,700-square-foot building center in Bismarck. Less than three years later, the home improvement retailer shuttered the underperforming store, leaving a big orange empty eyesore on the outskirts of town. The building, sitting derelict and silent on acres of asphalt, is now listed for sale at $10.5 million. But there's been little interest in the near windowless warehouse-like building that occupies a lot the size of a dozen football fields. For potential tenants "it's a hard pitch because for most uses it seems to be a bit of a tough fit," said Brian Ritter, business development director of the Bismarck-Mandan Development Association. As the recession takes its toll on big-box retailers, more communities across the country are having to confront not just the eyesore of giant empty stores, but also the loss of jobs and tax revenue that follow. Many are trying to find creative uses for those near windowless monoliths. In Minnesota, one became a Spam Museum. In Texas, an indoor go-cart track. In Illinois, a church moved into an empty Wal-Mart. The new tenants, however, often generate less revenue for local governments. And with the recent spate of bankruptcies and store closures, including Circuit City and Linens 'N Things, more abandoned buildings will be added to a struggling commercial real estate market. There are already hundreds of empty "ghostboxes" around the country. "There is not a landfill on earth able to handle all the big boxes that we have sitting empty," says Julia Christensen, author of the book "Big Box Reuse," who has been studying the trend since 2002. Some have been transformed into museums, community centers, hospitals or schools. Future tenants, however, can be restricted by the former retail chain. "Often, they sign leases that prohibit competitors from moving in there, so they're willing to pay on an empty building for a long time," said Christensen, also a visiting professor at Oberlin College in Ohio. The International Council of Shopping Centers said 6,913 retail stores - of all types - announced closures last year, compared with 4,603 in 2007. Excess Space Retail of Lake Success, N.Y, specializes in real estate disposition and lease restructuring for retailers, including Home Depot, Wal-Mart, JC Penny and Kmart. The company has seen a more than 30 percent jump in the number of empty retail locations in the past year, he said. "We are handing in excess of 2,000 locations for some 50-odd retailers, said Michael Burden, a principal with Excess Space Retail. "The square footage is in the tens of millions." Home Depot, for example, closed 15 underperforming stores last year, and 41 its smaller home improvement brands, including Expo Design Centers and YardBIRDS. "The goal is to sell or lease the property as quickly as possible," said Ron DeFeo, a spokesman for the Atlanta-based Home Depot. "The last thing we want is to see an empty store in a community - it's a difficult enough decision to close a store in the community." In Frankfort, Ky., an empty Home Depot is adjacent to a sign welcoming visitors to the city. Focusing on the positive, Phil Kerrick, economic development director for the city and Franklin County, says, "It's a great building, in good shape and in a good location." Frankfort, Kentucky's capital city, has dealt with vacant big box space before, when Lowe's Cos. moved into a bigger box in town. The building was converted to a state office building. In Round Rock, Texas, a former Wal-Mart was converted into a go-cart track for a time. City manager Jim Nuse said while the indoor racetrack was better than having the building sit vacant, it was far from the ideal use of the space. The track was open for about two years until the building's owners renovated the building to house several businesses, including a health club, restaurant and gourmet market. Owners of the building gave it a new facade and landscaping to make it look less boxy to attract new tenants, all at no cost to the city. "We were lucky," Nuse said. "It was a less-than-attractive space for awhile but it turned out to be really nice, though it took several years for that to happen." Hormel Foods Corp., maker of the famous canned luncheon meat, opened the Spam Museum in Austin, Minn., in an old Kmart building that also had been a Sears store. Sandy Forstner, executive director of the Austin Chamber of Commerce, said the Spam Museum, which opened in 2002, has been more valuable to the southeastern Minnesota community than the previous retailers, both in terms of property tax revenue and the number of visitors it draws to the area. "The property has been significantly improved," Forstner said. "Hormel has spent millions of dollars redeveloping the property." The 16,500-square-foot building also houses the headquarters for Hormel and offices for a hospital, he said. Forstner said the Spam Museum is one of the biggest destinations in the state, and has brought tourism dollars to the town of about 23,000 people, near the Iowa border. "It's always a problem for a community when a business leaves a building," he said. "The bigger the business, the bigger the facility and the bigger the problem." Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is opening 157 stores this year, but the world's largest retailer has 147 vacant U.S. stores its trying to get rid of. "We've been pretty successful identifying new tenants or new owners," said Greg Rossiter, a spokesman for Bentonville, Ark.-based company Rossiter. "Some of the uses are pretty unique." A former Wal-Mart in Carlinville, Ill., was converted to a church, but not before a legal battle from the city. Mayor Robert Schwab said retail space is at a premium in the city of about 6,000, so when Wal-Mart announced it was building a new Supercenter in town, community leaders were hopeful the old facility could be turned into new retail space. Instead, Wal-Mart sold the 50,000-square-foot building to the Carlinville Southern Baptist Church in 2007. "Nothing against churches, but the city loses, the county loses and the school district loses sales tax and property tax as a source of revenue," the mayor said. "It was probably the largest building available in probably the whole county," Schwab said. "There was a lot of interest in it but Wal-Mart found a willing buyer that gave them no competition at all." The city and the church settled a federal lawsuit last year over the church's right to operate in a commercially zoned property, Schwab said. The church was given and a special-use permit, and the city's insurer paid $125,000 in compensation to the church and $50,000 to the city in a settlement, he said. Schwab said the city had paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in infrastructure improvements to roads and stoplights leading the old Wal-Mart building, built in the early 1980s. He said the mega-retailer should have consulted with city officials before selling. "We should have had the right of first refusal," he said. Bruce Botelho, the mayor of Juneau, Alaska, said when the town's Kmart store closed in 2003, the city lost jobs, sales tax and had an embarrassing eyesore until Wal-Mart opened a store at the site last year. The abandoned building was the target of vandals who painted graffiti on outside walls and junk cars littered the parking lot. The building also was not maintained properly during the time it sat derelict, and the interior of the building flooded, Botelho said. "It was no doubt a stressful time," he recalled. Wal-Mart has relocated three times to bigger locations in Bardstown, Ky., a community of 11,000. Two of the buildings have been filled with more retail space, and one was torn down to make way for a new courthouse, said Kim Huston, president of the Nelson County Economic Development Agency The city has imposed new design standards for big boxes and has imposed new rules that require a building to be razed if it cannot be sold, said Huston. In Bismarck, the business development director says most cities are reluctant to impose such rules on big box retailers, fearing a lost bid for the store. "If you do, they simply won't locate in your community," Ritter said. "Depending on how you look at it that may be a good thing or a bad thing." From maryrose333 at att.net Mon Jul 6 14:50:51 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 13:50:51 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] 3 Reasons We Need an Economic Wake Up Call Message-ID: <001701c9fe7b$7614d8c0$623e8a40$@net> My feeling on this is that the economy will continue to worsen until, in essence, it "hits bottom" just as an alcoholic has to do before getting off the "buzz" and deciding to live in reality. We set it up this way. It is how learning takes place. To stop the downward slide would mean that we would continue on with the corruption we are now immersed in. What we need is a clean slate -- a new beginning. Anything else is pure bullshit. And whether most recognize this on a conscious level, we all know it at the sub-conscious level -- at the cellular level. -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 11:29 AM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] 3 Reasons We Need an Economic Wake Up Call (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) 3 Reasons We Need an Economic Wake Up Call Robert Kuttner Co-Founder and Co-Editor of The American Prospect Posted: July 5, 2009 09:11 PM http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-kuttner/3-reasons-we-need-an-econ_b_225 962.html Several events of the past week should be a wake-up call to the Obama administration. Bottom line: the medicine isn't working. Stronger stuff is needed. Consider: The June Unemployment Numbers. The green-shoots school was expecting that the rising rate of unemployment would continue to slow, as it did in May. But instead the number spiked back up. A total of 467,000 jobs were lost. The unemployment rate rose to 9.5 percent, and OECD economists project that U.S. unemployment will still be in double digits as late as 2011. The 9.5 percent official figure -- the worst since 1983 -- conceals even worse news. The number of long-term unemployed is at record levels. This is the only recession since the Great Depression in which the job loss wiped out all the job growth of the previous recovery. As our friends at the Economic Policy Institute report. We now have fewer jobs than in May 2000 when the recovery began, though the economy now has 12.5 million more workers. And there is less than one job opening for every five people seeking jobs. Hidden unemployment is also setting records - people with part time work who want full time work, as well as people whose hours have been involuntarily cut. Until strong economic growth returns, companies will not resume hiring. And as long as layoffs continue, that means fewer customers and the downward spiral continues. As EPI observes, President Obama's economic stimulus simply wasn't designed for a recession this deep. And I would add that stimulus funds are getting out too slowly. Compounding the problem is inadequate government policy on three crucial fronts: State Fiscal Collapse. The states, unlike the Federal government, are not permitted to run current budget deficits. So in a deep recession, when tax receipts fall, their only choice is to cut program spending or raise taxes. Both are of course perverse in a recession, since they only further undercut consumer purchasing power. As the new fiscal year begins, nearly every state is raising taxes or fees, or laying off workers and reducing programs. At least 48 states face red ink. Some of the state budget crisis is self-inflicted, as in the dance to the death between California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democrats in the legislature, compounded by a two-thirds supermajority requirement for any kind of tax reform. But most states are just plain hurting. Massachusetts, with one of the most liberal governors, Deval Patrick, just hiked its sales taxes by 25 percent. A total of 24 other states have enacted tax increases and another 12 all have tax hikes on their agendas. Federal aid under the stimulus covers just 30 to 40 percent of the state shortfall, which is expected to total $350 billion by 2011. And 39 states have cut program outlays on the needy, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The New York Times reports that several states are cutting out summer school. This is just plain nuts. Some aspects of the recovery program, such as rebuilding a banking system that serves the real economy, are truly challenging. But this part is really simple. Washington is the one part of the government with the capacity to run deficits. So Congress should pass an emergency revenue-sharing law, giving the states another $150 billion immediately. The only condition is what policy wonks call maintenance-of-effort. To receive the money, the states must maintain program outlay levels and taxing systems that were in effect on a date certain, say July 1, 2008. Most of the stimulus money is still unspent because of various bureaucratic hurdles at all levels of government. This approach would break through all that. Washington would simply cut fifty checks. The Foreclosure Catastrophe. When the Obama administration took office, they basically continued the Bush administration's program of voluntary loan modifications. They sweetened the deal by paying banks to reduce the principal or interest, spending $75 billion for banks (money that might have gone directly to homeowners.) But with most distressed mortgages having been converted to securities, and the banks that collect the payments not wishing to get sued, the program is mostly a bust. The Treasury says that something like 50,000 mortgages have been modified, out of several million at risk of foreclosures. Treasury keeps telling Congress to wait a few more months to let the program kick in. But according to the New York Times' indispensable Gretchen Morgenson, the program is actually going backwards. Out of a sample of 3.5 million sub-prime and alt-a (undocumented mortgages better known as "liar loans") handled by five of the nation's biggest lenders, servicers modified 23,749 in February, but only 19,041 in May and 18,179 in June. Meanwhile, foreclosures in progress are over 844,000. The consequence of this policy failure is a continuing downward spiral of more vacant homes, continuing declines in property values and home equity, depressed home construction, and stresses on homeowners who spend every penny of disposable income to keep their houses. The government needs a Roosevelt-scale mortgage refinancing program with one goal--to keep people from losing their homes. As Morgenson reports, when a bank forecloses, it loses about 63 percent of the loan value. Wouldn't it be better to reduce the monthly payments by 63 percent, and allow people to keep their homes? But only a much more direct government intervention can do that. Busted Banks. The Administration's policy of pumping up busted banks, such as Citigroup and Bank of America has been a success only in the sense that these zombies are still in business. But surely the right test is whether credit is flowing again to deserving borrowers. Reports from the small business and community reinvestment communities suggest that credit is still very right, despite Federal Reserve policies of cutting short term interest rates almost to zero. I still have to pinch myself when I realize that the President of the United States is Barack Hussein Obama. Like the rest of the progressive community, my heart swells when Obama, in Egypt, makes a brilliant speech on Middle East, or accelerates the progress of redeeming full civil rights for gays and lesbians. (I could find some quibbles on these fronts as well.) But these are not the issues that will cost him his presidency if he fails to grasp that the economic recovery and the moment of reform are slipping away. As Republican missteps turn from tragedy to farce and back again, we should not get too cocky. The Republican ticket in 2012 could be Palin-Sanford; if unemployment is 11 percent, it will win. Robert Kuttner is co-editor of The American Prospect, www.prospect.org and a senior fellow at Demos, www.demos.org. His recent book is "Obama's Challenge," From maryrose333 at att.net Mon Jul 6 15:01:23 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 14:01:23 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: In California, the Canary is Dead Message-ID: <002c01c9fe7c$ef2a33d0$cd7e9b70$@net> From: Nance ~ [mailto:planetnews8 at gmail.com] Sent: Sunday, July 05, 2009 11:22 PM Subject: In California, the Canary is Dead Thanks to Nance for sending this one. In California, the Canary is Dead by Bill Watkins 05/09/2009 http://www.newgeography.com/content/00791-in-california-canary-dead -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Mon Jul 6 15:10:06 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 14:10:06 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Breadline USA: Why People Are Going Hungry in the Land of Plenty Message-ID: <003d01c9fe7e$25425b90$6fc712b0$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Sunday, July 05, 2009 8:05 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Breadline USA: Why People Are Going Hungry in the Land of Plenty (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) Breadline USA: Why People Are Going Hungry in the Land of Plenty By Sasha Abramsky, PoliPoint Press. Posted July 4, 2009. http://www.alternet.org/politics/140926/breadline_usa%3A_why_people_are_goin g_hungry_in_the_land_of_plenty/?page=entire America's poor are being priced out of a market flush with excess eatables. It's an abomination we can fix. When the Month is Longer Than the Money Billy MacPherson believed that for many of her friends and pantry clientele "the months are longer than the money." What little income they brought in each month- from work, from Social Security or disability checks, in food stamps or welfare payments- was never quite enough to last a full four-plus weeks. And so they faced an unpalatable choice: try to stretch the family budget to cover the whole month, which involved scrimping on food and missing meals throughout the entire period, or eat semi-decently for the first two or three weeks of the month and pray that something, somehow, would come about to tide them through the lean times at the end. Once gas prices started going up, food prices also headed north- at least in part because so much corn and arable land was diverted into biofuel production in response to the energy crunch; in part, too, because oil-based fertilizers soared in price and inflation took root throughout the broader economy. In the last years of George W. Bush's presidency, that lean period at the end of each month began to grow. Instead of a few days, it became a week; then it became ten days, even two weeks. For low-income Americans, wages and government checks lagged far behind inflation, leaving them little choice but to watch as month after month their never particularly munificent purchasing power collapsed. In the years following 2005, as the price of staples such as wheat and rice more than doubled, deadly food riots broke out in Bangladesh, Haiti, Cameroon, Yemen, Mexico, Egypt, Burkina Faso, and several other countries. People earning one or two dollars a day were facing starvation caused not by drought or plagues of locusts but by the workings of the international commodities market. In some nations, governments were brought to their knees by the disturbances; in others, panicked ministers met in emergency sessions to limit crop exports and try to shore up their populaces' food supplies. By 2008 America's impoverished classes were, albeit to a lesser extent, facing a similar price-induced hunger. Unlike the destitute of countries such as Ethiopia and the Sudan, who too often went hungry because crops failed and what little food the was got bought up by their richer neighbors, America's poor were being priced out of a market flush with excess eatables. Theirs was a hunger amid plenty, an inability to buy their way to seats at the most food-laden table in history. At the same time as hungry Milwaukee residents- on false rumors of free food deliveries- were fighting each other for access to hoped-for supplies in the spring of 2008, at the same time as immigrant shoppers in many neighborhoods were stampeding to buy up large bags of rice in the face of rising prices, hot dog-eating and fried asparagus-eating competitions were gaining in popularity from the Coney Island boardwalk in New York to the agricultural town of Stockton, California. One visit to any of these binge-eating orgies would have been enough to put paid to the notion that American hunger, twenty-first-century style, was in any way about the country as a whole facing food shortages. Yes, food prices were rising, but they were rising due to increased energy costs and growing global demand for American food exports rather than in response to a collapse in the nation's food supply. The country's growing epidemic of hunger was less a symptom of food market contractions and more one of the stealth spread of poverty and inflation into more and more corners of American life. The U.S. government's official poverty line in 2008 was $10,590 for a single person, $13,540 for a couple, $16,530 for a family of three, and $21,203 for a family of four. And the Census Bureau estimated that over 37 million Americans (including noncitizen residents) were living at or below these income levels. But that only hinted at the growing scale of American poverty. Economists such as Bob Pollin, codirector of the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, believed many tens of million Americans more were living on incomes that, while they might meet a denuded government "minimum-wage" threshold, in reality couldn't be expected to meet a family's basic needs. Pollin's team calculated that a single person needed to earn ten dollars an hour to achieve even a semblance of economic security; and, as with the poverty line, so with this measure, which he called a "living wage," the dollar amount would go up as the number of people in the family increased. Guaranteeing a living wage was an ambitious goal, one that a number of localities had been trying to implement since the mid-1990s, when Baltimore's city council passed a limited living-wage bill that impacted about fifteen hundred local workers employed by companies who did business with the city. And nowhere were such local measures more of a hot-button issue than in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In the late winter of 2006, Santa Fe's then-mayor David Coss sat behind his large desk discussing the city's living wage, his long, wiry body draped in an expensive gray-brown linen suit, a cream shirt and dark-patterned tie, his hair neatly coiffed, his graying goatee smartly trimmed. A Georgia O'Keefe poster of a horned animal's skull hung on the wall behind him. A second poster, in pastels, showed off a glorious Southwestern desert and mountain landscape- a world of swirling dreams and endless possibilities. Coss had a background as an environmental scientist and a union organizer; he had risen to power at City Hall at least in part because of his assertive championing of the most comprehensive living-wage statute in America. Three years earlier, after a decade-long campaign by social justice activists, seven of the eight councilmen in the chic- and expensive- desert town voted to raise the city's minimum wage to $8.50 an hour, with successive increases built in that would hike it up to $10.50 by 2008. In the years following, despite litigation from opponents of a living wage, the courts rejected challenges to the law, and public support for the change remained high- notwithstanding doom and gloom prognostications from the town's tourism-dominated service industries. Santa Fe's living wage was, Coss averred, "basic economic fairness in making the economy work for everyone and not just the people at the top." When the chamber of commerce ran candidates against the four councillors most outspoken in their support of the living wage, the chamber's candidates were all soundly beaten on Election Day. In a town with a high percentage of practicing Catholics, the living wage in Santa Fe was pushed not just as a sensible economic move- as a way to stimulate spending and savings cycles along the bottom edge of the labor market- but as a moral imperative, reinforced by the authority of papal encyclicals dating back to Leo XIII at the tail end of the nineteenth century. "No one who works full time should have to live in poverty," Monsignor Jerome Martinez stated. The monsignor was a middle-aged man with a shock of curly gray hair, a warm smile, and a deeply suntanned, slightly pocked face. He shared his cluttered office in an annex to the spectacular Cathedral of St. Francis with two large green cacti and several oil paintings of Jesus. "The dignity of the worker is more than just being a cog in the industrial machine. The Just Wage provides sustenance, housing, minimum health care, retirement benefits, and that the worker should have an opportunity to be generous. The ability to be generous is an important aspect of the church. It makes you feel more like a human being." Smiling broadly, Martinez proudly recalled that, at a time when living-wage advocates dreamt of the $8.50 earnings floor, the church in Santa Fe paid none of its sixty-five employees less than $11.50 per hour. Santa Fe's move followed that of dozens of other municipalities in the decade since Baltimore kick-started the process in 1994. By the turn of the century, over sixty cities had followed Baltimore's lead. And, in the years following, dozens more enacted such laws. In some cases, the living wage affected only city workers or businesses that contracted with city and state governments; elsewhere, they applied across the board. Yet, despite the movement's progress, it remained marginal, enforced in a few scores of cities but not adopted by even one state. California's statewide minimum wage, the highest in the country, was $8 an hour in 2008, still far short of what living-wage advocates claimed was needed to stabilize the lives of low-income workers. And in much of the country, a federal minimum wage prevailed. It was set at $5.15 an hour in 1997 and stayed at that level for ten years, its real value reduced by almost half, leaving recipients with less purchasing power than minimum-wage earners had had at any point in the previous half century. A new Democratic congressional majority finally passed a three-step minimum-wage increase in 2007; yet the increase envisaged only a $7.25 minimum wage by 2009, and it wasn't inflation indexed. Consequently, the federal minimum wage remained a woefully inadequate method of fighting poverty. That the minimum wage became so diluted hinted at profound changes within the nation's political culture. In 1938, Franklin Roosevelt signed the minimum wage into law, calling for a "fair day's pay for a fair day's work" and declaring that goods produced in workplaces that did not pay a minimum wage "should be regarded as contraband." Seventy years on, the minimum wage had lost close to half its real value and was seen as a political punching bag, attacked by conservative critics as impeding the workings of the free market. By the early twenty-first century, reformers questing after Roosevelt's vision had come to accept that any minimum wage passed at the federal level was likely to be inadequate to meet the needs of its recipients; instead, they opted to push for local and state living-wage ordinances. The living-wage movement, however, has had only limited impact. While many states enacted a higher minimum wage than that mandated by the federal government in the years since 1997, none implemented one that genuinely met living-wage criteria. As a result, low-end wages continued to stagnate in a process exacerbated by the systemic underestimation of inflation, which allowed employers to minimize the pay raises they gave to employees. Thus, in a period of unprecedented corporate profits and rising worker productivity- up 2.5 percent per year during the 2000s- most working Americans experienced either stagnant real income or a fall in real income during the Bush presidency. Census Bureau numbers showed that the median household income for working-age households fell, in 2007 dollars, by $2,010 in the years from 2000 to 2007, the only economic cycle on record in which real income for American workers has fallen. For racial minorities, the trend was even worse: median income for blacks declined by over 5 percent during these years; for Hispanics the decline was 3.1 percent. At the same time, the percentage of Americans, many of them employed, living below the poverty line steadily rose. In the absence of strong wage-protection laws, many employers continued to grievously underpay their employees. Indeed, Bob Pollin came up with a disturbing estimate of the extent of this problem: by the end of the Bush presidency, fully one in three American workers was earning below his living-wage benchmark. These were the people- described by Princeton University sociologist Katherine Newman as "the missing class"- most impacted by soaring gas and food costs, people who in the best of times spent a higher proportion of their incomes on basic necessities than did any other part of the population. They were deemed by the government too affluent to qualify for food stamps, Medicaid, and the other welfare programs that collectively constituted the country's frayed safety net. And yet, once oil prices doubled and then doubled again, once the cost of a gallon of milk, a dozen eggs, a pound of rice ballooned, these men, women, and children were the ones left most exposed to destitution. By trying to keep their jobs, low-wage earners and their families were in many ways rendering themselves worse off than those who never had, or couldn't keep, paid employment and who therefore qualified for the maximum food stamp allotment and various other government subsidies. Barack Obama campaigned on a promise to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 per hour by 2011; if he makes good on this promise as president, and indexes that minimum wage to inflation, America would finally come close to Roosevelt's dream of a minimum wage that provided genuine economic security. Given the severity of the financial crisis and subsequent recession, however, it is more than likely this goal will continue to be a promise deferred. For now, at least, local living-wage ordinances and laws targeting the wages of public sector employees and workers for mega-companies like Wal-Mart continue to offer the best hope for creating a safety net for America's most vulnerable workers. From maryrose333 at att.net Mon Jul 6 16:24:59 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 15:24:59 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] I Saw 'Food Inc.' -- Now What? Message-ID: <009c01c9fe88$9b8d5cf0$d2a816d0$@net> We really need a plan to get off of meat period. As I have written earlier, if we were to incorporate all of the "external costs to the environment" involved in eating meat, we simply would not be able to afford it, and we are talking about beef in particular. Even with grass fed beef, one has to consider that cattle simply are not "environmentally friendly". There is the factor of methane released into the environment along with the damage that the hooves of cattle do to the land, the amount of water that cattle need and various other factors. A book which goes into this in detail is: 'Grasslands" by Richard Manning. The other factor is the costs of butchering and getting the product to market. Whether it is grass fed or not, it still contains dioxin in the fatty meat, and as well in dairy products. So, let's stop kidding ourselves that we can continue our addiction to meat and in particular, beef. Another excellent source of reference for this is "Beyond Beef" by Jeremy Rifkin. Rifkin goes into the study of beef as a source of food in depth, and as well reveals its connection with both ancient religions and Christianity. If the human family is going to not only survive, but thrive on Planet Earth, we are going to have to make some very dramatic changes to our what is called our "modern lifestyle". -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Friday, July 03, 2009 9:15 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] I Saw 'Food Inc.' -- Now What? I Saw 'Food Inc.' -- Now What? http://www.alternet.org/environment/141075/i_saw_%27food_inc.%27_--_now_what / By Sarah Newman, Huffington Post. Posted July 3, 2009. Here's how to transition off of a corn-based diet, lessen your carb(on) footprint, support local farmers and humanely raised meats. To read AlterNet's interview with Food Inc. director Robert Kenner, click here. You can also click here to read an essay by farmer Joel Salatin who's featured in the film. It's hard to see Food, Inc. and not be inspired. Okay, so most people might not be selling their house and quitting their office job to become full time farmers, but the movie certainly inspires people to change something in their lives. There's a lot of super simple but highly effective things you can do to transition off of a corn-based diet, lessen your carb(on) food/footprint, support local farmers and choose humanely raised meats. We are thrilled by the deluge of emails we've received from people across the country who are inspired by the film and want to make changes but are looking for some help. Below is a list to some of the most commonly asked questions. 1. Where can I buy organic food? The Eat Well Guide is a handy resource which lists local farmers markets, farms, restaurants and Community Supported Agricultural programs in your area, all of which offer organic and sustainable foods. 2. Where can I buy sustainably raised meat? Eat Wild is a user-friendly resource with listings for grass-fed meat and dairy near you. Do you need some clarification on all of those confusing terms used to describe meat products, such pasture-raised, non-confined or natural? If so, Sustainable Table's wallet-sized glossary of meat production will help you better understand what these each mean. 3. What is the status of Kevin's law? Unfortunately, nothing right now. However, you can support the ongoing work of Barb Kowlacyk and her mom, Pat Buck, for safer food standards nationwide through their organization, Center for Foodborne Illness, Research and Prevention. 4. How can I get in touch with Michael Pollan? Yes, he's a hot commodity right now, but you can chat with him! There will be live-chat with him this Thursday at 3PM PST on Facebook. Click here for details. 5. I didn't see Food, Inc. When is it coming to my town? We're constantly adding new cities and theaters, but if yours isn't listed here, tell your local theater that you want to see it! And, stay tuned for the DVD release date. Assuming these actions whet your appetite, don't forget to check out the official film site which offers lots of juicy resources. The 10 tips will help to jump start some lifestyle changes you can make now. Learn more about issues raised in the film, ranging from workers rights to genetic engineering and connect with organizations leading efforts to reform our industrial food system. The enthusiasm generated by Food, Inc. is evidence that it is helping to galvanize people across the country who are all committed to making sure we all have access to safe, healthy and sustainable foods. From maryrose333 at att.net Mon Jul 6 16:46:58 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 15:46:58 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: Dissent in the U.S. military growing, 40, 000 soldiers have deserted... Message-ID: <00d201c9fe8b$addeaa50$099bfef0$@net> From: Nance ~ [mailto:planetnews8 at gmail.com] Sent: Friday, July 03, 2009 10:43 PM Subject: Dissent in the U.S. military growing, 40,000 soldiers have deserted... Dissent in the U.S. Military growing, 40,000 soldiers have deserted... AlterNet July 2, 2009 "In November 2007, the Pentagon revealed that between 2003 and 2007 there had been an 80% increase in overall desertion rates in the Army (desertion refers to soldiers who go AWOL and never intend to return to service), and Army AWOL rates from 2003 to 2006 were the highest since 1980. Between 2000 and 2006, more than 40,000 troops from all branches of the military deserted, more than half from the Army. Army desertion rates jumped by 42% from 2006 to 2007 alone." "In recent months there has been a dramatic rise of nearly 200% in the number of soldiers that have contacted [a group] which actively assists soldiers who refuse to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan." from http://www.alternet.org/world/141047/%27there_is_no_way_i_will_deploy_to_afg hanistan%27_--_seeds_of_dissent_in_the_u.s._military_are_growing/?page=entir e --START COPY-- 'There Is No Way I Will Deploy to Afghanistan' -- Seeds of Dissent in the U.S. Military Are Growing By Dahr Jamail, Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute. >From suicide to desertion to refusal to deploy -- service members' dissent may be growing into something far larger. Editor's Note: The following is an introduction by Tom Engelhardt. The All-Volunteer Force (AVF) exists for a reason captured in a study by Colonel Robert D. Heinl, Jr., author of the "definitive history of the Marine Corps," published in Armed Forces Journal in 1971. The U.S. military in Vietnam was at that moment at the edge of chaos. As Colonel Heinl put it, it was experiencing "widespread conditions... that have only been exceeded in this century by the French Army's Nivelle mutinies of 1917 and the collapse of the Tsarist armies [of Russia] in 1916 and 1917." In fact, statistics flowing back to Washington about the American war machine in Vietnam then pointed toward an unimaginable nightmare. Drug use was rampant; desertions stood at 70 per thousand, a modern high; small-scale mutinies or "combat refusals" were at critical, if untabulated, levels; incidents of racial conflict had soared; and strife between "lifers" and draftees was at unprecedented levels. Reported "fraggings" -- assassination attempts -- against unpopular officers or NCOs had risen from 126 in 1969 to 333 in 1971, despite declining troop strength in Vietnam. According to Colonel Heinl's figures, as many as 144 antiwar underground newspapers were being published by, or for, soldiers. And most threatening of all, active duty soldiers in relatively small numbers (as well as a swelling number of Vietnam veterans) were beginning to actively organize against the war. When, in January 1973, before the war was even over, President Richard Nixon announced that an American draft army was at an end and an all-volunteer force would be created, this was why. The U.S. military was in the wilderness without a compass, having discovered one crucial thing: you couldn't fight an endless, unpopular counterinsurgency war with the kind of conscript army a democracy had to offer. What resulted, of course, was the AVF, a moniker that, as Andrew Bacevich has written in his book The New American Militarism, was but "a euphemism for what is, in fact, a professional army... [that] does not even remotely 'look like' democratic America." Citizenship and the obligation to serve were now officially severed and, from the 1980s on, most Americans would ever more vigorously cheer on the AVF from the sidelines, while it would be a force theoretically purged of possible Vietnam-style dissent and refusal. In that sense, it could be considered a success. We've now been at war seven and a half years in Afghanistan and more than five in Iraq, two catastrophic counterinsurgency struggles, and yet a Vietnam-style movement has neither arisen in the military, nor for that matter in the streets of what's now called "the homeland." But as Dahr Jamail indicates below and in his new book, The Will To Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan http://www.amazon.com/dp/1931859884/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20 dissent has proved irrepressible. With the generous support of the Nation Institute's Investigative Fund http://www.nationinstitute.org/ifunds/ Jamail has produced a report on the seeds of refusal and dissent in the military that may -- in a quagmire future in Afghanistan and possibly Iraq -- grow into something far larger. -- Tom Engelhardt On May 1st at Fort Hood in central Texas, Specialist Victor Agosto wrote on a counseling statement, which is actually a punitive U.S. Army memo: "There is no way I will deploy to Afghanistan. The occupation is immoral and unjust. It does not make the American people any safer. It has the opposite effect." Ten days later, he refused to obey a direct order from his company commander to prepare to deploy and was issued a second counseling statement. On that one he wrote, "I will not obey any orders I deem to be immoral or illegal." Shortly thereafter, he told a reporter, "I'm not willing to participate in this occupation, knowing it is completely wrong. It's a matter of what I'm willing to live with." Agosto had already served in Iraq for 13 months with the 57th Expeditionary Signal Battalion. Currently on active duty at Fort Hood, he admits, "It was in Iraq that I turned against the occupations. I started to feel very guilty. I watched contractors making obscene amounts of money. I found no evidence that the occupation was in any way helping the people of Iraq. I know I contributed to death and human suffering. It's hard to quantify how much I caused, but I know I contributed to it." Even though he was approaching the end of his military service, Agosto was ordered to deploy to Afghanistan under the stop-loss program that the Department of Defense uses to retain soldiers beyond the term of their contracts. At least 185,000 troops have been stop-lossed since September 11, 2001. Agosto betrays no ambivalence about his willingness to face the consequences of his actions: "Yes, I'm fully prepared for this. I have concluded that the wars [in Iraq and Afghanistan] are not going to be ended by politicians or people at the top. They're not responsive to people, they're responsive to corporate America. The only way to make them responsive to the needs of the people is for soldiers to not fight their wars. If soldiers won't fight their wars, the wars won't happen. I hope I'm setting an example for other soldiers." Today, Agosto's remains a relatively isolated act in an all-volunteer military built to avoid the dissent that, in the Vietnam era, came to be associated with an army of draftees. However, it's an example that may, soon enough, have far greater meaning for an increasingly overstretched military plunging into an expanding Afghan War seemingly without end, even as its war in Iraq continues. Avoiding Battle Writing on his blog from Baquba, Iraq, in September 2004, Specialist Jeff Englehart commented: "Three soldiers in our unit have been hurt in the last four days and the true amount of army-wide casualties leaving Iraq are unknown. The figures are much higher than what is reported. We get awards and medals that are supposed to make us feel proud about our wicked assignment..." Over the years, in response to such feelings, some American soldiers have come up with ingenious ways to express defiance or dissent on our distant battlegrounds. These have been little noted in the mainstream media, and when they do surface, officials in the Pentagon or in Washington just brush them aside as "bad apple" incidents (the same explanation they tend to use when a war crime is exposed). But in the stories of men and women who served in the occupation of Iraq, they often play a different role. In October 2007, for instance, I interviewed Corporal Phil Aliff, an Iraq War veteran, then based at Fort Drum in upstate New York. He recalled: "During my stints in Iraq between August 2005 and July 2006, we probably ran 300 patrols. Most of the men in my platoon were just in from combat tours in Afghanistan and morale was incredibly low. Recurring hits by roadside bombs had demoralized us and we realized the only way we could avoid being blown up was to stop driving around all the time. So every other day we would find an open field and park, and call our base every hour to tell them we were searching for weapon caches in the fields and everything was going fine. All our enlisted people had grown disenchanted with the chain of command." Aliff referred to this tactic as engaging in "search and avoid" missions, a sardonic expression recycled from the Vietnam War when soldiers were sent out on official "search and destroy" missions. Sergeant Eli Wright, who served as a medic with the 1st Infantry Division in Ramadi from September 2003 through September 2004, had a similar story to tell me. "Oh yeah, we did search and avoid missions all the time. It was common for us to go set camp atop a bridge and use it as an over-watch position. We would use our binoculars to observe rather than sweep, but call in radio checks every hour to report on our sweeps." According to Private First Class Clifton Hicks, who served in Iraq with the First Cavalry from October 2003, only six months after Baghdad was occupied by American troops, until July 2004, search and avoid missions began early and always had the backing of a senior non-commissioned officer or a staff sergeant. "Our platoon sergeant was with us and he knew our patrols were bullshit, just riding around to get blown up," he explained. "We were at Camp Victory at Baghdad International Airport. A lot of the time we'd leave the main gate and come right back in another gate to the base where there's a big PX with a nice mess hall and a Burger King. We'd leave one guy at the Humvee to call in every hour, while the others stayed at the PX. We were just sick and tired of going out on these stupid patrols." These understated acts of refusal were often survival strategies as well as gestures of dissent, as the troops were invariably undertrained and ill-equipped for the job of putting down an insurgency. Specialist Nathan Lewis, who was deployed to Iraq with the 214th Artillery Brigade from March 2002 through June 2003, experienced this firsthand. "We never received any training for much of what we were expected to do," he said when telling me of certain munitions catching fire while he and other soldiers were loading them onto trucks, "We were never trained on how to handle [them] the right way." Sergeant Geoff Millard of the New York Army National Guard served at a Rear Operations Center with the 42nd Infantry Division from October 2004 through October 2005. Part of his duty entailed reporting "significant actions," or SIGACTS -- that is, attacks on U.S. forces. In an interview in 2007 he told me, "When I was there at least five companies never reported SIGACTS. I think 'search and avoids' have been going on for a long time. One of my buddies in Baghdad emails that nearly each day they pull into a parking lot, drink soda, and shoot at the cans." Millard told me of soldiers he still knows in Iraq who were still performing "search and avoid" missions in December 2008. Several other friends deploying or redeploying to Iraq soon assured him that they, too, planned to operate in search and avoid mode. Corporal Bryan Casler was first deployed to Iraq with the Marines in 2003, at the time of the invasion. Posted to Afghanistan in 2004, he returned to Iraq for another tour of duty in 2005. He tells of other low-level versions of the tactic of avoidance: "There were times we would go to fix a radio that had been down for hours. It was purposeful so we did not have to deal with the bullshit from higher [ups]. In reality, we would go so we could just chill out, let the rest of the squad catch up on some rest as one stood guard. It's mutual and people start covering for each other. Everyone knows what the hell's going on." Staff Sergeant Ronn Cantu, an infantryman who was deployed to Iraq from March 2004 to February 2005, and again from December 2006 to January 2008, said of some of the patrols he observed while there: "[They] wouldn't go up and down the streets like they were supposed to. They would just go to a friendly compound with the Iraqi police or the Kurdish Peshmerga [militia] and stay at their compound and drink tea until it was time to go back to the base." As a Stryker armored combat vehicle commander in Iraq from September 2004 to September 2005, Sergeant Seth Manzel had figured out a way to fabricate on screen the movement of their patrol and so could run computerized versions of a search and avoid mission. As he explained: "Sometimes if they called us up to go and do something, we would swiftly send computer reports that we were headed in that direction. On the map we would manually place our icon to the target location and then move it back and forth to make it appear as though we were actually on the ground and patrolling. This was not an isolated case. Everyone did it. Everyone would go and hide somewhere from time to time." Former Sergeant Josh Simpson, who served as a counter-intelligence agent in Iraq from October 2004 to October 2005, said he witnessed instances of faked movement. "I knew soldiers who learned to simulate vehicular movement on the computer screen, to create the impression of being on patrol," said Simpson. "There's no doubt that people did it." Saying "No" One at a Time "There was nothing to be done," Corporal Casler says of his time in Iraq, "no progress to be made there. Dissent starts as simple as saying this is bullshit. Why am I risking my life?" Sometimes such feelings have permeated entire units and soldiers in them have refused to follow orders en masse. One of the more dramatic of these incidents occurred in July 2007. The 2nd Platoon of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, in Baghdad had lost many men in its 11 months of deployment. After a roadside bomb killed five more, its members held a meeting and agreed that it was no longer possible for them to function professionally. Concerned that their anger might actually touch off a massacre of Iraqi civilians, they staged a quiet revolt against their commanders instead. Kelly Kennedy, a reporter with the Military Times embedded with Charlie Company prior to the revolt, described the shape the platoon members were in by that time: "[T]hey went right to mental health and they got sleeping medications, and they basically couldn't sleep and reacted poorly. And then, they were supposed to go out on patrol again that day. And they, as a platoon, the whole platoon -- it was about 40 people -- said, 'We're not going to do it. We can't. We're not mentally there right now.'" In response, the military broke up the platoon. Each individual involved was also "flagged" so he would not get a promotion or receive any award due. To this day, troops in Iraq continue to be plagued by equipment and manpower shortages, and work long hours in an extreme climate. In addition, their stress levels are regularly raised by news from home of veterans returning to separations and divorces, and of a Veteran's Administration often ill-equipped and unwilling to provide appropriate physical and psychological care to veterans. While no broad poll of troops has been conducted recently, a Zogby poll in February 2006 found that 72% of soldiers in Iraq felt the occupation should be ended within a year. My interviews with those recently back from Iraq indicate that levels of despair and disappointment are once again on the rise among troops who are beginning to realize, months after the Obama administration was ushered in, that hopes of an early withdrawal have evaporated. With the Afghan War heating up and the Iraq War still far from over, even if fighting there is at far lower levels than at its sectarian heights in 2006 and 2007, with stress and strain on the military still on the rise, dissent and resistance are unlikely to abate. In addition to small numbers of outright public refusals to deploy or redeploy, troops are going absent without official leave (AWOL) between deployments, and actual desertions may once again be on the rise. Certainly, there's one strong indication that despair is indeed growing: the unprecedented numbers of soldiers who are committing suicide; the Army's official suicide count rose to 133 in 2008, up from 115 in 2007, itself a record since the Pentagon began keeping suicide statistics in 1980. At least 82 confirmed or suspected suicides have been reported thus far in 2009, a pace that indicates another grim record will be set; and suicide, though seldom thought of in that context, is also a form of refusal, an extreme, individual way of saying no, or simply no more. According to Sergeant Simpson, here's how a feeling of discontent and opposition creeps up on you while you're on duty: The part of the war you're involved in, interrogating Iraqis in his case, "doesn't make any sense. You realize that the whole system is flawed and if that is flawed, then obviously the whole war is flawed. If the basic premise of the war is flawed, definitely the intelligence system that is supposed to lead us to victory is flawed. What that implies is that victory is not even a possibility." After finishing his tour in Iraq, Simpson joined the Reserves because he believed it would grant him a two-year deferment from being called up, but he was called up anyway. In his own case, he says, "I thought to myself, I can't do this anymore. First of all, it's bad for me mentally because I'm doing something I loathe. Second, I'm participating in an organization that I wish to resist in every way I can. "So," he says, "I just stopped showing up for drill, didn't call my unit, didn't give them any reason for it. I changed my telephone number and they did not have my address." Eventually, he reached the end date of his contract and managed to graduate from Evergreen State University in Washington. "I don't know if technically I'm still in the reserves," he told me. "I don't know what my situation is, but I don't really care either. If I go to jail, I go to jail. I'd rather go to jail than go to Iraq." Unready and Unwilling Reserves Sergeant Travis Bishop, who served 14 months in Baghdad with the 57th Expeditionary Signal Battalion ? the same battalion as Agosto, who served north of the Iraqi capital -- recently went AWOL from his station at Fort Hood, Texas, when his unit deployed to Afghanistan. He insists that it would be unethical for him to deploy to support an occupation he opposes on moral grounds. On his blog, he puts his position this way: "I love my country, but I believe that this particular war is unjust, unconstitutional and a total abuse of our nation's power and influence. And so, in the next few days, I will be speaking with my lawyer, and taking actions that will more than likely result in my discharge from the military, and possible jail time... and I am prepared to live with that.... My father said, 'Do only what you can live with, because every morning you have to look at your face in the mirror when you shave. Ten years from now, you'll still be shaving the same face.' If I had deployed to Afghanistan, I don't think I would have been able to look into another mirror again." I spoke with him briefly after he turned himself in at his base in early June. He said he'd chosen to follow Specialist Agosto's example of refusal, which had inspired him, and wanted to be present at his post to accept the consequences of his actions. He, too, hoped others might follow his lead. (He and Agosto, now in similar situations, have become friends.) Agosto, whose hope has been to set an example of resistance for other soldiers, sees Bishop's refusal to deploy to Afghanistan as a personal success and says, "I already feel vindicated for what I'm doing by his actions. It's nice to see some immediate results." His actions, he's convinced, have affected the way his fellow soldiers are now looking at the war in Afghanistan. "The topic has come up a lot in conversation, with soldiers on base now asking, 'What are we doing in Afghanistan? Why are we there?' People feel compelled to bring this up when I'm around. Even the ones that disagree with me say it's great what I'm doing, and that I'm doing what a lot of them don't have the courage to do. If anything, the people I work with have now been treating me better than ever." On May 27th, rejecting an Article 15 -- a nonjudicial punishment imposed by a commanding officer who believes a member of his command has committed an offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice -- Agosto demanded to be court-martialed. According to Agosto, the Army has now begun the court martial process, but has not yet set a trial date. Bishop, too, awaits a possible court martial. On June 1st, a day when four U.S. soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, Agosto told me in a phone call from Fort Hood, "I haven't had to disobey any orders lately. A sergeant asked me if it'd be okay if I had to follow orders, and I said no, and they didn't force it." Agosto and Bishop are hardly alone. In November 2007, the Pentagon revealed that between 2003 and 2007 there had been an 80% increase in overall desertion rates in the Army (desertion refers to soldiers who go AWOL and never intend to return to service), and Army AWOL rates from 2003 to 2006 were the highest since 1980. Between 2000 and 2006, more than 40,000 troops from all branches of the military deserted, more than half from the Army. Army desertion rates jumped by 42% from 2006 to 2007 alone. U.S. Army Specialist Andr? Shepherd joined the Army on January 27, 2004. He was trained in Apache helicopter repair and sent first to Germany, then was stationed in Iraq from November 2004 to February 2005, before being based again in Germany. Shepherd went AWOL in southern Germany in April 2007 and lived underground until applying for asylum there in November 2008, making him the first Iraq veteran to apply for refugee status in Europe. He, too, has refused further military service because he feels morally opposed to the occupation of Iraq. While he awaits word from the German government and is still technically AWOL, Shepherd is being supported by Courage to Resist, a group based in Oakland, California, which actively assists soldiers who refuse to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan. A counselor and administrative associate at that organization, Adam Szyper-Seibert, points out that "in recent months there has been a dramatic rise of nearly 200% in the number of soldiers that have contacted Courage to Resist." Szyper-Seibert suspects this may reflect the decision of the Obama administration to dramatically increase efforts, troop strength, and resources in Afghanistan. "We are actively supporting over 50 military resisters like Victor Agosto," Szyper-Seibert says. "They are all over the world, including Andr? Shepherd in Germany and several people in Canada. We are getting five or six calls a week just about the IRR [Individual Ready Reserve] recall alone." The IRR is composed of troops who have finished their active duty service but still have time remaining on their contracts. The typical military contract mandates four years of active duty followed by four years in the IRR, though variations on this pattern exist. Ready Reserve members live civilian lives and are not paid by the military, but they are required to show up for periodic musters. Many have moved on from military life and are enrolled in college, working civilian jobs, and building families. At any point, however, a member of the Ready Reserve can be recalled to active duty. This policy has led to the involuntary reactivation of tens of thousands of troops to fight the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Lieutenant General Jack C. Stultz, the Chief of the U.S. Army Reserve and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Reserve Command, told Congress on March 3rd that, since September 11, 2001, the Army has mobilized about 28,000 from the Reserves. There have been 3,724 Marines involuntarily recalled and mobilized during that same period, according to Major Steven O'Connor, a Marine Corps spokesman. (According to Major O'Connor, as of May 2009, the Marines are no longer recalling individuals from the IRR.) Ironically, under a new commander-in-chief whom many voters believed to be anti-war, the Army is continuing its Individual Ready Reserve recalls. "The IRR recall has not seen any change since Obama became president," Sarah Lazare, the project coordinator for Courage to Resist, says. "It's difficult to predict what the Obama administration's policy will be in the future regarding the IRR, but definitely they haven't made any moves to stop this practice." Needing boots on the ground, according to Lazare, the military continues to fall back on the Ready Reserve system to fill the gaps: "Since these are experienced troops, many of them have already served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan." Lazare adds, "When Obama announced his Afghanistan surge, we got a huge wave of calls from soldiers saying they didn't want to be reactivated and to please help them not go." The Future of Military Dissent Right now, acts of dissent, refusal, and resistance in the all-volunteer military remain small-scale and scattered. Ranging from the extreme private act of suicide to avoidance of duty to actual refusal of duty, they continue to consist largely of individual acts. Present-day G.I. resistance to the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan cannot begin to be compared with the extensive resistance movement that helped end the Vietnam War and brought an army of draftees to the point of near mutiny in the late 1960s. Nevertheless, the ongoing dissent that does exist in the U.S. military, however fragmented and overlooked at the moment, should not be discounted. The Iraq War boils on at still dangerous levels of violence, while the war in Afghanistan (and across the border in Pakistan) only grows, as does the U.S. commitment to both. It's already clear that even an all-volunteer military isn't immune to dissent. If violence in either or both occupations escalates, if the Pentagon struggles to add more boots on the ground, if the stresses and strains on the military, involving endless redeployments to combat zones, increase rather than lessen, then the acts of Agosto, Bishop, and Shepherd may turn out to be pathbreaking ones in a world of dissent yet to be experienced and explored. Add in dissatisfaction and discontent at home if, in the coming years, American treasure continues to be poured into an Afghan quagmire, and real support for a G.I. resistance movement may surface. If so, then the early pioneers in methods of dissent within the military will have laid the groundwork for a movement. "If we want soldiers to choose the right but difficult path, they must know beyond any shadow of a doubt that they will be supported by Americans." So said First Lieutenant Ehren Watada of the U.S. Army, the highest ranking enlisted soldier to refuse orders to deploy to Iraq. (He finally had the military charges against him dropped by the Justice Department.) The future of any such movement in the military is now unknowable, but keep your eyes open. History, even military history, holds its own surprises. Research support for this article was provided by the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute. Dahr Jamail http://dahrjamailiraq.com has reported from Iraq and writes for Inter Press Service, Le Monde Diplomatique, and other outlets. He is the author of Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq http://www.amazon.com/dp/1931859612/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20 and the forthcoming book The Will To Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan http://www.amazon.com/dp/1931859884/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20 ? 2009 Independent Media Institute, AlterNet -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 13482 bytes Desc: not available URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Mon Jul 6 16:49:31 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 15:49:31 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Much ado about nothing? Message-ID: <00db01c9fe8c$09818710$1c849530$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Friday, July 03, 2009 8:36 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Much ado about nothing? (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) "In recent years, the United States has been patrolling the waters surrounding Iran with warships, halting Iranian ships to check for arms shipments to Hamas or for other illegal reasons, financing and "educating" Iranian dissidents, using Iranian groups to carry out terrorist attacks inside Iran, kidnaping Iranian diplomats in Iraq, kidnaping Iranian military personnel in Iran and taking them to Iraq, continually spying and recruiting within Iran, manipulating Iran's currency and international financial transactions, and imposing various economic and political sanctions against the country.4" The Anti-Empire Report http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer71.html July 3rd, 2009 by William Blum www.killinghope.org Much ado about nothing? What is there about the Iranian election of June 12 that has led to it being one of the leading stories in media around the world every day since? Elections whose results are seriously challenged have taken place in most countries at one time or another in recent decades. Countless Americans believe that the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004 were stolen by the Republicans, and not just inside the voting machines and in the counting process, but prior to the actual voting as well with numerous Republican Party dirty tricks designed to keep poor and black voters off voting lists or away from polling stations. The fact that large numbers of Americans did not take to the streets day after day in protest, as in Iran, is not something we can be proud of. Perhaps if the CIA, the Agency for International Development (AID), several US government-run radio stations, and various other organizations supported by the National Endowment for Democracy (which was created to serve as a front for the CIA, literally) had been active in the United States, as they have been for years in Iran, major street protests would have taken place in the United States. The classic "outside agitators" can not only foment dissent through propaganda, adding to already existing dissent, but they can serve to mobilize the public to strongly demonstrate against the government. In 1953, when the CIA overthrew Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh, they paid people to agitate in front of Mossadegh's residence and elsewhere and engage in acts of violence; some pretended to be supporters of Mossadegh while engaging in anti-religious actions. And it worked, remarkably well.1 Since the end of World War II, the United States has seriously intervened in some 30 elections around the world, adding a new twist this time, twittering. The State Department asked Twitter to postpone a scheduled maintenance shutdown of its service to keep information flowing from inside Iran, helping to mobilize protesters.2 The New York Times reported: "An article published by the Web site True/Slant highlighted some of the biggest errors on Twitter that were quickly repeated and amplified by bloggers: that three million protested in Tehran last weekend (more like a few hundred thousand); that the opposition candidate Mir Hussein Mousavi was under house arrest (he was being watched); that the president of the election monitoring committee declared the election invalid last Saturday (not so)." 3 In recent years, the United States has been patrolling the waters surrounding Iran with warships, halting Iranian ships to check for arms shipments to Hamas or for other illegal reasons, financing and "educating" Iranian dissidents, using Iranian groups to carry out terrorist attacks inside Iran, kidnaping Iranian diplomats in Iraq, kidnaping Iranian military personnel in Iran and taking them to Iraq, continually spying and recruiting within Iran, manipulating Iran's currency and international financial transactions, and imposing various economic and political sanctions against the country.4 "I've made it clear that the United States respects the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and is not at all interfering in Iran's affairs," said US President Barack Obama with a straight face on June 23. Some in the Iranian government [have been] accusing the United States and others outside of Iran of instigating protests over the elections. These accusations are patently false and absurd."5 "Never believe anything until it's officially denied," British writer Claud Cockburn famously said. In his world-prominent speech to the Middle East on June 4, Obama mentioned that "In the middle of the Cold War, the United States played a role in the overthrow of a democratically elected Iranian government." So we have the president of the United States admitting to a previous overthrow of the Iranian government while the United States is in the very midst of trying to overthrow the current Iranian government. This will serve as the best example of hypocrisy that's come along in quite a while. So why the big international fuss over the Iranian election and street protests? There's only one answer. The obvious one. The announced winner, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is a Washington ODE, an Officially Designated Enemy, for not sufficiently respecting the Empire and its Israeli partner-in-crime; indeed, Ahmadinejad is one of the most outspoken critics of US foreign policy in the world. So ingrained is this ODE response built into Washington's world view that it appears to matter not at all that Mousavi, Ahmadinejad's main opponent in the election and very much supported by the protesters, while prime minister 1981-89, bore large responsibility for the attacks on the US embassy and military barracks in Beirut in 1983, which took the lives of more than 200 Americans, and the 1988 truck bombing of a US Navy installation in Naples, Italy, that killed five persons. Remarkably, a search of US newspaper and broadcast sources shows no mention of this during the current protests.6 However, the Washington Post saw fit to run a story on June 27 that declared: "the authoritarian governments of China, Cuba and Burma have been selectively censoring the news this month of Iranian crowds braving government militias on the streets of Tehran to demand democratic reforms." Can it be that no one in the Obama administration knows of Mousavi's background? And do none of them know about the violent government repression on June 5 in Peru of the peaceful protests organized in response to the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement? A massacre that took the lives of between 20 and 25 indigenous people in the Amazon and wounded another 100.7 The Obama administration was silent on the Peruvian massacre because the Peruvian president, Alan Garcia, is not an ODE. And neither is Mousavi, despite his anti-American terrorist deeds, because he's opposed to Ahmadinejad, who competes with Hugo Chavez to be Washington's Number One ODE. Time magazine calls Mousavi a "moderate", and goes on to add: "It has to be assumed that the Iranian presidential election was rigged," offering as much evidence as the Iranian protestors, i.e., none at all.8 It cannot of course be proven that the Iranian election was totally honest, but the arguments given to support the charge of fraud are not very impressive, such as the much-repeated fact that the results were announced very soon after the polls closed. For decades in various countries election results have been condemned for being withheld for many hours or days. Some kind of dishonesty must be going on behind the scenes during the long delay it was argued. So now we're asked to believe that some kind of dishonesty must be going on because the results were released so quickly. It should be noted that the ballots listed only one electoral contest, with but four candidates. Phil Wilayto, American peace activist and author of a book on Iran, has observed: Ahmadinejad, himself born into rural poverty, clearly has the support of the poorer classes, especially in the countryside, where nearly half the population lives. Why? In part because he pays attention to them, makes sure they receive some benefits from the government and treats them and their religious views and traditions with respect. Mousavi, on the other hand, the son of an urban merchant, clearly appeals more to the urban middle classes, especially the college-educated youth. This being so, why would anyone be surprised that Ahmadinejad carried the vote by a clear majority? Are there now more yuppies in Iran than poor people?9 All of which is of course not to say that Iran is not a relatively repressive society on social and religious issues, and it's this underlying reality which likely feeds much of the protest; indeed, many of the protesters may not even have strong views about the election per se, particularly since both Ahmadinejad and Mousavi are members of the establishment, neither is any threat to the Islamic theocracy, and the election can be seen as the kind of power struggle you find in virtually every country. But that is not the issue I'm concerned with here. The issue is Washington's long-standing goal of regime change. If the exact same electoral outcome had taken place in a country that is an ally of the United States, how much of all the accusatory news coverage and speeches would have taken place? In fact, the exact same thing did happen in a country that is an ally of the United States, three years ago when Felipe Calderon appeared to have stolen the presidential election in Mexico and there were daily large protests for more than two months; but the American and international condemnation was virtually non-existent compared to what we see today in regard to Iran. Iranian leaders undertook a recount of a random ten per cent of ballots and recertified Ahmadinejad as the winner. How honest the recount was I have no idea, but it's more than Americans got in 2000 and 2004. By what standard shall we judge Barack Obama? Many of my readers have been upset with me for my criticisms of President Obama's policies. Following my last two reports, more than a dozen have asked to be removed from my mailing list. But if you share my view that the numerous atrocities US foreign policy is responsible for constitute the greatest threat to world peace, prosperity and happiness, then I think you have to want leaders who are unambiguously opposed to America's military adventures, because those interventions are unambiguously harmful. There's nothing good to be said about dropping powerful bombs on crowds of innocent people, invading their land, overthrowing their government, occupying the country, breaking down the doors of the citizens, killing the father, raping the mother, traumatizing the children, torturing those opposed to all this ... Barack Obama has no problem with this, if we judge him by his policies and not his rhetoric. And neither does Al Franken, who's about to become a Democratic Senator from Minnesota. The former Saturday Night Live comedian would like you to believe that he's been against the war in Iraq since it began, but he's gone to Iraq four times to entertain the troops. Does that make sense? Why does the military bring entertainers to soldiers? To lift the soldiers' spirits. Why does the military want to lift the soldiers' spirits? A happier soldier does his job better. And what's the soldier's job? All the charming things listed above. Doesn't Franken know what these guys do? He criticized the Bush administration because they "failed to send enough troops to do the job right."10 What "job" did the man think the troops were sent to do that had not been performed to his standards because of lack of manpower? Did he want them to be more efficient at killing Iraqis who resisted the occupation? Franken has been lifting soldiers' spirits for a long time. This past March he was honored by the United Service Organization (USO) for his ten years of entertaining troops abroad. That includes Kosovo in 1999, as imperialist an occupation as you'll want to see. He called his USO experience "one of the best things I've ever done."11 Franken has also spoken at West Point, encouraging the next generation of imperialist warriors. Is this a man to challenge the militarization of America at home and abroad? No more so than Obama. Tom Hayden wrote this about Franken in 2005 when Franken had a regular program on the Air America radio network: Is anyone else disappointed with Al Franken's daily defense of the continued war in Iraq? Not Bush's version of the war, because that would undermine Air America's laudable purpose of rallying an anti-Bush audience. But, well, Kerry's version of the war, one that can be better managed and won, somehow with better body armor and fewer torture cells. This morning Franken was endorsing Sen. Joe Biden's proposal to send 5,000 NATO troops to close the Syrian-Iraq border, bring in foreign trainers for the Iraqi officer corps, and put Iraqis to work cleaning up the destruction of our invasion. ... Now that Bush has manipulated us into the invasion, Franken thinks we have no choice but to ... stay until we crush the insurgents. It's a humanitarian excuse for open-ended American occupation. And it's shared widely by the professional political and pundit class who think of themselves as the conscience of the American establishment and the leadership of the Democratic Party.12 I know, I know, I'm taking away all your heroes. But such people shouldn't be your heroes. You can learn to see through the liberal, Democratic Party apologists for the empire. Only a week ago, documents released by the Nixon Library in California revealed that five days before US and South Vietnamese troops made their surprise invasion of Cambodia on April 29, 1970 -- which elicited widespread, angry protests in the US, resulting in the fatal shootings by the National Guard of students at Kent State University in Ohio -- President Richard Nixon got approval for the invasion from the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. John Stennis of Mississippi. Stennis told the president: "I will be with you. ... I commend you for what you are doing."13 Long live the Cold War President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras was overthrown in a military coup June 28 because he was about to conduct a non-binding survey of the population, asking the question: "Do you agree that, during the general elections of November 2009 there should be a fourth ballot to decide whether to hold a Constituent National Assembly that will approve a new political constitution?" One of the issues that Zelaya hoped a new constitution would deal with is the limiting of the presidency to one four-year term. He also expressed the need for other constitutional changes to make it possible for him to carry out policies to improve the life of the poor; in countries like Honduras, the law is not generally crafted for that end. At this writing it's not clear how matters will turn out in Honduras, but the following should be noted: The United States, by its own admission, was fully aware for weeks of the Honduran military's plan to overthrow Zelaya. Washington says it tried its best to change the mind of the plotters. It's difficult to believe that this proved impossible. During the Cold War it was said, with much justification, that the United States could discourage a coup in Latin America with "a frown". The Honduran and American military establishments have long been on very fraternal terms. And it must be asked: In what way and to what extent did the United States warn Zelaya of the impending coup? And what protection did it offer him? The response to the coup from the Obama administration can be described with adjectives such as lukewarm, proper but belated, and mixed. It is not unthinkable that the United States gave the military plotters the go-ahead, telling them to keep the traditional "golpe" bloodiness to a minimum. Zelaya was elected to office as the candidate of a conservative party; he then, surprisingly, moved to the left and became a strong critic of a number of Washington policies, and an ally of Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia, both of whom the Bush administration tried to overthrow and assassinate. Following the coup, National Public Radio (NPR) showed once again why progressives refer to it as National Pentagon Radio. The station's leading news anchor, Robert Siegel, interviewed Johanna Mendelson Forman, of the conservative think tank, Center for Strategic and International Studies: Siegel: "There hasn't been a coup in Latin America for quite a while." Forman: "I think the last one was in 1983" Siegel did not correct her.14 This is ignorance of considerable degree. There was a coup in Venezuela in 2002 that briefly overthrew Hugo Chavez, a coup in Haiti in 2004 that permanently overthrew Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and a coup in Panama in 1989 that permanently overthrew Manuel Noriega. Is it because the US was closely involved in all three coups that they have been thrown down the Orwellian Memory Hole? Notes 1. William Blum, Killing Hope, chapter 9 ? 2. Associated Press, June 16, 2009 ? 3. New York Times, June 21, 2009 ? 4. See Seymour Hersh, New Yorker magazine, June 29, 2008; ABC News, May 22, 2007; and Paul Craig Roberts in CounterPunch, June 19-21, 2009 for descriptions of some of these and other anti-Iran covert activities. ? 5. White House press conference, June 23, 2009 ? 6. The only mention is by Jeff Stein in "CQ Politics" [Congressional Quarterly], online, June 22, 2009, "according to former CIA and military officials". ? 7. Center for International Policy (Washington, DC) report, June 16, 2009 ? 8. Time magazine, June 29, 2009, p.26 ? 9. AlterNet.org, June 14, 2009; Wilayto is the author of "In Defense of Iran: Notes from a U.S. Peace Delegation's Journey through the Islamic Republic" ? 10. Washington Post, February 16, 2004 ? 11. Star Tribune (Minneapolis), March 26, 2009 ? 12. Huffington Post, sometime in June 2005, but it may no longer be there. ? 13. Washington Post, June 30, 2009 ? 14. NPR, All Things Considered, June 29, 2009 ? - William Blum is the author of: * Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War 2 * Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower * West-Bloc Dissident: A Cold War Memoir * Freeing the World to Death: Essays on the American Empire Portions of the books can be read, and signed copies purchased, at www.killinghope.org Previous Anti-Empire Reports can be read at this website. From maryrose333 at att.net Mon Jul 6 16:54:43 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 15:54:43 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Purity of Federal 'Organic' Label Is Questioned Message-ID: <00de01c9fe8c$c2b024d0$48106e70$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Friday, July 03, 2009 8:06 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Purity of Federal 'Organic' Label Is Questioned (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) Purity of Federal 'Organic' Label Is Questioned http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/02/AR2009070203 365.html?hpid=topnews by Kimberly Kindy and Lindsey Layton Published on Friday, July 3, 2009 by The Washington Post Three years ago, U.S. Department of Agriculture employees determined that synthetic additives in organic baby formula violated federal standards and should be banned from a product carrying the federal organic label. Today the same additives, purported to boost brainpower and vision, can be found in 90 percent of organic baby formula. [Three years ago, U.S. Department of Agriculture employees determined that synthetic additives in organic baby formula violated federal standards and should be banned from a product carrying the federal organic label. Today the same additives, purported to boost brainpower and vision, can be found in 90 percent of organic baby formula.]Three years ago, U.S. Department of Agriculture employees determined that synthetic additives in organic baby formula violated federal standards and should be banned from a product carrying the federal organic label. Today the same additives, purported to boost brainpower and vision, can be found in 90 percent of organic baby formula. The government's turnaround, from prohibition to permission, came after a USDA program manager was lobbied by the formula makers and overruled her staff. That decision and others by a handful of USDA employees, along with an advisory board's approval of a growing list of non-organic ingredients, have helped numerous companies win a coveted green-and-white "USDA Organic" seal on an array of products. Grated organic cheese, for example, contains wood starch to prevent clumping. Organic beer can be made from non-organic hops. Organic mock duck contains a synthetic ingredient that gives it an authentic, stringy texture. Relaxation of the federal standards, and an explosion of consumer demand, have helped push the organics market into a $23 billion-a-year business, the fastest growing segment of the food industry. Half of the country's adults say they buy organic food often or sometimes, according to a survey last year by the Harvard School of Public Health. But the USDA program's shortcomings mean that consumers, who at times must pay twice as much for organic products, are not always getting what they expect: foods without pesticides and other chemicals, produced in a way that is gentle to the environment. The market's expansion is fueling tension over whether the federal program should be governed by a strict interpretation of "organic" or broadened to include more products by allowing trace elements of non-organic substances. The argument is not over whether the non-organics pose a health threat, but whether they weaken the integrity of the federal organic label. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has pledged to protect the label, even as he acknowledged the pressure to lower standards to let more products in. In response to complaints, the USDA inspector general's office has widened an investigation of whether products carrying the label meet national standards. The probe is also looking into the department's oversight of private certifiers who are hired by farmers and food producers and inspect products to determine whether they can use the label. Some consumer groups and members of Congress say they worry that the program's lax standards are undermining the federal program and the law itself. "It will unravel everything we've done if the standards can no longer be trusted," said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), who sponsored the federal organics legislation. "If we don't protect the brand, the organic label, the program is finished. It could disappear overnight." Organic advocates and food marketing experts said the introduction this month of new "natural" products by an organics division of Dean Foods is the latest sign that the value of the USDA label has eroded. The yogurt and milk products will be distributed under the Horizon label and marketed as a lower-priced alternative to organic products. Congress adopted the organics law after farmers and consumers demanded uniform standards for produce, dairy and meat. The law banned synthetics, pesticides and genetic engineering from foods that would bear a federal organic label. It also required annual testing for pesticides. And it was aimed at preventing producers from falsely claiming their foods were organic. The USDA created the National Organic Program in 2002 to implement the law. By then, major food companies had bought up most small, independent organic companies. Kraft Foods, for example, owns Boca Foods. Kellogg owns Morningstar Farms, and Coca-Cola owns 40 percent of Honest Tea, maker of the organic beverage favored by President Obama. That corporate firepower has added to pressure on the government to expand the definition of what is organic, in part because processed foods offered by big industry often require ingredients, additives or processing agents that either do not exist in organic form or are not available in large enough quantities for mass production. Under the original organics law, 5 percent of a USDA-certified organic product can consist of non-organic substances, provided they are approved by the National Organic Standards Board. That list has grown from 77 to 245 substances since it was created in 2002. Companies must appeal to the board every five years to keep a substance on the list, explaining why an organic alternative has not been found. The goal was to shrink the list over time, but only one item has been removed so far. The original law's mandate for annual pesticide testing was also never implemented -- the agency left that optional. >From the beginning, farmers and consumer advocates were concerned about safeguarding the organic label. In 2003, Arthur Harvey, who grows organic blueberries in Maine, successfully sued the USDA, arguing that the fledgling National Organic Program had violated federal law by allowing synthetic additives. "The big boys like Kraft realized they could really cash in by filling the shelves with products with the organics seal," Harvey said. "But they were sort of inhibited by the original law that said no synthetic ingredients." His victory was short-lived. The Organic Trade Association, which represents corporations such as Kraft, Dole and Dean Foods, lobbied for and received language in a 2006 appropriations bill allowing certain synthetic food substances in the preparation, processing and packaging of organic foods, creating conditions for a flood of processed organic foods. Tom Harding, a Pennsylvania-based consultant for small local farmers and big producers, including Kraft, said that broadening the law has helped meet demand by multiplying the number of organic products and greatly expanded the amount of agricultural land that is being managed organically. "We don't want to eliminate anyone who wants to be a part of the organic community," Harding said. "The growth we've seen has helped the entire organic food chain." Organics for Babies Today, labels on organic infant formula boast that they include DHA and ARA, synthetic fatty acids that some studies suggest can help neural development. But according to agency records, when the issue came before the USDA in 2006, agency staff members concluded that the fatty acids could not be added to organic baby formula because they are synthetics that are not on the standards board's approved list. The fatty acids in formula are often produced using a potential neurotoxin known as hexane, prompting many organics advocates to conclude that the board would not approve their use if it took up the matter. In a rare move, Barbara Robinson, who administers the organics program and is a deputy USDA administrator, overruled the staff decision after a telephone call and an e-mail exchange with William J. Friedman, a lawyer who represents the formula makers. "I called [Robinson] up," Friedman said. "I wrote an e-mail. It was a simple matter." The back-and-forth, he said, was nothing more than part of the routine process that sets policy in Washington. In an interview, Robinson said she agreed with Friedman's argument that fatty acids were not permitted because of an oversight. Vitamins and minerals are allowed, but "accessory nutrients" -- the category that describes fatty acids -- are not specifically named. As for hexane, Robinson said the law bans its use in processing organic food, but she does not believe the ban extends to the processing of synthetic additives. "We don't attempt to say how synthetic products can be produced," she said. Manufacturers say the fatty acids are safe and provide health benefits to infants. "We test every lot that comes out for hexane, and there is no residue," said David Abramson, president of Maryland-based Martek Biosciences, which produces the fatty acids used by formula companies. Several groups have filed complaints with the USDA saying they think that the inclusion of the fatty acids in organic products violates federal rules and laws. And they say that Robinson did not have the authority to make the decision on her own. "This is illegal rulemaking -- a complete violation of the process that is supposed to protect the public," said Gary Cox, a lawyer with the Cornucopia Institute, an organics advocacy group. Cox and others make the same argument about other decisions by Robinson and several members of her staff. In 2004, Robinson issued a directive allowing farmers and certifiers to use pesticides on organic crops if "after a reasonable effort" they could not determine whether the pesticide contained chemicals prohibited by the organics law. The same year, Robinson determined that farmers could feed organic livestock non-organic fish meal, which can contain mercury and PCBs. The law requires that animals that produce organic meat be raised entirely on organic feed. After sharp protests from Leahy, Consumers Union and other groups, Ann Veneman, then agriculture secretary, rescinded these and two other directives issued by Robinson. The orders were signed by a staff member, but Robinson took responsibility, saying she had made the decisions unwisely without consulting organics experts, certifiers or the standards board. "I failed, and take this as a learning experience and do not want it to happen again," she told board members in 2004. Earlier this year, however, Robinson issued a series of directives without consulting experts, certifiers or the board. She said that because the issues were urgent, including one on food safety, she had to act quickly. In an interview, Robinson said she believes the federal program's main purpose is to "grow the industry," and she dismissed controversies over synthetics in organic foods as "mostly ridiculous." Joe Smillie, a board member, said he thinks that advocates for the most restrictive standards are unrealistic and are inhibiting the growth of organics. "People are really hung up on regulations," said Smillie, who is also vice president of the certifying firm Quality Assurance International, which is involved in certifying 65 percent of organic products found on supermarket shelves. "I say, 'Let's find a way to bend that one, because it's not important.' . . . What are we selling? Are we selling health food? No. Consumers, they expect organic food to be growing in a greenhouse on Pluto. Hello? We live in a polluted world. It isn't pure. We are doing the best we can." Waiting for Standards Under Robinson, the National Organic Program has repeatedly opted not to issue standards spelling out how organic food must be grown, treated or produced. In 65 instances since 2002, the standards board has made recommendations that have not been acted upon, creating a haphazard system in which the private certifiers have set their own standards for what products can carry the federal label. The agency has not acted, for example, on a 2002 board recommendation that would answer a critical question for organic dairy farmers: how to interpret the law requiring that their cows have "access to pasture," rather than be crowded onto feedlots. The result has been that some dairy farms have been selling milk as organic from cows that spend little if any time grazing in open spaces. "This is really a case of 'justice delayed is justice denied,' " said Alexis Baden-Mayer, national political director for the Organic Consumers Association. "The truly organic dairy farmers, who have their cows out in the pasture all year round, are at a huge competitive disadvantage compared to the big confinement dairies." Robinson has blamed the delays on the program's small staff, saying that "we have to prioritize." Without specific standards, the wide discretion given to certifiers has invited producers and farmers to shop around for the certifiers most likely to approve their product, consumer groups say. Sam Welsch, president of the Nebraska-based OneCert, said his company this year has lost as many as a dozen fruit and vegetable farmers seeking other certifiers that allow the use of certain liquid fertilizers, which most organics experts believe are prohibited by organics laws because they are unnaturally spiked with high levels of nitrogen. "The rules should be clear enough that there is just one right answer," Welsch said. Consumer groups and organics advocates are hopeful that the Obama administration will bolster the program. In his proposed budget, the president has doubled resources devoted to organics and installed USDA leaders who support change. Vilsack's deputy, organics expert Kathleen A. Merrigan, told consumer groups three weeks ago that she intends to heighten enforcement. Merrigan helped write the original organics law and get the federal program off the ground in 2002. And Vilsack said he wants to protect the organic label. "That term, 'organic,' needs to be pure," he said in an interview. "You can't allow the definition to be eroded to where it means nothing. . . . We have to fight against that kind of pressure." Still, at the standards board's meeting last month, Chairman Jeff Moyer noted the growing tension. "As the organic industry matures, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to find a balance between the integrity of the word 'organic' and the desire for the industry to grow." From maryrose333 at att.net Mon Jul 6 16:54:43 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 15:54:43 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Banks Own the US Government Message-ID: <00df01c9fe8c$c547e6b0$4fd7b410$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Friday, July 03, 2009 8:10 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Banks Own the US Government (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) Banks Own the US Government There are smart ways to raise money and regulate the market, but Wall Street is working to kill any meaningful financial reform http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/jun/30/congress-fina ncial-reform-banks by Dean Baker Published on Wednesday, July 1, 2009 by The Guardian/UK Last month, when the US Congress failed to pass a bankruptcy reform measure that would have allowed home mortgages to be modified in bankruptcy, senator Dick Durbin succinctly commented: "The banks own the place." That seems pretty clear. After all, it was the banks' greed that fed the housing bubble with loony loans that were guaranteed to go bad. Of course the finance guys also made a fortune guaranteeing the loans that were guaranteed to go bad (ie AIG), and when everything went bust, the taxpayers got handed the bill. The cost of the bailout will certainly be in the hundreds of billions, if not more than $1tn when it is all over. More importantly, we are looking at the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression. The cumulative lost output over the years 2008-2012 will almost certainly exceed $5tn. That comes to more than $60,000 for an average family of four. This is the price that we are paying for the bankers' greed, coupled with incredible incompetence and/or corruption from our regulators. Under these circumstances, it would be reasonable to think that the bankers would be keeping a low profile for a while. That's not the way it works in Washington. The banks are aggressively pushing their case in Congress and Obama administration. Not only are we not going to see bankruptcy reform, but any financial reform package that gets through Congress will probably contain enough loopholes that it will be almost useless. In this political environment, the poor might get empathy, but Wall Street gets money, and lots of it. Even when the issue is global warming Wall Street has its hand out. The fees on trading carbon permits could run into the hundreds of billions of dollars in coming decades. A simple carbon tax would have been far more efficient, but efficiency is not the most important value when it comes to making Wall Street richer. This is why it was so encouraging to see congressman Peter DeFazio's proposal to tax trades in oil options and futures. DeFazio proposed a tax of 0.02% on trades in oil futures and options as a way to make up a shortfall in the federal government's highway trust fund. This tax could raise billions of dollars each year in revenue and make speculation in the oil market a more dangerous affair. The logic is very simple. For someone using these markets to hedge, the tax will be inconsequential. For example, a farmer that hedges a $400,000 wheat crop will pay $80 when selling a future. Similarly, airlines that hedge by buying oil futures will barely notice the higher cost. In fact, because trading costs have fallen so much in recent decades, a tax at this level would just be raising costs back to their levels of two decades ago, a point at which there was already a very vibrant futures and options market. However, even a modest tax will make life much more difficult for speculators. Many of them expect to make quick short-term gains, often buying and selling the same day. For these traders, an increase in transactions costs of 0.02% would be a burden. Of course, a modest tax will not drive the speculators out of the market altogether, it is just likely to reduce the volume of speculation. For this reason, even a modest tax can still raise an enormous amount of money in a market where tens of trillions of dollars of derivatives changes hands each year. This tax can best be thought of as a tax on gambling. Gambling is heavily taxed in every state that allows it. DeFazio's bill is effectively a tax on gambling in the oil markets. It will not stop it, but it would discourage it, and in the process raise a huge amount of money that could go to productive purposes. The bill faces an enormous uphill struggle in Congress. As Durbin said, the banks own the place, and they are not going to just step aside and let Congress impose a tax on such a lucrative business. But, it is important that people know about the DeFazio bill. First, DeFazio deserves a place on the honour roll for standing up to Wall Street. Also, it is important for the public to know that there is a relatively low-cost way to make up the shortfall in the highway trust fund. When Congress raises some other tax and/or cuts a useful programme, people should know that there was a better alternative. It just didn't happen because, as we know, the banks own the place. C 2009 Guardian News and Media Limited Dean Baker is the co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). He is the author of The Conservative Nanny State: How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer ( www.conservativenannystate.org) and the more recently published Plunder and Blunder: The Rise and Fall of The Bubble Economy. He also has a blog, "Beat the Press," where he discusses the media's coverage of economic issues. You can find it at the American Prospect's web site. From maryrose333 at att.net Mon Jul 6 16:55:22 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 15:55:22 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] How to Deal with America's Empire of Bases Message-ID: <00e201c9fe8c$dab68100$90238300$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Friday, July 03, 2009 8:18 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] How to Deal with America's Empire of Bases (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) How to Deal with America's Empire of Bases A Modest Proposal for Garrisoned Lands http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/02-13 by Chalmers Johnson Published on Thursday, July 2, 2009 by TomDispatch.com The U.S. Empire of Bases -- at $102 billion a year already the world's costliest military enterprise -- just got a good deal more expensive. As a start, on May 27th, we learned that the State Department will build a new "embassy" in Islamabad, Pakistan, which at $736 million will be the second priciest ever constructed, only $4 million less, if cost overruns don't occur, than the Vatican-City-sized one the Bush administration put up in Baghdad. The State Department was also reportedly planning to buy the five-star Pearl Continental Hotel (complete with pool) in Peshawar, near the border with Afghanistan, to use as a consulate and living quarters for its staff there. Unfortunately for such plans, on June 9th Pakistani militants rammed a truck filled with explosives into the hotel, killing 18 occupants, wounding at least 55, and collapsing one entire wing of the structure. There has been no news since about whether the State Department is still going ahead with the purchase. Whatever the costs turn out to be, they will not be included in our already bloated military budget, even though none of these structures is designed to be a true embassy -- a place, that is, where local people come for visas and American officials represent the commercial and diplomatic interests of their country. Instead these so-called embassies will actually be walled compounds, akin to medieval fortresses, where American spies, soldiers, intelligence officials, and diplomats try to keep an eye on hostile populations in a region at war. One can predict with certainty that they will house a large contingent of Marines and include roof-top helicopter pads for quick get-aways. While it may be comforting for State Department employees working in dangerous places to know that they have some physical protection, it must also be obvious to them, as well as the people in the countries where they serve, that they will now be visibly part of an in-your-face American imperial presence. We shouldn't be surprised when militants attacking the U.S. find one of our base-like embassies, however heavily guarded, an easier target than a large military base. And what is being done about those military bases anyway -- now close to 800 of them dotted across the globe in other people's countries? Even as Congress and the Obama administration wrangle over the cost of bank bailouts, a new health plan, pollution controls, and other much needed domestic expenditures, no one suggests that closing some of these unpopular, expensive imperial enclaves might be a good way to save some money. Instead, they are evidently about to become even more expensive. On June 23rd, we learned that Kyrgyzstan, the former Central Asian Soviet Republic which, back in February 2009, announced that it was going to kick the U.S. military out of Manas Air Base (used since 2001 as a staging area for the Afghan War), has been persuaded to let us stay. But here's the catch: In return for doing us that favor, the annual rent Washington pays for use of the base will more than triple from $17.4 million to $60 million, with millions more to go into promised improvements in airport facilities and other financial sweeteners. All this because the Obama administration, having committed itself to a widening war in the region, is convinced it needs this base to store and trans-ship supplies to Afghanistan. I suspect this development will not go unnoticed in other countries where Americans are also unpopular occupiers. For example, the Ecuadorians have told us to leave Manta Air Base by this November. Of course, they have their pride to consider, not to speak of the fact that they don't like American soldiers mucking about in Colombia and Peru. Nonetheless, they could probably use a spot more money. And what about the Japanese who, for more than 57 years, have been paying big bucks to host American bases on their soil? Recently, they reached a deal with Washington to move some American Marines from bases on Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam. In the process, however, they were forced to shell out not only for the cost of the Marines' removal, but also to build new facilities on Guam for their arrival. Is it possible that they will now take a cue from the government of Kyrgyzstan and just tell the Americans to get out and pay for it themselves? Or might they at least stop funding the same American military personnel who regularly rape Japanese women (at the rate of about two per month) and make life miserable for whoever lives near the 38 U.S. bases on Okinawa. This is certainly what the Okinawans have been hoping and praying for ever since we arrived in 1945. In fact, I have a suggestion for other countries that are getting a bit weary of the American military presence on their soil: cash in now, before it's too late. Either up the ante or tell the Americans to go home. I encourage this behavior because I'm convinced that the U.S. Empire of Bases will soon enough bankrupt our country, and so -- on the analogy of a financial bubble or a pyramid scheme -- if you're an investor, it's better to get your money out while you still can. This is, of course, something that has occurred to the Chinese and other financiers of the American national debt. Only they're cashing in quietly and slowly in order not to tank the dollar while they're still holding onto such a bundle of them. Make no mistake, though: whether we're being bled rapidly or slowly, we are bleeding; and hanging onto our military empire and all the bases that go with it will ultimately spell the end of the United States as we know it. Count on this, future generations of Americans traveling abroad decades from now won't find the landscape dotted with near-billion-dollar "embassies." C 2009 TomDispatch.com Chalmers Johnson is the author of three linked books on the crises of American imperialism and militarism. They are Blowback (2000), The Sorrows of Empire (2004), and Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic (Metropolitan Books, 2006). All are available in paperback from Metropolitan Books. A retired professor of international relations from the University of California (Berkeley and San Diego campuses) and the author of some seventeen books primarily on the politics and economics of East Asia, Johnson is president of the Japan Policy Research Institute. To listen to a TomDispatch audio interview with Johnson on the Pentagon's potential economic death spiral, click here. From maryrose333 at att.net Mon Jul 6 17:36:54 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 16:36:54 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: Alex Jones Jumps Onboard Camp FEMA Project Message-ID: <016901c9fe92$a858ec10$f90ac430$@net> Since the Constitution was written by wealthy white men, mainly from England, who were all slave owners and as well, many of them Freemasons, perhaps we should be considering what this form of government really has done for us. Since it disenfranchised women, people of color and non-land owners, while at the same time providing the basis for the corporation, what has it done for humanity at large? Perhaps more people should be considering the dissent among many of the signers of not only the Constitution, but the Declaration of Independence. And, since almost all of the presidents of the USofA, going all the way back to George Washington have been related, perhaps we should be asking from where this bloodline originated. Was it extraterrestrial in its origins some 432,000 years ago? Is this the bloodline of the Annunaki men who mated with the daughters of Eve? With Eve being cloned from the DNA taken from the bone marrow in The Adam's rib? What insights does the Bible provide on this? Where does Mithraism and the worship of the Great Mother fit into all of this. From: Nance ~ [mailto:planetnews8 at gmail.com] Sent: Friday, July 03, 2009 10:54 PM Subject: Alex Jones Jumps Onboard Camp FEMA Project FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Alex Jones Jumps Onboard Camp FEMA Project Alex Jones admitted that he rarely granted on-camera interviews because he is so often the target of smear campaigns attempting to discredit his work and destroy the freedom movement in the United States, but when director William Lewis asked Alex to be the lead expert in a new political thriller about death camps in America, the award winning filmmaker said, "Yes." ST. LOUIS, MO (BSMG) JUNE 25, 2009 - The Patriot community's number one shock-jock Alex Jones has officially jumped onboard the new feature film "Camp FEMA," currently in production from producers William Lewis and Gary Franchi. Over the course of a two-day interview, Jones shared his passionate opinions on the New World Order takeover of America and the implementation of death camps in U.S. cities while also speaking to the topic of legislation enacted to keep Americans safe in a time of national emergency. "It's all a lie," according to Jones, with documents in hand to prove it. Producer Franchi and veteran anti-NWO filmmaker Lewis agree citing legislation highlighted in the film that will shock audiences when they learn that "continuity of government" plans do NOT include the continuity of the United States Constitution nor any of the rights enumerated and defended by our forefathers. Behind the scenes, InfoWars producer Rob Dew helped coordinate Operation "Counterweight" as Jones and crew rolled out the red carpet for producers Lewis and Franchi - sharing previously unseen FEMA video footage and official documents that are essential in understanding the scope and complexity of the New World that is being created before our very eyes. "People will beg to get into the camps" vaunted Jones who predicted that an economic collapse would be used to herd Americans into FEMA installations already being setup across the country in renovated military bases and abandoned 1940's Japanese Internment Camps. The radio commentator's trademark rapid-fire delivery style shifted to a more somber tone when asked what Americans can do to overturn these draconian laws and restore the rule of law to a land that has been robbed of its founding documents. Can we win the information war against our own elected officials? Has our entire Federal government been hijacked by Constitutional terrorists - men and women who are set on enslaving the very population that they have sworn an oath to protect? You may not like the answers to these and other even more ominous questions that lead the audience down a dark road filled with menacing horrors and atrocities to come. Glen Beck - duck and cover! Alex Jones charges back at the national media figure with a barrage of news articles and government legislation that prove Beck deliberately disregarded important evidence in the case against FEMA's motives. "Glen Beck is playing a very dangerous game with the American people," according to Jones. "He poses as a patriot, tries to gain your confidence, then calls you a Muslim terrorist and a kook." Don't believe me. Don't believe Alex Jones. Go to the legislation like HR-645 that sets up FEMA camps in America and see for yourself how dangerous a precedence is being set." Producers Lewis and Franchi were guests on The Alex Jones Show and The InfoWarrior with Jason Bermas where audiences learned about director Lewis' latest production, "Life on The Edge of A Bubble - Blowing the American dream," which had recently won Best Feature Documentary at IndyFest 2009 and slated later that evening for a rather large screening at Brave New Books in Austin, Texas thanks to owner Harlan Dietrich. "Life on The Edge of A Bubble takes a look at over 200 years of financial turmoil," stated Lewis. "We found a pattern in the madness that needed to be exposed in order for the cycle to be broken." InfoWarrior listeners were also encouraged to send in any footage that could potentially be used in the new "Camp FEMA" production. Billy Hutchison has already volunteered his Highland Mall FEMA footage; making Americans aware that FEMA is setting up shop in retail outlets across the nation and is apparently more than a little apprehensive about revealing the true nature for the use of these FEMA facilities. If anyone reading this message has footage of ANYTHING FEMA RELATED, you are invited to share it with the world. Links to instructions and contact information appear at the end of this press release. Lewis and Franchi extended a very special thanks to Alex Jones and the entire Info Wars staff for their cordial, Texas-sized reception and willingness to share their expertise and research, which has taken well over a decade to amass and dissect. This invaluable information will undoubtedly raise the bar of distinction for researchers studying this overwhelming topic and lend credibility to a subject that some in government and the national media wish would simply go away. "Camp FEMA" promises to be a powerhouse of information and will include interviews with Katherine Albrecht, "Spy Chips"; John Stadtmiller, "National Intel Report"; Ted Gunderson, Retired FBI Senior Special-Agent-In-Charge; Michael Badnarik, 2004 Libertarian Presidential Candidate and so many other familiar names in the freedom movement. To learn more about other films from director William Lewis, to submit your FEMA footage, or to view a short trailer for "Camp FEMA," please visit his official website: www.TakeBackWashington.com CAMP FEMA - Coming Fall 2009 Official Website: www.CampFEMA.com PLEASE FORWARD ### RestoreTheRepublic.com, 3149 Dundee Rd #176, Northbrook, Illinois 60062, USA To unsubscribe or change subscriber options visit: http://www.aweber.com/z/r/?LIxsHOyctMxsjAwcLKyctEa0rAwMbCyc7A== -- -- NUTRAZON... Instantly Balance Right & Left Hemispheres of Brain, Bringing Body into Immediate Homeostasis for Maximum Self-Healing Potential!: http://www.TeamOneWellness.com; then: http://www.2ProsperWell.com ------------ You Too Could Have An Instant List Of 10,000 Targeted Prospects... www.StreamlineFunnelSystem.com/?ID=11362 Nancy or Earle 949-200-7335 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Mon Jul 6 22:29:22 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 21:29:22 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Spies in the Farmers Market Message-ID: <001701c9febb$83c16980$8b443c80$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 7:16 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Spies in the Farmers Market (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) Spies in the Farmers Market By Kimberly Hartke | Published: July 3, 2009 Guest Contributor: Robert Burns, Farmer & Aikido Instructor http://hartkeisonline.com/2009/07/03/spies-in-the-farmers-market/ Guest Contributor: Robert Burns, Farmer & Aikido Instructor Robert Burns was a reluctant farmer, he grew up on a Connecticut dairy farm and fled the farm life as a young man by going into the Marine Corps. Influenced by a radical organic farmer he worked for in California, Robert has returned to his family farm and now heads the progressive farmers in his local Farm Bureau. Burns is an Aikido master and 5th degree black belt, and his farm has a dojo where he does martial arts training. Today is the second in a series of posts from this farmer, turned farm food activist. Connecticut Department of Health Descends on Prosperous Market with Ill Intent by Guest Contributor, Robert Burns, Aiki Farms The drums were sounding, and in the year 2007, after seven glorious years of happy profitable farmers markets, a retired Army General who has the title of Commissioner of the Department of Health in Connecticut (DPH) sent some of his soldiers into the fray of Connecticut Farmers Markets. Local farmers markets had been operating for over 200 years in the State of Connecticut. During this time there was never a report of one single case of food disorder with the exception of two false alarms AFTER the appearance of the State health officials. Farmers markets are unique. While there is a lot of rhetoric about "privatizing," the bureaucrats eventually wanted more control. The farmers market, is by nature a private enterprise, led by a market master, with a bevy of farmers with their displays, all holding itself together with little or no need for outside forces to control this rich self-sustained dynamic. Initially, the Connecticut Department of Agriculture assigned one person, Richard Macsugas, to oversee this well organized privatized nutritional industry, and document as well as promote the Farmers Market. Richard had an uplifting positive spirit and even was a pioneer in bring the government's WIC program into the market, to enable the poor access to farm fresh foods. This soon influenced farm markets nationwide, enabling those less fortunate to buy real food instead of junk food with their government aid. Because the farmers markets were growing, both in attendance, and in numbers, the General and the DPH decided to "involve themselves" after 200 years of healthy functioning tradition. They sent out staff members who were allegedly, "just on vacation and happened to visit farmers markets". The pattern was to cite alleged violations (I use the term alleged as NONE of their findings had, nor has ever caused illness, nor did VIOLATE EXPLICIT CODE). We do not know how many "vacationers" were sent out from the DPH, but we do know of four similar cases, wherein the State inspectors notified the local inspectors about the violations. Most local inspectors observed, talked to farmers about health and safety, and left the farmers market to it's own. Ironically, there were only two actual cases of disruption and one was at my market, and without this disruption, neither my involvement in this farm food movement, nor this article on this blog would have transpired. The local inspector in Stonington, after bring briefed by the "vacationing" State health official, took her briefing so literally she shut the market down for the following alleged "violations": 1) The market master brought coffee from a local restaurant in thermos bottles, and served hot coffee to raise money for the market; 2) I was cited for serving wheat-grass juice at my stall (although I was cleared by Consumer Protection) 3) Local youths and their lemonade stand, who were actually paying their college tuition with their highly successful and brilliant idea to serve lemonade, a stand which had been operating for over three years. 4) Each and every farmer who offered samples of product. Thus, in one fell swoop our prosperous farm market was closed by orders of an official appointed by the Governor. Over 2,000 ANGRY consumers signed a petition that was immediately circulated statewide. As a direct result, the market was reopened. The petition read: WE THE UNDERSIGNED DEPLORE THE PRESENCE OF STATE AND LOCAL HEALTH OFFICIALS WHO WILLFULLY AND WITH INTENT INTERFERE WITH THE FLOW OF AGRICULTURAL COMMERCE....... Armed with this community support, we began our battle against the forces who are trying desperately to win both money, via grants,and approval of huge corporate chemical-agribusiness outfits like Monsanto, DUPONT, NORVARTIS, Cargill, and so on, and whose lobbyists, and their state and federal allies, clamor for approval by attacking small farms, farmers, and farmers markets. However, with respects to Barbara Walters, Mr. Polan, Mrs. Obama, and the citizen ranks now swelling with the support of small farmers,the need for good fresh healthy produce, we need to REALLY sharpen our teeth and with the fierceness, and love of self, and our children need to fight harder than ever to thwart this greedy set of "CARING HEALTH OFFICIALS," who explicitly, instead of doing their job, feel it is "easier" to destroy a small farm than to take on the real bad guys. Is the peanut CEO who, with knowledge, gave the OK to process tainted peanuts being prosecuted quickly? Of course not, let's wipe out a few more small farmers, like the Stower family's Manna Storehouse Food Cooperative, in Lorain County, Ohio. Let's attack them with the police, hold them at gun point, while huge food producers go unscathed. After all, they are nothing but small farmers. To this I say, we farmers are the most sacred of the human race. We are loved by the best, and hated by the worst. We stand between heaven and earth, have been given the sacred skills to feed our brothers and sisters. We do our work with love and compassion, and give thanks for the role that God has bestowed upon us. Therefore it is both our duty and our obligation to defend this sacred right, as we defend our own families, our crops, and all that surrounds our farms. Farmers are to reach out, into our churches, our communities, and if need be, launch into the sea of the political realm to carry on this fight. We must gain the allegiance of the entire human race, all those who eat our food, and share in this wonderful gift of life we have together on this earth. We need to realize clearly, that some who are alive because we feed them have a contempt and hatred for us,and who we are. They have neither understanding nor compassion for either the gift of life, nor the role of the farmer. It is these ones we must identify, objectively, and expose to mankind as the enemies of the human race, and if not defeated, will, as they do now, seek to destroy us all by a pure and clear absence of COMMON SENSE. Robert Burns and Ed Begley, Jr. Robert Burns and Ed Begley, Jr. A Special Invitation to Hartke is Online! Readers: Robert cordially invites you to attend a Victory Garden Seminar and Local Chef's Feast at his Connecticut Farm on July 12, 2009. Ed Begley, Jr. will be the celebrity guest for the event. Tickets are $40.00. Please contact Kimberly at kim.hartke at gmail.com for a pdf invite to the event. This post is part of Fight Back Fridays on the Food Renegade blog. From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Tue Jul 7 05:22:02 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Tue, 7 Jul 2009 11:22:02 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] This Way To Creating Economic Success And Eliminating Poverty Throughout The World! Message-ID: <446873.71735.qm@web27405.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> --- On Tue, 7/7/09, robert searle wrote: From: robert searle Subject: Re: This Way To Creating Economic Success And Eliminating Poverty Throughout The World! To: "John DeSantis" Date: Tuesday, 7 July, 2009, 12:20 PM ??? John DeSantis is at it again! He is clearly a well-meaning man but I wish he had a greater grasp of economics before presenting his radical case. This would help him, and others to take him more seriously. ? ??? Anyway, I wish him well ? ? Robert Searle. ? ????????????????? http://www.p2pfoundation.net/Transfinancial_Economics ? ? --- On Tue, 7/7/09, John DeSantis wrote: From: John DeSantis Subject: This Way To Creating Economic Success And Eliminating Poverty Throughout The World! To: "John DeSantis" Date: Tuesday, 7 July, 2009, 12:15 PM This Way To Creating Economic Success And Eliminating Poverty Throughout The World! Greetings, My name is John DeSantis, a 68-year-old senior citizen who wants the people of the world to know about this very important 28-year vision of mine before I die. I live at 1113 Scotts Hill Drive, Baltimore, Maryland, 21208 (U.S.A.). My home phone number is 410-484-1987. Please read this collection of "Bullet Points" taken from the Home page of my web site. Why? Because they will give you a very clear introductory picture of what this is all about, how the worldwide Movement can begin with everyone's help, and to inspire you and everyone else to read the actual details of my vision (you can access the link to the site at the end of these "Bullet Points"): TO HUMANITY WITH LOVE... Because Of The Current Desperate Economic Crisis In The World, Do You Long For A Very Do-Able Vision And Plan That Can Create An Absolutely Successful Economic World? If So, For All Of Us In Every Nation To Finally Have The Chance To Come Together And Change Our World For The Better, Once And For All, Read About This Most Important Worldwide Public Discussion That Needs To Get Going Based On My 28-Year Vision That I Present On This Web Site. It's All About How To Very Lovingly, Morally, Ethically, Skillfully, And Easily Change The Money System Throughout The Whole World So That It Finally Works Absolutely Well For All Of Humanity, All Of The Time. With That Said, I Humbly Say This: "Open-Minded Consideration Is The Key To Implementing New Ideas." My Dear Fellow Citizens Of The World Come One, Come All-- This Way To Creating Economic Success And Eliminating Poverty Throughout The World! Help Us Build This Very Important Worldwide Movement--A Movement That Can End Poverty And Unemployment Worldwide, Make Every Single Nation And Territory In The World Prosperous, Protect And Clean Up The Environment, Solve The Energy Crisis, Provide Health Care And Education To Everyone In Every Nation, End Taxation For Every Person And Every Large And Small Business In Every Nation, And So Much More. The Wise Working Together Of "Public & Private Enterprise" Is One Of The Ways To The Wonderful Age-Old Dream Of A Truly United Worldwide Humanity. It's A Very Practical, Ethical, And Spiritual Economic Plan For All Of Humanity To Come Together On And Embrace. Since One Of The Major Root Causes Leading To Wars, Crime, And Terrorism Is Poverty, The Wise Marriage Of "Public & Private Enterprise" Is An Economic Way To A Truly Prosperous Worldwide Humanity. It's The Surest And Quickest Way To Organize And Fund A Non-Stop, Successful Economy In Every Single Nation And Throughout The Whole World. Please Get Involved! If For No Other Reason, Do It For All Of The Children Who Are Now Alive, And For All Of The Wonderful Children Who Keep Coming Into The World. I Have A Very Firm Conviction That All Of The Great Prophets And Sages In All Of Humanity's History, Such As (In Alphabetical Order) Buddha, Confucius, Gandhi, Jesus, Krishna, Lao-Tzu, Martin Luther King, Mohammad, Moses, And So Many Others, Would Want The Whole World To Begin To Engage In This Important Discussion In The Very Bright Blaze Of The Worldwide Media Spotlight. Why Do I Think That They Would Want This? Because "We The People", Worldwide, Are Much More Important Than Money! The Bottom Line Is That Money Either Makes The World Go Around Smoothly--Or Not! So Far Our Existing Monetary System, For Centuries, Has Created Nothing But Suffering For Humanity And Our Planet. Together, We Need To Discuss How To Create Economic Success For All Of Humanity By Changing How, When And For What Reasons Money Comes Into Existence. Following Are Some Of The Many Different Types Of Actions That The People And Organizations In Every Nation And Territory Can Think About And Begin To Do: Blogs And Bloggers In Every Nation And Territory Can Help In A Gigantic Way By Getting Millions Of People Talking About This Very Important Subject. Students And Student Movements All Over The World Can Help By Demanding That The Leaders Of Their Nations Get This Important Discussion Going. Labor Unions All Over The World Can Play A Big Part By Demanding That The Leaders Of Every Nation Get This Very Important Discussion Going. Pass the word to Notable People In Every Field Of Human Activity So They Can Help Bring This Discussion Into The Worldwide Public Spotlight. Even If You, For Some Reason, Only Love Your Particular Nation, Or Your Particular Ethnic Group, Or Your Particular Race, Or Your Particular Religion, You Should Help Pass The Word About This Since It Will Also Help Your Particular Portion Of Humanity. Pass The Word To All Of The Media And Politicians In Your Nation And Local Community So That They Can Help Get This Discussion Into The Worldwide Public Spotlight. Do Your Best To Pass The Word Around Your City, State And Nation About This Very Important Worldwide Discussion That All Of Humanity Should Help Get Started. For The Sake Of All The People In Every Nation, For The Sake Of Your Family, Friends And Associates, Please Do Whatever You Can, No Matter How Small Or Large It Is, Since Whatever You Can Do Is Needed In Order To Help This To Truly Become An Ongoing Worldwide Public Discussion. People In All Nations Should Peacefully March In The Streets And Ask Their Leaders To Make The "Starting Ideas" That I Present In This Very Important 28-Year Vision Of Mine A Worldwide Public Discussion. Even Though I'm Sure That The Great Mass Of We The People Of The World Working Together Can Get This Important Movement Started, In Order For It To Come Into Existence Much More Quickly And Easily I hope, And Beg, For This To take Place: That Either A Foundation Which Funds Projects To Help Humanity, A Commercial Corporation, Or Just Some Rich Person Or People In The World, Will Both Select And Pay A Person Or Organization Here In My Baltimore/Washington D.C. Region That Will Know How To Skillfully Organize Things And Get This Worldwide Movement And Discussion Going For Humanity. Please Know That I Don't Personally Want The Money; Just Pay That Person Or Organization Directly. Finally, I Hope That I Have Inspired You To Start Reading The Rest Of My Web Site In This Link, As Well As Watch My Videos: MY VISION ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT http://www.publicandprivateenterprise.org/myvision.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rodney.shakespeare1 at btopenworld.com Mon Jul 6 03:42:09 2009 From: rodney.shakespeare1 at btopenworld.com (Rodney Shakespeare) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 10:42:09 +0100 Subject: [GJM] Fw: [socialcredit] Re: Rodney Shakespeare: question. Thirty per cent rejected. Message-ID: <002401c9fe1e$08643a30$0301a8c0@your447023ae6b> Dear All, 1. Ryan (see below) says that thirty per cent of the totality of messages are rejected. Well, that remarkable thirty per cent explains a good bit of Ryan's reputation for manipulation and censorship. 2. As for the aliases, I object --and so do others. It is only honourable if the reason for an alias, for example, is that the writer is a woman in a male-dominated world and so could not expect a fair hearing; or that the given birth-name is unfortunate in some way. If a person does not like his name, then one alias is reasonable -- but a host of aliases uneasily reminds people of internet spam, fraud and conmen. Ryan refers to the aliases being former students of his. If that is the case, then he has successfully superimposed his ideas, personality and vocabulary on them because it was ideas, aggressive style and particular insulting vocabulary (e.g. "ignoramus") which have revealed the aliases on the internet. 3. I clearly wrote "Before I consider replying, may I have your assurance that you will post any reply from me?" I will reply to the question when Ryan has fully posted my email 26th June and my two emails 5th July to the full Soc. Cred. list. However, anticipating Ryan doing the postings, I first advise him to refresh his acquaintance with www.binaryeconomics.net (all of it, including Causes of the Global Crisis and ALL (not just some) of the fifty three false assumptions of mainstream economics) and, while he does so, I make some comment preliminary to answering his question:-- a) Ryan has most definitely not grasped the point made in John Rawson's email of 6th July. b) Ryan almost certainly grasps nothing about the substantial (and well-known and admired) writings of Ellen Brown and Richard Cook. c) Ryan thinks it entirely reasonable that, having created something out of nothing, the banks may then go on receiving compounding interest for centuries with the principal being repaid many times over -- and over -- and over..... d) Ryan thinks it reasonable to rip off poor countries e.g. the Philippines which will never have repaid its debts -- yet it has already repaid the principal many times over. e) Ryan does not understand that he and his friends, by upholding false ideas and practices, are directly responsible for the present global economic crisis -- which is deepening. Their narrow-mindedness prevents them from understanding what is happening. f) Ryan should Google Humber Bridge (UK) and its financing --v irtually all the administration is done by the borrower, the principal has been paid many times over (and, even then, the UK government has to keep cancelling part of the repayment.) And -- well I never! -- fees from bridge customers easily pay for staff, maintenance etc. g) He should ask himself what is the position when there is little, even no, administration cost (with the administration being done by the borrower) and where the borrower is, by rule of the Bank of International Settlements deemed to be a guaranteed repayer or when there is adequate collateral ; AND where the original money was created by the banks out of nothing. If Ryan satisfactorily considers and grasps the matters a) to g) above plus John Rawson's email, I doubt if I will need to add much. Rodney Shakespeare ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 12:38 AM Subject: [socialcredit] Re: Rodney Shakespeare: question Rodney, the message was rejected and stays rejected, even as an attachment. Probably about thirty percent of the totality of messages posted are rejected. The reason for the rejection of the specific message is that it contains a slander against me. If you take that portion out of the message, I'll approve it for posting. You might remember that I have allowed many of your messages to be distributed over the years, and anticipate that I will continue to do so. The reason is not because I agreed with them but thought they were good sounding posts to stimulate discussion among the list members. The people you allege are aliases are separate and real people, who live in different places across the U.S. They are friends and former students of mine. The exception is Myro, who moved back to Greece, where he is engaged in the accounting profession. But even if they were pseudonyms for me, what's wrong with that? There is a long and honorable tradition in using pseudonyms. This is not censorship, but moderation. This is a moderated list. It's not censorship because you have the freedom to post messages directly to whomever you like, which you've done. You must simply learn to use words in their standard definitions as found in dictionaries. "Censorship" is one word you use in a non-standard way. Another is "interest." There are many others. Now I really wish you would address the question from my last email to you. You seem to be always trying to divert attention from the point at issue. It's a fallacious logical technique, Rodney. Bill Ryan -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rodney.shakespeare1 at btopenworld.com Tue Jul 7 04:30:23 2009 From: rodney.shakespeare1 at btopenworld.com (Rodney Shakespeare) Date: Tue, 7 Jul 2009 11:30:23 +0100 Subject: [GJM] Fw: [SPAM] [socialcredit] Replying to Shakespeare Message-ID: <010201c9feed$f229f4f0$0301a8c0@your447023ae6b> Ryan, I am fed up with your sly tricks, your continual insults (to be fair, to everybody), and the fact that you cannot read -- I said I will not (formally) reply unless you fully post to the Soc Cred list my email 26th June and my two emails 5th July . You have not done this to my knowledge. What is worse -- if such be possible -- is the unctuous, self-righteous way you talk about Moderation and its responsibilities when, for years, you have been the worst offender of all. What makes it egregious is, from the evidence of SocCred posts over a long period, you appear to be in a minority of at most one or two and have succeeded in getting up the noses of everybody else. In terms of negative achievement that takes some beating Get lost -- and kindly make an effort to keep out of my way. Rodney Shakespeare. ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2009 2:22 AM Subject: [SPAM] [socialcredit] Replying to Shakespeare Rodney, this last message of yours is rejected for distribution because it continues in its insulting tone and slanders against me. I shall however address some of your specific points further below. I won't address all of them because of time constraints. I take note that you continue to avoid answering my question from yesterday, which was, together with its preface:- "There are four components of the interest that is returned to the lender: 1. The default premium paid by those who are amortizing their loans to cover the defaulted portion of loans that are defaulted on by their borrowers--this is ordinarily the largest portion of interest that is collected. It also explains why secured loans cost less than unsecured loans; 2. The amount that is collected to cover the ordinary expenses of lending, including the salaries and wages paid to the financial sector's workers. The is ordinarily the second largest portion of interest that is collected; 3. The net profit of banking. This is ordinarily the smallest portion of interest that is collected. There is undoubtedly a charge made for the declining value of money due to projected inflation. This will vary by region and locality, with the lowest being in nations like the United States, and the highest being in nations like Zimbabwe, which presently is experiencing the highest rate of inflation that the world has ever seen. "Will you please inform this list exactly what portion of interest that is collected that you regard as 'unnecessary'? And please explain why you think this is the case." - [Shakespeare] 1. Ryan says that thirty per cent of the totality of messages are rejected. Well, that remarkable thirty per cent explains a good bit of Ryan's reputation for manipulation and censorship. --------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- It's called moderation, Rodney, and it's a lot of work. There are many computer generated spam messages that are rejected. There are messages that have no relevance to the subject matter of the list, which is Social Credit. Etc. and etc. I must say that it is a stretch to regard any of your messages as being relevant, although over the years I have allowed many of them to be posted. - [Shakespeare] 3. I clearly wrote "Before I consider replying, may I have your assurance that you will post any reply from me?" I will reply to the question when Ryan has fully posted my email 26th June and my two emails 5th July to the full Soc. Cred. list. --------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- It seems to me that you are incapable of replying, that you are incapable of standing before an informed audience to defend your position, where it may be challenged. In my experience that is stereotypically the case with monetary cranks. They do not appear to be people within the normal psychological range. Their behavior is abnormal. To the extent you do respond to criticism it is in paranoiac reflex. Your inability to respond except through insults and slander is ample demonstration of the case in point. It is experimental evidence of your unique personal character. Nonetheless, the invitation does remain open. I will post your reply to my question repeated above, if it is presented without the slurs and slander that have caused some of your messages to be rejected. - [Shakespeare] However, anticipating Ryan doing the postings, I first advise him to refresh his acquaintance with www.binaryeconomics.net (all of it, including Causes of the Global Crisis and ALL (not just some) of the fifty three false assumptions of mainstream economics)... --------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- I've read all of it, Rodney, one of the very few people who may have done so. What struck me was how little correspondence your "false assumptions of mainstream economics" has to what economists have actually written and believed. It appears that you've never actually read an economics book; yet parade about as a "qualified barrister" and "professor." For example, I challenge you to cite even one economist who ever said this: "2. Labour creates most, if not all, of the wealth." For three centuries economists have said that there were THREE factors of production: Land, Labor and Capital. All three are involved in the creation of wealth. A controversy did arise over what is called the "labor theory of value." That was resolved with the development of the marginal utility theory of value. That became the major departure point of what became to be called the "neo-classical" economists, a century and a half ago, from their predecessors, the "classical" economists. - "8. It is a matter of small importance that the banking system creates money out of nothing sufficient for the repayment of the principal of a loan but not of the interest." --------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- This statement is irrelevant to what economists say and believe, but is from crank "theory" that is easily demonstrated to be fallacious to informed audiences:- Money is being created all the time by the banks to pay their ordinary business expenses, including the salaries and wages being paid to their employees, including interest being paid on deposits and other obligations, that becomes available to the community to pay interest back to the banks. So the statement is patently false. - Now, I won't go through all fifty three of your supposed assumptions in this email, I could easily question them all, but I must say that you will be hard pressed to cite the economist who said this. If one actually did say it, then cite him: "51. Not only ethics but belief in God should be eschewed." - [Shakespeare] c) Ryan thinks it entirely reasonable that, having created something out of nothing, the banks may then go on receiving compounding interest for centuries with the principal being repaid many times over -- and over -- and over..... --------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- Loans that I am familiar with are amortized over a period of time, or become defaulted. They don't go on for centuries, with the principal being repaid "many times over -- and over -- and over..." If you believe such a loan has ever existed, cite it, the actual statistics, from verifiable sources. This has the appearance of being an ideologically driven rant. - [Shakespeare] d) Ryan thinks it reasonable to rip off poor countries e.g. the Philippines which will never have repaid its debts -- yet it has already repaid the principal many times over. --------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- Again, cite the actual numbers from verifiable sources. - ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2009 2:22 AM Subject: [SPAM] [socialcredit] Replying to Shakespeare Rodney, this last message of yours is rejected for distribution because it continues in its insulting tone and slanders against me. I shall however address some of your specific points further below. I won't address all of them because of time constraints. I take note that you continue to avoid answering my question from yesterday, which was, together with its preface:- "There are four components of the interest that is returned to the lender: 1. The default premium paid by those who are amortizing their loans to cover the defaulted portion of loans that are defaulted on by their borrowers--this is ordinarily the largest portion of interest that is collected. It also explains why secured loans cost less than unsecured loans; 2. The amount that is collected to cover the ordinary expenses of lending, including the salaries and wages paid to the financial sector's workers. The is ordinarily the second largest portion of interest that is collected; 3. The net profit of banking. This is ordinarily the smallest portion of interest that is collected. There is undoubtedly a charge made for the declining value of money due to projected inflation. This will vary by region and locality, with the lowest being in nations like the United States, and the highest being in nations like Zimbabwe, which presently is experiencing the highest rate of inflation that the world has ever seen. "Will you please inform this list exactly what portion of interest that is collected that you regard as 'unnecessary'? And please explain why you think this is the case." - [Shakespeare] 1. Ryan says that thirty per cent of the totality of messages are rejected. Well, that remarkable thirty per cent explains a good bit of Ryan's reputation for manipulation and censorship. --------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- It's called moderation, Rodney, and it's a lot of work. There are many computer generated spam messages that are rejected. There are messages that have no relevance to the subject matter of the list, which is Social Credit. Etc. and etc. I must say that it is a stretch to regard any of your messages as being relevant, although over the years I have allowed many of them to be posted. - [Shakespeare] 3. I clearly wrote "Before I consider replying, may I have your assurance that you will post any reply from me?" I will reply to the question when Ryan has fully posted my email 26th June and my two emails 5th July to the full Soc. Cred. list. --------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- It seems to me that you are incapable of replying, that you are incapable of standing before an informed audience to defend your position, where it may be challenged. In my experience that is stereotypically the case with monetary cranks. They do not appear to be people within the normal psychological range. Their behavior is abnormal. To the extent you do respond to criticism it is in paranoiac reflex. Your inability to respond except through insults and slander is ample demonstration of the case in point. It is experimental evidence of your unique personal character. Nonetheless, the invitation does remain open. I will post your reply to my question repeated above, if it is presented without the slurs and slander that have caused some of your messages to be rejected. - [Shakespeare] However, anticipating Ryan doing the postings, I first advise him to refresh his acquaintance with www.binaryeconomics.net (all of it, including Causes of the Global Crisis and ALL (not just some) of the fifty three false assumptions of mainstream economics)... --------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- I've read all of it, Rodney, one of the very few people who may have done so. What struck me was how little correspondence your "false assumptions of mainstream economics" has to what economists have actually written and believed. It appears that you've never actually read an economics book; yet parade about as a "qualified barrister" and "professor." For example, I challenge you to cite even one economist who ever said this: "2. Labour creates most, if not all, of the wealth." For three centuries economists have said that there were THREE factors of production: Land, Labor and Capital. All three are involved in the creation of wealth. A controversy did arise over what is called the "labor theory of value." That was resolved with the development of the marginal utility theory of value. That became the major departure point of what became to be called the "neo-classical" economists, a century and a half ago, from their predecessors, the "classical" economists. - "8. It is a matter of small importance that the banking system creates money out of nothing sufficient for the repayment of the principal of a loan but not of the interest." --------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- This statement is irrelevant to what economists say and believe, but is from crank "theory" that is easily demonstrated to be fallacious to informed audiences:- Money is being created all the time by the banks to pay their ordinary business expenses, including the salaries and wages being paid to their employees, including interest being paid on deposits and other obligations, that becomes available to the community to pay interest back to the banks. So the statement is patently false. - Now, I won't go through all fifty three of your supposed assumptions in this email, I could easily question them all, but I must say that you will be hard pressed to cite the economist who said this. If one actually did say it, then cite him: "51. Not only ethics but belief in God should be eschewed." - [Shakespeare] c) Ryan thinks it entirely reasonable that, having created something out of nothing, the banks may then go on receiving compounding interest for centuries with the principal being repaid many times over -- and over -- and over..... --------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- Loans that I am familiar with are amortized over a period of time, or become defaulted. They don't go on for centuries, with the principal being repaid "many times over -- and over -- and over..." If you believe such a loan has ever existed, cite it, the actual statistics, from verifiable sources. This has the appearance of being an ideologically driven rant. - [Shakespeare] d) Ryan thinks it reasonable to rip off poor countries e.g. the Philippines which will never have repaid its debts -- yet it has already repaid the principal many times over. --------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- Again, cite the actual numbers from verifiable sources. - -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mukhtaralam2000 at yahoo.com Thu Jul 9 01:44:06 2009 From: mukhtaralam2000 at yahoo.com (Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam) Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2009 13:14:06 +0530 (IST) Subject: [GJM] Fw: [TheAligarhForum] AMU to start 'Islamic Banking' course Message-ID: <319201.67366.qm@web94915.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Distinguished members of GJM, ? Greeting from peace, ? This is an interesting development and I hope friends in GJM calling for the end of ecologically hostile usurious finance system. Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam 58-C,DDA Flats, Ashok Vihar-III,Delhi-110052 Tel:9968345380 http://ecostrategiccommunicators.ning.com http://muhammad_mukhtar_alam.tigblog.org http://slideshare.net/mukhtaralam --- On Thu, 9/7/09, Razi Raziuddin wrote: From: Razi Raziuddin Subject: [TheAligarhForum] AMU to start 'Islamic Banking' course To: "The Aligarh Forum The Aligarh Forum" , thegoodindians at yahoogroups.com Date: Thursday, 9 July, 2009, 1:51 AM AMU to start 'Islamic Banking' course 18 Jan 2009, 1215 hrs IST,?PTI ?Print? ?Email? ?Discuss ?Share ?Save ?Comment Text: LUCKNOW: In what is being touted as a first of its kind in the country, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) will launch a one-year post graduate? diploma course inBanking and?Finance' based on tenets of Shariah.? "The basic principle of Islamic banking based on Shariah, Islamic rules of transaction, is prohibition of Riba (interest)and is known as interest free banking system. As per the tenets of Islam earning interest on money deposit and?loans?in the bank is prohibited by law," Dr Mohammad Nejatullah Siddiqi, who designed the one-year diploma course, told reporters.? The university academic council, highest body of the university, which decides on academic affairs, has approved of the introduction of the course early this month from the next academic session, he said, adding, that there would initially be 20 seats in the course.? In this system of?banking?the depositor, who does not bear risk as in other banking systems, has to equally share the risk with the bank. Owner of the capital, however, is allowed to have a share in the bank's profits, Siddiqui, a retired AMU professor ofEconomics?and Islamic Studies, said, adding that a similar system is followed by the banks while offering loans to the customers.? This type of banking system reduces speculation or gambling, he said. The course would enable students to make a career in Islamic banking, which is already very popular in Islamic countries, he added.? "As of now no university in the country is offering a course in Islamic Banking. Though some research work on the subject has been done in Karnataka and Pune universities, and a handful of part time refresher courses are being offered by some institutes, the course does not figure in the syllabus of any university," he claimed.? About the future prospects of the course, he said that though there are no Islamic banks in India, there existed a few non-banking cooperatives in Karnataka and Mumbai, which have branches in cities like Aligarh and Chennai.? "India is seen as a potential place for the Islamic banking, which can also attract NRI investors. Some of the top Indian companies are looking forward to launch Islamic financial products in the country," said Siddiqi, claiming that the placements after pursuing this course would be very good.? Hotmail? has ever-growing storage! Don?t worry about storage limits. Check it out. __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Links | Database Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity ?56 New MembersVisit Your Group Give Back Yahoo! for Good Get inspired by a good cause. Y! Toolbar Get it Free! easy 1-click access to your groups. Yahoo! Groups Start a group in 3 easy steps. Connect with others. .. __,_._,___ Looking for local information? Find it on Yahoo! Local http://in.local.yahoo.com/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ceasig at gmail.com Wed Jul 8 10:50:21 2009 From: ceasig at gmail.com (Centre For Ecological Audit, Social Inclusion & Governance) Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2009 22:20:21 +0530 Subject: [GJM] FW: Obama: "Stop the Settlements"( Appeal to followers of Moses and Jesus and all) Message-ID: <31f677a30907080950q4ca9ec1ds6be33c77b91c9a6e@mail.gmail.com> It would be better for US and for the cause of global peace to ensure that justice to Palestenias is delivered. Palestenians are suffering. There has been no discussion on the issue though poltical justice is one of the pillar of Global Justice Movemeent. I hope Obama means his call as since the formation of Israel , not sure of the numbers, millions of Palestinians have lost homes, living in refugee camps , they have been the victims of conspiracy, cooercion,killing, dispossession and unfortunately, they have been victims of occupations at a time, when, countries like India got independance. An ecologically safe world requires peace building , end of oppression, end of usurious finance system, end of bankers seeking multiplication of money while the resource remain limited especially the non-renewable ones. Jewish brother,sisters and elders in humanity need to appreciate the historic responsibilty in shaping the world following the communications of messengers realising that Muslims globally follow the covenents communicated to Moses, Jesus and all the messengers( those mentioned in the holy text and many not mentioned ) and renewed through Muhammad ( peace be upon all of them). It is time to build peace and delay no more. Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam On Sat, Jun 6, 2009 at 1:25 PM, mary rose wrote: > This is going to throw AIPAC supporters into a tizzy. So, look out for > more name-calling and worse for Obama as he begins to pull the plug on the > game between the Israeli?s and Palestinians. > > > > *From:* Paul Hilder - Avaaz.org [mailto:avaaz at avaaz.org] > *Sent:* Friday, June 05, 2009 1:25 PM > *To:* maryrose333 at att.net > *Subject:* Obama: "Stop the Settlements" > > > > Dear friends, > > > > > Obama is challenging Israel's right-wing government to stop its > settlements, which are killing prospects for peace -- *let's raise a > massive global chorus to help him overcome powerful opposition in Israel and > the US: * > > [image: Sign the petition] > > *West Bank settlement maps show how Palestinians are only allowed to live > in small parts of their land:* > > President Obama just made a remarkable speech in Egypt, committing > personally to building peace in the Middle East. *Unexpectedly, his first > move is to directly challenge the new right-wing government of America's > ally Israel* -- pressing them to stop their self-destructive policy of > settlements (illegal colonies set up on territory recognised by the US and > the world as Palestinian). > > This is a moment of rare crisis and opportunity. *Obama?s bold strategy is > facing powerful opposition, so he?s going to need help around the world*in the coming days and weeks to strengthen his resolve. Let?s start right > now -- by *raising a massive global chorus behind Obama?s statement* that > the settlements in occupied territory must stop. > > We?ll advertise the number of signatures in key newspapers in Israel, as > well as in Washington DC (where some are trying to undermine Obama in the US > Congress). *Read Obama?s words now and add your signature to them at the > link below*, then forward this email to friends and family so they can do > the same: > > *http://www.avaaz.org/en/obama_stop_settlements* > > There is broad agreement that *the settlements are a significant barrier > to peace, a view also shared by a silent majority of the Israeli public*. > Combined with a network of roadblocks and barriers, these colonies now > blanket the West Bank, seizing territory and forcing Palestinians to live > effectively as prisoners in smaller and smaller pockets (see map at right). > > Until this problem is tackled, it seems impossible to build a viable > Palestinian state or any kind of lasting peace. *For Arab states deciding > what more they themselves can do for peace, stopping the settlements has > become a crucial test of Israel?s seriousness.* > > We?ll need to urge the other parties to take bold steps too. If we can help > Obama to stay the course on settlements, shift Israeli policy and encourage > the Palestinians and key Arab states also to stretch out their hands, *a > new beginning for the Middle East is possible*. > > But none of this will happen without a growing global movement of citizens > taking action to support it. *Read Obama?s words, add your signature and > spread the word today:* > > *http://www.avaaz.org/en/obama_stop_settlements* > > With hope and determination, > > Paul, Raluca, Ricken, Brett, Paula, Graziela, Rajeev, Iain, Taren, Milena, > Luis, Alice and the whole Avaaz team > > President Obama's speech (full text): > http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/us/politics/04obama.text.html?_r=2 > > "Obama Takes Tough Stance on Israeli Settlements": > http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/story/1070944.html > > "Israeli Settlement Growth Must Stop, Says Clinton": > > http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/world/middleeast/28mideast.html?bl&ex=1243656000&en=b27e2280187214a9&ei=5087%0A > > Agence France Presse reports on Israeli and Palestinian responses to the > speech > > Al-Jazeera - "Obama Seeks New Start with Muslims" > > Yediot Aharonot - "Ministers Split Over Obama's Cairo Speech" > http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3726367,00.html > > > ----------------------------------- > > > > > > *ABOUT AVAAZ* Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global > campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of > the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in > many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, > and is staffed by a global team based in Ottawa, London, Rio de Janeiro, New > York, Buenos Aires, and Geneva. Call us at: +1 888 922 8229 or +55 21 2509 > 0368 > > Click *here* to learn more about > our largest campaigns. > > *Don't forget to check out our Facebookand > Myspace and Bebopages! > * > > > You are getting this message because you signed "Stand with Tibet - > Support the Dalai Lama " > on 2008-03-30 using the email address maryrose333 at att.net. To ensure that > Avaaz messages reach your inbox, please add avaaz at avaaz.org to your > address book. To change your email address, language settings, or other > personal information, > https://secure.avaaz.org/act/index.php?r=profile&user=a98a963da1ffa62878f25e4ba46af430&lang=en, > or simply *go here to unsubscribe > *. > > To contact Avaaz, please *do not reply to this email.* Instead, write to > info at avaaz.org. You can also call us at +1-888-922-8229 (US) or +55 21 > 2509 0368 (Brazil) If you have technical problems, please go to > http://www.avaaz.org > > _______________________________________________ > Discussion mailing list > Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net > > http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net > > -- Endeavoring for ecological safety ,social inclusion and distributive justice for the renewable resource based livelihoods and habitats, Centre For Ecological Audit, Social Inclusion and Governance (CEASIG) , an initiative of Labour League Foundation, Sewa and Sufi Trust , Delhi aims for socially inclusive and ecologically safe future for all through organizing and communicating fcarbon neutral neighborhood discussions/ consultations, building capacities in ecological audit, ecologically safe networking ,advocacy, interfaith dialogue & other related domains for multiplying personal, community , governmental and corporate actions for ecologically safe education, ecological audit ,and, ecologically safe and socially inclusive governance best practices Contact Details: 58-C,DDA Flats, Ashok Vihar-III, Delhi-110052 Phones: 9968345380,9210490942 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ceasig at gmail.com Wed Jul 8 11:16:13 2009 From: ceasig at gmail.com (Centre For Ecological Audit, Social Inclusion & Governance) Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2009 22:46:13 +0530 Subject: [GJM] Fwd: [little_panarchy] A Declaration of Separation In-Reply-To: <000e01c9bd69$7d4fb040$77ef10c0$@net> References: <000e01c9bd69$7d4fb040$77ef10c0$@net> Message-ID: <31f677a30907081016y35155891nee08689e4bb37674@mail.gmail.com> Governments are important and it is important to transform the key principles . I am proposing adoption of interfaith commons for transforming the governance . Please consider the attached for leisurely reading ..take a print out please and read using carbon neutral daylight. Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 6:58 AM, mary rose wrote: > Well, how does everyone feel about this? > > > > From my point of view things are getting more direct, as this action gets > into the real heart of the matter ? that it?s systemic. And it gets us out > of personalities into something one could hang one?s hat on if so inclined. > > > > > I like this more than listening to people pointing fingers and making > accusations. Makes a little more sense IMHO. > > > > *From:* BOB TAFT [mailto:rbtaft at rtconnect.net] > *Sent:* Tuesday, April 14, 2009 5:28 PM > *To:* Undisclosed-Recipient:; > *Subject:* Fw: Fwd: [little_panarchy] A Declaration of Separation > > > > This should easily replace the pledge of allegiance which was designed to > end personal sovereignty once and for all. > > > > Governments based upon voter dominance must be shunned. Freedom is > incompatible with the democratic system of dominance. Governments must no > longer be allowed to steal from subjected people. Present governments are > so wealthy from past stealing and investment they no longer need their > euphemistic tax take. The flow could in fact be easily reversed. Just see > www.CAFR1.com . > > > Best regards, > Bob Taft > The Taft Ranch > Upton, Wyoming > (307) 465-2206 > http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/archive.cgi?read=74897 > "We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public > office." AESOP > > > > > > > > *From:* Ralph Haulk > > *Sent:* Monday, April 13, 2009 5:22 AM > > *To:* BOB TAFT > > *Subject:* Fwd: [little_panarchy] A Declaration of Separation > > > > > Here's something I found interesting. > > Ralph > > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: *Christian Butterbach* > Date: Mon, Apr 13, 2009 at 2:42 AM > Subject: [little_panarchy] A Declaration of Separation > To: little_panarchy at yahoogroups.com > > > > In an apparently new anonymous blog at WordPress.com named "Free and > Unashamed" and seemingly created for the purpose, on April 9, 2009, appeared > an anonymous PGP signed post by "freeandunashamed," which Bill St. Clair put > into a more readable form on his site at > http://billstclair.com/separation.html > referring to the original at > > http://freeandunashamed.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/a-declaration-of-separation/ > which I think you may want to read, as some in it pertains to our concerns > and will offer matter for debate. My attention to it was drawn by the > current issue of *The Libertarian Enterprise*. > > I copy it for you: > A Declaration of Separation > > ==== To The Governments & People of Earth: ==== > > We claim the right to exist, and we will defend it. > > We do not seek to overthrow anything. We do not seek to control anything. > We merely wish to be left alone. > > All we ever wanted was to live in peace with our friends and neighbors. For > a long, long time we bore insults to our liberty; we took blows, we did what > we could to avoid injury and we worked through the system to get the > offenses to stop. That has now changed. > > We no longer see any benefit in working through the world's systems. At > some point, working within a system becomes cowardly and immoral; for us, > that point has arrived. Regardless of the parties in power, their > governments have continued to restrict, restrain and punish us. We hereby > reject them all. We hereby withdraw from them all. We hold the ruling states > of this world and all that appertains to them to be self-serving and opposed > to humanity. > > We now withdraw our obedience and reclaim the right to strike back when > struck. We will not initiate force, but we do reserve the right to answer > it. We did not choose this ? it was forced upon us. > > ==== To The Governments of Earth: ==== > > You are building cages for all that is human. In the name of protection, > you have intruded into all areas of human life, far exceeding the reach of > any Caesar. You claim ultimate control of our property and our decisions, of > our travels and even our identities. You claim ownership of humanity far > beyond the dreams of any Emperor of any previous era. Understand clearly: We > reject your authority and we reject your legitimacy. We do not believe that > you have any right to do the things you do. You have massive power, but no > right to impose it upon us and no legitimacy. We have forsaken you. We are > no longer your citizens or your subjects. > > Your systems are inherently anti-human, even if all their operators are > not. We are not merely angry young people. We are fathers and mothers; > aunts, uncles and grandparents; we are business owners and trusted > employees; we are mechanics and engineers and farmers. We are nurses and > accountants and students and executives. > > We are on every continent. > > This is not a burst of outrage; this is a sober declaration that we no > longer accept unearned suffering as our role in life. For long decades we > sat quietly, hoping that things would turn around. We took no actions; we > suffered along with everyone else. But after having our limits pushed back > again and again, we have given up on your systems. > > If our fellow inhabitants of this planet wish to accept your rule, they are > free to do so. We will not try to stop them. We, however, will no longer > accept your constraints upon us. > > >From now on, when you hurt us, we will bite back. If you leave us alone we > will leave you alone and you can continue to rule your subjects. We are > happy to live quietly. But if you come after us, there will be consequences. > You caused this because of your fetish for control and power. The chief men > and women among you are pathologically driven to control everyone and > everything that moves upon this planet. You have made yourselves the judge > of every human activity. No god-king of the ancient world ever had the power > that your systems do. > > You have created a world where only the neutered are safe and where only > outlaws are free. > > ==== To The People of Earth: ==== > > We seek nothing from you. We do not want to rule you and we do not want to > control you. > > All we wish is to live on earth in peace. As always, we will be helpful > neighbors and generous acquaintances. We will remain honest business > partners and trustworthy employees. We will continue to be loving parents > and respectful children. > > We will not, however, be sacrificial animals. We reject the idea that > others have a right to our lives and our property. We will not demand > anything from you, and we will no longer acquiesce to any demands upon us. > We have left that game. We reject all obligations to any person or > organization beyond honesty, fair dealing and a respect for human life. > > We will shortly explain what we believe, but we are not demanding that you > agree with us. All we ask is that you do not try to stop us. Continue to > play the game if you wish; we will not try to disrupt it. We have merely > walked away from it. We wish you peace. > > ==== To Those Who Will Condemn Us: ==== > > We will ignore you. > > We welcome and seek the verdict of a just God, before whom we are willing > to expose our innermost thoughts. Are you similarly willing? > > We would stand openly before all mankind if it were not suicidal. Perhaps > some day we will have to accept slaughter for our crime of independence, but > not yet. > > Your criticism and your malice are much deeper than mere disagreements of > strategy or philosophy. You do not oppose our philosophy, you oppose our > existence. Our presence in the world means that your precious ideals are > false. Some of you would rather kill us than face the loss of your > ideologies, just as those like you have either hated or killed every > sufficiently independent human. > > You present yourselves to the world as compassionate, tolerant and > enlightened, but we know that your smooth words are costumes. Oh yes, we > know you, servant of the state; don't forget, we were raised with you. We > played with you in the schoolyard, we sat next to you in the classroom. Some > of us studied at the same elite universities. We watched as you had your > first tastes of power. We were the boys and girls standing next to you. > > Some of us were your first victims. We are not fooled by your carefully > crafted public image. > > ==== What We Believe ==== > > #1: Many humans resent the responsibilities that are implied by > consciousness. We accept those responsibilities and we embrace > consciousness. Rather than letting things happen to us (avoiding > consciousness), we accept consciousness and choose to act in our own > interest. > > We do not seek the refuge of blaming others, neither do we take refuge in > crowds. We are willing to act on our personal judgment, and we are willing > to accept the consequences thereof. > > #2: We believe in negative rights for all: That all humans should be free > to do whatever they wish, as long as they do not intrude upon others; that > no man has a right to the life, liberty or property of another; that we > oppose aggression, fraud and coercion. > > #3: We do not believe that our way of life, or any other, will make life > perfect or trouble-free. We expect crime and disagreements and ugliness, and > we are prepared to deal with them. We do not seek a strongman to step in and > solve problems for us. We agree to see to them ourselves. > > #4: We believe in free and unhindered commerce. So long as exchanges are > voluntary and honest, no other party has a right to intervene ? before, > during or after. > > #5: We believe that all individuals should keep their agreements. > > #6: We believe that honestly obtained property is fully legitimate and > absolute. > > #7: We believe that some humans are evil and that they must be faced and > dealt with. We accept the fact that this is a difficult area of life. > > #8: We believe that humans can self-organize effectively. We expect them to > cooperate. We reject impositions of hierarchy and organization. > > #9: We believe that all humans are to be held as equals in all matters > regarding justice. > > #10: We believe that the more a man or woman cares about right and wrong, > the more of a threat he or she is perceived to be by governments. > > #11: We believe that there are only two true classes of human beings: Those > who wish to exercise power upon others - either directly or through > intermediaries - and those who have no such desires. > > #12: Large organizations and centralization are inherently anti-human. They > must rely upon rules rather than principles, treating humans within the > organization as obedient tools. > > ==== Our Plans: ==== > > We are building our own society. We will supplement traditional tools with > networking, cryptography, sound money, digital currency and anonymous > messaging. > > Our society will not be centrally controlled. It will rely solely on > voluntary arrangements. We welcome others to join us. We are looking for > people who are independent creators of value, people who act more than talk, > and people who do the right thing because it is the right thing. > > We will develop our own methods of dealing with injustice, built on the > principles of negative rights, restitution, integrity and equal justice. > > We do not forbid anyone from having one foot in each realm - ours and the > old realm - although we demand that they do no damage to our realm. We are > fully opposed to any use of our realm to facilitate crime in the old realm, > such as the hiding of criminal proceeds. > > We expect to be loudly condemned, libeled and slandered by the authorities > of the old regime. We expect them to defend their power and their image of > legitimacy with all means available to them. We expect that many gullible > and servile people will believe these lies, at least at first. > > We will consider traps laid for us to be criminal offenses. Any who wish to > join us are encouraged to distribute this declaration, to act in furtherance > of our new society, to voluntarily excel in virtues and to communicate and > cooperate with other members of the new society. > > Free, unashamed men cannot be ruled. > > We are The Free and The Unashamed. > > __._,_.___ > > Messages in this topic > > (*1*) *Reply *(via web post) > | > *Start a new topic * > > Messages| > Members > > MARKETPLACE > > *I'm happy I lost my Job. Now I make $12,000/mo online! See how I do it: > WealthResource.org. > * > * > ------------------------------ > * > > *I'm happy I lost my Job. Now I make $12,000/mo online! See how I do it: > WealthResource.org. > * > * > ------------------------------ > * > * > ------------------------------ > * > > *From kitchen basics to easy recipes - join the Group from Kraft Foods > > * > > *Error! Filename not specified.* > Change settings via the Web(Yahoo! ID required) > Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest| Switch > format to Traditional > Visit Your Group > | > Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe > > > *Recent Activity* > > Visit Your Group > > > *All-Bran* > > *10 Day Challenge > * > > *Join the club and* > > *feel the benefits.* > > *Yahoo! Groups* > > *Mom Power > * > > *Community just for Moms* > > *Join the discussion* > > *Yahoo! Groups* > > *Auto Enthusiast Zone > * > > *Discover Car Groups* > > *Auto Enthusiast Zone* > > . > > *Error! Filename not specified.* > > __,_._,___ > > > ------------------------------ > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 8.0.238 / Virus Database: 270.11.54/2055 - Release Date: 04/12/09 > 13:14:00 > > _______________________________________________ > Discussion mailing list > Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net > > http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net > > -- Endeavoring for ecological safety ,social inclusion and distributive justice for the renewable resource based livelihoods and habitats, Centre For Ecological Audit, Social Inclusion and Governance (CEASIG) , an initiative of Labour League Foundation, Sewa and Sufi Trust , Delhi aims for socially inclusive and ecologically safe future for all through organizing and communicating fcarbon neutral neighborhood discussions/ consultations, building capacities in ecological audit, ecologically safe networking ,advocacy, interfaith dialogue & other related domains for multiplying personal, community , governmental and corporate actions for ecologically safe education, ecological audit ,and, ecologically safe and socially inclusive governance best practices Contact Details: 58-C,DDA Flats, Ashok Vihar-III, Delhi-110052 Phones: 9968345380,9210490942 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: governance for changing unsustainable consumption patterns.doc Type: application/msword Size: 118784 bytes Desc: not available URL: From thehindu at web1.hinduonnet.com Wed Jul 8 21:02:55 2009 From: thehindu at web1.hinduonnet.com (thehindu at web1.hinduonnet.com) Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2009 08:32:55 +0530 Subject: [GJM] Article from The Hindu: Sent to you by Ashish Sharma Message-ID: <200907090302.n6932tDs017908@web1.hinduonnet.com> Article appeared in famous Indian daily "THE HINDU" regarding solution of global economic crisis through exclusive implementation of e-currency. Its initial implementation for stopping pilferage to rural people in India as pilot project. Regards, Ashish Sharma ============================================================= This article has been sent to you by Ashish Sharma ( sharmaashis at gmail.com ) ============================================================= Source: The Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com/2009/07/07/stories/2009070753740500.htm) Other States - Rajasthan    An e-currency to plug currency leakage Mohammed Iqbal ‘It would control pilferage of funds from Centre for States’ PHOTO: Rohit Jain Paras New gadget: Ashish Sharma with his innovation. JAIPUR: A Jaipur-based chartered accountant has devised a new transaction system based on the novel concept of electronic currency for transfer of funds from the Centre to the districts under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) with enough safeguards to control pilferage and prevent loss of money during payment of wages to labourers. The brave new e-currency system can change the entire concept of financial transactions presently carried out through cash, cheque books and credit and debit cards and effectively address the pressing issues of economic recession, hyper-inflation and cash crunch, says Ashish Sharma, chartered accountant and writer on economic affairs. Mr. Sharma, who has designed an electronic currency machine (ECM) for banking through digitisation of money, plans to promote it as a foolproof and secure system for instant money transfer. The electronic gadget with several features and keys for payments and receipts is set to make e-currency a legal tender replacing the physical paper currency. In his pilot project formulated for NREGS, Mr. Sharma has suggested allotment of ECMs to each labourer and installation of computers with servers at the bank head office, which would maintain the unique code control register. The remuneration will be transferred in the digital form through bank branches to the labourers’ ECMs. “All ECM transactions will be cleared and simultaneously updated in the records as well as the accounts through the head office server. The branches will feed the transaction code series in the ECMs for facilitating withdrawal or transfer of money by the NREGS workers,” Mr. Sharma told The Hindu here on Monday. The 46-year-old chartered accountant affirmed that the e-currency model would eliminate the scope for corruption in the Centre’s flagship scheme providing employment to lakhs of people in villages across the country. “It will minimise the role of intermediaries and ensure that each rupee for wages and asset creation is accounted for,” he said. Mr. Sharma, who intends to submit the draft pilot project to Union Rural Development Minister C. P. Joshi for his consideration, said even illiterate NREGS workers would be able to carry out transactions through ECMs of the size of a standard mobile phone, which would be equipped with speakers providing information in the local dialect on every stage of the operation. While pointing out that the currency development should cope with the rapidly changing computerised world, Mr. Sharma said the e-currency system would generate a “systemic money” which would never exhaust due to its zero leakage from the economic system. “Moreover, the money with the growing number of its rotations will go on multiplying ad infinitum creating real wealth, the value of which is at par with its face value,” said the chartered accountant who has been working on the concept for the past six years. Following the creation of real wealth, there would be no scope left for hyper-inflation and cash crunch, he added. Since the e-currency will remain deposited with the bank and the individual consumer too will enjoy its liquidity simultaneously in the duality-in-pocket arrangement, the banks will not be required to keep any money reserves and the cash reserve ratio (CRR) will be zero. The never-ending rotation of money will augment the country’s economic growth, according to Mr. Sharma. He said all kinds of economic offences, funding for terrorism and white-collar misdemeanour arising out of spurious money could be controlled by the introduction of the e-currency system. Eminent economists such as D. R. Mehta, V. S. Vyas, Mohammed Yunus and Rodney Shakespeare have evinced a keen interest in the new system. Mr. Sharma has also authored a book, Has the time for electronic currency come?, advocating adoption of the brave new currency. The then Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat released the book here in June 2004. Copyright: 1995 - 2006 The Hindu Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the consent of The Hindu From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Thu Jul 9 07:29:15 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2009 13:29:15 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] Quantitative Easing Suspened Apparently! Message-ID: <261346.70096.qm@web27407.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Bank holds off recession cash boost 30 mins ago Print Story Bank of England bosses have held off from further help to ease the recession with a surprise refusal to pump extra cash into the economy. Skip related content Related content Bank surprises by keeping QE total steady? Instant View - Bank holds rates at 0.5 pct, QE unchanged? Interest rates held at 0.5% Related Hot Topic: Financial Crisis Have your say: Financial Crisis The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) had been widely expected to expand its quantitative easing (QE) programme - effectively printing money - by ?25 billion to ?150 billion. But the scale of the operation was left unchanged at ?125 billion, while interest rates were held at their current 0.5% record low for the fourth month in a row. The decision comes despite concerns over the fragility of recent signs of stabilisation in the economy following a steep decline. Manufacturing output showed a surprise fall in May, while official figures have shown a far worse than expected 2.4% slump in overall GDP in the first three months of 2009 - the worst in more than 50 years. In a short statement, the Bank said its current QE operations would take another month to complete. It will review the programme again at its August meeting, alongside its latest inflation projections. The pound immediately gained 1% against the dollar, climbing above 1.62 US dollars on signs the Bank is more optimistic about economic prospects. According to the Bank's own data, credit conditions remain tight and lending to business fell in April and May - suggesting that the boost to the money supply is having little immediate impact. Despite the decision to hold back from further QE this month, the CBI business group predicted the programme would eventually be extended. Chief economic adviser Ian McCafferty said: "With the economy and credit conditions still very weak, the Bank's quantitative easing programme has further to run. After only five months, it is still too early to determine the effects on the wider economy. So, a further extension through the autumn is needed." Email Story Share Story Delicious Digg Facebook Stumbleupon Reddit Newsvine Print Story Subscribe to RSS Latest news 21 mins ago Teenager 'assaulted by teacher' 30 mins ago Teacher arrested for alleged attack 30 mins ago Police probe phone-hacking claims 46 mins ago Teacher quizzed about boy's injury A schoolboy is seriously ill in hospital after he was allegedly attacked by a teacher during a class. Parents arriving at All? More 46 mins ago Jackson West End show on world tour A British show celebrating Michael Jackson's music will be taken on a 12-month world tour in response to huge demand from the? More 46 mins ago Further job cuts planned for Corus 46 mins ago 50,000 'could be denied university' 46 mins ago 'Weapon dogs' are seized by police 1 hour 1 min ago Clegg calls for new Afghan strategy 1 hour 34 mins ago Play video Interest rates remain at 0.5% 3 hours 4 mins ago Play video Gang faces life for teen Shaquille? 4 hours 19 mins ago Play video Newspaper accused of paying victims after ... <> ADVERTISEMENT on error resume next For mp_i=11 To 6 Step -1 If Not IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash." & mp_i)) Then Else mp_swver=mp_i Exit For End If Next if(window.yzq_d==null)window.yzq_d=new Object(); window.yzq_d['iP7RGdkMBas-']='&U=13o2tmkun%2fN%3diP7RGdkMBas-%2fC%3d200115676.201877027.203138956.200493719%2fD%3dLREC%2fB%3d200983789%2fV%3d1'; Subscribe to RSSMost Popular in: UK 1 Blinded Man Regains Sight With Tooth For Eye Martin Jones' canine was pulled out so a tiny optical lens could be fitted to it, then the tooth was inserted in his eye socket. ?More 2 Lucky kitten survives washer spin 3 Chimps' break for lunch forces public from zoo 4 Magic salary for live-in witch role 5 Girl faces life over 'honey trap' murder More popular stories Latest blog entries Talking Politics: The British media is failing the public Around The World: G8 & Berlusconi - keeping the media away Talking Politics: Climate change and uncertain science Editor's Corner: Michael Jackson's memorial service MORE ON YAHOO! NEWS Home UK World Politics Business Sport Technology Science Health Entertainment Oddly Enough Video Subscribe to our news feeds Editor's Corner Subscribe to RSS Add to My Yahoo! More news feeds What are news feeds? ALSO ON YAHOO! Answers Cars Finance Games Movies Music Sport TV Travel All Yahoo! Services SITE HIGHLIGHTS Weather Photos Message Boards Celebrity News Around The World Editor's Corner Copyright ? 2009 Yahoo! All rights reserved. Terms of Service Remarks and Suggestions Copyright/IP Policy Copyright ? 2009 Press Association Notice: We collect personal information on this site. To learn more about how we use your information, see our: Updated Privacy Policy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Fri Jul 10 06:30:30 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:30:30 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] Ah, yes it all goes back to money, and not just limited resources. Money is the POWER which uses, or indeed abuses resources! Message-ID: <682006.60183.qm@web27408.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> ? This might be of interest. If Transfinancial Economics existed things would be different. ? ?????? http://www.p2pfoundation.net/Transfinancial_Economics ? ? ? ? ? Copenhagen success rests on cash and commitment Ecologist 10th July, 2009 New research has revealed that a lack of finance and political commitment lie at the heart of the slow take-up of renewables, as a UK think tank calls for cash for low-carbon technology to be ringfenced The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) says that a global deal on climate change depends on more funds being made available for low-carbon technology, despite the global recession. The comments came as G8 leaders met in Italy to discuss the financial downturn, trade and climate change. However a report from the environmental collective of which IPPR is part casts doubt on the ability of the industrialised world to advance sustainable, low-carbon technologies, citing a shortage of cash and political will. IPPR is a founder member of the Global Climate Network (GCN), a collective of institutes and individual policy organisations across eight countries: the UK, US, Germany, India, Nigeria, Australia, Brazil and China. GCN interviewed 100 experts from government, industry, academia and civil society for its report, Breaking Through on Technology, which explores how to facilitate faster technology development. The research shows that no deal on climate change at Copenhagen will be possible without more financial support for low-carbon projects in less developed countries. It made a number of recommendations, including: emphasising technology in the climate change debate; creating incentives for the take-up of sustainable technologies, such as new tariff structures or removal of subsidies; supporting the development of incentives in less industrialised countries; national low-carbon technology strategies; boosting research and development initiatives; rewarding innovators with strong patenting enforcement, and removing the patents from those who refuse to deploy their own technologies. ?None of the governments meeting in Italy this week are being honest about the financial challenge we face in tackling climate change,? said Lisa Harker, co-director of IPPR said. ?There?s huge over-reliance on creating carbon markets to deal with the problem, but these won?t fully kick in for a decade or more. We need targeted government intervention and finance now to start the massive technological revolution that?s needed.? ?Developing countries, whose main need is for cheap energy to power their growth to lift millions out of poverty, are effectively being asked to replace or add to existing power stations with low-carbon alternatives, or to fit technology to capture the carbon emissions. Their response is to ask: who will pay? The UK and other leading economies have to step up and say, we will.? ? Previous Articles... | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Sat Jul 11 02:52:23 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Sat, 11 Jul 2009 08:52:23 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] A Circulation Charge? Message-ID: <795561.27453.qm@web27406.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> The following article originally appeared in the Spring/Summer 2009 edition of Kosmos Journal. Beyond Bailouts: How a Circulation Charge Can Help Save and Transform Global Finance By Jordan Bruce MacLeod An Earth Shaking Wake-up Call The global financial crisis has created tremendous uncertainty about the future prospects of human society. Very few people saw it coming and even fewer, if any, can say with much degree of certainty what will happen next. National governments are currently injecting trillions of dollars into their financial systems and the broader economy simply to cushion the fall of equity prices, home values and employment rates. Several countries have already sought emergency support from the IMF and World Bank and several more may require extensive assistance down the road. Yet these international institutions were neither designed nor equipped to deal with crises of this magnitude. Adding to our woes are the persistence of monumental global challenges such as terrorism, environmental degradation and climate change, which all must be confronted head on in the very near future. Given their worsening trajectory, one may now look back and realize that these problems were never going to be resolved from within the parameters of a financial system so conducive to myopic decision-making and growth for growth?s sake. Considering the awesome complexity of global challenges and the urgency with which scientists proclaim that humanity must change course immediately, then perhaps we will come to view this financial crisis as an Earth-shaking wake-up call and timely opportunity to align global systems and institutions with global challenges and complexities for the first time. While many financial experts and politicians are focused on bailouts and the mainstream media is widely locked in to asking experts mundane questions about when the economy will recover, it?s time for global leaders and citizens to start asking the tough questions about what?s next for global finance. What?s beyond the bailouts and efforts to keep the global economy in one piece? Where do we go from here, not only to get credit flowing, but also to create a financial system that works in the service of all of humanity towards the effective resolution of global problems? New solutions will require new values and new financial instruments to ground these values into the economic system. Without a practical means to change financial wisdom and shift the logic of investment and decision-making processes, new values are bound to remain peripheral and idealistically oriented, rather than central and integrated operating principles. One tool with the power to literally transform the economy and help restore lending emerged prior to another economic crisis, the Great Depression. Its inventor, Silvio Gesell, called it demurrage, a French term borrowed from the shipping industry. We will simply call it a circulation charge and explore its potential within the context that matters most: our need to save and transform global finance. In 1932, the town of W?rgl, Austria, was suffering from a 35% unemployment rate. The town?s mayor had a long list of projects and only 40,000 Austrian schillings in the bank to pay for them. Rather than spend the money on what would amount to only a fraction of the work that needed to be done, he used the schillings to back the creation of local currency with a unique feature. The money was designed so that its holder would pay a small fee each month to keep it valid for circulation. Once the fee was paid, a stamp was placed on the back of the paper note to certify it for exchange. After printing these notes, the mayor of W?rgl then used this currency to begin paying for public projects, thereby introducing it into the town?s circulation. Yet, it was only after this money was spent that the dramatic effects began to take hold. In less than two years from the start of the circulation charge, W?rgl became the first town in Austria to reach full employment. With the equivalent of a modest number of Austrian shillings in circulation, money expert Bernard Lietaer reported, ?Water distribution was generalized throughout?. the town was repaved, most houses were repaired and repainted, taxes were being paid early, and forests around the city were replanted.? Clearly, when a town begins to experience full employment during a depression and citizens voluntarily decide to pay their taxes early, people will talk. Within a short period of time, the town?s revitalization garnered international attention and was branded the ?miracle of W?rgl.? A Circulation Charge While a part of this marked turnaround came from the town?s revenues in collecting fees from the circulation charge, this was not the most significant force behind the dramatic transformation. Of greater importance were the extraordinary contributions from W?rgl?s increasingly engaged citizens. They were enabled to transform their community and do what was previously thought economically unfeasible after the average velocity of money throughout the town increased fourteen-fold because of the monthly expiration date. In other words, with the introduction of a circulation charge, money changed hands fourteen times more frequently in the same period of time than did the national currency, the Austrian shilling. An increase in trade and activity of this magnitude represents a dramatic leap in economic activity and confidence that simply cannot be replicated by central governments through spending programs or tax cuts. The achievement truly was a miracle, yet backed by solid innovation and grounded economic strategy. Rather than rely on municipal governments or centralized powers, the people of W?rgl had created the means to take power into their own hands and directly accomplish things that would never have occurred solely through the meddling of relatively arbitrary and inefficient centralized bureaucracies. In a time of financial gridlock such as ours, a circulation charge also presents itself as an ideal economic tool to begin catalyzing lending and thereby melt frozen credit markets. The Science behind the Miracle In his opus The Natural Economic Order, Silvio Gesell introduced the concept as an economic tool to effectively solve the problems of hoarding, interest and inflation. It was his original thinking that served as the basis for the successful stamp scrip currencies in Germany, Austria and America during the Great Depression. His work garnered notable recognition and approval from many of his contemporaries, including some of the most acclaimed economists of the 20th century, including John Maynard Keynes and Irving Fisher. Today, as members of the G20 and architects of the global Bretton Woods II convene to consider new financial instruments for building the 21st century economy, a circulation charge should be at the top of their list. A validation fee of this sort addresses the essential design flaws of the current economy that make it utterly impossible to reconcile finance with environmental sustainability and the alleviation of poverty. These flaws include compulsive exponential economic growth in a world of finite resources, the myopic discounting of the future and a regressive redistribution of wealth into the hands of the world?s wealthiest via the interest on money. A circulation charge effectively goes to the root of these problems by changing the qualitative nature of how we hold money. It inherently shifts financial thinking towards longer time frames. It creates a natural incentive to lend money without the need for interest, which would mitigate compulsive exponential growth, lessen the costs associated with borrowing and investment and reduce social disparities. It is precisely by shifting these central financial dynamics that markets can naturally begin reversing the inequalities between the rich and poor, facilitate investments in alternative energy infrastructure and create a more resilient financial system. Going Global The implementation of a circulation charge in the global financial system will require profound, unprecedented cooperation between nations. Much like any other global instrument, it will rely on widespread adoption and integration to take hold and succeed. It is for this reason that the G20, as a relatively broad and diverse group of nations, is an excellent starting point for considering this tool. In addition to serving as a catalyst for restoring lending and confidence in markets, it would simultaneously enable a pragmatic shift within the financial system towards achieving the 21st century objectives of sustainable development and the alleviation of poverty. A circulation charge could be integrated into the financial system through its simultaneous adoption by several nations for their currencies. The tool itself, however, is more naturally predisposed to function as an integral part of a global currency. In fact, it could enable the realization of a global currency by transcending the present weaknesses in monetary policy that arise out of current national fiat currencies and policies. These limitations characteristic of today?s national economies include exponential growth, interest rates, hoarding and inflation. The diverse economic conditions of nation-states within the current economic paradigm mean that national monetary policies are often divergent and frequently irreconcilable. It is therefore only when a global currency is realized that the problems inherent to national currencies are likely to be resolved. A fully digital currency would also strongly support the efficient and stable adoption of a circulation charge within a relatively short time period. If digitized, the currency could be programmed to automatically deduct the circulation charge instantly, at the time of its expiry date, from anywhere in the world. A digital currency would also enable a faster velocity of money in circulation, greater control and oversight of the money supply and the real-time monitoring of demand. The currency itself, as we saw in the case of W?rgl, also carries the power to quickly restore full employment and effectively decentralize wealth and power into the hands of citizens. A circulation charge enables the adoption of a monetary policy of zero interest and the creation of a money supply equal to demand. Under such conditions, a global currency could transcend the limitations of national currencies and the arbitrary power and problems that emerge when a national currency, such as the US Dollar, functions as the international reserve currency. A digital global currency with the above characteristics could be far more effectively regulated by global institutions, such as a United Nations agency designated to oversee international currency stability. While the parameters of this article can merely serve as an introduction to a very broad and important subject, it brings to light the urgent need to recognize that our relationship with money is at the very heart of our global crisis. The consideration and implementation of the requisite financial tools will require the world?s leading nations to forge a common vision for a global economy. Integrating global values and instruments such as a circulation charge into the heart of their monetary policies can help ensure the constant circulation of money and thereby help restore economic activity, lending and the opportunity to catalyze a free market system far more aligned with solving planetary challenges. These are precisely the qualities that will help enable global cooperation and insulate the international community from the inherent dangers that are destined to emerge in the midst of worsening global economic conditions. A circulation charge also reveals the very real potential to align and reconcile global finance with global values and visionary thinking. Getting there, however, will require bold new approaches in economics and a broader understanding that money is a social creation of the utmost power and importance in our lives. Its understanding and control can no longer be left in the dark corners of arbitrary or centralized power. The true value of money in our lives must be consciously recognized and mastered by all engaged global citizens as a precondition for successfully enabling global transformation. When we do this much-needed work, we will truly hold in our hands the power to change the world. Jordan Bruce MacLeod is author of New Currency: How Money Changes the World as We Know It. He is a partner at the consulting firm Cornerstone Global Associates and co-founder of Elevator Software Corporation. Jordan also serves as Co-Chair for the Club of Rome?s tt30 and is the founder of www.NewCurrency.org. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Beyond Bailouts", url: "http://www.newcurrency.org/blog/circulation-charge/hello-world/" }); ShareThis Tags: Circulation Charge, Global Currency, Kosmos Journal Circulation Charge, Global Finance | admin | May 15, 2009 7:27 am 5 Comments By Art Shipman, May 21, 2009 @ 11:51 pm Interesting article? I agree *absolutely* that ?our relationship with money is at the very heart of our global crisis.? However, your article seems to avoid any discussion of this ?relationship with money,? focusing instead on the new relationship you propose. You say Gesell?s ?work garnered notable recognition -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From knightjanos at gmail.com Sun Jul 12 09:40:19 2009 From: knightjanos at gmail.com (Janos Abel) Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:40:19 +0100 Subject: [GJM] Archive problem? Message-ID: <7051643f0907120840p1754d5c2ie422caf241d7616d@mail.gmail.com> Testing, testing -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Sun Jul 12 22:22:03 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:22:03 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Hundreds of Thousands of Workers Will Lose Unemployment Benefits Soon Message-ID: <000001ca0371$7bd0cdf0$737269d0$@net> The full horror of what is happening here was brought home to me when I learned of the trials of a young person, on disability due to a mental disorder, who received disability check cuts due to State budget cuts here in California. Already stressed since the high costs of rent here in California force many on disability to live on the streets as their benefits are not adequate to cover both housing and food costs, they are pressured into compromising situations afforded by the casino/hotel industry in order to just survive. I learned that both male and female prostitution is rampant here, along with the use of crystal meth as those whose incomes fall short of covering needs struggle to survive however they can. The taking of crystal meth, paid for by those perpetrating the act, is done so that the person engaging in the prostitution of their bodies can disassociate themselves from the act at the time in order to perform it, and then later in an attempt to handle the guilt associated with it. Over time, this quickly leads to an addiction from which there is almost no escape. Unfortunately, seniors are also finding themselves in positions where they are unable to make ends meet as those in States like California struggle as Budget cuts force cuts in SSI checks. Fortunately, I live in a place that is made affordable for me due to the concerns of the owners of the property for the welfare of others. But, I also came across the statistics the other day that one out of every eight people in the U.S. today goes to bed hungry at night. How are we going to handle what is happening to our young people who have no hope for finding meaningful and rewarding work as advanced technologies increasingly displace the need for human labor? How are we to provide for meaningful lives for those seniors who contributed such a large portion of their lives, lured into creating an economy that is now failing all of us, by the promise of a marvelous retirement that cannot now be fulfilled? We need to find some answers now. -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Friday, July 10, 2009 11:36 AM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Hundreds of Thousands of Workers Will Lose Unemployment Benefits Soon (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) "Already states have laid off and furloughed workers -- including, in some states, the very workers who process unemployment claims." Hundreds of Thousands of Workers Will Lose Unemployment Benefits Soon By Marie Cocco, Washington Post Writers Group. Posted July 10, 2009. http://www.alternet.org/workplace/141190/hundreds_of_thousands_of_workers_wi ll_lose_unemployment_benefits_soon/ Workers laid off early in the downturn are soon to be left without the basic sustenance of an unemployment check. WASHINGTON -- When a virulent disease is ravaging you like a cancer, you don't want a cacophony of voices promoting different or contradictory cures. Yet that is what we're starting to hear about the economic crisis, not only from a politically divided -- and pretty scared -- capital, but from within the Obama administration itself. In just the past few days, Vice President Joe Biden has said the young administration misread the depth of the recession -- an honest account, since most private economists did as well. Laura Tyson, an outside economic adviser to the White House, said it's wise to start preparing another stimulus package. Then President Barack Obama made everything perfectly muddy when he said in an ABC News interview that the seriousness of the downturn and how to attack it is "something we wrestle with constantly." Yet in the next breath, he expressed concern about the burgeoning deficit. But if anyone's looking for some clear voices, there are 650,000 of them just waiting to be heard. That is roughly the number of long-term unemployed who will begin losing their jobless benefits in September, according to the National Employment Law Project. Remember, the recession didn't start last fall when the government bailed out AIG and the financial system froze. It began in December 2007 -- and 6.5 million jobs have been lost since then. Depending on which state and the sort of triggers that apply to benefits, hundreds of thousands of workers laid off early in the downturn are soon to be left without the basic sustenance of an unemployment check. Meanwhile, the Labor Department says, the number of unemployed people out of work for 27 weeks or longer continues to grow, reaching 4.4 million last month. In June, three out of 10 jobless workers had been out of work for at least six months, according to the department's data. The stimulus package the president signed soon after taking office did provide extended benefits, and boosted weekly payments. But even that extension runs out on Dec. 26, and would not apply to all the unemployed. Does anyone really believe that a significant portion of the unemployed will have found new work by then? Hardly. Both private and government economists now predict that unemployment will continue to rise at least through the end of this year. "We can't ignore this moment when all these folks are running out (of benefits)," says Maurice Emsellem of the National Employment Law Project. "That needs to be a top priority, to help these workers." Let's stop kidding ourselves. In no contemporary economic crisis -- not even those that unfolded on the Republicans' watch -- has Congress left the unemployed completely in the lurch. So some sort of spending package -- call it stimulus, call it stopgap emergency aid, whatever works -- is going to have to be passed. The unemployment emergency helps feed another crisis Congress is going to be forced to address: the state budget disasters unfolding around the country. So far, 42 states have cut budgets that already had been enacted for fiscal 2009, according to the National Governors Association. More and deeper cuts are expected next year. Already states have laid off and furloughed workers -- including, in some states, the very workers who process unemployment claims. Generally speaking, states are required to balance their budgets each year, a mandate that forces them to pull money out of the economy through spending reductions and tax hikes, counteracting the federal government's efforts to juice things up. "That is what happened during the Great Depression, we had states working against what the federal government was doing," says Heidi Shierholz, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute. With red states and blue, Republican governors and Democrats, all struggling against the same relentless, recession-driven drops in tax revenue, an almost irresistible political coalition for more aid to states eventually will take shape. And with the fast-approaching September deadline for extending some unemployment benefits, there will likely emerge one of those must-pass measures that may or may not be called another stimulus bill. Any hot air expended trying to stop it serves no purpose but to fuel political fires. Remember, that is the whole point of those now huffing and puffing most heartily. They don't want to figure a way out of this morass; they just want to figure out a way to unseat those now in office. From maryrose333 at att.net Sun Jul 12 22:22:03 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:22:03 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] When Will The Recovery Begin? Never Message-ID: <000101ca0371$871d69c0$95583d40$@net> Finally a common sense prognosis as the realization hits home that if it is not sustainably built it cannot last. In the DVD entitled: WHAT A WAY TO GO: Life at the end of Empire, Daniel Quinn uses the analogy that we have been taking the bricks out of the basement of the house in order to build another story on the top of it. So, when do we wake up and "get it" that this is not a doable scenario, and, we cannot go back and undo what has now been done. It is obvious that the whole house of cards must come tumbling down so that we may take the bricks and begin rebuilding once again with a more coherent architectural plan in place. And, yes, this is going to be extremely painful as we are now totally without structure as the old and corrupted systems fail us in the second great die-off of the dragons, which with their big bodies and small brains disallowing for foresight, grasp for breath in a body asphyxiated by blindness. I am holding the field for the fullest potential to unfold now in this event in the best interests of all concerned. May we learn much from its happening. -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Friday, July 10, 2009 10:40 AM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] When Will The Recovery Begin? Never (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) When Will The Recovery Begin? Never http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/10-5 by Robert Reich Published on Friday, July 10, 2009 by CommonDreams.org The so-called "green shoots" of recovery are turning brown in the scorching summer sun. In fact, the whole debate about when and how a recovery will begin is wrongly framed. On one side are the V-shapers who look back at prior recessions and conclude that the faster an economy drops, the faster it gets back on track. And because this economy fell off a cliff late last fall, they expect it to roar to life early next year. Hence the V shape. Unfortunately, V-shapers are looking back at the wrong recessions. Focus on those that started with the bursting of a giant speculative bubble and you see slow recoveries. The reason is asset values at bottom are so low that investor confidence returns only gradually. That's where the more sober U-shapers come in. They predict a more gradual recovery, as investors slowly tiptoe back into the market. Personally, I don't buy into either camp. In a recession this deep, recovery doesn't depend on investors. It depends on consumers who, after all, are 70 percent of the U.S. economy. And this time consumers got really whacked. Until consumers start spending again, you can forget any recovery, V or U shaped. Problem is, consumers won't start spending until they have money in their pockets and feel reasonably secure. But they don't have the money, and it's hard to see where it will come from. They can't borrow. Their homes are worth a fraction of what they were before, so say goodbye to home equity loans and refinancings. One out of ten home owners is under water -- owing more on their homes than their homes are worth. Unemployment continues to rise, and number of hours at work continues to drop. Those who can are saving. Those who can't are hunkering down, as they must. Eventually consumers will replace cars and appliances and other stuff that wears out, but a recovery can't be built on replacements. Don't expect businesses to invest much more without lots of consumers hankering after lots of new stuff. And don't rely on exports. The global economy is contracting. My prediction, then? Not a V, not a U. But an X. This economy can't get back on track because the track we were on for years -- featuring flat or declining median wages, mounting consumer debt, and widening insecurity, not to mention increasing carbon in the atmosphere -- simply cannot be sustained. The X marks a brand new track -- a new economy. What will it look like? Nobody knows. All we know is the current economy can't "recover" because it can't go back to where it was before the crash. So instead of asking when the recovery will start, we should be asking when and how the new economy will begin. More on this to come. Robert Reich was the nation's 22nd Secretary of Labor and is a professor at the University of California at Berkeley. His latest book is "Supercapitalism." From maryrose333 at att.net Sun Jul 12 22:22:03 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:22:03 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: New wonder material, one-atom thick, has scientists abuzz Message-ID: <000901ca0371$8c7c8900$a5759b00$@net> When we look at the future dawning through the eyes of the potential it holds instead of through the box of present thinking, the magnificence it holds is truly astounding. I am holding the field for the fullest potential to unfold in events like this in the best interests of all concerned. Please hold the field coherent with me so that transformation may take place and elevate us into another level of conscious awareness. m r From: Nance ~ [mailto:planetnews8 at gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 11:28 PM Subject: New wonder material, one-atom thick, has scientists abuzz http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20090708/sc_mcclatchy/3268145 New wonder material, one-atom thick, has scientists abuzz * By Robert S. Boyd, McClatchy Newspapers Robert S. Boyd, Mcclatchy Newspapers - Wed Jul 8, 2:47 pm ET WASHINGTON - Imagine a carbon sheet that's only one atom thick but is stronger than diamond and conducts electricity 100 times faster than the silicon in computer chips. That's graphene, the latest wonder material coming out of science laboratories around the world. It's creating tremendous buzz among physicists, chemists and electronic engineers. "It is the thinnest known material in the universe, and the strongest ever measured," Andre Geim , a physicist at the University of Manchester, England , wrote in the June 19 issue of the journal Science. "A few grams could cover a football field," said Rod Ruoff , a graphene researcher at the University of Texas, Austin , in an e-mail. A gram is about 1/30th of an ounce. Like diamond, graphene is pure carbon. It forms a six-sided mesh of atoms that, through an electron microscope, looks like a honeycomb or piece of chicken wire. Despite its strength, it's as flexible as plastic wrap and can be bent, folded or rolled up like a scroll. Graphite, the lead in a pencil, is made of stacks of graphene layers. Although each individual layer is tough, the bonds between them are weak, so they slip off easily and leave a dark mark when you write. Potential graphene applications include touch screens, solar cells, energy storage devices, cell phones and, eventually, high-speed computer chips. Replacing silicon, the basic electronic material in computer chips, however, "is a long way off . . . far beyond the horizon," said Geim, who first discovered how to produce graphene five years ago. "In the near and medium term, it's going to be extremely difficult for graphene to displace silicon as the main material in computer electronics," said Tomas Palacios , a graphene researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . "Silicon is a multi-billion dollar industry that has been perfecting silicon processing for 40 years." Government and university laboratories, long-established companies such as IBM , and small start-ups are working to solve difficult problems in making graphene and turning it into useful products. Ruoff founded a company in Austin called Graphene Energy, which is seeking ways to store renewable energy from solar cells or the energy captured from braking in autos. The Pentagon is also interested in this new high-tech material. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is spending $22 million on research to make computer chips and transistors out of graphene. Graphene was the leading topic at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society - a leading organization of physicists - in Pittsburgh in April. Researchers packed 23 panel sessions on the topic. About 1,500 scientific papers on graphene were published in 2008 alone. Until last year, the only way to make graphene was to mount flakes of graphite on sticky tape and separate a single layer by carefully peeling away the tape. They called it the "Scotch Tape technique." Recently, however, scientists have discovered a more efficient way to produce graphene on an underlying base of copper, nickel or silicon, which subsequently is etched away. "There has been spectacular progress in the last two or three months," Geim reported in the journal Science. "Challenges that looked so daunting just two years ago have suddenly shrunk, if not evaporated." "I'm confident there will be many commercial applications," Ruoff said. "We will begin to see hybrid devices - mostly made from silicon, but with a critical part of the device being graphene - in niche applications." ON THE WEB More from the University of Texas, Austin -- -- NUTRAZON... Instantly Balance Right & Left Hemispheres of Brain, Bringing Body into Immediate Homeostasis for Maximum Self-Healing Potential!: http://www.TeamOneWellness.com; then: http://www.2ProsperWell.com ------------ You Too Could Have An Instant List Of 10,000 Targeted Prospects... www.StreamlineFunnelSystem.com/?ID=11362 Nancy or Earle 949-200-7335 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Sun Jul 12 22:22:03 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:22:03 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: Psychedelic Frogs, Biomimicry, Eight-Circuit Brain Message-ID: <001501ca0371$8ff81b30$afe85190$@net> While some will sit in their chairs or in the pews of temples, synagogues, and churches immersed in boxes of ?ideology? which never let the mind roam free, others will be exploring the reality of an unlimited potential that lies before the people of this time to create a world of unlimited magnificence and abundance. Which game are you playing in? the one of mind-numbing fascism or the one called ?freedom with responsibility to do no harm?? From: Reality Sandwich [mailto:news at realitysandwich.com] Sent: Friday, July 10, 2009 9:49 AM To: MaryRose Subject: Psychedelic Frogs, Biomimicry, Eight-Circuit Brain RealitySandwich.com Psyche Eco Life Tech Commons Arts Sign up now for Antonio Lopez's online course, "Mediacology: Media Networks, Deep Ecology and the Global Village," offered through The Evolver Academy. This six-week class kicks off on July 20 and features "a unique combination of ecoliteracy and media literacy techniques that enable us to harness tools of media technology to fulfill our evolutionary potential and build a sustainable society." Read more about the class in this RS article. Events: Evolver Spores: "Beyond Money: What Comes Next?" Evolutionaries in twenty cities will connect, debate, and discuss the state of our world, our economies, and ourselves for this monthly gathering. We will investigate problems with the current economic paradigm and explore workable alternatives to it, such as time banks and complementary currencies, that communities can use now. The evening of July 15. Click here to find your local Spore, or start your own. http://www.evolver.net/event/spores_beyond_money * * * New Articles We publish new stories on Reality Sandwich daily, M-F. Below are teasers for recent highlights. We hope you will enjoy these articles and share them with your compatriots: Beyond Life Inc: Talking with Douglas Rushkoff by Peggy Nelson Media ecologist Douglas Rushkoff tells how the corporation has made us over into its own image, and how we can take it back. He also illuminates the Dark Ages, reveals why there's a God on our money, and explains what we're really buying into when we buy that mortgage. Read it here: http://www.realitysandwich.com/beyond_life_inc_talking_douglas_rushkoff The Eight-Circuit Brain by Antero Alli Timothy Leary indirectly turned millions of people on to LSD, but his central contribution was his Eight-Circuit Brain model for Intelligence Increase, a user-friendly grid designed for anyone exploring higher consciousness as a means not merely to get high, but for designing and creating new contexts for their lives. Read it here: http://www.realitysandwich.com/Eight_Circuit_Brain Cosmovision: An Aya Odyssey by Rak Razam The ayahuasca vine has spread her tendrils across the world and a genuine archaic revival was underway. My bags were packed; South America beckoned, and the ancient mysteries of the rainforest awaited. I wanted in on it. Read it here: http://www.realitysandwich.com/cosmovision A Vision for Getting to 2012 by John L. Petersen In the face of the rapidly converging trends approaching, we need to be on the offense: to shape and help manifest the new world that will certainly evolve. Read it here: http://www.realitysandwich.com/vision_getting_2012 The Devil Made You Do It. Again by Lisa Kirchner As part of a weeklong series of events, the second annual World Science Festival in New York brought in a Nobel Laureate to moderate a panel that included a neuroscientist, a philosopher, and a psychologist to take on one of the most vexing questions of all time -- do humans have free will? Read it here: http://www.realitysandwich.com/devil_made_you_do_it_again_0 Biomimicry: Designing with Nature by Gil Friend Industrial designs that consider and emulate nature are more likely to succeed, because they use design principles tested and refined in evolutionary time, and they use materials that renew, replenish, and support life's cycles. Read it here: http://www.realitysandwich.com/biomimicry_designing_nature The Oracle and the Smoking Mirror By William Douglas Horden I take a deep breath and ask my question out loud: At what crossroads does our global civilization stand now, and in what direction does good fortune lie? A rare thunderstorm shatters the Oregon twilight. The lights blink off on off on. I shake the coins, drop them, count them, six times. The squall passes on to the next valley. The Oracle speaks. Read it here: http://www.realitysandwich.com/oracle_and_smoking_mirror Self-Aware Plants by Jessica Pherson Ordinary sagebrush shows a unique ability to "look out for their own kind." Read it here: http://www.realitysandwich.com/selfaware_plants The Double Dream of Spring by Brian George The first act of creation is/was also an act of obfuscation, which is perceived, on the level of the human psyche, as a trauma. What allows us to exist as fully conscious beings is the flip side of the trauma that has cut us from the whole. Read it here: http://www.realitysandwich.com/double_dream_spring Rapping about the Masculine by Propaganda Anonymous Byron Hurt's documentary Beyond Beats and Rhymes explores the complex issues of masculinity, misogyny, and homophobia in hip-hop culture. Read it here: http://www.realitysandwich.com/rapping_masculine Acoustic Black Holes by Bill Machon Physicists have created artificial black holes that are capable of trapping sound rather than light. Read it here: http://www.realitysandwich.com/acoustic_black_holes Quantum Teleportation by Kovvy New discoveries in "quantum entanglement" may assist scientists in developing teleportation devices. Read it here: http://www.realitysandwich.com/quantum_teleportation Lick the Frog by Tollevin S Williams "Vice Magazine's" resident pharmacologist Hamilton Morris risks life and limb in search of the Amazon's psychedelic sapo frog. Read it here: http://www.realitysandwich.com/Lick_frog * * * Cheers, Daniel, Ken, Jonathan, Michael, Steven, ST, Kris, Jennifer, Maya, Jeffrey, Caroline, Trish, Remi, and the rest of the Reality Sandwich team. _____ Manage Account Unsubscribe Opt Out http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ RealitySandwich.com is Empowered By CivicActions , Creative Direction by nowhereNYC.com All Content -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Sun Jul 12 22:22:03 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:22:03 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] How Industry Giants Are Undermining the Organic Movement Message-ID: <001a01ca0371$9ceb8930$d6c29b90$@net> Finally am back online with email problems fixed. -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Friday, July 10, 2009 10:35 AM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] How Industry Giants Are Undermining the Organic Movement (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) The Organic Monopoly and the Myth of 'Natural' Foods: How Industry Giants Are Undermining the Organic Movement Thursday, July 9, 2009 by CommonDreams.org by Ronnie Cummins http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/09 The Organic Alternative: A Matter of Survival After four decades of hard work, the organic community has built up a $25 billion "certified organic" food, farming, and green products sector. This consumer-driven movement, under steady attack by the biotech and Big Food lobby, with little or no help from government, has managed to create a healthy and sustainable alternative to America's disastrous, chemical and energy-intensive system of industrial agriculture. Conscious of the health hazards of Big Food Inc., and the mortal threat of climate change and Peak Oil, a critical mass of organic consumers are now demanding food and other products that are certified organic, as well as locally or regionally produced, minimally processed, and packaged. The Organic Alternative, in turn, is bolstered by an additional $50 billion in annual spending by consumers on products marketed as "natural," or "sustainable." This rapidly expanding organic/green products sector--organic (4% of total retail sales) and natural (8%)--now constitutes more than 12% of total retail grocery sales, with an annual growth rate of 10-15%. Even taking into account what appears to be a permanent economic recession and a lower rate of growth than that seen over the past 20 years, the organic and natural market will likely constitute 31-56% of grocery sales in 2020. If the Organic Alternative continues to grow, and if consumers demand that all so-called "natural" products move in a genuine, third party-certified "transition to organic" direction, the U.S. will be well on its way to solving three of the nation's most pressing problems: climate change, deteriorating public health, and Peak Oil. Sales statistics and polls underline the positive fact that a vast army of organic consumers, more than 75 million Americans, despite an economic recession, are willing to pay a premium price for organic and green products. These consumers are willing to pay a premium because they firmly believe that organic and natural products are healthier, climate stabilizing, environmentally sustainable, humane for animals, and well as more equitable for family farmers, farmworkers, and workers throughout the supply chain. Many of the most committed organic consumers are conscious of the fact that organic food and other products are actually "cheaper" in real terms than conventional food and other items-since industrial agriculture's so-called "cheap" products carry hidden costs, including billions of dollars in annual tax subsidies, and hundreds of billions of dollars in damage to our health, the environment, and climate. Strengthening the argument for organic food and farming, scientists now tell us that it will take a massive conversion to organic agriculture (as well as renewable energy, sustainable housing and transportation) to drastically reduce climate-destabilizing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million and to cope with the advent of "Peak Oil," the impending decline in petroleum and natural gas supplies. Organic food and a healthy diet and lifestyle are obviously key factors in preventing chronic disease, restoring public health, and reducing out-of-control health care costs. While in 1970, U.S. health care spending appeared somewhat sustainable, totaling $75 billion, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services project that by 2016, health care spending will soar to over $4.1 trillion, or $12,782 per resident. Millions of health-minded Americans, especially parents of young children, now understand that cheap, non-organic, industrial food is hazardous. Not only does chemical and energy-intensive factory farming destroy the environment, impoverish rural communities, exploit farm workers, inflict unnecessary cruelty on farm animals, and contaminate the water supply; but the end product itself is inevitably contaminated. Routinely contained in nearly every bite or swallow of non-organic industrial food are pesticides, antibiotics and other animal drug residues, pathogens, feces, hormone disrupting chemicals, toxic sludge, slaughterhouse waste, genetically modified organisms, chemical additives and preservatives, irradiation-derived radiolytic chemical by-products, and a host of other hazardous allergens and toxins. Eighty million cases of food poisoning every year in the US, an impending swine/bird flu pandemic (directly attributable to factory farms), and an epidemic of food-related cancers, heart attacks, and obesity make for a compelling case for the Organic Alternative. Likewise millions of green-minded consumers understand that industrial agriculture poses a terminal threat to the environment and climate stability. A highly conscious and passionate segment of the population are beginning to understand that converting to non-chemical, energy-efficient, carbon-sequestering organic farming practices, and drastically reducing food miles by relocalizing the food chain, are essential preconditions for stabilizing our out-of-control climate and preparing our families and communities for Peak Oil and future energy shortages. Decades of research confirm that organic agriculture produces crop yields that are comparable (under normal weather conditions) or even 50-70% superior (during droughts or excessive rain) to chemical farming. Nutritional studies show that organic crops are qualitatively higher in vitamin content and trace minerals, and that fresh unprocessed organic foods boost the immune system and reduce cancer risks. And, of course climate scientists emphasize that organic agriculture substantially reduces greenhouse pollution. Organic farms use, on the average, 50% or less petroleum inputs than chemical farms, while generating drastically less greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide. Moreover diverse, multi-crop organic farms sequester enormous amounts of CO2 in the soil. Agronomists point out that a return to traditional organic farming practices across the globe could reduce greenhouse gas pollution by 40%. In other words, America and the world desperately need an Organic Revolution in food and farming, not only to salvage public health and improve nutrition, but also in order to literally survive in the onrushing era of Peak Oil and climate change. Scientists, as well as common sense, warn us that a public health Doomsday Clock is ticking. Within a decade, diet and environment-related diseases, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer-heavily subsidized under our Big Pharma/chemical/genetically engineered/factory farm system-will likely bankrupt Medicare and the entire U.S. health care system. Likewise, climate chaos and oil shortages, unless we act quickly, will soon severely disrupt industrial agriculture and long-distance food transportation, leading to massive crop failures, food shortages, famine, war, and pestilence. Even more alarming, accelerating levels of greenhouse gases (especially from cars, coal, cattle, and related rainforest and wetlands destruction) will soon push global warming to a tipping point that will melt the polar icecaps and unleash a cataclysmic discharge of climate-destabilizing methane, fragilely sequestered in the frozen arctic tundra. If we care about our children and the future generations, we obviously must reverse global warming, stabilize the climate, and prepare for petroleum shortages and vastly higher oil prices. The only way to do this is to reduce greenhouse gas pollution by 90% by 2050, by shifting away from petroleum and coal-based energy to radical energy conservation and making a transition to renewable solar and wind power-not only in transportation, housing, and industry, but in farming, food processing, and food distribution as well. In the food sector, we cannot continue to hand over 88% of our consumer dollars to out-of-control, chemical-intensive, energy-intensive, greenhouse gas polluting corporations and "profit at any cost" retail chains such as Wal-Mart. The growth of the Organic Alternative is literally a matter of survival. The question then becomes how (and how quickly) can we move healthy, organic, and "natural" products from a 12% market share, to becoming the dominant force in American food and farming. This is a major undertaking, one that will require a major transformation in public consciousness and policy, but it is doable, and absolutely necessary. But before we overthrow Monsanto, Wal-Mart, and Food Inc., we need to put our own house in order. Before we set our sights on making organic and "transition to organic" the norm, rather than the alternative, we need to take a closer, more critical look at the $50 billion annual natural food and products industry. How natural is the so-called natural food in our local Whole Foods Market, coop, or grocery store? Is the "natural" sector moving our nation toward an organic future, or has it degenerated into a "green washed" marketing tool, disguising unhealthy and unsustainable food and farming practices as alternatives. Is "natural" just a marketing ploy to sell conventional-unhealthy, energy-intensive, and non-sustainable food and products at a premium price? The Myth of Natural Food, Farming, and Products Walk down the aisles of any Whole Foods Market (WFM) or browse the wholesale catalogue of industry giant United Natural Foods (UNFI) and look closely. What do you see? Row after row of attractively displayed, but mostly non-organic "natural" (i.e. conventional) foods and products. By marketing sleight of hand, these conventional foods, vitamins, private label "365" items, and personal care products become "natural" or "almost organic" (and overpriced) in the Whole Foods setting. The overwhelming majority of WFM products, even their best-selling private label, "365" house brand, are not organic, but rather the products of chemical-intensive and energy-intensive farm and food production factories. Test these so-called natural products in a lab and what will you find: pesticide residues, Genetically Modified Organisms, and a long list of problematic and/or carcinogenic synthetic chemicals and additives. Trace these products back to the farm or factory and what will you find: climate destabilizing chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, and sewage sludge-not to mention exploited farm workers and workers in the food processing industry. Of course there are many products in WFM (and in UNFI's catalogue} that bear the label "USDA Organic." But the overwhelming majority of their products, even their best selling private label, "365," are not. What does certified organic or "USDA Organic" mean? This means these products are certified 95-100% organic. Certified organic means the farmer or producer has undergone a regular inspection of its farm, facilities, ingredients, and practices by an independent Third Party certifier, accredited by the USDA National Organic Program (NOP). The producer has followed strict NOP regulations and maintained detailed records. Synthetic pesticides, animal drugs, sewage sludge, GMOs, irradiation, and chemical fertilizers are prohibited. Farm animals, soil, and crops have been managed organically; food can only be processed with certain methods; only allowed ingredients can be used. On the other hand, what does "natural" really mean, in terms of farming practices, ingredients, and its impact on the environment and climate? To put it bluntly, "natural," in the overwhelming majority of cases is meaningless, even though most consumers do not fully understand this. Natural, in other words, means conventional, with a green veneer. Natural products are routinely produced using pesticides, chemical fertilizer, hormones, genetic engineering, and sewage sludge. Natural or conventional products-whether produce, dairy, or canned or frozen goods are typically produced on large industrial farms or in processing plants that are highly polluting, chemical-intensive and energy-intensive. "Natural," "all-natural," and "sustainable," products in most cases are neither backed up by rules and regulations, nor a Third Party certifier. Natural and sustainable are typically label claims that are neither policed nor monitored. (For an evaluation of eco-labels see the Consumers Union website). The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service provides loose, non-enforced guidelines for the use of the term "natural" on meat--basically the products cannot contain artificial flavors, coloring, or preservatives and cannot be more than minimally processed. On non-meat products, the term natural is typically pure propaganda. Companies (like Whole Foods Market or UNFI) are simply telling us what we want to hear, so that we pay an organic or premium price for a conventional product. Perhaps this wouldn't matter that much if we were living in normal times, with a relatively healthy population, environment, and climate. Conventional products sold as natural or "nearly organic" would be a simple matter of chicanery or consumer fraud. But we are not living in normal times. Pressuring natural and conventional products and producers to make the transition to organic is a matter of life or death. And standing in the way of making this great transition are not only Fortune 500 food and beverage corporations, Monsanto, and corporate agribusiness, as we would expect, but the wholesale and retail giants in the organic and natural products sector, UNFI (United Natural Foods) and Whole Foods Market (WFM). UNFI & Whole Foods: Profits at Any Cost UNFI and Whole Foods Market are the acknowledged market and wholesale distribution leaders in the $70 billion organic and natural foods and products sector. Companies or brands that want to distribute their products on more than just a local or regional basis must deal with the near-monopoly wholesaler, UNFI, and giant retailer WFM. Meanwhile retailers in markets dominated by Whole Foods have little choice but to emulate the business practices of WFM-i.e. sell as many conventional foods, green washed as "natural," as possible. Unfortunately neither UNFI and Whole Foods are putting out the essential message to their millions of customers that expanding organics is literally a matter of life or death for public health, climate, and the environment. Neither are leading the charge to double or triple organic food and farming sales by exposing the myth of natural foods, giving preference to organic producers and products, and pressuring natural brands and companies to make the transition to organic. Neither are the industry giants lobbying the government to stop nickel and dime-ing organics and get serious about making a societal transition to organic food and farming. The reason for this is simple: it is far easier and profitable for UNFI and WFM to sell conventional or so-called natural foods at a premium price, than it is to pay a premium price for organics and educate consumers as to why "cheap" conventional/natural food is really more expensive than organic, given the astronomical hidden costs (health, pollution, climate destabilization) of conventional agriculture and food processing. UNFI has cemented this "WFM/Conventional as Natural" paradigm by emulating conventional grocery store practices: giving WFM preferential prices over smaller stores and coops-many of whom are trying their best to sell as many certified organic and local organic products as possible. Compounding this undermining of organics is the increasing practice among large organic companies of dropping organic ingredients in favor of conventional ingredients, while maintaining their preferential shelf space in WFM or UNFI-supplied stores. In other words the most ethical and organic (often smaller) grocers and producers are being discriminated against. WFM also demands, and in most cases receives, a large quantity of free products from producers in exchange for being distributed in WFM markets. The unfortunate consequence of all this is that it's very difficult for an independently-owned grocer or a coop trying to sell mostly organic products to compete with, or even survive in the same market as WFM, given the natural products "Sweetheart Deal" between UNFI and WFM. As a consequence more and more independently owned "natural" grocery stores and coops are emulating the WFM model, while a number of brand name, formerly organic, companies are moving away from organic ingredients (Silk soy milk, Horizon, Hain, and Peace Cereal for example) or organic practices (the infamous intensive confinement dairy feedlots of Horizon and Aurora) altogether, while maintaining a misleading green profile in the UNFI/WFM marketplace. Other companies, in the multi-billion dollar body care sector for example, are simply labeling their conventional/natural products as "organic" or trade-marking the word "organic" or "organics" as part of their brand name. The bottom line is that we must put our money and our principles where our values lie. Buy Certified Organic, not so-called natural products, today and everyday. And tell your retail grocer or coop how you feel. Please join thousands of other Organic Consumers and send a message to Whole Foods and UNFI today. Ronnie Cummins is National Director of the Organic Consumers Association From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Mon Jul 13 07:03:41 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:03:41 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] James Quilligan, and the Global Commons. Message-ID: <80773.69678.qm@web27406.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> ? Dear All, ? ????????? I have been having some contact with James Quilligan who appears to appreciate, and understand Transfinancial Economics, and its importance. ? http://www.p2pfoundation.net/Transfinancial_Economics ? His website is at ? http://www.global-commons.org/ ? He also has an interesting video link on money entitled What Backs the Dollar? With a young friend, student, or relavative he discusses banking in a short trip around Philadelphia. ? Here is some biodata on Quilligan:- ? ? ? ?James Bernard?Quilligan E-mail Print PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND James Quilligan has been an analyst and administra?tor in the field of international development since 1975. He has served as policy advisor and writer for many international politicians and leaders, including Pierre Trudeau, Fran?ois Mitterrand, Edward Heath, Julius Nyerere, Lopez Portillo, Olof Palme, Willy Brandt, and Jimmy Carter. He has been an economic consultant for government agencies in 26 countries, including the United States. He has also served as an advisor for several United Nations programs and international development organizations. Quilligan?s articles, under his own name, or as a ghostwriter for others, have appeared in the International Herald Tribune, the Manchester Guardian, the Christian Science Monitor, the Washington Post, Newsweek, Der Spiegel, the Economist, World Press Review, Tikkun, and other books and publications. He is also a musician and composer. EDUCATION Quilligan received BA degrees in Philosophy and Literature from Kent State University (1973), an MA in Literature from Michigan State University (1975), an MA in Political Campaign Management from Kent State Uni?versity (1985), and completed all coursework but thesis toward an MA in Communication from the Annen?berg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania (1987). THE BRANDT COMMISSION >From 1978 to 1984, Quilligan worked with the Brandt Commission, a distinguished group of world leaders headed by former German Chancellor Willy Brandt. The commission conducted what may have been the most comprehensive ?state of the world? report and proposed a series of mea?sures to reduce the vast and unjust economic discrepancies between the developed and developing worlds. Their first report was published in 1980 by MIT Press as North-South: A Program for Survival, and was followed by another report Common Crisis, published in xxxx. A summit of world leaders met on the heels of the Brandt Commission (Cancun, 1981) but failed to implement the recommendations, and now the majority of the world's economies are in what can only be described as ?critical condition? . THE CENTRE FOR GLOBAL NEGOTIATIONS The resulting chaos has fueled age-old tensions, inspired virulent acts of terrorism, and ignited new wars around the globe. Because it is even more urgently needed now than it was 25 years ago, the Brandt plan has been updated for today's world, and has been re-introduced by James Quilligan as The Brandt Equation: 21st Century Blue?print for the New Global Economy, available in its entirely at . From 2002 to the present, Quilligan has presented this information to a wide range of audiences, particularly in the US and Canada. Due to the vast scope of the work, Quilligan has associated himself with an expanding group of dedicated and skilled co-workers who, in 2004, formed the non-profit, 501(c)(3) Centre for Global Negotiations. The name derives from Willy Brandt?s conviction that: The aim of ?global negotiations? is international consensus. This means that no single problem, energy or debt or food, for example, would be viewed in isolation without considering its direct implications on the full global agenda of interconnected issues.? ? THE COMMISSION FOR AFRICA In xxxx British Prime Minister Tony Blair and activist-musician Bob Geldof launched the Commission for Africa, which included active politicians and Heads of State from around the world. The commission represented a new attempt at implementing Brandt's visionary plan, and Quilligan was asked to serve as an advisor. Their report, Our Common Interest, formed the agenda for discussion at the 2005 G-8 Summit in Scotland and resulted in ??? GLOBAL MARSHALL PLAN In 2006 Quilligan was asked to serve as the US Coordinator for the European-based Global Marshall Plan Initiative, a group of distinguished leaders in many fields who have been working diligently toward the implementation of an action plan to end international poverty, promote development, restore the environment, create alternative sources of finance, and restructure the international economy in support of sustainable development. Their plan is inspired by the American ?Marshall Plan?, a widely acclaimed emergency relief and reconstruction program from 1948-51 that reduced poverty significantly and led to economic recovery throughout Western Europe during the postwar period. ?? The main focus of the Centre for Global Negotiations and the Global Marshall Plan Initiative during this next period will be helping to organize the Coalition for the Global Commons ? an international consultation process that is engaging partners across the world in the development of a common global action plan. The dialogue and feeback process is open to all leaders, experts and the public, creating a wide circle of input for the development of a consultation text. The results of this consultation round will be presented at a conference of internaional? stakeholders in 2010, the Convention on the Global Commons. Quilligan is serving as Policy Development Coordinator of this coalition. ~ ~ ~ HIGHLIGHTS FROM JAMES QUILLIGAN?S LECTURES AND INTERVIEWS 2003-2007 Sustainable Resources Conference, University of Boulder?? The Thomas Merton Center of Pittsburgh, PA ? Slippery Rock University Sustainable Systems Conference, Youngstown, OH ? International Centre, University of Alberta ? University of Oregon, Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics and Concerned faculty for Peace and Justice ? World Economic Sustainability Conference, College of Marin, CA ? University of California, James S. Coleman African Studies Center and the Globalization Research Center for Africa, Los Angeles, CA ? Boston Social Forum ? Leeds School of Business, Colorado University, Boulder ? University of Kings College, School of Journalism, Halifax, NS, Canada ? University of Montreal, Department of Political Science ? McGill University, Department of Political Science, Montreal ? Africa and Globalisation for the Common Good: The Quest for Justice and Peace, Kericho, Kenya ? The Mershon Center, Ohio State University, Columbus ? Live8 Social Issues Series,?cordinator of events for the City of Philadelphia ? Concordia University, Department of Political Science, Montreal ? St. Francis Xavier University, Department of International Development, Anitgonish, Nova Scotia ? Eco-Justice Conference, Youngstown State University, Ohio ? Willy Brandt Roundtable, DACOR Bacon House, Washington, DC ??Midd-8 Conference, Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont ? Globalisation for the Common Good Conference, Chaminade University, Honolulu, Hawaii ? World Wisdom Alliance, Toronto, Ontario ? United Nations Youth Assembly,?New York City ? International Leaders Meeting, Chopra Centre, New York City ? Global Domestic Policy conference, Protestant Academy of Germany, Tutsing, Germany ??Globalisation for the Common Good Conference, Fatih University, Istanbul, Turkey Quilligan has given over 50 radio, TV and print interviews, including BBC and CBC radio; national, syndicated and local programs in the US and Canada. (Updated May 6, 2008) E-mail Print | About Us | Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Web Designer | Copyright 2005-2009 Kosmos Associates Inc. All rights reserved. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Mon Jul 13 10:26:32 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:26:32 -0700 Subject: [GJM] Tree of Life Oasis Message-ID: <001f01ca03d6$b22a6d10$167f4730$@net> In the future we are creating, places like the Tree if Life are mandatory. As we struggle to combat the toxins and pestilence we have let loose in our environment our body/mind must rest in a nearly perfect coherence pattern which reinforces our immune system. The perfect coherence pattern is one that reflects the pure white light. We must become "radiance" itself. What is meant by "coherence pattern" are the wave forms which naturally emanate from the subtle energy (information) fields which consist of the vibrations (emotions) of human consciousness. Learn more about the Tree of Life at the URL below and then recreate this peaceful type of environment in your own home because this is not something that is done occasionally - it must become a way of life. Note that Dr. David 'Avacado" Wolfe and Dr. Gabriel Cousens have now joined together in promoting the raw foods diet as a healing modality for Type II Diabetes. Read an interview below with Dr. Cousens. This is important information as statistics reveal that just the number of diabetics alone in our society is enough to completely overwhelm the current healthcare system as increasing numbers of Baby-Boomers reach retirement age and become dependent upon Medicare for their well-being. http://www.treeoflife.nu/ (NaturalNews) This interview is an excerpt from Kevin Gianni`s Rawkathon, which can be found at http://www.Rawkathon.com. In this excerpt, Gabriel Cousens shares on individualized diets and life changing transformations including reversing diabetes. Rawkathon with Gabriel Cousens. Gabriel Cousens is a holistic physician and family therapist. He is the author of Spiritual Nutrition and Conscious Eating. Kevin: Let`s first start very briefly explaining a little bit to people who may not have seen you before who you are. Gabriel: OK. Well, my interest in live food started in 1975, which came not for health reasons but because after going deep into meditation, as I came out, a little voice rang out and said you should learn to eat and live in a way that supports unfolding your spiritual energy. At that point, as a holistic physician, a psychiatrist, family therapist, I began to explore the whole thing. Also I was somewhat living in India for a cycle of seven years, so I had access to a whole lot of people who were very interested in the spiritual path. As it evolved over that period of cycle of seven years, it got very clear that live foods was the most powerful support on a dietary level for spiritual life. In yogic terms, live food represented a very high prana or high life force diet that helped people turn inward to themselves. We used the term sattvic, turn inward to themselves. Other diets , they eat meat. They get rajasic, that`s a term for being active. It`s the executive diet, OK? Then the tamasic diet is equivalent to junk food, drugs, things like that. It kind of dulls consciousness. So it got clear that the most powerful sattvic diet, the diet that turns you in to your own inner experience was a live food diet. Basically it helps people become the super conductor of the divine. Kevin: Where did (you) learn some of the principles of living foods ? Did you have a mentor? Gabriel: Basically it was primarily my own trial and error. Looking at different diets. Trying different diets. Reading different things. I was exposed to many people. Actually, not so much (in) the beginning. The truth is it took a while to kind of move on just by exploring it. Then after I got more in the live foods I began meeting the people in the live food movement. It was more like that. It was really in 1983 after a 40-day fast, that I went completely 100 percent live food and have been since that. So that`s 25 years. But it was all self-motivated in the sense that not, "I want to find the best diet for myself," but to really support the thousands of people that I was working with in regard to the best diet for spiritual life, period. So, it`s all like as a scientist because I published, even in college, papers in biophysics and biochemistry , published in Columbia Medical School and have continued to publish papers. In this case it was just taking the scientific background and saying, "OK. This isn`t exactly perfect. Some people succeed. Some people don`t succeed. What`s going on?" Now we can say, "Yeah it might use jet fuel, but you need to go to jet pilot school because you need to know how to work with it." You need to know how to best work with the energies that get created. That`s why we`ve come up with the idea of individualizing your diet. There are a variety of different systems that are out there. It`s generally conceded that we have 20,000 to 30,000 different genes, maybe 200,000 different gene variations; there`s not one diet for everybody. Roger Williams in 1950 came out with a book called "Biochemical Individuality." He was a professor of nutrition , biochemistry. We are unique individuals. There is no average person. That`s a myth. So, once we got to understand that you have to individualize your diet according to your biochemical individuality, according to your genetic tendencies, then we started seeing we can get a 100% success rate for people doing it, once they are properly coached, whether you`re needing more protein or more complex carbohydrate and less fat. They`re variations that when you get it together, people can really eat in a way that maximizes their energy and their endurance and their quality of life. That`s kind of one of the big contributions. We have a Masters program in vegan live food nutrition, and one of our master`s students did an interview of 525 people. These are people that for two years ate at least 80% live, and 87.5% of the people found increased spiritual interest, increased mental clarity, increased emotional balance. That`s a statement there. Something really is happening with the live foods. You look at the diabetes thing. One of the hidden things in that movie "Simply Raw" - they are reversing diabetes naturally - is that at the beginning that group are like herding a bunch of cats. This is not the easiest thing. Their minds weren`t clear. Their endurance was weak. It`s like, "Whoa." But at the end what they do they do? They walk up the mountain, which is your highest human potential. First of all they couldn`t do that. They couldn`t walk. Second their minds became clear. They began to kind of sparkle in their consciousness. Tremendous transformations in a very, very short time. That`s exciting. So, there`s something going on with live foods that allows that transformation. For more from this excerpt of the Rawkathon, plus 14 other amazing raw food interviews, please visit http://www.Rawkathon.com. We must be the change we wish to see in our lives. M Gandhi FutureDawning.org Mary Rose dustysummerrose at gmail.com Always have my latest info Want a signature like this? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Mon Jul 13 11:24:04 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:24:04 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse' Message-ID: <004601ca03de$bb5edda0$321c98e0$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Sunday, July 12, 2009 9:22 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse' The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse' Authoritative new study sets out a grim vision of shortages and violence - but amid all the gloom, there is some hope too http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/the-planets-future-c limate-change-will-cause-civilisation-to-collapse-1742759.html By Jonathan Owen An effort on the scale of the Apollo mission that sent men to the Moon is needed if humanity is to have a fighting chance of surviving the ravages of climate change. The stakes are high, as, without sustainable growth, "billions of people will be condemned to poverty and much of civilisation will collapse". This is the stark warning from the biggest single report to look at the future of the planet - obtained by The Independent on Sunday ahead of its official publication next month. Backed by a diverse range of leading organisations such as Unesco, the World Bank, the US army and the Rockefeller Foundation, the 2009 State of the Future report runs to 6,700 pages and draws on contributions from 2,700 experts around the globe. Its findings are described by Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the UN, as providing "invaluable insights into the future for the United Nations, its member states, and civil society". The impact of the global recession is a key theme, with researchers warning that global clean energy, food availability, poverty and the growth of democracy around the world are at "risk of getting worse due to the recession". The report adds: "Too many greedy and deceitful decisions led to a world recession and demonstrated the international interdependence of economics and ethics." Related articles * John Rentoul: Against all odds, a step up for the planet * Hamish McRae: Forget grandstanding, dear leaders, and just learn from your G8 friends Although the future has been looking better for most of the world over the past 20 years, the global recession has lowered the State of the Future Index for the next 10 years. Half the world could face violence and unrest due to severe unemployment combined with scarce water, food and energy supplies and the cumulative effects of climate change. And the authors of the report, produced by the Millennium Project - a think-tank formerly part of the World Federation of the United Nations Associations - set out a number of emerging environmental security issues. "The scope and scale of the future effects of climate change - ranging from changes in weather patterns to loss of livelihoods and disappearing states - has unprecedented implications for political and social stability." But the authors suggest the threats could also provide the potential for a positive future for all. "The good news is that the global financial crisis and climate change planning may be helping humanity to move from its often selfish, self-centred adolescence to a more globally responsible adulthood... Many perceive the current economic disaster as an opportunity to invest in the next generation of greener technologies, to rethink economic and development assumptions, and to put the world on course for a better future." Scientific and technological progress continues to accelerate. IBM promises a computer at 20,000 trillion calculations per second by 2011, which is estimated to be the speed of the human brain. And nanomedicine may one day rebuild damaged cells atom by atom, using nanobots the size of blood cells. But technological progress carries its own risks. "Globalisation and advanced technology allow fewer people to do more damage and in less time, so that possibly one day a single individual may be able to make and deploy a weapon of mass destruction." The report also praises the web, which it singles out as "the most powerful force for globalisation, democratisation, economic growth, and education in history". Technological advances are cited as "giving birth to an interdependent humanity that can create and implement global strategies to improve the prospects for humanity". The immediate problems are rising food and energy prices, shortages of water and increasing migrations "due to political, environmental and economic conditions", which could plunge half the world into social instability and violence. And organised crime is flourishing, with a global income estimated at $3 trillion - twice the military budgets of all countries in the world combined. The effects of climate change are worsening - by 2025 there could be three billion people without adequate water as the population rises still further. And massive urbanisation, increased encroachment on animal territory, and concentrated livestock production could trigger new pandemics. Although government and business leaders are responding more seriously to the global environmental situation, it continues to get worse, according to the report. It calls on governments to work to 10-year plans to tackle growing threats to human survival, targeting particularly the US and China, which need to apply the sort of effort and resources that put men on the Moon. "This is not only important for the environment; it is also a strategy to increase the likelihood of international peace. Without some agreement, it will be difficult to get the kind of global coherence needed to address climate change seriously." While the world has the resources to address its challenges, coherence and direction have been lacking. Recent meetings of the US and China, as well as of Nato and Russia, and the birth of the G20 plus the continued work of the G8 promise to improve global strategic collaboration, but "it remains to be seen if this spirit of co-operation can continue and if decisions will be made on the scale necessary to really address the global challenges discussed in this report". Although the scale of the effects of climate change are unprecedented, the causes are generally known, and the consequences can largely be forecast. The report says, "coordination for effective and adequate action is yet incipient, and environmental problems worsen faster than response or preventive policies are being adopted". Jerome Glenn, director of the Millennium Project and one of the report's authors, said: "There are answers to our global challenges, but decisions are still not being made on the scale necessary to address them. Three great transitions would help both the world economy and its natural environment - to shift as much as possible from freshwater agriculture to saltwater agriculture; produce healthier meat without the need to grow animals; and replace gasoline cars with electric cars." From maryrose333 at att.net Mon Jul 13 16:38:19 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:38:19 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: FW: [globalnetnews-summary] When Will The Recovery Begin? Never Message-ID: <005001ca040a$a1d97e90$e58c7bb0$@net> David I agree with you, and in other messages the sustainability issue has been emphasized. You just don't seem to hear/read any of this and only pick up on what you perceive as negative. In the real world, the darkness is every bit as valuable as the light -- we have just been taught not to think of it that way. With much love and appreciation, m r -----Original Message----- From: Dave Ewoldt [mailto:dave at reststop.net] Sent: Monday, July 13, 2009 12:56 PM To: mary rose Subject: Re: FW: [globalnetnews-summary] When Will The Recovery Begin? Never On 12 Jul 2009 at 21:22, mary rose wrote: > And, yes, this is going to be extremely painful as we are now totally > without > structure as the old and corrupted systems fail us in the second great I hear something so similar to this all the time amongst change agents--the coming changes will be painful and cause massive disruptions. What we're doing _now_ is painful and causing disruptions. Chaos and collapse is where the current paradigm is taking us. We might get more support amongst the masses if we started being a bit more truthful and putting things in perspective. Sustainable change will _improve_ quality of life. Also, we have quite a bit of structure to build on and look to for functioning sustainable models and metaphors--the entire living world. A track record of success measured in the billions of years. We've also ordered our social and personal relationships on a different paradigm before--the partnership way. This is a more natural way of doing things because it adheres to the prime activity of living organisms--the tendency to self-organize into mutually beneficial relationships that nurture and support life. For the Earth... _dave_(this entire message is composed of recycled electrons) Natural Systems Solutions http://www.attractionretreat.org http://naturalsystems.blogspot.com Sustainable lifestyles, organizations, and communities From maryrose333 at att.net Mon Jul 13 16:42:19 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:42:19 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: Drum Roll...Trumpets... An important announcement: Message-ID: <005101ca040b$3159cac0$940d6040$@net> It is wonderful to see this happen for Dr. Lipton. With much love and appreciation. m r From: Spiritcrossing [mailto:info at spiritcrossing.com] Sent: Monday, July 13, 2009 1:00 PM To: maryrose333 at att.net Subject: Drum Roll...Trumpets... An important announcement: View this email online by clicking here. Hello Friends, Bruce Lipton Photo We want you, our family of change, to be among the first to know about an incredible announcement by the Goi Peace Foundation. Our dear friend, Bruce Lipton has been selected to receive the "2009 Goi Peace Award". The link below will take you to the full announcement, but please join us in celebration and appreciation for another loud clear signal that our world is changing in a profound and beautiful way. Goi Peace Award 2009: Dr. Bruce H. Lipton, PhD Bruce Lipton to Receive the 2009 Goi Peace Award Goi Peace Award 2008 recipient: Bill Gates The Goi Peace Award selection committee will bestow the 2009 Goi Peace Award on cell biologist Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. in recognition of his pioneering work in the field of New Biology. The annual Goi Peace Award honors individuals and organizations in various fields that have made outstanding contributions toward the realization of a peaceful and harmonious world for all life on earth. Dr. Lipton will receive the award at a ceremony during the Goi Peace Foundation Forum 2009 to be held at Ginza Blossom Hall in Tokyo on November 8, 2009. "Through his research and educational activities, Dr. Lipton has contributed to greater understanding of life and the true nature of humanity, empowering wide layers of the public to take control of their own lives and become responsible co-creators of a harmonious planetary future" Hiroo Saionji, president of the Goi Peace Foundation. Please see the full announcement here: http://www.goipeace.or.jp Of course, first of all feel the joy and celebration for our friend Bruce, but more importantly join us in spreading that celebration of Love and Life with everyone in your life. The message of World Peace is the heart of our work, and each of us plays a vital role. Love and light, This message was sent from Spiritcrossing to maryrose333 at att.net. It was sent from: Spirit 2000, SpiritCrossing P.O. Box 11736 , Murfreesboro, TN 37129-0035. You can modify/update your subscription via the link below. Email Marketing by iContact - Try It Free! To be removed click here -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Mon Jul 13 16:44:29 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:44:29 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: Care Focus: Children of the World Message-ID: <005601ca040b$7d40cab0$77c26010$@net> From: Global Coherence Initiative [mailto:info at glcoherence.org] Sent: Monday, July 13, 2009 1:24 PM To: maryrose333 at att.net Subject: Care Focus: Children of the World Dear Mary, Millions of people around the world are dedicating their lives to helping improve the lives of children everywhere. Please join us in spending some focused heart time radiating coherent love, appreciation and care to the children of the world and to those who are selflessly serving them. You can use the Introductory Coherence Technique or whatever method you choose that?s comfortable to you that engages your heart?s care and compassion. Visit the new Global Coherence Lock-in Room and join in with others from around the world in this Care Focus. Click here to learn more. Revised Note - Please read Guiding principles for GCI Care Focus As the Global Shift is playing out, there are a growing number of situations that unfold continuously around the world that could benefit from focused care. This makes it difficult to choose a GCI focus that would suit everyone at any given time. With GCI members from many different countries and cultures, it?s understandable that this would influence personal feelings of what would be most appropriate for a GCI care focus. At times when a global issue is more important to you than the GCI care focus selected, we suggest this: Spend a little time on the GCI care focus, then spend most of your time sending love and compassion to whatever situation you feel is most important. Some of you may choose to hold a vision of the planet in a state of perfection, which can help manifest how we would want it to be. The most important thing is for us all to love, accept, and respect without judgment each others expressions of care. The techniques suggested by the GCI team won?t always feel appropriate for everyone because of our many cultural backgrounds and personal belief systems. This is very understandable. When this is an issue, we invite you to use your own heart?s choice of technique, prayer, meditation, affirmation, visualization, etc., when sending love and compassion to the planet and its inhabitants. It?s our genuine coherent love and care that make a difference, much more so than method or technique. Our common link with each other is that we all care. By honoring our differences, we multiply the strength of connection and effectiveness in our care for the planet and each other. This is what the planetary shift is about -- differences coming together in the heart to co-create a greater wholeness. Thank you for your participation. The Global Coherence Steering Committee P.S. For the Introductory Coherence Technique, copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://www.glcoherence.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=67?ionid=0 For information on the Coherence Lock-In Room: http://www.glcoherence.org/templates/gcp/e-mail/e-broadcast/online/global_coherence_lock_in_room_online.html Global Coherence Initiative ? 14700 West Park Ave ? Boulder Creek, California 95006 ? 831-338-8500 To unsubscribe, reply to this email with "unsubscribe" in the subject line. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Mon Jul 13 16:48:06 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:48:06 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: Two historic turning points in the sustainable food movement Message-ID: <009101ca040b$fe954ff0$fbbfefd0$@net> From: Michael R. Dimock, Roots of Change [mailto:mail at rootsofchange.org] Sent: Monday, July 13, 2009 11:38 AM To: maryrose333 at att.net Subject: Two historic turning points in the sustainable food movement roc logo Greetings! Sustainable Foodshed Summit Shifts Political Momentum Dellums In Oakland, California this past week, the political momentum seemed to clearly and perhaps irrevocably shift to formation of a sustainable food system for the nation. Hailing from three western states and Washington DC, 120 leading activists (from farms, ranches, philanthropy, businesses and NGOs), 15 USDA officials, and two important northern California Mayors focused on the issues of food security, foodsheds, and public-private partnerships to accelerate change. (The Honorable Mayor Ron Dellums is pictured with Hank Herrera, Hope Collboarative and ROC Fellow Alethea Harper, Oakland Food Policy Council). Many now believe it only a matter of time until this welcome and healthy set of ideas takes over the body politic. Click here for photos, press coverage, and more info about the Summit. SF Mayor Gavin Newsom Announces Regional Sustainable Food Policy Newsom On Wednesday, Mayor Gavin Newsom released his Executive Directive on Healthy Sustainable Food for San Francisco. The plan aims to ensure that all regional residents have access to healthy food, and will have far reaching impact throughout Northern California by increasing support for area farms. Learn more about the Directive and the Urban-Rural Roundtable that started it! or See photos of the historic moment on Facebook. Roots of Change, 221 Kearny Street, 3rd Floor San Francisco, California 94108 www.rootsofchange.org Forward email Safe Unsubscribe This email was sent to maryrose333 at att.net by mail at rootsofchange.org. Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe T | Privacy Policy . Email Marketing by Roots of Change | 221 Kearny Street | 3rd Floor | San Francisco | CA | 94108 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rodney.shakespeare1 at btopenworld.com Tue Jul 14 08:56:52 2009 From: rodney.shakespeare1 at btopenworld.com (Rodney Shakespeare) Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:56:52 +0100 Subject: [GJM] Ellen's latest, latest article References: <00b501c9ffee$02885c00$0301a8c0@your447023ae6b> <00af01ca0292$4606c510$7e82c67c@HomePC> <008d01ca02e7$fa171c80$0301a8c0@your447023ae6b> <004101ca036c$9e4c1ce0$7682c67c@HomePC> <005b01ca03b8$30ab29f0$0301a8c0@your447023ae6b> Message-ID: <000f01ca0493$5c4d3db0$0301a8c0@your447023ae6b> Dear All, So what does the list think of Ellen's latest, latest article (which I highly commend)? http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/sunshine_state.php I am surprised at the lack of reaction to her previous article mentioning the North Dakota bank. Ellen's proposal is the only practical way forward for California at the moment. She proposes that the state of California set up a bank, put its own revenues into it, and then use the revenues as the base for multiplying lending ten times or more (as commercial banks do already). The lent money, of course, would have to be repaid but it could be interest-free (or, alternatively, any interest would go the bank as representing California). The proposal would be improved if:-- a.. it has elements of ensuring that lent money goes into the developing and spreading of productive (and the associated consuming) capacity to every individual in the population. b.. there is a stateement that, since the commercial banks got everybody into the present mess, their ability to lend should be curtailed. c.. there is identification of interest groups which could benefit e.g. by proposing interest-free loans for students and for all of California's capital, environmental, and clean electricity generation projects. Rodney Shakespeare. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Tue Jul 14 18:30:01 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:30:01 -0700 Subject: [GJM] COLLAPSE STAGE ONE: THE SCREAMS OF DESPAIR FROM A GUARDIAN REPORTER, By Carolyn Baker Message-ID: <001e01ca04e3$66a04ff0$33e0efd0$@net> While I noted in a message yesterday that I felt we are now at Stage 4 collapse, Carolyn Baker evidently feels we are still at stage 1. Regardless, it is my feeling that we will see more and more articles like this one from Carolyn, coming to grips with the fact that collapse is the only way out of this. But collapse will not come everywhere at the same time and in the same way. And, while we may not be able to manage the collapse itself, we can manage the recovery and direct it in a healthy life-enhancing manner - creating a future by "intelligent design" which is certainly now how the present economy came about. Please view this article from its source: http://carolynbaker.net/site/content/view/1191/1/ http://carolynbaker.net/site/images/banners/banner_sacreddemise.gif Order Here or Read the Book Foreword Here Image Welcome to Speaking Truth To Power-a website owned and managed by Carolyn Baker. Carolyn is an adjunct professor of history, a former psychotherapist, an author, and a student of mythology and ritual. This website offers up-to-the-moment alternative reporting of U.S. and international news, articles containing information and opinion, and a venue of support and connection for awake individuals who want not only to be informed, but to organize their lives and communities in ways that most effectively assist them in navigating what current events are manifesting. Carolyn's Mission: "The Chinese proverb and curse says, 'May you live in interesting times'." In the first decade of the twenty-first century, we live in profound uncertainty, faced with issues unprecedented in the history of the human race. Truth To Power seeks to provide readers with a 'fixed point in a changing universe' that both informs and supports humanity's efforts to remake the world-both our personal worlds and our planet. My intention is to offer a beacon of light in the smothering darkness with which we seem to be engulfed, making available information and specific ideas and strategies which we all might utilize as we experience the life/death/rebirth process inherent in the inner and outer realms of our current reality." Click here to subscribe to Truth to Power's daily news stories update. COLLAPSE STAGE ONE: THE SCREAMS OF DESPAIR FROM A GUARDIAN REPORTER, By Carolyn Baker PDF Print E-mail Tuesday, 14 July 2009 http://carolynbaker.net/site/images/unraveling.jpg[Here is my full response to Guardian reporter, Charlie Brooker's July 13 op ed piece "The Very Fabric of Society Is Breaking Down Around Us.--CB] Hallelujah! One British reporter is waking up and smelling the coffee. That would be Charlie Brooker in his July 13 Guardian piece "The Very Fabric of Society Is Breaking Down Around Us. What The Hell Is There Left to Believe In"? This man, sounding as if his hair were on fire, rants: It's all gone wrong. Our belief in everything has been shattered by a series of shock revelations that have shaken our core to its core. You can't move for toppling institutions. Television, the economy, the police, the House of Commons, and, most recently, the press ... all revealed to be jam-packed with liars and bastards and graspers and bullies and turds. Welcome to empire Charlie. You remind me of Lili Tomlin when someone asked her when she left her birthplace city of Detroit, and her response was, "When I realized where I was." Good for you Charlie, you're not totally psychically numb. Now the next question is, where will you go from here? Charlie could not be more dead-on about society. Its fabric is completely unraveling, and that epic saga is just getting warmed up. I reacted like you, Charlie, when I discovered things like Peak Oil and the hard evidence of human species-created climate change. What you're witnessing is the mind-numbing ineptness of your government, or anyone else's, to deal with the unraveling, for governments, with their perverse corporate liaisons, after all, are the lifeblood of the empire that is disintegrating. Hence, they are the last entities capable of offering sane responses to the unraveling. But I would caution you not to spiral down into terminal cynicism, like most of your mainstream media associates. The word cynicism, after all, is related to an ancient Greek term synonymous with the word "dog", and some say it referred specifically to a dog chewing a bone endlessly, even after the marrow was gone. So what's a person with their hair on fire who's finally come to terms with the collapse of Western civilization to do? First, since you're in the UK, you may want to check out the blog of a fellow Brit named Rob Hopkins, who founded the Transition Town network in Totnes. In fact, you may want to interview him and have a long conversation about his take on all of this. I wouldn't tell you that the Transition model is a magic bullet which will prevent the unraveling because the unraveling now has life of its own. What I will tell you is that it's likely to inspire you to reframe collapse not as a disaster, but as an opportunity on myriad levels. This is not to say that it does not entail pain and suffering for the human and all other species; rather, I'm suggesting that it is both the pain and the opportunities within them that offer us nothing less than an evolutionary threshold. We have in front of us the possibility of reweaving from the threads of the unraveling, a new fabric that we can believe in. An American president recently ran his campaign using the slogan "change we can believe in." Presently, however, I don't see a lot of Americans or the world holding its breath. As you've pointed out: There hasn't been much change, and there certainly is little in the political arena to inspire our belief because as you've noted, "even language itself seems unreliable." Your article underscores the vacuousness of governments and the political process. Even before the French Revolution, people seeking change in the Western world have petitioned their governments for it. The unraveling, however, has rendered that approach essentially meaningless. What it has necessitated is a change in personal and community behavior and the creation of vibrant, local economies of scale in which people no longer wait for empire to give what it cannot give, but pick up the threads of an unraveled civilization and weave it themselves according to what their unique place and population require. Some folks, myself among them, would offer the possibility that the unraveling serves a deeper, metaphysical purpose having to do with a shift in human consciousness. To that end, I have written Sacred Demise: Walking The Spiritual Path of Industrial Civilization's Collapse which suggests an emotional and spiritual roadmap for navigating the unprecedented changes ahead. Thank you for your incisive, courageous piece which verbalizes what so many are only thinking or perhaps haven't yet consciously registered. I don't believe that as you suggest, we can weave new structures quickly, and I certainly hope that what we weave are not "institutions", but I do believe that many of us are weaving a new paradigm for our species which may allow us to discover the true depths of our humanity. FutureDawning.org Mary Rose dustysummerrose at gmail.com Always have my latest info Want a signature like this? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/gif Size: 40391 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/gif Size: 9056 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 33387 bytes Desc: not available URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Tue Jul 14 18:55:15 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:55:15 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Ensign's 'C Street House' Owned By Group Touting Plans For Christian World Control Message-ID: <004801ca04e6$ed4e6ed0$c7eb4c70$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Monday, July 13, 2009 8:45 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Ensign's 'C Street House' Owned By Group Touting Plans For Christian World Control Ensign's 'C Street House' Owned By Group Touting Plans For Christian World Control http://www.alternet.org/blogs/politics/141256/ensign%27s_%27c_street_house%2 7_owned_by_group_touting_plans_for_christian_world_control/ by Bruce Wilson, Talk To Action at 10:46 AM on July 11, 2009. Video reveals politically connected church's bizarre plans control of "seven key sectors" of society. Most recently covered by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow (1, 2), Washington D.C.'s "C Street House" has over the past two weeks become the center of a media firestorm. Along with GOP Senator Tom Coburn, sex-scandal embroiled GOP leaders Senator John Ensign and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford have been tied to the row house, assessed to be worth 1.84 million dollars, which is registered as a church and provides Washington politicians with substantially lower than market rate rent. Coburn and Ensign have lived at the C Street house, while Sanford has participated in its Bible study group. Editor's Insertion: The following is a partial transcript from Maddow's show on the C Street House: If you consult this building's financial paper trail, you will find that it's actually considered to be a church. That designation makes "C Street" a convenient tax-free haven for the secretive organization that runs it, an organization known as "The Family." It also makes for some awkward tax and income questions for the at least five, probably seven, members of Congress who live at the house in exchange for what appears to be substantially low market rent. ... The "C Street house is a former convent. It's used as a sort of subsidized, really upscale dorm for members of Congress who are associated with this powerful, poorly understood religious group. The Family and the house at C Street have ended up reluctantly in the headlines now because of the two major politician sex scandals that are embroiling the Republican Party this summer, and that have taken two of their reported 2012 presidential hopefuls out of political contention. Embattled Nevada Senator John Ensign lives at the C Street house. The husband of Senator Ensign's mistress says that prominent members of the family, including sons of the group's founders ... were both aware of Ensign's secret affair and were involved in his efforts to pay off the mistress and her family...." [End transcript] According to the Washington Post the house is owned by Youth With a Mission D.C. Youth With a Mission is one of the most extensive Christian fundamentalist para-church organizations on Earth, and YWAM founder leader Loren Cunningham has publicly outlined a vision for Christian world-control. In a 2008 promotional video, "Reclaiming 7 Mountains of Culture", Loren Cunningham describes a vision he shared along with the late Campus Crusade For Christ founder Bill Bright and late Christian theologian Francis Schaeffer, in which Christian fundamentalists could achieve world domination by taking over key sectors of society such as business, government, media, and education. Francis Schaeffer is widely credited as one of the most influential theologians of the 20th Century Christian right. Among the myriad ministries of Bill Bright's behemoth Campus Crusade For Christ is the Washington D.C. ministry Christian Embassy that targets Pentagon leaders for evangelizing. The C Street House is run by a secretive Washington ministry known as The Family, or The Fellowship. Over the past year and a half, The Family has gradually come to public attention, mainly due to journalist and Harpers contributing editor Jeff Sharlet's ground breaking book The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power. The Family runs the yearly National Prayer Breakfast and maintains a network of Capital Hill prayer groups which have enjoyed the participation of both top GOP but also top Democratic Party Congress and Senate members. The Family runs but does not own the C Street House. According to a June 26th, 2009 Washington Post story, by Manuel Roig-Franzia, "The Political Enclave That Dare Not Speak Its Name: The Sanford and Ensign Scandals Open a Door On Previously Secretive 'C Street' Spiritual Haven", the C Street House is owned by a "little-known organization called Youth With a Mission of Washington DC." Youth With a Mission is a global Christian evangelical organization founded in 1960 which, declares YWAM, is "currently operating in more than 1000 locations in over 149 countries, with a staff of nearly 16,000." As Cunningham introduces Reclaim 7 Mountains of Culture, "It was August, 1975... and the Lord had given me, that day a list of things that I had never thought about before. He said, 'This is the way to reach America, and nations, for God.' " The video continues with a narrator who declares, "In every city of the world, an unseen battle rages for dominion over God's creation and the souls of people. This battle is fought on seven strategic fronts, looming like mountains over the culture, that shape and influence its destiny. Over the years, the church slowly retreated from its place of influence on these mountains, leaving a void now filled with darkness. When we lose our influence, we lose the culture and when we lose the culture we fail to advance the kingdom of God. And now, a generation stands in desperate need. It's time to fight for them and take back these mountains of influence." Reclaim 7 Mountains of Culture then outlines seven areas of influence for Christian fundamentalists to reclaim: The Mountain of Government, "where evil is either restrained or endorsed", The Mountain of Education, "where truths, or lies, about God and his creation are taught.", The Mountain of Media, "where information is interpreted through the lens of good or evil", The Mountain of Arts and Entertainment, "where values and virtue are celebrated or distorted", The Mountain of Religion, "where people worship God in spirit and truth, or settle for a religious ritual", The Mountain of Family, "where either a blessing or a curse is passed onto successive generations and, The Mountain of Business, "where people build for the glory of God or the glory of man." The last is the key mountain, proclaims the video: "those who lead this mountain influence what controls our culture." Youth With a Mission also runs a global Christian evangelism educational ministry headquartered at the University of the Nations 45 acre campus in Kona, Hawaii. As one example in which organizations such as YWAM are implementing the Reclaiming the 7 Seven Mountains agenda, the university has developed programs to provide its students with real world skills such as media and film production. One of the graduates from the Kona university is Loren Cunningham's son, David Loren Cunningham, who founded the Film Institute in 2004 with other University of Nations students, to place students in the film industry in order to transform Hollywood from within. Cunningham directed Path to 911, the controversial television film aired on ABC on September 10 and 11, 2006 and covered at The Huffington Post by journalist Max Blumenthal. From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Wed Jul 15 08:19:07 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (Robert Searle) Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:19:07 -0400 Subject: [GJM] This maybe of interest. James Quilligan seems to have some interest in MR ideas...... Message-ID: <9bb55ba119fe772ef3bf3918dfeae055@www.stwr.org> The following page from the "STWR - Share The World's Resources" web site has been sent to you by Robert Searle ( dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk ). You can access it at the following URL: http://www.stwr.org/economic-sharing-alternatives/global-marshall-plan-announcement-of-the-convention-on-the-global-commons.html From maryrose333 at att.net Wed Jul 15 11:34:22 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:34:22 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: This maybe of interest. James Quilligan seems to have some interest in MR ideas...... Message-ID: <002c01ca0572$80296e90$807c4bb0$@net> Robert, this is an incredible resource. Thank you for sharing it with the rest of us. With much love and appreciation, M R -----Original Message----- From: discussion-bounces at globaljusticemovement.net [mailto:discussion-bounces at globaljusticemovement.net] On Behalf Of Robert Searle Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 7:19 AM To: discussion at globaljusticemovement.net Subject: [GJM] This maybe of interest. James Quilligan seems to have some interest in MR ideas...... The following page from the "STWR - Share The World's Resources" web site has been sent to you by Robert Searle ( dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk ). You can access it at the following URL: http://www.stwr.org/economic-sharing-alternatives/global-marshall-plan-annou ncement-of-the-convention-on-the-global-commons.html _______________________________________________ Discussion mailing list Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemo vement.net From sooriuk at yahoo.com Wed Jul 15 09:06:22 2009 From: sooriuk at yahoo.com (david soori) Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:06:22 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] This maybe of interest. James Quilligan seems to have some interest in MR ideas...... In-Reply-To: <9bb55ba119fe772ef3bf3918dfeae055@www.stwr.org> References: <9bb55ba119fe772ef3bf3918dfeae055@www.stwr.org> Message-ID: <758401.43081.qm@web86004.mail.ird.yahoo.com> Robert Unless we get the message across that we are all?ENSLAVED from cradle to grave,?by the creation of money out of nothing as a compound interest bearing debt, and unless we put a stop to it, we cannot solve any problems they created. They are?raping of Mother Earth, killing a child by design every THREE seconds, taking?over countries?with out firing a single shot,?making us in the WEST AS PARASITES ON THESE RETCHED HUMANS.and unless there is a Paradigm shift, we are all whistling in the dark. But TMUP offers a solution let us all with all our energy promote it?as a priority. david ________________________________ From: Robert Searle To: discussion at globaljusticemovement.net Sent: Wednesday, 15 July, 2009 15:19:07 Subject: [GJM] This maybe of interest. James Quilligan seems to have some interest in MR ideas...... The following page from the "STWR - Share The World's Resources" web site has been sent to you by Robert Searle ( dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk ). You can access it at the following URL: http://www.stwr.org/economic-sharing-alternatives/global-marshall-plan-announcement-of-the-convention-on-the-global-commons.html _______________________________________________ Discussion mailing list Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Wed Jul 15 18:09:48 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:09:48 -0700 Subject: [GJM] A New Way of Life Message-ID: <009f01ca05a9$be2491c0$3a6db540$@net> Hi Everyone, I copied this ad from the San Diego Grapevine hosted by Helene Idels, and am presenting it here as a Model that may be copied by others. This model not only provides for a home for the property owners while creating income for them, but provides a healthy lifestyle as well. Rooms in Vegetarian Home (Vista) Posted by: "Jim Kitzmiller" jimkitz at gmail.com jimkitzmiller Tue Jul 14, 2009 5:33 pm (PDT) Rooms are available from $500 to $650 in a beautiful home on an acre near the Vista courthouse. This quiet home can serve as a personal retreat center for positive, quiet non-smoking people. Want to optimize your health in a supportive environment? This is the place. You'll love the kitchen. Want to write your own book? This is the place. Want to live in a sanctuary for personal and spiritual growth? This is the place. The home has high speed internet, a lush organic garden (yes you can help), a swimming pool, and a fully equipped vegetarian kitchen. See pictures at http://bit.ly/UrAsB . For more information please call Ted at 1-760-908-1596. FutureDawning.org Mary Rose dustysummerrose at gmail.com Always have my latest info Want a signature like this? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Thu Jul 16 05:11:30 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:11:30 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] Eco-Towns Message-ID: <481170.28135.qm@web27404.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> The Government has announced the go-ahead for a handful of eco-towns across England. Skip related content Related content Locations of eco-towns to be named Protesters form human chain around Kingsnorth Cabinet minister hints at spending cuts ahead Related Hot Topic: Environment Have your say: Environment The successful bids, which will still have to go through the planning process, were named as Rackheath, Norfolk, Whitehill Bordon, East Hampshire, north west Bicester and the China Clay Community scheme near St Austell, Cornwall. The eco-town project was intended to meet housing needs and tackle climate change, with as many as 10 environmentally-friendly settlements built by 2020, but has been dogged by controversy and opposition from local communities. The four successful bids are all supported or proposed by local authorities and meet the standards for "eco-towns" laid down by the Government, officials said. In addition to the four locations given the go-ahead, a further two - Rossington in South Yorkshire and North-East Elsenham in Essex - still have potential to be eco-towns but need more work to address certain issues with the bids. It is also hoped more eco-towns will come through regional and local plans in the future. The four "first-wave" settlements given the green light will be able to bid for a share of ?60 million in Government support for local infrastructure. Housing minister John Healey said he wanted to see at least six "second-wave" developments and up to ?5 million was being made available for councils to conduct further planning work on proposals. Gordon Brown, who expanded the eco-town scheme from the original five towns to up to 10 when he first became Prime Minister, said the environmentally-friendly settlements were "a unique opportunity" to address housing and climate change. "Eco-towns will help to relieve the shortage of affordable homes to rent and buy and to minimise the effects of climate change on a major scale. They will provide modern homes with lower energy bills, energy efficient offices and brand new schools, community centres and services," he said. Email Story Share Story Delicious Digg Facebook Stumbleupon Reddit Newsvine Print Story Subscribe to RSS Latest news 8 mins ago Winehouse marriage ends in divorce 8 mins ago Teletext closing news service early 8 mins ago Number of killings hits 20-year low 8 mins ago Lloyds to cut a further 1,200 jobs 8 mins ago Bride-to-be dumps porn star fiance 16 mins ago Instant View - Reaction to bank governance proposals? Following is reaction to a UK government-sponsored review of the way the UK banking system is run and governed. More 29 mins ago Missing chef police seek bus passenger 29 mins ago Lloyds slashes another 1,200 jobs 37 mins ago Amy Winehouse and husband divorce Amy Winehouse ended her two-year marriage to Blake Fielder-Civil when the couple were granted a divorce at a hearing in London on? More 38 mins ago 'Back from dead' Briton's dad? 42 mins ago Ten charged with murdering cadet Joseph? 48 mins ago BT to call back India-based staff <> ADVERTISEMENT on error resume next For mp_i=11 To 6 Step -1 If Not IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash." & mp_i)) Then Else mp_swver=mp_i Exit For End If Next if(window.yzq_d==null)window.yzq_d=new Object(); window.yzq_d['vmabF9mSu1w-']='&U=13oibi3c9%2fN%3dvmabF9mSu1w-%2fC%3d200115676.201877027.203138956.200493719%2fD%3dLREC%2fB%3d200983789%2fV%3d1'; Subscribe to RSSMost Popular in: UK 1 Cat found 100 miles from home A man whose cat had been missing for a month was baffled when it was found more than 100 miles away from his home. ?More 2 Football Star's Wife Dies After Botched Op 3 Blinded Man Regains Sight With Tooth For Eye 4 'Dying soap star's desperate 999 call' 5 Owners outwitted by cunning cats More popular stories Latest blog entries Around The World: Gift of life? Or act of selfishness? 25 comments Talking Politics: It's wrong for politicians to argue over Afghanistan Around The World: Baghdad Diary: Hope and Heartache Talking Politics: British troops and brutality ? here's another inquiry MORE ON YAHOO! NEWS Home UK World Politics Business Sport Technology Science Health Entertainment Oddly Enough Video Subscribe to our news feeds Editor's Corner Subscribe to RSS Add to My Yahoo! More news feeds What are news feeds? ALSO ON YAHOO! Answers Cars Finance Games Movies Music Sport TV Travel All Yahoo! Services SITE HIGHLIGHTS Weather Photos Message Boards Celebrity News Around The World Editor's Corner Copyright ? 2009 Yahoo! All rights reserved. Terms of Service Remarks and Suggestions Copyright/IP Policy Copyright ? 2009 Press Association Notice: We collect personal information on this site. To learn more about how we use your information, see our: Updated Privacy Policy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Thu Jul 16 05:17:50 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:17:50 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] Carbon Route Map Message-ID: <710408.60855.qm@web27406.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Britain outlined on Wednesday how it plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions and tackle climate change. Skip related content Related content Global low carbon market to grow? Britain says low carbon sector will grow in recession? Britain to unveil "route map" to low carbon future? Related Hot Topic: Climate Change Have your say: Climate Change Following are the key elements of the plan. INDUSTRY The government said the low carbon sector would be one of the few areas of the economy to grow during the recession and beyond. The UK low carbon goods and services sector is expected to grow by more than 4 percent per year up to 2014/15. The global low carbon market could expand to at least 4.3 trillion pounds by 2015 from 3 trillion pounds in 2007/8 if a deal is reached at climate talks in Copenhagen in December. The number of people employed in the sector could rise to more than 1 million by 2015, from 880,000 today. In regard to housing, only zero carbon homes will be built from 2016, the government said. TRANSPORT The government said it will invest up to 10 million pounds in the deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure out of a total funding package of 405 million for the low carbon sector announced in the 2009 Budget. BIOFUELS The government said it would support creation of a biofuels demonstration plant in England to convert organic waste to bioethanol and would give further details later this year. ENERGY EFFICIENCY To increase energy efficiency, funding of up to 6 million pounds will be available for smart grid, which will be able to react to fluctuations in power demand and generation. The government aims to get smart meters in every home by the end of 2020. RENEWABLES OBLIGATION The government said it was conducting a consultation to extend the lifetime of the Renewables Obligation (RO) to at least 2037 for new projects, but to limit RO support to 20 years per project. To fund new low-carbon and renewable energy projects, the government said it would draw on capital from the European Investment Bank and other developers. The scheme forces utilities to generate an increasing proportion of their electricity from low-carbon sources. FEED-IN TARIFFS FOR SMALL SCALE POWER PRODUCTION The government said feed-in tariffs would be introduced for installation of up to 5 megawatts from April 2010 and is consulting on design and implementation this summer. The tariffs offer financial incentives for domestic solar panels or wind turbines. OFF-SHORE WIND Out of the Budget funding allocation, the government has pledged up to 120 million pounds to support off-shore wind. WAVE/TIDAL POWER The government pledged up to 60 million pounds for wave and tidal power investment, including 9.5 million pounds for the Wave Hub demonstration facility off the Cornish coast. The Wave Hub project is due to be built in 2010, with deployment in Spring 2011. The report also said the final shortlist of the Severn tidal scheme were confirmed as three barrages, including Cardiff-Westen Barrage and two lagoons. The government said it would provide up to 22 million pounds in a Marine Renewables Proving Fund for marine energy technologies reaching demonstration stage within 2011-2014. RENEWABLE HEAT INCENTIVE The government a financial incentive to secure heat from renewable energy sources would be available from 2011 with consultation expected towards the end of 2009 on eligible technologies, support levels and a levy to raise funding. Until new financial incentives are introduced, 45 million pounds of new funding will be available, the government said. PRICES The government estimates that taken in isolation, the measures would increase household electricity bills by 15 percent and gas bills by 23 percent by 2020. But new and existing measures would add about 8 percent to household bills because of greater energy efficiency. (Reporting by Nina Chestney, Peter Griffiths, Daniel Fineren, Nao Nakanishi, Kwok W. Wan, editing by Anthony Barker) Email Story Share Story Delicious Digg Facebook Stumbleupon Reddit Newsvine Print Story Subscribe to RSS Latest news 12 mins ago Govt report urges banking crackdown 15 mins ago Winehouse marriage ends in divorce 15 mins ago Teletext closing news service early 15 mins ago Number of killings hits 20-year low 15 mins ago Lloyds to cut a further 1,200 jobs 15 mins ago Bride-to-be dumps porn star fiance 23 mins ago Instant View - Reaction to bank governance proposals? Following is reaction to a UK government-sponsored review of the way the UK banking system is run and governed. More 36 mins ago Missing chef police seek bus passenger 36 mins ago Lloyds slashes another 1,200 jobs 44 mins ago Amy Winehouse and husband divorce Amy Winehouse ended her two-year marriage to Blake Fielder-Civil when the couple were granted a divorce at a hearing in London on? More 45 mins ago 'Back from dead' Briton's dad? 49 mins ago Ten charged with murdering cadet Joseph? <> ADVERTISEMENT document.write(''); if(window.yzq_d==null)window.yzq_d=new Object(); window.yzq_d['06ncC1f4axE-']='&U=13o0chphf%2fN%3d06ncC1f4axE-%2fC%3d200115511.201874148.203134691.200493719%2fD%3dLREC%2fB%3d201012090%2fV%3d1'; Subscribe to RSSMost Popular in: UK 1 Cat found 100 miles from home A man whose cat had been missing for a month was baffled when it was found more than 100 miles away from his home. ?More 2 Football Star's Wife Dies After Botched Op 3 Blinded Man Regains Sight With Tooth For Eye 4 'Dying soap star's desperate 999 call' 5 Owners outwitted by cunning cats More popular stories Latest blog entries Around The World: Gift of life? 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URL: From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Thu Jul 16 05:19:18 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:19:18 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] Britain to double low carbon power role by 2020 Message-ID: <298110.62180.qm@web27406.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Britain to double low carbon power role by 2020? Yesterday, 04:57 pm Peter Griffiths and Nina Chestney Print Story Britain will double the share of its electricity generated from low carbon sources by 2020 as part of plans to cut emissions and counter global warming, the government said on Wednesday. Skip related content Related photos / videos A general view shows the Whitelee wind farm near Eaglesham Enlarge photo Related content Top US officials to meet China PM on climate Britain to double low carbon role by 2020? Key facts from Britain's low carbon route map Related Hot Topic: Climate Change Have your say: Climate Change Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said 40 percent of the country's electricity will come from nuclear, wind, solar, marine and cleaner coal, compared with a fifth today. By 2020, renewable energy sources will provide 31 percent of electricity, up from 6 percent today, while nuclear's share will fall to 8 percent from current levels of between 15 percent and nearly a quarter, depending on the variable output of nuclear plants. "Our plan will strengthen our energy security...it seizes industrial opportunity and it rises to the moral challenge of climate change," Miliband said in a statement. The pledge shows Britain's commitment to climate talks in Copenhagen in December that aim to secure a global deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol on reducing emissions, he added. Attempts to reach a new accord have foundered on fears that environmental targets could hamper any economic recovery and rows between rich and developing nations on emissions cuts. U.S. President Barack Obama, who chaired the Major Economies Forum this month, failed to convince China, India and others to agree to a G8-supported goal of halving world emissions by 2050. With Britain in its worst recession in 50 years and the Labour Party trailing in the polls with an election less than a year away, the government has been keen to talk up the benefits of the growing environmental sector. Analysts said the proposals could help the economy, but warned that it is still well behind some other countries. "Others are finishing the quarter finals, while we are still planning the best stadium," said Stuart Haszeldine, geosciences professor at the University of Edinburgh. CLEANER COAL The government reaffirmed its commitment to making coal-fired power stations less polluting by funding research into carbon capture and storage technology (CCS). The technique of removing carbon dioxide from a coal plant's smoke and burying it underground could reduce emissions by 90 percent, the government said. Britain will help fund four CCS trials and require new coal-powered plants to fit the technology within five years of it being proved viable, probably by 2020. In a series of policy documents, Britain said the global market for low carbon goods and services could expand to 4.3 trillion pounds by 2015 from 3 trillion pounds in 2007/08 and grow even faster if a deal is struck in Denmark. Miliband said the low carbon sector will be one of the few areas of the economy that will grow during the recession and beyond, expanding at over 4 percent each year up to 2014/15. The number of people employed in the sector could rise by 400,000 to over 1.28 million by 2015, compared to 880,000 today. Action to tackle climate change will add about 8 percent to household energy bills by 2020, Miliband said. This estimate relies on consumers using less energy. About a fifth of the emissions cuts by 2020 will come from cleaner transport, including government subsidies of between 2,000 and 5,000 pounds for each electric car. A further 15 percent of the emissions cuts must come from making homes more energy efficient, while 10 percent will come from the workplace. Britain was the first country to set legally-binding emissions targets. It wants to cut its output of planet-warming gases by 34 percent by 2020, from 1990 levels. (Editing by Anthony Barker) ? Email Story Share Story Delicious Digg Facebook Stumbleupon Reddit Newsvine Print Story Subscribe to RSS Latest news 14 mins ago Govt report urges banking crackdown 16 mins ago Winehouse marriage ends in divorce 16 mins ago Teletext closing news service early 16 mins ago Number of killings hits 20-year low 16 mins ago Lloyds to cut a further 1,200 jobs 16 mins ago Bride-to-be dumps porn star fiance 25 mins ago Instant View - Reaction to bank governance proposals? Following is reaction to a UK government-sponsored review of the way the UK banking system is run and governed. More 37 mins ago Missing chef police seek bus passenger 38 mins ago Lloyds slashes another 1,200 jobs 46 mins ago Amy Winehouse and husband divorce Amy Winehouse ended her two-year marriage to Blake Fielder-Civil when the couple were granted a divorce at a hearing in London on? 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To learn more about how we use your information, see our: Updated Privacy Policy new YAHOO.i13n.Track({ spaceid : '2022425899', tracked_mods : { 'ynw-top-stories' : 'Top', 'ynw-hot-topics' : 'Hot', 'ynw-breaking' : 'Breaking', 'ynw-image-video-inset' : 'Related', 'ynw-more-news' : 'Latest', 'y-most-popular' : 'Popular' }, lt_attr : 'text', region : 'eu', track_lv : true, keys : { A_pt:'Reuters', A_pn:'Britain to double low carbon power role by 2020?' } }).init(); -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Thu Jul 16 05:58:41 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:58:41 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] Get Rich Cheating! Message-ID: <231105.5013.qm@web27402.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> ? ? This maybe of interest. ? ?????? http://getrichcheating.com/ ? ? Robert Searle. ? ? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Thu Jul 16 16:52:21 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:52:21 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: PEERS Online Courses Connect the Dots On the Big Picture and Transform Lives Message-ID: <003101ca0668$16be0dc0$443a2940$@net> From: PEERS: WantToKnow.info Email List [mailto:emaillist at peerservice.org] Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 8:26 AM To: maryrose333 at att.net Subject: PEERS Online Courses Connect the Dots On the Big Picture and Transform Lives To subscribe to or unsubscribe from this list (one email every few days) or to reply to this message, see end of email This message is available online at http://www.WantToKnow.info/g/peers_online_courses Dear friends, There is no doubt that the free PEERS online courses transform lives. Two people have told us that the course they took may even have saved their lives. Much of the content of these courses is based on reliable, verifiable information from the revealing WantToKnow.info website that so many have come to trust. Yet the courses tie all of this information together in a such way that people can understand the big picture, see our role in it all, and be inspired to join in transforming our lives and world. Of the 160 course graduates so far, over half have written that their lives were significantly transformed, and almost everyone deeply appreciated all they gained from these powerfully mind-expanding courses. One San Francisco area man had developed a strange nervous disorder which led to a disturbing divorce and the loss of his lucrative job. His once successful, relatively happy life began to fall apart in front of his eyes. Yet after watching the revealing course video on the dangers of aspartame in the lesson on health, he realized that his habit of consuming many diet drinks every day may have caused his debilitating disorder. Once he stopped drinking diet sodas and cut out all aspartame from his diet, he was thrilled before long to be able to return to a normal, healthy life. Here's what he wrote: I just wanted to let you know that I am so grateful to have found this course. What a HUGE gift it has been for me! I am healing in ways I had no hope of healing. ~ Brian Another woman wrote us a letter which began "I think you literally saved my life." A couple years ago, as she began for the first time to learn about all of the major conspiracies happening in our world, fear rapidly overtook her former life of peace and serenity. Struggling then to convince those around her of the urgency of all that is going on, she found herself rejected and shunned again and again. She wrote, "It would have been a tight race to see which would be my demise ? fear or friend with gun." Yet at the height of her despair, she found both powerful information and true hope and inspiration in one of our courses. Her life was dramatically transformed for the better. Below are brief descriptions and links to three courses which might interest you. If you are ready for a rich journey which both connects the dots of all that is going on behind the scenes in our world, and gives real hope and inspiration for how we can transform it all, explore below to see which course is most appropriate for you. With best wishes, Fred Burks for PEERS and the WantToKnow.info Team P.S. To read the comments of a number of people who have completed the course, click here . And if you have time for only one lesson, click here for the one most highly praised. I have struggled for seven years and 3,000 hours of research into the dark side and did not know what to do with it. This course was wonderful in integrating it with the light side, as well as with both of these sides in me. I am much more at peace with the dark side of the world and, more importantly, my own dark side. This should facilitate a dramatic reduction in my use of judgment and a focus on creating a world from gratitude and joy. ~ Jim _____ The Hidden Knowledge Course Shining Light on the Shadow Aspects of Our World The Hidden Knowledge Course is designed for those who want to dive into the deep cover-ups and hidden manipulations going on behind the scenes in our world. This information-packed course inspires readers to make a difference, yet unlike the other courses below, the focus is largely on exploring and exposing all that is hidden and secret in our world. This eye-opening course is careful to present only reliable material which can be verified using links provided to respected sources. Those who complete the course will have a broad understanding of the role of the power elite and how their plans often adversely impact the lives of most people in our world. They will also learn how we can change all this. Note that both courses below include and interweave inspirational material with all the contents from the the Hidden Knowledge Course. The Hidden Knowledge Course _____ The Insight Course Be the Change You Want To See in the World Are you ready to be the change you want to see in your life and in our world? If the answer is yes, the Insight Course was designed for you. This free, online course brings together the best of the Internet to both inspire and educate you in a dynamic and powerful way. The journey through the course will enhance your awareness and provide tools enabling you build a better life and world. The highly engaging Insight Course includes both inspirational material and all the contents from the the Hidden Knowledge Course. This course masterfully interweaves the light, inspiring aspects of life with empowering information and exercises which invite us to look at the challenging shadow sides of ourselves and our world. Course lessons will deepen your insight, expand your horizons, and embolden you to be the change you want to see in the world. The Insight Course _____ The Transformation Course Building Bridges to Expanded Consciousness Have you ever felt that one of the main reasons you are here is to help transform our planet to a new way of living based on love and empowerment? Do you recognize that there is a divine essence in every person, and that as beautiful manifestations of the divine, all people deserve our love and support to be the best they can be? If so, the transformation course may be the choice for you. Like the Insight Course, this profound course includes both include inspirational material and all the contents from the the Hidden Knowledge Course. It masterfully interweaves the light and inspiring aspects of life with the more challenging shadow sides of ourselves and our world. Yet unlike the Insight Course, the Transformation Course packages all of this rich material in a deep spiritual context. To begin this highly enlightening journey, click the link below. The Transformation Course _____ I am floored with this course. You have marvelously balanced what you know. Unapologetically you weave the positive with the true negatives. Amazing content but, more important even: amazingly coherent and clear and straight and uncompromised vision. Wow. Thank you. ~ Clare To view a list of lesson titles for each course with links, click here. Again, if you have time for only one lesson, click here for the one most highly praised. And thanks for taking the time to read about these dynamic courses compiled by PEERS . Whether or not you decide to explore further, we wish you a rich and empowering journey through life filled with ever more meaning, joy, and hope. See our archive of revealing news articles at www.WantToKnow.info/indexnewsarticles Your tax-deductible donations, however large or small, help greatly to support this important work. To make a donation by credit card, check, or money order: www.WantToKnow.info/donationswtk Explore the mind and heart expanding websites managed by the nonprofit PEERS network: www.peerservice.org - PEERS websites: Spreading inspiration, education, & empowerment www.momentoflove.org - Every person in the world has a heart www.personalgrowthcourses.net - Dynamic online courses powerfully expand your horizons www.WantToKnow.info - Reliable, verifiable information on major cover-ups www.weboflove.org - Strengthening the Web of Love that interconnects us all To respond to this message, visit www.WantToKnow.info/contactus.php To subscribe to or unsubscribe from the WantToKnow.info list (one email every few days): www.WantToKnow.info/subscribe _____ Change email address / Leave mailing list Powered by YourMailingListProvider -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Thu Jul 16 16:56:00 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:56:00 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Intense combat tied to homicides by Ft. Carson GIs Message-ID: <003601ca0668$984aba00$c8e02e00$@net> After contemplating all of our so-called ills, including global climate change, state of our oceans, food chain, etc., I do believe that the state of our emotional and physical health as a collective conscious is the most serious challenge we face. Without a healthy population there simply is no way to address the collective challenges we face today. -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 1:38 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Intense combat tied to homicides by Ft. Carson GIs (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12847489 Intense combat tied to homicides by Ft. Carson GIs Army report on Ft. Carson soldiers also cites mental illness, drug use By Michael Riley The Denver Post and Tom Roeder The (Colorado Springs) Gazette Posted: 07/16/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT On Sept. 1, 2008, John Needham (above and below) was found naked in a San Clemente, Calif., condominium. Jacqwelyn Villagomez, 19, was also in the condo, severely beaten. She died a day later. Needham is now in an inpatient VA hospital for treatment of emotional problems and is awaiting trial on murder charges in California. (Photo courtesy of Mike Needham) Fort Carson soldiers charged with or convicted in homicides upon returning from Iraq had experienced intensive combat, several claiming they had witnessed war crimes, according to an Army report released Wednesday. Many were plagued by pre-existing problems, and the combination contributed to a series of crimes when they returned, including the killing of a soldier's infant daughter and the slaying of two people with an AK-47. A broader investigation of Fort Carson soldiers returning from Iraq found regular use of drugs and alcohol to "self-medicate," a growing number of waivers allowing troubled personalities into the ranks, and an unwillingness to use programs meant to help soldiers cope because of the stigma attached. The Full Report * Read the Army's full report on combat stress and the investigation of homicides involving Fort Carson soldiers. (126 pages - PDF) http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2009/0715/20090715_033728 _Carson.pdf findings represent the conclusion of an exhaustive investigation following a cluster of 11 homicides and two attempted murders committed or alleged to have been committed by 14 soldiers between 2005 and 2008 that led to the formation of an Army task force and a call for inquiry by then-Sen. Ken Salazar. Using focus groups and a survey that together gathered information from more than 3,000 soldiers, the report goes well beyond the accused soldiers to offer a portrait of the impact of seven years of war on the Army and its soldiers. The report found that 10 of the 14 Fort Carson soldiers charged or convicted in the crimes had been diagnosed with mental illness, including nine who were prescribed medication for their symptoms. "Soldiers allegedly involved in crimes related to homicide at Fort Carson from 2005-2008 were, in retrospect, at risk for engaging in violent behavior based on a clustering of known risk factors, namely, prior criminal behavior and psychopathology," wrote the authors, a team of doctors, epidemiologists, Army criminal investigators, a chaplain and others. "The risk factors alone, however, do not entirely explain the apparent clustering of crime in this population." Changes called for John Needham (Orange County Sheriff's Dept.) The investigation's authors called for sweeping changes to correct the problems. The Army should try to identify high-combat-exposure individuals or units, they said, and provide them more reintegration support before they are deployed again in combat. They said the institution should develop methods for spotting and tracking high-risk individuals. And the authors said there should be an Army-wide review to study the possible connection among deployment, combat intensity and aggressive behavior. At a news conference at Fort Carson accompanying the report's release, Maj. Gen. Mark Graham, the post's commander, said the study already has resulted in increased mental-health training and more counseling for soldiers upon their return from war. "We are training and educating our soldiers and leaders," he said. But the news conference also showed a split in the Army's attitude toward the sweeping report and its findings. Army officials speaking Wednesday denied there was any connection between combat and crime, pointing out that their own data show 65 percent of violent crimes committed by soldiers were done by troops who had not been to war. The report suggested there is a link. "Survey data from this investigation suggest a possible association between increasing levels of combat exposure and risk for negative behavioral outcomes," it said. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., called the report "deeply troubling" and said it "raises several questions about how we are providing for our troops." Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said the investigation "is the latest to raise serious questions about whether the military is doing enough to help service members transition from battle back into civilian life." The investigation focused on the 4th Brigade Combat Team, the unit to which most of the murder suspects were attached. Nicknamed the "Lethal Warriors," the unit had a casualty rate higher than other units its size in two Iraq deployments, losing lives at a rate more than eight times that of the 3rd Brigade. More than half of the charged or convicted soldiers said they had seen war crimes during their deployments that included the killing of civilians. In the survey, the unit's soldiers told investigators that they carried weapons with them because they felt unsafe and often said they had problems fitting into normal society. The report also found that the Army's programs to detect behavioral problems and deal with them early regularly failed. Only 20 percent of the unit's soldiers who tested positive for drug use were enrolled in the mandatory Army Substance Referral Program after 30 days; only 60 percent were enrolled after 180 days. The pervasive substance abuse among some troops, mental illness already present in recruits and the failure of Army leaders to get soldiers the help they need likely contributed to the violence, said Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, the Army's surgeon general. "Those three in combination are a really toxic mix," Schoomaker said. "Moral waivers" rise The investigation also highlighted the impact on an Army recruitment program under strain after years of war. Hard-pressed to fill recruitment goals, the Army began issuing a higher number of "moral waivers" between 2004 and 2007 to individuals with criminal records or drug problems, the report found. Soldiers who entered the Army with those waivers were two to three times more likely to test positive for illicit drugs and significantly more likely to be removed from the ranks for disciplinary problems. Three of the soldiers accused of homicide wouldn't have made it into the Army without waivers, according to the report. U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Republican who represents Colorado Springs, saw both the report and its conclusions in a positive light. "It is clear the Army is serious about addressing problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide, substance abuse and violence," Lamborn said. Michael Riley: 303-954-1614 or mriley at denverpost.com Army homicide cases The Army study focused on 13 cases, 11 ending in homicide. Eleven Fort Carson GIs have been charged or convicted. One killed himself. Stephen Sherwood On Aug. 3, 2005, he killed his wife, Sara, and then himself in Larimer County. Timothy Parker Serving seven years in military custody after his conviction for involuntary manslaughter in the Nov. 11, 2005, fireplace-poker beating death of Spec. Piotr Szczypka. Johnathon Christopher Klinker Klinker is serving 40 years for shaking his infant daughter, Nicolette, to death in October 2006. "I still don't understand why I did it," Klinker told the judge at his sentencing. Anthony Marquez Killed Jonathan Smith on Oct. 22, 2006, in a botched robbery attempt. Serving 30 years in prison. Olin Ferrier Part of a group that shot and killed Pueblo taxi driver David Chance on Oct. 30, 2007. He is serving life in prison for first-degree murder. Bruce Bastien, Louis Bressler, Kenneth Eastridge On Nov. 30, 2007, the three met at a nightclub with Army buddy Spec. Kevin Shields. Later than night, Shields was shot to death by the side of a road. Authorities believe the three had discussed plans to commit a series of armed robberies, and became nervous that Shields would reveal their plan. Later, authorities charged that Bastien and Bressler were also responsible for killing Fort Carson Pfc. Robert James in August 2007 and that all three had participated in an aggravated robbery in October. Bastien is serving 60 years as an accessory in the Shields killing, and for conspiracy in the James killing. Bressler was convicted of conspiracy in the Shields case and as an accessory in the James killing and is serving 50-60 years. Eastridge is serving 10 years for his role in the Shields murder. Jomar Falu-Vives, Rodolfo Torres-Gandarilla Torres-Gandarilla is serving 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to being an accessory in the June 6, 2008, drive-by shootings of Cesar Ibanez and Amairany Cervantes in Colorado Springs and the May 26, 2008, wounding of another Fort Carson soldier, Capt. Zachary Szody. Ibanez and Cervantes were hanging signs advertising a yard sale when they were shot for no apparent reason. Falu-Vives is awaiting trial for the crimes, now scheduled for August. Torres-Gandarilla is expected to testify that Falu-Vives was the gunman in both shootings. Robert Hull Marko Awaiting trial in the Oct. 10, 2008, killing of Judillana Lawrence, whose throat was cut in the foothills outside Colorado Springs. The Army also examined two attempted murders in which Fort Carson soldiers were suspected. Details of those crimes were unavailable. From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Fri Jul 17 05:20:26 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:20:26 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] Axiomatic Theory of Economics! Message-ID: <543180.152.qm@web27405.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> ? This maybe of interest. ? http://www.axiomaticeconomics.com/index.php ? ? There are references in the above site to Mike Montagne(!!), and Richard Cook. ? R.Searle -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Fri Jul 17 05:45:21 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:45:21 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] Interesting! Message-ID: <581807.26812.qm@web27408.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> ? I was amused to see someone has set up a forum which gives some prominience to Transfinancial Economics, and Positive Human Politics! ? http://www.p2pfoundation.net/Transfinancial_Economics ? The forum concerned is.... ? http://world-liberty.forumotion.com/ ? ? ? ? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Fri Jul 17 09:46:49 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:46:49 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Intense combat tied to homicides by Ft. Carson GIs Message-ID: <006801ca06f5$cf773250$6e6596f0$@net> -----Original Message----- From: Mary Nelson [mailto:m_nelson at aperdat.com] Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 7:16 PM To: 'mary rose' Subject: RE: [globalnetnews-summary] Intense combat tied to homicides by Ft. Carson GIs Well, we surely can't have a healthy population, of any species, on the planet that we have made sick. It occurs to me that what these service members faced, whether in combat or not, caused shock to many of them. Then add the horror of "combat" - which often means killing non-combatant men, women and children. Then bring them home to perhaps an even greater shock. "Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said the investigation "is the latest to raise serious questions about whether the military is doing enough to help service members transition from battle back into civilian life."" People losing jobs, losing homes, losing medical insurance. How do returning warriors move "back into civilian life" such as this? First we teach them to kill under stress, then they come back and, guess what? They kill under stress. How on Earth can we be surprised when the inevitable happens? Destroy Earth and, whoops, no Earth! MaryN having a bad day. PS A loving friend just sent me this.... Gratitude Campaign - Please pass this along to others.. and make an effort yourself.... This is pretty neat.....(30 second video)...Have you ever seen one of our military walking past you and wanted to convey to them your thanks, but weren't sure how or it felt awkward? Recently, a gentleman from Seattle created a gesture which could be used, and has started a movement to get the word out. Please, everybody, take just a moment to watch.... The Gratitude Campaign; ....and then forward it to your friends! THEN START USING THE SIGN. http://www.gratitudecampaign.org/shortmovie.php My response to her was... "That's a wonderful idea. I see few people in uniform up here but will keep an eye out. "The war does have everything to do with politics - and control and greed. But the service and sacrifice doesn't ,and many of these young people just see no way to a reasonable life for themselves and their loved ones than to take part in this. What a shame. And each who serves adds to the danger for us all, I believe. "It also occurs to me that perhaps if we citizens all showed our appreciation for each other with a gesture, perhaps the same one but with a salute for service people, we would begin to build a world where such sacrifice is not needed. I don't think that there's much condemnation of our current service members - not like Vietnam where their was a draft and unwilling people had to take part. Even the children of politicians. Which I think finally stopped the war. They're not going to consider a draft from now on, the public won't accept it, but they are busy replacing soldiers with mercenaries. And these people can serve at home or abroad. Love, Mary" -----Original Message----- From: mary rose [mailto:maryrose333 at att.net] Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 3:56 PM To: discussion at globaljusticemovement.net; FixGov at yahoogroups.com Subject: FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Intense combat tied to homicides by Ft. Carson GIs After contemplating all of our so-called ills, including global climate change, state of our oceans, food chain, etc., I do believe that the state of our emotional and physical health as a collective conscious is the most serious challenge we face. Without a healthy population there simply is no way to address the collective challenges we face today. -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 1:38 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Intense combat tied to homicides by Ft. Carson GIs (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12847489 Intense combat tied to homicides by Ft. Carson GIs Army report on Ft. Carson soldiers also cites mental illness, drug use By Michael Riley The Denver Post and Tom Roeder The (Colorado Springs) Gazette Posted: 07/16/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT On Sept. 1, 2008, John Needham (above and below) was found naked in a San Clemente, Calif., condominium. Jacqwelyn Villagomez, 19, was also in the condo, severely beaten. She died a day later. Needham is now in an inpatient VA hospital for treatment of emotional problems and is awaiting trial on murder charges in California. (Photo courtesy of Mike Needham) Fort Carson soldiers charged with or convicted in homicides upon returning from Iraq had experienced intensive combat, several claiming they had witnessed war crimes, according to an Army report released Wednesday. Many were plagued by pre-existing problems, and the combination contributed to a series of crimes when they returned, including the killing of a soldier's infant daughter and the slaying of two people with an AK-47. A broader investigation of Fort Carson soldiers returning from Iraq found regular use of drugs and alcohol to "self-medicate," a growing number of waivers allowing troubled personalities into the ranks, and an unwillingness to use programs meant to help soldiers cope because of the stigma attached. The Full Report * Read the Army's full report on combat stress and the investigation of homicides involving Fort Carson soldiers. (126 pages - PDF) http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2009/0715/20090715_033728 _Carson.pdf findings represent the conclusion of an exhaustive investigation following a cluster of 11 homicides and two attempted murders committed or alleged to have been committed by 14 soldiers between 2005 and 2008 that led to the formation of an Army task force and a call for inquiry by then-Sen. Ken Salazar. Using focus groups and a survey that together gathered information from more than 3,000 soldiers, the report goes well beyond the accused soldiers to offer a portrait of the impact of seven years of war on the Army and its soldiers. The report found that 10 of the 14 Fort Carson soldiers charged or convicted in the crimes had been diagnosed with mental illness, including nine who were prescribed medication for their symptoms. "Soldiers allegedly involved in crimes related to homicide at Fort Carson from 2005-2008 were, in retrospect, at risk for engaging in violent behavior based on a clustering of known risk factors, namely, prior criminal behavior and psychopathology," wrote the authors, a team of doctors, epidemiologists, Army criminal investigators, a chaplain and others. "The risk factors alone, however, do not entirely explain the apparent clustering of crime in this population." Changes called for John Needham (Orange County Sheriff's Dept.) The investigation's authors called for sweeping changes to correct the problems. The Army should try to identify high-combat-exposure individuals or units, they said, and provide them more reintegration support before they are deployed again in combat. They said the institution should develop methods for spotting and tracking high-risk individuals. And the authors said there should be an Army-wide review to study the possible connection among deployment, combat intensity and aggressive behavior. At a news conference at Fort Carson accompanying the report's release, Maj. Gen. Mark Graham, the post's commander, said the study already has resulted in increased mental-health training and more counseling for soldiers upon their return from war. "We are training and educating our soldiers and leaders," he said. But the news conference also showed a split in the Army's attitude toward the sweeping report and its findings. Army officials speaking Wednesday denied there was any connection between combat and crime, pointing out that their own data show 65 percent of violent crimes committed by soldiers were done by troops who had not been to war. The report suggested there is a link. "Survey data from this investigation suggest a possible association between increasing levels of combat exposure and risk for negative behavioral outcomes," it said. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., called the report "deeply troubling" and said it "raises several questions about how we are providing for our troops." Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said the investigation "is the latest to raise serious questions about whether the military is doing enough to help service members transition from battle back into civilian life." The investigation focused on the 4th Brigade Combat Team, the unit to which most of the murder suspects were attached. Nicknamed the "Lethal Warriors," the unit had a casualty rate higher than other units its size in two Iraq deployments, losing lives at a rate more than eight times that of the 3rd Brigade. More than half of the charged or convicted soldiers said they had seen war crimes during their deployments that included the killing of civilians. In the survey, the unit's soldiers told investigators that they carried weapons with them because they felt unsafe and often said they had problems fitting into normal society. The report also found that the Army's programs to detect behavioral problems and deal with them early regularly failed. Only 20 percent of the unit's soldiers who tested positive for drug use were enrolled in the mandatory Army Substance Referral Program after 30 days; only 60 percent were enrolled after 180 days. The pervasive substance abuse among some troops, mental illness already present in recruits and the failure of Army leaders to get soldiers the help they need likely contributed to the violence, said Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, the Army's surgeon general. "Those three in combination are a really toxic mix," Schoomaker said. "Moral waivers" rise The investigation also highlighted the impact on an Army recruitment program under strain after years of war. Hard-pressed to fill recruitment goals, the Army began issuing a higher number of "moral waivers" between 2004 and 2007 to individuals with criminal records or drug problems, the report found. Soldiers who entered the Army with those waivers were two to three times more likely to test positive for illicit drugs and significantly more likely to be removed from the ranks for disciplinary problems. Three of the soldiers accused of homicide wouldn't have made it into the Army without waivers, according to the report. U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Republican who represents Colorado Springs, saw both the report and its conclusions in a positive light. "It is clear the Army is serious about addressing problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide, substance abuse and violence," Lamborn said. Michael Riley: 303-954-1614 or mriley at denverpost.com Army homicide cases The Army study focused on 13 cases, 11 ending in homicide. Eleven Fort Carson GIs have been charged or convicted. One killed himself. Stephen Sherwood On Aug. 3, 2005, he killed his wife, Sara, and then himself in Larimer County. Timothy Parker Serving seven years in military custody after his conviction for involuntary manslaughter in the Nov. 11, 2005, fireplace-poker beating death of Spec. Piotr Szczypka. Johnathon Christopher Klinker Klinker is serving 40 years for shaking his infant daughter, Nicolette, to death in October 2006. "I still don't understand why I did it," Klinker told the judge at his sentencing. Anthony Marquez Killed Jonathan Smith on Oct. 22, 2006, in a botched robbery attempt. Serving 30 years in prison. Olin Ferrier Part of a group that shot and killed Pueblo taxi driver David Chance on Oct. 30, 2007. He is serving life in prison for first-degree murder. Bruce Bastien, Louis Bressler, Kenneth Eastridge On Nov. 30, 2007, the three met at a nightclub with Army buddy Spec. Kevin Shields. Later than night, Shields was shot to death by the side of a road. Authorities believe the three had discussed plans to commit a series of armed robberies, and became nervous that Shields would reveal their plan. Later, authorities charged that Bastien and Bressler were also responsible for killing Fort Carson Pfc. Robert James in August 2007 and that all three had participated in an aggravated robbery in October. Bastien is serving 60 years as an accessory in the Shields killing, and for conspiracy in the James killing. Bressler was convicted of conspiracy in the Shields case and as an accessory in the James killing and is serving 50-60 years. Eastridge is serving 10 years for his role in the Shields murder. Jomar Falu-Vives, Rodolfo Torres-Gandarilla Torres-Gandarilla is serving 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to being an accessory in the June 6, 2008, drive-by shootings of Cesar Ibanez and Amairany Cervantes in Colorado Springs and the May 26, 2008, wounding of another Fort Carson soldier, Capt. Zachary Szody. Ibanez and Cervantes were hanging signs advertising a yard sale when they were shot for no apparent reason. Falu-Vives is awaiting trial for the crimes, now scheduled for August. Torres-Gandarilla is expected to testify that Falu-Vives was the gunman in both shootings. Robert Hull Marko Awaiting trial in the Oct. 10, 2008, killing of Judillana Lawrence, whose throat was cut in the foothills outside Colorado Springs. The Army also examined two attempted murders in which Fort Carson soldiers were suspected. Details of those crimes were unavailable. From maryrose333 at att.net Fri Jul 17 13:06:10 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:06:10 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Intense combat tied to homicides by Ft. Carson GIs Message-ID: <000001ca0711$a82891f0$f879b5d0$@net> Lawrence, this is a good response to the original message and Mary Nelson's reply. There is no denying that civilization was built on topsoil and once topsoil is gone what have we left? Nothing that will support it. Mary, I want you to know that I am now suggesting that what we need is a "coalition" of organizations who are involved in creating a "healthy" future by intelligent design. And, I am asking for support in putting this together under what is called: Future Dawning Enterprises. This entity would serve as an incubator for new models of coherence. Our first project: Hearts of Fire, which deals with homeless issues is already underway. We currently have a discussion group going on at Architects of a New Dawn hosted by the indomitable musician, Carlos Santana. If anyone is interested in joining this group and finding solutions, please contact me at: dustysummerrose at gmail.com Certainly it is as important to deal with the mental health of returning military personnel as it is to deal with the challenges associated with drug addiction and alcoholism. Those who are losing their homes and jobs are as much affected by "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" as those returning from war. And the more stressed out we are the less resistant is our immune system to bugs, viruses, etc. We need programs designed to handle and alleviate the stress so that we are living in a Healthy environment and not one that is a "crazy-maker." There is no way one organization can handle the magnitude of chaos we have created in today's world - we need to put our heads together and organize for coherence and peace in all of our activities. There is too much competition going on and that is the old model. We need to implement a new one that is capable of addressing the problems at hand through cooperation and sharing of knowledge. We must move into a new level of consciousness - one that is based in coherence rather than on continual chaos. From: lawrence kiely [mailto:topdownyoga at gmail.com] Sent: Friday, July 17, 2009 10:21 AM To: mary rose Subject: Re: FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Intense combat tied to homicides by Ft. Carson GIs Without a healthy soil-organism, there is no healthy body; www. dirtthemovie.org/ On Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 11:46 AM, mary rose wrote: -----Original Message----- From: Mary Nelson [mailto:m_nelson at aperdat.com] Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 7:16 PM To: 'mary rose' Subject: RE: [globalnetnews-summary] Intense combat tied to homicides by Ft. Carson GIs Well, we surely can't have a healthy population, of any species, on the planet that we have made sick. It occurs to me that what these service members faced, whether in combat or not, caused shock to many of them. Then add the horror of "combat" - which often means killing non-combatant men, women and children. Then bring them home to perhaps an even greater shock. "Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said the investigation "is the latest to raise serious questions about whether the military is doing enough to help service members transition from battle back into civilian life."" People losing jobs, losing homes, losing medical insurance. How do returning warriors move "back into civilian life" such as this? First we teach them to kill under stress, then they come back and, guess what? They kill under stress. How on Earth can we be surprised when the inevitable happens? Destroy Earth and, whoops, no Earth! MaryN having a bad day. PS A loving friend just sent me this.... Gratitude Campaign - Please pass this along to others.. and make an effort yourself.... This is pretty neat.....(30 second video)...Have you ever seen one of our military walking past you and wanted to convey to them your thanks, but weren't sure how or it felt awkward? Recently, a gentleman from Seattle created a gesture which could be used, and has started a movement to get the word out. Please, everybody, take just a moment to watch.... The Gratitude Campaign; ....and then forward it to your friends! THEN START USING THE SIGN. http://www.gratitudecampaign.org/shortmovie.php My response to her was... "That's a wonderful idea. I see few people in uniform up here but will keep an eye out. "The war does have everything to do with politics - and control and greed. But the service and sacrifice doesn't ,and many of these young people just see no way to a reasonable life for themselves and their loved ones than to take part in this. What a shame. And each who serves adds to the danger for us all, I believe. "It also occurs to me that perhaps if we citizens all showed our appreciation for each other with a gesture, perhaps the same one but with a salute for service people, we would begin to build a world where such sacrifice is not needed. I don't think that there's much condemnation of our current service members - not like Vietnam where their was a draft and unwilling people had to take part. Even the children of politicians. Which I think finally stopped the war. They're not going to consider a draft from now on, the public won't accept it, but they are busy replacing soldiers with mercenaries. And these people can serve at home or abroad. Love, Mary" -----Original Message----- From: mary rose [mailto:maryrose333 at att.net] Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 3:56 PM To: discussion at globaljusticemovement.net; FixGov at yahoogroups.com Subject: FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Intense combat tied to homicides by Ft. Carson GIs After contemplating all of our so-called ills, including global climate change, state of our oceans, food chain, etc., I do believe that the state of our emotional and physical health as a collective conscious is the most serious challenge we face. Without a healthy population there simply is no way to address the collective challenges we face today. -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 1:38 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Intense combat tied to homicides by Ft. Carson GIs (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12847489 Intense combat tied to homicides by Ft. Carson GIs Army report on Ft. Carson soldiers also cites mental illness, drug use By Michael Riley The Denver Post and Tom Roeder The (Colorado Springs) Gazette Posted: 07/16/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT msg truncated in order to ensure delivery to all addressees -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Fri Jul 17 20:31:42 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:31:42 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] US Income Inequality Continues to Grow Message-ID: <005601ca074f$e6efda90$b4cf8fb0$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Friday, July 17, 2009 3:32 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] US Income Inequality Continues to Grow http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/17-8 Published on Friday, July 17, 2009 by The Capital Times (Wisconsin) US Income Inequality Continues to Grow by Don Monkerud In June 2009, the U.S. economy saw its second steepest decline in 27 years. New jobless claims increased, business inventories fell and exports plunged as bad economic news persisted. Will the once high-flying American wealth machine continue to produce the vast inequalities of the past? Only two years ago, Steve Forbes, CEO of Forbes magazine, declared 2007 "the richest year ever in human history." During eight years of the Bush administration, the 400 richest Americans, who now own more than the bottom 150 million Americans, increased their net worth by $700 billion. In 2005, the top 1 percent claimed 22 percent of the national income, while the top 10 percent took half of the total income, the largest share since 1928. In June 2009, the Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Report estimated the number of the world's wealthiest people declined by 15 percent, the steepest decline in the report's 13-year history. The number of millionaires in the U.S. fell by 19 percent to 2.5 million people. Analysts tell us the economy is being restructured, but how will the disparities in wealth between the rich and the poor play out? "The source of wealth has changed over the past 30 years; corporations have become the engine of inequality in the U.S.," says Sam Pizzigati, associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington D.C. "In the past, wealth came from ownership: Today it comes increasingly from income." The highest incomes come from executive pay at top corporations. In 2007, the ratio of CEO pay to the average paycheck was 344 to 1, lower than the record 525 to 1 ratio set in 2001, but substantial. This year's ratio is estimated to decrease to 317 to 1. In the '60s, '70s and '80s, the average ratio fluctuated between 30 and 40 to 1. Over 40 percent of GNP comes from Fortune 500 companies. According to the World Institute for Development Economics Research, the 500 largest conglomerates in the U.S. "control over two-thirds of the business resources, employ two-thirds of the industrial workers, account for 60 percent of the sales, and collect over 70 percent of the profits." Corporations systematically created a wealth gap over the last 30 years. In 1955, IRS records indicated the 400 richest people in the country were worth an average $12.6 million, adjusted for inflation. In 2006, the 400 richest increased their average to $263 million, representing an epochal shift of wealth upward in the U.S. In 1955, the richest tier paid an average 51.2 percent of their income in taxes under a progressive federal income tax that included loopholes. By 2006, the richest paid only 17.2 percent of their income in taxes. In 1955, the proportion of federal income from corporate taxes was 33 percent; by 2003, it decreased to 7.4 percent. Today, the top taxpayers pay the same percentage of their incomes in taxes as those making $50,000 to $75,000, although they doubled their share of total U.S. income. "Over the past 30 years, the income of the top 1 percent, adjusted for inflation, doubled: the top one-tenth of 1 percent tripled, and the top one-one-hundredth quadrupled," says Pizzigati. "Meanwhile, the average income of the bottom 90 percent has gone down slightly. This is a stunning transformation." Meanwhile, wages for most Americans didn't improve from 1979 to 1998, and the median male wage in 2000 was below the 1979 level, despite productivity increases of 44.5 percent. Between 2002 and 2004, inflation-adjusted median household income declined $1,669 a year. To make up for lost income, credit card debt soared 315 percent between 1989 and 2006, representing 138 percent of disposable income in 2007. According to Pizzigati, the wealth disparity is the result of corporations squeezing more profits from workers. "In the past corporations laid off workers because business was bad," Pizzigati says. "But over the past few decades, downsizing has been a corporate wealth generating strategy. Today, CEOs don't spend their time trying to make better products: they maneuver to take over other companies, steal their customers and fire their workers." Progressive taxation used to prevent the rich from capturing a disproportionate share of national compensation, and the labor movement, which represented 35 percent of private sector employees and today represents 8 percent, once served as a political force to limit excessive executive pay. The Reagan backlash cut the top income tax rates, and saw the creation of right-wing think tanks that spent $30 billion over the past 30 years propagandizing for deregulation, privatization and wealth worship. Bubble economies over the past 30 years helped CEOs pump up their income, and efforts to corral their pay are weak and ineffective. CEO pay may fall during these economic hard times, but disparity isn't going away. Without a strong movement for change, the wealth gap will only increase in this downturn. "There won't be a restructuring of the economy unless we take on executive compensation," concludes Pizzigati. "Outrageously large rewards give executives an incentive to behave outrageously. If we allow these incentives to continue, we will just see more of the reckless behavior that has driven the global economy into the ditch." From maryrose333 at att.net Sat Jul 18 18:58:28 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 17:58:28 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Potential Neurotoxin Could Be in Our Food Message-ID: <001201ca080c$0a674410$1f35cc30$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Saturday, July 18, 2009 5:47 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Potential Neurotoxin Could Be in Our Food (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) Potential Neurotoxin Could Be in Our Food By Brandon Keim July 17, 2009 2:04 pm http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/07/pbde/ Long after a potentially neurotoxic flame retardant is off the market, it could linger in our food chain. One of the most comprehensive analyses yet of human exposure to PBDEs, or polybrominated diphenyl ethers, shows that the chemical - long used in everything from computers to sleeping bags - enters humans through their diets, not just their household. "The more you eat, the more PBDEs you have in your serum," said Alicia Fraser, an environmental health researcher at Boston University's School of Public Health who headed the new study, published this month in Environmental Health Perspectives. PBDEs are chemical cousins of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, which are known to cause birth defects and neurological impairments. PCBs were banned throughout the world by the mid-1970s, when PBDEs were gaining popularity as flame retardants. PBDEs were soon found in most plastic-containing household products. By the late 1990s, trace amounts of PBDEs had been found in people all over the world, with the highest exposures measured in the United States. Researchers became nervous: Low doses caused neurological damage in laboratory animals, and the highest human PBDE levels were found in breast milk. Whether PBDEs posed an immediate threat to humans was uncertain. Direct testing is unethical, and population-wide epidemiological studies are difficult to run. But there's enough reason for concern that the European Union banned two of the three most common PBDE formulations in 2004. The Environmental Protection Agency, which in January admitted that it lacked the ability to establish basic standards of chemical safety, has not followed suit, but three states - California, Washington and Maine - have banned PBDEs since 2007. Many manufacturers have either stopped or plan on stopping their use. "They are persistent in the environment. They don't get broken down. Therefore, it takes a really long time for the contamination to leave our environment and our bodies," said Fraser. "Even though we don't know the health effects at this point, most people would want policies that would stop us from being exposed to them." But though well-advised, these bans won't eliminate the threat. Most PBDE exposure research has focused on how people can absorb it from dust and other indoor sources that would ostensibly be eliminated once PBDE-containing products were discarded. Much less attention has been paid to PBDEs in food. Fraser's team analyzed biological samples from 2,000 people, provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The same data was used in 2004 to establish baseline estimates of PBDE exposure in Americans, but that study didn't look for patterns in food consumption. Fraser's team found that PBDE levels were 25 percent higher in meat-eaters than vegetarians. Though the channels of food contamination by PBDEs haven't been conclusively established, it's possible that "the old products are being moved to landfills, and PBDEs could enter the environment that way," said Fraser. Earlier this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that PBDEs were present in all U.S. coastal waters and the Great Lakes, with the highest levels found near urban and industrial areas. That PBDEs would be highest in meat products makes sense, as the chemicals accumulate in fat, and it wouldn't be hard for PBDEs to enter their feed and water. Fraser suggested that the United States adopt chemical regulations similar to those in the European Union, which in 2007 mandated that chemicals be thoroughly tested and proven safe before used. That's the opposite of the U.S. system, where chemicals are assumed to be safe until it's proved otherwise. "The industry is finding new products to use as flame retardants, and we don't know the health and safety implications of those products either," said Fraser. "We need to test the health and safety implications of products before they go into use, not after." From maryrose333 at att.net Sun Jul 19 12:42:19 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sun, 19 Jul 2009 11:42:19 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: Simple Living News - Issue #71 - July-August 2009 Message-ID: <001f01ca08a0$a8818310$f9848930$@net> -----Original Message----- From: The Simple Living Network [mailto:news at simpleliving.net] Sent: Saturday, July 18, 2009 1:53 PM To: news at simpleliving.net Subject: Simple Living News - Issue #71 - July-August 2009 The Simple Living Newsletter - A User Supported Service Table of Contents - July-August 2009 - Issue #71 READ IT ON-LINE AT: www.simpleliving.net. ___________________________________________________________ Dear Subscribers & Supporters, Thanks for taking the time to visit our web site and read this edition at: www.simpleliving.net. ___________________________________________________________ THE CANINE GOURMET: A Guide To Home Cooking For Fido -- Fran Jablway Fran explains what she learned about commercial dog food, and the connection between healthier food and lower vet bills. She shows how she's able to easily make dog food that keeps her beloved pooch happy and healthy. ___________________________________________________________ THE HAPPY MINIMALIST: Finding Health & Happiness -- Peter Lawrence Peter Lawrence, author of the new eBook, The Happy Minimalist, discusses why "more is better" may not be all it's cracked up to be. He shares some interesting facts and personal insights about financial independence, happiness, pleasure and more. ___________________________________________________________ PATIENT (patient) GARDENING: The Frugal Girl -- Kristen Krause Kristen shows how she grew to appreciate the virtue of patience in gardening frugally and landscaping her yard. She explains the connection she discovered between living frugally and accepting delayed gratification. ___________________________________________________________ HOW I BECAME A BICYCLE SUPERHERO -- Madeline Ostrander In this "Bike To Work Month" blog, Madeline gives us her own take on commuting to work by bike. She also provides plenty of helpful information for others interested in making the same transition. ___________________________________________________________ Complete articles on-line: www.simpleliving.net. ___________________________________________________________ CREDIT CARD DEBT: The Simple Dollar Podcast -- Trent Hamm In the first of a new series of weekly podcasts, Trent talks about his personal experience with credit card debt, and how he became debt-free within a few years. This podcast is entertaining and informative, with a great sense of humor mixed in throughout! ___________________________________________________________ GEMS OF THE DISCUSSION FORUM: The Pleasures Of Going Without -- Ann Haebig Ann shares links to the latest hot topics on The Simple Living Network Discussion Forums -- watching TV, how to avoid eating out, going comfortably without air conditioning, unreasonable demands in the workplace and much more. Join in the fun! ___________________________________________________________ HOW DO YOU MEASURE WEALTH? My Year Without Spending -- Angela Barton Angela discusses her experiences in being a member of The Compact, committing to buy nothing new for one year. She talks about how her expectations of deprivation evolved to become appreciation of her true wealth in life. ___________________________________________________________ FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE: More Attainable Than Ever -- Fred Ecks Newsletter Editor Fred Ecks wrote this article to dispel the myth that Financial Independence is less achievable than it was in the past. Using government census data and statistics, he explains that our ability to save money is now better than it has ever been in history, because wages have consistently grown faster than expenses for consumer goods or housing. Becoming completely free is an option for more people now than ever before! ___________________________________________________________ + NEW RESOURCES Browse our collection of new resources to for simple living, green living, cooking, gardening and country living. Plus, new posters, banners and pennants! ___________________________________________________________ Complete articles on-line: www.simpleliving.net. ___________________________________________________________ SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Your Money Or Your Life OnLine Study Groups Registration Now In Progress -- Next Class Begins September 22, 2009 -- www.simpleliving.net/olsg. On-Line Study Groups were created by The Simple Living Network in cooperation with The New Road Map Foundation. Our purpose is to provide hosted, interactive, on-line classes for those following the nine-step program in the best selling book *Your Money Or Your Life* by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. Our on-line classrooms have now been updated to match the new, 3rd edition of *Your Money Or Your Life.* *Your Money Or Your Life* presents a simple, nine-step plan that will transform the way you think about, earn and spend money. This plan, a whole systems approach based on simple record-keeping and your own unique life situation, works for anyone who earns or spends money. Singles and couples (with and without children), retirees and students, big earners and those below the poverty line have all been successful in doing the program. We have created this OnLine Study Group venue because we recognize that group study is very helpful for those following the nine-steps. However, we also recognize that there are many folks out there who... * do not have access to a local Study Group, * find it difficult to attend face-to-face meetings on a regular basis, or * wish to maintain the anonymity provided by the Internet. To learn more about how you can participate in an OnLine Study Guide Group, visit: www.simpleliving.net/olsg. ___________________________________________________________ THANK YOU CyberAngels! Thank you to all supporting users who have made financial contributions to The Simple Living Network. 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From maryrose333 at att.net Sun Jul 19 15:01:59 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sun, 19 Jul 2009 14:01:59 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] There's Nothing Left to Recover Message-ID: <002e01ca08b4$2b3acdd0$81b06970$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Sunday, July 19, 2009 1:26 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] There's Nothing Left to Recover There's Nothing Left to Recover What Economy? By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts07162009.html July 16, 2009 There is no economy left to recover. The US manufacturing economy was lost to offshoring and free trade ideology. It was replaced by a mythical "New Economy." The "New Economy" was based on services. Its artificial life was fed by the Federal Reserve's artificially low interest rates, which produced a real estate bubble, and by "free market" financial deregulation, which unleashed financial gangsters to new heights of debt leverage and fraudulent financial products. The real economy was traded away for a make-believe economy. When the make-believe economy collapsed, Americans' wealth in their real estate, pensions, and savings collapsed dramatically while their jobs disappeared. The debt economy caused Americans to leverage their assets. They refinanced their homes and spent the equity. They maxed out numerous credit cards. They worked as many jobs as they could find. Debt expansion and multiple family incomes kept the economy going. And now suddenly Americans can't borrow in order to spend. They are over their heads in debt. Jobs are disappearing. America's consumer economy, approximately 70% of GDP, is dead. Those Americans who still have jobs are saving against the prospect of job loss. Millions are homeless. Some have moved in with family and friends; others are living in tent cities. Meanwhile the US government's budget deficit has jumped from $455 billion in 2008 to $2,000 billion this year, with another $2,000 billion on the books for 2010. And President Obama has intensified America's expensive war of aggression in Afghanistan and initiated a new war in Pakistan. There is no way for these deficits to be financed except by printing money or by further collapse in stock markets that would drive people out of equity into bonds. The US government's budget is 50% in the red. That means half of every dollar the federal government spends must be borrowed or printed. Because of the worldwide debacle caused by Wall Street's financial gangsterism, the world needs its own money and hasn't $2 trillion annually to lend to Washington. As dollars are printed, the growing supply adds to the pressure on the dollar's role as reserve currency. Already America's largest creditor, China, is admonishing Washington to protect China's investment in US debt and lobbying for a new reserve currency to replace the dollar before it collapses. According to various reports, China is spending down its holdings of US dollars by acquiring gold and stocks of raw materials and energy. The price of one ounce gold coins is $1,000 despite efforts of the US government to hold down the gold price. How high will this price jump when the rest of the world decides that the bankruptcy of "the world's only superpower" is at hand? And what will happen to America's ability to import not only oil, but also the manufactured goods on which it is import-dependent? When the over-supplied US dollar loses the reserve currency role, the US will no longer be able to pay for its massive imports of real goods and services with pieces of paper. Overnight, shortages will appear and Americans will be poorer. Nothing in Presidents Bush and Obama's economic policy addresses the real issues. Instead, Goldman Sachs was bailed out, more than once. As Eliot Spitzer said, the banks made a "bloody fortune" with US aid. It was not the millions of now homeless homeowners who were bailed out. It was not the scant remains of American manufacturing--General Motors and Chrysler--that were bailed out. It was the Wall Street Banks. According to Bloomberg.com, Goldman Sachs' current record earnings from their free or low cost capital supplied by broke American taxpayers has led the firm to decide to boost compensation and benefits by 33 percent. On an annual basis, this comes to compensation of $773,000 per employee. This should tell even the most dimwitted patriot who "their" government represents. The worst of the economic crisis has not yet hit. I don't mean the rest of the real estate crisis that is waiting in the wings. Home prices will fall further when the foreclosed properties currently held off the market are dumped. Store and office closings are adversely impacting the ability of owners of shopping malls and office buildings to make their mortgage payments. Commercial real estate loans were also securitized and turned into derivatives. The real crisis awaits us. It is the crisis of high unemployment, of stagnant and declining real wages confronted with rising prices from the printing of money to pay the government's bills and from the dollar's loss of exchange value. Suddenly, Wal-Mart prices will look like Nieman Marcus prices. Retirees dependent on state pension systems, which cannot print money, might not be paid, or might be paid with IOUs. They will not even have depreciating money with which to try to pay their bills. Desperate tax authorities will squeeze the remaining life out of the middle class. Nothing in Obama's economic policy is directed at saving the US dollar as reserve currency or the livelihoods of the American people. Obama's policy, like Bush's before him, is keyed to the enrichment of Goldman Sachs and the armament industries. Matt Taibbi describes Goldman Sachs as "a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentless jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money." Look at the Goldman Sachs representatives in the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations. This bankster firm controls the economic policy of the United States. Little wonder that Goldman Sachs has record earnings while the rest of us grow poorer by the day. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions.He can be reached at: PaulCraigRoberts at yahoo.com From ecotort at gn.apc.org Thu Jul 16 08:35:49 2009 From: ecotort at gn.apc.org (EcoTort) Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:35:49 +0100 Subject: [GJM] PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO YOUR LIST - ABSOLUTELY VITAL ! Food Safety Modernization Act (HR 875): Criminalization of Organic Farms] Message-ID: <4A5F3AC5.5040508@gn.apc.org> MONSANTO ARE TRYING TO MAKE ORGANIC FARMING CRIMINAL ! ! ! WE HAVE TO STOP THEM ! http://www.voteronpaul.com/newsDetail.php?Food-Safety-Modernization-Act-HR-875-Criminalization-of-Organic-Farms-222 I truly apologise to you if you don't want emails from me, some people have been complaining to my service provider about "spam".... PLEASE TELL *ME* if you don't want to receive emails from EcoTort ! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ceasig at gmail.com Sat Jul 18 11:12:49 2009 From: ceasig at gmail.com (Centre For Ecological Audit, Social Inclusion & Governance) Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 22:42:49 +0530 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse' In-Reply-To: <004601ca03de$bb5edda0$321c98e0$@net> References: <004601ca03de$bb5edda0$321c98e0$@net> Message-ID: <31f677a30907181012m1b4b4fccn3be26d5b39ff14fe@mail.gmail.com> Dear Mary, My take on safeguarding humanity from ecological disasters even after 20 years when I first got inspired with the writing of Michael Gorvachev remain generation of global responses for generating a sense of world citizenship for addressing these challenges. but it is the diversity in framework for ecologically safe governance and to a great extent visions that remains a problem. Energy intensive technoenthusiasts seeking expansion of ecologically hostile habitats need to appreciate the ecostrategic approach with convergence of practices in this regard. Sarkozy not wanting turban, headscarves, outer garments and ignoring the ecological challenges and people like him need to get guidance for securing interfaith common practices that are critical for decelerating the consumption of ecologically hostile consumption. Exhibitionist dressing is being defended while pious dressing is getting banned in Europe. Such an approach for defending atheistic fundamentalist and fascist values are ecologically hostile. Dr.Muhammad Mukhtar Alam On Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 10:54 PM, mary rose wrote: > > > -----Original Message----- > From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net > [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of > TradingPostPaul > Sent: Sunday, July 12, 2009 9:22 PM > To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net > Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] The planet's future: Climate change 'will > cause civilisation to collapse' > > The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse' > Authoritative new study sets out a grim vision of shortages and violence > - but amid all the gloom, there is some hope too > > http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/the-planets-future-c > limate-change-will-cause-civilisation-to-collapse-1742759.html > By Jonathan Owen > > An effort on the scale of the Apollo mission that sent men to the Moon is > needed if humanity is to have a fighting chance of surviving the ravages of > climate change. The stakes are high, as, without sustainable growth, > "billions of people will be condemned to poverty and much of civilisation > will collapse". > > This is the stark warning from the biggest single report to look at the > future of the planet - obtained by The Independent on Sunday ahead of its > official publication next month. Backed by a diverse range of leading > organisations such as Unesco, the World Bank, the US army and the > Rockefeller Foundation, the 2009 State of the Future report runs to 6,700 > pages and draws on contributions from 2,700 experts around the globe. Its > findings are described by Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the UN, as > providing "invaluable insights into the future for the United Nations, its > member states, and civil society". > > The impact of the global recession is a key theme, with researchers warning > that global clean energy, food availability, poverty and the growth of > democracy around the world are at "risk of getting worse due to the > recession". The report adds: "Too many greedy and deceitful decisions led > to a world recession and demonstrated the international interdependence of > economics and ethics." > Related articles > > * John Rentoul: Against all odds, a step up for the planet > * Hamish McRae: Forget grandstanding, dear leaders, and just learn from > your G8 friends > > Although the future has been looking better for most of the world over the > past 20 years, the global recession has lowered the State of the Future > Index for the next 10 years. Half the world could face violence and unrest > due to severe unemployment combined with scarce water, food and energy > supplies and the cumulative effects of climate change. > > And the authors of the report, produced by the Millennium Project - a > think-tank formerly part of the World Federation of the United Nations > Associations - set out a number of emerging environmental security > issues. "The scope and scale of the future effects of climate change - > ranging from changes in weather patterns to loss of livelihoods and > disappearing states - has unprecedented implications for political and > social stability." > > But the authors suggest the threats could also provide the potential for a > positive future for all. "The good news is that the global financial crisis > and climate change planning may be helping humanity to move from its often > selfish, self-centred adolescence to a more globally responsible > adulthood... Many perceive the current economic disaster as an opportunity > to invest in the next generation of greener technologies, to rethink > economic and development assumptions, and to put the world on course for a > better future." > > Scientific and technological progress continues to accelerate. IBM promises > a computer at 20,000 trillion calculations per second by 2011, which is > estimated to be the speed of the human brain. And nanomedicine may one day > rebuild damaged cells atom by atom, using nanobots the size of blood cells. > But technological progress carries its own risks. "Globalisation and > advanced technology allow fewer people to do more damage and in less time, > so that possibly one day a single individual may be able to make and deploy > a weapon of mass destruction." > > The report also praises the web, which it singles out as "the most powerful > force for globalisation, democratisation, economic growth, and education in > history". Technological advances are cited as "giving birth to an > interdependent humanity that can create and implement global strategies to > improve the prospects for humanity". > > The immediate problems are rising food and energy prices, shortages of > water and increasing migrations "due to political, environmental and > economic conditions", which could plunge half the world into social > instability and violence. And organised crime is flourishing, with a global > income estimated at $3 trillion - twice the military budgets of all > countries in the world combined. > > The effects of climate change are worsening - by 2025 there could be > three billion people without adequate water as the population rises still > further. And massive urbanisation, increased encroachment on animal > territory, and concentrated livestock production could trigger new > pandemics. > > Although government and business leaders are responding more seriously to > the global environmental situation, it continues to get worse, according to > the report. It calls on governments to work to 10-year plans to tackle > growing threats to human survival, targeting particularly the US and China, > which need to apply the sort of effort and resources that put men on the > Moon. > > "This is not only important for the environment; it is also a strategy to > increase the likelihood of international peace. Without some agreement, it > will be difficult to get the kind of global coherence needed to address > climate change seriously." > > While the world has the resources to address its challenges, coherence and > direction have been lacking. Recent meetings of the US and China, as well > as of Nato and Russia, and the birth of the G20 plus the continued work of > the G8 promise to improve global strategic collaboration, but "it remains > to be seen if this spirit of co-operation can continue and if decisions > will be made on the scale necessary to really address the global challenges > discussed in this report". > > Although the scale of the effects of climate change are unprecedented, the > causes are generally known, and the consequences can largely be forecast. > The report says, "coordination for effective and adequate action is yet > incipient, and environmental problems worsen faster than response or > preventive policies are being adopted". > > Jerome Glenn, director of the Millennium Project and one of the report's > authors, said: "There are answers to our global challenges, but decisions > are still not being made on the scale necessary to address them. Three > great transitions would help both the world economy and its natural > environment - to shift as much as possible from freshwater agriculture to > saltwater agriculture; produce healthier meat without the need to grow > animals; and replace gasoline cars with electric cars." > > > > _______________________________________________ > Discussion mailing list > Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net > > http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net > -- Endeavoring for ecological safety ,social inclusion and distributive justice for the renewable resource based livelihoods and habitats, Centre For Ecological Audit, Social Inclusion and Governance (CEASIG) , an initiative of Labour League Foundation, Sewa and Sufi Trust , Delhi aims for socially inclusive and ecologically safe future for all through organizing and communicating fcarbon neutral neighborhood discussions/ consultations, building capacities in ecological audit, ecologically safe networking ,advocacy, interfaith dialogue & other related domains for multiplying personal, community , governmental and corporate actions for ecologically safe education, ecological audit ,and, ecologically safe and socially inclusive governance best practices Contact Details: 58-C,DDA Flats, Ashok Vihar-III, Delhi-110052 Phones: 9968345380,9210490942 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Sun Jul 19 17:06:08 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sun, 19 Jul 2009 16:06:08 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] The Deflating Economy Message-ID: <006d01ca08c5$83605af0$8a2110d0$@net> Excerpt from this article: "For every job opening in the USA, there are more than five unemployed actively seeking work vying for those jobs." When I did my homeless stint in the recession of late '80s - early 90's, I recall seeing statistics then indicating that as many as 300 - 350 applicants were applying for one position in the corporate structure. What we are seeing here is just the beginning of how bad it is going to get. In order to solve the challenge we face with unemployment and consequent homelessness, we are going to have to look at some very "out of the box" type solutions. We must approach this with open minds. So, let us begin to put our thinking caps on and look at this objectively. -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Sunday, July 19, 2009 1:33 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] The Deflating Economy (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) The Deflating Economy http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney07132009.html By MIKE WHITNEY July 13, 2009 There should be a modest uptick in GDP in either in the 4th quarter 2009 or the 1st quarter 2010. This will mark the end of the current 20 month-long recession, but not the end of the crisis. The blip in growth doesn't mean that the troubles are over or that the economy is on the way to recovery. It simply means that Obama's $787 billion fiscal stimulus is beginning to kick in, giving a boost to consumer spending and generating short-term economic activity. Regrettably, when the stimulus runs out, the economy will slide back into negative territory. That's because the US consumer has crossed an important threshold and no longer has the ability to drive the economy through debt-fueled consumption. The data indicates a critical change in consumer behavior which portends a shift away from the current model for economic growth. It's a whole new ballgame. >From the mid-1980s to 2007, the ratio of debt-to-GDP rocketed from 165% to to over 350%; more than doubling in that same period. The build-up of personal debt follows the exact same trend-line as the aggregate profits of the financial sector; they're opposite sides of the same coin. Financial institutions increase profitability by expanding credit and inflating asset bubbles, not by allocating capital to productive enterprises. Their business model is inherently flawed. Speculative bubblemaking is Wall Street's method of shifting wealth from workers to the investor class. It never fails. It's the reason why 42 states are now facing budget shortfalls, unemployment has risen to 9.5 percent, and $45 trillion has vanished from global equity markets. Financialization has created a global crisis, crushed consumer demand, increased systemic instability, and put the economy into a nosedive. In the last decade, the shifting of wealth from one class to another has greatly accelerated due to deregulation and the Fed's low interest rates. Stagnant wages have forced reluctant participants into the market seeking a better return on their savings, while lax lending standards and easy credit have seduced workers into increasing their personal debt-load. All of this has been done by design to ensure the profits for the few over the well-being of the many. Wall Street has conjured up myriad complex debt-instruments (derivatives and securitization) which have been used to enhance leverage by many trillions of dollars so that financial mandarins and hedge fund managers can skim lavish bonuses and salaries on the front end before the Ponzi scam implodes. In the present crisis, the situation came to a head when two Bear Stearns hedge funds defaulted in July 2007, creating pandemonium in the stock markets while credit markets froze over. As housing prices fell and unemployment rose, households were left with little choice but to slash spending to pay-down debts. The sharp downturn has dramatically changed consumer behavior and lifted the savings rate to 6.9% in the last month, a 15-year high. Savings are expected to continue to increase despite the Fed's attempts to restart the economy with zero-percent interest rates. A recent "Economic Letter: US Household Deleveraging and Future Consumption Growth" by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco outlines the conditions which have triggered this dramatic change in consumer behavior. Here's an extended excerpt: "U.S. household leverage, as measured by the ratio of debt to personal disposable income, increased modestly from 55% in 1960 to 65% by the mid-1980s. Then, over the next two decades, leverage proceeded to more than double, reaching an all-time high of 133% in 2007. That dramatic rise in debt was accompanied by a steady decline in the personal saving rate. The combination of higher debt and lower saving enabled personal consumption expenditures to grow faster than disposable income, providing a significant boost to U.S. economic growth over the period. In the long-run, however, consumption cannot grow faster than income because there is an upper limit to how much debt households can service, based on their incomes. For many U.S. households, current debt levels appear too high, as evidenced by the sharp rise in delinquencies and foreclosures in recent years. To achieve a sustainable level of debt relative to income, households may need to undergo a prolonged period of deleveraging, whereby debt is reduced and saving is increased. Beginning in 2000, however, the pace of debt accumulation accelerated dramatically...Rising debt levels were accompanied by rising wealth. An influx of new and often speculative homebuyers with access to easy credit helped bid up prices to unprecedented levels relative to fundamentals, as measured by rents or disposable income. Equity extracted from rapidly appreciating home values provided hundreds of billions of dollars per year in spendable cash for households that was used to pay for a variety of goods and services....Rapid debt growth allowed consumption to grow faster than income. Since the start of the U.S. recession in December 2007, household leverage has declined. It currently stands at about 130% of disposable income. How much further will the deleveraging process go? Going forward, it seems probable that many U.S. households will reduce their debt. If accomplished through increased saving, the deleveraging process could result in a substantial and prolonged slowdown in consumer spending relative to pre-recession growth rates. ("U.S. Household Deleveraging and Future Consumption Growth, by Reuven Glick and Kevin J. Lansing, FRBSF Economic Letter") Household wealth has dipped $14 trillion since the crisis began. Wages are slowly retreating and unemployment is at 9.5% a 25 year high. Also, the percentage of home equity has fallen below 50% for the first time on record. And---since one-third of homes have no mortgages (100% ownership)--the remaining homes have only 12% equity. If prices continue to drop in 2010, the vast majority of homeowners will be underwater presaging a sharp rise in the number of foreclosures. In the last 18 months, the ratio of debt to disposable income has only eased to 128%, which means that it will take at least a decade to rebuild balance sheets enough to resume spending at pre-crisis levels. It's going to be a long hard slog even if the stimulus works according to plan, especially since unemployment is headed for 10% by the end of September and higher by 2010. Household deleveraging will continue regardless of positive developments in the markets, which means that the economy will reset at a lower level of activity. This precludes any chance of a strong recovery. According to David Rosenberg, chief economist for Gluskin Sheff : "By our estimates, there is up to another $5 trillion of household debt that has to be eliminated in coming years and that process is going to require that consumers go on a semi-permanent spending diet. Companies see this, which is why they are not just downsizing their payroll, but have also cut the workweek to a record low of 33.1 hours. Fewer people are working and those that are still working have seen their hours dramatically cut this cycle.... The op-ed column by Bob Herbert in the Saturday New York Times really hit the nail on the head on this whole 'green shoot' issue - how can there be 'green shoots' when the labour market is deteriorating at such a rapid clip fully nine months after the Lehman collapse. The full brunt of the credit collapse may be behind us, but please, the other two shocks, namely deflating labour markets and deflating home prices, are very much still front and centre. For every job opening in the USA, there are more than five unemployed actively seeking work vying for those jobs. That is unprecedented and nearly double what we saw at the depths of the 2001 recession. The official ranks of the unemployed have doubled during this recession to 14 million and if you take into account all forms of labour market slack, the unofficial number is bordering on 30 million, another record. For those who still believe that we somehow managed to avoid an economic depression this cycle because of a 13% fiscal deficit/GDP and a pregnant Fed balance sheet, the Center for Labour Market Studies at Northeastern University estimates that the real unemployment now stands at 18.2%, which is actually higher than the posted rate at the end of the 1930... What makes this cycle "different" is that three-quarters of the workers that were fired over the last year were let go on a permanent, not a temporary basis. A record 53% of the unemployed today are workers who were displaced permanently - not just temporarily because of the vagaries of the traditional business cycle. This means that these jobs are not going to be coming back that quickly, if at all, when the economy does in fact begin to make the transition to the next expansion phase." (David Rosenberg chief economist Gluskin Sheff) Rosenberg's comments should be carefully considered in relation to the scaremongering about inflation by conservatives and alarmists in the media. Inflation is not serious danger for the foreseeable future. The velocity of money has collapsed and deflation is pushing down asset prices and wages. Every sector is contracting. Without stimulus, the economy will remain in negative GDP. Here's Scott Patterson from the Wall Street Journal: "A rule of thumb is that inflation doesn't become sticky until the unemployment rate dips below 5%. Since 2001, the Nonaccelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment, or NAIRU, the rate at which economists estimate the labor market can trigger inflation, has stood at 4.8% unemployment, according to the Congressional Budget Office. In the first quarter, the spread between the NAIRU and the actual unemployment rate averaged 3.3 percentage points, the widest spread since 1983, when unemployment hovered around 10%. A high spread suggests the labor market needs to get stronger before inflation is a concern." ("Inflation fears? Not in this job market", Scott Patterson, The Wall Street Journal) The inflation hobgoblin is a political ploy by the Republicans to derail Obama's recovery plan. And, in some respects, it's working. Public support for a second stimulus package has withered, and with it, any hope for sustained rebound. Pressure on wages and prices are growing while the effects of deflation are becoming more and more apparent. Delinquencies, defaults, bankruptcies and foreclosures are all up, while state budgets buckle and joblessness mushrooms. The Republicans are following the neoliberal handbook, trying to crash the economy so that public assets can be privatized and public services terminated They're being helped in their campaign by bailout-weary citizens who don't understand that short-circuiting government spending during a deep recession can precipitate a bigger catastrophe. That said, liberal economists have made poor case for more stimulus. Stimulus is not a panacea; it's merely a bridge from Point A to Point B. Government spending can take up the slack in demand, but it can't fix the economy's underlying problems. That takes policymakers who are willing to do-battle with the big banks and re-regulate the financial system. No one in the Obama administration is willing to perform that task, so the economy will continue its downward drift. Presently, the banks have more than a $1 trillion in toxic assets on their balance sheets and the wholesale credit markets (securitization) are in a shambles. Nothing has been done to separate commercial from investment banks, force all derivatives onto regulated platforms, unwind insolvent financial institutions, establish prices for complex securities, increase capital requirements, or put an end to off-balance sheet operations. If the underlying problems are not going to be fixed, than why are liberal economists so eager to use their talents to minimize the effects of the recession? They're just making it easier for Wall Street huckster's to start gaming the system again. The job of progressive economists is to promote a more equitable system that reduces inequality and provides for the basic material needs of all its citizens. There's no sense in cheering on stimulus if it just perpetuates the same dog-eat-dog system. The subtext of the financial crisis is class warfare, a fact that mainstream economists would rather ignore than invoke the musty imagery of disheveled revolutionaries and Soviet-era repression. Nevertheless, during the Bush years, the chasm between rich and poor widened to levels not seen since the Gilded Age. Now the top 1 percent of wealth holders own more than twice as much as the bottom 80% of the population. All of the real gains in national income, total net-worth, and overall growth in financial worth have gone to the same 1 percent. But the strides in personal enrichment have come at great cost. The US consumer, long considered an inexhaustible resource, is tapped out. Without job security and access to easy credit; consumer spending will slow, prices will fall, demand will flag and the economy will tank. There won't be a recovery, because pre-crisis levels of consumption will not return; that much is certain. Sustainable growth requires higher wages and longer working hours; neither of which are likely anytime soon. The economy is headed for a protracted slowdown with persistent high unemployment and growing social unrest. The future is deflation. From maryrose333 at att.net Mon Jul 20 18:05:45 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:05:45 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: FOOD SHORTAGES. CHECK THIS OUT. Message-ID: <001801ca0997$00ed8c00$02c8a400$@net> This began a long time ago when the developers began to build L.A. Read the story in "Cadillac Desert" www.enotes.com/cadillac-desert From: Nance ~ [mailto:planetnews8 at gmail.com] Sent: Monday, July 20, 2009 2:26 PM Subject: FOOD SHORTAGES. CHECK THIS OUT. WHO IS DOING THIS TO US? ZAN I've driven the almost 400 mile stretch of Interstate 5 from L.A. to Sacramento dozens of times. Quite honestly, it's as boring as it gets. with only the usual gas stations, mini-marts, fast-food, home-cookin' restaurants, and strangely a newer batch of Starbuck's Coffee shops sprouting up everywhere. In between... farms, orchards, cattle, and dirt. On July 15th, as I began my trip to Utah, I came off the Grapevine decline and hit the flat 250 or so mile stretch of interstate which begins the farming belt in the valley. Almost immediately I noticed what I had only heard about on the radio and in the papers. Where once there were vast fields of green, now there where empty, barely recognizable rows of unplanted dirt and growing weeds. Only sporadically at first, but once I passed Bakersfield and for about a 200 mile stretch, I could not believe my eyes. Field after field laid fallow. And not really fallow, but unattended... as if it was not going to be planted in the near future either. Signs were staked in the ground on almost every patch of barren farmland. The most common one, which was yellow and obviously a group effort to wake up the sleeping travelers of thier future plight, read: "CONGRESS CREATED DUST BOWL" Others, which looked more homemade were posted on non-operational farm equipment parked as close to the freeway as possible, stated things like: "FOOD ONLY GROWS WHERE WATER FLOWS" -and- "NO WATER = NO JOBS = NO FUTURE" At one point, after 150 miles or so of seeing this horror, I broke down in tears and had to pull over to the side of the road. I saw the aqueduct, which followed Interstate 5 most of the way, and large fields of dead trees which were planted just a few feet from the flowing cement river. I imagined how those trees would feel, imprisoned in the dying dirt by their own roots, if they could indeed comprehend that their source of life was just a stones throw away. It was like some horrific story-book come to life; science fiction in real time. I was thinking of the farmers and their families and wondering what would become of them and their land. I was thinking about the consequences of hundreds of miles of food no longer being grown, and adding together the other states like Campo, Colorado which have the same situation... only planting 60% of their crops this year. This deadness went on untill the brink of civilization once again began to show. When I approached the Stockton/Modesto highway interchange area the carnage seemed to stop, and the fields appearded to be healthy an bountiful. I can only guess that this is because more people drive on that stretch of the freeway, and so the powers that be are trying to keep up apearances. No other explaination came to mind. To the readers of this, I can only say that living in the city has literally blinded me to the truth, even though I knew it was happening. I wonder how many other things I ignore? Many economists and trends predictors have called for food shortages and food riots in the fall, and with what I saw last week, I have new reason to believe them. But then, that's the real problem isn't it? Belief... If you believe that the food will continue to flow (magically appearing on store shelves in a grocery store near you) and just dismiss the very real claims of shortages worldwide, including a severe wheat shortage in this country due to a harmfull fungus, then I might boldy say that you deserve whatever fate befalls you. I challenge you all to take a drive up the 5 and see this for yourself. Please! Don't let this go unseen. If you are camera or video savy, I think it would be a really great photo exibit or website showing the true nature of our common problem. And you better believe, as you take your daily shower, flush your toilet, and water your fertilized-non-edible grassy yards, that this is indeed a Congress created crisis. So please tell as many people about it as possible. Lastly, if you haven't already... buy storable food! Go to the dollar store and buy rice and beans. Buy pasta, caned and jarred foods, or anything with a shelf-life of more than 6 months. What's the worse that can happen? You'll have food in 6 months. What's the best that can happen? You'll have food in 6 months. Take care. Spread this information. Get mad. Fight tyranny. And... Don't be a sheep. Clint Richardson introspector48 at yahoo.com Monday, July 20, 2009 -- Please Note: If you hit "REPLY", your message will be sent to everyone on this mailing list (9-11-359-list-list at meetup.com) This message was sent by Bruno (bbruhwiler8 at gmail.com) from WeAreChangeLA 9-11 Truth - Los Angeles Meetup - wacla.org. To learn more about Bruno, visit his/her member profile To unsubscribe or to update your mailing list settings, click here Meetup Support: support at meetup.com 632 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 USA _____ Get ready to win! You could score awesome prizes all summer long on AOL. -- -- NUTRAZON... Instantly Balance Right & Left Hemispheres of Brain, Bringing Body into Immediate Homeostasis for Maximum Self-Healing Potential!: http://www.TeamOneWellness.com; then: http://www.2ProsperWell.com ------------ You Too Could Have An Instant List Of 10,000 Targeted Prospects... www.StreamlineFunnelSystem.com/?ID=11362 Nancy or Earle 949-200-7335 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Mon Jul 20 23:07:41 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:07:41 -0700 Subject: [GJM] Stop Buying STuff Message-ID: <004001ca09c1$3230af70$96920e50$@net> ...its a death trap...a catch 22. We're turning a corner ...making a U-turn at break neck speed. N Thanks to Nance for forwarding this. A comment on this is that the stuff we produce for sale is what produces jobs that allow us to make money in order to buy stuff we need in order to live. In order to eliminate the purchase of stuff, we are going to have to find a way for people to support themselves. This essentially requires a major shift in the economic system. How to go about doing this is the question of the day, but as more and more people become unable to purchase, something has to give. And this could be the collapse of the whole economic system. In order to bridge the gap that this kind of collapse will cause, we need to have community currencies in place so as to act as a lifeboat as the national system collapses around us. We cannot be left to depend upon the conventional system. I urge everyone to begin looking into community currency systems and choose one that will work in your community today. Stop Buying Stuff by Fran Forstadt Ffwindyart at aol.com Over the years I have become more and more discouraged and angry at this nation's refusal to acknowledge, at a national level and in a consistent way, the harm we do our planet and its life forms. Our Environmental Protection Agency is so lame that I have to ask whose interests it serves. Profit, not health, is the prime motivator in all business. Industrial processes which poison the air, water, and soil have been developed and left in place for decades because to change them will reduce profits. Of course, NOT changing them continues to poison the planet and sicken its organic populations, but for so long now that consideration has been pushed aside. The "sickness industry," interconnected through pharmaceuticals, insurance, and the grossly expensive medical establishment, then makes money "curing" the conditions that industry has caused. This whole cycle is so blatantly interwoven that I wonder why more people don't perceive it. There was a time, perhaps, when we truly did not understand the long-term effects of poisoning our air, water, and soil. But we do understand now. We understand, we know enough. I am wondering if at some point we will go from ignorance-to-knowledge-to-wisdom, or if we will continue on our path of ignorance-knowledge-stupidity. It is sheer stupidity to continue poisoning ourselves, when we KNOW that we are creating the poisons that make us sick. At the most hopeless extreme, it is possible, I suppose, that the human race is just totally suicidal, but there are also some healthy clear thinkers around who understand that, to prevent that suicide, things have to CHANGE, now rather than later. We've known about the effects of industrial poisoning of the earth for a long time. Where is the heart, will, and spirit to correct our errors? Or are we training our children to accept illness as a "natural" state? It is not! This topic is related to global warming, which in itself seems to be partly natural. A lot of folks want to hide behind the "natural" nature of earth changes and therefore release themselves from responsibility to the planet. We have all been trained to believe we can live our lives freely within what our culture offers without having to think about anything -- someone else has done the thinking, someone else has figured it all out. It is moe and more obvious that those "someones" haven't cared very much about the planet or its plant, animal, and human populations for a long time. So this is not about global warming per se, but it IS about responsibility. Do you want to be a creator or a destroyer? That is the uniquely human choice. We have the blessing and curse of free will. The animals do not make this kind of choice and they automatically live in harmony with the earth. They always do what is right. No animal ever decides to poison its own water supply! Unfortunately, it would seem, humans can choose one course or the other. But it is difficult to choose when we don't have the facts and information, and when our schools and mass media continually give us mixed messages. I will start by saying that by and large consumers have always been the victims of industry. It is a simple equation - we cannot buy what we are not offered. What we are offered is determined somewhere in the Halls of Profit, and what comes to market is what is determined to be products that will sell, whether or not they are good for us. To increase the chances that products will sell, huge amounts of money are spent on advertising to mind-numbingly pound home the message of how cool or smart you will be if you buy a certain product. Advertising has created and furthered the American Love Affair with the Automobile, overall to the detriment of the planet, and if you have looked at TV recently, there is no change in the message, even though it is now being applied to "green" vehicles which still combust and exhaust something. Electric cars at $100,000 per isn't going to help rid the earth of the billions of gasoline-driven internal combustion engine vehicles that already exist. Nobody seems to be able to "get real" on this issue! If you slow down just a second and look at the manufacturing processes involved in producing any product, there is only one conclusion you can come to: ALL modern manufacturing processes produce poisons which are emitted into the air, water, and soil, and carried who-knows-where by climactic forces. Our Environmental Protection Agency makes rules that it is OK to release certain percentages of poisons into the environment. Your government has agreed that it is OK to poison you and everything else. The argument that those are "miniscule" amounts of poisons isn't a rational argument, since we end up with miniscule amounts of many, many poisons, the synergistic effects of which no one understands, certainly not the government or the medical industry. To bring this to a personal level, let's take a simple example, a CD player. Every single electrical product you can buy uses copper wire. Copper wire manufacturing produces sulfur dioxide --- which travels on the winds until it comes to earth as acid rain, then it kills lakes, rivers, fish and forests. Your CD player kills forests, and for the pleasure of owning a CD player, YOU have now contributed to the destruction of forests. If you examine all the other components of your CD player, you'll find other poisons associated with each piece. What is your level of responsibility here? You didn't make the product, you didn't agree that it was OK to poison the earth in making the product, but you bought the product. So ... if you don't know about any of this, you are guilty by ignorance, and if you do know, you are guilty by indifference, laziness, selfishness, malice, or stupidity ... all those things that make Americans so loved worldwide. There is the question of whether the use of microchips is reducing the amount of copper wire used in electronic devices. Even if so, cheap microchipped electronic devices have only lead to more trash. If you've noticed, there are no repair shops anymore. You're told it's cheaper to buy something new than to fix something old, and nobody wants to fix microchipped devices anyhow. There is no recycling center for most products, so it goes in the trash. You're caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. No matter which choice you make, it's the wrong one if you're trying to free yourself from supporting poisonous production processes. If you look at any manufacturing process you will find the same result: poisons. Farming is now considered manufacturing, since agri-business has replaced the family farm. How many tons of inorganic fertilizers, how much pesticide residue? All poisons. How many plastic products do you own? Plastics are a petrochemical product, an off-shoot of the oil industry. If we seriously want to reduce dependence on oil, we have to stop making plastics. Most Americans are so dependent on plastics that they don't know how to live without them -- plastic wrap and plastic containers for foods, plastic drinking bottles, plastic bowls and plates, plastic toys, plastic housings for electrical devices, plastic bumpers for cars. It has long been known that plastics do not biodegrade and, when burned, produce fumes that can harm or even kill you. The only thing that can be done with them is to recycle them ... but not all of them are recyclable ... which puts the recyclable ones back into the factory where they will be melted down and reformed, producing the same poisonous byproducts all over again. And how many people recycle their plastics? How many tons of plastics go into the trashcan and then to the landfill, where they will sit for umpteen years, unusable by the earth -- or end up floating in a garbage mass in the middle of the ocean, usable by nothing? Even steel biodegrades over time into usable earth components, but not plastics. Do you begin to get a small hint of the picture? Even if you are enlightened enough to want to take a few small steps toward reducing the poisoning of the earth, the objects you buy that are called "environmentally friendly" because they are more efficiently made and use less fuel, are still produced by processes that emit poisons into the earth, air, and/or water. So you are trapped. Even if you want to help, you can't because the products that are offered to you continue to be made by poisonous processes. The only solution to this problem is to stop buying stuff and actually write those letters and emails to companies, explaining to them that if they don't develop new processes, nothing will ever change on this planet. Nothing can ever get better if the largest producers of poisons don't stop producing them. Schools need to be teaching this kind of awareness, even though the schools themselves are made up of products that have been produced exactly the same way. We are all trapped in this industrially-produced poisonous environment. Native Americans lived on the North American continent for thousands of years without destroying it. But we, modern humans, primarily of European ancestry, have in only 300 years, since the beginning of the industrial revolution, managed to poison every corner of the globe. What have we been thinking??? It's going to be a hard educational process to go through with your kids. Why can't they have this and that? Why can't they be cool and smart too? It's only advertising that has told them which products are cool and smart. Advertising agencies which now produce ads telling us that "green" cars are cool and smart are still themselves using poison-producing products and methods to produce this "green" advertising! The circles are so tied together and so tight that every single process has to change in order for there to be significant change. But it behooves each component piece to begin. The consumer is the next-to-last component piece. We can stop buying and start telling manufacturers to get on with it and change their processes -- use their profits for change, to make things better. Do you know that more than 57 toxic chemicals have been identified in human blood and jet fuel has been found in breast milk? Examine any random person and they will have toxic elements in their blood. It's in mine and yours. This is the result of our manufacturing processes. How can we sit by and say it's OK for ourselves to be poisoned like this? I am personally of the opinion that every identified neurological disease and many unidentified ones, are directly produced by industrial poisons ... the end result of people choosing to make products and money, not knowing or caring about the long-term effects of the processes that make them currently wealthy. The rich and the poor alike are harmed by all these poisons, as is every living thing. Even China, which is in such a hurry to jump on the global economic bandwagon, is now poisoning its rivers. Twenty years ago, when a friend was diagnosed with MS, I suggested he try traditional Chinese medicine for a cure. He was told there was no traditional Chinese medical cure for MS because they didn't have MS in China. I wonder how long that will remain true. If this is American business being exported to the world, isn't anyone going to ask, "Is it worth it?" We overwhelmingly receive mixed messages on this topic. TV advertising is 98% same-old/same-old ... eat, consume, buy, be cool, be smart, but better than someone else. The other 2%, public information messages, comes late at night when no children are watching. But even these are meaningless when all the other messages stay the same. The majority of messages say we don't have to change. But if we want to stop poisoning ourselves and the planet, we DO have to change, each and every one of us. The only change a consumer can make is to NOT consume! Stop buying. Tell manufacturers you are tired of being their victims! I recently heard that Timberland has taken steps to make its plant and manufacturing process more environmentally healthy. I thank them! And other companies I am not aware of. While these are in the minority at the moment, I do hope that we, the meek, the majority of the people on this earth, and all the animals and plants who have no voice, will eventually be liberated from this prison of poisons that has been created around us. SAY NO. STOP BUYING. Use what you've got, stop being manipulated by advertising, get together in small groups and make villages. Work for yourselves and devise ways to do this that don't poison the earth. (Fran Forstadt is an artist living a small life, trying to leave a small footprint.) FutureDawning.org Mary Rose, www.futuredawning.org dustysummerrose at gmail.com Always have my latest info Want a signature like this? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Tue Jul 21 04:33:05 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:33:05 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] What went wrong with economics? Message-ID: <843959.81094.qm@web27406.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Economics What went wrong with economics Jul 16th 2009 >From The Economist print edition And how the discipline should change to avoid the mistakes of the past Illustration by Jon Berkerly OF ALL the economic bubbles that have been pricked, few have burst more spectacularly than the reputation of economics itself. A few years ago, the dismal science was being acclaimed as a way of explaining ever more forms of human behaviour, from drug-dealing to sumo-wrestling. Wall Street ransacked the best universities for game theorists and options modellers. And on the public stage, economists were seen as far more trustworthy than politicians. John McCain joked that Alan Greenspan, then chairman of the Federal Reserve, was so indispensable that if he died, the president should ?prop him up and put a pair of dark glasses on him.? In the wake of the biggest economic calamity in 80 years that reputation has taken a beating. In the public mind an arrogant profession has been humbled. Though economists are still at the centre of the policy debate?think of Ben Bernanke or Larry Summers in America or Mervyn King in Britain?their pronouncements are viewed with more scepticism than before. The profession itself is suffering from guilt and rancour. In a recent lecture, Paul Krugman, winner of the Nobel prize in economics in 2008, argued that much of the past 30 years of macroeconomics was ?spectacularly useless at best, and positively harmful at worst.? Barry Eichengreen, a prominent American economic historian, says the crisis has ?cast into doubt much of what we thought we knew about economics.? document.write(''); In its crudest form?the idea that economics as a whole is discredited?the current backlash has gone far too far. If ignorance allowed investors and politicians to exaggerate the virtues of economics, it now blinds them to its benefits. Economics is less a slavish creed than a prism through which to understand the world. It is a broad canon, stretching from theories to explain how prices are determined to how economies grow. Much of that body of knowledge has no link to the financial crisis and remains as useful as ever. And if economics as a broad discipline deserves a robust defence, so does the free-market paradigm. Too many people, especially in Europe, equate mistakes made by economists with a failure of economic liberalism. Their logic seems to be that if economists got things wrong, then politicians will do better. That is a false?and dangerous?conclusion. Rational fools These important caveats, however, should not obscure the fact that two central parts of the discipline?macroeconomics and financial economics?are now, rightly, being severely re-examined (see article, article). There are three main critiques: that macro and financial economists helped cause the crisis, that they failed to spot it, and that they have no idea how to fix it. The first charge is half right. Macroeconomists, especially within central banks, were too fixated on taming inflation and too cavalier about asset bubbles. Financial economists, meanwhile, formalised theories of the efficiency of markets, fuelling the notion that markets would regulate themselves and financial innovation was always beneficial. Wall Street?s most esoteric instruments were built on these ideas. But economists were hardly naive believers in market efficiency. Financial academics have spent much of the past 30 years poking holes in the ?efficient market hypothesis?. A recent ranking of academic economists was topped by Joseph Stiglitz and Andrei Shleifer, two prominent hole-pokers. A newly prominent field, behavioural economics, concentrates on the consequences of irrational actions. So there were caveats aplenty. But as insights from academia arrived in the rough and tumble of Wall Street, such delicacies were put aside. And absurd assumptions were added. No economic theory suggests you should value mortgage derivatives on the basis that house prices would always rise. Finance professors are not to blame for this, but they might have shouted more loudly that their insights were being misused. Instead many cheered the party along (often from within banks). Put that together with the complacency of the macroeconomists and there were too few voices shouting stop. Blindsided and divided The charge that most economists failed to see the crisis coming also has merit. To be sure, some warned of trouble. The likes of Robert Shiller of Yale, Nouriel Roubini of New York University and the team at the Bank for International Settlements are now famous for their prescience. But most were blindsided. And even worrywarts who felt something was amiss had no idea of how bad the consequences would be. That was partly to do with professional silos, which limited both the tools available and the imaginations of the practitioners. Few financial economists thought much about illiquidity or counterparty risk, for instance, because their standard models ignore it; and few worried about the effect on the overall economy of the markets for all asset classes seizing up simultaneously, since few believed that was possible. Macroeconomists also had a blindspot: their standard models assumed that capital markets work perfectly. Their framework reflected an uneasy truce between the intellectual heirs of Keynes, who accept that economies can fall short of their potential, and purists who hold that supply must always equal demand. The models that epitomise this synthesis?the sort used in many central banks?incorporate imperfections in labour markets (?sticky? wages, for instance, which allow unemployment to rise), but make no room for such blemishes in finance. By assuming that capital markets worked perfectly, macroeconomists were largely able to ignore the economy?s financial plumbing. But models that ignored finance had little chance of spotting a calamity that stemmed from it. What about trying to fix it? Here the financial crisis has blown apart the fragile consensus between purists and Keynesians that monetary policy was the best way to smooth the business cycle. In many countries short-term interest rates are near zero and in a banking crisis monetary policy works less well. With their compromise tool useless, both sides have retreated to their roots, ignoring the other camp?s ideas. Keynesians, such as Mr Krugman, have become uncritical supporters of fiscal stimulus. Purists are vocal opponents. To outsiders, the cacophony underlines the profession?s uselessness. Add these criticisms together and there is a clear case for reinvention, especially in macroeconomics. Just as the Depression spawned Keynesianism, and the 1970s stagflation fuelled a backlash, creative destruction is already under way. Central banks are busy bolting crude analyses of financial markets onto their workhorse models. Financial economists are studying the way that incentives can skew market efficiency. And today?s dilemmas are prompting new research: which form of fiscal stimulus is most effective? How do you best loosen monetary policy when interest rates are at zero? And so on. But a broader change in mindset is still needed. Economists need to reach out from their specialised silos: macroeconomists must understand finance, and finance professors need to think harder about the context within which markets work. And everybody needs to work harder on understanding asset bubbles and what happens when they burst. For in the end economists are social scientists, trying to understand the real world. And the financial crisis has changed that world. Back to top ^^ Readers' comments The Economist welcomes your views. 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Jul 16th 2009 The state of macroeconomics Jul 16th 2009 More articles about... Economics Websites Nouriel Roubini, Joseph Stiglitz, Paul Krugman, Andrei Shleifer and Robert Shiller discuss the dismal science. Advertisement document.write(''); Advertisement document.write(''); -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Tue Jul 21 08:41:34 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:41:34 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [GJM] Amid Recession Economists Embrace Haiku Message-ID: <216991394.8046111248187294428.JavaMail.tomcat@localhost> *Please note, the sender's email address has not been verified. Maybe of interest Haiku Economics! ******************** If you are having trouble with any of the links in this message, or if the URL's are not appearing as links, please follow the instructions at the bottom of this email. 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With your mouse, highlight the Web Address above. Be sure to highlight the entire Web address, even if it spans more than one line in your email. 2. Select Copy from the Edit menu at the top of your screen. 3. Launch your Web browser. 4. Paste the address into your Web browser by selecting Paste from the Edit menu. 5. Click Go or press Enter or Return on your keyboard. ******************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Tue Jul 21 12:58:21 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:58:21 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: "It will break him." Message-ID: <000701ca0a35$3a712b00$af538100$@net> From: Mitch Stewart, BarackObama.com [mailto:info at barackobama.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 11:56 AM To: Mary Rose Subject: "It will break him." Organizing for America Mary -- Last week, Republican Senator Jim DeMint made it pretty clear why the opponents of health care reform are fighting so hard. As he told a special interest attack group, "If we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him." Here's how the President responded: Think about that. This isn't about me. This isn't about politics. This is about a health care system that is breaking America's families, breaking America's businesses and breaking America's economy. And we can't afford the politics of delay and defeat when it comes to health care. Not this time, not now. There are too many lives and livelihoods at stake. With Congress only days away from finalizing their plans for reform, it's time to stand up with the President and fight back against this disastrous brand of old-style politics. So we need as many people as possible to publicly support the President's principles for health care reform and call on Congress to act. Before the first full votes in Congress, we'll publish the signatures in newspaper ads across the nation, to make sure your voice is heard. Watch President Obama's full response, then add your name in support of reform. Or if you've already signed, please forward this message to every one of your friends and neighbors so they can join you. Sign the declaration The President is more dedicated than ever to passing health care reform that satisfies the three requirements he's been talking about for months: Health care reform must reduce costs, guarantee choice -- including the choice of a strong public insurance option -- and ensure all Americans have quality, affordable health care. If we do not reform our broken health care system this year, we will only shackle future generations with spiraling costs and deteriorating care. The cost of inaction is simply more than this country can afford. But the special interests who profit from the status quo won't go down without a fight. The ads, the smears, and the attacks -- targeting both President Obama and members of Congress who support reform -- will only get worse. So it's crucial that we show huge backing before Congress finalizes their plans this month. Stand with President Obama on health care reform: http://my.barackobama.com/hcdeclare Thanks for standing up for change. Thanks, Mitch Mitch Stewart Director Organizing for America Donate Paid for by Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee -- 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to: maryrose333 at att.net To unsubscribe, go to: http://my.barackobama.com/unsubscribe -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Tue Jul 21 13:20:17 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:20:17 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: Invitation To 'Balancing Life' Teliseminar With Me and Many More... Message-ID: <001101ca0a38$4b535800$e1fa0800$@net> I just took advantage of the price of this "free" seminar and joined in. Hope you will too. mary rose From: David Wolfe [mailto:Dave at longevitynowprogram.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 8:27 AM To: maryrose333 at att.net Subject: Invitation To 'Balancing Life' Teliseminar With Me and Many More... I am so pleased and delighted to provide you a unique and intensive teleseminar series that I am participating in. Joining me in this series will be an amazing line up of speakers who will each be focused on helping you manage your life, and to assist you in finding the gifts within the changes that we are all experiencing on this planet right now. This series is about "Balancing Life". We will be discussing what is on so many people's minds right now; how to balance life in these dynamically changing times. Together we will discuss new methods and strategies to transform and create the lifestyles we have always dreamed about for ourselves and our families. Sign Up For This 'Balancing Life' Series Right Here In fact, all these speakers will be sharing their information so you can learn and be able to immediately apply new techniques to manage your life to its fullest potential. Here are just some of the people joining me... - Mark Victor Hansen & Robert Allen - Wayne Dyer - Dr. Bruce Lipton - Dr. John Gray - Dr. Daniel Amen - Loral Langemeier - Dannion Brinkley - Gregg Braden - And Many More (18 In Total!! ) I Know You Will Enjoy Hanging Out With This Group! To take advantage of this invitation to interact with these motivational and inspiring leaders, simply do the following: Step #1... Go register for your no-cost teleseminar seat here: http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=3128675 Step #2... Keep an eye out for an email with the details for listening in on the calls (The email will come from Lisa Garr). Step #3... Make sure you go to the download Internet page mentioned in your first confirmation email after you register. You will access BONUS GIFTS that you can use immediately just for enrolling. I know you'll like this one :) Have THE BEST DAY EVER!!! David "Avocado" Wolfe P.S. Remember, there are a limited number of seats available for this complementary teleseminar intensive series, and they're likely to fill up fast. So Signup Now, Before All The Spots Are Gone P.P.S. Also, if you can't make the Wednesday and Thursday LIVE calls at 2:30 PM Pacific/California/Los Angeles time, they will be recorded and available after each show for a limited time so you won't miss a thing. This message was sent from David Wolfe to maryrose333 at att.net. It was sent from: leonard foley, 9 Carlito Rd NM , Sante Fe, NM 87508. You can modify/update your subscription via the link below. Email Marketing by iContact - Try It Free! Manage your subscription -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Tue Jul 21 17:40:38 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:40:38 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: "It will break him." Message-ID: <005c01ca0a5c$a957c110$fc074330$@net> Mary, if, as you point out our brain is entrained and connected with the heart brain, then we know that whether "health care reform" passes or not is really a moot point. What really counts is our perception of our environment re: health case and right thinking people know it's not about health insurance at all, but about whether we are eating to live or living to eat bottom line. And whether or not we are able to think healthy thoughts most of the time and live out our lives manifest from our happy thoughts. All the rest of it is just pure bullshit and maybe we'll wake up one of these days as a collective conscious/unconscious and get it. Meanwhile the little boys will play with their toys (and a few women too) as the best Congress money can buy serves the best interests of itself always. The hell with the people. Our God is "money, money, money" THEY say. From: Mary Nelson [mailto:m_nelson at aperdat.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 2:47 PM To: 'mary rose' Subject: RE: "It will break him." The term "health care reform" clues us in here if we're being alert and mindful, and using both sides of our brains and ensuring that the connection between our brains and our hearts is functioning. As you often point out. Obama's plan will not only NOT provide disease and accident care cost reform, it will continue the externalization of all costs of extraction, production and distribution of the necessities of life from the "owners" to the rest of us. Even "owners" like the Medical Insurance Industry that does nothing but get in the way of care and make obscene profits for folks who do nothing to provide care. A sham and a scam at the same time. See the following: Obamacare: A Health Care Rationing Scheme to Enrich Insurers, Drug Companies and Large Hospital Chains -- by Stephen Lendman http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va &aid=14444 Hope you're keeping cool and there are no fires. We're being watchful here in the 100 degree temperatures, but so far it's beautiful. MaryNelson _____ From: mary rose [mailto:maryrose333 at att.net] Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 11:58 AM To: discussion at globaljusticemovement.net; FixGov at yahoogroups.com Subject: FW: "It will break him." From: Mitch Stewart, BarackObama.com [mailto:info at barackobama.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 11:56 AM To: Mary Rose Subject: "It will break him." Organizing for America Mary -- Last week, Republican Senator Jim DeMint made it pretty clear why the opponents of health care reform are fighting so hard. As he told a special interest attack group, "If we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him." Here's how the President responded: Think about that. This isn't about me. This isn't about politics. This is about a health care system that is breaking America's families, breaking America's businesses and breaking America's economy. And we can't afford the politics of delay and defeat when it comes to health care. Not this time, not now. There are too many lives and livelihoods at stake. With Congress only days away from finalizing their plans for reform, it's time to stand up with the President and fight back against this disastrous brand of old-style politics. So we need as many people as possible to publicly support the President's principles for health care reform and call on Congress to act. Before the first full votes in Congress, we'll publish the signatures in newspaper ads across the nation, to make sure your voice is heard. Watch President Obama's full response, then add your name in support of reform. Or if you've already signed, please forward this message to every one of your friends and neighbors so they can join you. Sign the declaration The President is more dedicated than ever to passing health care reform that satisfies the three requirements he's been talking about for months: Health care reform must reduce costs, guarantee choice -- including the choice of a strong public insurance option -- and ensure all Americans have quality, affordable health care. If we do not reform our broken health care system this year, we will only shackle future generations with spiraling costs and deteriorating care. The cost of inaction is simply more than this country can afford. But the special interests who profit from the status quo won't go down without a fight. The ads, the smears, and the attacks -- targeting both President Obama and members of Congress who support reform -- will only get worse. So it's crucial that we show huge backing before Congress finalizes their plans this month. Stand with President Obama on health care reform: http://my.barackobama.com/hcdeclare Thanks for standing up for change. Thanks, Mitch Mitch Stewart Director Organizing for America Donate Paid for by Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee -- 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to: maryrose333 at att.net To unsubscribe, go to: http://my.barackobama.com/unsubscribe -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Wed Jul 22 04:17:59 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:17:59 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] The High Cost of Cheap Food Message-ID: <000c01ca0ab5$b234e610$169eb230$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 10:28 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] The High Cost of Cheap Food The High Cost of Cheap Food http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/20-13 by Megan Nix Published on Monday, July 20, 2009 by Denver Post I used to find Flaming Hot Cheetos, bagged pickles, and the occasional plate of fried chicken in my classroom when I taught Senior English in Louisiana. I allowed some of my students to eat at their desks after lunch. I had to; there were three pregnant seniors in my fourth period. Shayna, who was in her third trimester during her last semester of high school, mostly snacked on packets of those horribly orange peanut butter crackers. Over half of my class was obese. After pizza or macaroni or hamburgers from the cafeteria, they'd fall asleep against their will, come to, apologize, then nod off again. My students were kids who carried iPhones and wore brand-name shoes. Eighty percent were black, 98 percent were low-income. They'd been raised to look as good as they could, but eat as cheaply as possible. For awhile, you can ignore poverty in schools, outbreaks of cookie dough E. coli, and the fact that 27 percent of our country's children are obese. But they're all connected - and these layers of bad news will eventually weigh one down. I found this statistic a little harder to overlook: For the first time in 200 years, today's children have a lower life expectancy than their parents. Unhealthy school lunches are certainly one reason. Here's another: Most of our food comes from huge factory farms that are government-subsidized to produce food products quickly but not nutritiously. A partial list of Health and Human Service's recalled foods so far this summer include: .. Lewis Laboratories' chocolate flavor nutrition drink; .. C.F. Sauer gravies and sauce mixes; .. Publix Brand chocolate and vanilla whey protein; .. Malt-o-Meal Maple & Brown Sugar; and .. Three types of seasonings from Kroger. There aren't any unfamiliar family names up there because smaller, organic farms abide by the rules of nature: You are stewards of your stock; you allow the soil to regenerate; and you don't add dry milk and MSG to everything, then recall it a month later. You learn the names of the plants you're eating, and you connect a chicken sandwich to a living thing with feathers - something the fifth- grade students I worked with couldn't do. The bigger farms are the ones responsible for the litany of gone-wrong products. The most recent "good news" is that the FDA is pushing for "preventative process controls" through the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 (HR 875) and the Food Safety Enhancement Act (HR 2749), in order "to protect the public health by preventing food-borne illness and ensuring the safety of food." Problem is, the process controls the government will deem as necessary will likely be too expensive for small organic farmers who are doing more to keep this country healthy than the huge agribusiness companies (Tyson, Sedexho, Hormel) who can buy bigger freezers and continue to sell nicely wrapped crap. What the passing of HR 875 and 2749 could mean is a loss of organic, small-farm options and a reduction of both the shopper's autonomy and the good things that are happening in the food world today. Endangered are farmers' markets, Community Supported Agriculture, and programs like the Farm to Cafeteria initiative, which fills cafeterias with fresh heads of lettuce and teaches kids that accountability can mean nurturing little green lives. These programs banish the resentment often extended toward the gourmet, neo-hippie organic movement. Supplying cafeterias with local organic food isn't fancy; it's cheaper than skipping lunch. In the long run, our tax dollars wouldn't subsidize the petroleum that keep factories surging, trucks transporting our tomatoes, and our health insurance bills skyrocketing. In the long run, I would like for Shayna's little girl to have a banana when she's hungry in the afternoon and dirty fingernails from digging in a garden, not a chin covered in garish orange crumbs. Are these aspirations likely? One in three children today will develop Type 2 diabetes (one in two if they're black or Hispanic). It's partly because we aren't eating diversified foods anymore, and the FDA's new plans to protect factory farms will ensure that we continue to eat a fairly homogenized diet of refined sugars. According to Vandana Shiva, an Indian crop ecologist quoted in Barbara Kingsolver's book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," over the course of history, humans have consumed over 80,000 plant species. That number has now been reduced to eight species, with a continuous honing in on modified canola, corn and soy. When Kingsolver wrote the book in 2007, only six companies controlled 98 percent of the world's seed sales (Monsanto, Syngenta, DuPont, Mitsui, Aventis, and Dow), and they continue to desecrate land. Juggernauts like Monsanto send 330 small farm operators off their land a week. In a nutshell, government regulations will soon favor genetically modified (or GMO) seeds over organic seeds, and organic seeds might eventually become illegal. Hand-planted kale and preservative-less poultry might be things of the past. The FDA says requiring eggs to be kept at 45 degrees will make us healthier, but I've owned chickens, and their eggs are like silk when it's 60 and sunny. The standard that food providers should be held to is purity of process and intent. We don't need to add bad things to our food. Agribusiness doesn't promote food safety, it swells with immoral shortcuts (a thousand chickens in a bedroom- sized space, soil made prematurely infertile, etc.). What we need to do is take a good, hard look at what "safe" means. Take a garden. Plant what grows best in your sun. Water the leaves, the roots. Walk through your rows. (If you don't have a yard, that's what urban gardens are for.) Now take another garden. Grow it long and wide, cutting away the ecosystems along its edges. Decimate the birds and the bugs. Spray it with regulatory chemicals to ward off the changes provided by the wind and the rain, the nutrient highways for our food. Which one would you call "safe"? I tried to teach my kids how to write, but I also told them what I'd learned: that an adult needs eight hours of sleep, that homemade bread and hand-written letters are second to none. That, as Annie Dillard said, "How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our years." On a more human level, the current statistics mean that less of our kids' days are spent learning, whisk in hand, how their grandma's wrist turned yolks in a bowl. We are unaccustomed to bugs in our lettuce, fish with heads, berries covered in the harvest's dust. The situation here is honest food; the deeper story is our respect for human life. Lose the first, and you lose the second, too. I might not have much to hand down to my kids (when I have them). But I do have a recipe for sweet potato bread and a dad whose knees are muddy all summer long from gardening. I'd like to give my children shiny vegetables, basil that leans into the sun, and teach them how to smell a crust that's done. If the worsening economy means our kids might inherit less, then we should be giving them longer lives to live. From maryrose333 at att.net Wed Jul 22 11:19:35 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:19:35 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: Science for Life - Rob Williams Message-ID: <003501ca0af0$97b4fc90$c71ef5b0$@net> From: Spiritcrossing [mailto:info at spiritcrossing.com] Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 4:49 AM To: maryrose333 at att.net Subject: Science for Life - Rob Williams Trouble reading this email? Read it online here Hello friends, Having just returned from 4 remarkable days with Bruce Lipton and Rob Williams, and watching people from around the world empower themselves to make profound life changes, what is in my heart and mind to share is the essence of Divine Integration. We are without doubt divine beings on the path of self discovery. Join me today as we talk with Rob Williams about the process of integrating our humanity and divinity. There is something special here for each and every one of us to recognize, within ourselves, so we can see the world around us as it actually is, instead of reflections of our internal conflicts. Awakening to our divinity is our path, the science points the way, and you and I must choose to read the signs. Join us for an enlightening, empowering hour. www.ScienceforLife.net Today, 9:00 AM Pacific, 12:00 Noon Eastern or 24/7 On Demand Love and light, Design:OneGraphic.com This message was sent from Spiritcrossing to maryrose333 at att.net. It was sent from: Spirit 2000, SpiritCrossing P.O. Box 11736 , Murfreesboro, TN 37129-0035. You can modify/update your subscription via the link below. Email Marketing by iContact - Try It Free! To be removed click here -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Wed Jul 22 11:20:29 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:20:29 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: "It will break him." Message-ID: <003a01ca0af0$b7d6d8e0$27848aa0$@net> From: Mary Nelson [mailto:m_nelson at aperdat.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 5:46 PM To: 'mary rose' Subject: RE: "It will break him." Right on! And the same for whether or not this "breaks" Obama. MaryN _____ From: mary rose [mailto:maryrose333 at att.net] Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 4:41 PM To: discussion at globaljusticemovement.net; FixGov at yahoogroups.com Subject: FW: "It will break him." Mary, if, as you point out our brain is entrained and connected with the heart brain, then we know that whether "health care reform" passes or not is really a moot point. What really counts is our perception of our environment re: health case and right thinking people know it's not about health insurance at all, but about whether we are eating to live or living to eat bottom line. And whether or not we are able to think healthy thoughts most of the time and live out our lives manifest from our happy thoughts. All the rest of it is just pure bullshit and maybe we'll wake up one of these days as a collective conscious/unconscious and get it. Meanwhile the little boys will play with their toys (and a few women too) as the best Congress money can buy serves the best interests of itself always. The hell with the people. Our God is "money, money, money" THEY say. From: Mary Nelson [mailto:m_nelson at aperdat.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 2:47 PM To: 'mary rose' Subject: RE: "It will break him." The term "health care reform" clues us in here if we're being alert and mindful, and using both sides of our brains and ensuring that the connection between our brains and our hearts is functioning. As you often point out. Obama's plan will not only NOT provide disease and accident care cost reform, it will continue the externalization of all costs of extraction, production and distribution of the necessities of life from the "owners" to the rest of us. Even "owners" like the Medical Insurance Industry that does nothing but get in the way of care and make obscene profits for folks who do nothing to provide care. A sham and a scam at the same time. See the following: Obamacare: A Health Care Rationing Scheme to Enrich Insurers, Drug Companies and Large Hospital Chains -- by Stephen Lendman http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va &aid=14444 Hope you're keeping cool and there are no fires. We're being watchful here in the 100 degree temperatures, but so far it's beautiful. MaryNelson _____ From: mary rose [mailto:maryrose333 at att.net] Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 11:58 AM To: discussion at globaljusticemovement.net; FixGov at yahoogroups.com Subject: FW: "It will break him." From: Mitch Stewart, BarackObama.com [mailto:info at barackobama.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 11:56 AM To: Mary Rose Subject: "It will break him." Organizing for America Mary -- Last week, Republican Senator Jim DeMint made it pretty clear why the opponents of health care reform are fighting so hard. As he told a special interest attack group, "If we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him." Here's how the President responded: Think about that. This isn't about me. This isn't about politics. This is about a health care system that is breaking America's families, breaking America's businesses and breaking America's economy. And we can't afford the politics of delay and defeat when it comes to health care. Not this time, not now. There are too many lives and livelihoods at stake. With Congress only days away from finalizing their plans for reform, it's time to stand up with the President and fight back against this disastrous brand of old-style politics. So we need as many people as possible to publicly support the President's principles for health care reform and call on Congress to act. Before the first full votes in Congress, we'll publish the signatures in newspaper ads across the nation, to make sure your voice is heard. Watch President Obama's full response, then add your name in support of reform. Or if you've already signed, please forward this message to every one of your friends and neighbors so they can join you. Sign the declaration The President is more dedicated than ever to passing health care reform that satisfies the three requirements he's been talking about for months: Health care reform must reduce costs, guarantee choice -- including the choice of a strong public insurance option -- and ensure all Americans have quality, affordable health care. If we do not reform our broken health care system this year, we will only shackle future generations with spiraling costs and deteriorating care. The cost of inaction is simply more than this country can afford. But the special interests who profit from the status quo won't go down without a fight. The ads, the smears, and the attacks -- targeting both President Obama and members of Congress who support reform -- will only get worse. So it's crucial that we show huge backing before Congress finalizes their plans this month. Stand with President Obama on health care reform: http://my.barackobama.com/hcdeclare Thanks for standing up for change. Thanks, Mitch Mitch Stewart Director Organizing for America Donate Paid for by Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee -- 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to: maryrose333 at att.net To unsubscribe, go to: http://my.barackobama.com/unsubscribe -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jacklancaster at sbcglobal.net Sun Jul 19 15:20:59 2009 From: jacklancaster at sbcglobal.net (Jack Lancaster) Date: Sun, 19 Jul 2009 14:20:59 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [GJM] PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO YOUR LIST - ABSOLUTELY VITAL ! Food Safety Modernization Act (HR 875): Criminalization of Organic Farms] Message-ID: <273797.54330.qm@web80016.mail.sp1.yahoo.com> --- On Thu, 7/16/09, EcoTort wrote: From: EcoTort Subject: [GJM] PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO YOUR LIST - ABSOLUTELY VITAL ! Food Safety Modernization Act (HR 875): Criminalization of Organic Farms] To: Date: Thursday, July 16, 2009, 7:35 AM MONSANTO ARE TRYING TO MAKE ORGANIC FARMING CRIMINAL ! ! ! WE HAVE TO STOP THEM ! http://www.voteronpaul.com/newsDetail.php?Food-Safety-Modernization-Act-HR-875-Criminalization-of-Organic-Farms-222 I truly apologise to you if you don't want emails from me, some people have been complaining to my service provider about "spam".... PLEASE TELL ME if you don't want to receive emails from EcoTort ! -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ Discussion mailing list Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From johndesantis at publicandprivateenterprise.org Tue Jul 21 07:36:24 2009 From: johndesantis at publicandprivateenterprise.org (John DeSantis) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:36:24 -0400 Subject: [GJM] This Way To Creating Economic Success And Eliminating Poverty Throughout The World! Message-ID: <6e808e870907210636m7cdd6445pbc82e7a713d379d4@mail.gmail.com> *This Way To Creating Economic Success* *And Eliminating Poverty Throughout The World!* * Greetings, My name is John DeSantis, a 68-year-old senior citizen who wants the people of the world to know about this very important 28-year vision of mine before I die. I live at 1113 Scotts Hill Drive, Baltimore, Maryland, 21208 (U.S.A.). My home phone number is 410-484-1987. Please read this collection of "Bullet Points" taken from the Home page of my web site. Why? Because they will give you a very clear introductory picture of what this is all about, how the worldwide Movement can begin with everyone's help, and to inspire you and everyone else to read the actual details of my vision (you can access the link to the site at the end of these "Bullet Points"): **TO HUMANITY WITH LOVE...* *Because Of The Current Desperate* *Economic Crisis In The World,* *Do You Long For A Very Do-Able* *Vision And Plan That Can* *Create An Absolutely* *Successful Economic World?* *If So, For All Of Us In Every Nation* *To Finally Have The Chance To Come* *Together And Change Our World* *For The Better, Once And For All,* *Read About This Most Important* *Worldwide Public Discussion* *That Needs To Get Going Based On* * My 28-Year Vision That I Present* *On This Web Site.* *It's All About How To Very* *Lovingly, Morally, Ethically,* *Skillfully, And Easily Change* *The Money System Throughout* *The Whole World So That It* * Finally Works Absolutely Well* *For All Of Humanity, All Of The Time.* *With That Said, I Humbly Say This:* *"Open-Minded Consideration Is* *The Key To Implementing New Ideas."* *My Dear Fellow Citizens Of The World* * Come One, Come All--* *This Way To Creating* *Economic Success* *And Eliminating Poverty* *Throughout The World!* *Help Us Build This Very Important* *Worldwide Movement--A Movement* *That Can End Poverty And Unemployment* * Worldwide, Make Every Single Nation* *And Territory In The World Prosperous,* *Protect And Clean Up The Environment,* *Solve The Energy Crisis, Provide* *Health Care And Education* *To Everyone In Every Nation,* *End Taxation For Every Person* * And Every Large And Small Business* *In Every Nation, And So Much More.* *The Wise Working Together Of* *"Public & Private Enterprise"* *Is One Of The Ways To The* *Wonderful Age-Old Dream* *Of A Truly United* * Worldwide Humanity.* *It's A Very Practical, Ethical,* *And Spiritual Economic Plan* *For All Of Humanity To* *Come Together On And Embrace.* *Since One Of The Major Root Causes* *Leading To Wars, Crime, And Terrorism* * Is Poverty, The Wise Marriage Of* *"Public & Private Enterprise"* *Is An Economic Way To* *A Truly Prosperous* *Worldwide Humanity.* *It's The Surest And Quickest* *Way To Organize And Fund* * A Non-Stop, Successful Economy* *In Every Single Nation And* *Throughout The Whole World.* *Please Get Involved!* *If For No Other Reason,* *Do It For All Of The Children* *Who Are Now Alive, And For* *All Of The Wonderful Children* * Who Keep Coming Into The World.* *I Have A Very Firm Conviction That* *All Of The Great Prophets And Sages* *In All Of Humanity's History, Such As* *(In Alphabetical Order) Buddha, Confucius,* *Gandhi, Jesus, Krishna, Lao-Tzu,* * Martin Luther King, Mohammad, Moses,* *And So Many Others, Would Want The* *Whole World To Begin To Engage In This* *Important Discussion In The Very Bright* *Blaze Of The Worldwide Media Spotlight.* *Why Do I Think That They Would Want This?* * Because "We The People", Worldwide,* *Are Much More Important Than Money!* *The Bottom Line Is That Money Either Makes* *The World Go Around Smoothly--Or Not!* *So Far Our Existing Monetary System,* *For Centuries, Has Created Nothing But* * Suffering For Humanity And Our Planet.* *Together, We Need To Discuss* *How To Create Economic Success* *For All Of Humanity By Changing* *How, When And For What Reasons* *Money Comes Into Existence.* *Following Are Some Of The Many* * Different Types Of Actions* *That The People And Organizations* *In Every Nation And Territory* *Can Think About And Begin To Do:* *Blogs And Bloggers In Every Nation* *And Territory Can Help In A Gigantic Way* * By Getting Millions Of People Talking* *About This Very Important Subject.* *Students And Student Movements* *All Over The World Can Help By* *Demanding That The Leaders Of Their* *Nations Get This Important Discussion Going.* *Labor Unions All Over The World* *Can Play A Big Part By Demanding* *That The Leaders Of Every Nation Get* *This Very Important Discussion Going.* *Pass the word to Notable People* *In Every Field Of Human Activity* * So They Can Help Bring This Discussion* *Into The Worldwide Public Spotlight.* *Even If You, For Some Reason,* *Only Love Your Particular Nation,* *Or Your Particular Ethnic Group,* *Or Your Particular Race,* *Or Your Particular Religion,* * You Should Help Pass The Word* *About This Since It Will Also Help* *Your Particular Portion Of Humanity.* *Pass The Word To All Of The* *Media And Politicians In Your* *Nation And Local Community* *So That They Can Help Get* * This Discussion Into The* *Worldwide Public Spotlight.* *Do Your Best To Pass The Word* *Around Your City, State And Nation* *About This Very Important Worldwide* *Discussion That All Of Humanity* *Should Help Get Started.* *For The Sake Of All The People* *In Every Nation, For The Sake Of* *Your Family, Friends And Associates,* *Please Do Whatever You Can,* *No Matter How Small Or Large It Is,* *Since Whatever You Can Do Is Needed* * In Order To Help This To Truly Become* *An Ongoing Worldwide Public Discussion.* *People In All Nations Should* *Peacefully March In The Streets* *And Ask Their Leaders To Make The* *"Starting Ideas" That I Present In This* * Very Important 28-Year Vision Of Mine* *A Worldwide Public Discussion.* *Even Though I'm Sure That The Great Mass* *Of We The People Of The World Working* *Together Can Get This Important Movement* *Started, In Order For It To Come Into* * Existence Much More Quickly And Easily* *I hope, And Beg, For This To take Place:* *That Either A Foundation Which Funds Projects* *To Help Humanity, A Commercial Corporation,* *Or Just Some Rich Person Or People In The World,* * Will Both Select And Pay A Person Or Organization* *Here In My Baltimore/Washington D.C. Region* *That Will Know How To Skillfully Organize Things* *And Get This Worldwide Movement And Discussion* *Going For Humanity. Please Know That I Don't* * Personally Want The Money; Just Pay That* *Person Or Organization Directly.* *Finally, I Hope That I Have* *Inspired You To Start Reading* *The Rest Of My Web Site In This Link,* *As Well As Watch My Videos:* *MY VISION * * ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT * * http://www.publicandprivateenterprise.org/myvision.html* * * -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Wed Jul 22 15:28:21 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:28:21 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Making It in America Message-ID: <007c01ca0b13$5941f760$0bc5e620$@net> If we are at full production capacity now, how can we expand it without doing severe damage to the environment. What if we are attempting to maintain a "broad" middle class at the expense of the environment? What if we have come to the end of manufacturing and are now moving into the Age of Knowledge in which we will be able to do more with less. Meaning that society no longer requires large amounts of manufacturing in order to provide for all the goods and services needed by the 6.7 billion of us that inhabit the planet. It appears here that someone is still trying to operate in the old paradigm. And doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome is a sign of insanity is it not? Isn't it time to "stop the insanity and recognize that it is no longer about creating jobs in order for the elite to rake in a cut off the top. It is time for a paradigm shift and shift is happening. Too bad about the disappearance of the dinosaurs -- those guys with the great big bodies and teeny weeny brains. They just aren't needed any more. -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 10:28 AM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Making It in America (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) Making It in America July 22, 2009 10:00 AM http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-l-borosage/making-it-in-america_b_24266 3.html Washington's special genius is for gridlock. As we're seeing in the health care debate, the entire system is designed to frustrate action -- even when Democrats have a popular president, 60 votes in the Senate and a large majority in the House. Moneyed interests trump party loyalty. Partisan politics trumps national purpose. Congressional rules and egos favor dithering and delay. So on health care, Republicans have lurched into partisan opposition, hoping that obstructing change will lead to Obama's "Waterloo," and they can replay 1994 and take back the Congress. Blue dog Democrats remain lap dogs for special interests, blind to the fury that they will face if reform fails. But at least on health care, the administration is leading the charge. We haven't even begun an adult conversation about the fundamental question of America's global economic strategy. What is the economy we will build out of the ashes of the old? Obama has raised the subject. He understands that we can't go back to the old economy -- and shouldn't want to. We can't go back to borrowing $2 billion a day, largely from the Chinese, to serve as consumer to the world. We can't go back to an economy in which finance captures 45% of the nation's profits. We can't keep shipping good jobs, technology, and manufacturing capacity abroad and expect to sustain a broad middle class at home. We've got to start making it in America again. As Obama has declared, "The fight for American manufacturing is the fight for America's future." As Louis Uchitelle in the New York Times reports, the United States now ranks behind every industrial nation except France in the percentage of overall economic activity devoted to manufacturing. We've been shedding manufacturing jobs for years, and the recession has been brutal, with nearly two million industrial jobs disappearing since it began. But we haven't even begun a serious conversation about what it would take to revive manufacturing in a global economy. The president's trade representative, Ron Kirk, seems clueless, intent on passing free trade agreements with Panama, Columbia and South Korea that are but tribute to the old unsustainable ways. The president calls sensibly for investment in education and training, in 21st century infrastructure, in research and development -- but his budgets project reducing domestic expenditures to levels lower as a percentage of GDP than the early 1960s. And conservatives in both parties say that isn't low enough. Obama has suggested that America must lead in the green industries that surely will grow in the future -- new energy, more efficient appliances, more sophisticated building efficiencies -- and the supply chains associated with windmills, solar cells, batteries, fast trains, electric cars and more. Yet, Obama opposed the weak "buy America" provision put into the stimulus bill. His energy bill contained no serious effort at insuring that these products would be built here. Amendments designed to help manufacturers here were introduced into the bill in the dead of night because the administration needed the votes of industrial state Democrats to pass it. And because Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and the Apollo Alliance had put together elements of a new energy industrial policy that House members could elbow into the legislation. Contrast that with China. China has determined that new energy will be one of its strategic industries. It is now the largest manufacturer of solar panels -- exporting 95% of its production, largely to Europe and the U.S. While Obama felt it necessary to distance himself from the "buy America" provisions put in the stimulus bill, China has no such compunctions. As the Times reports, "when China authorized its first solar power plant this spring, it required that at least 80 percent of the equipment be made in China. When the Chinese government took bids this spring for 25 large contracts to supply wind turbines, every contract was won by one of seven domestic companies. All six multinationals that submitted bids were disqualified on various technical grounds, like not providing sufficiently detailed data." The European companies weren't exactly foreigners. They had built turbine factories in China to meet the government's requirement that the turbines contain 70 percent local content. But having no doubt benefited from that transfer of technology and engineering experience, the Chinese contracted with home-grown companies, rejecting the bids of the Chinese-based European companies while approving those of Chinese companies that had never built a turbine before. European wind turbine makers have now stopped bidding on Chinese contracts, concluding that their bids had no chance. China is intent on dominating the new energy markets of the future. If its past practices are any indication, it will subsidize exports, manipulate its currency, buy China at home, force multinationals to transfer technology and partner with Chinese companies, and engage in industrial piracy to make its way. If the U.S. wants new energy to be the centerpiece of a new economy in which -- in the president's words, the U.S. "consumes less and produces more," then it will have to have an industrial strategy. It doesn't have to mimic the Chinese, but it has to respond to them, rather than invoking old shibboleths about "free trade," and ignoring the reality of the world marketplace. A new book issued by the Alliance for American Manufacturing with the ungainly title of Manufacturing for a Better Future for America shows how China is not alone, detailing the practices that our trading partners use to sustain their industrial capacity and export markets. A new global strategy is essential. But getting there won't be easy. Just as the insurance companies impede sensible reforms in health care, and big oil and coal block vital changes in energy, and Wall Street guts vital reform of finance, global corporations and banks will spend a lot of money to defend the unsustainable trade policies of the old economy. This can lead to cynical resignation or to fury. But one thing is clear. Little will get done until Americans show politicians that while the lobbies can pay for their campaigns and provide employment in retirement, they can't defend them against the justified anger of a citizenry no longer willing to put up with gridlock. From maryrose333 at att.net Wed Jul 22 15:30:05 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:30:05 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: Enjoy this video... Message-ID: <007d01ca0b13$96e4c660$c4ae5320$@net> From: David Wolfe [mailto:Dave at longevitynowprogram.com] Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 11:17 AM To: maryrose333 at att.net Subject: Enjoy this video... Aloha, Just returned to Noni Land from a wild 8 mile hike here in Hawaii. We're heading back out to plant cacao trees, but wanted to share with you a short video I thought you would relate to and enjoy. You Can Watch It Right Here :) The video talks about how to use the conflicts in life to shape your personal story and create your destiny. The author is also giving away an excerpt of his new program Inscribe Your Life. I Believe You'll Really Enjoy This! Enjoy and have the best day ever. David "Avocado" Wolfe This message was sent from David Wolfe to maryrose333 at att.net. It was sent from: leonard foley, 9 Carlito Rd NM , Sante Fe, NM 87508. You can modify/update your subscription via the link below. Email Marketing by iContact - Try It Free! Manage your subscription -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From knightjanos at gmail.com Wed Jul 22 16:23:11 2009 From: knightjanos at gmail.com (Janos Abel) Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:23:11 +0100 Subject: [GJM] PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO YOUR LIST - ABSOLUTELY VITAL ! Food Safety Modernization Act (HR 875): Criminalization of Organic Farms] In-Reply-To: <4A5F3AC5.5040508@gn.apc.org> References: <4A5F3AC5.5040508@gn.apc.org> Message-ID: <7051643f0907221523r65011b1wb6c808c70936996e@mail.gmail.com> This is serious! But the link is no help. How do you go about stopping this kind of top level legislation? 2009/7/16 EcoTort > > MONSANTO ARE TRYING TO MAKE ORGANIC FARMING CRIMINAL ! ! ! > > WE HAVE TO STOP THEM ! > > > > http://www.voteronpaul.com/newsDetail.php?Food-Safety-Modernization-Act-HR-875-Criminalization-of-Organic-Farms-222 > > > > > I truly apologise to you if you don't want emails from me, > some people have been complaining to my service provider about "spam".... > > PLEASE TELL *ME* if you don't want to receive emails from EcoTort ! > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Discussion mailing list > Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net > > http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From knightjanos at gmail.com Wed Jul 22 16:31:53 2009 From: knightjanos at gmail.com (Janos Abel) Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:31:53 +0100 Subject: [GJM] FW: Enjoy this video... In-Reply-To: <007d01ca0b13$96e4c660$c4ae5320$@net> References: <007d01ca0b13$96e4c660$c4ae5320$@net> Message-ID: <7051643f0907221531s4fc5e3f8i5be635f84c719f77@mail.gmail.com> Is this spam? It is really difficult to exit the page if you do not want to watch the second video in return for my email address. 2009/7/22 mary rose > > > > > *From:* David Wolfe [mailto:Dave at longevitynowprogram.com] > *Sent:* Wednesday, July 22, 2009 11:17 AM > *To:* maryrose333 at att.net > *Subject:* Enjoy this video... > > > > Aloha, > > Just returned to Noni Land from a wild 8 mile > hike here in Hawaii. > > We're heading back out to plant cacao trees, but > wanted to share with you a short video I thought > you would relate to and enjoy. > > You Can Watch It Right Here :) > > The video talks about how to use the conflicts in > life to shape your personal story and create your > destiny. > > The author is also giving away an excerpt of > his new program Inscribe Your Life. > > I Believe You'll Really Enjoy This! > > Enjoy and have the best day ever. > > David "Avocado" Wolfe > > > > > > This message was sent from David Wolfe to maryrose333 at att.net. It was > sent from: leonard foley, 9 Carlito Rd NM , Sante Fe, NM 87508. You can > modify/update your subscription via the link below. > > Email Marketing by > [image: iContact - Try It Free!] > > > > Manage your subscription > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Discussion mailing list > Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net > > http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bmslib at mit.edu Wed Jul 22 16:41:07 2009 From: bmslib at mit.edu (W. Curtiss Priest) Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:41:07 -0400 Subject: [GJM] "Neal Gabler Speaks Truth to Power" [CITS Depression Watch] Message-ID: <4A679583.2AD4@mit.edu> ** ** W. Curtiss Priest, Ph.D. Center for Knowledge, Learning and Progress (previously) Center for Information, Technology & Society 466 Pleasant Street Melrose, MA 02176 E-mail: BMSLIB at MIT.EDU, Voice: 781-662-4044 July 22, 2009 #139 CITS Depression Watch (previously) CITS CAPITAL & DEBT WATCH "Neal Gabler Speaks Truth to Power" Commentary by Dr. W. Curtiss Priest, Director: My job of understanding what causes depressions (excessive debt) and of warning others of the collapse is now done and over. It was a curious and morbid preoccupation. I have only one remaining question, what is the true source of an average "4% inflation" that "all" of us simply accepted as part of daily life for the last hundred years? I do know it has something to do with the true purpose of "The Fed" and I had the pleasure of discussing this with the author of a book by that name, over a pleasant meal and amongst friends on Sunday. A once powerful nation (the US of A) is struggling with reality. Its Federal Government is going through the motions, but can not and will not escape its underlying ties to Harvard University, and therefore what transpires, at least under this administration, will be filled with 'full of sound and fury, signifying nothing' (Macbeth). I also learned that the "banking industry" does keep secrets and despite even Griffin's fine book on the matter, there are facts kept well hidden. I think folk such as Summers and Krugman are kept in the dark, but I cannot prove that. Our dear Ms. Warren, now on a fool's errand, clearly, to me, is in the dark to those secrets. But she will do what she can. Also, I am grateful to the Boston Globe (hasn't folded, yet) for sharing wisdom that becomes buried in its owner's paper (due to the size and volume of the New York Times). And I thank folk who contributed to the Concord Coalition's discussion list (now the Federal Debt Topica list), Roper's Debt list (now, the Topica Debt list), and my friends on the Topica CyberSpace Society list who keep me in good company. Unfortunately, because of the shear magnitude of the Internet, these activities are often lost "in the noise." But I think well of the Net, for I wrote about its coming in 1972, at RPI, "The Need and Value of Restructuring Human Communications" (at 'America's oldest technological research university'), and I still look forward to it reaching what a few of us anticipated as a means to resolve what H. G. Wells referred to as Mankind's "Race Between Education and Catastrophe" (_Outline of History_, 1919, 1st ed. -- in a chapter unfortunately left out of all later editions because it was "updated"). I wish to also thank my father's father's father, Dr. Henry Priest, for his wisdom to stop farming Vermont and become the Dean of the College of Letters and Science at St. Lawrence University in 1882. He loved to spar with Rev. Absalom Gaines, who presided over St. Lawrence beginning in 1872, about the merits of a new theory of evolution described by a fellow named Darwin. And thank you Dorman Priest for tolerating your rambunctious son and for showing me the Ray Dalio article in Barrons' in 1992 (Oct. 12, pp. 17+, as cited in my newsletter #17 and as I described in the Boston Globe on May 10, 1998, p. C6). Regards, WCP ********************************************************************** Previous issues of the CITS DEBT WATCH: http://www.google.com/search?q=cits+debt+watch http://groups.google.com/groups/search?q=cits+debt+watch (sorry they are so scattered, I was too busy to put them together) ********************************************************************** Aftermath: It is a balmy day in Boston as I sit in a Victorian "tower" of an 1893 antique -- the product of cheap, immigrant labor and the wonderful imaginations of its architect. It sold for $2000. While some believe it is a big world, I gradually realized that bigness is mostly due to the repetitions and combinations of really quite simple things. This belief is heretical to those who make livings as a "knowledge worker" or to most "professors" or to some teachers, to many lawyers, to many doctors, and so on. And a few of you in such professions have come to realize this, too, but it would be scandalous for any such "high paid" individuals to admit to this, and so the myth continues. I was fortunate to grow up in a family where non-disciplinary knowledge was as 'plain as the nose on your face.' [e.g., just start typing that in Google since their recent change to anticipate what you are typing, and when you type the space after 'nose' it anticipates this saying. And, no, I didn't check for that until just now, after pulling it from my head.] I never had to 'learn' math, science, ethics, morality, human behavior, etc. as knowing these was just a part of life, given the sheer love of knowing things. For example, most folks 'take things for granted' but I heard this around age three as 'take things for granite' and that made sense, as granite is hard and durable, so of course one take things for granite. I now Google that, and the first entry is 'things for granite? or granted?' So while Google shows millions of entries for many searches, if you realize that the world is simple and that much of what we teach as knowledge is actually data or, worse, is plain noise to someone who doesn't need to know some data that some call knowledge -- we could get past our preoccupation with 'schooling.' For, there is knowledge that I would wish every one of six billion people to know and I call that core knowledge, and I now write and publish about this under the title "World Brain" in tribute to H. G. Wells' book by that name in 1938. These writings on "knowledge conciseness" or "knowledge clarity" or "knowledge simplicity" or whatever label suits you are at http://object-one.blogspot.com So, if this doesn't sound too odd and you are curious, start with the 3rd article under "Current Key Documents" with the word simplicity in the title. In that one article you will find my description of core knowledge, and it starts with just five books I have culled out of millions that exist, today. I was proud to be a plenary speaker before three conferences held in Orlando, FL, last week and the fifty slides are last on the web page, scroll to the bottom (or, often, type Control-End on the keyboard of your browser). If nothing else, look at slide 40 where I refer to a dictionary, slide 41 where I "strip the data out of a dictionary" and find what's left, and slide 42 where I illustrate this by (simply) looking at how, at one time, there was only one "kind" of mammal, and now, there are quite a few. And while I believe a young learner should know the names of a few mammals, like the 'owl,' I suggest we overwhelm our children with detail when we push them to be able to, say, name all of the mammals appearing in slide 42, which is a complexity of simple things having, over time and what some call the evolutionary process due negentropy (negative entropy), the many different mammals (or what have you) is not knowledge, but data, and, for many living where only a few mammals appear, all the other mammal names are noise. (To distinguish communication, information and noise, see slide 26.) And please ignore my jargon such as 'cybernetically' and understand that a 'knowledge object' (the presentation title) is, briefly, what you have when you left when you strip the data from a dictionary. I also have every respect for very complex human productions called Art, Fiction and Movies. To distinguish art from craft I refer you to one other book by R. G. Collingwood, _The Principles of Art_. As for Fiction, 1.) I find the word misleading, as there is nothing fictional about 99% of all "Fiction" except, perhaps, "Science Fantasy." Even "Science Fiction," when the artist/author practiced this well (yes, Wells, Heinlein, etc.) is a mere stretch of "Non-Fiction." Otherwise, as there is an infinite number of ways that each and every life can be played out, "Fiction" is simply a manifestation of such a life (or lives) where some of these productions, if they embody a strong knowledge and understanding of how lives play out and have enough universal appeal to readers, the 'work of fiction' gets added to a legacy, most often, so far, as a book or movie.] And as we all have limited time to absorb any such productions, I have always felt sorry for the would-be-famous artist, the would-be-famous writer, etc. (In the advertisement industry this limitation of ours creates a "competition for eyeballs.") Regardless, in the work above, I am only referring to "knowledge we can tell." Polanyi, and others before him, recognized 'tacit knowledge' or -- "[w]e know more than we can tell." When we say someone is "good with their hands" we refer to a tactile skill that is acquired gradually through practice. Should we even use the word "knowledge" for such skills? The 2nd book of five (mentioned above) by Ackoff gives us a "test" of whether something is, indeed, knowledge (on page 48 of his book). Basically, if belief, attitude, habit, etc., leads to choices, changes of choices, etc., to cause an outcome, it is knowledge. So, at the micro level of habit or skill, yes, a trained hand, whether playing a keyed instrument or guiding a plane against wood, displays knowledge at the micro level. And, I have always found it more difficult to overhaul a Volkswagen engine than to contemplate, say, E=MC (squared). For example, releasing a tight, rusted bolt is to be mastered, not learned. ************* ["fair use," "teachable moment," "archival," Section 107(a), 1976 Copyright Act and 1998 Digital Millennium Act] Source: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/21-2 [Author note: do visit http://www.commondreams.org if you have a moment. It is a largish site for activism.] Gabler op-ed as Published on Tuesday, July 21, 2009 by The Boston Globe Hope, Caught Up in a Sea of Obstruction by Neal Gabler Here's the situation: President Obama maneuvered a stimulus package through Congress that, after being reduced to attract additional senators, has proven insufficient to stimulate the economy. Now, given the political calculus, it would be nearly impossible for him to introduce an additional boost. He also proposed a regulatory scheme for Wall Street that was so riddled with compromises and concessions that it was unlikely to prevent another economic meltdown. And he has pushed a national healthcare plan that is almost certain to be eviscerated, and that even in its disemboweled form may not pass Congress. Obviously, we face daunting problems, but we nevertheless continue to operate with a kind of hopefulness that we will meet the challenges and triumph. Historically, we have reason to feel this way. In the last 70 years , this country faced down the Great Depression, Nazism, and Jim Crow. The system, however balky and tardy it may have been, has always worked. But today, beneath the optimistic rhetoric, lurks another possibility that no politician and few pundits want to admit: that the system is no longer up to the task and that the factors that once brought relief are no longer operable. There is the real possibility that this time we will not win but rather founder the way Japan has done since its economic catastrophe. There is the possibility that this time it is hopeless. How has it come to pass that the most powerful (and most self-confident) nation in the world now seems helpless? The short answer is that political action is a function of political will - the public's more than the politicians' - and that ours has been steadily sapped. Rahm Emanuel, the president's chief of staff, has said that crisis creates opportunity, but he is only partly right. Crisis creates pain. It is the pain that creates the opportunity. The New Deal, that great spasm of political initiative, arose out of a national agony: 25 percent of Americans were unemployed, and with absolutely no safety net to catch them. There is plenty of agony now, but it is not as deep nor as wide, in part because of the programs of the New Deal, including unemployment insurance. President Roosevelt had the advantage of an angry citizenry who wanted him to do anything to rescue them. Obama has the disadvantage of a passive citizenry that, frankly, may never hurt enough to demand what might finally cure what ails them. Obama is also the victim of a much different and more complex political system than the one FDR faced - a system with far more interests to broker among. The number of lobbyists in Washington, a good indicator of how many interests must be served and how vested those interests are in maintaining the status quo, has more than doubled since 2000. There are now roughly 40,000, 2,000 more since last November alone. In the last year nearly 2,500 began lobbying on the single issue of climate change. By a political Newton's Law, every action has an equal and opposite reaction, which means that there are thousands of thrusts and parries on any major piece of legislation - a sure prescription for inaction or for tepid action. Then there is the new media ecology. Yes, Roosevelt had his enemies in the press - almost all of which was arrayed against him. But he did not have a 24/7 cable antagonist dedicated to his presidential demise or hundreds of Internet bomb-throwers as Obama does, and he did not have a press whose baseline was skepticism about any possible government initiative. It is not the right-wing media that inhibit change; it is the mainstream media with their own attachment to the status quo, their own loaded questions about dramatic new policies and their predilection to identify potential missteps rather than to extol potential boldness. On healthcare, for example, the press has yet to ask one simple and critical question: Why can France have vastly superior care at half the cost per person of ours? But finally, and most importantly, our own political institutions have been steadily and deliberately hogtied or even dismantled so that they cannot effectively do very much. In truth, the system was never very good at meeting crises; it was designed for incrementalism, not daring leaps. Our Founding Fathers, worrying about demagogues and runaway democratic effusions, created a number of institutions and rules, from the aristocratic Senate, which was devised to put the brakes on what they feared might be the careening of the more democratic House, to the entire system of checks and balances. The object was to prevent change, not facilitate it. What those Fathers could not have anticipated was a political party dedicated to total obstructionism - dedicated to making certain that the government would fiddle while the nation burned. For this we have the Republicans to blame for their actions and the Democrats to blame for their inaction. As comedian Bill Maher recently put it, "The Democrats have moved to the right, and the right has moved into a mental hospital." Americans forget that after four years of Herbert Hoover's dithering during the Great Depression members of his party almost unanimously opposed FDR's economic stimulus, and that in the procedural run-up to Social Security, they held ranks against it, too. Twelve of the 19 Republican senators voted to have Social Security scrapped. Old age security, they argued, would spoil Americans. Flash-forward 30 years, and the party was back to its shenanigans, opposing Medicare. Exactly half the Republicans in the House voted against it while Senate Republicans voted 17-13 to stop it. Only overwhelming Democratic majorities in 1935 and 1965 led to Social Security and Medicare - and this at a time when the GOP had a moderate wing. The conclusion: in times of dire need the system only works when there is a huge one-party majority and a popular, muscular president of the same party to keep the legislators in line. Things have only gotten worse - much worse - since then. It is not only the 30-year Republican drumbeat that government is the problem, a cliche that has helped drain political will; or the tax cuts that, as Reagan's budget director David Stockman candidly admitted, were largely enacted to starve government and render it ineffective; or the incompetency of George W. Bush's appointees that was intended to discredit government. It is the Republican lurch rightward that has purged those few moderates and gamed the filibuster so that any piece of legislation is now held hostage to 40 votes. This generates cries for bipartisanship, neglecting the fact that there is one party adamantly opposed to any change whatsoever. How obstructionist is the GOP? From 1927 to 1962, cloture - the vote to end a filibuster - was invoked only 11 times! In 2007 alone, with Republicans trying to derail initiatives in the Democratic Congress as disparate as an increased minimum wage, a climate change bill, campaign finance reform, and an energy bill, there were 62 cloture votes. When you consider that conservative Democrats are being hammered by Republicans as well as by lobbying interests who provide them with campaign contributions, you can readily see that not even the Democrats' 60 votes in the Senate are sufficient to move legislation even if there is a public outcry for action. According to polls, roughly 70 percent of Americans want a public option in healthcare. With that kind of support, the fact that it is even being debated is testament to how decrepit our system has become. And so we are now a nation with great professions of faith that we will succeed but little real confidence that we will, a nation that focuses more on what can go wrong than on what can go right, a nation that can't seem to get action. We are a timid nation with small dreams and even smaller plans - a nation that seems to have lost its capacity to do big things. We all know the nation is broken, but we may no longer have the will or the institutions to fix it. Neal Gabler is the author most recently of "Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination." From maryrose333 at att.net Wed Jul 22 17:45:00 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:45:00 -0700 Subject: [GJM] MUST SEE: Information on the Heart and Quantum Field Videos Message-ID: <001e01ca0b26$71b8a6f0$5529f4d0$@net> Rollin McCraty - Information on the Heart http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMQipX-hIDs Every Thought Has A Frequency http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eDqDcZm9EA &feature=related Wait, Wait... So our thoughts are Powerful!!! ;o) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhV3O3b0lco &feature=related FutureDawning.org Mary Rose, www.futuredawning.org dustysummerrose at gmail.com Always have my latest info Want a signature like this? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Wed Jul 22 18:56:39 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:56:39 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: Enjoy this video... In-Reply-To: <7051643f0907221531s4fc5e3f8i5be635f84c719f77@mail.gmail.com> References: <007d01ca0b13$96e4c660$c4ae5320$@net> <7051643f0907221531s4fc5e3f8i5be635f84c719f77@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <003501ca0b30$70352fb0$509f8f10$@net> Janos, I would not consider anything put out by David Wolfe "spam" because the information he supplies is so valuable in terms of finding out how to become and remain healthy. Foods too have a vibration frequency that says a lot as to how healthy they are. However, I have noticed recently that David is really pushing the pedal to the floor in his marketing techniques recently and I will mention to him your comment as to whether this is spam or not. Thanks m r From: discussion-bounces at globaljusticemovement.net [mailto:discussion-bounces at globaljusticemovement.net] On Behalf Of Janos Abel Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 3:32 PM To: Discussion Forum for Global Justice Subject: Re: [GJM] FW: Enjoy this video... Is this spam? It is really difficult to exit the page if you do not want to watch the second video in return for my email address. 2009/7/22 mary rose From: David Wolfe [mailto:Dave at longevitynowprogram.com] Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 11:17 AM To: maryrose333 at att.net Subject: Enjoy this video... Aloha, Just returned to Noni Land from a wild 8 mile hike here in Hawaii. We're heading back out to plant cacao trees, but wanted to share with you a short video I thought you would relate to and enjoy. You Can Watch It Right Here :) The video talks about how to use the conflicts in life to shape your personal story and create your destiny. The author is also giving away an excerpt of his new program Inscribe Your Life. I Believe You'll Really Enjoy This! Enjoy and have the best day ever. David "Avocado" Wolfe This message was sent from David Wolfe to maryrose333 at att.net. It was sent from: leonard foley, 9 Carlito Rd NM , Sante Fe, NM 87508. You can modify/update your subscription via the link below. Email Marketing by Error! Filename not specified. Error! Filename not specified. Manage your subscription Error! Filename not specified. Error! Filename not specified. _______________________________________________ Discussion mailing list Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemo vement.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Thu Jul 23 03:29:50 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:29:50 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] Warring economists are carried along by the crowd........... Message-ID: <897271.38319.qm@web27402.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> ? The following?article was sent to me by James Quilligan.? R.S. ? Warring economists are carred along by the crowd By Paul De Grauwe Published: July 22 2009 03:00 | Last updated: July 22 2009 03:00 function floatContent(){var paraNum = "3" paraNum = paraNum - 1;var tb = document.getElementById('floating-con');var nl = document.getElementById('floating-target');if(tb.getElementsByTagName("div").length> 0){if (nl.getElementsByTagName("p").length>= paraNum){nl.insertBefore(tb,nl.getElementsByTagName("p")[paraNum]);}else {if (nl.getElementsByTagName("p").length == 3){nl.insertBefore(tb,nl.getElementsByTagName("p")[2]);}else {nl.insertBefore(tb,nl.getElementsByTagName("p")[0]);}}}} There can be little doubt. The science of macroeconomics is in deep trouble. The best and the brightest in the field fight over the most basic problems. Take government budget deficits, which now exceed 10 per cent of gross domestic product in countries such as the US and the UK. One camp of macroeconomists claims that, if not quickly reversed, such deficits will lead to rising interest rates and a crowding out of private investment. Instead of stimulating the economy, the deficits will lead to a new recession coupled with a surge in inflation. Wrong, says the other camp. There is no danger of inflation. These large deficits are necessary to avoid deflation. A clampdown on deficits would intensify the deflationary forces in the economy and would lead to a new and more intense recession. Or take monetary policy. One camp warns that the build-up of massive amounts of liquidity is the surest road to hyperinflation and advises central banks to prepare an "exit strategy". Nonsense, the other camp retorts. The build-up of liquidity just reflects the fact that banks are hoarding funds to improve their balance sheets. They sit on this pile of cash but do not use it to increase credit. Once the economy picks up, central banks can withdraw the liquidity as fast as they injected it. The risk of inflation is zero. Both camps line up an impressive list of Nobel prize-winners to buttress their arguments. Economists have often disagreed in the past, but this time the tone is different. The protagonists do not hesitate to accuse the other camp of ignorance or bad faith. I have never seen anything like this. So what? Does it matter that economists disagree so much? It does. Take the issue of government deficits. If you want to forecast the long-term interest rate, it matters a great deal which of the two camps you believe. If you believe the first one, you will fear future inflation and you will sell long-term government bonds. As a result, bond prices will drop and rates will rise. You will have made a reality of the fears of the first camp. But if you believe the story told by the second camp, you will happily buy long-term government bonds, allowing the government to spend without a surge in rates, thereby contributing to a recovery that the second camp predicts will follow from high budget deficits. Most people are not sure which campis right. They hesitate. One day, when green shoots are popping up here and there, they believe the story warning about inflation; the next day, when the shoots turn brownish, they believe the other story. Disagreements among economists take away the intellectual anchors around which market participants interpret events and forecast the future. Ultimately, all our forecasts use a particular economic model to interpret data and to forecast their future course. The existence of wildly different models takes away this intellectual anchor and this translates into more market volatility. This conflict matters not only for market participants, but also for policymakers. The two camps of economists have wildly different estimates of the effect of a 1 per cent permanent increase in government spending on real US GDP over the next four years. According to the first camp, the Ricardians, the multiplier is closer to zero than to one, ie 1 per cent extra spending generates much less than 1 per cent of extra GDP, producing little extra tax revenue. Thus budget deficits surge and become unsustainable. By contrast, the second camp, the Keynesians, predict that the same 1 per cent of extra government spending multiplies into significantly more than 1 per cent of extra GDP each year until the end of 2012. This is the stuff of dreams for governments, because such multiplier effects are likely to generate additional tax income so that budget deficits decline. With so much disagreement it is no surprise that policymakers are unsure and vacillate. Some countries, such as the US and France, go all out for the Keynesian story; others, such as Germany, put more faith in the Ricardians. Personally I think the Keynesians are right, but my opinion is irrelevant. The point is that the cacophony of analysis helps to explain why policymakers react in different ways to the same crisis and why it is so difficult for them to come up with co-ordinated action. How to resolve this crisis in macoeconomics? The field must be revamped fundamentally. Some of its shortcomings are obvious. Before the financial crisis, most macroeconomists were blinded by the idea that efficient markets would take care of themselves. They did not bother to put financial markets and the banking sector into their models. This is a major flaw. There is a deeper problem, though, that will be more difficult to resolve. This is the underlying paradigm of macroeconomic models. Mainstream models take the view that economic agents are superbly informed and understand the deep complexities of the world. In the jargon, they have "rational expectations". Not only that. Since they all understand the same "truth", they all act in the same way. Thus modelling the behaviour of just one agent (the "representative" consumer and the "representative" producer) is all one has to do to fully describe the intricacies of the world. Rarely has such a ludicrous idea been taken so seriously by so many academics. (Other fields of economics have not been deluded by this implausible idea and therefore do not face the same criticism.) We need a new science of macroeconomics. A science that starts from the assumption that individuals have severe cognitive limitations; that they do not understand much about the complexities of the world in which they live. This lack of understanding creates biased beliefs and collective movements of euphoria when agents underestimate risk, followed by collective depression in which perceptions of risk are dramatically increased. These collective movements turn uncorrelated risks into highly correlated ones. What Keynes called "animal spirits" are fundamental forces driving macroeconomic fluctuations. The basic error of modern macroeconomics is the belief that the economy is simply the sum of microeconomic decisions of rational agents. But the economy is more than that. The interactions of these decisions create collective movements that are not visible at the micro level. It will remain difficult to model these collective movements. There is much resistance. Too many macroeconomists are attached to their models because they want to live in the comfort of what they understand - the behaviour of rational and superbly informed individuals. To paraphrase Isaac Newton, macroeconomists can calculate the motions of a lonely rational agent but not the madness of the crowds. Yet if macroeconomics wants to become relevant again, its practitioners will have to start calculating this madness. It is going to be difficult, but that is no excuse not to try. 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URL: From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Thu Jul 23 03:35:10 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:35:10 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] The Financial New World Order: Towards A Global Currency, and World Government. Message-ID: <930697.744.qm@web27405.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> The Financial New World Order: Towards a Global Currency and World Government by Andrew Gavin Marshall . google_ad_client = "pub-1591488516340780";/* 200x200, created 5/22/09 */google_ad_slot = "1471974688";google_ad_width = 200;google_ad_height = 200; google_protectAndRun("render_ads.js::google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad); Global Research, April 6, 2009 Email this article to a friend Print this article reddit_url='http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13070' reddit_title='The Financial New World Order: Towards a Global Currency and World Government' ? Introduction? ??????????? Following the 2009 G20 summit, plans were announced for implementing the creation of a new global currency to replace the US dollar?s role as the world reserve currency. Point 19 of the communiqu? released by the G20 at the end of the Summit stated, ?We have agreed to support a general SDR allocation which will inject $250bn (?170bn) into the world economy and increase global liquidity.? SDRs, or Special Drawing Rights, are ?a synthetic paper currency issued by the International Monetary Fund.? As the Telegraph reported, ?the G20 leaders have activated the IMF's power to create money and begin global "quantitative easing". In doing so, they are putting a de facto world currency into play. It is outside the control of any sovereign body. Conspiracy theorists will love it.?[1] ??????????? The article continued in stating that, ?There is now a world currency in waiting. In time, SDRs are likely to evolve into a parking place for the foreign holdings of central banks, led by the People's Bank of China.? Further, ?The creation of a Financial Stability Board looks like the first step towards a global financial regulator,? or, in other words, a global central bank. ??????????? It is important to take a closer look at these ?solutions? being proposed and implemented in the midst of the current global financial crisis. These are not new suggestions, as they have been in the plans of the global elite for a long time. However, in the midst of the current crisis, the elite have fast-tracked their agenda of forging a New World Order in finance. It is important to address the background to these proposed and imposed ?solutions? and what effects they will have on the International Monetary System (IMS) and the global political economy as a whole. ? A New Bretton-Woods? ????????? In October of 2008, Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of the UK, said that we ?must have a new Bretton Woods - building a new international financial architecture for the years ahead.? He continued in saying that, ?we must now reform the international financial system around the agreed principles of transparency, integrity, responsibility, good housekeeping and co-operation across borders.? An article in the Telegraph reported that Gordon Brown would want ?to see the IMF reformed to become a ?global central bank? closely monitoring the international economy and financial system.?[2] ??????????? On October 17, 2008, Prime Minister Gordon Brown wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post in which he said, ?This week, European leaders came together to propose the guiding principles that we believe should underpin this new Bretton Woods: transparency, sound banking, responsibility, integrity and global governance. We agreed that urgent decisions implementing these principles should be made to root out the irresponsible and often undisclosed lending at the heart of our problems. To do this, we need cross-border supervision of financial institutions; shared global standards for accounting and regulation; a more responsible approach to executive remuneration that rewards hard work, effort and enterprise but not irresponsible risk-taking; and the renewal of our international institutions to make them effective early-warning systems for the world economy.[Emphasis added]?[3] ??????????? In early October 2008, it was reported that, ?as the world's central bankers gather this week in Washington DC for an IMF-World Bank conference to discuss the crisis, the big question they face is whether it is time to establish a global economic "policeman" to ensure the crash of 2008 can never be repeated.? Further, ?any organisation with the power to police the global economy would have to include representatives of every major country ? a United Nations of economic regulation.? A former governor of the Bank of England suggested that, ?the answer might already be staring us in the face, in the form of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS),? however, ?The problem is that it has no teeth. The IMF tends to couch its warnings about economic problems in very diplomatic language, but the BIS is more independent and much better placed to deal with this if it is given the power to do so.?[4] ? Emergence of Regional Currencies? ??????????? On January 1, 1999, the European Union established the Euro as its regional currency. The Euro has grown in prominence over the past several years. However, it is not to be the only regional currency in the world. There are moves and calls for other regional currencies throughout the world. ??????????? In 2007, Foreign Affairs, the journal of the Council on Foreign Relations, ran an article titled, The End of National Currency, in which it began by discussing the volatility of international currency markets, and that very few ?real? solutions have been proposed to address successive currency crises. The author poses the question, ?will restoring lost sovereignty to governments put an end to financial instability?? He answers by stating that, ?This is a dangerous misdiagnosis,? and that, ?The right course is not to return to a mythical past of monetary sovereignty, with governments controlling local interest and exchange rates in blissful ignorance of the rest of the world. Governments must let go of the fatal notion that nationhood requires them to make and control the money used in their territory. National currencies and global markets simply do not mix; together they make a deadly brew of currency crises and geopolitical tension and create ready pretexts for damaging protectionism. In order to globalize safely, countries should abandon monetary nationalism and abolish unwanted currencies, the source of much of today's instability.? ??????????? The author explains that, ?Monetary nationalism is simply incompatible with globalization. It has always been, even if this has only become apparent since the 1970s, when all the world's governments rendered their currencies intrinsically worthless.? The author states that, ?Since economic development outside the process of globalization is no longer possible, countries should abandon monetary nationalism. Governments should replace national currencies with the dollar or the euro or, in the case of Asia, collaborate to produce a new multinational currency over a comparably large and economically diversified area.? Essentially, according to the author, the solution lies in regional currencies.[5] ??????????? In October of 2008, ?European Central Bank council member Ewald Nowotny said a ``tri-polar'' global currency system is developing between Asia, Europe and the U.S. and that he's skeptical the U.S. dollar's centrality can be revived.?[6] ? The Union of South American Nations?? ??????????? The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) was established on May 23, 2008, with the headquarters to be in Ecuador, the South American Parliament to be in Bolivia, and the Bank of the South to be in Venezuela. As the BBC reported, ?The leaders of 12 South American nations have formed a regional body aimed at boosting economic and political integration in the region,? and that, ?The Unasur members are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.?[7] ??????????? The week following the announcement of the Union, it was reported that, ?Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday that South American nations will seek a common currency as part of the region's integration efforts following the creation of the Union of South American Nations.? He was quoted as saying, ?We are proceeding so as, in the future, we have a common central bank and a common currency.?[8] ? The Gulf Cooperation Council and a Regional Currency? ??????????? In 2005, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a regional trade bloc among Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), announced the goal of creating a single common currency by 2010. It was reported that, ?An economically united and efficient GCC is clearly a more interesting proposition for larger companies than each individual economy, especially given the impediments to trade evident within the region. This is why trade relations within the GCC have been a core focus of late.? Further, ?The natural extension of this trend for increased integration is to introduce a common currency in order to further facilitate trade between the different countries.? It was announced that, ?the region's central bankers had agreed to pursue monetary union in a similar fashion to the rules used in Europe.?[9] ??????????? In June of 2008, it was reported that, ?Gulf Arab central bankers agreed to create the nucleus of a joint central bank next year in a major step forward for monetary union but signaled that a new common currency would not be in circulation by an agreed 2010 target.?[10] In 2002, it was announced that the ?Gulf states say they are seeking advice from the European Central Bank on their monetary union programme.? In February of 2008, Oman announced that it would not be joining the monetary union. In November of 2008, it was announced that the ?Final monetary union draft says Gulf central bank will be independent from governments of member states.?[11] ??????????? In March of 2009, it was reported that, ?The GCC should not rush into forming a single currency as member states need to work out the framework for a regional central bank, Saudi Arabia's Central Bank Governor Muhammad Al Jasser.? Jasser was further quoted as saying, ?It took the European Union 45 years to put together a single currency. We should not rush.? In 2008, with the global financial crisis, new problems were posed for the GCC initiative, as ?Pressure mounted last year on the GCC members to drop their currency pegs as inflation accelerated above 10 per cent in five of the six countries. All of the member states except Kuwait peg their currencies to the dollar and tend to follow the US Federal Reserve when setting interest rates.?[12] ? An Asian Monetary Union? ??????????? In 1997, the Brookings Institution, a prominent American think tank, discussed the possibilities of an East Asian Monetary Union, stating that, ?the question for the 21st century is whether analogous monetary blocs will form in East Asia (and, for that matter, in the Western Hemisphere). With the dollar, the yen, and the single European currency floating against one another, other small open economies will be tempted to link up to one of the three.? However, ?the linkage will be possible only if accompanied by radical changes in institutional arrangements like those contemplated by the European Union. The spread of capital mobility and political democratization will make it prohibitively difficult to peg exchange rates unilaterally. Pegging will require international cooperation, and effective cooperation will require measures akin to monetary unification.?[13] ??????????? In 2001, Asia Times Online wrote an article discussing a speech given by economist Robert A. Mundell at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, at which he stated that, ?[t]he "Asean plus three" (the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus China, Japan, and Korea) ?should look to the European Union as a model for closer integration of monetary policy, trade and eventually, currency integration?.?[14] ??????????? On May 6, 2005, the website of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) announced that, ?China, Japan, South Korea and the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to expand their network of bilateral currency swaps into what could become a virtual Asian Monetary Fund,? and that, ?[f]inance officials of the 13 nations, who met in the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) annual conference in Istanbul, appeared determined to turn their various bilateral agreements into some sort of multilateral accord, although none of the officials would directly call it an Asian Monetary Fund.?[15] ??????????? In August of 2005, the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank published a report on the prospects of an East Asian Monetary Union, stating that East Asia satisfies the criteria for joining a monetary union, however, it states that compared to the European initiative, ?The implication is that achieving any monetary arrangement, including a common currency, is much more difficult in East Asia.? It further states that, ?In Europe, a monetary union was achievable primarily because it was part of the larger process of political integration,? however, ?There is no apparent desire for political integration in East Asia, partly because of the great differences among those countries in terms of political systems, culture, and shared history. As a result of their own particular histories, East Asian countries remain particularly jealous of their sovereignty.? ??????????? Another major problem, as presented by the San Francisco Fed, is that, ?East Asian governments appear much more suspicious of strong supranational institutions,? and thus, ?in East Asia, sovereignty concerns have left governments reluctant to delegate significant authority to supranational bodies, at least so far.? It explains that as opposed to the steps taken to create a monetary union in Europe, ?no broad free trade agreements have been achieved among the largest countries in the region, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and China.? Another problem is that, ?East Asia does not appear to have an obvious candidate for an internal anchor currency for a cooperative exchange rate arrangement. Most successful new currencies have been started on the back of an existing currency, establishing confidence in its convertibility, thus linking the old with the new.? ??????????? The report concludes that, ?exchange rate stabilization and monetary integration are unlikely in the near term. Nevertheless, East Asia is integrating through trade, even without an emphasis on formal trade liberalization agreements,? and that, ?there is evidence of growing financial cooperation in the region, including the development of regional arrangements for providing liquidity during crises through bilateral foreign exchange swaps, regional economic surveillance discussions, and the development of regional bond markets.? Ultimately, ?East Asia might also proceed along the same path [as Europe], first with loose agreements to stabilize currencies, followed later by tighter agreements, and culminating ultimately in adoption of a common anchor?and, after that, maybe an East Asia dollar.?[16] ??????????? In 2007, it was reported that, ?Asia may need to establish its own monetary fund if it is to cope with future financial shocks similar to that which rocked the region 10 years ago,? and that, ?Further Asian financial integration is the best antidote for Asian future financial crises.?[17] ??????????? In September of 2007, Forbes reported that, ?An East Asian monetary union anchored by Japan is feasible but the region lacks the political will to do it, the Asian Development Bank said.? Pradumna Rana, an Asian Development Bank (ADB) economist, said that, ?it appears feasible to establish a currency union in East Asia -- particularly among Indonesia, Japan, (South) Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand,? and that, ?The economic potential for monetary integration in Asia is strong, even though the political underpinnings of such an accord are not yet in place.? Further, ?the real integration at the trade levels 'will actually reinforce the economic case for monetary union in Asia, in a similar way that real-sector integration did so in Europe,? and ultimately, ?the road to an Asian monetary union could proceed on a 'multi-track, multi-speed' basis with a seamless Asian free trade area the goal on the trade side.?[18] In April of 2008, it was reported that, ?ASEAN bank deputy governors and financial deputy ministers have met in Vietnam's central Da Nang city, discussing issues on the financial and monetary integration and cooperation in the region.?[19] ? African Monetary Union? ??????????? Currently, Africa has several different monetary union initiatives, as well as some existing monetary unions within the continent. One initiative is the ?monetary union project of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS),? which is a ?regional group of 15 countries in West Africa.? Among the members are those of an already-existing monetary union in the region, the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). The ECOWAS consists of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d?Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Cape Verde, Liberia, Ghana, Gambia, and Nigeria.[20] ??????????? The African Union was founded in 2002, and is an intergovernmental organization consisting of 53 African states. In 2003, the Brookings Institution produced a paper on African economic integration. In it, the authors started by stating that, ?Africa, like other regions of the world, is fixing its sights on creating a common currency. Already, there are projects for regional monetary unions, and the bidding process for an eventual African central bank is about to begin.? It states that, ?A common currency was also an objective of the Organization for African Unity and the African Economic Community, the predecessors of the AU,? and further, that, ?The 1991 Abuja Treaty establishing the African Economic Community outlines six stages for achieving a single monetary zone for Africa that were set to be completed by approximately 2028. In the early stages, regional cooperation and integration within Africa would be strengthened, and this could involve regional monetary unions. The final stage involves the establishment of the African Central Bank (ACB) and creation of a single African currency and an African Economic and Monetary Union.? ??????????? The paper further states that the African Central Bank (ACB) ?would not be created until around 2020, [but] the bidding process for its location is likely to begin soon,? however, ?there are plans for creating various regional monetary unions, which would presumably form building blocks for the single African central bank and currency.?[21] ??????????? In August of 2008, ?Governors of African Central Banks convened in Kigali Serena Hotel to discuss issues concerning the creation of three African Union (AU) financial institutions,? following ?the AU resolution to form the African Monetary Fund (AMF), African Central Bank (ACB) and the African Investment Bank (AIB).? The central bank governors ?agreed that when established, the ACB would solely issue and manage Africa's single currency and monetary authority of the continent's economy.?[22] ??????????? On March 2, 2009, it was reported that, ?The African Union will sign a memorandum of understanding this month with Nigeria on the establishment of a continental central bank,? and that, ?The institution will be based in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, African Union Commissioner for Economic Affairs Maxwell Mkwezalamba told reporters.? Further, ?As an intermediate step to the creation of the bank, the pan- African body will establish an African Monetary Institute within the next three years, he said at a meeting of African economists in the city,? and he was quoted as saying, ?We have agreed to work with the Association of African Central Bank Governors to set up a joint technical committee to look into the preparation of a joint strategy.?[23] ??????????? The website for the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that, ?The African Union Commissioner for Economic Affairs Dr. Maxwell Mkwezalamba has expressed optimism for the adoption of a common currency for Africa,? and that the main theme discussed at the AU Commission meeting in Kenya was, ?Towards the Creation of a Single African Currency: Review of the Creation of a Single African Currency: Which optimal Approach to be adopted to accelerate the creation of the unique continental currency.?[24] ? A North American Monetary Union and the Amero ? In January of 2008, I wrote an article documenting the moves toward the creation of a North American currency, likely under the name Amero. [See: Andrew G. Marshall, North-American Monetary Integration: Here Comes the Amero. Global Research: January 20, 2008] I will briefly outline the information presented in that article here. ??????????? In 1999, the Fraser Institute, a prominent and highly influential Canadian think tank, published a report written by Economics professor and former MP, Herbert Grubel, called, The Case for the Amero: The Economics and Politics of a North American Monetary Union. He wrote that, ?The plan for a North American Monetary Union presented in this study is designed to include Canada, the United States, and Mexcio,? and a ?North American Central Bank, like the European Central Bank, will have a constitution making it responsible only for the maintenance of price stability and not for full employment.?[25] He opined that, ?sovereignty is not infinitely valuable. The merit of giving up some aspects of sovereignty should be determined by the gains brought by such a sacrifice,? and that, ?It is important to note that in practice Canada has given up its economic sovereignty in many areas, the most important of which involve the World Trade Organization (formerly the GATT), the North American Free Trade Agreement,? as well as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.[26] ??????????? Also in 1999, the C.D. Howe Institute, another of Canada?s most prominent think tanks, produced a report titled, From Fixing to Monetary Union: Options for North American Currency Integration. In this document, it was written that, ?The easiest way to broach the notion of a NAMU [North American Monetary Union] is to view it as the North American equivalent of the European Monetary Union (EMU) and, by extension, the euro.?[27] It further stated that the fact that ?a NAMU would mean the end of sovereignty in Canadian monetary policy is clear. Most obviously, it would mean abandoning a made-in-Canada inflation rate for a US or NAMU inflation rate.?[28] ??????????? In May of 2007, Canada?s then Governor of the Central Bank of Canada, David Dodge, said that, ?North America could one day embrace a euro-style single currency,? and that, ?Some proponents have dubbed the single North American currency the ?amero?.? Answering questions following his speech, Dodge said that, ?a single currency was ?possible?.?[29] ??????????? In November of 2007, one of Canada?s richest billionaires, Stephen Jarislowsky, also a member of the board of the C.D. Howe Institute, told a Canadian Parliamentary committee that, ?Canada should replace its dollar with a North American currency, or peg it to the U.S. greenback, to avoid the exchange rate shifts the loonie has experienced,? and that, ?I think we have to really seriously start thinking of the model of a continental currency just like Europe.?[30] ??????????? Former Mexican President Vicente Fox, while appearing on Larry King Live in 2007, was asked a question regarding the possibility of a common currency for Latin America, to which he responded by saying, ?Long term, very long term. What we propose together, President Bush and myself, it's ALCA, which is a trade union for all of the Americas. And everything was running fluently until Hugo Chavez came. He decided to isolate himself. He decided to combat the idea and destroy the idea.? Larry King then asked, ?It's going to be like the euro dollar, you mean?? to which Fox responded, ?Well, that would be long, long term. I think the processes to go, first step into is trading agreement. And then further on, a new vision, like we are trying to do with NAFTA.?[31] ??????????? In January of 2008, Herbert Grubel, the author who coined the term ?amero? for the Fraser Institute report, wrote an article for the Financial Post, in which he recommends fixing the Canadian loonie to the US dollar at a fixed exchange rate, but that there are inherent problems with having the US Federal Reserve thus control Canadian interest rates. He then wrote that, ?there is a solution to this lack of credibility. In Europe, it came through the creation of the euro and formal end of the ability of national central banks to set interest rates. The analogous creation of the amero is not possible without the unlikely co-operation of the United States. This leaves the credibility issue to be solved by the unilateral adoption of a currency board, which would ensure that international payments imbalances automatically lead to changes in Canada's money supply and interest rates until the imbalances are ended, all without any actions by the Bank of Canada or influence by politicians. It would be desirable to create simultaneously the currency board and a New Canadian Dollar valued at par with the U.S. dollar. With longer-run competitiveness assured at US90? to the U.S. dollar.?[32] ??????????? In January of 2009, an online publication of the Wall Street Journal, called Market Watch, discussed the possibility of hyperinflation of the United States dollar, and then stated, regarding the possibility of an amero, ?On its face, while difficult to imagine, it makes intuitive sense. The ability to combine Canadian natural resources, American ingenuity and cheap Mexican labor would allow North America to compete better on a global stage.? The author further states that, ?If forward policy attempts to induce more debt rather than allowing savings and obligations to align, we must respect the potential for a system shock. We may need to let a two-tier currency gain traction if the dollar meaningfully debases from current levels,? and that, ?If this dynamic plays out -- and I've got no insight that it will -- the global balance of powers would fragment into four primary regions: North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. In such a scenario, ramifications would manifest through social unrest and geopolitical conflict.?[33] ? A Global Currency ? The Phoenix? ??????? In 1988, The Economist ran an article titled, Get Ready for the Phoenix, in which they wrote, ?THIRTY years from now, Americans, Japanese, Europeans, and people in many other rich countries and some relatively poor ones will probably be paying for their shopping with the same currency. Prices will be quoted not in dollars, yen or D-marks but in, let's say, the phoenix. The phoenix will be favoured by companies and shoppers because it will be more convenient than today's national currencies, which by then will seem a quaint cause of much disruption to economic life in the late twentieth century.? ??????????? The article stated that, ?The market crash [of 1987] taught [governments] that the pretence of policy cooperation can be worse than nothing, and that until real co-operation is feasible (ie, until governments surrender some economic sovereignty) further attempts to peg currencies will flounder.? Amazingly the article states that, ?Several more big exchange-rate upsets, a few more stockmarket crashes and probably a slump or two will be needed before politicians are willing to face squarely up to that choice. This points to a muddled sequence of emergency followed by patch-up followed by emergency, stretching out far beyond 2018-except for two things. As time passes, the damage caused by currency instability is gradually going to mount; and the very trends that will make it mount are making the utopia of monetary union feasible.? ??????????? Further, the article stated that, ?The phoenix zone would impose tight constraints on national governments. There would be no such thing, for instance, as a national monetary policy. The world phoenix supply would be fixed by a new central bank, descended perhaps from the IMF. The world inflation rate-and hence, within narrow margins, each national inflation rate-would be in its charge. Each country could use taxes and public spending to offset temporary falls in demand, but it would have to borrow rather than print money to finance its budget deficit.? The author admits that, ?This means a big loss of economic sovereignty, but the trends that make the phoenix so appealing are taking that sovereignty away in any case. Even in a world of more-or-less floating exchange rates, individual governments have seen their policy independence checked by an unfriendly outside world.? ??????????? The article concludes in stating that, ?The phoenix would probably start as a cocktail of national currencies, just as the Special Drawing Right is today. In time, though, its value against national currencies would cease to matter, because people would choose it for its convenience and the stability of its purchasing power.? The last sentence states, ?Pencil in the phoenix for around 2018, and welcome it when it comes.?[34] ??????????? Recommendations for a Global Currency ??????????? In 1998, the IMF Survey discussed a speech given by James Tobin, a prominent American economist, in which he argued that, ?A single global currency might offer a viable alternative to the floating rate.? He further stated that, ?there was still a great need? for ?lenders of last resort.?[35] ??????????? In 1999, economist Judy Shelton addressed the US House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Financial Services. In her testimony, she stated that, ?The continued expansion of free trade, the increased integration of financial markets and the advent of electronic commerce are all working to bring about the need for an international monetary standard---a global unit of account.? She further explained that, ?Regional currency unions seem to be the next step in the evolution toward some kind of global monetary order. Europe has already adopted a single currency. Asia may organize into a regional currency bloc to offer protection against speculative assaults on the individual currencies of weaker nations. Numerous countries in Latin America are considering various monetary arrangements to insulate them from financial contagion and avoid the economic consequences of devaluation. An important question is whether this process of monetary evolution will be intelligently directed or whether it will simply be driven by events. In my opinion, political leadership can play a decisive role in helping to build a more orderly, rational monetary system than the current free-for-all approach to exchange rate relations.? ??????????? She further stated that, ?As we have seen in Europe, the sequence of development is (1) you build a common market, and (2) you establish a common currency. Indeed, until you have a common currency, you don?t truly have an efficient common market.? She concludes by stating, ?Ideally, every nation should stand willing to convert its currency at a fixed rate into a universal reserve asset. That would automatically create a global monetary union based on a common unit of account. The alternative path to a stable monetary order is to forge a common currency anchored to an asset of intrinsic value. While the current momentum for dollarization should be encouraged, especially for Mexico and Canada, in the end the stability of the global monetary order should not rest on any single nation.?[36] ??????????? Paul Volcker, former Governor of the Federal Reserve Board, stated in 2000, that, ?If we are to have a truly global economy, a single world currency makes sense.? In a speech delivered by a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, it was stated that Paul Volcker ?might be right, and we might one day have a single world currency. Maybe European integration, in the same way as any other regional integration, could be seen as a step towards the ideal situation of a fully integrated world. If and when this world will see the light of day is impossible to say. However, what I can say is that this vision seems as impossible now to most of us as a European monetary union seemed 50 years ago, when the process of European integration started.?[37] ??????????? In 2000, the IMF held an international conference and published a brief report titled, One World, One Currency: Destination or Delusion?, in which it was stated that, ?As perceptions grow that the world is gradually segmenting into a few regional currency blocs, the logical extension of such a trend also emerges as a theoretical possibility: a single world currency. If so many countries see benefits from currency integration, would a world currency not maximize these benefits?? ??????????? It outlines how, ?The dollar bloc, already underpinned by the strength of the U.S. economy, has been extended further by dollarization and regional free trade pacts. The euro bloc represents an economic union that is intended to become a full political union likely to expand into Central and Eastern Europe. A yen bloc may emerge from current proposals for Asian monetary cooperation. A currency union may emerge among Mercosur members in Latin America, a geographical currency zone already exists around the South African rand, and a merger of the Australian and New Zealand dollars is a perennial topic in Oceania.? ??????????? The summary states that, ?The same commercial efficiencies, economies of scale, and physical imperatives that drive regional currencies together also presumably exist on the next level?the global scale.? Further, it reported that, ?The smaller and more vulnerable economies of the world?those that the international community is now trying hardest to help?would have most to gain from the certainty and stability that would accompany a single world currency.?[38] Keep in mind, this document was produced by the IMF, and so its recommendations for what it says would likely ?help? the smaller and more vulnerable countries of the world, should be taken with a grain ? or bucket ? of salt. ??????????? Economist Robert A. Mundell has long called for a global currency. On his website, he states that the creation of a global currency is ?a project that would restore a needed coherence to the international monetary system, give the International Monetary Fund a function that would help it to promote stability, and be a catalyst for international harmony.? He states that, ?The benefits from a world currency would be enormous. Prices all over the world would be denominated in the same unit and would be kept equal in different parts of the world to the extent that the law of one price was allowed to work itself out. Apart from tariffs and controls, trade between countries would be as easy as it is between states of the United States.?[39] ? Renewed Calls for a Global Currency ??????????? On March 16, 2009, Russia suggested that, ?the G20 summit in London in April should start establishing a system of managing the process of globalization and consider the possibility of creating a supra-national reserve currency or a ?super-reserve currency?.? Russia called for ?the creation of a supra-national reserve currency that will be issued by international financial institutions,? and that, ?It looks expedient to reconsider the role of the IMF in that process and also to determine the possibility and need for taking measures that would allow for the SDRs (Special Drawing Rights) to become a super-reserve currency recognized by the world community.?[40] ??????????? On March 23, 2009, it was reported that China?s central bank ?proposed replacing the US dollar as the international reserve currency with a new global system controlled by the International Monetary Fund.? The goal would be for the world reserve currency that is ?disconnected from individual nations and is able to remain stable in the long run, thus removing the inherent deficiencies caused by using credit-based national currencies.? The chief China economist for HSBC stated that, ?This is a clear sign that China, as the largest holder of US dollar financial assets, is concerned about the potential inflationary risk of the US Federal Reserve printing money.? The Governor of the People?s Bank of China, the central bank, ?suggested expanding the role of special drawing rights, which were introduced by the IMF in 1969 to support the Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate regime but became less relevant once that collapsed in the 1970s.? Currently, ?the value of SDRs is based on a basket of four currencies ? the US dollar, yen, euro and sterling ? and they are used largely as a unit of account by the IMF and some other international organizations.? ??????????? However, ?China?s proposal would expand the basket of currencies forming the basis of SDR valuation to all major economies and set up a settlement system between SDRs and other currencies so they could be used in international trade and financial transactions. Countries would entrust a portion of their SDR reserves to the IMF to manage collectively on their behalf and SDRs would gradually replace existing reserve currencies.?[41] On March 25, Timothy Geithner, Treasury Secretary and former President of the New York Federal Reserve, spoke at the Council on Foreign Relations, when asked a question about his thoughts on the Chinese proposal for the global reserve currency, Geithner replied that, ?I haven't read the governor's proposal.? He's a remarkably -- a very thoughtful, very careful, distinguished central banker.? Generally find him sensible on every issue.? But as I understand his proposal, it's a proposal designed to increase the use of the IMF's special drawing rights.? And we're actually quite open to that suggestion.? But you should think of it as rather evolutionary, building on the current architectures, than -- rather than -- rather than moving us to global monetary union [Emphasis added].?[42] ??????????? In late March, it was reported that, ?A United Nations panel of economists has proposed a new global currency reserve that would take over the US dollar-based system used for decades by international banks,? and that, ?An independently administered reserve currency could operate without conflicts posed by the US dollar and keep commodity prices more stable.?[43] ??????????? A recent article in the Economic Times stated that, ?The world is not yet ready for an international reserve currency, but is ready to begin the process of shifting to such a currency. Otherwise, it would remain too vulnerable to the hegemonic nation,? as in, the United States.[44] Another article in the Economic Times started by proclaiming that, ?the world certainly needs an international currency.? Further, the article stated that, ?With an unwillingness to accept dollars and the absence of an alternative, international payments system can go into a freeze beyond the control of monetary authorities leading the world economy into a Great Depression,? and that, ?In order to avoid such a calamity, the international community should immediately revive the idea of the Substitution Account mooted in 1971, under which official holders of dollars can deposit their unwanted dollars in a special account in the IMF with the values of deposits denominated in an international currency such as the SDR of the IMF.?[45] ??????????? Amidst fears of a falling dollar as a result of the increased open discussion of a new global currency, it was reported that, ?The dollar?s role as a reserve currency won?t be threatened by a nine-fold expansion in the International Monetary Fund?s unit of account, according to UBS AG, ING Groep NV and Citigroup Inc.? This was reported following the recent G20 meeting, at which, ?Group of 20 leaders yesterday gave approval for the agency to raise $250 billion by issuing Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, the artificial currency that the IMF uses to settle accounts among its member nations. It also agreed to put another $500 billion into the IMF?s war chest.?[46] In other words, the large global financial institutions came to the rhetorical rescue of the dollar, so as not to precipitate a crisis in its current standing, so that they can continue with quietly forming a new global currency. ? Creating a World Central Bank? ??????????? In 1998, Jeffrey Garten wrote an article for the New York Times advocating a ?global Fed.? Garten was former Dean of the Yale School of Management, former Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade in the Clinton administration, previously served on the White House Council on International Economic Policy under the Nixon administration and on the policy planning staffs of Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Cyrus Vance of the Ford and Carter administrations, former Managing Director at Lehman Brothers, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In his article written in 1998, he stated that, ?over time the United States set up crucial central institutions -- the Securities and Exchange Commission (1933), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (1934) and, most important, the Federal Reserve (1913). In so doing, America became a managed national economy. These organizations were created to make capitalism work, to prevent destructive business cycles and to moderate the harsh, invisible hand of Adam Smith.? ??????????? He then explained that, ?This is what now must occur on a global scale. The world needs an institution that has a hand on the economic rudder when the seas become stormy. It needs a global central bank.? He explains that, ?Simply trying to coordinate the world's powerful central banks -- the Fed and the new European Central Bank, for instance -- wouldn't work,? and that, ?Effective collaboration among finance ministries and treasuries is also unlikely to materialize. These agencies are responsible to elected legislatures, and politics in the industrial countries is more preoccupied with internal events than with international stability.? ??????????? He then postulates that, ?An independent central bank with responsibility for maintaining global financial stability is the only way out. No one else can do what is needed: inject more money into the system to spur growth, reduce the sky-high debts of emerging markets, and oversee the operations of shaky financial institutions. A global central bank could provide more money to the world economy when it is rapidly losing steam.? Further, ?Such a bank would play an oversight role for banks and other financial institutions everywhere, providing some uniform standards for prudent lending in places like China and Mexico. [However, t]he regulation need not be heavy-handed.? Garten continues, ?There are two ways a global central bank could be financed. It could have lines of credit from all central banks, drawing on them in bad times and repaying when the markets turn up. Alternately -- and admittedly more difficult to carry out -- it could be financed by a very modest tariff on all trade, collected at the point of importation, or by a tax on certain global financial transactions.? ??????????? Interestingly, Garten states that, ?One thing that would not be acceptable would be for the bank to be at the mercy of short-term-oriented legislatures.? In essence, it is not to be accountable to the people of the world. So, he asks the question, ?To whom would a global central bank be accountable? It would have too much power to be governed only by technocrats, although it must be led by the best of them. One possibility would be to link the new bank to an enlarged Group of Seven -- perhaps a ''G-15'' [or in today?s context, the G20] that would include the G-7 plus rotating members like Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Poland, India, China and South Korea.? He further states that, ?There would have to be very close collaboration? between the global bank and the Fed, and that, ?The global bank would not operate within the United States, and it would not be able to override the decisions of our central bank. But it could supply the missing international ingredient -- emergency financing for cash-starved emerging markets. It wouldn't affect American mortgage rates, but it could help the profitability of American multinational companies by creating a healthier global environment for their businesses.?[47] ??????????? In September of 2008, Jeffrey Garten wrote an article for the Financial Times in which he stated that, ?Even if the US?s massive financial rescue operation succeeds, it should be followed by something even more far-reaching ? the establishment of a Global Monetary Authority to oversee markets that have become borderless.? He emphasized the ?need for a new Global Monetary Authority. It would set the tone for capital markets in a way that would not be viscerally opposed to a strong public oversight function with rules for intervention, and would return to capital formation the goal of economic growth and development rather than trading for its own sake.? ??????????? Further, the ?GMA would be a reinsurer or discounter for certain obligations held by central banks. It would scrutinise the regulatory activities of national authorities with more teeth than the IMF has and oversee the implementation of a limited number of global regulations. It would monitor global risks and establish an effective early warning system with more clout to sound alarms than the BIS has.? Moreover, ?The biggest global financial companies would have to register with the GMA and be subject to its monitoring, or be blacklisted. That includes commercial companies and banks, but also sovereign wealth funds, gigantic hedge funds and private equity firms.? He recommends that its board ?include central bankers not just from the US, UK, the eurozone and Japan, but also China, Saudi Arabia and Brazil. It would be financed by mandatory contributions from every capable country and from insurance-type premiums from global financial companies ? publicly listed, government owned, and privately held alike.?[48] ??????????? In October of 2008, it was reported that Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack stated that, ?it may take continued international coordination to fully unlock the credit markets and resolve the financial crisis, perhaps even by forming a new global body to oversee the process.?[49] ??????????? In late October of 2008, Jeffrey Garten wrote an article for Newsweek in which he stated that, ?leaders should begin laying the groundwork for establishing a global central bank.? He explained that, ?There was a time when the U.S. Federal Reserve played this role [as governing financial authority of the world], as the prime financial institution of the world's most powerful economy, overseeing the one global currency. But with the growth of capital markets, the rise of currencies like the euro and the emergence of powerful players such as China, the shift of wealth to Asia and the Persian Gulf and, of course, the deep-seated problems in the American economy itself, the Fed no longer has the capability to lead single-handedly.? ??????????? He explains the criteria and operations of a world central bank, saying that, ?It could be the lead regulator of big global financial institutions, such as Citigroup or Deutsche Bank, whose activities spill across borders,? as well as ?act as a bankruptcy court when big global banks that operate in multiple countries need to be restructured. It could oversee not just the big commercial banks, such as Mitsubishi UFJ, but also the "alternative" financial system that has developed in recent years, consisting of hedge funds, private-equity groups and sovereign wealth funds?all of which are now substantially unregulated.? Further, it ?could have influence over key exchange rates, and might lead a new monetary conference to realign the dollar and the yuan, for example, for one of its first missions would be to deal with the great financial imbalances that hang like a sword over the world economy.? ??????????? He further postulates that, ?A global central bank would not eliminate the need for the Federal Reserve or other national central banks, which will still have frontline responsibility for sound regulatory policies and monetary stability in their respective countries. But it would have heavy influence over them when it comes to following policies that are compatible with global growth and financial stability. For example, it would work with key countries to better coordinate national stimulus programs when the world enters a recession, as is happening now, so that the cumulative impact of the various national efforts do not so dramatically overshoot that they plant the seeds for a crisis of global inflation. This is a big threat as government spending everywhere goes into overdrive.?[50] ??????????? In January of 2009, it was reported that, ?one clear solution to avoid a repeat of the problems would be the establishment of a "global central bank" ? with the IMF and World Bank being unable to prevent the financial meltdown.? Dr. William Overholt, senior research fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School, formerly with the Rand Institute, gave a speech in Dubai in which he said that, ?To avoid another crisis, we need an ability to manage global liquidity. Theoretically that could be achieved through some kind of global central bank, or through the creation of a global currency, or through global acceptance of a set of rules with sanctions and a dispute settlement mechanism.?[51] ??????????? Guillermo Calvo, Professor of Economics, International and Public Affairs at Columbia University wrote an article for VOX in late March of 2009. Calvo is the former Chief Economist of the Inter-American Development Bank, and is currently a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and President of the International Economic Association and the former Senior Advisor in the Research Department of the IMF. ??????????? He wrote that, ?Credit availability is not ensured by stricter financial regulation. In fact, it can be counterproductive unless it is accompanied by the establishment of a lender of last resort (LOLR) that radically softens the severity of financial crisis by providing timely credit lines. With that aim in mind, the 20th century saw the creation of national or regional central banks in charge of a subset of the capital market. It has now become apparent that the realm of existing central banks is very limited and the world has no institution that fulfils the necessary global role. The IMF is moving in that direction, but it is still too small and too limited to adequately do so.? ??????????? He advocates that, ?the first proposal that I would like to make is that the topic of financial regulation should be discussed together with the issue of a global lender of last resort.? Further, he proposed that, ?international financial institutions must be quickly endowed with considerably more firepower to help emerging economies through the deleveraging period.?[52] ? A ?New World Order? in Banking? ??????????? In March of 2008, following the collapse of Bear Stearns, Reuters reported on a document released by research firm CreditSights, which said that, ?Financial firms face a ?new world order?,? and that, ?More industry consolidation and acquisitions may follow after JPMorgan Chase & Co.? Further, ?In the event of future consolidation, potential acquirers identified by CreditSights include JPMorganChase, Wells Fargo, US Bancorp, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.?[53] ??????????? In June of 2008, before he was Treasury Secretary in the Obama administration, Timothy Geithner, as head of the New York Federal Reserve, wrote an article for the Financial Times following his attendance at the 2008 Bilderberg conference, in which he wrote that, ?Banks and investment banks whose health is crucial to the global financial system should operate under a unified regulatory framework,? and he said that, ?the US Federal Reserve should play a "central role" in the new regulatory framework, working closely with supervisors in the US and around the world.?[54] ??????????? In November of 2008, The National, a prominent United Arab Emirate newspaper, reported on Baron David de Rothschild accompanying Prime Minister Gordon Brown on a visit to the Middle East, although not as a ?part of the official party? accompanying Brown. Following an interview with the Baron, it was reported that, ?Rothschild shares most people?s view that there is a new world order. In his opinion, banks will deleverage and there will be a new form of global governance.?[55] ??????????? In February of 2009, the Times Online reported that a ?New world order in banking [is] necessary,? and that, ?It is increasingly evident that the world needs a new banking system and that it should not bear much resemblance to the one that has failed so spectacularly.?[56] But of course, the ones that are shaping this new banking system are the champions of the previous banking system. The solutions that will follow are simply the extensions of the current system, only sped up through the necessity posed by the current crisis. ? An Emerging Global Government? ??????????? A recent article in the Financial Post stated that, ?The danger in the present course is that if the world moves to a ?super sovereign? reserve currency engineered by experts, such as the ?UN Commission of Experts? led by Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz, we would give up the possibility of a spontaneous money order and financial harmony for a centrally planned order and the politicization of money. Such a regime change would endanger not only the future value of money but, more importantly, our freedom and prosperity.?[57] ???????????? Further, ?An uncomfortable characteristic of the new world order may well turn out to be that global income gaps will widen because the rising powers, such as China, India and Brazil, regard those below them on the ladder as potential rivals.? The author further states that, ?The new world order thus won't necessarily be any better than the old one,? and that, ?What is certain, though, is that global affairs are going to be considerably different from now on.?[58] ??????????? \ In April of 2009, Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank, said that, ?If leaders are serious about creating new global responsibilities or governance, let them start by modernising multilateralism to empower the WTO, the IMF, and the World Bank Group to monitor national policies.?[59] ??????????? David Rothkopf, a scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, former Deputy Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade in the Clinton administration, and former managing director of Kissinger and Associates, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, recently wrote a book titled, Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They are Making, of which he is certainly a member. When discussing the role and agenda of the global ?superclass?, he states that, ?In a world of global movements and threats that don?t present their passports at national borders, it is no longer possible for a nation-state acting alone to fulfill its portion of the social contract.?[60] ??????????? He writes that, ?even the international organizations and alliances we have today, flawed as they are, would have seemed impossible until recently, notably the success of the European Union ? a unitary democratic state the size of India. The evolution and achievements of such entities against all odds suggest not isolated instances but an overall trend in the direction of what Tennyson called ?the Parliament of Man,? or ?universal law?.? He states that he is ?optimistic that progress will continue to be made,? but it will be difficult, because it ?undercuts many national and local power structures and cultural concepts that have foundations deep in the bedrock of human civilization, namely the notion of sovereignty.?[61] ??????????? He further writes that, ?Mechanisms of global governance are more achievable in today?s environment,? and that these mechanisms ?are often creative with temporary solutions to urgent problems that cannot wait for the world to embrace a bigger and more controversial idea like real global government.?[62] ??????????? In December of 2008, the Financial Times ran an article written by Gideon Rachman, a past Bilderberg attendee, who wrote that, ?for the first time in my life, I think the formation of some sort of world government is plausible,? and that, ?A ?world government? would involve much more than co-operation between nations. It would be an entity with state-like characteristics, backed by a body of laws. The European Union has already set up a continental government for 27 countries, which could be a model. The EU has a supreme court, a currency, thousands of pages of law, a large civil service and the ability to deploy military force.? ??????????? He then asks if the European model could ?go global,? and states that there are three reasons for thinking that may be the case. First, he states, ?it is increasingly clear that the most difficult issues facing national governments are international in nature: there is global warming, a global financial crisis and a ?global war on terror?.? Secondly, he states that, ?It could be done,? largely as a result of the transport and communications revolutions having ?shrunk the world.? Thirdly, this is made possible through an awakening ?change in the political atmosphere,? as ?The financial crisis and climate change are pushing national governments towards global solutions, even in countries such as China and the US that are traditionally fierce guardians of national sovereignty.? ??????????? He quoted an adviser to French President Nicolas Sarkozy as saying, ?Global governance is just a euphemism for global government,? and that the ?core of the international financial crisis is that we have global financial markets and no global rule of law.? However, Rachman states that any push towards a global government ?will be a painful, slow process.? He then states that a key problem in this push can be explained with an example from the EU, which ?has suffered a series of humiliating defeats in referendums, when plans for ?ever closer union? have been referred to the voters. In general, the Union has progressed fastest when far-reaching deals have been agreed by technocrats and politicians ? and then pushed through without direct reference to the voters. International governance tends to be effective, only when it is anti-democratic. [Emphasis added]?[63] ??????????? In November of 2008, the United States National Intelligence Council (NIC), the US intelligence community?s ?center for midterm and long-term strategic thinking,? released a report that it produced in collaboration with numerous think tanks, consulting firms, academic institutions and hundreds of other experts, among them are the Atlantic Council of the United States, the Wilson Center, RAND Corporation, the Brookings Institution, American Enterprise Institute, Texas A&M University, the Council on Foreign Relations and Chatham House in London.[64] ??????????? The report, titled, Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World, outlines the current global political and economic trends that the world may be going through by the year 2025. In terms of the financial crisis, it states that solving this ?will require long-term efforts to establish a new international system.?[65] It suggests that as the ?China-model? for development becomes increasingly attractive, there may be a ?decline in democratization? for emerging economies, authoritarian regimes, and ?weak democracies frustrated by years of economic underperformance.? Further, the dollar will cease to be the global reserve currency, as there would likely be a ?move away from the dollar.?[66] ??????????? It states that the dollar will become ?something of a first among equals in a basket of currencies by 2025. This could occur suddenly in the wake of a crisis, or gradually with global rebalancing.?[67] The report elaborates on the construction of a new international system, stating that, ?By 2025, nation-states will no longer be the only ? and often not the most important ? actors on the world stage and the ?international system? will have morphed to accommodate the new reality. But the transformation will be incomplete and uneven.? Further, it would be ?unlikely to see an overarching, comprehensive, unitary approach to global governance. Current trends suggest that global governance in 2025 will be a patchwork of overlapping, often ad hoc and fragmented efforts, with shifting coalitions of member nations, international organizations, social movements, NGOs, philanthropic foundations, and companies.? It also notes that, ?Most of the pressing transnational problems ? including climate change, regulation of globalized financial markets, migration, failing states, crime networks, etc. ? are unlikely to be effectively resolved by the actions of individual nation-states. The need for effective global governance will increase faster than existing mechanisms can respond.?[68] ??????????? The report discusses the topic of regionalism, stating that, ?Greater Asian integration, if it occurs, could fill the vacuum left by a weakening multilaterally based international order but could also further undermine that order. In the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, a remarkable series of pan-Asian ventures?the most significant being ASEAN + 3?began to take root.? Although few would argue that an Asian counterpart to the EU is a likely outcome even by 2025, if 1997 is taken as a starting point, Asia arguably has evolved more rapidly over the last decade than the European integration did in its first decade(s).? It further states that, ?movement over the next 15 years toward an Asian basket of currencies?if not an Asian currency unit as a third reserve?is more than a theoretical possibility.? ??????????? It elaborates that, ?Asian regionalism would have global implications, possibly sparking or reinforcing a trend toward three trade and financial clusters that could become quasi-blocs (North America, Europe, and East Asia).? These blocs ?would have implications for the ability to achieve future global World Trade Organization agreements and regional clusters could compete in the setting of trans-regional product standards for IT, biotech, nanotech, intellectual property rights, and other ?new economy? products.?[69] ??????????? Of great importance to address, and reflecting similar assumptions made by Rachman in his article advocating for a world government, is the topic of democratization, saying that, ?advances are likely to slow and globalization will subject many recently democratized countries to increasing social and economic pressures that could undermine liberal institutions.? This is largely because ?the better economic performance of many authoritarian governments could sow doubts among some about democracy as the best form of government.? The surveys we consulted indicated that many East Asians put greater emphasis on good management, including increasing standards of livings, than democracy.? Further, ?even in many well-established democracies, surveys show growing frustration with the current workings of democratic government and questioning among elites over the ability of democratic governments to take the bold actions necessary to deal rapidly and effectively with the growing number of transnational challenges.?[70] ? Conclusion ??????? Ultimately, what this implies is that the future of the global political economy is one of increasing moves toward a global system of governance, or a world government, with a world central bank and global currency; and that, concurrently, these developments are likely to materialize in the face of and as a result of a decline in democracy around the world, and thus, a rise in authoritarianism. What we are witnessing is the creation of a New World Order, composed of a totalitarian global government structure. ??????????? In fact, the very concept of a global currency and global central bank is authoritarian in its very nature, as it removes any vestiges of oversight and accountability away from the people of the world, and toward a small, increasingly interconnected group of international elites. ??????????? As Carroll Quigley explained in his monumental book, Tragedy and Hope, ?[T]he powers of financial capitalism had another far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able? to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent private meetings and conferences. The apex of the system was to be the Bank for International Settlements in Basle, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlled by the world?s central banks which were themselves private corporations.?[71] ??????????? Indeed, the current ?solutions? being proposed to the global financial crisis benefit those that caused the crisis over those that are poised to suffer the most as a result of the crisis: the disappearing middle classes, the world?s dispossessed, poor, indebted people. The proposed solutions to this crisis represent the manifestations and actualization of the ultimate generational goals of the global elite; and thus, represent the least favourable conditions for the vast majority of the world?s people. ??????????? It is imperative that the world?s people throw their weight against these ?solutions? and usher in a new era of world order, one of the People?s World Order; with the solution lying in local governance and local economies, so that the people have greater roles in determining the future and structure of their own political-economy, and thus, their own society. With this alternative of localized political economies, in conjunction with an unprecedented global population and international democratization of communication through the internet, we have the means and possibility before us to forge the most diverse manifestation of cultures and societies that humanity has ever known. ??????????? The answer lies in the individual?s internalization of human power and destination, and a rejection of the externalization of power and human destiny to a global authority of which all but a select few people have access to. To internalize human power and destiny is to realize the gift of a human mind, which has the ability to engage in thought beyond the material, such as food and shelter, and venture into the realm of the conceptual. Each individual possesses ? within themselves ? the ability to think critically about themselves and their own life; now is the time to utilize this ability with the aim of internalizing the concepts and questions of human power and destiny: Why are we here? Where are we going? Where should we be going? How do we get there? ??????????? The supposed answers to these questions are offered to us by a tiny global elite who fear the repercussions of what would take place if the people of the world were to begin to answer these questions themselves. I do not know the answers to these questions, but I do know that the answers lie in the human mind and spirit, that which has overcome and will continue to overcome the greatest of challenges to humanity, and will, without doubt, triumph over the New World Order. ? Endnotes ? [1] Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, The G20 moves the world a step closer to a global currency. The Telegraph: April 3, 2009: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/5096524/The-G20-moves-the-world-a-step-closer-to-a-global-currency.html ? [2] Robert Winnett, Financial Crisis: Gordon Brown calls for 'new Bretton Woods'. The Telegraph: October 13, 2008: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/3189517/Financial-Crisis-Gordon-Brown-calls-for-new-Bretton-Woods.html ? [3] Gordon Brown, Out of the Ashes. The Washington Post: October 17, 2008: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/16/AR2008101603179.html ? [4] Gordon Rayner, Global financial crisis: does the world need a new banking 'policeman'? The Telegraph: October 8, 2008: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/3155563/Global-financial-crisis-does-the-world-need-a-new-banking-policeman.html ? [5] Benn Steil, The End of National Currency. Foreign Affairs: Vol. 86, Issue 3, May/June 2007: pages 83-96 ? [6] Jonathan Tirone, ECB's Nowotny Sees Global `Tri-Polar' Currency System Evolving. Bloomberg: October 19, 2008: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=apjqJKKQvfDc&refer=home ? [7] BBC, South America nations found union. BBC News: May 23, 2008: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7417896.stm ? [8] CNews, South American nations to seek common currency. China View: May 26, 2008: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/27/content_8260847.htm ? [9] AME Info, GCC: Full steam ahead to monetary union. September 19, 2005: http://www.ameinfo.com/67925.html ? [10] John Irish, GCC Agrees on Monetary Union but Signals Delay in Common Currency. Reuters: June 10, 2008: http://www.arabnews.com/?page=6§ion=0&article=110727&d=10&m=6&y=2008 ? [11] Forbes, TIMELINE-Gulf single currency deadline delayed beyond 2010. Forbes: March 23, 2009: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2009/03/24/afx6204462.html ? [12] Agencies, 'GCC need not rush to form single currency'. Business 24/7: March 26, 2009: http://www.business24-7.ae/articles/2009/3/pages/25032009/03262009_4e19de908b174f04bfb3c37aec2f17b3.aspx ? [13] Barry Eichengreen, International Monetary Arrangements: Is There a Monetary Union in Asia's Future? The Brookings Institution: Spring 1997: http://www.brookings.edu/articles/1997/spring_globaleconomics_eichengreen.aspx ? [14] atimes.com, After European now Asian Monetary Union? Asia Times Online: September 8, 2001: http://www.atimes.com/editor/CI08Ba01.html ? [15] ASEAN, China, Japan, SKorea, ASEAN Makes Moves for Asian Monetary Fund. Association of Southeast Asian Nations: May 6, 2005: http://www.aseansec.org/afp/115.htm ? [16] Reuven Glick, Does Europe's Path to Monetary Union Provide Lessons for East Asia? Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco: August 12, 2005: http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2005/el2005-19.html ? [17] AFP, Asian Monetary Fund may be needed to deal with future shocks. Channel News Asia: July 2, 2007: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world_business/view/285700/1/.html ? [18] AFX News Limited, East Asia monetary union 'feasible' but political will lacking ? ADB. Forbes: September 19, 2007: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2007/09/19/afx4133743.html ? [19] Lin Li, ASEAN discusses financial, monetary integration. China View: April 2, 2008: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-04/02/content_7906391.htm ? [20] Paul De Grauwe, Economics of Monetary Union. Oxford University Press, 2007: pages 109-110 ? [21] Heather Milkiewicz and Paul R. 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The Fraser Institute: September 1, 1999: Page 17: http://www.fraserinstitute.org/Commerce.Web/publication_details.aspx?pubID=2512 ? [27] Thomas Courchene and Richard Harris, From Fixing to Monetary Union: Options for North American Currency Integration. C.D. Howe Institute, June 1999: Page 22: http://www.cdhowe.org/display.cfm?page=research-fiscal&year=1999 ? [28] Thomas Courchene and Richard Harris, From Fixing to Monetary Union: Options for North American Currency Integration. C.D. Howe Institute, June 1999: Page 23: http://www.cdhowe.org/display.cfm?page=research-fiscal&year=1999 ? [29] Barrie McKenna, Dodge Says Single Currency ?Possible?. The Globe and Mail: May 21, 2007 ? [30] Consider a Continental Currency, Jarislowsky Says. The Globe and Mail: November 23: 2007: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071123.RDOLLAR23/TPStory/?query=%22Steven%2BChase%22b ? [31] CNN, CNN Larry King Live. 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[37] ECB, The euro and the dollar - new imperatives for policy co-ordination. Speeches and Interviews: September 18, 2000: http://www.ecb.int/press/key/date/2000/html/sp000918.en.html ? [38] IMF, One World, One Currency: Destination or Delusion? Economic Forums and International Seminars: November 8, 2000: http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/ecforums/110800.htm ? [39] Robert A. Mundell, World Currency. The Works of Robert A. Mundell:? http://www.robertmundell.net/Menu/Main.asp?Type=5&Cat=09&ThemeName=World%20Currency ? [40] Itar-Tass, Russia proposes creation of global super-reserve currency. ITAR-TASS News Agency: March 16, 2009: http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=13682035&PageNum=0 ? [41] Jamil Anderlini, China calls for new reserve currency. The Financial Times: March 23, 2009: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7851925a-17a2-11de-8c9d-0000779fd2ac.html ? [42] CFR, A Conversation with Timothy F. Geithner. Council on Foreign Relations Transcripts: March 25, 2009: http://www.cfr.org/publication/18925/ ? [43] news.com.au, UN backs new new global currency reserve. The Sunday Telegraph: March 29, 2009: http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,25255091-462,00.html ? [44] Ashima Goyal, Is world ready for a global currency? The Economic Times: April 3, 2009: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ET-Debate/Is-world-ready-for-a-global-currency/articleshow/4352581.cms ? [45] R Agarwala, SDR should become the global currency. The Economic Times: April 3, 2009: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ET-Debate/SDR-should-become-the-global-currency/articleshow/4352573.cms ? [46] Kim Kyoungwha and David Yong, Dollar?s Role Is Safe as IMF Expands Own Currency. Bloomberg: April 3, 2009: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aBbu9JB2mGkc&refer=home ? [47] Jeffrey E. Garten, Needed: A Fed for the World. The New York Times: September 23, 1998: http://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/23/opinion/needed-a-fed-for-the-world.html ? [48] Jeffrey Garten, Global authority can fill financial vacuum. The Financial Times: September 25, 2008: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7caf543e-8b13-11dd-b634-0000779fd18c.html?nclick_check=1 ? [49] CNBC, Morgan's Mack: Firm Was Excessively Leveraged. CNBC: October 16, 2008: http://www.cnbc.com/id/27216678 ? [50] Jeffrey Garten, We Need a Bank Of the World. Newsweek: October 25, 2008: http://www.newsweek.com/id/165772 ? [51] Sean Davidson, 'Global central bank could prevent future crisis'. Business 24/7: January 10, 2009: http://www.business24-7.ae/articles/2009/1/pages/01102009_350bc822e4ee4508b724e55b0f1393df.aspx ? [52] Guillermo Calvo, Lender of last resort: Put it on the agenda! VOX: March 23, 2009: http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/3327 ? [53] Walden Siew, Banks face "new world order," consolidation: report. 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The National Intelligence Council?s 2025 Project: November, 2008: page 11: http://www.dni.gov/nic/NIC_2025_project.html ? [66] NIC, Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World. The National Intelligence Council?s 2025 Project: November, 2008: pages 11-12:? http://www.dni.gov/nic/NIC_2025_project.html ? [67] NIC, Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World. The National Intelligence Council?s 2025 Project: November, 2008: pages 94:? http://www.dni.gov/nic/NIC_2025_project.html ? [68] NIC, Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World. The National Intelligence Council?s 2025 Project: November, 2008: pages 81:? http://www.dni.gov/nic/NIC_2025_project.html ? [69] NIC, Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World. The National Intelligence Council?s 2025 Project: November, 2008: pages 83:? http://www.dni.gov/nic/NIC_2025_project.html ? [70] NIC, Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World. The National Intelligence Council?s 2025 Project: November, 2008: pages 87:? http://www.dni.gov/nic/NIC_2025_project.html ? [71] Carroll Quigley, Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time (New York: Macmillan Company, 1966), 324 ? Andrew G. Marshall is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). He is currently studying ?Political Economy and History at Simon Fraser University.? Andrew Gavin Marshall is a frequent contributor to Global Research. ?Global Research Articles by Andrew Gavin Marshall Please support Global Research Global Research relies on the financial support of its readers. Your endorsement is greatly appreciated Subscribe to the Global Research E-Newsletter Spread the word! Forward to a friend! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Thu Jul 23 23:34:37 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:34:37 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] A review of Guilt by Association Message-ID: <002e01ca0c20$71b8e570$552ab050$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2009 8:00 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] A review of Guilt by Association (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) Published in Culture Wars magazine, Jul/Aug 2008 A review of Guilt by Association: How Deception and Deceit Took America to War by Jeff Gates (2008), State Street Publications, 287 pages, $27.95, LCCN# 2008908446 by Ken Freeland ?Guilt by Association makes treason transparent,? advertises the blurb on the back of this book. And if I were limited to so brief a summary, these are exactly the words I would choose! This book is a many-splendored thing, and I hope in the space of this review to be able to convey the enormous import of this book, and why you need to buy not just a copy for yourself but copies for all your loved ones and for anyone you seek to educate about the threat America's involvement with Israel poses not just to American values, but to our national security and to our survival as a nation. Yes Israel and its Zionist Fifth Columnists in America are our real national enemy, yes they do ?hate our freedom?and our putative ideals, yes they represent a genuine threat to our national security (unlike Iraq, Afghanistan and the myriad other countries towards whom they and their minions have adroitly pointed our guns), and yes they are immensely powerful, but yes, in the end, they too have feet of clay and the basis of their power can be understood and undermined and no, even the Jews themselves are not monolithic in support of racist Israel, as recently attested in the pages of Culture Wars by Israel Adam Shamir (whose roots are Russian-Jewish) and in the recently published, superlative work Overcoming Zionism by American Jewish writer Joel Kovel (in which he identifies the chief culprits as ?power Jews? and baldly avers that ?Israel does not have a right to exist?), if any proof were needed on this score after the prodigious groundbreaking work of the late, great Israel Shahak (who is frequently cited by Gates ? it cannot be stated too often that not every Jew is a Zionist, and not every Zionist is a Jew; and we fail to recognize at our peril that anti-Zionist Jews number among our most important allies, and some non-Jewish Zionist sympathizers turn out to be our most dangerous enemies, especially when we fail to recognize them as such). But the Zionist project is part of a larger criminal conspiracy which is, in fact, an OPEN conspiracy, that bewilders even as it beggars the American body politic. In order to overcome an enemy we must first understand who and what he is, what his purpose is, how he operates. It is the great value of Guilt by Association that it brings out into bold relief the nature, identity, methodology and support system of this nefarious criminal syndicate; what has been ?hidden in plain sight? for so long is finally made accessible to any open-minded reader. This author is quick to pooh-pooh the already classic Walt-Mearsheimer study of the Israeli Lobby as too soft on Israel. While there is no disputing the accuracy of his criticism, we should also consider how much of a watershed event the publication of The Israel Lobby was, and how it paved the way for more radical efforts like this one, which pulls no punches about Israel's perfidy. Despite Jeff Gate's own considerable credentials (author, educator, attorney,financial policy advisor to 35 countries and counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance for seven years), the fact that those two professors made the subject academically respectable certainly has created a wider audience for bolder critics of the ?special relationship.? But in strictly political terms, if Walt and Mearsheimer's work was the icebreaker, Guilt by Association is the magnificent flagship following in its wake. As with any groundbreaking work, much of this author's effort is expended in a kind of Confucian ?rectification of names.? Part of the reason the average person cannot see this enemy operating in plain sight is due to the power of that enemy to distort the names of things, so that people are conceptually unclear about what is happening right in front of their noses. These ?masters of discourse,? as they are so appropriately termed in Israel Adam Shamir's book by that title (of which this reviewer was an editor), are helpfully termed by Jeff Gates ?the people in between.? In between what? First of all, in between our perceptions and the facts: ?That gap ? that domain between facts and beliefs-- is where the people in between wage unconventional warfare.? When we grasp their aggressive and nefarious intent, it becomes easier yet to understand why Zionist Jews aggregate in Hollywood, in the world of public relations and advertising, and in the media generally: ?The game theorists identified in this account lay mental threads and manipulate the mental environment by shaping perceptions that become consensus opinions. By steadily displacing facts with that people can be induced to believe, the people in between amplify the impact of deception, enabling the defeat of an opponent with vastly superior resources.? By way of deception thou shalt make war, don'tcha know?. The ??nfo-tainment? industry consists of molding perceptions, and those whose purpose is to cover the tracks of the ?enemy within? will do all in their power to use these positions to inculcate a belief system in the sheeple that effectively prevents them from recognizing and defending themselves against an enemy who must operate in plain sight -- Jews good, Arabs baah, baah, bad.... Roll over George Orwell. There are other ways in which these same perpetrators serve as the ?people in between,? but they are less germane to this book's immediate purpose. Suffice it to add that the so-called ?consensus economics? of the Chicago School, dominant in America and everywhere else our legions plant their ensigns, is part and parcel of this criminal enterprise, and effects the deliberate transfer of wealth from everyone else to them. Both our blood and our treasure must be fully expended on behalf of the Zionist project, and along the way, for the personal enrichment of its principals. Do those in our government who aid and abet this Zionist conspiracy deserve the name of traitor? Jeff Gates says yes they do. Even more nuanced is this author's concept of ?fields within fields,? which I do not hope to be able to fully convey in this limited review. Much of the book is spent demonstrating how this syndicate ?operates with a common criminal focus coordinated around a shared ideology.? It is difficult not to think about the enigmatic Kennedy assassination when we read: ? Evidentiary trails in this area seldom run in straight lines...Also, 'prepare-the-minds' incidents, events and relationships are often pre-staged over lengthy time periods, making barriers to transparency even more daunting.? How much more difficult to face down an enemy that uniquely entrenches itself in four dimensions. ?...(S)yndicate operations are diffused and sustained in 'fields within fields...within fields' of relationships that stretch across time, distance and both major political parties. This field-based structure enables systemic criminality to proceed in plain view and oftentimes with only modest coordination around shared goals.? The subtlety of such an enemy is almost as breath-taking as this author's ability to describe it in words. Yet until we arrive at this conceptual clarity, we remain enmeshed in this enemy's grip. This idea of fields within fields will not be new to those who have read Michael Collins Piper's classic study of the Kennedy Assassination, Final Judgment, but Gates' crisp formulation of it here will fortify the understanding of even the most advanced conspiracy cognoscente. Zionism cannot be understood apart from the history of organized crime. Gates starts us out with a lengthy and helpful definition of psychopathy, a mental disorder invaluable in understanding this criminal mindset. He then traces the history of organized crime in America, beginning with Meyer Lansky, and demonstrating how this Jewish syndicate has operated with cover provided by Italians and Sicilians. Mobster money, we should remember, funded the original Anti-Defamation League, and mobsters also served as the original gun runners and financiers of the embryonic State of Israel, which, in its earliest incarnation, was a collection of terrorist gangsters (the Irgun, the Stern Gang, etc.). Yes, it's true that the Zionist project has religious underpinnings of Judaism and corrupt forms of Christianity (so-called Zionist-Christian churches), but its keynote is not religion, and it is not race, and it is not even ethnicity, it is rather a self-interested criminal syndicate which has a very advanced knowledge of game theory, and uses false-flag operations and personal corruption to make the world its oyster. Zionist Israel is simply a visible excrescence of this worldwide conspiracy, but it is hardly its font. Some of the most helpful nomenclature of all is the author's breakdown of the level of involvement of the various actors in this treasonous conspiracy, which is coterminous with the level of knowledge each has about the purposes of the supportive action assigned: ?Agents possess the conscious mental state that connects their mind to a crime.? ?Assets are people profiled such that, within an acceptable range of probabilities, they can be relied upon to behave consistent with their personality profile.lack the conscious intent to commit a crime.? (Clinton's behavior with Lewinsky is given as a textbook example, though, as we shall see, he was not the first US president to be controlled this way.) ?Sayanim play an essential support role. Hebrew for volunteers or helpers, sayanim are shielded from culpability by being told only enough to perform their narrow role...Mossad recruiters ensure they are kept ignorant of the intended result.? Once we understand how the criminal Zionist network is organized, we are able to identify its agents, assets and sayanim as they are deployed in our midst. The author reminds us that former Mossad case officer Victor Ostrovsky wrote that there were 7,000 sayanim on which the Mossad could rely in London alone. When we multiply this by the population size and the political importance of the United States to Zionist designs...well, you do the math. One simply has to read the book itself to learn how this criminal syndicate, corrupt politicians (especially John McCain), international financiers, Russian ?oligarchs? (who are almost entirely Jewish in case you didn't know), and this vast support network of agents and volunteers coalesce in an ongoing attack against America, in order to advance the designs of Zionist traitors in our midst --- and to learn exactly who in our government is responsible for investigating and prosecuting these treasonous activities... an important adjunct since the book's stated aim is to activate the citizenry in our own defense. Guilt by Association, writes its author, ?shows why the presence of organized crime and extremism inside government requires that Americans revisit our duty as citizens if we hope to remain free.? In passing I would like to focus for a moment on a subject I found most galling of all: It is probably not news to most Culture Wars readers that that first military attack by Israel against the United States was the bombing and strafing of the USS Liberty during the 1967 ?Six-Day? war, an apparently botched false-flag operation (the Egyptians were to be blamed after all possible survivors of the attack were slain in order to assure that no alternative explanation would be forthcoming), and that the cover-up of this heinous war crime was ordered by Lyndon Baines Johnson (hey, hey, LBJ, how many American sailors did you kill today?). But readers might be interested to learn that a key figure in the cover-up was John McCain's father, then commander-in-chief, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe., who crippled the official investigation into that atrocity. But the real shock comes when we learn that LBJ took the meaning of ?sleeping with the enemy? to new heights. To quote Gates from his ?CriminalState? webpage (for a superb browsing experience check out criminalstate.com): ? On the night that the Six-Day war broke out, former Irgun terrorist Mathilde Krim was servicing Lyndon Johnson?s needs in the White House where she spent the night.? Apparently, LBJ was in the habit of visiting this blond bombshell at her private hutch on her neighboring ranch when her husband was away. She and her husband were frequently consulted by Johnson regarding the content of his speeches and policies that served to permanently entangle America's future with Israel's. Here we have a textbook case of an ?asset? and an ?agent,? so that when Israel murdered 34 US sailors and wounded 174 others in cold blood and destroyed a US intelligence ship in international waters, and a president would have to betray his country to cover up this fact and then to deny the survivors of that brutal air assault on their defenseless ship a fair and public hearing, we fully appreciate the extent to which LBJ was being manipulated by this modern Mata Hari and other Zionist agents who had gained access to the innermost corridors of his Israel-friendly administration. Guilt by Association is enough to make any patriot's blood boil. And it is doubly galling for those of us who spent the Johnson Era out in the streets protesting his criminal war against Vietnam to learn that what the Zionists promised Johnson in exchange for his support of their aggressive 1967(which is, let's not forget, was when the Occupied Territories were occupied): an easing of the criticism of his war effort in America's mainstream media! Let anyone who still bristles at the suggestion of undue Zionist-Jewish influence in our mainstream media consider this: how could they have promised and delivered that muting of journalistic criticism if they did not in fact have effective control of that media? And one wonders to what extent this censorship prolonged that unjust war, and how many additional American and Vietnamese lives were lost, while Irgun agent Mathilde Krim led the President of the United States around by his ...um....nose. Yet who was charged with lack of patriotism? Not this treasonous s.o.b. of a Zionist asset in the Oval Office. No, that epithet was reserved for those of us who protested his aimless and ever-escalating war in Indochina. If that's not enough to draw your ire, wait till you see the picture on page 76 of that other sellout Zionist asset, Bill Clinton, awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Mathilde Krim 23 years later. It would simply be impossible to recommend this book too highly. It belongs in every American library and on every American's bookshelf. Reading it will, as Noam Chomsky suggests, leave you ?breathless,? and I would add that it will also leave you hankering for its sequel, to be titled Criminal State, due to be published very soon. It is very difficult to believe that author Jeff Gates could possibly outdo himself with this next book, but I for one cannot wait to see him try. From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Fri Jul 24 04:16:06 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:16:06 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] Lets Start a Bank!! Radio Four Broadcast. Message-ID: <868867.67443.qm@web27401.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> ? The following audio link maybe of interest. Hopefully, it? works! ? ? http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006s609 ? ? R.Searle -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Fri Jul 24 07:38:43 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:38:43 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] The Money-Go-Round Message-ID: <309520.78863.qm@web27405.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Dear All, ? ????????????? I was suprised to see an article like this in the Economist! THE MONEY-GO-ROUND Jan 22nd 2009? Will old-fashioned scrip make a comeback? IN 1933, in the depths of the Depression, Irving Fisher, America's most prominent economist, wrote a pamphlet on "Stamp Scrip". This was a type of alternative currency popular in America and elsewhere at the time that was periodically taxed with a stamp so that it would be spent, not hoarded. Based on the theories of Silvio Gesell, a German "quasi-economist", one such currency, the wara, was used to revitalise Schwanenkirchen, a Bavarian coalmining village, in 1931. "No one who received wara wished to hold [them], the workers, store-keepers, wholesalers and manufacturers all strove to get rid of them as quickly as possible, for any person who held [them] was obliged to pay the tax. So wara kept on circulating, a large part of [them] returning to the coal mine, where [they] provided work, profits and better conditions for the entire community," Fisher wrote approvingly. "The miracle of Schwanenkirchen" is a historical footnote, but as deflation fears increase, and interest rates fall close to zero, the allure of such currencies may resurface. Though there are alternative currencies everywhere, Germany is particularly fond of Gesellian depreciating varieties. Bavaria still boasts the biggest in the country, the chiemgauer. Named after the region where it originated in 2003, the chiemgauer can be used alongside the euro in more than 600 shops and firms in the area. About 300,000 of them are said to be in circulation. In the town of Traunstein, the chiemgauer can be spent on newspapers and food and some people are paid in it. Spent it must be, because it loses value every quarter. The notes have an expiry date after which they need to be renewed with a sticker costing 2% of their value. The quicker money is spent, the faster, in macroeconomic terms, its velocity. Gesell argued that a higher velocity of money helps combat deflation. Some of Gesell's theories were rejected by Fisher. But generations later, zero interest rates in slumping Japan led to renewed debate about a temporary tax on money to encourage spending. Gerhard Rosl, professor of economics at the University of Applied Sciences in Regensburg, who wrote on alternative currencies in 2006 for the Bundesbank, says the overall stimulus from such schemes in times of deflation may be short-lived--because, though the velocity of money increases, its supply tends to shrink. For now, the amounts in circulation are minuscule. Most are a gesture of defiance against globalisation by encouraging local commerce rather than a rigorous economic experiment. But there may be more converts if monetary policy eventually runs out of road. See this article with graphics and related items at http://www.economist.com/businessfinance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12998254 Go to http://www.economist.com for more global news, views and analysis from the Economist Group. - ABOUT ECONOMIST.COM - Economist.com is the online version of The Economist newspaper, an independent weekly international news and business publication offering clear reporting, commentary and analysis on world politics, business, finance, science & technology, culture, society and the arts. Economist.com also offers exclusive content online, including additional articles throughout the week. -? SUBSCRIBE NOW AND SAVE 25% - Click here: http://www.economist.com/subscriptions/offer.cfm?campaign=168-XLMT Subscribe now with 25% off and receive full access to: * all the articles published in The Economist newspaper * the online archive - allowing you to search and retrieve over 33,000 articles published in The Economist since 1997 * The World in? - The Economist's outlook on the year * Business encyclopedia - allows you to find a definition and explanation for any business term - ABOUT THIS E-MAIL - This e-mail was sent to you by the person at the e-mail address listed above through a link found on Economist.com.? We will not send you any future messages as a result of your being the recipient of this e-mail. - COPYRIGHT - This e-mail message and Economist articles linked from it are copyright (c) 2009 The Economist Newspaper Group Limited. All rights reserved. http://www.economist.com/help/copy_general.cfm Economist.com privacy policy: http://www.economist.com/about/privacy.cfm The Economist, Economist.com and CFO Europe are trading names of: The Economist Newspaper Limited Registered in England and Wales. No.236383 VAT no: GB 340 436 876 Registered office: 25 St James's Street, London, SW1A 1HG -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Fri Jul 24 09:18:41 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2009 08:18:41 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: The Money-Go-Round Message-ID: <003501ca0c72$08fd1810$1af74830$@net> I, personally do not understand why Robert should be surprised by this. In a downturn like this, local currency solutions are inevitable, that is, if people want to survive the sinking of this Titanic by creating themselves a iife boat. From: discussion-bounces at globaljusticemovement.net [mailto:discussion-bounces at globaljusticemovement.net] On Behalf Of robert searle Sent: Friday, July 24, 2009 6:39 AM To: discussion at globaljusticemovement.net Subject: [GJM] The Money-Go-Round Dear All, I was suprised to see an article like this in the Economist! THE MONEY-GO-ROUND Jan 22nd 2009 Will old-fashioned scrip make a comeback? IN 1933, in the depths of the Depression, Irving Fisher, America's most prominent economist, wrote a pamphlet on "Stamp Scrip". This was a type of alternative currency popular in America and elsewhere at the time that was periodically taxed with a stamp so that it would be spent, not hoarded. Based on the theories of Silvio Gesell, a German "quasi-economist", one such currency, the wara, was used to revitalise Schwanenkirchen, a Bavarian coalmining village, in 1931. "No one who received wara wished to hold [them], the workers, store-keepers, wholesalers and manufacturers all strove to get rid of them as quickly as possible, for any person who held [them] was obliged to pay the tax. So wara kept on circulating, a large part of [them] returning to the coal mine, where [they] provided work, profits and better conditions for the entire community," Fisher wrote approvingly. "The miracle of Schwanenkirchen" is a historical footnote, but as deflation fears increase, and interest rates fall close to zero, the allure of such currencies may resurface. Though there are alternative currencies everywhere, Germany is particularly fond of Gesellian depreciating varieties. Bavaria still boasts the biggest in the country, the chiemgauer. Named after the region where it originated in 2003, the chiemgauer can be used alongside the euro in more than 600 shops and firms in the area. About 300,000 of them are said to be in circulation. In the town of Traunstein, the chiemgauer can be spent on newspapers and food and some people are paid in it. Spent it must be, because it loses value every quarter. The notes have an expiry date after which they need to be renewed with a sticker costing 2% of their value. The quicker money is spent, the faster, in macroeconomic terms, its velocity. Gesell argued that a higher velocity of money helps combat deflation. Some of Gesell's theories were rejected by Fisher. But generations later, zero interest rates in slumping Japan led to renewed debate about a temporary tax on money to encourage spending. Gerhard Rosl, professor of economics at the University of Applied Sciences in Regensburg, who wrote on alternative currencies in 2006 for the Bundesbank, says the overall stimulus from such schemes in times of deflation may be short-lived--because, though the velocity of money increases, its supply tends to shrink. For now, the amounts in circulation are minuscule. Most are a gesture of defiance against globalisation by encouraging local commerce rather than a rigorous economic experiment. But there may be more converts if monetary policy eventually runs out of road. See this article with graphics and related items at http://www.economist.com/businessfinance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12998254 Go to http://www.economist.com for more global news, views and analysis from the Economist Group. - ABOUT ECONOMIST.COM - Economist.com is the online version of The Economist newspaper, an independent weekly international news and business publication offering clear reporting, commentary and analysis on world politics, business, finance, science & technology, culture, society and the arts. Economist.com also offers exclusive content online, including additional articles throughout the week. - SUBSCRIBE NOW AND SAVE 25% - Click here: http://www.economist.com/subscriptions/offer.cfm?campaign=168-XLMT Subscribe now with 25% off and receive full access to: * all the articles published in The Economist newspaper * the online archive - allowing you to search and retrieve over 33,000 articles published in The Economist since 1997 * The World in - The Economist's outlook on the year * Business encyclopedia - allows you to find a definition and explanation for any business term - ABOUT THIS E-MAIL - This e-mail was sent to you by the person at the e-mail address listed above through a link found on Economist.com. We will not send you any future messages as a result of your being the recipient of this e-mail. - COPYRIGHT - This e-mail message and Economist articles linked from it are copyright (c) 2009 The Economist Newspaper Group Limited. All rights reserved. http://www.economist.com/help/copy_general.cfm Economist.com privacy policy: http://www.economist.com/about/privacy.cfm The Economist, Economist.com and CFO Europe are trading names of: The Economist Newspaper Limited Registered in England and Wales. No.236383 VAT no: GB 340 436 876 Registered office: 25 St James's Street, London, SW1A 1HG -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: ATT00039.txt URL: From cojock at hotmail.com Fri Jul 24 09:28:46 2009 From: cojock at hotmail.com (chris cook) Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:28:46 +0100 Subject: [GJM] FW: The Money-Go-Round In-Reply-To: <003501ca0c72$08fd1810$1af74830$@net> References: <003501ca0c72$08fd1810$1af74830$@net> Message-ID: Keynes was a big admirer of Gesell, and that is probably why the Bancor global reserve currency he proposed at Bretton Woods - alongside an "International Clearing Union" - was to carry charges on both positive and negative trade balances. Best Regards Chris Cook From: maryrose333 at att.net To: FixGov at yahoogroups.com; discussion at globaljusticemovement.net Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2009 08:18:41 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: The Money-Go-Round I, personally do not understand why Robert should be surprised by this. In a downturn like this, local currency solutions are inevitable, that is, if people want to survive the sinking of this Titanic by creating themselves a iife boat. From: discussion-bounces at globaljusticemovement.net [mailto:discussion-bounces at globaljusticemovement.net] On Behalf Of robert searle Sent: Friday, July 24, 2009 6:39 AM To: discussion at globaljusticemovement.net Subject: [GJM] The Money-Go-Round Dear All, I was suprised to see an article like this in the Economist! THE MONEY-GO-ROUND Jan 22nd 2009 Will old-fashioned scrip make a comeback? IN 1933, in the depths of the Depression, Irving Fisher, America's most prominent economist, wrote a pamphlet on "Stamp Scrip". This was a type of alternative currency popular in America and elsewhere at the time that was periodically taxed with a stamp so that it would be spent, not hoarded. Based on the theories of Silvio Gesell, a German "quasi-economist", one such currency, the wara, was used to revitalise Schwanenkirchen, a Bavarian coalmining village, in 1931. "No one who received wara wished to hold [them], the workers, store-keepers, wholesalers and manufacturers all strove to get rid of them as quickly as possible, for any person who held [them] was obliged to pay the tax. So wara kept on circulating, a large part of [them] returning to the coal mine, where [they] provided work, profits and better conditions for the entire community," Fisher wrote approvingly. "The miracle of Schwanenkirchen" is a historical footnote, but as deflation fears increase, and interest rates fall close to zero, the allure of such currencies may resurface. Though there are alternative currencies everywhere, Germany is particularly fond of Gesellian depreciating varieties. Bavaria still boasts the biggest in the country, the chiemgauer. Named after the region where it originated in 2003, the chiemgauer can be used alongside the euro in more than 600 shops and firms in the area. About 300,000 of them are said to be in circulation. In the town of Traunstein, the chiemgauer can be spent on newspapers and food and some people are paid in it. Spent it must be, because it loses value every quarter. The notes have an expiry date after which they need to be renewed with a sticker costing 2% of their value. The quicker money is spent, the faster, in macroeconomic terms, its velocity. Gesell argued that a higher velocity of money helps combat deflation. Some of Gesell's theories were rejected by Fisher. But generations later, zero interest rates in slumping Japan led to renewed debate about a temporary tax on money to encourage spending. Gerhard Rosl, professor of economics at the University of Applied Sciences in Regensburg, who wrote on alternative currencies in 2006 for the Bundesbank, says the overall stimulus from such schemes in times of deflation may be short-lived--because, though the velocity of money increases, its supply tends to shrink. For now, the amounts in circulation are minuscule. Most are a gesture of defiance against globalisation by encouraging local commerce rather than a rigorous economic experiment. But there may be more converts if monetary policy eventually runs out of road. See this article with graphics and related items at http://www.economist.com/businessfinance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12998254 Go to http://www.economist.com for more global news, views and analysis from the Economist Group. - ABOUT ECONOMIST.COM - Economist.com is the online version of The Economist newspaper, an independent weekly international news and business publication offering clear reporting, commentary and analysis on world politics, business, finance, science & technology, culture, society and the arts. Economist.com also offers exclusive content online, including additional articles throughout the week. - SUBSCRIBE NOW AND SAVE 25% - Click here: http://www.economist.com/subscriptions/offer.cfm?campaign=168-XLMT Subscribe now with 25% off and receive full access to: * all the articles published in The Economist newspaper * the online archive - allowing you to search and retrieve over 33,000 articles published in The Economist since 1997 * The World in - The Economist's outlook on the year * Business encyclopedia - allows you to find a definition and explanation for any business term - ABOUT THIS E-MAIL - This e-mail was sent to you by the person at the e-mail address listed above through a link found on Economist.com. We will not send you any future messages as a result of your being the recipient of this e-mail. - COPYRIGHT - This e-mail message and Economist articles linked from it are copyright (c) 2009 The Economist Newspaper Group Limited. All rights reserved. http://www.economist.com/help/copy_general.cfm Economist.com privacy policy: http://www.economist.com/about/privacy.cfm The Economist, Economist.com and CFO Europe are trading names of: The Economist Newspaper Limited Registered in England and Wales. No.236383 VAT no: GB 340 436 876 Registered office: 25 St James's Street, London, SW1A 1HG _________________________________________________________________ Share your memories online with anyone you want. http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/134665338/direct/01/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ecotort at gn.apc.org Fri Jul 24 09:40:03 2009 From: ecotort at gn.apc.org (EcoTort) Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:40:03 +0100 Subject: [GJM] PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO YOUR LIST - ABSOLUTELY VITAL ! Food Safety Modernization Act (HR 875): Criminalization of Organic Farms] In-Reply-To: <7051643f0907221523r65011b1wb6c808c70936996e@mail.gmail.com> References: <4A5F3AC5.5040508@gn.apc.org> <7051643f0907221523r65011b1wb6c808c70936996e@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <4A69D5D3.4030801@gn.apc.org> All I can think of is to make the information as public as possible... exposure they DON'T like ! the promoters of this legislation (perpetrators of this heinous crime..) will try to introduce it in secret, if it is made public, their plans will be thwarted... n'est pas? Janos Abel wrote: > This is serious! But the link is no help. How do you go about stopping > this kind of top level legislation? > > 2009/7/16 EcoTort > > > > MONSANTO ARE TRYING TO MAKE ORGANIC FARMING CRIMINAL ! ! ! > > WE HAVE TO STOP THEM ! > > > http://www.voteronpaul.com/newsDetail.php?Food-Safety-Modernization-Act-HR-875-Criminalization-of-Organic-Farms-222 > > > > > I truly apologise to you if you don't want emails from me, > some people have been complaining to my service provider about > "spam".... > > PLEASE TELL *ME* if you don't want to receive emails from EcoTort ! > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Discussion mailing list > Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net > > http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Discussion mailing list > Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net > http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jacklancaster at sbcglobal.net Fri Jul 24 11:16:20 2009 From: jacklancaster at sbcglobal.net (Jack Lancaster) Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:16:20 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [GJM] PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO YOUR LIST - ABSOLUTELY VITAL ! Food Safety Modernization Act (HR 875): Criminalization of Organic Farms] Message-ID: <43427.32114.qm@web80003.mail.sp1.yahoo.com> --- On Fri, 7/24/09, EcoTort wrote: From: EcoTort Subject: Re: [GJM] PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO YOUR LIST - ABSOLUTELY VITAL ! Food Safety Modernization Act (HR 875): Criminalization of Organic Farms] To: "Discussion Forum for Global Justice" Date: Friday, July 24, 2009, 8:40 AM All I can think of is to make the information as public as possible... exposure they DON'T like ! the promoters of this legislation (perpetrators of this heinous crime..) will try to introduce it in secret, if it is made public, their plans will be thwarted... n'est pas? Janos Abel wrote: This is serious! But the link is no help. How do you go about stopping this kind of top level legislation? 2009/7/16 EcoTort MONSANTO ARE TRYING TO MAKE ORGANIC FARMING CRIMINAL ! ! ! WE HAVE TO STOP THEM ! http://www.voteronpaul.com/newsDetail.php?Food-Safety-Modernization-Act-HR-875-Criminalization-of-Organic-Farms-222 I truly apologise to you if you don't want emails from me, some people have been complaining to my service provider about "spam".... PLEASE TELL ME if you don't want to receive emails from EcoTort ! _______________________________________________ Discussion mailing list Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net _______________________________________________ Discussion mailing list Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ Discussion mailing list Discussion at globaljusticemovement.net http://globaljusticemovement.net/mailman/listinfo/discussion_globaljusticemovement.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Sat Jul 25 09:04:44 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2009 08:04:44 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] You Don't Have to Go to School Message-ID: <003d01ca0d39$40e1d780$c2a58680$@net> This, IMHO, is a very important message. One of the things I miss on the Co-learner's list today are the messages posted by Bill Ellis with regard to home schooling. And, within this context cannot but also think about the findings revealed by Alvin Toffler in his book "The Third Wave," that when all things are considered, it would be less expensive to pay people to stay home rather than have them travel to work and school and for shopping. Schooling is only the first step in the institutionalization of the mass mind. What I have always found interesting is that for the most part, the elite do not send their children to schools with an agenda focused on "teaching" but to places of "learning" such as Waldorf and Montessori educational centers. -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Friday, July 24, 2009 10:13 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] You Don't Have to Go to School You Don't Have to Go to School by Ksenia Podrova http://culturechange.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=491&I temid=1 23 July 2009 Introductory comments by Dmitry Orlov: A small but already by no means negligible number of Americans is starting to realize what their future looks like: no retirement, no job, no savings, plus they are getting old. Their only possible means of support in old age is their children. And so, in the meantime, let's continue to mindlessly send our children off to "learning" institutions, where they will be properly supervised at all times, bored half to death, medicated into submission should they rebel, even by simply refusing to pay attention, not taught anything worth knowing by demoralized, underpaid public servants, and then spat out into the world with their spirits crushed. On second, thought, let's stop doing that. When thinking about making big changes, sometimes it's healthy to hear of places halfway across the world, which may have their own issues to deal with, but they are not the same ones we have here, allowing us to see past them. But the problem of institutionalization of children and emphasis on mindless discipline and rote learning is the same in all "developed" nations, being part of the worldwide legacy of industrialization and militarism, which we all have to deal with somehow. And a good first step is to starve this mindless suicide machine of fresh cannon fodder - by denying it access to our children. Here is the story of a Russian woman's experience with pulling her three children out of school that I thought would provide some valuable perspective to people in the States who are confronting the same decision, so I translated it. You don't have to go to school by Ksenia Podrova, St. Petersburg, Russia Translated by Dmitry Orlov I have known this for sure for twelve years now. During this time, two of my children have received high school diplomas while sitting at home (since it had been decided that these could turn out to be useful to them during their lives). My third child passed exams for the primary grades without attending classes, and is not about to stop there. Honestly, I am unconcerned. And I don't get in the way of them choosing whatever substitute for school they manage to think of. When my eldest was in secondary school, I started noticing that all too often he would recall situations of the following type: "I started reading a really interesting book during math class today;" or "I started composing a new symphony during history class;" or "It turns that Peter plays chess quite well -- we played a few games during geography today." And I started thinking: why is he going to school? Is it to study? But then he does completely unrelated things during classes. Is it to socialize? But then it's possible to do that outside of school. Shift of consciousness And then a sudden shift occurred in my consciousness. And I thought: "Maybe he shouldn't go to school at all?" For a few days we discussed this idea. Then I went to see the school principal and told her that my son will no longer be attending school. (Afterwards many of my friends told me: "You were lucky to have such a principal! What if she didn't agree?") But it had nothing to do with the principal. If she didn't agree, this would not have changed our plans at all. It's just that in that case our further steps would have been slightly different. The principal (whom I remember with sympathy and respect to this day) was sincerely interested in our motivations, and I was quite open with her concerning my opinion of school. She herself proposed how we should proceed: we should write a statement requesting that my child be transferred to home schooling, and she will make arrangements with the Department of Education, so that my child (supposedly because of his superior talents) will, as part of an experiment, study independently, and take tests as an external student at this same school. And so we forgot about school almost until the end of the school year. My son was absorbed in all the things for which he had never had enough time. He spent entire days composing music and performing it on "live" instruments. He spent nights in front of the computer, building his own BBS (those of you who were fans of Fidonet know what that means). He also managed to find time to read anything he wanted, to study Chinese (just because he found it interesting at the time) and to help me with my work in translating and typing documents in various languages, installing email (still a difficult task at the time that involved consulting an expert), entertaining the younger children... In all, he was incredibly happy with his new freedom from school, and did not feel that he was missing anything. The Price of Freedom In April, we suddenly remembered: "Oh, we must prepare to take exams!" My son pulled out the dusty textbooks and concertedly read them for two or three weeks. Then we went to see the principal and told her that he is ready to take the exams. At this, my involvement in his school affairs ended. On his own, he caught up with the various teachers and arranged with them when and where they would met. He managed to pass in all the subjects in one or two visits. The teachers themselves decided on the form of the exam. Sometimes it was just a conversation, sometimes a written test. Curiously, almost none of them wanted to give him an 'A', although my child certainly knew no less than the others. Our favorite grade became 'B', but this was not the least bit upsetting: this was the price of freedom. Some time ago it had been considered that a child must attend school every day. If it turned out that someone doesn't do this, one could get a visit from some special government agency (with something like "guardians of childhood" in the title, but I am no expert in these matters, so I could be wrong). In order for a child to gain the right to not go to school, it was necessary to receive a medical certificate that he is unable to attend school due to bad health. This is why I often heard confused questions such as: "What are your children sick with?" "Then why aren't they in school?!" "They don't want to be." An awkward silence ensued. By the way, later I found out that some parents simply bought such certificates from doctors they knew. But in the summer of 1992 President Yeltsin issued a historic decree which announced that henceforth any child (independent of medical condition) has the right to study at home! Furthermore, the local schools must pay to the parents of such children, because they are spending the government's education funds not on teachers and not on school buildings, but independently and at home! And then there were two When my daughter became old enough, I told her that she didn't have to go to school at all. But she was a socialized child, having read many children's books which stressed the idea that going to school was highly prestigious. Since I was in favor of a free upbringing, I wasn't about to forbid it. And so off she went to first grade. She lasted almost two years! Only around the end of the second year did she get sick of this empty waste of time, and she announced that she is going to study at home, like her older brother. I delivered yet another statement to the principal. And now I had two children who did not go to school. Yet another statement Once in September I went to see the principal and give her yet another statement that this year my children are studying at home. She gave me the text of the presidential decree to read. (I didn't think to write down its title, number and date, and now don't even remember. If you are interested -- search the Internet, and let me know.) And then the principal said: "Nevertheless, we aren't going to pay you for not sending your child to school. It's too complicated for us to get these funds. But, on the other hand, we won't charge you for their exams." I was quite satisfied with this. It would have never occurred to me to take money from her. And so we parted satisfied with each other and with the changes to our laws. Spelled out in black and white Last year I went to arrange home schooling for my third child. Imagine this situation: i come to see the head teacher and tell her that I want to register my child to attend school, first grade. The head teacher writes down the name of the child and asks for the date of birth. It then turns out that then child is ten years old. And now -- the really pleasant part: the head teacher reacts calmly, and even shows me an official document that stated that any person has the right to come to any school and request to take exams for any grade, and is not required to show any documents regarding completion of previous grades. The school administration is required by law to create a commission to administer all necessary exams. That is, you can go to any school when you reach 17 years of age (by the way, along with my daughter, there were two bearded fellows who had suddenly decided that they wanted their diplomas) and directly take the exams for 11th grade. And you will receive that same diploma, which so many people consider to be so necessary. As they explained to us Once, after we moved, and more out of curiosity than need, I went to the school nearest to our new house, and asked to see the principal. I told her that my children have long since and irreversibly stopped going to school, and that I am currently looking for a place where they can take exams for 7th grade, quickly and inexpensively. The principal (a pleasant young woman with progressive views) was very glad to meet me, and I was glad to tell her about my children. But at the end of our conversation she suggested that I look for some other school. They were, by law, indeed required to accept my children, and indeed required to allow them to study at home. That would not be a problem. But, she explained, ordinary teachers, which are the majority at this school, will not agree to my conditions of home schooling: letting the child pass the entire annual course at one go. The child cannot pass the entire program in one visit! The child has to work a certain number of hours. That is, they have absolutely no interest in what the child actually knows, they are only interested in the time spent studying. They want the child to attend all quarterly exams. And, of course, the child is required to participate in the life of the school: wash windows on Saturdays, collect trash on school grounds, and so on. Obviously, I refused. We just do not understand But in spite of this the principal gave me what I needed, simply because she enjoyed our conversation. Specifically: I needed to borrow all the textbooks for the 7th grade from the library, to avoid having to buy them. And so she immediately called the librarian and ordered her to issue me all the textbooks free of charge until the end of the school year. And so my daughter read all these textbooks and, with no fuss or "class participation," passed her exams somewhere else. Then we brought the textbooks back. After that, if only she wanted to, she could have gone to any school and studied alongside her peers. But somehow she doesn't want to. Quite the opposite: she, just as her brothers, just as I do, considers such a suggestion to be pure nonsense. And we just cannot understand why a normal person would want to go to school. Original article at http://ruk.1september.ru/article.php?ID=200701613 (Set encoding to Windows-1251) Translation by Dmitry Orlov, including reader comments: cluborlov.blogspot.com From maryrose333 at att.net Sat Jul 25 15:06:42 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2009 14:06:42 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: You Don't Have to Go to School Message-ID: <006501ca0d6b$d2cfdca0$786f95e0$@net> Marion, IMHO, this is fabulous - great job! I would like to make this Project #3 for the Future Dawning Enterprises organization so we can get this in front of people who are interested in creating paradigm shifts in education. This is very much like the community learning and information centers idea that I have been promoting, only clics are for everyone of every age, not just youth. The mega change we are involved in demands that EVERYONE go through a learning curve. Part of this program would involve achieving "total wellness" meaning in mind/body/spirit and community. And, it might be that it is begun as an "adult program" that eventually filters down to youth. So, what we are thinking of then instead of schools are: "neighborhood education programs" which take place in community learning and education centers. These centers may be located any place there is one computer available through which to disseminate information. It is vital to connect with other clics so there is a network which coordinates the information enabling a database to be formed and accessed by everyone and anyone within the network. One of the main requirements of "new learning" is that everyone be apprised of "quantum physics" because this is how the world really functions. In his book: "The Biology of Belief - The Science of How Thoughts Control Life," award-winning cellular biologist Bruce Lipton, M.D., relates his own personal story as to how the difference learning about quantum physics made in his own life as a biologist. He writes as to how as a member of a medical school faculty, he and his colleagues denounced practices related to quantum physics as the "rhetoric" of charlatans" because they were "tethered to a belief in old style Newtonian physics." The first program to be undertaken by FDE is the Hearts of Fire Project founded by Bob Ballard. This organization deals with homeless issues. The second is the Coherent Hearts Network. This network deals with programs directed toward achieving "total wellness". It would be great to have the homeless take advantage of the clics program. More on this later, but I do not want to capitalize clics as this then creates an institution and immediately places us within a box. Which imho we want to avoid at all costs. These should all be "open source" programs that remain as "free-flowing" as Marion has designed them. Would you agree Marion to letting FDE become involved in this and aiding to bring in "volunteer consultants" to aid in creating an initial model somewhere? With love and appreciation m r -----Original Message----- From: Marion Brady [mailto:mbrady22 at cfl.rr.com] Sent: Saturday, July 25, 2009 10:13 AM To: mary rose Subject: Re: You Don't Have to Go to School >.... Schooling is only the first step in the institutionalization of the >mass mind..... I've no beef with homeschooling. In fact, at the invitation of a group of such, I'll be flying up to Michigan next Wednesday to spend Thursday and Friday with them. But neither do I think public schools are a lost cause. I see dialog as fundamental to learning, I credit most of what I learned that later appeared in my books, articles, and newspaper columns to dialog with kids, and see some sort of routine provision for that as valuable. There's also the fact that what passes for "homeschooling" is sometimes nothing less than appalling. Below is one of my Knight-Ridder columns from several years ago suggesting a middle ground. Marion ________________ Cheap! Maybe that's the key that'll open the door to educational change! The appeal of lower taxes almost always trumps the appeal of higher-quality education, so the trick is to figure out how to educate better with less money.....a whole lot less money....so much less money that state legislators won't be able to resist removing enough bureaucratic barriers to allow experimentation. High school reform is on the front burner right now, so let me suggest some ways to save money at that level. Those who think quality lies in doing better what we're already doing will be appalled by the suggestions, but I agree with Joe Graba, former Minnesota Deputy Commissioner of Education: "We can't get the schools we need by improving the schools we have." So, starting with a clean slate, and thinking "cheap," here's a dozen proposals: ONE: Take the phrase "neighborhood school" seriously and design around it. Choose local adult-student steering committees to locate, rent or lease centrally located community centers, churches, houses, or other facilities. TWO: Set maximum school size at 30 to 40 students for morning classes, another 30 to 40 for afternoon or evening classes. THREE: Hire a three-or four-person teacher team, based on interviews and the team's written program proposal. FOUR: Right up front, spend whatever is necessary to test and fix sight and hearing problems. It's a waste of money to try to educate kids who're functioning at less than peak potential because they don't hear or see well. FIVE: Find out who each kid really is. It mystifies me how, with straight faces, we can simultaneously sing the praises of "American individualism" while forcing all kids thru the same narrow program. For a fraction of the cost of present standardized subject-matter tests, every kid's distinctive strengths and weaknesses can be explored using inexpensive, proven inventories of interests, abilities, personalities, and learning styles. SIX: Eliminate grade levels. Start with where kids are, help them go as far as they're able, and give them a diploma describing what they've done and can do. SEVEN: Eliminate textbooks. They're relics of a bygone era, cost a lot of money, the day they're printed they're out of date, and they're the main support of simplistic ideas about what it means to teach and learn. EIGHT: Stop chopping knowledge up into "subjects." Knowledge is seamless, and the brain processes it most efficiently when it's integrated. NINE: Push responsibility for teaching specific skills and knowledge on to users of those skills and knowledge - employers. Specialized, occupation-related instruction such as that now being offered in magnet schools will never be able to keep up with either the variety or the rate of change. Employers will resist, so sweeten the pot with subsidies as necessary. (A bonus: Apprenticeship and intern arrangements will go a long way toward smoothing the transition into responsible adulthood.) TEN: Eliminate school buses, food services, athletic departments, athletic fields, cops on campus, non-teaching administrators, attendance officers, extra-curricular activities. (And add into the tax savings much of the $50,000-plus it costs each year to keep poorly educated kids locked up in prisons.) ELEVEN: Strip away all the non-academic roles and responsibilities state legislators piled on schools during the 20th Century. Create independent municipal support systems for neighborhood-level, multi-age programs for art, dance, drama, sports and anything else "extra-curricular" for which a local need or interest is apparent. TWELVE: Drastically shrink central administrations. Have them coordinate the forming of teacher teams, and relieve those teams of paper shuffling, resource acquisition, and other non-instructional tasks. School doesn't need to take all day every day. Suggestions FIVE thru NINE will make it possible to accomplish more in three hours than is now being accomplished in six. The special-interest, personal learning project which every student should always have underway can be done on her and his own time. Not incidentally, I'm concerned with matters in addition to functional schools - the creation of a sense of neighborhood and community, the expansion of community service activities, and vastly increased contact between generations. Cutting out all the non-academic responsibilities will open up time for all kinds of fascinating, new, growth-producing activity. Don't like my proposal? Dream up your own. But keep another Joe Graba insight in mind: "Everybody wants the schools to be better; but almost nobody wants them to be different." From maryrose333 at att.net Sat Jul 25 17:21:49 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2009 16:21:49 -0700 Subject: [GJM] MUST WATCH: Quantum Communication - Video Message-ID: <008001ca0d7e$c8e12880$5aa37980$@net> QUANTUM COMMUNICATION http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPpY-H_PTm4 FutureDawning.org Mary Rose, www.futuredawning.org dustysummerrose at gmail.com Always have my latest info Want a signature like this? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Sun Jul 26 04:08:09 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 03:08:09 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: Spitzer, Federal Reserve is a ponzi scheme, inside job Message-ID: <001f01ca0dd8$fd0cec20$f726c460$@net> From: lawrence kiely [mailto:topdownyoga at gmail.com] Sent: Sunday, July 26, 2009 1:17 AM To: lawrence kiely Subject: Spitzer, Federal Reserve is a ponzi scheme, inside job http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/07/25/spitzer-federal-reserve-is-a-ponzi-sc heme-an-inside-job/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Sun Jul 26 09:18:25 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 08:18:25 -0700 Subject: [GJM] Almost waterless new method of washing clothes Message-ID: <000001ca0e04$544b75d0$fce26170$@net> http://www.aboutmyplanet.com/green-news/xeros-waterless-washing/ FutureDawning.org Mary Rose, www.futuredawning.org dustysummerrose at gmail.com Always have my latest info Want a signature like this? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Sun Jul 26 09:29:00 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 08:29:00 -0700 Subject: [GJM] Biochar increases productivity for growing plants Message-ID: <000501ca0e05$cf46cef0$6dd46cd0$@net> Mary Rose, www.futuredawning.org dustysummerrose at gmail.com http://www.aboutmyplanet.com/science-technology/what-is-biochar/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Sun Jul 26 10:51:16 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 09:51:16 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: Creation of the Unbonded Herd Message-ID: <000001ca0e11$4c8de140$e5a9a3c0$@net> From: Mary Rose [mailto:dustysummerrose at gmail.com] Sent: Sunday, July 26, 2009 9:04 AM To: maryrose333 at att.net Subject: Fwd: Creation of the Unbonded Herd ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Stephanie Sutton Date: Sat, Jul 25, 2009 at 9:53 AM Subject: Creation of the Unbonded Herd To: Mary Rose , "USA Exile Govt. President" Oh Ya . . . . From: "Mark Graffis" Date: July 25, 2009 5:49:13 AM PDT To: Subject: Creation of the Unbonded Herd http://culturechange.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content &task=view&id=492&Itemid=1 Creation of the Unbonded Herd PDF Print E-mail by Michael Mendizza 25 July 2009 Clearly the family isn't what it used to be. But what is family? Guardians? Protectors? The first and deepest teachers? Very, very few adults are independent, true individuals. Very, very few march to the beat of their own heart, metered by deep insight and personally generated values and conviction. Most are domesticated, deeply conditioned to stand in line, obey authority, do what they are told, work for others and pay the taxes demanded by those giving the orders, in other words -- do what ever is necessary to be accepted by the group, the tribe, the club, faith or party. Being born into a family, surrounded by at least one true individual is very different than being born into a domesticated family. Being domesticated means that one naturally, mindlessly and therefore easily places one's children, one by one, on the conveyor belt that domesticates. Domesticated adults generally reap what they sow, domesticated children. To not do so, being dependent on party approval, is suicidal. Deeply the issue is -- where do my feelings of belonging and acceptance come from -- intrinsic or extrinsic, inside or out? And this brings us back to the core construction of our identity -- bonded or not, and if so -- deeper still -- bonded to what, acceptance or innate integrity? By bonding I mean the free, safe, and playful interaction between self and the model-environment appropriate to one's age and stage of development. Very early that model-environment is mother's body. The nature and quality of that bonded-inquiry-play determines if and how we reach beyond the limitations and constraints, in a word transcend that matrix, explore and become the next model-environment, the family. And that determines the next, the neighborhood-culture, and that the next, the earth, universe and spirit. Once safe-bonded-inquiry and corresponding inner-self-world view becomes conditional -- based on rewards-approval-acceptance and punishments-rejection-abandonment -- the expansive and transcendent nature of our identity stumbles. We give our attention to acceptance-rejection rather than deepening inquiry through play. And this provides the hook culture needs to control our behavior and it does. At every stage the truly bonded person is free. The unsafe-unbonded is not. The truly bonded person understands fundamentally that we are the world, that 'my father and I are, indeed, one.' The less or unbonded person builds a self-world view based more or less on approval of others and therefore becomes easily conditioned, controlled and domesticated by the manipulation of that approval, belonging or rejection, rewards and punishments. Taking this simple principle from the personal to the transpersonal, its meta, global, universal level, is becomes ever so clear that it is beneficial from a cultural, social engendering perspective to breed a less bonded than a deeply bonded population and the key to this is the alter the basic experiences we call family. Religious organizations, for example, being cultural counterfeits of true development, used the family to recruit, induct and indoctrinate the next generation of cadets or cease to exists as a dominate cultural force. As the grip of ideology weakened, and it has taken thousands of years to do so, the family lost its usefulness as a cultural surrogate and was marginalized around the turn off the century. The domestication of children shifted from the family to the corporate-state (the true definition of fascism), via public schools. The less meaning young people found at home, the less bonded, more insecure they become. The deeper their need for extrinsic approval grows and the more secure and controlling the culture becomes. Fifty years down the conveyor belt (the marginalizing of family, planned breaking of the family bond) came television and soon after women's liberation each representing one-two punches to the authentic feeling, experience and meaning of family, and therefore of one's self world view. And the belt continues to herd most of us today - true to its design. It is so simple. With this in mind I would offer that the homeschool and deeper still the unschooling community are the true revolutionaries of our day. If there is any hope for the kind of insight and activism Culture Change imagines -- it will come from this growing community of flowering individuals. * * * * * Image Michael Mendizza is an author, educator, documentary filmmaker and founder of Touch the Future , a nonprofit learning design center. His book, Magical Parent-Magical Child, the Art of Joyful Parenting, was co-authored with Joseph Chilton Pearce, author of Crack In The Cosmic Egg, a national best seller. Michael is based in Solvang, California. -- >From the desk of mary rose dustysummerrose at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Sun Jul 26 19:33:09 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 18:33:09 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Media Matters: Captain Lou and the Birther Brigade Message-ID: <003a01ca0e5a$35c1cfa0$a1456ee0$@net> When we see things that are obviously not true, e.g., that President Obama does not have a legitimate birth certificate, promulgated over and over again, while at the same time we view information from an agency like "FastCheck.org" which disputes these findings, one cannot help but deduce that we do indeed have a segment of our society that is, to say the least "teetering on the edge of insanity." Time and again over the past several months, when these lies have been disseminated and then countered legitimately, I have published the truth as this information is made available by members of both political parties who are not party the attempted character assassination of President Obama as is obviously the case with Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Lou Dobbs, and to some extent Alex Jones. Yet, time and again, one person. who is not among the celebrity crowd, but just another list member, continually republishes the lies of what can only be called "the lunatic fringe". What is to be gained by this type of behavior, other than setting one's self up to look like the village idiot, is beyond the pale. Acts of this type are incendiary in nature as they are manipulative and exploit the truth for the benefit of a relatively few people. Such actions really make our now discredited country, after the reign of the Bush cabal, look even more pathetic on the Republican side of the aisle. The resignation of Gov. Palin, after the circus she provided us at election time, makes the Republican Party even more circumspect in its ability to provide honest representation for we the people. Is this truly the kind of government we want for ourselves? One based on accusation and lies? -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Sunday, July 26, 2009 9:59 AM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Media Matters: Captain Lou and the Birther Brigade Media Matters: Captain Lou and the Birther Brigade July 24, 2009 9:42 pm ET http://mediamatters.org/columns/200907240047 Leave it to Lou Dobbs: If there's a right-wing conspiracy theory out there floating around on the Internets, he'll latch onto it like a pit bull. He may be past his prime, but he just won't let go. It must be tough for CNN to look on while Dobbs discredits "the most trusted name in news," one wild claim at a time. If there's a hook to the conspiracy even tacitly involving the immigration issue, well, you've just made Dobbs' day. How can we forget his preoccupation with conspiracy theories about purported government plans for a "North American Union" between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada? Or his promotion of the nutty conspiracy that Mexicans plan to reconquer the American Southwest? Over the past two weeks, however, Dobbs took things even further, pushing one of the most ludicrous conspiracy theories of the right-wing fringe: the notion that the authenticity of President Obama's birth certificate is in doubt. Kicking things off on the July 15 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Dobbs aligned himself with the far-right birther movement, devoting substantial airtime to the issue of Obama's birth certificate, asserting repeatedly that Obama needs to "produce" it. Dobbs said that the birth certificate posted online by FactCheck.org "purporting to validate the president" has "some issues. ... I mean, it's peculiar." He also stated that he wants to see a "long form" birth certificate, which he called "the real deal." That same day on his CNN program, Dobbs brought up the issue again. Referring to the document that FactCheck.org posted, he said, "It is, in fact, the so-called short form, not the original document. It is really a document saying that the state of Hawaii has the real document in its possession." By contrast, Dobbs' CNN colleagues have repeatedly debunked claims that Obama has yet to produce a valid birth certificate, calling them "total bull" and "a whack-job project," and have characterized those who make these claims as "conspiracy theorists" who wear "tin foil hat[s]." Two days after his initial rant on the subject, Kitty Pilgrim was filling in for the immigration-obsessed-crusader as guest host of his CNN show. During the broadcast, Pilgrim, a regular correspondent for Lou Dobbs Tonight, debunked claims that Obama does not have a valid birth certificate and is therefore ineligible to be president, noting that CNN "found no basis" for such claims and cited "overwhelming evidence that proves that his birth certificate is real, and that he was born in Honolulu." You'd think that would put an end to the nonsense. Yet, days after Pilgrim answered it on his very own show, Dobbs was back on the air claiming that the birth certificate "questions won't go away." A day later, still on the birther bandwagon, Dobbs said on his CNN program that "no one" knows "the reality" of Obama's birth certificate. Dobbs' obsession with this fringe conspiracy did not go unnoticed by his colleagues at CNN or competing networks for that matter. With Dobbs digging in his heels, other outlets began picking up -- and debunking -- various strands of the story. On the July 21 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, host Chris Matthews hosted Rep. John Campbell (R-CA), one of nine Republican co-sponsors of what has become known as the "birther bill" -- legislation that would require future presidential candidates to provide their birth certificates. During the nearly 10-minute segment, Matthews grilled the conservative congressman on the "crazy proposal," repeatedly asking, "Do you believe that Barack Obama is a legitimate, native-born American or not?" The following day, Los Angeles Times media writer James Rainey quoted FactCheck.org director and former CNN employee Brooks Jackson as stating, "CNN should be ashamed of itself for putting some that stuff on the air." In the same report, Rainey noted the assertion of "one CNN employee" who, in an apparent attempt to distance Dobbs from the network, "reminded [him] several times that Dobbs' most pointed assertions were made on his radio program, which is unconnected to CNN." Perhaps sensing a tidal wave of opposition to his fringe commentary mounting, Dobbs took to his radio show on July 21 to rant about the "national liberal media" debunking birther theories, telling his audience "they are not applying critical judgment." At least we now know what Dobbs thinks of his CNN colleagues and other members of the media, who have taken to the airwaves since Dobbs' initial rant to debunk the Obama birth certificate theories, often while ridiculing their adherents as "nut jobs" who advance "ludicrous" claims that are "more conspiratorial than factual." Dobbs doesn't want you to think he isn't fair. You see, according to him, Obama could "make the whole...controversy disappear ... by simply releasing his original birth certificate." Yep, if the president placates a bunch of right-wing lunatics, they'll be sure to leave him alone. It's not Dobbs who is on the attack; he is the victim of the "liberal media," which is afraid to "upset the Obama White House." It's those "limp-minded, lily-livered lefties ... attacking" Dobbs because he "actually had the temerity to inquire as to where the birth certificate was." Dobbs' words, not mine. You can't make this stuff up. In the days that followed, Dobbs faced a torrent of criticism spanning the media gambit: NBC Nightly News debunked the Dobbs-driven birther theory; MSNBC's Chris Matthews wondered if the hubbub is about "not documentation, but pigmentation"; Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, noting that Pilgrim had debunked Dobbs on his own show, asked, "Do you even watch CNN?"; MSNBC's Ed Schultz said, "For Lou Dobbs to wonder if President Obama is quote, 'undocumented' ... that's fringe psycho talk"; playing a clip of Dobbs on MSNBC's Morning Joe, co-host Willie Geist said birthers are flogging an "imaginary controversy." The sparks really flew after CNN's Roland Martin took on Dobbs' obsession with the birther conspiracy. Interviewed by Rick Sanchez, Martin made his opinion abundantly clear, describing those who promote the conspiracy as "a small group of nutty people." Referring to the words of a birther yelling at Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE) at a recent town hall meeting, "I want my country back," Martin said the birther really meant, "How is this black guy all of the sudden running the country?" Dobbs was none too pleased. On his radio show, he called Martin's rebuttal "a hoot," saying, "I can't believe Roland would say something that stupid -- that it's racist." The next day on CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, Martin told Dobbs, "[Obama's] not here to satisfy Lou Dobbs." So, who are the birthers whose claims Dobbs is advancing? The figures include Andy Martin, who has made anti-Semitic and racially charged comments; 9-11 "Truther" Philip Berg; perennial candidate for public office Alan Keyes, who has reportedly accused Obama of taking the "slaveholder's position" on abortion; a pastor who has prayed for Obama's death; and the discredited right-wing website WorldNetDaily. Remember, in Dobbs' world, it is the "liberal media" who have failed to apply "critical judgment" to this issue. Late this week, word leaked that CNN President Jon Klein had reportedly emailed information on Thursday to the staff of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight that Klein said shows the "story" about President Obama's birth certificate "is dead." Dobbs noted that evidence -- which was a statement by the Hawaii Health Department that in 2001, paper records were replaced by electronic records -- on air as Klein instructed, but then asked CNN contributor Roland Martin: "When this could be dispelled so quickly, and -- and simply by producing [the birth certificate], why not do it?" We already know that Dobbs apparently doesn't follow the reporting of his own network. I suppose, then, that it isn't surprising to see Dobbs having issues following his own logic. Less than 24 hours after declaring Dobbs' pet "birther" story "dead" -- and saying anyone who "is not convinced doesn't really have a legitimate beef" -- Klein caved in to Dobbs, reversing himself completely. In a statement to Washington Post Co. blogger Greg Sargent, Klein defended Dobbs and stated, "I think no good journalist would ever say that a particular story will never be covered again. Every day brings new facts, new pegs." Additionally, according to Sargent, "Klein ... took a shot at Dobbs' critics, saying they're politically motivated: 'I understand that people with a partisan point of view from one extreme or anther might get annoyed that certain subjects are aired.' " This raises the troubling question of who is really calling the shots at CNN. It's hard to see how anyone can believe CNN is the "most trusted name in news" when its own president can't stand by his less-than-day-old word. CNN's "Lou Dobbs problem" just got a whole lot worse. Other major stories this week: A banner week for Murdoch's media empire It was a banner week for Rupert Murdoch, whose media outlets reminded the nation again of their redeeming social and journalistic value. Sigh. On Monday's edition of The O'Reilly Factor, retired Lt. Col. Ralph Peters, a Fox News military analyst, taught America what it means to support the troops. Three weeks ago, 23-year-old Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho, was taken hostage by Taliban forces in Afghanistan. The circumstances of his abduction remain unclear, with some reports indicating that he was taken by force, while others indicate that he voluntarily abandoned his post. Either way, the people of Hailey are hoping for his safe return. But not Peters, who stunningly remarked that if Bergdahl had in fact deserted his unit, then "the Taliban can save us a lot of legal hassles and legal bills." No admonishment came from Bill O'Reilly. His words ignited a firestorm of criticism. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reported that Pentagon officials felt Peters' commentary "could endanger" the life of Bergdahl, while on CNN, columnist John Avalon said that the "wingnut" comment had "crossed the line." Before long, a bipartisan group of 23 veterans serving in Congress had demanded an official apology from Roger Ailes, and Rep. Eric Massa, himself a 24-year veteran of the Navy, had called for both O'Reilly and Peters to be fired from Fox. But neither O'Reilly nor Peters apologized. Instead, two days later, they said that they did wish for the soldier's safe return, but also speculated that he might be "crazy." The following day, Peters attacked Bergdahl again, this time on Steve Malzberg's radio show, where he referred to him as a "deserter" and said a reported story about Bergdahl's girlfriend was a "tissue of lies." At the same time that the Murdoch-led right-wing media machine was savaging the reputation of a U.S. soldier being held captive overseas, it was disseminating surreptitiously taken near-pornographic images of popular ESPN reporter Erin Andrews. The nude pictures had been culled from a video taken of Andrews through a peephole while she was staying at a hotel. O'Reilly chose to air the images in a segment titled "Did You See That?" His goal, he said during a moment of particularly robust logic, was to prove the "criminal intent" of those involved. The Murdoch-owned (or more aptly, Murdoch-destroyed) New York Post also ran with the pictures, a decision that ESPN called "beyond the pale" before it banished Post reporters from its TV and radio networks. This week's media columns This week's media columns from the Media Matters senior fellows: Eric Boehlert discusses how Lou Dobbs is fueling a "birther" bonfire and why the TV nets should have carried Obama's press conference earlier this week, while Jamison Foser looks at the media privileging opposition to abortion. From maryrose333 at att.net Sun Jul 26 21:47:03 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:47:03 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Prelude to Doom Message-ID: <005701ca0e6c$e9b6ab40$bd2401c0$@net> There is nothing new in this message. We all know that there is no going back to the bubble-contrived economy that has ill-served us for too long. The system is so corrupted and full of holes that were it your bathroom plumbing it would no longer hold water. The only thing we can do is as urged at the end of this article: "go local". The ride to this point has been rough, but this is only the beginning and things are going to get a lot worse. So fasten your seatbelts and get prepared. Or maybe that should be put on your parachute -- it's a long way down. -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Sunday, July 26, 2009 12:04 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Prelude to Doom I'd like to see comments on this general subject. Some may be sent out, probably edited. Names & addresses will not be posted. Paul --------------------------------------------------------------------- "We are at one of those moments of history where many people's destinies will change. Our horizons will contract drastically as we move towards a far more local world than we have now. ... Those who think ahead will be able to survive the whirlwind that denial will unleash. But those who stand before such a tornado, unprepared, have poor and more likely tragic prospects. Yes get ready to get local, go local. " Prelude to Doom Looking in the Lion's Mouth before it Bites End of July 2009 http://www.imva.info/news/news36-browser.html It's the end of the world as we know it. Some of us understand and appreciate this fact and others have their heads stuck in the sands desperately hoping that things can just continue on as they have, certainly we don't want things to get worse. Only a madman would be hoping things would get worse for himself and his loved ones. But a madman he would not be if the truth be it that the only way a future can be guaranteed, in terms of quality and security, is through going through a purge of many wrongs needing to be made right. System restart, everyone with a computer knows that's inevitable. Occasionally we have to purge the confusion and denial and everything else that is a lie against the truth. Only then can things return to normalcy. There is so much wrong with our modern civilization it will be a miracle if we can ever make it right. We have accepted the madness of modern day life mostly because we have been addicted to promises and dreams of riches. Also because we are afraid to lose what it is we have. But what is it modern man has that is worth so much? Freedom to drown in debt or to live beyond ones means? The freedom of individuals, companies, banks and nations to feed off the life of other individuals and nations? There is already, and there has always been, a huge amount of suffering on our earth and one of the only things we can be truly certain about is the eventuality of death for everyone and the universal fact that everything does change, except people perhaps. Add to this list of certainties is 8,000 families in America will lose their homes tomorrow (and just about everything else) and that a billion people will go to bed tonight hungry. The US Dollar is suffering from an image problem, tied to the harsh reality of lingering insolvency, growing federal indebtedness, continued syndicate control, and deep fraud. Jim Willie We can also be certain that the US government is broke and does not have the financial muscle to help out its own states many of who feel the noose tightening around their necks. A crisis is brewing in California and other places where too many people are becoming too poor too quickly. The politicians have come to a budget agreement in California but it will drive their state even deeper into crisis. The pain that the settlement will cause its citizens and the national economy is just beginning. California will probably never recover its former glory and if California fails so will the entire US. There is no stopping the downward spiral especially with the fact that policy response to the crisis is a total catastrophe. And the majority of all government budgets rely on far too rosy predictions of tax revenues and other sources of income. States, counties, municipalities, they're falling apart all over the place, and there's no way back for them in their present forms. We are not going back to the unlimited growth scenario with its accompanying unlimited debt model yet most everyone is still planning or pretending it will happen. The tax base will continue to collapse and the states cannot counterfeit (print) money like the federal government can. Dr. Marc Faber says, "The purpose of any crisis is to clean the system. But nothing has been cleaned; it's gotten worse and worse and worse. This is not the final crisis. The final crisis is one where the whole system will collapse and the whole system will be cleaned." This week the United States treasury will try to sell 250 billion - that's a quarter trillion in bonds. At this run rate we would be trying to sell twelve trillion dollars over one year's time, an obviously ridiculous and impossible amount of debt to peddle at any price. Yet the stock market hit 9,000 today meaning, if you have not noticed, now the market goes up with the really bad news. But importantly, bond prices slid meaning interest rates went up and that is real bad news if that kind of movement persists. The financial laws of gravity are exactly that: laws. The narcotics of hope and denial cannot repeal them, just as they cannot make a butterfly turn into a 747. St ewart Dougherty The true scale of the crisis has remained hidden behind a veil of constant and ongoing deliberate distortion of reality. The world we are living in is falling apart at the seams and yet the band plays on for those with money still in their pockets. "This is the biggest Crack-up Boom in history as the whole world is aboard, rather than one irresponsible government. We are looking at mass insanity at the highest levels of leadership and central banks in the world, as well as the broad public sector," writes Ty Andros. The skies are darkening giving us all indications that it will be a bitter, dangerous, harsh time for all Americans and many people around the world. The German export association BGA has warned of a "massive credit squeeze" by late summer. 1 Forb es Nobody in all of history has been able to find a solution to the problems of a malignant, distorted, big-government "services" economy choking on obscene levels of both public and private debt. Sheer incompetence and unlimited greed has all but destroyed The United States of America and the global fabric of the financial system but everything is still ok if you talk to most Americans. But some are starting to get angry and for good reason. State expenses are tough to cut dramatically without having serious effects on public services and the public lifestyle. John Paul Mitchell Collapsing financial fundamentals are strangling countries, states, counties and cities in the USA and elsewhere around the world. California has already passed the point of no return with an uncertain future and an economy larger than most countries and other states are not far behind. The contraction in economic activity is about to accelerate as states start cutting back on just about everything in a rush to balance their budgets. This is going to be a subject more frequently reported in the coming months. Municipal bankruptcies and service interruptions will be the most significant factor to affect American citizens over the next few years but that still hard for most to imagine. Things are really bad, about to get worse, then terrible and then the real crisis and panic will set in and then we are in for a real nightmare. America's financial position with the rest of the world has deteriorated dramatically as of late. Three decades of massive trade deficits have turned the United States from the world's top lender to the world's largest debtor and now it cannot possibly pay its debts and its economy is dropping like a stone and deflating like a hot air balloon. Only in the world of fantasy can the American government go on with its fiscal madness yet that is exactly what it will continue to do until the last possible moment. Then it too will have to cut its budget and that's when the end game time will come. Before that happens it will be the States that fold. If states begin to file for bankruptcy then we have to anticipate widespread panic as state funded services and programs will be closed down quite quickly. Confusion amongst political leadership and the citizenry could easily flourish and then it would be no surprise, not long after the states file bankruptcy, that we would see martial law declared by the President of the United States, as a means to bring order and peace. Banks are aggressively cutting credit lines back while at the same time increasing interest rates at the flimsiest excuse, all in an attempt to cut their exposure to people who would otherwise "charge and run" as a last act of desperation before they sink under the waves. If you can get away with it like the federal government can it's a good moment, if one has no hope to pay ones debts, to "charge and run," especially if you have somewhere to run to. Sooner or later, or already - creditors will begin to cut back on the biggest credit line on the planet, the one extended to the US Federal Government. Meanwhile it is still running like a mad dog let go from its leash and just cannot seem to manage without at least one or two wars to fight. Whether it is countries, states or individuals, the more in denial we remain the worse the consequences will rain down on us as we are caught unprepared to face reality. Throughout this financial crisis the United States is accumulating a huge amount of debt (even though consumers are paying down a bit on their personal debts) and that's crazy since the problem was mountains of debt in the first place. Thus the crisis is only threatening more intensely as time goes on as the amount of debt that will eventually have to be defaulted on staggers on to levels that are incomprehensible even to minds familiar with mathematics and the laws of gravity. America's gold cannot protect it from the national wealth wipeout that intensifies each and every day as $5,479,000,000.00 is borrowed (5.479 billion) to fund the federal deficit. Vallejo, a city on San Pablo Bay just north of San Francisco, has reduced its police force from 155 to 115, closed three fire stations, and halted capital projects that include road and sidewalk maintenance. Christian Science Monitor During this entire crisis a small group of men and women have amassed enormous wealth and power at the expense of the millions who are now unemployed and whose homes have been foreclosed. To be specific here lets mention the news that Goldman Sachs made more money this last quarter then at any other time in its 140 year old history earning 3.4 billion, which it will promptly share with its employees in the form of lush bonuses. Yes it is literally raining money on certain people's lives. "The entire world notices the circus acts under the US Government and Wall Street tents. Goldman Sachs sits in position as parasitic octopus, public serpent, sponsored vampire, take your pick on the description. The Wall Street syndicate openly denies the people, the states, and almost all but the largest businesses," writes Jim Willie. "The financial events of the past year demonstrate beyond any reasonable doubt that the United States government is now of Wall Street, by Wall Street and for Wall Street, in general, and of, by and for Goldman Sachs, in particular. This inversion of power and privilege was partly brought about by an explosion in government debt. The government relies on Wall Street to roll over existing and sell new debt issues. Debt is now hitting the market like a tidal wave, given the country's record-shattering deficits and costly Wall Street bailouts. If the paper cannot be sold at expected interest rates, then the debt-addicted system will go into seizure," writes Stewart Dougherty. The worst of the economic crisis has not yet hit. Paul Craig Roberts Actually you have to be an astrophysicist and understand black holes and how you cannot see them even when they are right next to you because they don't emit light. There is a black hole eating the entire financial system and there is no stopping it. You get too close to a black hole and it becomes impossible to escape its gravity. This process is most visible in the moment with the US fiscal deficit running into falling tax revenues yielding the need to borrow trillions of dollars that few and fewer investors and countries want to lend. But it's invisibly sucking in planets of banks and loans and credit and with them everything and eventually everyone else. The White House is being forced to acknowledge the wide gap between its once-upbeat predictions about the economy and today's bleak landscape. Associated Press The crisis staring America in its face and threatening to bring it to its knees are the astounding unemployment numbers that are building up month by month. The employment situation is an unmitigated disaster with things about to get worse. Forget about the numbers the government publishes or at least double them to begin to get an idea of how bad things already are. The roof is caving in on struggling American families that have already seen the value of their homes and retirement accounts decimated. Those thousands of American families a day going into foreclosure are ripping the guts out of America. Foreclosures. I've never been foreclosed on. I can only imagine what it must feel like, be like. Having to tell your little children that they will never see their home again. That they will now live with grandma, or in a smaller place, or a tent. No one will say it but sooner or later the federal government is going to have to cut back on its own employment as even its unhinged printing press and Federal Reserve System cannot continue to support its megalomania. The federal government has devoted $4.7 trillion to help the financial sector through its crisis, a level of assistance equal to about one-third of the overall U.S. economy, special inspector general Neil Barofsky reported in July. Under the worst of circumstances, the report said, the government's maximum exposure could total nearly $24 trillion or $80,000 for every American. What is presently occurring will soon blow up in America's and the world's face with the press no longer able to hide the elephant stampeding around the living room. But the boys at Goldman Sachs are happy making new fortunes and giving bonuses like there is no tomorrow. For them it's a wonderful time to get richer. Money has no motherland; financiers are without patriotism and without decency; their sole object is gain. Napoleon Bonaparte There is no avoiding the necessary contraction in GDP to bring the system back into balance, and the longer we continue to allow our government and media to lie about what has happened, who is responsible, and what has to happen before the economy can clear and recover the worse off we will be. At some point reality must be faced, and we may as well do it now while we still have civil order but that's not the way its going to be so reality will continue to darken until what is fragile, the entire financial system, shatters. James Corbett says, "The banksters and bureaucrats are sharpening their knives, preparing to butcher what's left of the carcass of the United States," and that is true as they cut the skin right off the taxpayers back. This is nothing new. Many years ago Congressman Louis T. McFadden who, for more than ten years, served as chairman of the Banking and Currency Committee, stated that the international bankers are a "dark crew of financial pirates who would cut a man's throat to get a dollar out of his pocket... They prey upon the people of these United States." www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSwWy4E6I04&feature=player_embedded www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoQrYa_NKQQ&feature=related Listen to Max Keiser nailing Goldman Sachs to the wall in a barrage of truth, which few still have the courage to face. When interest rates rise the stage will be set for the next colossal bust. The US economy is lurching towards economic Armageddon with long-term interest rates on course to double, crippling the country's ability to pay its debts and potentially plunging it into something deeper and blacker than the Great Depression. Think I am exaggerating? In a 2003 paper, Thomas Laubach, the US Federal Reserve's senior economist, calculated the impact on long-term interest rates of rising fiscal deficits and soaring national debt. Applying his assumptions to the recent spike in the US fiscal deficit and national debt, long-term interest rates will double from their current 3.5pc.2 We are on the brink of something far worse than the Great Depression. We are at one of those moments of history where many people's destinies will change. Our horizons will contract drastically as we move towards a far more local world than we have now. The mass media has been able to successfully calm the masses these last six months but the fundamental crisis is building behind the curtains and ready to explode into full view. It is the end of July and the unfolding story presented here is like looking into a lions mouth just before he is about to bite. China knows the dollars' days are numbered and they must liquidate the once preferred reserve asset before it eventually collapses leaving them with nothing but worthless paper.3 Mike Hoy The only thing holding up America at this point is the continued willingness and need of China, Japan, Brazil and Russia's to continue to buy US Treasuries to fund the federal budget deficit, which has gotten truly obscene. There are even rumors going around that the Federal Reserve is so desperate that they are lending money to foreign central banks so they can use these funds to buy treasury notes that no one else wants to buy. The congress recently confronted Helicopter Ben to no avail, about the half a trillion dollars loaned out by the Federal Reserve to central banks of other countries so they could turn around and lend that money to their local banking systems. One easily gets dizzy trying to follow the labyrinths, the money trails and financial instruments stacked to the stratosphere of hundreds of trillions. Derivatives are what line the walls of financial black holes. They have appropriately been described as weapons of mass destruction; they are something that just cannot be maintained. Their very existence is a blasphemy against sanity. They were used to destroy. And the news is China is turning its back on the United States and no one was ever under the illusion they were really friends. Reality already looks like an advancing line of thunderstorms ready to break loose yet no one can predict exactly how and when events will rain down on us in full force. It makes sense that this next drop off the cliff will make the 2008 journey down look like a walk around the park. More than several people are predicting the financial system will crumble again in the September/October period.4 Without sustainable growth, "billions of people will be condemned to poverty and much of civilization will collapse." This is the stark warning from the biggest single report to look at the future of the planet - obtained by The Independent ahead of its official publication in August. Backed by a diverse range of leading organizations such as Unesco, the World Bank, the US army and the Rockefeller Foundation, the 2009 State of the Future report runs to 6,700 pages and draws on contributions from 2,700 experts around the globe. We are not going to go back to the sustainable growth model but into constant contraction with no bottom in site. The growth model of the world economy is broken and steadily contracting though not quite in free fall as it was at the end of 2008. So the big boys are telling us about a civilization collapse so don't be surprised if that is exactly what we get. Paul Krugman asks, "Is America on its way to becoming a boiled frog? I'm referring, of course, to the proverbial frog that, placed in a pot of cold water that is gradually heated, never realizes the danger it's in and is boiled alive. Real frogs will, in fact, jump out of the pot - but never mind. The hypothetical boiled frog is a useful metaphor for a very real problem: the difficulty of responding to disasters that creep up on you a bit at a time. And creeping disasters are what we mostly face these days." "Unless we demonstrate a strong commitment to fiscal sustainability in the longer term, we will have neither financial stability nor healthy economic growth," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke recently told Congress. And of course the last thing you will see from the federal government in the United States is a strong commitment to fiscal sustainability so truly we can expect the worst. One thing has become crystal clear during this crisis - the monetary elite take care of its banking system and largest corporations first and foremost. This is done to "save the system" - but it becomes clear, if one looks closely, that the banking system is in a long-term bubble, worldwide, and this is what central bankers are desperately blowing back up. Not the system nor the economy, but the bank distribution system that facilitates fiat money. All of the world's paper currencies will eventually be inflated away, and in this case that will happen once the credit bubble has finished deflating and the international debt financing model is broken. Meaning expect continued deflation before the monster of hyperinflation takes over. It is going to be a hairy ride but we should allow some time as deflation and depression are self-reinforcing, and during that downward spiral it will be impossible to inflate though the Federal Reserve will try to do so in absolute desperation. If the state takes more of our money, we will be forced to make decisions on street lights or more public safety or other untenable forces. Craig Whittom Assistant city manager of Vallejo Ca. We are in new and unchartered territory though with both inflation and deflation forces at war and we are likely to get punched where it really hurts with food prices that are going to soar into the stratosphere as world agricultural production goes through its own independent crash. We have a lot more to worry about than a financial collapse. Strauss & Howe offer a chilling warning: "History offers no guarantees. Obviously, things could go horribly wrong - the possibilities ranging from a nuclear exchange to incurable plagues, from terrorist anarchy to high-tech dictatorship. We should not assume that Providence will always exempt our nation from the irreversible tragedies that have overtaken so many others: not just temporary hardship, but debasement and total ruin." Some people waste time trying to decide whether politicians will wake up from their madness and have the strength to face the truth, or not. They will not because they cannot since they are not of the truth, they don't live it. If you can see the truth about denial and the fact that the world's leadership are all doing exactly the wrong thing you will begin to understand that we will soon enter a period of personal and financial survivalism. Stewart Dougherty writes, "If you believe that the nation will not face reality, then you must immediately begin to put your affairs in order. Those who think ahead will be able to survive the whirlwind that denial will unleash. But those who stand before such a tornado, unprepared, have poor and more likely tragic prospects." Yes get ready to get local, go local. We will be lucky if we still have the World Wide Web after all the dust clears. Travel will certainly be curtailed and resources and overall wealth will be even further concentrated in few and fewer hands. Clearly we could see a sea of have-nots pitted against a receding island of the upper middle class. On the FOFOA site we read, "Through the process of watching this slow-motion train wreck (still ongoing), the consensus opinion about danger in the system has shifted from an imminent threat to a long-term threat but all signs are pointing to a crisis moment coming down the tracks in the fall of 2009. When the rubber band breaks this time it will snap back with a speed and fury that will make your head spin. In fact, I think that the longer this drags out (and I'm only talking weeks and months now), the more abrupt the correction will be. While at one time it may have happened over a month, it could now happen overnight! The laws of economics can only be violated for a limited time frame. I look forward to a new beginning for the entire system. A healthy start like we have not seen in generations." Bill Bonner concludes, "In our book, recovery is impossible anyway. Because the pre-crisis economy had reached the terminal stages of the credit cycle. It was like someone in the terminal stages of a fatal illness. After they have died, you don't wish that they could recover...and be just like they were before they died. They were sick and dying then! No, you sign the book of memories and condolences and turn the page. You let new life take the place of the dead. You move on. But the feds have their ghoulish agenda. They have the poor thing on life-support. One tube feeds the oxygen of easy credit. Another drips in more 'stimulus.' The economy rattles every time it breathes. Dead companies, such as GM, say they are reborn. But take away the tubes...and they collapse." From maryrose333 at att.net Sun Jul 26 21:54:02 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:54:02 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Prisons Becoming Warehouses for the Old Message-ID: <005801ca0e6d$e47c3590$ad74a0b0$@net> The only way to handle this folks is "one day at a time". What will happen when there is no money to fund these hell holes any longer is anyone's guess. -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Sunday, July 26, 2009 12:10 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Prisons Becoming Warehouses for the Old http://unsilentgeneration.com/2009/07/25/prisons-to-become-warehouses- for-the-old/ Prisons Becoming Warehouses for the Old July 25, 2009 AGING BEHIND BARS SERIES I have written hefore about the aging population in American prisons and jails, due in large part to the draconian sentencing policies of the courts, federal, state, and local. As a result these places seem destined to become nursing homes surrounded by razor wire. Angola prison in Louisiana, for instance, boasts that some 90 percent of its population will die there. The prison has managed to equip itself with a hospice, and trained inmates to attend to a convict's last days. Burl Cain, the warden, is backed up by a phalanx of Christian fundamentalist preachers who freely roam the 18,000 acre former slave plantation recruiting inmates to be preachers. The clergy instruct prisoners their only way out is through redemption made possible by the acceptance of Jesus Christ. When an elderly inmate, knowing his end was near, sought to be win release so as to die in the so-called "free world," the parole board refused. The procedure is to go to your death in the Christian way-from cell to hospice to a prison cemetery where your grave will be dug by the inmates who will mark your burial with gospel hymns. The travesty at Angola is held up as a model for the nation and Cain celebrated by the media as a new corrections messiah. Elsewhere,old,sick people,piled into these living tombs by the courts, stand in line for hours to get an aspirin; arthritic old women are made to climb into upper bunk beds.Paraplegic men are denied canes, which are ruled to be weapons, and instead must crawl to the toilets.People are locked in solitary for years. Mentally ill convicts who act out in the general population are put into solitary because they howl and scream in public. Locked down, they go truly mad. Old sex offenders can be released into the hands of friends or family. but often noone wants them, so they are released to the county jail, reindicted, and sent back to prison. The American public is up in arms about CIA jails in far away places. But it couldn't care less about American prisons. Now a new report by the Sentencing Project in Washington adds to the growing body of information about prisons here at home. No Exit: The Expanding Use of Life Sentences in America contains, among other things, the first nationwide collection of life sentence data documenting race, ethnicity and gender, and reveals "overwhelming racial and ethnic disparities in the allocation of life sentences": 66% of all persons sentenced to life are non-white, and 77% of juveniles serving life sentences are non-white. The the report's key findings: 140,610 individuals are serving life sentences, representing one of every 11 people (9.5%) in prison. Twenty-nine percent (41,095) of the individuals serving life sentences have no possibility of parole. The number of individuals serving life without parole sentences increased by22% from 33,633 to 41,095 between 2003 and 2008. This is nearly four times the rate of growth of the parole-eligible life sentenced population. In five states-Alabama, California, Massachusetts, Nevada, and New York-at least 1 in 6 people in prison are serving a life sentence. The highest proportion of life sentences relative to the prison population is in California, where 20% of the prison population is serving a life sentence, up from 18.1% in 2003. Among these 34,164 life sentences, 10.8% are life without parole. Racial and ethnic minorities serve a disproportionate share of life sentences. Two-thirds of people with life sentences (66.4%) are nonwhite, reaching as high as 83.7% of the life sentenced population in the state of New York. There are 6,807 juveniles serving life sentences; 1,755, or 25.8%, of whom are serving sentences of life without parole. Seventy-seven percent of juveniles sentenced to life are youth of color. There are 4,694 women and girls serving life sentences, 28.4% of females sentenced to life do not have the possibility of parole. From maryrose333 at att.net Sun Jul 26 21:56:23 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:56:23 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Top US officials line up to tell Israel to step back from settlements, stand down on Iran Message-ID: <005901ca0e6e$37c43f40$a74cbdc0$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Sunday, July 26, 2009 12:07 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Top US officials line up to tell Israel to step back from settlements, stand down on Iran (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) Top US officials line up to tell Israel to step back from settlements, stand down on Iran http://snipurl.com/nzaf9 [antiwar.com] ANNE GEARAN AP News Jul 25, 2009 04:02 EST The Obama administration is dispatching four of its most senior foreign policy and security figures to Israel this coming week with the same message on two open questions causing friction between the close allies: Don't do it. Taking a firmer line with Israel than the Bush administration, President Barack Obama is urging Israel to stop all settlement construction in the West Bank or risk closing off the most promising avenues for peace negotiations. Washington also wants Israel to shelve any plan for a military strike to sabotage Iran's nuclear facilities, arguing that Obama's offer of engagement and talks with Iran deserves time to bear fruit. Obama's senior military advisers say a strike could cause more problems than it solves in the short run, but Israeli leaders are firm that their small country in Iran's line of fire must make such calculations for itself. Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell leads off the parade from Washington. "He wants to be clear that, you know, all sides are creating the conditions, putting themselves in position so that when we begin a formal negotiating process, we've put ourselves in the best position to have a successful outcome," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Friday. Israel's deputy prime minister said Tuesday that U.S. calls for a freeze on West Bank settlement construction run counter to past agreements between the two nations and could undermine U.S. credibility. The comments by Dan Meridor underscored the growing rift between Israel and the U.S. over the continued construction of homes in the settlements. Meridor, a respected veteran of Israeli politics, is considered one of the most moderate voices in the new Israeli government. Defense Secretary Robert Gates follows on Monday, and aides say his visit to Jerusalem would be brief and routine. Iran will be a main topic. National Security Adviser James Jones, top Iran and Mideast specialist Dennis Ross and officials from the Treasury Department and other agencies are all due in Israel later in the week. The confluence of visits is coincidental, administration officials said. Senior defense officials said Gates will argue that the administration is not naive in hoping that Iran will yield to pressure to negotiate over its disputed nuclear program, and will stress that the offer is not open-ended. Obama has said Iran owes a response in September to a standing offer for talks, and he has set the end of this year as an unofficial deadline to assess whether his offer of wider engagement is going anywhere. The Jones delegation is expected to flesh out administration options for further sanctions on Iran should the nuclear overture fall flat. The top U.S. military official, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, said this month that Iran is perhaps one to three years away from getting the bomb, leaving a small and shrinking opening for diplomacy to avert what he said could be a dangerous nuclear arms race in the Middle East. "I think the time window is closing," Mullen said. From maryrose333 at att.net Sun Jul 26 23:40:23 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 22:40:23 -0700 Subject: [GJM] GJM subscription list In-Reply-To: <364810.57555.qm@web63904.mail.re1.yahoo.com> References: <364810.57555.qm@web63904.mail.re1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <003801ca0e7c$c12e96f0$438bc4d0$@net> I guess Radu sent this to me because he is apparently unable to contact GJM directly now? From: radu Seserman [mailto:radu_seserman at yahoo.com] Sent: Sunday, July 26, 2009 6:58 PM To: maryrose333 at att.net Subject: GJM subscription list Hello Mary, I changed my email from radu at adrisgroup.com to radu_seserman at yahoo.com. Can you please make the change on GJM list so I can send emails from my new email address? Thank you very much, Radu Seserman "Be the change that you want to see in the world." M. Gandhi "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning." A. 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URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Sun Jul 26 23:40:23 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 22:40:23 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] The Recession is Over - Now what we need is a new kind of recovery Message-ID: <003701ca0e7c$bfea5720$3fbf0560$@net> Another look at the economy, but what is this one not telling us? -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Sunday, July 26, 2009 11:19 AM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] The Recession is Over - Now what we need is a new kind of recovery (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) The Recession is Over Now what we need is a new kind of recovery http://www.newsweek.com/id/208633 By Daniel Gross | NEWSWEEK Published Jul 25, 2009 >From the magazine issue dated Aug 3, 2009 In Westport, Mass., about 60 miles southwest of Boston, traffic crawls along Route 6 as drivers make their way to the nearby Atlantic beaches like Horseneck or Baker's. A 10-worker crew pouring and raking asphalt onto the road slows their progress. It's the kind of small annoyance drivers nationwide face each summer. It's also one small manifestation of President Barack Obama's ambitious strategy for jump-starting the economy. In April, the P.J. Keating Co., a construction firm based in Lunenburg, Mass., bid on about a dozen stimulus projects funded through the U.S. Transportation Department. It won two contracts, including this $4.06 million job, rescuing what would have been a dismal year for P.J. Keating, says David Baker, 36, a manager of construction operations. As business dwindled over the past two years, the firm laid off about a dozen people. "We definitely would have been faced with another half-dozen layoffs had we not gotten these stimulus projects," Baker says. Instead, the company kept all its remaining 300 employees, and hired five new ones. Ordinarily, a few -government-funded jobs, like traffic on Route 6, wouldn't be noteworthy. But the tableau neatly encapsulates the promise-and pitfalls-of an economy at an inflection point. The Great Recession, which rolled over our financial lives like one of P.J. Keating's giant pavers, is most likely over. Home sales, while still far below the levels of a year ago, have risen for three straight months-a first since 2004. The stock market has rallied 44 percent since March, thanks to renewed optimism and improving earnings from big companies like Goldman Sachs and Apple. In June, seven of the 10 indicators in the Conference Board Leading Economic Index pointed upward, including manufacturing hours worked and unemployment claims. Macroeconomic Advisers, the St. Louis-based consulting firm, says the economy is expanding at a 2.5 percent annual rate in the current quarter. Economic activity "will increase slightly over the remainder of 2009," Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress. Irrational exuberance, it's not. But even stagnation would be an improvement over recent history. The U.S. economy shrank at nearly a 6 percent annualized rate between September 2008 and March 2009, a shocking slowdown that pitched the global economy into recession for the first time since World War II. "This looks an awful lot like the beginning of a second Great Depression," Nobel laureate Paul Krugman said in January. Catastrophe may have been averted. But when economists proclaim a recession over, they're celebrating a technicality: they mean economic output has stopped contracting. And while that is good news, you might wait a while before adding Judy Garland's rendition of "Happy Days Are Here Again" to your iPod. GDP growth alone can't feed a family, or pay a mortgage. Cursed with a high national debt load and blessed with a dynamic, growing workforce, the U.S. economy needs annual growth of at least 1.5 percent just to feel like we're standing still. Worse, the data point that means the most to our psychological well-being-unemployment-is likely to keep climbing. The loss of 6.5 million jobs since December 2007 has spurred the sharpest rise in the unemployment rate since the 1930s. As manufacturing jobs move overseas and companies struggle to further reduce costs, unemployment-which stands at 9.5 percent-is likely to rise above 10 percent. "There's a difference between having an expansion and an economy that has recovered," says Lawrence Summers, Obama's chief economic adviser. Having survived a near-death economic experience, Americans now need to focus on surviving what's likely to be a pokey, painful recovery. "I see 1 percent growth in the economy in the next few years," says New York University economist Nouriel Roubini. "It's going to feel like a recession, even when it ends." Shifting our unwieldy $14 trillion economy from rapid reverse into neutral took heroic efforts from the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department (in two administrations), two sessions of Congress, and, of course, the taxpayers. But the greater challenge may be getting the economy to start growing at a pace that creates jobs, boosts incomes, and raises corporate profits-all without triggering inflation. A year ago, NEWSWEEK dubbed this a new kind of recession-one caused by turmoil in housing and finance rather than manufacturing or weak consumer spending. Now that it's over, we'll need a new kind of recovery. For 60 years, policymakers have relied on a series of simple tools for combating slowdowns and promoting growth: the Fed cuts interest rates, government slashes taxes, and a deregulated Wall Street provides easy money. All of which spurs debt-fueled consumption and the movement of goods and services around the globe. No more. The Fed literally can't cut interest rates further-the overnight interest rate it controls is at zero. Given the deficits and Democratic control of Washington, the prospect of broad-based tax cuts are slim. Americans are still stuffing cash under the mattress. "The last several recoveries were not sustained because they were based on bubbles, they were led by consumption, and they enhanced inequality," says Summers. "The president's emphasis is on having a different kind of expansion." The Obama administration's strategy rests on what some might call industrial policy or excessive government intervention-or even creeping socialism. I call it "the smart economy." It means eschewing the blunt economic instruments we've always used and focusing resources and rhetoric on strategic sectors: renewable energy/green technology, infrastructure, broadband, and health care. It means making investments to run vital systems more intelligently and efficiently, thus creating a new infrastructure on which the private sector can work its magic. This philosophy, legislated in the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, holds that a mixture of targeted investments, tax credits, subsidies, reforms, and direct purchases can preserve or create jobs in the short term, improve America's economic competitiveness in the long term, and catalyze private-sector investment. It's too soon to judge whether this enormous fiscal and political gamble will work. But as was the case the last time the financial sector destroyed itself-the early 1930s-it will be up to Washington to lead the way. We're witnessing an immense and aggressive substitution of public capital for private capital-and it is probably essential to our recovery. But the best-laid plans of Ivy League academics and charismatic young presidents frequently go awry (see: Vietnam). The stimulus package will work its way into the economy very slowly and, by itself, isn't nearly large enough to make up for all the wealth and jobs lost in the past two years. And there's great uncertainty as to how one of the most crucial components of the smart economy-health care-will be affected. Those on the right say the Obama plan can't work simply because it's directed by government. (Every Republican in the House voted against the stimulus plan.) But even some on the left say it's aimed disproportionately at industry. In an economy in which consumers account for 70 percent of activity, "what we need is more demand for goods and services," says Lawrence Mishel, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute. "The missing pillar in Obama's articulation is really making sure that people's wages rise in tandem with productivity." Critics and allies alike fret about the pace of aid. EarthShare In his first hundred days, Franklin D. Roosevelt said he wanted 250,000 young men working in the forests for a dollar a day. Despite the howls of organized labor, a quarter of a million men were toiling in the Civilian Conservation Corps by the summer of 1933. They planted 3 billion trees, built 800 state parks, and saved the nation's topsoil. Larger public-works programs like the Civil Works Administration swiftly put millions of people to work erecting bridges and building dams. Things aren't going quite as swiftly in New Deal 2.0. So far, only a fraction of the stimulus funding has entered the economy via tax cuts ($43 billion), and another chunk via aid to state and local governments ($64 billion). Much of that, however, was used to avert cuts rather than to create jobs. New York City, for example, was able to avoid laying off 14,000 teachers. And because the contracting process is more complicated than it was in the 1930s, the investment component will take more time. So far, only about $120 billion in new spending has been promised to specific programs. Using a rough guide that $92,000 of government spending creates a job, the White House assumes the stimulus will preserve or create 1.5 million jobs by the fourth quarter of 2009 and another 3.5 million by the fourth quarter of next year. But the White House says less than 10 percent of the employment impact from the stimulus will take place during 2009. Several months pass before money from Washington arrives in paychecks in places like Westport, Mass. The Department of Transportation, which received $26.6 billion for highway projects, has approved 5,777 projects and promised $16.9 billion in spending. "It generally takes six to eight weeks to get a project advertised and approved, and then a notice to start," says Joel Szabat, deputy assistant secretary for transportation policy. By the end of May, transportation projects had already directly created between 6,000 and 7,000 jobs. That's encouraging, but still a drop in the bucket-especially given the demand for work. In March, Lew Wood, superintendent of Amtrak's maintenance facility in Bear, Dela., received the go-ahead to hire 55 workers to help carry out a $58.5 million stimulus-funded project to repair 60 passenger rail cars. "When we advertised the 55 jobs, we got 6,000 applicants," many of whom were former General Motors and Chrysler employees, Wood says. The benefits of resurfacing roads and improving train service-fixing existing infrastructure and stimulating existing industries-are obvious and easy to gauge. But a significant chunk of the smart--economy program entails efforts to create new commercial infrastructure and new industries, which are more abstract and whose success is difficult to measure. That's especially true for the alternative-energy and clean-technology sectors, which received lots of goodies in the stimulus package: a $6 billion loan-guarantee program for alternative-energy investments, a $4.5 billion federal green-building-conversion effort, $5 billion in funds to weatherize low-income homes, and cash to promote smart-grid technologies. Anthony Costa, acting commissioner of the General Service Administration's Public Buildings Service, says his agency has awarded 80 projects worth $375 million (out of a total of $5.5 billion granted in the stimulus bill) to upgrade federal buildings. The Blue-Green Alliance, a joint venture of unions and environmentalists, says 850,000 manufacturing jobs in existing plants could be converted to green jobs-building new products with the same equipment and employing skills of current workers. New Flyer, a Canada-based company that makes hybrid buses in St. Cloud, Minn., has received $213 million in orders for new hybrid buses from agencies in Philadelphia, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Rochester, N.Y., and that are funded wholly or in part by the stimulus bill-a sum equal to roughly one quarter of its annual revenue. These initiatives are a boon for the minority of businesses whose core operations can be easily adapted to smart-economy projects. But in order for this effort to succeed, the impact has to be deeper. Creating entirely new types of businesses involves the government placing bets on specific technology sectors-and on specific technologies within those sectors. "We invested in the interstate highway system in the 1950s for reasons of national security, but it had tremendous economic benefits that nobody could have anticipated," says Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy.com. The smart minds behind the smart economy, by contrast, believe they know the precise positive outcomes to be generated by investments in renewable energy. Energy Secretary Steven Chu may be a Nobel Prize-winning physicist. But as his department sifts through loan applications for different types of alternative-energy projects, will he prove to be a good venture capitalist? Should loan guarantees go to projects that use traditional solar panels or thin-film solar that can be stamped onto building materials? And while they do create jobs, many alternative-energy projects aren't particularly labor-intensive. Wind farms don't require armies of workers to maintain them. In Colorado, government officials and executives have been talking up what Gov. Bill Ritter calls a "new energy economy." The Denver region can boast thousands of new jobs connected to solar research and wind-turbine manufacturers, but they don't come close to making up for the 50,000-plus jobs lost in the area since the recession began. By 2018 investments in renewable power generation and transportation fuels, retrofitting buildings, and research could lead those sectors to employ 2.54 million jobs, according to the consulting firm Global Insight. That's nice, but hardly the difference between muddling through and a supercharged recovery. The U.S. government does have a pretty good long-term record of midwifing new industries, and creating new commercial infrastructure that spurred massive private--sector investments. The state-funded Erie Canal, which led to massive growth in upstate New York and the upper Midwest, was followed by privately backed waterways. Congress built the first telegraph line from Baltimore to Washington in 1844 before entrepreneurs were struck by "lightning," as the telegraph was called. The first transcontinental railroad was heavily financed and subsidized by Congress in the 1860s-and helped trigger a half-dozen copycat lines. EarthShare There are signs that public investment in green technology is already catalyzing some private investment. These are dust-bowl days for venture capital. But on July 22, eMeter Inc., a San Mateo, Calif.-based startup that makes smart-grid management software, says it raised $32 million in new venture-capital funding. The company, which has 160 employees, is betting its business will grow as some of the $4.5 billion earmarked for smart-grid technology flows to utilities. "We're prepared to hire people rapidly once the stimulus action real-ly starts," says eMeter CEO Cree Edwards. When the private sector creates new infrastructure-with or without government help-all sorts of good things can happen. That was the case in the 1990s with the Internet. Seeking a repeat, the stimulus package allots $7.2 billion for expanding the nation's broadband infrastructure into mostly rural areas. (Only 63 percent of Americans subscribe to broadband at home.) What does stringing high-speed fiber into the hamlets and hollows of Appalachia have to do with job creation? Plenty, says Wally Bowen, founder and executive director of the Mountain Area Information Network (MAIN), a nonprofit wireless-Internet provider in western North Carolina. "Many people who got on the Internet in the mid-'90s had real progress in their lives in these remote rural areas, managing their health conditions or a home business," only to be left behind when broadband passed them by, says Bowen. He cites an octogenarian widow in the small town of Murphy who has been supplementing her income with eBay, but has lately been having difficulty with dial-up. MAIN is part of a consortium of local businesses and public-private partnerships seeking $50 million in broadband stimulus money to lay new fiber and erect wireless towers. A study by Columbia University professor Raul Katz estimates that as many as 128,000 jobs could be gained over four years just in the construction of new networks. The benefits from more investment in broadband and communications could extend far beyond elderly eBay sellers. As MIT researcher William Lehr says, "Broadband is a key ingredient to make the rest of this smorgasbord of projects work." For example, the stimulus package included $19 billion to computerize health information, which would allow doctors, patients, and insurers to share -data easily. The move, intended to save billions of dollars, has already spurred private--sector investments. In July, the networking gi-ant Cisco and the huge insurer UnitedHealth announced plans to build a technology network for health providers, with the help of stimulus funds. Digitizing health records is the ultimate no-brainer-the typical doctor's office is far lower-tech than the typical grocery store. But that may prove to be the easiest task in bringing the tenets of the smart economy to the vital health-care industry. The stimulus package contained plenty of cash for the sector, one of the few areas in which employment held up during the recession: $10 billion for the National Institutes of Health, and $24.7 billion in subsidies to help people who have lost their jobs to purchase coverage. But that's only the down payment. The case the Obama administration makes for its expensive, ambitious health-care-reform program is as much about economics as it is about social justice. Health care, 16 percent of the economy, is inefficient. The lack of affordable health insurance is a barrier to hiring and entrepreneurship. And a failure to control the cost of Medicare and Medicaid will crowd out other investments and make it more difficult to sustain consumption. "If we do not control these costs, we will not be able to control our deficit," President Obama said in his occasionally combative July 22 press conference. True. And that points out one of the challenges in relying on smarter health care to contribute meaningfully to economic growth. The reform envisions large new expenditures and investments: Congressional Budget Office estimates of major provisions yield a sticker price of $1 trillion over 10 years. But it's also supposed to generate huge cost savings through the application of technology, efficiencies, and negotiating power. A July report by the White House's Council of Economic Advisers states that "health care is forecasted to remain a large source of job growth in the labor market," especially for positions like registered nurses and physical therapists. Yet the gale of productivity enhancement, reform, and cost control the Obama administration wants to unleash on the sector is likely to result in the reduction or elimination of many existing health-care jobs. The debate about the impact of health-care reform will continue to rage even if legislation is passed this year. And the plan that ultimately emerges-if one emerges-will likely be influenced more by interest-group and partisan politics than by smart-economy thinking. Audible in Washington last week: the sound of expectations being ratcheted down. To a large degree, the U.S. economy must now cope with an era of lower expectations. Road building isn't a recipe for full employment, green technology won't displace fossil fuels in this decade, the benefits of universal broadband may be overblown, and the dysfunctional health-care system won't shift overnight from a headwind to a tailwind. The recession may be over, but there's likely to be plenty of tough slogging ahead. Does that mean the smart economy is a waste? Absolutely not. Declaring the stimulus a failure five months after its passage is a little like calling the results of a marathon at the second-mile marker. Virtually all these investments are necessary. They will make the economy and specific industries smarter. They are intelligent economic and political strategies. But they're not sufficient. Large as it is, the stimulus can't fill the hole we've created or bring a series of large industries into the 21st century. Each imperative requires investments far in advance of what even the most free-spending liberal could imagine. Transforming the nation's energy--production-and-transmission system "will take an investment of trillions of dollars over decades," says Dan Arvizu, director of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo. "The private sector has to make this happen." Historically, the economy has kicked into higher gear when a development comes along that can touch every part of the economy, not just particular sectors: the steam engine, electricity, the computer chip, globalization, the Internet, cheap money. By definition, it's almost impossible to know what the next disruptive, discontinuous great leap forward is going to be. On several occasions, Lawrence Summers has remarked that when he was involved in the big economic summit Bill Clinton held after winning the 1992 election, he didn't recall hearing many mentions of the words "the Internet." "Past performance is no guide to future returns." That's the disclaimer that every investment manager provides clients. And it's true in economic terms, as well. The U.S. has historically responded with resilience and flexibility to periods of economic distress. Despite the army of authors dedicated to the proposition that the New Deal was an unadulterated failure, FDR's efforts averted disaster, ended the nation's worst economic downturn, and created lasting infrastructure that has paid economic dividends for decades-from the Hoover Dam to the Appalachian Trail (the real one, not Mark Sanford's fictional one). History suggests, but doesn't guarantee, that the U.S. is likely to do so again. Until the next big thing comes along, consumers and businesses will continue to do what they've been doing for the last several months: pay down debt, restructure, and focus on survival. Using federal resources as a lever and crutch, we'll have to take satisfaction in small, incremental gains. It'll be grueling work-much like repaving roads in Westport, Mass., in the middle of August. With Nick Summers and Jessica Ramirez in New York, and Eve Conant and Daniel Stone in Washington From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Mon Jul 27 05:39:50 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:39:50 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] SOME NEW CHANGES IN THE P2PFOUNDATION ENTRY ON TRANSFINANCIAL ECONOMICS (JULY 2009). Message-ID: <542144.28142.qm@web27405.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> ? This maybe of interest. ? ?????????????????? http://www.p2pfoundation.net/Transfinancial_Economics ? ? ? Transfinancial Economics,or TFE is an emerging global paradigm for economic and financial reform developed by Robert Searle. It is concerned with the possible introduction of a Non-Debt Based Economy which would be free of taxation, and interest on credit. It could replace the present Debt-Based Economy which ofcourse has taxation, and interest. However, the Non-Debt Based Economy could lead to a degree of inflation ofcourse but it could be directly, and easily contained with the use of advanced technology. At the present time there are huge growing global problems. These include food security, poverty alleviation, population growth, and most notably global warming which if largely unchecked could lead to gargantuan economic costs, and massive loss of life. Though there is arguably more than enough money to change the world the problem lies with legal access to it. In TFE this situation is remedied, and fascilitated. It can work with the vested interests notably banks, and corporations in such as way to bring about mass environmental sustainability, and even a high degree of global justice. Though ofcourse capital in itself is not the complete answer to the problems of the world it is at the basis of them. Thus, our present financial/economic system needs to be urgently addressed, and reformed into something more advanced, and beneficial. TFE can be viewed as a very advanced form of Heterodox Economics. It may well one day replace, or rather modify out-dated Neo-Classical Economics which still dominates academia, and the policy making of many governments in the developed world, and elsewhere. Important Notice to Readers. Please note, and understand that Transfinancial Economics, or TFE is still in the process of research, and development. There are still grey areas to be addressed, and this may well require consultation with relevant experts. At the time of writing (July 2009) due to the financial crisis there has been much global financial instability in which the Dollar notably as the main reserve currency of the world has been put into doubt. However, the International Monetary Fund has been trying to stabilize the global economy with the introduction of Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs. No doubt TFE could add a new dimension to all this but this is not presently discussed here. Basic Summary of TFE Transfinancial Economics or TFE believes that taxes, and interest on loans are no longer necessary in the 21st century. It believes in two types of capital "flows" or rather electronic transmissions of money in the economy. A. New Non-Repayable Money. This is created, and transmitted into the economy to replace taxation of open democratic government, and grants which could partly, or fully fund NGOs, and similiar type organizations. It is like the non-orthodox method known in economics as Quantitative Easing notably used in the credit crunch. Since reformed banks of the future would have a highly accurate scientific understanding of the workings of the entire economy they would also be able to produce enough new non-repayable money to ensure that serious inflation cannot in the main occur. Thus, any direct price controls would probably be largely superflous as the equilibrium, or balance between supply, and demand would on the whole be maintained. Hence,the Free Price System continues to exist. Yet, as prices gradually rise the value of peoples money would also do likewise. This national adjustment to inflation would be achieved easily, and electronically via the banks computers. It should be clearly indicated again that there is a measured creation of enough new non-repayable money which cannot, and does not lead to hyperinflation (eg. the Russian Revolution,the Weimar Republic, the French Revolution,et al). In other words, it cannot, and does not flood the economy way beyond its rate of growth which is obviously insane. B. Earned Money. This is simply money which is in circulation or saved in the economy. This is received by business people, and their employees as profits, and/or wages through productive commercial activity, and work. Both new non-repayable capital, and its earned equivalent exist together in the economy. It is interesting to point out here to that there is a huge amount of non-repayable money already spent into circulation. Here, we are referring to funding given by government notably in rich countries such as the EU,and the UK.This ofcourse is earned money. But, interest bearing loans which exist in todays economies are created largely out of thin air electronically by banks via the process of fractional reserve banking also more commonly known as credit creation in economics. This is not earned money but is like non-repayable money of TFE except ofcourse it is repayable over a period of time. Huge donations too exist as well for NGOs. These can be seen as being non-repayable but they originated as earned money. What we are trying to say here is that it is clear that the last paragraph indicates that if enough new-non repayable money is created it would lead to some inflation but to nothing more serious (ie. hyperinflation). Incidently, cash could still exist, and as in todays world it would make up a near non-existent portion of the entire money supply. Anyway,here is how Transfinancial Economics in brief works. i) Most self-employed people, and entrepreneurs would have to register their businesses with the inflation authority (replacing the taxation authority, and ofcourse, its legislation). ii) Each product, and/or service has to be registered with special ID codes, and accounting procedures by law would have to be undertaken ideally on a daily basis. This would involve the use of a number of electronic devices (eg. electronic cash registers, laptops computers,mobile phones,etc)which could transmit accounting data, and in certain cases money to the inflation department of bank. iii) The bank monitors the incoming electronic info of the ID codes of registered products, and/or services every day. This happens on specially programmed computers which would have powers to instantly compare the market prices. iv) In the unlikely event that there are serious price rises in part of the economy electronic intervention maybe necessary via an array of super-flexible price/inflation controls targetted at certain registered products, and/or services. v) Due to the advance programming of the banks computers it would also be possible to work out using direct, and highly accurate incomming accounting data to decide how much new non-repayable money can be created with an assessment of potential inflation risk. There are a number of key implications in Transfinancial Economics a) New non-repayable money (largely monitored, and possibly paid in instalments electonically) as commercial grants, or as repayable interest free credit would be able to successfully increase productivity, and prosperity more quickly for businesses in a continous fashion. The ideal is to bring about a high degree of "simultaneous" growth so that supply, and demand are largely in equilibrium. b) Special comprehensive financial incentives or schemes where necessary would ensure that businesses become genuinely sustainable, and environmentally friendly. Those projects which are commerciallly unviable but vital to the world would receive the necessary subsidies, grants, and interest free loans created ofcourse out of new non-repayable money. c) Charities, or NGOs concerned notably with high ethical issues,(eg. transparency in government, and business, human rights abuses, direct democracy,fairer wealth distribution, etc) and humanitarianism (eg.food relief, AIDs research, heart disease, etc) would probably be partly, or fully funded without the need for fundraising. There are other positive implications in TFE which are discussed in brief in the text of this p2p foundation entry. It should be repeated here that some people believe that there is more than enough financial wealth to change the world. This may well be true. But since fairer redistribution is unlikely to happen then the best, and easiest way forward is to create new non-repayable money in a responsible manner, and allowing legal access to it whenever there is a genuine need. What follows now is a more detailed enlargement of what has been stated here along with other relevant information. Please also note that the kheper essay on TFE is out of date ,and should be replaced as its understanding on inflation controls is no longer fully relevant, or authorative in the light of new understanding, and research. Please also note this p2p entry on TFE maybe updated giving clearer insights.. Key Decision-Making Bodies Here, we shall briefly explain who, and what undertakes the decision making process as far as the creation, and transmission of new non-repayable money is concerned. a. Open Democratic Government: TFE exists in the context of an open liberal democracy. Future national governments, and local governments could order the creation, and transmission of new non-repayable money from an independent public authority, or from banks, or indeed, the Central Bank. Relevant electronic checks would among other things be necessary to see what the short term, medium term, and long term potential effects of inflation. Moreover, overspending would be curbed to a high degree. b. The Banks: It is expected that banks, and banking will remain largely in the private sector in spite of the credit crunch. They could be nationalized in full, or in part but this is not a serious issue in TFE. However, they could have powers to create, and transmit new non-repayable money to certain businesses (notably those serious about becoming environmentally friendly but where there is little, or no commercial viability ofcourse), and also ofcourse repayable interest free credit. The interest would not be paid for by customers but by the Central Bank, or some independent public authority. A business model could be created for banks to ensure super-normal profits. They could possibly become even more powerful than before but with better regulation but not "over-regulation". Incidently, their creation of new non-repayable money would be at cost. The cost like the interest would be paid for by the Central Bank, or some independent authority. c. Independent Grant Giving Bodies to NGOs. These, like the above already exist. They notably come in the form of trusts, and foundations. Their job is to decide which NGOs get new non-repayable capital as grants. Their efficiency in doing this could be reformed where necessary. Thus, donations, and fundraising will be largely unnecessary for most NGOs as they would receive the vital funding to continue their work. Basic Ethical Arguments for the Creation of New Non-Repayable Money. There are a number of key points which make the concept of new non-repayable money acceptable along with its earned counterpart. i) All money originates from an unearned source of creation. As such from an objective viewpoint it has equal value to its earned counterpart as it would be legal tender. ii) So-called Free Money already exists to a limited extent (eg government grants, donations, wills leaving money). iii) Critics would like to point out that if new non-repayable money could be created, and transmitted without uncontrolled inflation it would mean that earning it in the first place would no longer be necessary. This ofcourse would lead to the collapse of the economy, and social chaos. TFE though sees itself as a transitional, or evolutionary process in which we should have the mental maturity to realize that earning money is still essential until the time comes when "full"automation exists, and society becomed "jobless" in a traditional economic sense. It is then that new non-repayable money could play a vital role by helping to bring into existence "leisure-like employments" which would be possible either in a profit, or/and non-profit context. Ultimately, in some future time money itself would be abolished altogether. In other words,a hi-tech gifting economy similiar to something like the Venus Project (originated by Jacque Fresco,a populariser of Technorcracy). iv) Some critics would say that new non-repayable money is Funny Money. Yet, they fail to realize the fact that it already exists as most of the banks create it out of thin air as a loan which is repayable... v) TFE should be seen as a kind of ethical economics because it sees money as having a High Human Value other than just a medium of exchange because its social, economic, and political implications are huge, and all-encompassing. Important Moral Arguments for Non-Taxation. There are a number of key arguments for the abolition of direct, and indirect taxation. They are;- i) Tax raising is absurd especially as it is very possible for new non-repayable money to be created, and transmitted safely into the economy using advanced computer programming. ii) Everyone should be entitled to all their earned money as a human right. iii) It is highly unethical to finance any misuse of government spending. iv) People should be rewarded by a policy of Non-Taxation as they are the actual the main creators of real wealth. v) Evidence suggests that many rich, and super-rich people are finding loopholes to escape the taxman notably off-shore accounts. This means that people on lower incomes have to "subsidize" the well off so to speak which ofcourse is unfair. Moreover, it has become very easy to transmit bank accounts to other countries thus making the investigation by tax inspectors difficult in extremis. vi) Quite a number of wars, and revolutions were caused directly, or indirectly by unfair taxes. Electronic Business Accounting, and Regular Capital Transmissions. Inflation legislation would replace taxation regulations. The former would involve by law highly accurate electronic accounting by most businesses. One common form of it are the electronic registers at checkouts at supermarkets (ie. EPOS/ Electronic Point of Sales). Business people, and/or certain members of their staff would have to ideally on a daily basis to report their accounts electronically (via electronic checkout registers,computers, mobile phone, etc)to the inflation department of the bank which would also be overseen by the public Inflation Authority. Moreover, putting profits into the bank from sales of registered products, and/or services would require declaring their relevant ID Codes, or else it cannot be processed. In certain cases, the actual electronic transmission of such data can be legally interpreted not only as an accounting communication but also as money simultaneously. The latter it should forever be remembered is at the end of the day electronic data though we hate to think of it as such. The business accounts in the banks are closely monitored electronically to avoid false accounting, and fraud. This could involve a number of electronic checks, and if any company is found wanting it could be directly fined electronically. This in the main would be largely an automatic process run by advanced bank computer programming. An Electronic Profile of the Entire Economy. As accounting data, and profits are received together or separately as electronic transmissions at the bank from various businesses a highly accurate electronic macroeconomic picture of the entire economy of a country can be built up. Thus, future economists would have far better data to forecast trends unlike the Economic Indicators of present day Neo-Classical Economics. All this is ofcourse revolutionary. Such an electronic profile of the entire economy could include a whole host of other things apart from identified transactions of specific goods, and services...notably the electronic monitoring of fluctuations in wages, and many other forms of income in peoples electronically identified bank accounts. Admitedly, all this raises too questions of privacy, and disclosure. Thus,good thought-through legislation would be necessary to deal with such issues. Advanced Computer Programming With the influx of accounting, and transaction data of registered goods, and services the banks computers would be well-programmed to do the following which includes:- 1. Instantly comparing prices of registered goods, and services. 2. Be able to monitor changes in the monetary supply that are seen as inflationary in parts of the economy due to registered transactions, and accounting data received electronically by the bank. 3. Be able to detect higher risk inflation changes, and be able to target the relevant prices of the registered goods, and services concerned which may be causing "problems". After informing the relevant bank customers an instant temporary electronic control, or controls may be used to alleviate the situation. This is discussed a little later. However, it should be stressed that all this is higly unlikely to occur if the electronic inflation management is undertaken properly. 4. Using existing in-coming accounting data it would be possible with the right computer programming to work out and see the sort of inflation levels which could take place in relation to specific transmissions of new capital, and projects of one sort, or another. A set of low, high, or higher risk assesments on inflation could be given automatically. In other words, an electronic model could be used to "stress test" the robustness of parts of the economy. This would give an accurate forecast of potential short-term, medium term, and long term inflation risk of some project. The creation, and transmission of an electronically measured amount of new non-repayable money to relevant bank accounts could be decided by computers, or by the human decision-making process, or ofcourse a bit of both. 5. Another factor in all this is to what degree new non-repayable money is contained in productive, and/or non-productive assets, and to what extent it could enter the economy. 6. It should also be stated that TFE would have to accomodate for the possible "irrational behaviour" of the players in the economy itself (ie Behaviorial Economics). As can be see this whole subject can become complex. The Importance of the Free Market Price TFE is not to be confused with command/control economics as used notably in the old Soviet Union. We are ofcourse discussing a capitalist system in which most of the time the market price is set freely.To what extent this remains depends on the quality of the computer programming to ensure that only enough new non-repayable money is created responsibly. Thus, elasticity of supply, and demand will continue, and ensure steady the seeming efficiency in the market. However, the prices of registered goods, and service will start to slowly rise mainly because taxation, and interest on credit (though taxation, and interest would be slowly phased out to zero at the transition phase)would no longer exist. In order to accomodate this the value of peoples money would also rise correspondingly via an instant electronic adjustment to inflation of the entire country. If any problems do occur there is a number of temporary super-flexible electronic price/inflation controls which can electronically target monetary, or accounting transmissions ( or alternatively ofcourse accounting data + monetary transmission = one transmission to the bank)of registered goods, and services. This is explained in brief in the following section of the p2p foundation entry on TFE. Possible Electronic Controls Over Inflation if Necessary. The following gives us some insight as to how registered products, and/or services could be subjected to instant inflation controls if necessary. These measures are like price controls of the past but are far more advanced because a) They are super-flexible b) They do not require a huge bureaucracy c) They can give instant compensation, and/or instant subsidization depending on the situation. d) They can correct anything instantly if necessary, and thus any money lost as a result can be re-created by electronic means as money itself is essentially electronic data e) They could if necessary fine people, and companies directly, and electronically from their banks accounts to ensure compliance to some aspect of inflation legislation. Please note that what follows is still subject to further development, and more detailed treatment. This would require the help of relevant experts. There are a number of inflation controls as described below:- i) Selective Inflation Adjustment, and Instant Electronic Price Subsidization. This is when the inflated portion of a specific registered product, or service has been electronically targetted as being "over-inflated". It is subjected to an instantaneous, or late inflation check either at the point of sale, or at the bank. If whatever has been bought happens to be over-inflated to say 10% this amount is instantly created electronically into a subsidy which goes straight into the account of the customer. In other words, an "accounting" adjustment. Ofcourse, registered goods could also be instantly subsidized wherever, and whenever necessary at a touch of button. ii) National Inflation Adjustment. This has already been mentioned but not by name.Here, virtually all bank accounts are indexed-linked electronically to the changing value of money during inflation. Something like this already exists to a limited extent(ie index-linked products, or services). In TFE new non-repayable money could be created electronically for the bank accounts of customers. This would give rise to more money in ones bank account. Hence, the new higher amount has been adjusted to take into account inflation,and thus, ones purchasing power remains largely the same as before. This is what Keynes referred to as the "money illusion." iii) Automatic Inflation Deduction. This is when the inflated portion of a registered product, or service is subject to an instant inflation check in which it is reduced to its real value relative to the entire economy of a nation. In other words, the "inflated portion" is destroyed. This can be seen by some as a "tax" but it is not because money in real terms (ie.its real value as opposed to its inflated value) retains its purchasing power as if nothing had happened to it at all. iv) Electronic Price Capping. Price capping usually comes in the form of Price Floors,and Price Ceilings. In mainstream Neo-Classical Economics they are not highly regarded as they have potential to distort the pricing system, and interfere with the free hand of the market.Furthermore, they should be used only as a last resort. TFE has a like view but because of the super-flexible nature of the inflation controls it is not seen as a major problem of note, and if electronic inflation management is undertaken properly it is unlikely to occur. Bank intervention rather than government intervention in many cases could be involved if temporary Price Floors, and Price Ceilings are absolutely necessary for any part of the economy. This would come in the form of instant subsidies created electronically out of new non-repayable money by the bank (or government). Price capping can lead to artifical shortages (ie Price Ceilings) and surpluses (ie.Price Floors), and the balance can be easily redressed with the right planned intervention, and financial incentives. This can involve price subsidies, and where necessary instant compensation for any business concerned (eg. if a control price goes below the level of profitability it can ofcourse be subsidized by new non-repayable capital from the bank so the commercial operation(s) involved does not go out of business). In connection with the above one way to encourage registered prices of registered goods to fall is to create an instant profit subsidy. Thus, a monetary incentive is created electronically to lower prices to a certain level, or levels. The lower the price greater the profit subsidy!! This can be done electronically ofcourse. Apart from the Registered Economy of registered prices, and services discussed here there is also an Unregistered Economy. The latter only makes up a very small part of the entire economy. It consists of products, and services which are difficult to price exactly, and Code with electronic IDs necessary in the business accounting process. However, if inflation adversely affects them in any way they too could be subjected to temporary electronic price controls (with flexible price ranges), and become permanently, or temporarily part of the Registered Economy. The benefits of a Non-Debt Based Economy compared with the Debt Based Economy of taxation, and interest on credit are a real marvel for businesses as the following points reveal because it is... a) Free of taxes b) Interest free loans would exist. b) The possibility of electronically monitored commercial grants where necessary. c) There are no "boom" and "bust" cycles but rather a continous process of growing prosperity. Thus, businesses benefit enormously in a Transfinancial Economy. The Vital Importance of Sustainability. The world does not have infinite resources. As such it is vital to encourage businesses with the right incentives (created out of new non-repayable money)to introduce a variety of ways which reduce, re-cycle, and re-use the products, and services they produce. To some extent, all this is being realized. Moreover, a number of businesses recognize the growing reality that green sustainable products, and services can be profitable. Some, like a number of corporations are involved in "greenwash" in which the products, and services are not really as environmentally friendly as they appear. In TFE there would have to be a huge push to try, and bring change into businesses into becoming green. This would involve bank intervention, and to a certain degree of government intervention. The former notably could along with credible information, and consultants be able to create a comprehensive array of incentive schemes backed up by new non-repayable money.Any loss of profits could be compensated if necessary. Indeed, if certain projects involving sustainability in whatever form were commercially unviable these could if there were a serious business plan be fully funded. The banks (or governments) themselves could also be involved in a degree of demand management in which they could have powers to prevent the overuse of certain limited resources as registered products, and services are continually tracked electronically. Compensation maybe necessary for certain businesses if a loss of profits are involved. >From Competative Capitalism to more Advanced Socio-Economic Alternatives. It should be said that capitalists would make much profit in Transfinancial Economics especially in the first few decades of its introduction. But, later on it would become increasingly difficult to find new business opportunities as they would be very thin on the ground (ie. resource scarcity). Thus, take-over bids may become increasingly common for existing commercial enterprises (but special NGOs, and possibly willing governments could buy up such assets as they would now have the financial clout). At the same time there would probably be extensive education especially of the younger generation. This would notably come about via certain NGOs (better financed ofcourse in TFE)concerned with democracy, sustainability, localization, altruism, less "hierachical" social organization, fairer distribution of wealth, and non-competative/co-operative forms of "capitalism" and other socio-economic alternatives. If the pressure of this becomes great enough it may lead to turning the present "greedy" system into something far better, and more advanced in a more ethical sense. The ultimate aim of TFE is to reach a stage of advanced automation in which money itself will become totally redundant. Ofcourse, work as we would understand it would be virtually non-existent, and superflous. It is expected by then that capitalism would also no longer be needed along with its elites ideally. Instead, a more advanced hi-tech civilization will emerge in which people rather than money becomes genuinely important. All this would be the expected result of decades of "unprecedented" pressure, and education by the work of high ethical NGOs as already indicated.Yet, ironically, it would be through the "greed" of the capitalist system that the "highest" degree of automation, and green technology would have been put in place on a global scale. In other words, capitalism should be used to ultimately end capitalism.It is also worth mentioning here again the work of the Venus Project which presents a possible technocratic "utopia." Interest-Free Monetary Reform. Radical monetary reformers tend to concentrate on banks, and the banking elite.These commercial enterprises electronically create most of the money of the world out of thin air as a repayable loan, or credit with interest of course via a process known as fractional reserve banking, or credit creation as it is commonly referred to. Cash produced by governments only makes up a near non-existant portion of the present financial system. The aim of the monetary reformers in question is to try to bring about interest-free loans which would be beneficial to society, and the economy. Obviously, this is unlikely to happen due to the power of the banks. In TFE ofcourse banks (along with other "non-financial" companies)could continue to lend at interest but this would not be paid for by the customer but rather by an independent public body, or the Central Bank as mentioned earlier. The amount could be adjusted to encourage competition. It should be said that banks could create their own wages for their employees via the production of new non-repayable money. This though would be seen as fraud, and prosecution would result. It could also undermine confidence in TFE altogether. The Central Bank, or an independent public body could also electronically track, and monitor a banks activity to avoid anything like this. They can legally pay banks on their behalf with money...which would ofcourse be created "out of thin air". The Money Markets This would benefit greatly with the introduction of TFE. It would mean greater predictable sustainable growth, and profitability in the equity, or shares market for investors, plus other monetary benefits in connection with other financial "products" or "instruments". However, the bond market (the buying,and selling of debt from governments, and corporations) would be partly, or fully phased out gradually as TFE is introduced. This could be replaced by the increasing growth of new, and old financial "products." In other words, the rich, and super-rich could benefit more than before but not at the expense of the poor as various socio-economic projects (especially where there is little, or no commercial viability)by governments, businesses, and/or NGOs would be set up in the Developed, and the Developing World on a massive scale as there would also be financial incentives. Some Major Implications of Transfinancial Economics. These can be briefly listed:- 1. Transnational Corporations especially in the Developing World could be transformed into truly ethical, and sustainable businesses with powerful financial incentives for change including profit subsidization on a massive scale. 2. Universal healthcare would be possible irrespective of whether private businesses are involved or not. 3. Generous pensions would be possible for an aged population without the need of income created by taxes, and/or by private long-term investments in the stock market. However, the latter could continue to a large, or larger extent if desired. 4. Grassroots NGOs concerned with poverty reduction in the Developed, and Developing World would be better financed as never before to bring about positive change (ie. a New Global Marshall Plan). Moreover, powerful financial incentives could be created for small and large companies (including corporations)from the Developed World to bring about serious economic growth in the Developing World. Money ofcourse would be supplied responsibly, and would avoid where possible the pockets of corrupt government officials, and their representatives. 5. NGOs concerned with fairer wealth distribution (or redistribution) such as Binary Economics, and Co-operatives and the like would be financed as never before to become a greater influence on society. 6. Small "zero growth" self-sufficient, and high-tech sustainable communities could be initially financed with non-repayable capital if the relevant but financially enhanced NGOs put pressure on banks, and governments. 7. Corporations concerned with oil production, and indeed, the arms trade could be bought up in stages by new non-repayable money via a friendly, or hostile takeover. At present democratic governments plus certain relevant NGOs seem powerless to do much about them but with TFE we have a very powerful solution. This concept is referred to as Ethical Business Conversion, or EBC. 8. A huge, and dangerous problem facing the world is ofcourse global warming. Capping emissions would certainly help but with EBC it would be possible at the sametime to gradually buy up polluting businesses, and replace them with low carbon, or rather decarbonised ones mass producing green sustainable goods, and services. This could come about by government intervention, and/or banks, under pressure from better financed NGOs. Ofcourse, there are other implications which we shall not go into here. At the same time, Positive Human Politics could be developed as a global paradigm which brings together as one the best, and most advanced democratic thinking into how a better, and more civilized world could be brought into existence. This subject is not discussed here. Campaign Activism for Transfinancial Economics In order to bring about the serious possibility of change from our present debt based economy of taxation, and interest to one which is not debt based a campaign would be necessary. However, a grassroots organization for the masses to challenge banks, and Corporations is unlikely to work though we may be wrong. To promote this campaign it is suggested here that a professional website would be set up to spread the word of Transfinancial Economics as a serious, and credible proposal if the world is to successfully survive the global problems of the future. It would be sent to people, and organizations that have power, and influence such as government policy makers,academics,financial companies, et cetera. This is probably the way forward. The TFE website itself would include the following features. i) A news update about the campaign progress. ii) Commissioned papers (initially) by willing economists using econometric models to show the efficacy of TFE in technical terms, including detailed studies on Electronic Business Accounting, and the possible super-flexible Electronic Inflation Controls. iii) An online Journal of Transfinancial Economics. iv) A powerpoint presentation of TFE for downloading. v) Any endorsements for TFE by any willing experts. vi) Possible field trials of the electronic technologies involved in TFE. This could be in part, or fully funded by governments, and/or by Corporations. Some Similiar Notions to Transfinancial Economics. It is perhaps suprising to know that the basic idea of a tax, and interest free economy is not new. In America for example just before the War of Independence from Britain various states were extremely poor, but they hit upon the idea of creating their own money. This in certain cases replaced taxation as we would understand it. In some states though they produced too much of it, and caused "serious" inflation whilst others produced enough of it, and thus served the public good without any economic problems. Ofcourse, present day LETS or the Local Exchange Trading Schemes, and other similiar complimentary currencies (CCs)are strictly speaking free of tax, and interest. Silvio Gesell, and his experiment with his Free Money, or "stamp scrip" also comes to mind.Yet,such CCs are limited when compared with TFE ofcourse as they simply involve local communities accepting a made up currency as a means of exchange for a very "limited" number of goods, and services. Abba Lerners Functional Finance seems to indicate in part that taxation is unnecessary except when serious inflation occurs. In other words, it is a way of reducing the money supply to "sensible" levels. TFE is often misleadingly associated with Social Credit founded by Clifford Douglas. This essentially believed in the idea of the National Dividend which is also very much like the Universal Basic Income, or UBI. It appears that this could be created by what Douglas referred to as debt-free money, or in TFE as new non-repayable money. This would be based directly on certain economic data, and enough of this debt free capital could be produced so as to not lead to serious inflation. Apparently, like TFE Social Credit believes that overtime taxation could also be phased out altogether. PS A paper on TFE with direct references was actually accepted by a peer review journal. However, due to a dispute with the editor/publisher I withdrew it from publication, and at the time of writing (April 2008) a new version has been sent elsewhere. Robert Searle email address dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Intelligent, and constructive dialogue is welcomed from anyone via email. PLEASE NOTE. Apologies for any errors in the above text if they exist. Retrieved from "http://p2pfoundation.net/Transfinancial_Economics" Categories: Encyclopedia | Movements | Business | Money Views Page Discussion View source History Personal tools Log in if (window.isMSIE55) fixalpha(); p2pfoundation Wiki Main Page Wiki community Blog del.icio.us Navigation Current events Recent changes Random page Help Donations Search ? Toolbox What links here Related changes Special pages Printable version Permanent link var addthis_pub="guaka"; This page was last modified on 27 July 2009, at 11:08. This page has been accessed 5,954 times. Content is available under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 . About P2P Foundation ? ? ? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Tue Jul 28 03:50:36 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:50:36 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] Some comments on TFE on the Web of Debt Blog Message-ID: <321935.52302.qm@web27403.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> ? ?Some interesting points by Jens Landgre, and my response. ? ? ? RS.? http://www.p2pfoundation.net/Transfinancial_Economics ? ? Jens Landgr?, on July 27th, 2009 at 1:45 pm Said: I think that it is very important to point out that the money supply can?t be expanded unless the economy is growing. Regardless of who is issuing the money. I would rather trust the government to be responsible than a private company. The government is democratic while a private company is controlled by the extremely wealthy which I can?t influence in any way. I have seen many suggestions to replace e.g. taxation with government issued money, but unless the total economy (GDP) is growing the government can?t issue more money. That would give inflation. And since our consumption level is already WAY to high, in the US it is 5 times over the sustainable level, we can?t have a growing economy regardless of how we try to make it more sustainable. Growth is by its very nature not sustainable and we have already ?overgrown? a great deal. I would like to see an economic system which works when the economy is stable or in decline. What is wrong with taxation? If I?m a citizen in a country and use the common facilities that the government provides ? should I not pay for them? The alternative to taxation is to pay fees for everything I use, which in effect will give the same end result. If the fees goes to private companies then they must be higher to pay for the profits too. A good way to use taxes is to make it more expensive to use natural resources. Since we want the society to become more sustainable we need to make the natural resources more expensive. The only way we can do this is through taxation. We own this planet together, if someone profit from using it for digging up resources or dumping waste then they should at least pay for it! This will of course slow down the part of the economy that is based on converting natural resources into money and waste. We must create an economy that works well with much less natural resources. 0 1 Rate This PDRTJS_settings_54739_comm_4132 = { "id" : "54739", "unique_id" : "wp-comment-4132", "title" : "I+think+that+it+is+very+important+to+point+out+that+the+money+supply+can%27t+be+expanded+unless+the+economy+is+growing.+Regardless+of+who+is+issuing+the+money.+I+would+rather+trust+the+government+t...", "item_id" : "_comm_4132", "permalink" : "http%3A%2F%2Fwebofdebt.wordpress.com%2Fquestions-and-answers%2F%23comment-4132" } Reply Robert Searle, on July 27th, 2009 at 2:35 pm Said: Thank you for your intelligent comments. 1. In an ideal world money should not be created as loans by private commercial banks but rather by governments without interest ofcourse. But the chances of that ever really happening is remote in spite of what people may say here including Miss Brown. 2. Ofcourse, it would be insane to create too much money as this would lead to serious inflation, or even hyperinflation. In Transfinancial Economics, or TFE enough can be created in a highly accurate manner unlike now . 3. There is nothing wrong with more growth if we have in development, and indeed, hopefully in mass production a whole array of new sustainable technologies to help reduce, recycle, and reuse various products, and services of the economy. This would require some form of intervenionism notably from governments as well as blue skies thinking. 4. And this brings me to taxation. The present set up is inadequate to supply enough money as subsidies, and commercial grants to stimulate real green sustainable growth (without serious inflation)as there are many potential products, and services which are simply not commercially viable. There are also many other pressing social, economic, and political projects which would require funding (eg. possible massive geo-engineering projects) even when resources are already there and waiting!! Venture capitalism can only go so far!!! If you want to you should re-examine in greater detail my p2p entry on Transfinancial Economics. It should explain many things. It goes beyond Miss Browns presentation, and more importantly it has a far more credible way of avoiding the possibility of serious inflation which could prove to be largely acceptable to society, and even many economists. Moreover, we can also find out highly accurately how much in the way of resources we are acutally using rather than relying on ?dodgy? stats. 0 0 Rate This PDRTJS_settings_54739_comm_4133 = { "id" : "54739", "unique_id" : "wp-comment-4133", "title" : "Thank+you+for+your+intelligent+comments.%0D%0A%0D%0A1.+In+an+ideal+world+money+should+not+be+created+as+loans+by+private+commercial+banks+but+rather+by+governments+without+interest+ofcourse.+But+the+chan...", "item_id" : "_comm_4133", "permalink" : "http%3A%2F%2Fwebofdebt.wordpress.com%2Fquestions-and-answers%2F%23comment-4133" } Reply Jens Landgr?, on July 27th, 2009 at 5:05 pm Said: I agree on 1. Also I?m sure that there are many good ways to accurately create the right amount of money. On point 3 I recommend you to read Prosperity without Growth?. It is simply not good to have a growth based economy because we don?t get any happier from the growth. We work more than ever, spend more than ever AND use more resources than ever. Please perform some calculations on growth. 2% growth for 100 years means a 7-fold increase in consumption. (1.02^100) There is no technology that enables that growth together with the necessary reduction of resource use. And, as mentioned, we are already over-worked (especially in the US). Stress is a growth-related disease. On 4 I have to repeat that by making resources more expensive (through taxation) you won?t need subsidies for the industry to make the right choices. The global economy makes this difficult though since the products from abroad will compete in an unfair way unless the taxation is global. New types of trade agreements and tolls will be necessary to compensate for this. I have looked at TFE but didn?t find it convincing. An economy need to be based on ?recycling? the money, not by producing more an more money. To follow a circular flow back to its origin there must be mechanisms that controls this. Currently the down payments on the loans make sure the money returns to its origin. In a debt free economy you need other mechanisms. This is probably not the right place to have a discussion about this? 1 0 Rate This PDRTJS_settings_54739_comm_4134 = { "id" : "54739", "unique_id" : "wp-comment-4134", "title" : "I+agree+on+1.+Also+I%27m+sure+that+there+are+many+good+ways+to+accurately+create+the+right+amount+of+money.%0D%0AOn+point+3+I+recommend+you+to+read+%3Ca+href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sd-commission.org.uk%2Fpublications...", "item_id" : "_comm_4134", "permalink" : "http%3A%2F%2Fwebofdebt.wordpress.com%2Fquestions-and-answers%2F%23comment-4134" } Reply Robert Searle, on July 28th, 2009 at 9:26 am Said: Yes, I am well aware of the research you are on about but the figures used are always open to question, and should not be taken as gospel truth. Ofcourse, greater growth does not necessarily = Happiness Economics as it is now called!! But the problem with something akin to a steady state, or near ?zero growth? economy is that it cannot really address the HUGE GLOBAL ISSUES quick enough. This is the rub of it, and the only way forward is a ?counter-intuitive? one by empowering the present capitalist system with the right financial incentives to become sustainable en masse over a period of a few short decades. The present financial system is largely inadequate to meet the great challenges of our globe. Hence, TFE?.. As for your idea on the need to ?re-cycle? money. This is nonsense because what happen is that if there is little, or no goods/services around it is not spent!!! It is simple as that. It just builds up in deposit account. Furthermore, we are talking about electronic money. In the cases of hyper-inflation there was a printing of paper money which MORE EASILY enters into the economy unlike its electronic counterpart. What Miss Brown says is correct ofcourse. Alot of money could well be produced in a non-repayable fashion successfully with our present incomplete knowledge of economics. But no economist in the world would endorse a totally tax free world unless there are powerful, and highly exact data concerning the economy itself. This is where TFE steps in. 0 0 Rate This PDRTJS_settings_54739_comm_4141 = { "id" : "54739", "unique_id" : "wp-comment-4141", "title" : "Yes%2C+I+am+well+aware+of+the+research+you+are+on+about+but+the+figures+used+are+always+open+to+question%2C+and+should+not+be+taken+as+gospel+truth.+Ofcourse%2C+greater+growth+does+not+necessarily+%3D+Ha...", "item_id" : "_comm_4141", "permalink" : "http%3A%2F%2Fwebofdebt.wordpress.com%2Fquestions-and-answers%2F%23comment-4141" } Reply Ellen Brown, on July 27th, 2009 at 5:46 pm Said: The money supply can be expanded without inflation even when there is no economic growth, IF the money supply has been collapsing, as is true today. ALL of our money except coins comes from loans, and lending has dropped off. There is a $10 trillion hole in the money supply just from the shadow lenders who have stopped taking loans off the books of the banks. This hole needs to be filled. 1 0 Rate This PDRTJS_settings_54739_comm_4135 = { "id" : "54739", "unique_id" : "wp-comment-4135", "title" : "The+money+supply+can+be+expanded+without+inflation+even+when+there+is+no+economic+growth%2C+IF+the+money+supply+has+been+collapsing%2C+as+is+true+today.++ALL+of+our+money+except+coins+comes+from+loan...", "item_id" : "_comm_4135", "permalink" : "http%3A%2F%2Fwebofdebt.wordpress.com%2Fquestions-and-answers%2F%23comment-4135" } -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ecotort at gn.apc.org Mon Jul 27 08:32:24 2009 From: ecotort at gn.apc.org (EcoTort) Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:32:24 +0100 Subject: [GJM] DEADLY: Silence of the Bees....! ! ! Message-ID: <4A6DBA78.8050108@gn.apc.org> If you wish to leave the "ecotort " mailing list, please reply with 'Remove' in the subject line. The man that brought you Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone is now america's food safety czar Huffington Post - Jeffrey Smith The person who may be responsible for more food-related illness and death than anyone in history has just been made the US food safety czar. This is no joke. _Here's the back story._ When FDA scientists were asked to weigh in on what was to become the most radical and potentially dangerous change in our food supply -- the introduction of genetically modified (GM) foods -- secret documents now reveal that the experts were /very/ concerned. Memo after memo described toxins, new diseases, nutritional deficiencies, and hard-to-detect allergens. They were adamant that the technology carried "serious health hazards," and required careful, long-term research, including human studies, before any genetically modified organisms (GMOs) could be safely released into the food supply. But the biotech industry had rigged the game so that neither science nor scientists would stand in their way. They had placed their own man in charge of FDA policy and he wasn't going to be swayed by feeble arguments related to food safety. No, he was going to do what corporations had done for decades to get past these types of pesky concerns. He was going to lie. * _Dangerous Food Safety Lies_* When the FDA was constructing their GMO policy in 1991-2, their scientists were clear that gene-sliced foods were significantly different and could lead to "different risks " than conventional foods. But official policy declared the opposite, claiming that the FDA knew /nothing /of significant differences, and declared GMOs substantially equivalent. This fiction became the rationale for allowing GM foods on the market /without any required safety studies whatsoever!/ The determination of whether GM foods were safe to eat was placed entirely in the hands of the companies that made them -- companies like Monsanto, who, in their long and lamentable history, have told us that the PCBs, DDT, and Agent Orange were safe. GMOs were rushed onto our plates in 1996. Over the next nine years, multiple chronic illnesses in the US nearly doubled -- from 7% to 13%. Allergy-related emergency room visits doubled between 1997 and 2002 while food allergies, especially among children, skyrocketed. We also witnessed a dramatic rise in asthma, autism, obesity, diabetes, digestive disorders, and certain cancers. In January of this year, Dr. P. M. Bhargava, one of the world's top biologists, told me that after reviewing 600 scientific journals, he concluded that the GM foods in the US are largely responsible for the increase in many serious diseases. In May, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine concluded that animal studies have demonstrated a causal relationship between GM foods and infertility, accelerated aging, dysfunctional insulin regulation, changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system, and immune problems such as asthma, allergies, and inflammation In July, a report by eight international experts determined that the flimsy and superficial evaluations of GMOs by both regulators and GM companies "systematically overlook the side effects " and significantly underestimate "the initial signs of diseases like cancer and diseases of the hormonal, immune, nervous and reproductive systems, among others." _*The Fox Guarding the Chickens*_ If GMOs are indeed responsible for massive sickness and death, then the individual who oversaw the FDA policy that facilitated their introduction holds a uniquely infamous role in human history. That person is Michael Taylor. He had been Monsanto's attorney before becoming policy chief at the FDA. Soon after, he became Monsanto's vice president and chief lobbyist. _*This month Michael Taylor became the senior advisor to the commissioner of the FDA. He is now America's food safety czar. What have we done?*_ _*The Milk Man Cometh*_ While Taylor was at the FDA in the early 90's, he also oversaw the policy regarding Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (rbGH/rbST) -- injected into cows to increase milk supply. The milk from injected cows has more pus, more antibiotics, more bovine growth hormone, and most importantly, more insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). IGF-1 is a huge risk factor for common cancers and its high levels in this drugged milk is why so many medical organizations and hospitals have taken stands against rbGH. A former Monsanto scientist told me that when three of his Monsanto colleagues evaluated rbGH safety and discovered the elevated IGF-1 levels, even they refused to drink any more milk -- unless it was organic and therefore untreated. _Government scientists from Canada evaluated the FDA's approval of rbGH and concluded that it was a dangerous facade. The drug was banned in Canada, as well as Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. But it was approved in the US while Michael Taylor was in charge. His drugged milk might have caused a significant rise in US cancer rates. Additional published evidence also implicates rbGH in the high rate of fraternal twins in the US._ Taylor also determined that milk from injected cows did not require any special labeling. And as a gift to his future employer Monsanto, he wrote a white paper suggesting that _if companies ever had the audacity to label their products as not using rbGH, they should also include a disclaimer stating that according to the FDA, there is no difference between milk from treated and untreated cows._ Taylor's disclaimer was also a lie. Monsanto's own studies and FDA scientists officially acknowledged differences in the drugged milk. No matter. _Monsanto used Taylor's white paper as the basis to successfully sue dairies that labeled their products as rbGH-free_. _*Will Monsanto's Wolff Also Guard the Chickens?*_ As consumers learned that rbGH was dangerous, they refused to buy the milk. To keep their customers, a tidal wave of companies has publicly committed to not use the drug and to label their products as such. Monsanto tried unsuccessfully to convince the FDA and FTC to make it illegal for dairies to make rbGH-free claims, so they went to their special friend in Pennsylvania -- Dennis Wolff. _As state secretary of agriculture, Wolff unilaterally declared that labeling products rbGH-free was illegal,_ and that all such labels must be removed from shelves statewide. This would, of course, eliminate the label from all national brands, as they couldn't afford to create separate packaging for just one state. Fortunately, consumer demand forced Pennsylvania's Governor Ed Rendell to step in and stop Wolff's madness. But Rendell allowed Wolff to take a compromised position that now requires rbGH-free claims to also be accompanied by Taylor's FDA disclaimer on the package. President Obama is considering Dennis Wolff for the top food safety post at the USDA. Yikes! Rumor has it that the reason why Pennsylvania's governor is supporting Wolff's appointment is to get him out of the state -- after he "screwed up so badly" with the rbGH decision. Oh great, governor. Thanks. _*Ohio Governor Gets Taylor-itus*_ Ohio not only followed Pennsylvania's lead by requiring Taylor's FDA disclaimer on packaging, they went a step further. They declared that dairies must place that disclaimer on the same panel where rbGH-free claims are made, and even dictated the font size. This would force national brands to re-design their labels and may ultimately dissuade them from making rbGH-free claims at all. The Organic Trade Association and the International Dairy Foods Association filed a lawsuit against Ohio. Although they lost the first court battle, upon appeal, the judge ordered a mediation session that takes place today. Thousands of Ohio citizens have flooded Governor Strickland's office with urgent requests to withdraw the states anti-consumer labeling requirements. Perhaps the governor has an ulterior motive for pushing his new rules. If he goes ahead with his labeling plans, he might end up with a top appointment in the Obama administration. To hear what America is saying about GMOs and to add your voice, go to our new non-GMO Facebook Group *National Geographic TV* (which is bundled as a freebie with most SHAW cable packages) has been running and re-running *Silence of the Bees**>. *One-third of the North-American honey-bee population has already disappeared. All will be gone in a couple of decades. Their disappearance will also trigger the disappearance of most of our crops - with ensuing mass famine. Causes are multiple - one of them being the *monocultural (&altered genome) cultivation of crops* promulgated by the corporations (so that bees don't get any health-sustaining variety in their diets). We will see *self-inflicted genocide* everywhere. Short excerpts at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE-8QuBDkkw (A brief but fascinating overview of how bees work) and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIn_RXeTX9k (a declaration of the emergency) *Download the Torrent file here: __SILENCE OF THE BEES_ _, from the Pirate Bay (protecting Life and Property!) * In the winter of 2006, a strange phenomenon fell upon honeybee hives across the country. Without a trace, millions of bees vanished from their hives. A precious pollinator of fruits and vegetables, the disappearing bees left billions of dollars of crops at risk and threatened our food supply. The epidemic set researchers scrambling to discover why honeybees were dying in record numbers -- and to stop the epidemic in its tracks before it spread further. Silence of the Bees is the first in-depth look at the search to uncover what is killing the honeybee. The filmmakers of Bees take viewers around the world to the sites of fallen hives, to high-tech labs, where scientists race to uncover clues, and even deep inside honeybee colonies. Silence of the Bees is the story of a riveting, ongoing investigation to save honeybees from dying out. The film goes beyond the unsolved mystery to tell the story of the honeybee itself, its invaluable impact on our diets and takes a look at what's at stake if honeybees disappear. Silence of the Bees explores the complex world of the honeybee in crisis and instills in viewers a sense of urgency to learn ways to help these extraordinary animals. Original Air Date: 28. October 2007 http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/bees/ this message came from: http://www.ecotort.gn.apc.org/scandalous.htm -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Sun Jul 26 04:22:30 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 03:22:30 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: The USA is under the control of a foreign power Message-ID: <002401ca0dda$fdd7cb50$f98761f0$@net> From: Nance ~ [mailto:planetnews8 at gmail.com] Sent: Sunday, July 26, 2009 1:31 AM Subject: The USA is under the control of a foreign power Dual Citizenship -- Loyal to Whom? by Dan Eden Please also see Omert Humiliates America and Who Controls Hollywood and the Media?. Someone wrote and asked me, "Why are there Israeli- but not Mexican-American Dual Nationals?" Well, here's my take on this. I'd also like your views and opinions. Before I begin I'd like to day something important. There is a new law -- the so-called "Hate Speech" law, that just passed the House and is expected to pass the Senate and become law very soon. It was originally designed to guard against discrimination of oppressed minorities but was soon recognized as a way for Israel to forever end any criticism of the state of Israel and Zionism. When it is law, this page, and many like it will be deleted from the internet as yet another mile marker of the infringement of truth and free speech by certain dual-nationals at the expense of true and patriotic Americans. Enough said. Unless we are Native American Indians, all Americans have their origins in some other country. Both of my parents were from England. They were proud to be "British" but they were most proud of achieving their American citizenship. Sure, we had pictures of the Queen and nick-nacks with the Union Jack on them. My mother even celebrated the traditional 4 o'clock tea time and was good at making Yorkshire Pudding. In the late 60's my older brother served in the US Army and did his tour in Viet Nam. When it came down to "allegiance," we were all patriotic Americans. Period. The word "allegiance" means that we promise loyalty. It also carries with it the expectation that this loyalty will be exclusive and unrestrained. In the case of a declared war or real threat or conflict, for example, our allegiance to America should preclude any other interest, be it another country or political ideology. Security Issues Since citizenship carries with it a responsibility to be exclusively loyal to one country, the whole concept of dual citizenship and nationality raises questions about which of the dual citizenships have priority. This is extremely important when the two countries have opposing interests. It can be a deadly problem when a dual citizen is in a high position within our American government. Can one imagine a Japanese citizen serving in the Pentagon during WWII? Or how about a citizen of the Soviet Union holding a cabinet position in the White House during the Cold War? Today's conflicts are centered in the Middle East. America needs to balance foreign policies towards oil producing Arab nations with our goal being peace and stability in the region. This places a burdon on our government to be even-handed in our dealings with the Arab world and Israel. While the Iraq War was waged on lies about Weapons of Mass Destruction and revenge for 911, the real reason has emerged as a well designed global plan to improve the power and leverage of Israel. Added to this policy is yet another potential blow to American interests and security -- the impending War with Iran. This war will be waged for the security of Israel and will be paid for by the blood of American soldiers and the hard-earned money of American citizens whose quality of life is inversely tied to the cost of petrolium. Recently, in their much lauded paper, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, Harvard professor, Stephen Walt, and University of Chicago professor, John Mearsheimer, focused attention on the strong Israeli lobby which has a powerful influence over American foreign policies (see BBC article). They detail the influence that this lobby has exerted, forming a series of international policies which can be viewed as in direct opposition to the interests and security of the American people. These acts and policies are more often than not carried out by US government appointees who hold powerful positions and who are dual American-Israeli citizens. Since the policies they support are often exclusively beneficial to Israel, often to the detriment of America, it has been argued that their loyalties are misdirected. A few classic examples can be cited here. Jonathan Jay Pollard [right] was an American-Israeli citizen who worked for the US government. He is well known because he stole more secrets from the U.S. than has any other spy in American history. During his interrogation Pollard said he felt compelled to put the "interests of my state" ahead of his own. Although as a U.S. Navy counter-intelligence specialist he had a top-secret security clearance, by "my state" he meant the state of Israel. Literally tens of thousands of Americans holding U.S. passports admit they feel a primary allegiance to the state of Israel. In many instances, these Americans vote in Israeli elections, wear Israeli uniforms and fight in Israeli wars. Many are actively engaged both in the confiscation of Palestinian lands and in the Israeli political system. Three examples come to mind: One is Rabbi Meir Kahane, who founded the militant Jewish Defense League in the U.S. in the 1960s, then emigrated to Israel where, eventually, he was elected to the Knesset. Until he was shot and killed at one of his U.S. fund-raising rallies in 1990, the Brooklyn-born rabbi shuttled between Tel Aviv and New York, where he recruited militant American Jews for his activities in Israel against Palestinians. He claimed to be a "dual citizen" of America and Israel. Another Jewish American, James Mahon from Alexandria, Virginia, reportedly was on a secret mission to kill PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat when he was shot in 1980 by an unknown assailant. When he was shot, Mahon held an American M-16 in his hand and a U.S. passport in his pocket. Then there was Alan Harry Goodman, an American Jew who left his home in Baltimore, Maryland, flew to Israel and served in the Israeli army. Then, on April 11, 1982, armed with an Uzi submachine gun, he walked, alone, to Al-Aqsa, Jerusalem's most holy Islamic shrine, where he opened fire, killing two Palestinians and wounding others. Both the U.S. and Israeli governments played down the incident, as did the media. Most recently, US Navy Petty Officer, Ariel J. Weinmann, while serving at or near Bahrain, Mexico, and Austria, "with intent or reason to believe it would be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation (Israel), [attempted] to communicate, deliver or transmit classified CONFIDENTIAL and SECRET information relating to the national defense, to a representative, officer, agent or employee of a foreign government." Weinmann was apprehended on March 26 after being listed as "a deserter by his command," according to the US Navy. The information he gathered was supplied to Israel. Ben-Ami Kadish, a Connecticut-born U.S. dual citizen who worked in New Jersey was arrested and charged with giving top secret nuclear information and details about the US Patriot Missile to an Israeli agent -- the same agent involved with the Jay Pollard case. The espionage charges reportedly stem from acts committed in the 1980s. These activities, like the ones with convicted spy Pollard, were immediately denied by Israel (Pollard pleaded guilty in 1986). It is further reported that Israeli officials instructed Kadish to lie to US investigators. Kadish was scheduled to be arraigned on April 22, 2008 at U.S. District Court in Manhattan. In 2009 it was revealed that the NSA had secretly taped conversations of Congresswomen Jane Harman [pictured above on the right with Israeli Knesset Speaker, Dalia Itzik] negotiating with two AIPAC spies accused of giving sensitive information about US military activities to the Israeli government. In the taped conversation she is being asked to dismiss their espionage charges in return for large politiacl contributions and (are you ready) a chairmanship of the US Intelligence Committee! One has to assume that they thought they could actually "arrange" for this to happen. This information was secretly revealed by the NSA to Nancy Polosi prior to the selection of the committee chairman and was a factor (let's hope, anyway) in Harmon's failure to obtain this highly sensitive position. After all was said and done, however, the case against the two Israeli lobbyists was dismissed -- against the insistance of the FBI. No satisfactory reason has been given for this. Unfortunately, such an act of treason remains unchallenged and Jane Harman remains at her congressional job and enjoys being the third wealthiest member of Congress. Only in America! The examples of Kahane, Mahonm, Goodman and Weinmann raise the question of when a U.S. citizen ceases to be, or should cease to be, a U.S. citizen. U.S. Law at one time clearly stated that an American citizen owed first allegiance to the United States. A U.S. citizen should not fight in a foreign army or hold high office in a foreign country without risking expatriation. What the heck happened? The 1940 Nationality Act Section 401 (e) of the 1940 Nationality Act provides that a U.S. citizen, whether by birth or naturalization, "shall lose his [U.S.] nationality by...voting in a political election in a foreign state." This law was tested many times. In 1958, for instance, an American citizen named Perez voted in a Mexican election. The case went to the Supreme Court, where the majority opinion held that Perez must lose his American nationality. The court said Congress could provide for expatriation as a reasonable way of preventing embarrassment to the United States in its foreign relations. But then something very odd happened. In 1967 an American Jew, Beys Afroyim received an exemption that set a precedent exclusively for American Jews. Afroyim, born in Poland in 1895, emigrated to America in 1912, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1926. In 1950, aged 55, he emigrated to Israel and became an Israeli citizen. In 1951 Afroyim voted in an Israeli Knesset election and in five political elections that followed. So, by all standards he lost his American citizenship -- right? Wrong. After living in Israel for a decade, Afroyim wished to return to New York. In 1960, he asked the U.S. Consulate in Haifa for an American passport. The Department of State refused the application, invoking section 401 (e) of the Nationality Act -- the same ruling that had stripped the American citizen named Perez of his U.S. citizenship. Attorneys acting for Afroyim took his case to a Washington, DC District Court, which upheld the law. Then his attorneys appealed to the Court of Appeals. This court also upheld the law. The attorneys for Afroyim then moved the case on to the Supreme Court. Here, with Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas, Lyndon Johnson's former attorney and one of the most powerful Jewish Americans, casting the swing vote, the court voted five to four in favor of Afroyim. The court held that the U.S. government had no right to "rob" Afroyim of his American citizenship! The court, reversing its previous judgment as regards the Mexican American, ruled that Afroyim had not shown "intent" to lose citizenship by voting in Israeli elections. Huh? While Washington claims it has a "good neighbor" policy with Mexico, the U.S. does not permit Mexicans to hold dual nationality. The US makes them become either U.S. or Mexican -- you can't be both. But the U.S., in its special relationship with Israel, has become very sympathetic to allowing Israeli-Americans to retain two nationalities and allowing U.S. citizens not only to hold public office in Israel, but to hold US government positions as well! No other country holds this special exception to our laws of citizenship. So, you might ask, are there any other dual Israel-American citizens who hold US government positions that could compromise American security? Yes. Consider the following list that I obtained on the web: Michael Mukasey Recently appointed as US Attorney General. Mukasey also was the judge in the litigation between developer Larry Silverstein and several insurance companies arising from the destruction of the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001. Michael Chertoff Former Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, at the Justice Department; now head of Homeland Security. Richard Perle One of Bush's foreign policy advisors, he is the chairman of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board. A very likely Israeli government agent, Perle was expelled from Senator Henry Jackson's office in the 1970's after the National Security Agency (NSA) caught him passing Highly-Classified (National Security) documents to the Israeli Embassy. He later worked for the Israeli weapons firm, Soltam. Perle came from one the above mentioned pro-Israel thinktanks, the AEI. Perle is one of the leading pro-Israeli fanatics leading this Iraq war mongering within the administration and now in the media. Paul Wolfowitz Former Deputy Defense Secretary, and member of Perle's Defense Policy Board, in the Pentagon. Wolfowitz is a close associate of Perle, and reportedly has close ties to the Israeli military. His sister lives in Israel. Wolfowitz came from the above mentioned Jewish thinktank, JINSA. Wolfowitz was the number two leader within the administration behind this Iraq war mongering. He later was appointed head of the World Bank but resigned under pressure from World Bank members over a scandal involving his misuse of power. Lawrence (Larry) Franklin The former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst with expertise in Iranian policy issues who worked in the office of Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith and reported directly to Feith's deputy, William Luti, was sentenced January 20, 2006, "to more than 12 years in prison for giving classified information to an Israeli diplomat" and members of the pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Franklin will "remain free while the government continues with the wider case" and his "prison time could be sharply reduced in return for his help in prosecuting" former AIPAC members Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, [who] are scheduled to go on trial in April [2006]. Franklin admitted that he met periodically with Rosen and Weissman between 2002 and 2004 and discussed classified information, including information about potential attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq. Rosen and Weissman would later share what they learned with reporters and Israeli officials." (source: sourcewatch.com). Douglas Feith Under Secretary of Defense and Policy Advisor at the Pentagon. He is a close associate of Perle and served as his Special Counsel. Like Perle and the others, Feith is a pro-Israel extremist, who has advocated anti-Arab policies in the past. He is closely associated with the extremist group, the Zionist Organization of America, which even attacks Jews that don't agree with its extremist views. Feith frequently speaks at ZOA conferences. Feith runs a small law firm, Feith and Zell, which only has one International office, in Israel. The majority of their legal work is representing Israeli interests. His firm's own website stated, prior to his appointment, that Feith "represents Israeli Armaments Manufacturer." Feith basically represents the Israeli War Machine. Feith also came from the Jewish thinktank JINSA. Feith, like Perle and Wolfowitz, are campaigning hard for this Israeli proxy war against Iraq. Feith was investigated by the FBI under suspicion of leaking classified information to Israel, being that he was Larry Franklin's boss when Franklin leaked those documents to Rosen and Weissman of AIPAC. For that he was forced to leave the National Security Council. Feith was also investigated by the Senate Intelligence Committee for sexing up 'intelligence' that was used to justify invading Iraq. Edward Luttwak Member of the National Security Study Group of the Department of Defence at the Pentagon. Luttwak is reportedly an Israeli citizen and has taught in Israel. He frequently writes for Israeli and pro-Israeli newspapers and journals. Luttwak is an Israeli extremist whose main theme in many of his articles is the necessity of the U.S. waging war against Iraq and Iran. Henry Kissinger One of many Pentagon Advisors, Kissinger sits on the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board under Perle. For detailed information about Kissinger's evil past, read Seymour Hersch's book (Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House). Kissinger likely had a part in the Watergate crimes, Southeast Asia mass murders (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos), Installing Chilean mass murdering dictator Pinochet, Operation Condor's mass killings in South America, and more recently served as Serbia's Ex-Dictator Slobodan Milosevic's Advisor. He consistently advocated going to war against Iraq. Kissinger is the Ariel Sharon of the U.S. Unfortunately, President Bush nominated Kissinger as chairman of the September 11 investigating commission. It's like picking a bank robber to investigate a fraud scandal. He later declined this job under enormous protests. Dov Zakheim Dov Zakheim is an ordained rabbi and reportedly holds Israeli citizenship. Zakheim attended Jew's College in London and became an ordained Orthodox Jewish Rabbi in 1973. He was adjunct professor at New York's Jewish Yeshiva University. Zakheim is close to the Israeli lobby. Dov Zakheim is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and in 2000 a co-author of the Project for the New American Century's position paper, Rebuilding America's Defenses, advocating the necessity for a Pearl-Harbor-like incident to mobilize the country into war with its enemies, mostly Middle Eastern Muslim nations. He was appointed by Bush as Pentagon Comptroller from May 4, 2001 to March 10, 2004. At that time he was unable to explain the disappearance of $1 trillion dollars. Actually, nearly three years earlier, Donald Rumsfeld announced on September 10, 2001 that an audit discovered $2.3 trillion was also missing from the Pentagon books. That story, as mentioned, was buried under 9-11's rubble. The two sums disappeared on Zakheim's watch. We can only guess where that cash went. Despite these suspicions, on May 6, 2004, Zakheim took a lucrative position at Booz Allen Hamilton, one of the most prestigious strategy consulting firms in the world. One of its clients then was Blessed Relief, a charity said to be a front for Osama bin Laden. Booz, Allen & Hamilton then also worked closely with DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is the research arm of the Department of Defense. Judicial Inc's bio of Dov tells us Zakheim is a dual Israeli/American citizen and has been tracking the halls of US government for 25 years, casting defense policy and influence on Presidents Reagan, Clinton, Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. Judicial Inc points out that most of Israel's armaments were gotten thanks to him. Squads of US F-16 and F-15 were classified military surplus and sold to Israel at a fraction of their value. Kenneth Adelman One of many Pentagon Advisors, Adelman also sits on the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board under Perle, and is another extremist pro-Israel advisor, who supported going to war against Iraq. Adelman frequently is a guest on Fox News, and often expresses extremist and often ridiculus anti-Arab and anti-Muslim views. Through his racism or ignorance, he actually called Arabs "anti-Semitic" on Fox News (11/28/2001), when he could have looked it up in the dictionary to find out that Arabs by definition are Semites. I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Vice President Dick Cheney's ex-Chief of Staff. As chief pro-Israel Jewish advisor to Cheney, it helps explains why Cheney is so gun-ho to invade Iran. Libby is longtime associate of Wolfowitz. Libby was also a lawyer for convicted felon and Israeli spy Marc Rich, whom Clinton pardoned, in his last days as president. Libby was recently found guilty of lying to Federal investigators in the Valerie Plame affair, in which Plame, a covert CIA agent, was exposed for political revenge by the Bush administration following her husband's revelations about the lies leading to the Iraq War. Robert Satloff U.S. National Security Council Advisor, Satloff was the executive director of the Israeli lobby's "think tank," Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Many of the Israeli lobby's "experts" come from this front group, like Martin Indyk. Elliott Abrams National Security Council Advisor. He previously worked at Washington-based "Think Tank" Ethics and Public Policy Center. During the Reagan Adminstration, Abrams was the Assistant Secretary of State, handling, for the most part, Latin American affairs. He played an important role in the Iran-Contra Scandal, which involved illegally selling U.S. weapons to Iran to fight Iraq, and illegally funding the contra rebels fighting to overthrow Nicaragua's Sandinista government. He also actively deceived three congressional committees about his involvement and thereby faced felony charges based on his testimony. Abrams pled guilty in 1991 to two misdemeanors and was sentenced to a year's probation and 100 hours of community service. A year later, former President Bush (Senior) granted Abrams a full pardon. He was one of the more hawkish pro-Israel Jews in the Reagan Administration's State Department. Marc Grossman Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. He was Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources at the Department of State. Grossman is one of many of the pro-Israel Jewish officials from the Clinton Administration that Bush has promoted to higher posts. Richard Haass Director of Policy Planning at the State Department and Ambassador at large. He is also Director of National Security Programs and Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). He was one of the more hawkish pro-Israel Jews in the first Bush (Sr) Administration who sat on the National Security Council, and who consistently advocated going to war against Iraq. Haass is also a member of the Defense Department's National Security Study Group, at the Pentagon. Robert Zoellick U.S. Trade Representative, a cabinet-level position. He is also one of the more hawkish pro-Israel Jews in the Bush (Jr) Administration who advocated invading Iraq and occupying a portion of the country in order to set up a Vichy-style puppet government. He consistently advocates going to war against Iran. Ari Fleischer Ex- White House Spokesman for the Bush (Jr) Administration. Prominent in the Jewish community, some reports state that he holds Israeli citizenship. Fleischer is closely connected to the extremist Jewish group called the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidics, who follow the Qabala, and hold very extremist and insulting views of non-Jews. Fleischer was the co-president of Chabad's Capitol Jewish Forum. He received the Young Leadership Award from the American Friends of Lubavitch in October, 2001. James Schlesinger One of many Pentagon Advisors, Schlesinger also sits on the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board under Perle and is another extremist pro-Israel advisor, who supported going to war against Iraq. Schlesinger is also a commissioner of the Defense Department's National Security Study Group, at the Pentagon. David Frum White House speechwriter behind the "Axis of Evil" label. He lumped together all the lies and accusations against Iraq for Bush to justify the war. Joshua Bolten White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Bolten was previously a banker, former legislative aide, and prominent in the Jewish community. John Bolton Former UN Representative and Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. Bolton is also a Senior Advisor to President Bush. Prior to this position, Bolton was Senior Vice President of the above mentioned pro-Israel thinktank, AEI. He recently (October 2002) accused Syria of having a nuclear program, so that they can attack Syria after Iraq. He must have forgotten that Israel has 400 nuclear warheads, some of which are thermonuclear weapons (according to a recent U.S. Air Force report). David Wurmser Special Assistant to John Bolton (above), the under-secretary for arms control and international security. Wurmser also worked at the AEI with Perle and Bolton. His wife, Meyrav Wurmser, along with Colonel Yigal Carmon, formerly of Israeli military intelligence, co-founded the Middle East Media Research Institute (Memri),a Washington-based Israeli outfit which distributes articles translated from Arabic newspapers portraying Arabs in a bad light. Eliot Cohen Member of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board under Perle and is another extremist pro-Israel advisor. Like Adelman, he often expresses extremist and often ridiculus anti-Arab and anti-Muslim views. More recently, he wrote an opinion article in the Wall Street Journal openly admitting his rascist hatred of Islam claiming that Islam should be the enemy, not terrorism. Mel Sembler President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. A Prominent Jewish Republican and Former National Finance Chairman of the Republican National Committee. The Export-Import Bank facilitates trade relationships between U.S. businesses and foreign countries, specifically those with financial problems. Steve Goldsmith Senior Advisor to the President, and Bush's Jewish domestic policy advisor. He also served as liaison in the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (White House OFBCI) within the Executive Office of the President. He was the former mayor of Indianapolis. He is also friends with Israeli Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert and often visits Israel to coach mayors on privatization initiatives. Adam Goldman White House's Special Liaison to the Jewish Community. Joseph Gildenhorn Bush Campaign's Special Liaison to the Jewish Community. He was the DC finance chairman for the Bush campaign, as well as campaign coordinator, and former ambassador to Switzerland. Christopher Gersten Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Administration for Children and Families at HHS. Gersten was the former Executive Director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, Husband of Labor Secretary. Mark Weinberger Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Public Affairs. Samuel Bodman Deputy Secretary of Commerce. He was the Chairman and CEO of Cabot Corporation in Boston, Massachusetts. Bonnie Cohen Under Secretary of State for Management. Ruth Davis Director of Foreign Service Institute, who reports to the Office of Under Secretary for Management. This Office is responsible for training all Department of State staff (including ambassadors). Daniel Kurtzer Ambassador to Israel. Cliff Sobel Ambassador to the Netherlands. Stuart Bernstein Ambassador to Denmark. Nancy Brinker Ambassador to Hungary Frank Lavin Ambassador to Singapore. Ron Weiser Ambassador to Slovakia. Mel Sembler Ambassador to Italy. Martin Silverstein Ambassador to Uruguay. Lincoln Bloomfield Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs. Jay Lefkowitz Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the Domestic Policy Council. Ken Melman White House Political Director. Brad Blakeman White House Director of Scheduling. I don't know about you, but dual citizenship is fine with me for an ordinary citizen. But if you hold an official position that demands that you put American interests above all else -- if you should look transparent and fair to the rest of the world regarding your formation of Middle East foreign policies, then this is a dangerous trend. Even if there were no pro-Israeli agenda, the fact that decision makers have a bias or an allegiance to one of the parties involved in the current conflict should have raised red flags long before now. If you think we're being unfair here, ask yourself: How you would react to the Head of Homeland Security if he or she were a dual national with citizenship in Iran, Lebanon or Saudi Arabia? Ask yourself why you don't feel the same about Israeli dual citizenship. Then you will understand how powerful the Israeli lobby has been in "adjusting" your acceptance of their special status. Viewzone || Comments? _____ -- -- NUTRAZON... Instantly Balance Right & Left Hemispheres of Brain, Bringing Body into Immediate Homeostasis for Maximum Self-Healing Potential!: http://www.TeamOneWellness.com; then: http://www.2ProsperWell.com ------------ You Too Could Have An Instant List Of 10,000 Targeted Prospects... www.StreamlineFunnelSystem.com/?ID=11362 Nancy or Earle 949-200-7335 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 3338 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 3237 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 2804 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 4484 bytes Desc: not available URL: From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Tue Jul 28 04:05:28 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:05:28 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] Zeitgeist, and possible Anti-Semitism!!! Message-ID: <765539.97020.qm@web27408.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> German Facebook equivalent deletes Zeitgeist groups!! 1 Month, 3 Weeks ago ? ? ? Feedback: 9?? Guys prepare for the next blow. There is a german copy of Facebook called studiVZ (studi=student) with approximately 10 Mio users. They are one of biggest social platform in Europe. Anyhow, they are owned by one of the biggest Media Cooperation in Germany and they just shut down the Zeitgeist groups which had several 10k followers. If thats not bad enough, it gets worse. The reason for the ban are anti-semetic tendencies expressed by TZGM. Maybe you can translate the whole article with google. http://lotus-online.de/modules/news/article.php?storyid=23 This is the actual message sent to the group admin: Hallo, wir haben Deine Gruppe ?Zeitgeist-Revolution.de? gel?scht. Sogenannte Zeitgeist-Gruppen werden im VZ nicht l?nger akzeptiert. Allerdings m?chten wir auch darlegen, weshalb wir uns zu diesem Schritt entschieden haben. Es ist nicht unsere Absicht alternative Meinungen und Nachrichten zu behindern oder zu unterbinden, aber wir beobachten seit einige Zeit mit gro?er Sorge die Entwicklung der Theorien, die z.B. durch die Zeitgeist-Filme angesto?en wurden. Die Ideen von grauen Eminenzen, Eliten oder Geheimb?nden, die im Hintergrund die F?den ziehen, ist nicht neu. Die Zeitgeist-Filme weiten diese Idee auch auf das Wirtschaftswesen aus. Und da schlie?t sich ein Kreis innerhalb der Geschichte der Verschw?rungstheorien: Latenter Antisemitismus, der immer wieder in vielen der formulierten Theorien durchscheint. Zum Beispiel in der Idee vom b?sen, raffenden Kapital, welches ja letztlich f?r die Wirtschaftskrise verantwortlich ist und ?ber M?zenatentum und ?hnliche Mittel der Einflussnahme auf die Weltpolitik einwirken, um diese nach ihrem Interesse zu lenken. Wir sehen davon ab den Antisemitismus zu erkl?ren oder zu diskutieren, weil wir von unseren Gruppengr?nden erwarten, dass sie sich mit den Problemfeldern ihrer Gruppenthemen auseinandergesetzt haben. Weiter bitten wir Dich keine weiteren Gruppen zu diesem Themen zu gr?nden, da dies ansonsten zu einer Sperrung oder L?schung Deines Profils f?hren kann. Danke f?r Dein Verst?ndnis, Das VZ Team tanslation: Hello, we deleted your group "ZG-revolution.de". So called ZG groups are no longer accepted in studiVZ. Anyhow, we want to give you the reason for our action. It is not our intension to supress alternative opinions or news, but we see with worries the developement of new theories that have been pushed, for example by the ZG movies. The idea of gray eminences, elites or secret societies that control politics from behind the curtain is not new. The ZG movies extend these ideas to the economic system. And here the circle of the history of conspiracy theories closes: latent antisemitism, which shines through many of the formulated theories. For example the idea of the bad, grupping capital, which is responsible for the financial crisis and also patronage and similar means to take influence into world politic to control and guide them in their interest. We will not explain or discuss this antisemitism, because we expect the group founders to be aware of the problematic content of their group themes. We urge you to not found any new groups with this topic or you account and profil will be deleted. thanks for you attention, the VZ team. Prepare for similar actions by Facebook! MAybe you could bring this to the attention of the facebook group, so users dont get disconnected like in germany. Youtube and google already tried to block the voices of Alex Jones, we might be the next. In this context, if you are in Europe, vote the Pirate Party into the EU parliament to protect the internet and freedom of the individual. Please note: although no board code and smiley buttons are shown, they are still usable. BeijaFlor Refuses to use the karma system Gold Boarder Posts: 275 Report to moderator "Now, rise and show your strength. Be eloquent, and deep, and tender; see, with a clear eye, into Nature and into life; spread your white wings of quivering thought, and soar, a god-like spirit, over the whirling world beneath you, up through long lanes of flaming stars to the gates of eternity!" ? #137497 Re:German Facebook equivalent deletes Zeitgeist groups!! 1 Month, 3 Weeks ago Feedback: 111?? the german political system uses a pro semitic stance to label anything they see as a threat anti semitic. clearly with the history of the german national identity it is not advisable to have anything to do with anti semiticism, but they also use it to their advantage, as in this case. the german system was recently caught out trying to put in a national firewall to prevent certain internet sites being viewed, and an international company was swooped on for divulging this information and showing what they were blocking and trying to implement. Seeing that it was an international company and happened to be based in germany was their mistake as it caused an uproar. bottom line, if its a german site, they will try to eridicate any anti corporatism, anti establishment at all costs and never give the real reason, since anti semiticism is a great excuse for the germans, it makes them look good doing something bad. Please note: although no board code and smiley buttons are shown, they are still usable. MrJones Platinum Boarder Posts: 3183 Last Edit: 2009/06/06 09:23 By .Report to moderator "Monotheistic Religion to A Unilateral Dictatorship" "Atheistic Science to -273?C Human Emotion" ? #137498 Re:German Facebook equivalent deletes Zeitgeist groups!! 1 Month, 3 Weeks ago Feedback: 2?? Man thats crazy! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Tue Jul 28 05:05:36 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:05:36 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] Fw: FEASTA Newsletter 27th July 2009 Message-ID: <700284.68338.qm@web27406.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> --- On Mon, 27/7/09, Feasta News wrote: From: Feasta News Subject: FEASTA Newsletter 27th July 2009 To: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Date: Monday, 27 July, 2009, 10:09 PM (Mailing list information, including unsubscription instructions, is located at the end of this message.) FEASTA Newsletter 27th July 2009 Dear Feasta members and supporters, Greetings from Feasta! This newsletter is a busy one and is going out later than intended - reflecting the frenetic activity level within Feasta. Inside you'll find a reminder of your membership renewal. Leigh Davis, our intern from the US, introduces herself (for those who haven't heard from her already). There are reports from the various Feasta individual and network projects (including the link to the New Emergency conference recordings on the web) and a section on book reviews and other member activities. There's also an important request for participation from the Environmental Pillar of Social Partnership. Hope you find it interesting and informative. The next one will come out in the autumn so please let me know if you have any relevant content you'd like included. Regards, Morag Back to topTable of Contents Membership renewal time! Greetings from Leigh Davis, Feasta intern The New Emergency Conference Smart Taxes Network Carbon Cycles and Sinks Network The Feasta Liquidity Network Carbon Sinks and Cycles Network Members' Book Reviews Members' Other Projects Cork Environmental Forum The Powerdown Show - the powering up of community, creativity and culture. Social Partnership Environmental Pillar Update Membership renewal time! It's that time of the year again.... If you haven't already it would be great if you would renew your subscription now - it's important to us from a financial perspective but also shows your support for Feasta as an organisation. As time passes and the crises deepen Feasta's work becomes more and more relevant. If you haven't been a paying member it would be great if you would consider becoming one. Full membership costs ?35 and the Concession Rate is ?15. This is payable by cheque, cash, postal order, interbank transfer or Paypal. To renew your membership 1. Go to your member profile on the website by clicking on http://www.feasta.org/forum/profile.php?mode=renew_membership. 2. Log in. 4. For Paypal you don't need a Paypal account, just a credit card; you just click on "Paypal" under "payment method" and press "submit". This brings you to a link which says "click to go to Paypal site". Back to top Greetings from Leigh Davis, Feasta intern Hello Everyone! By now you have probably heard a lot from me! My name is Leigh and I've been interning with Feasta since the end of May and will continue until mid-August. I am in my third year of college at Michigan State University and am over in Ireland as part of a study abroad program. My major at school is Public Policy with an emphasis on environmental studies. Needless to say, Feasta is a pretty good fit for me. While I've been working with Feasta, I have enjoyed being part of the planning, running, and follow up of the New Emergency Conference held in June. The topics discussed were very interesting and relevant to the courses I am taking at school. I have also been working on the new Feasta website (you'll be hearing more about this closer to the time for switchover!) which has proved to be both educational (as I have never worked with website software) and sometimes a little tedious, but fun none-the-less. The work with the new website is basically just transferring all the information on the old website into the new one. The cool thing about the new website is its software, it is more comprehensive and easy to use, especially when you are trying to look up information regarding one specific project i.e. Cap and Share. On most days I also work on other odds and ends around the office and h ave enjoyed working with Clare on blogs and other projects for the Smart Tax Network. There are other little tasks I have done for the Carbon Sinks and Cycles project as well. I have been exposed to many different perspectives and new ideas while being in the office and attending meetings. I continue to learn something new everyday and am very thankful for my opportunity to be a part of this organization. Back to top The New Emergency Conference The conference was a success, not only in terms of organisation and content but as an opportunity for those involved to meet and share ideas. The survey of participants conducted afterwards was largely positive and we've learned both from the experience and from constructive feedback given. About half of the conference recordings are available on http://vimeo.com/feasta - the other half will be up there in the coming weeks, having been delayed by holidays and technological hiccoughs. The next step will be the book that will incorporate the conference presentations and other relevant material. We hope to have this published by mid Autumn. Back to top Smart Taxes Network (Clare Scott and Emer O'Siochru are working on this project.) Smart Taxes has had a productive quarter, highlights include: The submission of Dr Constantin Gurdgiev's research paper "Macroeconomic impact of a Land Value Tax". This was supported by the Urban Forum and other Network partners and was submitted to the Taxation Commission by Smart Taxes on May 17th (a copy is available via the documents section of the Smart Taxes site). Land Value Tax was included as a major element of the Environmental Pillar's submission to the Taxation Commission which generated some useful interest in the media. Further research is underway into the technical LVT issues using the Delphi survey methodology in a questionnaire which has been circulated to industry stakeholders. Smart Taxes has commissioned UK Labour party activist Dave Wetzel, who is best known for introducing the successful congestion charges in London under Ken Livingstone, to undertake policy development research for a socially progressive Land Value Tax tailored to the Irish context. Dave will be personally meeting with politicians, trade unions, pressure groups and academics in late July and August. We are also seeking to secure an agricultural economist to ensure the agricultural and farming sector is represented in the formulation and structure of a Land Value Tax. James Pike of the Urban Forum discussed 'equity partnerships' and their use for non debt-based funding of development at the New Emergency conference in June. This useful mechanism to address stalled property development and sales will be used in conjunction with the above initiatives to promote Land Value Tax. A paper in relation to the Irish banking crisis with specific reference to NAMA has been prepared and is currently under review. It should be ready for circulation and publication in the coming weeks. Work has also begun in relation to pensions' policy and an initial scoping paper is being prepared as the basis of a brainstorming session later this summer to stimulate our thinking to develop a clear position in relation to this important issue. As September is fast approaching, and with it the first anniversary of Smart Taxes, work has begun on our annual report and our major priority in the Autumn will be preparation of our budget submission. Back to top Carbon Cycles and Sinks Network (Corinna Byrne and Richard Douthwaite are working on this project.) The Carbon Cycles and Sinks Network is preparing a report that will to presented to the DoEHLG in September outlining the necessary steps to turn Ireland's into a carbon sink rather than a carbon source. The report will be broken down into chapters with each chapter dealing with a specific topic. To assist in drafting the report two researchers (recently graduated from UL) have been hired for 2 months. Manuel Kuhs is examining the policy needed to mitigate nitrous oxide emissions from agriculture, while Sam Watterson is looking at methane emissions. Both are in regular contact and consultation with experts in the relevant fields. Good progress is being made. Corinna made a presentation at Glenstal Abbey's Annual Ecumenical Conference, where she outlined the roles that Ireland's land plays in the climate change challenge. She also presented at Feasta's New Emergency conference where she described the work of CCSN in refocusing the purpose of Ireland's land. (Both presentations are available on http://www.carboncyclesandsinks.org with a video of the presentation made at the New Emergency conference to be available soon - if not already.) The CCSN has finished work drafting a submission to the DoEHLG's Working Group on the cessation of domestic peat extraction in the 32 designated raised bogs. The submission deadline was July 17th. Back to top The Feasta Liquidity Network (Richard Douthwaite and others are volunteering on this project - unfunded as of yet.) The Feasta Liquidity Network group is hoping to launch the world's first debt-free electronic currency in County Kilkenny early in 2010. Firms and private individuals will be given "quid" to enable them to trade. The newly-elected Mayor of Kilkenny, Malcolm Noonan, is enthusiastic about the plan which should enable the county council to avoid some of the drastic spending cuts the fall-off in its income would otherwise require it to make. Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce is also keen as it hopes that the system will boost trading in the town and allow its members to pay their bills more easily. However, both the council and the chamber have yet to take a final decision on whether to support the scheme. The Feasta group hopes that their decision will follow a demonstration of the system in the city in September. The system software is being written to meet the deadline. "The council and the chamber have both to support the system to enable it to go ahead" says Ciaran Mulloy, a member of the Feasta group who attended a meeting with the Mayor and the chamber in Kilkenny this month. "It won't work without them. The council has to be able to pay some of its workers in quid and the workers aren't going to accept being paid that way unless they can spend the quid in the local shops." The shops should accept the quid because they will know that the council will accept them back in payment of business rates, water and refuse disposal charges. They should also be able to use them to pay their own workers and to buy local goods and services. FutureProof Kilkenny, a local group which promotes Transition Initiative ideas, is working with Feasta to set up the system. It is keen that a paper currency should be issued to operate alongside the electronic one to give the latter a face and make it seem real to the public. Users will transfer the electronic quid to each other either over the internet or by using Laser-type chip cards. Every shop will be equipped with a special terminal. At a later stage, it will be possible to make transfers by mobile phone. Only low-value notes will be issued to be used for small transactions. "Quid will be given to the users to spend into circulation because it is the users who create the currency's value. If they didn't accept it, it would be worthless," Ciaran Mulloy explains. "If you earn it and spend it quickly, you'll be given more. If you try to save it, a bit will be taken away each month. There hasn't been anything like this before because the technology hasn't been available. " The importance of the system from a Feasta perspective is that it enables people to continue to do business as the euro system breaks down. "The euro gets into circulation when people go into debt" says Richard Douthwaite, a member of the group. "Now that we've passed oil peak, the world economy can only shrink. "Nobody should risk borrowing when incomes are shrinking as there won't be the money to pay the debt back. So the world's debt-based money systems will break down. We want Kilkenny people to show that the Liquidity Network is a viable alternative." The group has four volunteer programmers who discuss progress every Wednesday evening via Skype. It is looking for more, especially if they can write Python. There is a lot of information about the project on the Feasta website and the group has its own site at http://www.theliquiditynetwork.org . Back to top Report from the Feasta Climate Group Feasta's Cap and Share approach to sharing out the benefits from using the very restricted amount of fossil fuel that should be used in future has greatly increased its visibility in Britain and at the United Nations in the past three months. In Britain, as a result of the efforts of the Cap and Share UK group, it was hailed by the Sustainable Development Commission as a Breakthrough Idea of the 21st Century "which could transform the UK into a sustainable society" at an event in London on July 1st attended by Prince Charles. The Commission had set out to identify ideas which could make the biggest impact on Britain's efforts to tackle climate change, resource depletion and inequality. It reviewed almost 300 of them submitted by the public, businesses, academics, and sustainability professionals and C&S was one of the nineteen selected. The C&S group had a stand at the event and were able to explain to ministers how C&S could be used to control the UK's greenhouse emissions. The United Nations exposure is thanks to the Climate Group's Feargal Duff who has used his contacts in the organisation (he worked for the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) for many years) to promote the idea that UNEP should carry out an assessment of the various global approaches to dealing with the climate crisis since it is becoming apparent that the nation-by-nation approach being followed at present is not unlikely deliver emissions cuts on the required scale. Besides C&S, the global approaches that the assessment would review would include Contraction and Convergence, Greenhouse Development Rights and Kyoto 2. Feargal has travelled to Zurich, Paris, Bonn and New York to make his case and has gained the support of Yvo de Boer, the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, who is running the present talks' process. Janos Pasztor, the UN Secretary-General's climate adviser is also in favour, as is Achim Steiner, the head of UNEP. However, the assessment cannot begin until a number of countries request UNEP to carry it out. Feargal hopes that the necessary requests will be made by Ireland, Norway and the Netherlands, and he is in touch with all three governments. Back to top Members' Book Reviews In the last newsletter we asked for reviewers for The Transition Timeline by Shaun Chamberlin and Future Scenarios by David Holmgren. Many thanks to John Barry and Duncan Martin who responded very eloquently. Both reviews are available on the Feasta website in the book reviews forum. Next month we hope to receive the new Rob Hopkins/Tamzin Pinkerton book; Local Food, How to make it happen in your community, from the publisher (Green Books in the UK). Would anyone like to take this one on? Or if you have any other relevant book you'd like to share your thoughts on, please just send details in and we'll put on the website. You can also post a review yourself on the Feasta discussion boards. Back to top Members' Other Projects Cork Environmental Forum Phoebe Bright is involved with the Cork Environmental Forum which would like your input into events they're planning. September 2009 - Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) workshop Before the new SPCs (see item 10 below) meet for the first time in September Cork Environmental Forum is keen to hold a training day for all new and existing reps. We are talking to the Cork County Manager and Irish Environmental Network/Environmental Pillar about making this a regional event i.e. for reps all through Munster. The intention is to review what is currently working well and how we can all get more benefit from the hundreds of person hours spent each year. We would see this workshop as focusing on ideas from attendees for making these meetings more effective as we believe the basic idea and structure of the SPCs is working well. Early October 2009 - Plenary session on transport As part of CEF's on-going series of plenary sessions we would like to have an up-beat, exciting view of modern sustainable transport solutions - whether it be cities leading the way in electric vehicles/public transport or other interesting innovations (e.g car-sharing services Avego and Tripmi). This would come soon after European Mobility Week during which we will be holding the Rebel Pedal bicycle parade so it would be nice to complement this. November 2009 - Plenary session on Community Supported Agriculture In November 2007 we held a plenary session on 'Local Food Production and Biodiversity' which covered in very broad terms many of the themes of allotments and community gardens for example. This year we would like to focus on the theme of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) as we believe it holds great promise here in Cork where we have so many local community groups with active memberships. The idea would be to introduce the concept of CSA and bring together representatives from the local farming communities/IFA and local community groups. Please contact them at info at cef.ie. As you can see the dates are not fixed yet but information will be posted on www.cef.ie as it is firmed up. Back to top The Powerdown Show - the powering up of community, creativity and culture Davie Philip, Cultivate and Feasta founding member, is one of the creators of this 10-part TV series taking a fresh and engaging look at the community responses to the converging challenges of climate change and peak oil. Rob Hopkins has said of it: "Bursting with insightful analysis and creative solutions to the twin challenges of climate change and peak oil, The Powerdown Show is an inspirational pointer to life beyond fossil fuels. Essential viewing - a flash of light in the darkness." The DVD is available from Cultivate (www.cultivate.ie). For a taster you can view the 8th Episode at http://transitiontownsireland.ning.com/video/the-powerdown-show-episode-8 Back to top Social Partnership Environmental Pillar Update Feasta members will have received an email last week with an invitation to put their name forward as Environmental Pillar representatives to the local authority Strategic Policy Committees. The Environmental Pillar now also has the right to nominate reps to County Development Boards and the Integrated Local Development Companies/Urban Based Partnerships. This is a major breakthrough and the chance to engage at a significant level - something to tell the grandkids about when they ask what you did to play your part in the emergency! Ultimately it is the intention of the Pillar to facilitate the establishment of local environmental networks where they don't already exist, so that in future they can provide the pillar with a list of candidates. However, in the short term, all of the above bodies are looking for nominations, about 240 individuals in all. The deadline for all is now the 3rd week of August (including the SPCs which was to have been this week). You'll find information on how to make an expression of interest to the at http://www.environmentalpillar.ie/archives/179. (This information, while specific to the local authority SPCs, is similar for the other bodies.) You can submit your expression of interest directly to Michael Ewing at michael at ien.ie - and not to Feasta as stated in the email. We would just ask that you also email info at feasta.org as we should obviously know which members are putting themselves forward under the Feasta name. If you were previously on one of these bodies please let Environmental Pillar Co-ordinator Michael know which one. You may state on the application which body/bodies you would like to be nominated to. It will be up to the Pillar to decide if and where to place people. Back to top The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription: You are subscribed to the following list: Feasta News using the following email: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL: http://www.feasta.org/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/u/feasta_news/ If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address. Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism. You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen: http://www.feasta.org/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/list/feasta_news If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at: website at feasta.org The following physical address is associated with this mailing list: FEASTA The Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability 14 St. Stephen's Green Dublin 2 Ireland Mailing List Powered by Dada Mail Powered by Dada Mail 2.10.14 Copyright ? 1999-2007, Simoni Creative. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Tue Jul 28 05:20:03 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:20:03 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] The Century of the Self Message-ID: <677730.58219.qm@web27401.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> ? ? Video: The Century of Self 7 Hours, 59 Minutes ago Feedback: 0 Part 1 here A documentary about how Edward Bernays changed society from simply consuming necessities to over consuming products that were not needed. The story of the relationship between Sigmund Freud and his American nephew, Edward Bernays. Bernays invented the public relations profession in the 1920s and was the first person to take Freud's ideas to manipulate the masses. He showed American corporations how they could make people want things they didn't need by systematically linking mass-produced goods to their unconscious desires. Bernays was one of the main architects of the modern techniques of mass-consumer persuasion, using every trick in the book, from celebrity endorsement and outrageous PR stunts, to eroticising the motorcar. His most notorious coup was breaking the taboo on women smoking by persuading them that cigarettes were a symbol of independence and freedom. But Bernays was convinced that this was more than just a way of selling consumer goods. It was a new political idea of how to control the masses. By satisfying the inner irrational desires that his uncle had identified, people could be made happy and thus docile. It was the start of the all-consuming self which has come to dominate today's world. (Excerpt from BBC Site) More Videos At spctv.feedbeat.com/spctv? JahSun Fresh Boarder Posts: 3 Last Edit: 2009/07/27 23:23 By JahSun. The administrator has disabled public write access. ? #161575 Re: Video: The Century of Self 7 Hours, 40 Minutes ago Feedback: 11 I have seen this documentary before, in fact it has been posted in this forum a few times. But I am not going to complain, it is a brilliant documentary, and everyone should see it. Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Yeah that's right, its four hours long. But it's worth it, believe me. stp52x Only united will we prosper Platinum Boarder Posts: 464 Last Edit: 2009/07/27 23:35 By stp52x. The administrator has disabled public write access. ?Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.? - A Human ?The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.? - A Human ? Page: 1 The Zeitgeist Movement Public Forum in English THE MONETARY SYSTEM Moderators: Guardian004, moderator, AF Heretic Board CategoriesPublic Forum in English...?Projects......?Communications Team.........?Education Sub-Team.........?Activism Sub-Team.........?Lecture Circuit Sub-Team......?Creative Team.........?Material Innovations Sub-Team.........?Social Innovations Sub-Team......?Technology Team.........?Automation and Robotics Sub-Team.........?Programming Sub-Team.........?Industrial Design Sub-Team.........?General Applicaitions Sub-Team......?Administrative Team...?NEWS...?ZDAY- MARCH 15TH 2010 - PLANNING...?ZEITGEIST ADDENDUM...?RADIO ADDRESS...?MISCELLANEOUS...?HUMANITIES...?USING THIS WEB SITE...?PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION...?SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY...?THE VENUS PROJECT...?CHAPTERSModeration Forum in English...?Public Moderation DiscussionOther Languages...?????????? ????? (Bulgarian)......?ZDAY ?? ???? 15 2010 - ?????????......??????? ?? ???????......?????????? ???????......?????? ?? ??????? ???????......??????????? ?? ????? ???????......???????? ? ????????????......?????????? ? ???????...?Javna tribina u hrvatskim (Croatian)......?ZDAY-15. o?ujak 2010 - PLANIRANJE......?Venus THE PROJECT......?Monetarni sistem......?ZNANOST I TEHNOLOGIJA......?FILOZOFIJA I RELIGIJA......?KORI?TENJEM SOFTWARE FORUM......?Zeitgeist dodatak...? (Hebrew) ?????? ??????? ??????......?ZDAY--15 ??? 2010 - ?????......?PROJECT ?? ????......??-SYSTEM ????????......?Zeitgeist ?????......??????????? ????......???? ??????????......?????? ?????? ??????...?Foro P?blico en espa?ol......? ZDAY-15 de marzo de 2010 - PLANIFICACI?N......?El Proyecto Venus......?El sistema monetario......?La ciencia y la tecnolog?a......?La filosof?a y la religi?n......?Utilizando el foro de software......?Zeitgeist ADENDA...?Forum Public en Fran?ais......?ZDAY- 15 MARS 2010 - PLANNING......?LE PROJET VENUS......?LE SYST?ME MON?TAIRE......?LA SCIENCE ET LA TECHNOLOGIE......?PHILOSOPHIE ET LA RELIGION......?UTILISER LE LOGICIEL DU FORUM......?ZEITGEIST ADDENDUM...?Forum public ?n limba rom?n? (Romanian)......?ZDAY-15 martie 2010 - PLANIFICARE......?Venus A PROIECTULUI......?A Sistemului Monetar......?FILOSOFIE ?i religie......??tiin?? ?i Tehnologie......?UTILIZ?ND Forum Software......?Zeitgeist ADDENDUM...?F?rum P?blico em Portugu?s (Portuguese)......?ZDAY - 15 de mar?o de 2010 - Planejamento......?O Projeto Venus......?O Sistema Monet?rio......?Ci?ncia e Tecnologia......?Filosofia e Religi?o......?Usando o Software do F?rum......?Zeitgeist Addendum...?Javni Forum na Srpskom (Serbian)......?ZDAY- MART 15.2010 - Planiranje......?VENUS PROJEKAT......?MONETARNI SISTEM......?FILOZOFIJA I RELIGIJA......?NAUKA I TEHNOLOGIJA......?UPOTREBA FORUMA......?ZEITGEIST ADDENDUM...?Julkinen foorumi suomeksi (Finnish)......?ZDAY-maaliskuu 15. 2010 - SUUNNITTELU......?THE Venus HANKKEEN......?Rahalaitoksen......?TIEDE JA TEKNIIKKA......?Filosofia ja uskonto......?K?YTT?M?LL? FOORUMI SOFTWARE......?Zeitgeist LIS?YS...?Kamu Forumu T?rk (Turkish)......?ZDAY-15 Mart 2010 - PLANLAMA......?THE VENUS PROJES?......?PARASAL S?STEM......?B?L?M VE TEKNOLOJ?......?FELSEFE VE D?N......?FORUM YAZILIMI KULLANIMI......?Genel Zeyilname......?Zeitgeist Addendum...?Nyilv?nos f?rum a magyar (Hungarian)......?ZDAY m?rcius 15. 2010 - TERVEZ?S......?A V?nusz PROJECT......?A p?nzrendszer......?FILOZ?FIA ?S VALL?S......?F?RUM SZOFTVER HASZN?LAT?VAL......?Korszellem KIEG?SZ?T?S......?TUDOM?NY-?S TECHNIKA...??ffentliches Forum in Deutsch......?Z-Tag ,15.M?rz 2010-Planung......?Das Venus-Projekt......?Das Finanzsystem......?Philosophie und Religion......?Technisches Forum......?Wissenschaft und Technologie......?Zeitgeist Addendum...?Public Forum i Svenska (Sweedish)......?ZDAY-mars 15th 2010 - PLANERING......?VENUSPROJEKTET......?DET MONET?RA SYSTEMET......?ANV?NDA FORUMETS PROGRAMVARA......?FILOSOFI OCH RELIGION......??VRIGT......?VETENSKAP OCH TEKNIK......?ZEITGEIST ADDENDUM...?Public Forum in het Nederlands......?ZDAY ? 15 MAART 2010 ? GEPLAND......?HET VENUS PROJECT......?HET MONETAIRE SYSTEEM......?FILOSOFIE AND RELIGIE......?GEBRUIK VAN DE FORUM SOFTWARE......?WETENSCHAP EN TECHNIEK......?ZEITGEIST ADDENDUM...?Public Forum in Italiano (Italian)......?ZDAY-15 marzo 2010 - PIANIFICAZIONE......?LA VENERE DI PROGETTO......?IL SISTEMA MONETARIO......?SCIENZA E TECNOLOGIA......?FILOSOFIA E RELIGIONE......?USARE IL FORUM SOFTWARE......?Zeitgeist ADDENDUM...?Public Forum lietuvi? (Lithuanian)......?ZDAY-kovo 15 d. 2010 - PLANAVIMAS......?Venus PROJEKT?......?PINIG? SISTEMOS......?FILOSOFIJA IR RELIGIJA......?MOKSLAS IR TECHNOLOGIJOS......?NAUDOJIMOSI FORUMO PROGRAMA......?Zeitgeist ADDENDUM...?Public Forum w j?zyku Polskim......?NOWO?CI......?ZDAY ? 15 MARCA 2010 ? PLANOWANIE......?NAUKA I TECHNOLOGIA......?FILOZOFIA I RELIGIA......?OPROGRAMOWANIE TEGO FORUM......?PROJEKT WENUS......?R??NO?CI......?SYSTEM MONETARNY......?ZEITGEIST ADDENDUM...?Sabiedr?bas forum? Latvijas (Latvian)......?ZDAY-marts 15 2010 - PL?NO?ANU......?THE VENUS PROJEKTU......?THE MONET?R? SIST?MA......?FILOZOFIJA UN RELI?IJAS......?Izmantojot DISKUSIJAS SOFTWARE......?Zeitgeist PAPILDIN?JUMS......?ZIN?TNE UN TEHNOLO?IJAS...?Ve?ejn? f?rum v ?e?tin? (Czech)......?ZDAY-15. b?ezna 2010 - PL?NOV?N?......?The Venus PROJECT......?Pen??n? syst?m......?FILOSOFIE A N?BO?ENSTV?......?POU??V?N?M SOFTWARU FORUM......?V?DA A TECHNOLOGIE......?Zeitgeist DODATEK...?Verejn? f?rum v sloven?ine (Slovak)......?ZDAY-15. Marca 2010 - PL?NOVANIE......?The Venus PROJECT......?Pe?a?n? syst?m......?VEDA A TECHNOL?GIE......?FILOZOFIA A N?BO?ENSTVO......?POU??VAN?M SOFTV?RU FORUM......?Zeitgeist DODATOK...???????? ?????? ??? ???????? (Greek)......?ZDAY-15? ??????? 2010 - ??????????......?VENUS ?? ????......??? ??????????? ???????......?SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY......?ZEITGEIST ????????......?????????? ??? ????????......???????????????? ?? FORUM ?????????...???????????? ????? ??-?????????? (Ukrainian)......?ZDAY-15 ??????? 2010 - ??????????......?VENUS PROJECT......????????-????????? ???????......?Zeitgeist ??????......??????????????? ??? ????? SOFTWARE......?????? ? ??????????......?????????? ? ???????...????????????? ????? ?? ??????? ????? (Russian)......?ZDAY-15 ????? 2010 - ????????????......?VENUS PROJECT......????????-????????? ???????......?Zeitgeist ??????????......?????????? ???? ????? SOFTWARE......?????? ? ??????????......?????????? ? ???????...???? ??? ?????? ??? (Hindi)......?ZDAY-15 ????? 2010 - ?????.........????? ?? ????????......???????? ???????......???????? ??? ????????????......?Zeitgeist ????????......??? ??? ?????????? ?? ??????......?????? ?? ????...???????????????? (Japanese)......?ZDAY - 2010?3?15?-??????......???????????......??????......?Zeitgeist???......???????????????......??????......?????...???????? (Chinese)......?ZDAY-2010?3?15?-?? (Zday 3-15-2010)......??????????......??????......???......??????......?????......?????...??? ?? ?? (Korean)......?ZDAY - 3? 15 2010 - ??......???? ????......??? ??......??? ??......?Zeitgeist? ??......???? ??......??? ?????? ?? Powered by Kunena ?Limited Copyright 2008-2009 The Zeitgeist Movement We allow/encourage respectful duplication of this information Search Auto Translate -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Tue Jul 28 13:35:35 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:35:35 -0700 Subject: [GJM] Did you know? A must watch video. Message-ID: <001d01ca0fba$95e1fe30$c1a5fa90$@net> Did you know? http://www.network-centricadvocacy.net/2009/03/did-you-know-youtube-video-ov erview-of-internet-trends.html FutureDawning.org Mary Rose, www.futuredawning.org dustysummerrose at gmail.com Always have my latest info Want a signature like this? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Tue Jul 28 16:02:25 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:02:25 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: Aware Show Teleseminar Invitation from Bruce H. Lipton, PhD Message-ID: <007301ca0fcf$1a352d60$4e9f8820$@net> From: Spiritcrossing [mailto:info at spiritcrossing.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 10:33 AM To: maryrose333 at att.net Subject: Aware Show Teleseminar Invitation from Bruce H. Lipton, PhD View this email online by clicking here. Hello friends, I am so pleased and delighted to share with you a unique and f*r*e*e intensive teleseminar series that I am participating in that you won't want to miss! Joining me will be an amazing line up of speakers who will each be focused on helping you manage your life, and to assist you in finding the gifts within the changes that we are all experiencing on this planet right now. The series is produced by renowned host of The Aware Show, Lisa Garr, who has been on Public Radio KPFK (90.7 FM) for over a decade. In that time Lisa has interviewed the most established leaders in the human potential movement. She is now bringing her connections, insights and remarkable interview skills to a new interactive forum where you can question and converse with the best of the best. http://www.theawareshow.com Lisa will be interviewing me and other leaders about "Balancing Life". We will be discussing what is on so many people's minds right now; how to balance life in these changing times. Together we will discuss new methods to cope and use the life experiences that are showing up to create the life that you want. In fact, all these speakers will be sharing their information so you can learn and be able to immediately apply new techniques to manage your life to it's fullest potential. Here is a sampling of the amazing leaders who will be a part of this series... Wayne Dyer Wayne is an internationally renowned bestselling author and speaker with over 30 books, many audio programs, and videos. Wayne has also delivered his inspiring message on thousands of television and radio shows. Mark Victor Hansen & Robert Allen Mark & Robert are Authors, Motivational Speakers and highly successful entrepreneurs who have dedicated themselves to helping people in all walks of life to reshape their personal vision of what's possible for themselves. Mark Victor Hansen is the co-creator of The Chicken Soup for the Soul series and has co-authored the book One Minute Millionaire with Robert Allen, best-selling author of Nothing Down and Multiple Streams of Income. Dr. John Gray John is the best-selling relationship Author of all time. He is the author of 16 best-selling books including Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus. His latest book, Why Mars & Venus Collide, which recently reached the Amazon top one hundred, reveals how men and women can improve relationships by understanding how they cope differently with stress. Olivia Newton-John & John Easterling Olivia is an acclaimed singer and actress, a four-time Grammy award winner with five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 albums. She is appearing together with her husband "Amazon John" of the Amazon Herb Company to talk about managing your health. Dr. Daniel Amen A physician, child and adult psychiatrist, brain imaging specialist, bestselling author, and the CEO and medical director of Amen Clinics. He and his clinics are dedicated to improving the lives through education, the latest advances in neuroimaging, and individualized treatment plans. Dr. Bruce Lipton Internationally recognized authority in indentifying and coalescing science and spirit and New York Times best selling author of The Biology of Belief. Dannion Brinkley Dannion Brinkley is a best-selling author and lecturer and is a leading authority in the grief and bereavement process. He is the founder of Compassion in Action, a group of hospice volunteers who serve dying veterans. He has had three near-death experiences which have focused him on leading a spiritual life and being in service to humanity. Gregg Braden Gregg is a New York Times best selling author of Fractal Time, The Divine Matrix and Spontaneous Healing of Belief. He is a purveyor of the heart and renowned pioneer in bridging science and spirituality. I know you will enjoy hanging out with this group, and there are 18 total speakers in all! And of course this is all completely fr*ee! To take advantage of this invitation to interact with these spiritual leaders, simply do the following: Step #1... Go register for your no-cost teleseminar seat here: http://www.theawareshow.com Step #2... Keep an eye out for Lisa's email with the details for listening in on the calls. Step #3... Make sure you go to the download site mentioned in your confirmation email after you register. You will also receive some bonus gifts that you can use immediately just for enrolling in this completely fr*ee series. Step #4... Watch for the opportunity to potentially own your personal copy of this amazing intensive teleseminar series on CD! I'm sure you're going to enjoy this interactive life changing opportunity. Yours truly, Bruce Lipton P.S. Remember, there are a limited number of seats available for this complementary teleseminar intensive series, and they're likely to fill up fast. So join us now, while the opportunity is here in front of you... http://www.theawareshow.com P.P.S. Also, if you can't make the Tuesday and Thursday LIVE calls at 2:30 PM Pacific/California/Los Angeles time, they will be recorded and available after each show for a limited time so you won't miss a thing. We'll send you the web address of the recording as soon as it's posted on our website. So join us now, while the opportunity is here in front of you... http://www.theawareshow.com Design:OneGraphic.com This message was sent from Spiritcrossing to maryrose333 at att.net. It was sent from: Spirit 2000, SpiritCrossing P.O. Box 11736 , Murfreesboro, TN 37129-0035. You can modify/update your subscription via the link below. Email Marketing by iContact - Try It Free! To be removed click here -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Tue Jul 28 20:47:47 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:47:47 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: How I've spent this summer - Transition Industries Message-ID: <001301ca0ff6$f6f5dd40$e4e197c0$@net> Dave this is excellent!!!! I really believe we are going to see more and more hand crafted items as people without jobs begin to create items for others to purchase. Like your idea of the trailers and solar ovens. Especially if they can be made out of recycled items. No matter how bad the economy gets, there will still be those who are employed in government and corporate jobs who will look for extraordinary items to purchase. And handmade items of clothing such as knitted or crotched sweaters, will still fetch a premium price. Canned gourmet items, e.g., jams, jellies, salsa, etc., will also be sought after by those who are affluent. Just before I lost my home and was out on the street in that recession where I lost everything, I made lingerie bags out of satin and lace along with scented heart-shaped cushions stuffed with rose petals just before Christmas. One patron bought $1200 worth from me as gifts for all of her female relatives. I put a sign outside my home saying "House Sale" and turned my family room into a gift shop with great success. Boxes of handmade candies, cookies, muffins, etc. are always gobbled up from baskets of goodies carried through office and industrial buildings for purchase by people for consumption at "break" times. This can be a good home-based business and is a great way to bring in a little extra cash. Tuck fruits, chewing gum, tea bags, mints, and other items in with the sweets. You may have to make an arrangement with a local restaurant or bakery to use their ovens to bake these goodies in order to meet city health requirements, but even after paying a useage fee, a nice profit can be realized. A business can be started in this manner by one person who does the baking and then hires others to do the marketing and sales throughout the office buildings. Another popular item to be marketed in this manner are floral arrangements, dried or fresh. The flowers can be picked up wholesale in the early morning hours along with ribbon, gift cards and other items, then be made into attractive arrangements, slipped into paper sleeves and carried into office buildings and other places for sale. Beauty shops are especially lucrative places to market floral bouquets. Not only will the shop owners purchase them to add to the ambiance of the shop, but customers will want them to take home as well. "How to" along with ideas of "what to do" can be included as part of the curriculum of community learning and information centers. -----Original Message----- From: Dave Ewoldt [mailto:dave at reststop.net] Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 6:39 PM To: Daves Posts Subject: How I've spent this summer - Transition Industries Transition Industries Announcement by Dave Ewoldt July, 2009 http://naturalsystems.blogspot.com/2009/07/transition-industries-announcemen t.html Hello All... you may have noticed I've been rather quiet on the blog and with other postings recently. The main reason for this is that it was time to put our talk into action. The concepts of relocalization and steady-state local living economies can be rather abstract, especially without functional examples to draw from. So, Natural Systems Solutions, in conjunction with Transition Pima, has created Transition Industries. The main purpose of Transition Industries is to serve as an example and demonstration model of ways to create small-scale light manufacturing and other "industrial" type endeavors at the neighborhood level that don't get caught in the trap of continuing support for either Industrialism or growth for the sake of growth. This can become a first step for communities to strengthen local economies, build healthy relationships, provide means of right livelihood, build skills and rekindle pride in craftsmanship, and create some of the necessary resiliency for rapidly changing times. The secondary purpose of Transition Industries is to provide a small revenue stream to support our non-profit Attraction Retreat and its major projects such as Natural Systems Solutions. The idea is to create items that meet people's needs, adhere to the definition of sustainability, make use of used and/or recycled materials, and either use less energy or contribute to a higher quality of life that doesn't require manufactured energy. It's time to learn new skills (and relearn some that are quickly disappearing) for a new economy -- and door-greeter at a big-box, hamburger flipper for the harried, insurance sales, banker, and Pentagon planner aren't among them. Our first product is a line of bicycle trailers, and we'll also be building low cost but efficient solar ovens. We'll also provide support for others desiring to explicitly address the need for right livelihood in an energy constrained, increasingly toxic, and rapidly warming world. And as you can see, you don't need a big fancy garage or workshop to get started on producing quality items. Check it out and let me know what you think. For the Earth... _dave_(this entire message is composed of recycled electrons) Natural Systems Solutions http://www.attractionretreat.org http://naturalsystems.blogspot.com Sustainable lifestyles, organizations, and communities From dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk Thu Jul 30 05:06:10 2009 From: dharao4 at yahoo.co.uk (robert searle) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:06:10 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [GJM] Green Job Losses..Bad timing or bad policy? Message-ID: <300882.51356.qm@web27401.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Green job losses: Bad timing or bad policy?Wed Jul 29 12:08PM The closure of wind turbine manufacturer Vestas' Isle of Wight factory is spectacularly bad timing for the government. By Alex Stevenson Earlier this month climate change secretary Ed Miliband unveiled the government's Low Carbon Transition Plan, an ambitious white paper outlining the way ministers will meet their targets. "Climate change is the moral issue of our time," he told the Commons this lunchtime. "In five months, the world must come together at Copenhagen and follow through on the commitment of world leaders last week to stop dangerous climate change. Today we show how Britain will play its part." Two weeks later, Mr Miliband finds himself in a more awkward position. Workers at the Vestas factory, the only place in Britain where wind turbines are manufactured, were dismayed to learn the factory will be shutting down. This is not good news for green Britain. Vestas blamed poor demand for their decision. The government has attempted to brush aside the blow. On Monday Mr Miliband met with protestors for an hour during his visit to Oxford and he pledged ?6 million to the firm to develop offshore wind technology. But the voices of the demonstrators disagreeing with his viewpoint are being heard loud and clear across Britian. Supporters of the demonstrators on the Isle of Wight gathered outside the Department of Energy and Climate Change last night. They made up an interesting coalition. The Rail and Maritime Union demanded straightforward nationalisation. The Green party's London MEP, Jean Lambert, backed state action but only preferred nationalisation as a last resort. Then there was the Campaign Against Climate Change, desperately seeking radical action by the government and hopping up and down in agony at its failure to do so. Together they have united to continue to pressure ministers on Vestas. This might be dismissed, as most protests are. But the longevity of the sit-in threatens to turn what was a minor nuisance into a major thorn in Mr Miliband's side. An attempt to secure an injunction removing the protests from their sit-in at the Vestas factory failed this morning, buying them an extra six days to continue to make their point. With the low carbon green agenda a central part of New Labour's preferred route out of the recession, the loss of green jobs on the Isle of Wight threatens to be a huge embarrassment to Gordon Brown and his government. Yes, this is a case of bad timing. But it might also be a case of bad policy as ministers shy away from the symbolism of yet another intervention. Comments1 - 10 of 101 First Previous 1 2 3 4 Next Last If wind power is as efficient and effective as this government says it is, it seems to be preparing to invest an awful lot of our money in the process, why is business not booming for Vestas? From ron.franks on Wed Jul 29 12:19PM Report abuse "Climate change is the moral issue of our times" .....this from a government that has none and proving once again that their "green" policies are nothing but window dressing and a cynical attempt to buy a few votes. From vanmeer1 on Wed Jul 29 12:22PM Report abuse the quicker the people start to know this green thing is all a con the better,its history repeating itself,i am in the so called green trade doing insulation for houses,and now getting asked why there bills are still high.i have no guilt about driving a 4x4 and a boat which burns 24 gallons an hour,all paid for by this legal con. From sxyman_wife on Wed Jul 29 12:32PM Report abuse As I see it the problem is caused by the undeniable fact that nobody apart from diehard 'greens' wants a windfarm in their backyard or wishes to see areas of naural beauty such as Portsdown Hill despoiled. So although no-one likes the idea of people being laid off how are we supposed to react? Throw taxpayers money at something that though green is an extremely inefficient producer of power in order to ensure employment on the Isle of Wight? I am glad I don't have to make that descision. From frankdineen on Wed Jul 29 12:33PM Report abuse Wind power is not the answer to our energy needs, it is expensive and unreliable. Howevere, it is an option that has been promoted by this government, yet as we can see they talk empty words. The government dont have a solid energy policy, similarly they dont have a solid transport policy, or health policy..or any other policy. we have an high spending high taxing incompetent bunch of free loaders. From johnjpettitt on Wed Jul 29 12:37PM Report abuse I notice that the goverbment has just funded 100 companies to provide training jobs for unemployed youths. One would think that providing funding to Vestas would be equally deserving - to save jobs on the Isle of Wight. Also to ensure that when more wind turbines are erected that at least they are British ones. I do not think our balance of payments needs another body blow as 1000s of turbines are imported from abroad. Pity too that the government does not increase funding in other "green" energy-producing technologies such as wave power, solar panels or hydro-electric. The latter, especially is much better on the eye than 100s of wind turbines and is relatively untapped. From michael.abbiss on Wed Jul 29 12:39PM Report abuse What a shame that with a turbine factory already set up in the UK, and a planned expansion of windpower, no one in Government seems to have been aware of the expected closure ! Of course, this is nothing to do with either banking & finance or nuclear power, so maybe these two idols blinded our leaders to an opportunity on their doorstep. Oh, and what about the lost jobs? Were they, too, invisible? From s.riley04 on Wed Jul 29 12:50PM Report abuse What a shame that with a turbine factory already set up in the UK, and a planned expansion of windpower, no one in Government seems to have been aware of the expected closure ! Of course, this is nothing to do with either banking & finance or nuclear power, so maybe these two idols blinded our leaders to an opportunity on their doorstep. Oh, and what about the lost jobs? Were they, too, invisible? From s.riley04 on Wed Jul 29 12:53PM Report abuse It looks like the petrol lobby is still very strong or we just like to rely on oil from the Middle East. The state of Earth has been secondary. Unfortunately to deny the truth doesn't help too much ! Why these equipments can't be sold abroad installed somewhere else ? I'd like to have that factory - could I give a try ? I wouldn't let you down... Save jobs for a Greener Britain !!! From krisztian.toth on Wed Jul 29 12:55PM Report abuse trojan250, you say "we all suffer" but I am in fact not suffering. And who gave you the right to speak on my behalf? From smileydudeinc on Wed Jul 29 12:56PM Report abuse First Previous 1 2 3 4 Next Last Comment on this article Please sign in to -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Thu Jul 30 14:21:52 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:21:52 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: A Spiritual Conspiracy Message-ID: <003a01ca1153$63ade920$2b09bb60$@net> From: PEERS: WantToKnow.info Email List [mailto:emaillist at peerservice.org] Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2009 8:17 AM To: maryrose333 at att.net Subject: A Spiritual Conspiracy To subscribe to or unsubscribe from this list (one email every few days) or to reply to this message, see end of email This message is available online at http://www.WantToKnow.info/inspiration/spiritual_conspiracy Dear friends, The word conspiracy (con + spire) actually means to breathe together. The poetic essay below is an inspiring reminder that we are being deliciously enveloped by a growing spiritual conspiracy. Increasing numbers around the globe are breathing together. As old structures crumble around us, we are conspiring to breath new life and a new way of living into our world. We know that no matter how crazy things may look on the surface, the universe is conspiring to shower us with blessings. Enjoy the rich flow of conscious conspiracy as you breathe in the soul-touching words below. Breathing together with you, Fred Burks for PEERS and the WantToKnow.info Team A SPIRITUAL "CONSPIRACY" On the surface of our world right now There is war, violence, and craziness And things may seem dark. But calmly and quietly At the same time Something is happening underground. An inner revolution is taking place And certain individuals Are being called to a higher light. It is a silent revolution >From the inside out >From the ground up. This is a global co-operation That has sleeper cells in every nation. It is a planetary Spiritual Conspiracy. You won't likely see us on T.V. You won't read about us in the newspaper. You won't hear from us on the radio. We don't seek glory. We don't wear any uniform. We come in all shapes and sizes, colors and styles. We are in every country and culture of the world In cities big and small, mountains and valleys In farms and villages, tribes and remote islands. Most of us work anonymously Seeking not recognition of name But profound transformation of life. Working quietly behind the scenes You could pass by one of us on the street And not even notice. We go undercover Not concerned for who takes the final credit But simply that the work gets done. Many of us may seem to have normal jobs. But behind the external storefront Is where the deeper work takes a place. With the individual and collective power Of our minds and hearts We spread passion, knowledge, and joy to all. Some call us the Conscious Army As together We co-create a new world. Our orders come from the Spiritual Intelligence Agency Instructing us to drop soft, secret love bombs when no one is looking. Poems ~ Hugs ~ Music ~ Photography ~ Smiles ~ Kind words Movies ~ Meditation and prayer ~ Dance ~ Websites Social activism ~ Blogs ~ Random acts of kindness? We each express ourselves In our own unique ways With our own unique gifts and talents. "Be the change you want to see in the world" That is the motto that fills our hearts. We know this is the path to profound transformation. We know that quietly and humbly Individually and collectively We have the power of all the oceans combined. At first glance our work is not even visible. It is slow and meticulous Like the formation of mountains. And yet with our combined efforts Entire tectonic plates Are being shaped and moved for centuries to come. Love is the religion we come to share And you don't need to be highly educated Or have exceptional knowledge to understand it. Love arises from the intelligence of the heart Embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse Of all living beings. Be the change you want to see in the world. Nobody else can do it for you. Yet don't forget, we are all here supporting you. We are now recruiting. Perhaps you will join us Or already have. For in this spiritual conspiracy All are welcome, and all are loved. The door is always open. ~ Author Appropriately Unknown See our collection of inspirational resources at www.WantToKnow.info/inspirational Your tax-deductible donations, however large or small, help greatly to support this important work. To make a donation by credit card, check, or money order: www.WantToKnow.info/donationswtk Explore the mind and heart expanding websites managed by the nonprofit PEERS network: www.peerservice.org - PEERS websites: Spreading inspiration, education, & empowerment www.momentoflove.org - Every person in the world has a heart www.personalgrowthcourses.net - Dynamic online courses powerfully expand your horizons www.WantToKnow.info - Reliable, verifiable information on major cover-ups www.weboflove.org - Strengthening the Web of Love that interconnects us all To respond to this message, visit www.WantToKnow.info/contactus.php To subscribe to or unsubscribe from the WantToKnow.info list (one email every few days): www.WantToKnow.info/subscribe _____ Change email address / Leave mailing list Powered by YourMailingListProvider -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Thu Jul 30 14:22:15 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:22:15 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Obama-Haters Becoming Increasingly...Racial In Their Rhetoric Message-ID: <003f01ca1153$70d25230$5276f690$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 9:56 AM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Obama-Haters Becoming Increasingly...Racial In Their Rhetoric (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) Obama-Haters Becoming Increasingly...Racial In Their Rhetoric By Eric Kleefeld - July 28, 2009, 3:34PM http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/07/obama-haters-becoming-increasingl y-racial-in-their-rhetoric.php An interesting pattern has emerged in the last few weeks, as President Obama's ratings have started to come down to Earth: You can really see a type of Obama-hatred out there that really does cross over into a purely racial territory. This has gotten especially worse in the aftermath of Obama's comments and subsequent mea culpa on the Henry Louis Gates arrest, but the pattern has been there all the same. You can look back to the 2008 campaign, with the Jeremiah Wright controversies, the phony rumors of a tape of Michelle Obama defaming whites, and the slow but steady emergence of the Birthers. And these days, the Birthers seem to be getting more and more bellicose. So let's take a look at some of those recent racially-charged attacks that have circulated against Obama, both right before and after the Gates incident. . Above all others, the real celebrity here has been Rush Limbaugh. He's done this kind of thing before -- remember the "Barack, The Magic Negro" song? But in the wake of the Gates incident, he's managed to become even more hard-edged about it. "Here you have a black president trying to destroy a white policeman," Limbaugh declared this past Friday. Yesterday, he shared a dream he's had about the dangers to capitalism: "I had a dream that I was a slave building a sphinx in a desert that looked like Obama." And he joked that food-safety advocates will go after all the unhealthy foods people like to eat, one by one -- but they'll have to wait until Obama is out of office to ban Oreos. . Glenn Beck said this today on Fox News: "This president, I think, has exposed himself as a guy, over and over and over again, who has a deep-seated hatred for white people, or the white culture. I don't what it is. You can't sit in a pew with Jeremiah Wright for 20 years and not hear some of that stuff, and not have it wash over." . During his new crusade of Birtherism, Lou Dobbs suggested on his radio show this past Wednesday, right before the Gates flare-up, that Obama could be an illegal immigrant, tying this into his usual preoccupation. "I'm starting to think we have a document issue," Dobbs said. "You suppose he's un-- no, I won't even use the word 'undocumented,' it wouldn't be right." . As we reported last week, a high-profile conservative activist against Obama on health care was circulating an e-mail that photoshopped Obama's face onto a witch-doctor's body. This e-mail had been circulating before the Gates incident, but still fits into the overall environment of Obama's ratings having started to flag. From maryrose333 at att.net Thu Jul 30 14:22:40 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:22:40 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] In break with Bush, speculators blamed for oil price spikes Message-ID: <004001ca1153$7f8a2c80$7e9e8580$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 10:19 AM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] In break with Bush, speculators blamed for oil price spikes (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/72612.html In break with Bush, speculators blamed for oil price spikes WASHINGTON - The chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission signaled Tuesday that his agency is likely to limit financial speculators' ability to drive up prices for oil and other fuels. Excessive speculation, suggested CFTC chief Gary Gensler, drove the price of oil to a record $147 a barrel a year ago, making it unnecessarily more expensive for Americans to heat their homes and fuel their cars. "I believe we must seriously consider setting strict position limits in the energy markets," Gensler said at the start of a public hearing to consider limiting the number of contracts that an oil trader can hold. Gensler's comments mark a stark shift from the Bush administration's view. When a Republican headed the CFTC last year, the agency concluded that market forces of supply and demand, not financial speculators, drove record increases in energy prices. However, Gensler and at least one other commissioner, Bart Chilton, think that speculation, at a minimum, drove the price of oil higher than it would've gotten otherwise. Investors, many of them big pension funds working with Wall Street investment banks, poured speculative money into futures, or contracts for future delivery. This inflow, as much as $300 billion, appears to have pushed prices to record levels, and helped them rebound again during the past six months from their winter lows. Testifying Tuesday before the CFTC, representatives from utilities, the airline industry and petroleum marketers all called on the agency to restrict Wall Street speculators to prevent a return to last year's price volatility. Allowing such a return would have "serious impact on the national air transportation system and the economy," including airline bankruptcies or mergers, warned Ben Hirst, general counsel for Delta Airlines, testifying on behalf of the Air Transport Association. Gensler signaled that the question of limits on speculative investment isn't a matter of if but when. "As we move forward in considering position limits, I believe that we should apply consistent, across-the-board regulations to all futures market participants," Gensler said, noting that the agency, and not individual exchanges, should set the new limits. "With competing exchanges, regulations must be applied equally to similar contracts in different markets. The CFTC is in the best position to apply limits across different exchanges, and we are most able to strike a balance between competing interests and the responsibility to protect the American public." The CFTC is also weighing whether to take back exceptions granted over decades to big Wall Street powers such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley that allow their investments in energy contracts to be regulated as if they were airlines or refineries, free from limits on the number they can buy. Commercial fuel users are exempt from position limits because they actually take delivery of the product. Wall Street firms, which don't take delivery, received the same exemptions, first from the CFTC and later from commodity exchanges, on the grounds that they needed to hedge against risks that they've taken through private bets on the price of oil. These private bets are called swaps. The swaps market dwarfs the regulated futures markets. Lack of transparency in these markets, and uncertainty about who actually owes what to whom, has amplified the global financial crisis. "It became more apparent to me today than it ever has before that the agency should be the one to grant hedge exemptions," Chilton said in an interview. He noted that exchanges have incentives to grant exemptions to big players who bring more trading volume, and thus profits, to the exchanges. "Our job is to protect consumers and ensure these markets are working effectively and efficiently." Executives from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are slated to testify Wednesday before the CFTC. They've denied that the flood of investment they helped direct into commodities drove up oil prices, arguing that global concerns about inadequate oil supplies explain the run-up. From maryrose333 at att.net Thu Jul 30 14:23:00 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:23:00 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Internal RNC Memo: "Engage In Every Activity" To Slow Down Health Care Reform Message-ID: <004101ca1153$8acf9c60$a06ed520$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 10:36 AM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Internal RNC Memo: "Engage In Every Activity" To Slow Down Health Care Reform Internal RNC Memo: "Engage In Every Activity" To Slow Down Health Care Reform http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/21/internal-rnc-memo-engage_n_241940.h tml First Posted: 07-21-09 11:05 AM | Updated: 07-21-09 11:27 AM A private memo distributed by the Republican National Committee calls for like-minded advocates to help defeat President Barack Obama's health care proposals by delaying its consideration. The memo, which was obtained by the Huffington Post from a Democratic source, provides the clearest illustration to date of the political playbook being used to stop Democratic attempts at a health care overhaul. Much of the material mirrors the speeches and presentations made by conservatives both inside and out of elected office to date. Obama's plan for health care is deemed an "experiment" and a "risk" that could bankrupt the country and dangerously change the doctor-patient relationship. In particular, the 12-page memo makes the case that it is a Republican priority to slow down the consideration of health care reform before it can become codified. "The Republican National Committee will engage in every activity we can to slow down this mad rush while promoting sensible alternatives that address health care costs and preserve quality," the memo affirmatively declares. In an effort to buttress its claims, the RNC highlights internal polling it conducted from June 15 to 17, in which 56 percent of respondents said they would be more likely to vote for a congressional candidate who was a "check and balance" on the president's agenda. Thirty-five percent said they preferred a candidate who would help Obama. "Every Republican should stand up for health care reform that controls cost, preserves quality and provides the health care that Americans deserve," the memo reads. "This means standing up against President Obama's health care plan. The Obama administration is acting with extreme haste, hoping to push through their health care experiment as fast as they can. Make no mistake -- their timeline is based on what works for them politically, not on what will result in the best health care policy for Americans. The reckless speed with which they are attempting to jam through this experiment is a grave threat to America's health care, and America's health." In an effort to slow down reform, the RNC advises its advocates to use a whole host of political tools, from organizing town halls, to writing letters to the editor, to booking surrogates on radio and television, to engaging in "Street Theater" protests outside Democratic events. And in a bit of irony, the memo's authors encourage readers to frame the president as the one acting out of political motivations. "Despite the president's increasingly skeptical reviews, it should also be noted that the Obama administration is fantastic at the PR game," the memo reads. "In some cases, they are even a little too good at it, selling things that are demonstrably untrue." Story continues below "The president's PR team uses rhetoric to mask reality, and the White House spin machine is in overdrive trying to convince Americans as well as our nation's health care professionals that their plan is the cure for what ails us," it argues at another point. "Republicans will not allow the Democrats' rhetoric to define this debate." As for a Republican alternative to the president's agenda, the RNC memo doesn't offer much in the way of details, save to make the argument that the status quo isn't as bad as it is being painted. "The Republican Party knows we have the best health care system in the world," the memo declares. "The Republican Party also knows it is a system in need of reform because it is costing our families and our businesses too much." In regard to specific talking points, the RNC Memo has nine of them: * President Obama and Democrats are conducting a grand experiment with our economy, our country, and now our health care. * President Obama's massive spending experiments have created more debt than at any other time in our nation's history. * The President experimented with a $780 billion dollar budget-busting stimulus plan and unemployment is still rising. The President experimented with banks and auto companies, and now we're on the hook for tens of billions of dollars with no exit plan. * Now the President is proposing more debt and more risk through a trillion dollar experiment with our health care. * Democrats are proposing a government controlled health insurance system, which will control care, treatments, medicines and even what doctors a patient may see. * This health care experiment will have consequences for generations, but President Obama and Democrats want to ram this legislation through Congress in two months. * President Obama's health care experiment is too much, too fast, too soon. Our country cannot afford to fix health care through a rushed experiment. * Americans want health care reform that addresses, not increases, cost or debt. * Government takeover is the wrong way to go -- health care decisions should remain between the doctor and the patient. Officials with the RNC did not immediately return a request for clarification or comment on the memo's subject matter. While documents like these commonly are passed around behind the scenes by like-minded partisans on both sides of the aisle they usually don't make their way into the public. At the very least, it provides an insight into how the Republican Party believes it can gain the upper hand, politically, in the current health care reform debate. From maryrose333 at att.net Thu Jul 30 14:23:35 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:23:35 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: New Bruce Lipton Video Message-ID: <004201ca1153$9ffd3610$dff7a230$@net> From: lawrence kiely [mailto:topdownyoga at gmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 2:00 PM To: Stephanie Sutton Subject: New Bruce Lipton Video Watch Bruce Lipton, from his interview for "Try It On Everything". http://tinyurl.com/brucelipton1 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Thu Jul 30 14:25:22 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:25:22 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Concerns growing over superbugs in our food Message-ID: <004c01ca1153$dfb21c30$9f165490$@net> -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 9:01 AM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Concerns growing over superbugs in our food (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) Concerns growing over superbugs in our food The meat you buy could be contaminated with drug-resistant MRSA http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31766160/ns/health-food_safety/ By Stephanie Woodard Prevention Magazine updated 6:16 a.m. MT, Wed., July 15, 2009 About two years ago, dozens of workers at a large chicken hatchery in Arkansas began experiencing mysterious skin rashes, with painful lumps scattered over their hands, arms, and legs. "They hurt real bad," says Joyce Long, 48, a 32-year veteran of the hatchery, where until recently, workers handled eggs and chicks with bare hands. "When we went and got cultured, doctors told us we had a superbug." Its name, she learned, was MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. This form of staph bacteria developed a mutation that resists antibiotics (including methicillin), making it hard to treat, even lethal. According to the CDC, certain types of MRSA infections kill 18,000 Americans a year - more than die from AIDS. Soon co-workers at the nearby processing plant, where hundreds of thousands of chicken carcasses are prepped daily for sale, began finding the lumps. Dean Reeves, 50, an 11-year employee, went to the hospital with an excruciating bump on her thigh she thought was a spider bite. It wasn't: She, too, had contracted MRSA, as had her husband, Bill, 46, who also works at the facility. Since late 2007, Dean has had monthly relapses. Even the safety glasses, gloves, and smocks workers wear (along with upgraded regular cleaning of equipment) aren't enough to protect them, says Bill. "We work so fast, we often stick ourselves with knives or scissors and get blood on us from head to foot." When a swelling rose over one of his eyes, he was told he might go blind; if the infection progressed to his brain, he'd die. Did any food safety agency test for MRSA in this plant's chickens, which were then sold to the public and served on American dinner tables? Did any government organization determine the source of the outbreak? Calls to the USDA, CDC, and Arkansas Department of Health yielded a no to both questions; the poultry company that owns the operation did not respond to multiple requests for a comment from Prevention. Yet in recent years, studies have found MRSA in retail cuts of pork, chicken, beef, and other meats in the United States, Europe, and Asia. To get answers, we investigated how MRSA has entered our food supply with limited government response; we considered the massive use of antibiotics in agriculture and its role in creating resistant microbes like MRSA; and we examined the safety of supermarket meat. Here, we offer our findings and expert advice to protect you and your family. Are you at risk? You've probably heard of people contracting certain strains of MRSA in hospitals, where it causes many illnesses: postsurgical infections, pneumonia, bacteremia, and more. Others encounter different types of the bug in community centers such as gyms, where skin contact occurs and items like sports equipment are shared; this form causes skin infections that may become systemic and turn lethal. Then in 2008, a new source and strain of MRSA emerged in the United States. Researcher Tara Smith, PhD, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Iowa, studied two large Midwestern hog farms and found the strain, ST398, in 45 percent of farmers and 49 percent of pigs. The startling discovery - and the close connection between animal health and our own that it implied - caused widespread publicity and much official hand-wringing. To date, though, the government has yet to put a comprehensive MRSA inspection process in place, let alone fix our problematic meat-production system. You may not have the same close contact with meat that a processing plant worker has, but scientists warn there is reason for concern: Most of us handle meat daily, as we bread chicken cutlets, trim fat from pork, or form chopped beef into burgers. Cooking does kill the microbe, but MRSA thrives on skin, so you can contract it by touching infected raw meat when you have a cut on your hand, explains Stuart Levy, MD, a Tufts University professor of microbiology and medicine. MRSA also flourishes in nasal passages, so touching your nose after touching meat gives the bug another way into your body, adds Smith. Tainted meat exposed Extensive research in Europe and Asia has found MRSA in many food animal species, and in the past year, US researchers have begun testing meat sold here. Scientists at Louisiana State University Agricultural Center tested 120 cuts of locally purchased meat and found MRSA in 4 percent of the pork and 1 percent of the beef. A University of Maryland scientist found it in 1 out of 300 pork samples from the Washington, DC, area. And a study in Canada (from which we import thousands of tons of meat annually) found MRSA in 9 percent of 212 pork samples. The percentages may be small, but according to the USDA, Americans eat more than 180 million pounds of meat every day. "When you consider the tiny size of the meat studies, the fact that they found any contamination at all is amazing," says Steven Roach, public health program director for Food Animal Concerns Trust. In some cases, the tainted meat probably came from infected animals; in others, already infected humans could have passed on MRSA to the meat during processing. Regardless of where it originated, even a small proportion of contaminated meat could mean a tremendous amount of MRSA out there. "We need more US research to figure out what's going on," says Roach. Facts about MRSA A look at what causes this antibiotic-resistant and sometimes deadly infection. MRSA is so common in the United States that it accounts for more than half of all soft-tissue and skin infections in ERs. The CDC estimates that invasive MRSA infections (those that entered the bloodstream) number more than 94,000 a year. Even more troubling, if you add up the other types of illnesses MRSA can cause, including urinary tract infections, pneumonia, and inpatient skin infections, the total could be 8 to 11 times more than that, reports a study by epidemiologist William Jarvis, MD, of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. The numbers are high and rising: From 1996 to 2005, MRSA-related hospitalizations increased nearly tenfold. People who get MRSA need ever more powerful medication. "Staph-related infections have become serious illnesses that can require hospitalization and stronger drugs," says Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association (APHA). For hatchery worker Long, doctors went through several antibiotics, with little success. The swellings would subside, then reappear. "Every time I went back to work, I got it again, for a total of 10 times," she says. Antibiotics in animals Scientists know that antibiotic overuse in humans caused ordinary staph to become resistant, says Levy. And they know the large amounts of meds used by agriculture caused other bacteria, such as E. coli and salmonella, to develop resistance. "Now we're looking at the relationship between antibiotic use on farms and MRSA," he says. It's an important mission, as industrial agriculture is the country's largest antibiotic user: Animals consume nearly 70 percent of these meds, perhaps more than 24 million pounds a year, says the Union of Concerned Scientists. The drugs compensate for the often unsanitary conditions in the country's 19,000 factory farms - also called concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs - where about half our meat is produced. Long gone are many family farms with animals grazing on pastureland, says Bob Martin, senior officer of the Pew Environment Group. "Instead, they're packed into cramped quarters, never going outdoors, living in their waste." A swine CAFO may house thousands of hogs; a poultry operation, hundreds of thousands of chickens. "As a result, you need to suppress infection," he says. The large amounts of antibiotics used in CAFOs include drugs critical to curing human illnesses, he says. Premixed animal feed can contain medications you may have taken, such as tetracycline and cephalosporin (Keflex is a familiar brand); you can also buy a 50-pound bag of antibiotics at a feed store to add to your animals' chow - no prescription necessary, confirms Amy Meyer, executive director of the Missouri Farmers Union. Most of the antibiotics given to CAFO animals are not only used to fight infection, but also to stimulate growth, says David Wallinga, MD, Food and Health Program director at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. The near constant exposure to less-than-therapeutic levels of antibiotics allows the resistant bacteria to survive; they can then be transferred to people, he says. This needless use of medication is what docs try to avoid when they don't prescribe antibiotics for a simple cold. "These operations are reservoirs of antibiotic resistance," says researcher Smith. In the areas surrounding CAFOs, docs see firsthand how MRSA impacts the community. Philip McClure, DO, practices in Trenton, MO, which is home to many hog farms. MRSA infections have risen as the number of pigs has grown, he says. "Both CAFO workers and others get them," says McClure, who treats a MRSA-related skin problem every month. That may be because you can pick up MRSA and not show symptoms for years. Meanwhile, you can pass it to others by something as simple as sharing a towel. Kim Howland, 44, a former hog CAFO worker in Oklahoma, fears she did just that, when in 2007, her husband and daughter developed MRSA skin infections. "My co-workers told me about lumps they had and I realized I could have become a carrier," she says. Howland, who left her job, wasn't tested at the time, so she'll never know if she gave MRSA to her family. Concerned about the risks of CAFOs (including increased antibiotic resistance, pollution, and disease in nearby areas), the APHA back in 2003 called for a moratorium on building new ones. Who's watching out for you? Until recently, the CDC has acknowledged the presence of MRSA in meat but downplayed the danger. In 2008, then CDC director Julie Louise Gerberding, MD, MPH, wrote that foodborne transmission of MRSA is "possible" but, if it happens, "likely accounts for a very small proportion of human infections in the US." Liz Wagstrom, DVM, assistant vice president of science and technology for the National Pork Board, agrees, saying that this kind of transmission would be extremely rare. Neither group could provide an estimate when queried by Prevention, but considering the high numbers of MRSA infections, even a tiny percentage could be a lot of people. One reason the CDC and the National Pork Board must guess about transmission rates - and why we don't know exactly how many MRSA-related infections occur - is that the federal government doesn't collect data on MRSA outbreaks, says Karen Steuer, director of government operations for the Pew Environment Group. According to the US Government Accountability Office, there's no testing for MRSA on farms. And the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System tests just 400 retail cuts of meat each month for four drug-resistant bacteria - which don't include MRSA. "These gaps in data keep us in the dark," says Steuer. Without farm-to-fork surveillance, it's difficult to connect problems at a certain farm to MRSA outbreaks. "If we don't fix this, mortality rates will go much higher," she says. "We have an impending crisis." A rising tide of concern is firing up health care activists and congressional policy makers to contain the MRSA threat. Several ideas are on the government's table. Keep Antibiotics Working, a national coalition of health and science organizations, calls for more federal research on MRSA and meat. In Congress, Representative Rosa L. DeLauro suggests giving all supervision of food - now split among many agencies - to just one, which may improve oversight. And Representative Louise Slaughter, MSPH, reportedly Congress's only microbiologist, wants to trim agriculture's use of antibiotics only to those drugs that are not essential for human use. Earlier this year, she reintroduced the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act, and Senator Edward Kennedy submitted a related bill in the Senate. Bottom line, says Roach of Food Animal Concerns Trust, we need to think of ways to raise animals that prevent them from getting sick in the first place. And we must move quickly, adds Slaughter: "As a scientist and mother, I cannot overstate the urgency. We should be able to buy food without worrying about exposing our family to potentially deadly bacteria that no longer responds to medical treatment." From maryrose333 at att.net Fri Jul 31 04:45:12 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 03:45:12 -0700 Subject: [GJM] =?utf-8?q?FW=3A_KILL_THEM_ALL=E2=80=A6AND_NEVER_GIVE_THEM_T?= =?utf-8?q?HE_SECOND_CHANCE!!!?= Message-ID: <002401ca11cb$fd7be930$f873bb90$@net> While I feel this article has some benefit to it, I really object to the use of the phrase ?kill them all?. This is highly inflammatory and serves only to promote the very kind of behavior we are trying to stop. What we need to do is to bring more people back into a mind/body coherence pattern that is ?balanced? rather than indicative of a state of chaos. A balanced state of being is the normal state that we are born into. Pathology is the label for the symptom that exposes an imbalanced state of being and we see it as people respond in a way that creates negative environments, or negative energy fields around them. When we are in our normal balanced state of mind/being, we send out signals that are compassionate and loving. When we are operating from an unbalanced state of mind/being we are sending out very negative emotional signals that entangle with and begin to disturb the balanced state of being of others. So, the question is as to how to reverse this state of being before it infects too many others around us in a way that upsets the whole entire operating system of the planet and eventually the universe. Since we are now beginning to understand ourselves as ?the body electric? and that we are configured as both receiving and sending stations, we are beginning to understand how to ?rebalance? and maintain our operating systems in the ?normal? state. However, we must also understand that too much normal is inhibitive and not conducive to growth. This state of being is referred to as ?stagnation? and when this negative state sets in it tends to reinforce itself in such a way as to move the pendulum to swing the other way so that we are moving back into positive again. More on this later, but I am currently involved in a group entitled ?Transformative Media Group? on Architects of a New Dawn, a social networking group, in which a group of us are now exploring the power of music to heal and thus initiate behavior changes that take us out of the negative sphere and back into the positive again. This is interesting because most of the music being played today tends to keep us in the negative state. And this has become a very powerful force within our social system, one that keeps us from responding to the life forces within us in a positive manner. From: Stan Szopa [mailto:sszopa at yahoo.com] Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 1:22 AM To: Subject: KILL THEM ALL?AND NEVER GIVE THEM THE SECOND CHANCE!!! Kunlangeta - human predatory animals ??They do not function like you and I do. They have no guilt, no remorse when they do harm to others. In fact, they take great pleasure in the fact that most people are utterly oblivious to their true character. They know that most of us simply don't want to believe people like this exist and see us as pathetic and stupid because of it. The best way to understand these people is to image the way a cat torments a mouse. A cat will take great pleasure in tormenting and torturing its prey. A cat has no moral value system at work. It's just the nature of a cat. Psychopaths are human predatory animals and we would be wise to openly acknowledging this fact. They literally see us no differently than a cat sees a mouse? ? I think it's time we all face the fact that we have psychopathic lunatics running everything?? ??Psychopathy seems to be present in both Western and non-Western cultures, including those that have had minimal exposure to media portrayals of the condition. In a 1976 study anthropologist Jane M. Murphy, then at Harvard University, found that an isolated group of Yupik-speaking Inuits near the Bering Strait had a term (kunlangeta) they used to describe ?a man who ? repeatedly lies and cheats and steals things and ? takes sexual advantage of many women?someone who does not pay attention to reprimands and who is always being brought to the elders for punishment.? When Murphy asked an Inuit what the group would typically do with a kunlangeta, he replied, ?Somebody would have pushed him off the ice when nobody else was looking?? More in: http://www.kickthemallout.com/article.php/Story-What_Psychopath_Means Stan: I met many kunlangetas and seems to me they are multiplying with increasing speed caused by a usury pressure. All businesses small or big, schools, families are packed with kunlangetas. Do we need to kill them all? It is not possible and only the top of the top ones must to be killed. The remaining kunlangetas without usury pressure will slowly transform to compassionate human beings. Here is an example the top of the top of obscenely wealthy parasites: ??Let me put the solution in perspective: if you jail and confiscate the wealth of every Federal Reserve owner, the economy would boom the very next day. The Rothschild family alone is estimated to be worth $500 trillion. If you redistribute that wealth, that is almost $100,000 for every person in the world. How can one family own over half the world? The answer, as stated by the Rothschild family, is by controlling the monetary policy of nations. Being completely ruthless and secretive helped. It is the mother of all rackets, which relies on the naive nature of people?? More in: http://www.unconditionalfriendship.com/?p=120 The biggest irony is that those biggest humanity tormentors are officially in?charity business and personally own ?very little?. The usurious growth of their wealth ?legally? grow fast under so called foundations that pay the lowest tax and are obligated to pay portion of tax relieve to other charitable organizations. The insidious legal set up of those foundations is best explained here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nirevolution/message/3311 In mean time we should avoid kunlangetas like the most dangerous disease and never give them second chance to hurt you again. The psychological, (often called bullying) economical (laying off) and physical abuse by kunlangeta is the way to desensitize normal compassionate human and turn him/her into a slave-kunlangeta. It is very easy to recognize most of kunlangeta. The richer person is the more chances are that he/she is kunlangeta. Any business owner who fired even a single employer is kunlangeta - I call them money only driven garbage. ?The Apprentice: You're Fired! It's Not Personal, It's Business? ? Donald Trump What a buffoon?it is personal and not a business but a usury driven greed?Mr. Donald Trump. Socialism promoters were rightly proud that their system gives jobs to all and firing for a profit reason did not exist. The problem with socialism like with this communo ? fascism (called capitalism) is job itself. Working for any kind of boss for wage is a new form of slavery that not too many people recognize. Only working for yourself will ensure your real freedom, secure income and prevent from falling into a kunlangeta trap. It?s meaning that the moment you start work for any business or company you must own it equally with the rest of workers - owners and there should be nobody in it with power to fire you or lower your wage. Every single company worker - owners should have equal numbers of shares of company they work for with exactly same privileges. To raise a capital for expansion should be by printing own company money in a money printing shop?banks and stock exchanges are not necessary for that. There are two examples in the World of corporations that have similar principals: The Mondragon Corporations of Spain http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7565584850785786404 and Semco SA Sao Paulo Brazil ??Our visitors want to understand how Semco has increased its annual revenue between 1994 and 2003 from $35 million a year to $212 million when I--the company's largest shareholder-- rarely attend meetings and almost never make decisions. They want to know how my employees, with a show of hands, can veto new product ideas or scrap whole business ventures?" More in: http://www.scribd.com/doc/294210/Semco-unique-self-organziation http://www.good2work.com/article/5487 Best regards, Stan _____ Yahoo! Canada Toolbar : Search from anywhere on the web and bookmark your favourite sites. Download it now! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Fri Jul 31 09:09:53 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:09:53 -0700 Subject: [GJM] $20 Per Gallon by Christopher Steiner Message-ID: <003001ca11f0$f7f4a8b0$e7ddfa10$@net> BOOK REVIEW $20 Per Gallon' by Christopher Steiner Christopher Steiner looks ahead and projects, $2 at a time, how rising gasoline prices will transform civilization. By Matthew DeBord July 26, 2009 $20 Per Gallon How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change Our Lives for the Better Christopher Steiner During the summer of 2008, Americans found out just how much was too much to pay for gas. On July 11, a barrel of oil hit $147.27, which translated into $4.11 for a gallon of regular gas at the pump -- the highest price ever reached in the U.S. And that was just the average. In some places, the price got close to $5 a gallon. It was the Summer of Pain. Many people who'd never heard of "peak oil," or who'd been trading in one SUV for another, or who'd scoffed at the idea that Americans would ever drive less, suddenly learned that when the price of a finite commodity spikes, even cherished habits change. And it's not just about driving: Our entire American way of life, in fact much of the global economy, has been built over decades on cheap oil: Seafood and plastic toys from China can flow freely around the world. The price of bread and milk stays low. Airlines can engage in price wars. But when the price of oil rises dramatically, inflation can kick in, scarcity can become the order of the day, freeways empty, General Motors and Chrysler slide into bankruptcy, and the American way of life grinds to a halt. Of course, after the price of oil crested in 2008, it quickly collapsed, leading some observers to speculate that the Summer of Pain was a blip on the radar. But for the first six months of this year, the price was steadily rising. Though it has stabilized and even fallen in recent weeks, it may begin a slow, undulant march until gas literally costs too much for anyone. This is the altered state of petroleum consciousness that Christopher Steiner, a trained engineer and writer for Forbes, envisions. And it's happening quickly, he points out. "As the middle class continues to explode in China, India, and scores of other spots circling the earth, hundreds of millions of additional cars will hit the roads," he writes. Many of those cars will be like the $2,200 Tata Nano, a "people's car" created for Indian consumers who've been riding bicycles and motor scooters for generations. "People want what Americans have had for decades: easy cars and an easy life. These people will get what they want, but in the process they will catalyze a global economic reformation on a scale never seen. . . . " Even the tattered remnants of the Detroit Big Three want a piece of this market: As General Motors left bankruptcy at home, it was selling more cars than ever in China. Steiner has adopted a nicely readable structure for the book. Starting at $4 a gallon, each chapter tracks what will happen when gas hits a particular price, escalating by $2 until he gets to $20. He visits an airplane graveyard in order to explain how $8-a-gallon gas will crush the airline industry. At $14, he checks out an abandoned Wal-Mart "ghost box" and imagines a grim end to the car-dominated exurb. "Stores will return to the downtowns of yore as small towns' populations . . . return to the small-town infrastructures that their grandparents and great-grandparents built." By $18 a gallon, high-speed railroads serve our travel needs, and by $20 a gallon, we just can't do oil anymore. And like a lot of people who've studied our post-oil energy options, he comes down on the side of nuclear. Eventually, he's replaced transatlantic flights with leisurely ocean passages akin to the grand liners of yesteryear. Except these new Queen Marys will run on nuclear reactors. Personal cars will be a thing of the past. Citizens of the future will wonder why we ever thought we needed them. By now, you may have noticed a great bifurcation here, typical of newbies to the study of spiking oil prices. We Americans will find our existence irrevocably altered to the point where we are forced to inhabit a downmarket green fantasy, harvesting power from wind and ocean currents, breaking our addiction to automobiles and generally living with less. Meanwhile, the developing world will have become the new first world, with a middle class with disposable income that Americans lack filling China, India and other rapidly growing countries with roads, cars and petroleum products. At least until all the oil runs out and they, too, must convert to lives of noble deprivation. Some of Steiner's speculations will happen. In particular, rising global energy demand could have a disastrous impact on food cultivation, which at the industrial scale needed to feed a populous planet requires fertilizers synthesized from natural gas. Nuclear power will be an obvious alternative-energy choice when gas settles into double-digit per gallon prices. Personal mobility could be another story, however, and here Steiner gets into tricky territory when he latches onto start-up electric car companies and gee-whiz mobility providers. In fact, good old internal-combustion engines running on gas may be with us for much longer than he thinks. Even $10 per gallon gas would be acceptable if efficient gas and hybrid engines can achieve significantly higher mileage, which is technologically feasible. Widespread electrification of transportation will come, but we could have to wait until the middle of the century, or even longer. The romance of the personal automobile won't fade so fast in the U.S., especially if it increases its hold elsewhere. There's also a glaring omission in "$20 Per Gallon" that should be addressed. Much of the ground that Steiner covers, with a certain boyish, gearhead utopianism, was traversed in much more apocalyptic fashion by James Howard Kunstler in his 2005 book, "The Long Emergency." Kunstler's arguments, which are actually more ecological than economic, are well known and widely debated. So it seems remarkable that Steiner, who comes to many of the same conclusions, fails to acknowledge a book that's been around for four years and actually anticipated the 2008 gas mini-crisis. "$20 Per Gallon" also reads at times as if it were hurriedly written. Still, Steiner has served up a terrific speculative primer on a future of much pricier energy and all that it may entail. DeBord writes the Shifting Gears blog for Slate's the Big Money and has written widely on the automobile industry and the future of mobility. FutureDawning.org Mary Rose, www.futuredawning.org dustysummerrose at gmail.com Always have my latest info Want a signature like this? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From maryrose333 at att.net Fri Jul 31 10:21:46 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 09:21:46 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: [globalnetnews-summary] Republicans Lying to Old People About Euthanasia, Robots Message-ID: <005c01ca11fb$01d68560$05839020$@net> Lies, lies and more lies. When will it stop? Perhaps when politics is no longer a part of our social system design and "manufactured consent" is recognized as a non-viable option. What is both very pathetic and problematic is the number of people who get caught up in these lies and continue to promulgate them on the Internet as if there is truth to them even when there is substantial evidence presented that they are nothing but lies. That this is happening at the top of one of the two political parties and then filtering down into the general populous is exceedingly dangerous as this information is readily available to the rest of the world, and certainly paints the American system as one that is operating out of sheer insanity and turmoil. And certainly when heads of state in other countries are making decisions as to what to do regarding the dollar and other critical issues that affect the world at large this factor bodes ill for the American people. But, by all means, the Republican-led Christian Right wants back in office and will go to any lengths to get there, even if it means sabotaging the country itself. There needs to be some sort of action that brings saboteurs like this into accountability. IMHO. There is a fine line here between what is permissible as "freedom of speech" and what is deliberate sabotage. -----Original Message----- From: globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net [mailto:globalnetnews-summary-owner at lists.riseup.net] On Behalf Of TradingPostPaul Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 10:00 PM To: globalnetnews-summary at lists.riseup.net Subject: [globalnetnews-summary] Republicans Lying to Old People About Euthanasia, Robots (To change your settings or unsubscribe please go to http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/globalnetnews-summary) Republicans Lying to Old People About Euthanasia, Robots July 29, 2009 05:39 PM http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/republicans-lying-to-old_b_247400.ht ml There appears to be a simple two-pronged strategy for killing health care reform. One of those prongs involves, of course, delaying reform until it's too late. If it's not passed by the end of the year, there won't be the political balls to do so because of the fast approaching 2010 midterms when members of Congress will be much more focused on raising money (health care industry money) and pandering to voters. Another reason for delaying health care reform is it gives the Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats plenty of extra time to inject their special cocktail of mind-bending crazy into the discourse and make it stick, furthering both the current delay while also eroding any voter impetus to pick up the issue again after the midterms. That'd be prong number two. Not a single dose of the aforementioned "mind-bending crazy" actually holds up when run through even the most cursory fact-checking scrutiny, and, in every statement, the obstructionists trafficking in these lies further underscore their already obvious contradictions and ideological hypocrisy. Regarding the latter, I can't recall, for example, this degree of nipple-twisting from Republicans and Blue Dogs about spending and fiscal responsibility when the Bush administration was pitching a blank check invasion and occupation of Iraq on the heels of invading Afghanistan -- all during a recession -- while also passing a $1 trillion tax cut for the wealthiest one percent the year before. Yet affordable, accessible health care for everyone is a bridge too far, right? (My blood pressure kicks up into the red zone whenever I hear Republicans today suggesting that they were against the Bush administration's spending habits when, in fact, they supported each program individually. After all, opposing the commander-in-chief in wartime emboldened the enemy, no? Not any more apparently since we're still at war and the heretofore "patriotic" far-right won't even admit the president is an American citizen. Consistent of them.) Back to the mind-bending crazy. I detailed some of these attacks last week, and my friend Michael J. Elston (Washington, DC radio's "Buzz Burbank") hit some of the arguments in his new Huffington Post blog as well. But who knew they would top themselves this week with an attack so simultaneously absurd and shameless that it easily fits comfortably in the Birther/Truther wackaloon syllabus. This is of course the notion that the president's health care reform plan includes a mandate to kill old people. First, here's Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-Cuckoo's Nest) on the House floor: It'll make sure we bring down the cost of healthcare for all Americans, and that ensures affordable access for all Americans, and is pro-life because it will not put seniors in a position of being put to death by their government. And the de facto leader of the Republican Party, Rush Limbaugh: According to Politico: Sean Hannity believes it. So does House Minority Leader John Boehner. Talk show host Fred Thompson calls it "the dirty little secret" of the health care reform debate. Yes, if you believe what these cranks are selling, the Obama administration is engaged in an elaborate plot to rid the nation of its burdensome population of old people. All this fluff about a public option, all the debate about reducing costs and making health insurance more affordable is merely subterfuge in the White House's scheme to impose a final solution to the nation's obvious elderly problem. Seriously, this is a legitimate argument being used in mainstream Republican circles right now. This is an idea being circulated by the same party that Max Baucus, Harry Reid, Joe Lieberman, Evan Bayh and Mary Landrieu want to negotiate with and capitulate to, all in the name of their fetishistic obsession with bipartisanship porn. How many more examples of GOP insanity must we enumerate before the aforementioned Democrats stop taking seriously the nincompoopery on the right? Is there no level of ridiculousness too intolerable before enough is enough? At what point does Harry Reid finally overcome his low-T, call bullshit on these jokers and figuratively pummel their soft skulls using a sledgehammer with the number 60 burnished into the handle? Soon, I hope. The reality: House bill that would provide Medicare coverage for an end-of-life consultation once every five years. If a person falls ill with a life-threatening disease, more frequent sessions would be allowed. Put another way, the bill would actually provide an additional and very optional benefit for senior citizens to consult with their doctors about end-of-life decisions -- decisions we'll all have to make. It's a consultation which is usually an out of pocket expense for the elderly, but now it'll be covered under Medicare. Again, it's an optional benefit for Medicare recipients to meet with their doctor. I repeat: optional benefit. Optional, as in "choice." Benefit, as in something "good" or "helpful." O-p-t-i-o-n-a-l. B-e-n-e-f-i-t. Furthermore: "This measure would not only help people make the best decisions for themselves but also better ensure that their wishes are followed," AARP Executive Vice President John Rother said in a statement. "To suggest otherwise is a gross, and even cruel, distortion -- especially for any family that has been forced to make the difficult decisions on care for loved ones approaching the end of their lives." Why do the old-people-haters at the AARP want to kill old people? Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, House minority leader John Boehner and most other congressional Republicans are taking this wingnut conspiratorial position outlined by Rush Limbaugh. Because naturally they're a very serious political party -- so much so that the Blue Dog Democrats want to work with them rather than laughing them off the floor. Oh the relationships $1.3 million-a-day in healthcare industry lobbying can buy. You know what this is? The Republicans are trying to trick senior citizens into buying Old Glory Robot Insurance. The GOP is lying to senior citizens by convincing them that the Obama administration is going to strangle them with their robotic Obama claws -- and when President Obama grabs you with his metal claws, you can't break free. Because he's made of metal. And President Obama is strong. I can't emphasize enough that this is an actual argument from the mainstream of the Republican Party. And they're getting away with it because, despite their utter lack of seriousness, they continue to be granted untold latitude and legitimacy through this inexplicable Democratic bipartisanship deference (not to mention a wide berth from the establishment press), while peddling an obvious lie. And then, next week, there will be another one. And another one. Until healthcare reform is dead in the water. From maryrose333 at att.net Fri Jul 31 18:46:47 2009 From: maryrose333 at att.net (mary rose) Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:46:47 -0700 Subject: [GJM] FW: SpiritCrossing - July Newsletter Message-ID: <003301ca1241$8fb357f0$af1a07d0$@net> From: Spiritcrossing [mailto:info at spiritcrossing.com] Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 11:52 AM To: maryrose333 at att.net Subject: SpiritCrossing - July Newsletter Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Hello friends. We are entering a time of amazingly accelerated change. While it may not be comfortable, I hope you have listened to our teachers and friends who point to the opportunity we now have to literally transform our world. In his new book, "Spontaneous Evolution", to be released by Hay House in September, Bruce Lipton lays out a clear understanding of the evolutionary leap that is approaching fast. You and I are the imaginal cells bringing hope and vision into the field of information. Change Accelerating - You and I Awakening! Bruce will be honored with the Goi Peace Prize in a ceremony in Japan on November 8th. The world is being introduced to a new vision of survival through cooperation. I hope you will visit the Goi Peace Foundation website, http://www.goipeace.or.jp/ and share the information with all that you know. There is much more within and I hope you enjoy our newsletter and our wonderful contributors. Please join us and share your interests, articles and recommendations. Be sure to read all of our new articles in this month's newsletter. Be Excited, This message was sent from Spiritcrossing to maryrose333 at att.net. It was sent from: Spirit 2000, SpiritCrossing P.O. Box 11736 , Murfreesboro, TN 37129-0035. You can modify/update your subscription via the link below. Email Marketing by iContact - Try It Free! To be removed click here -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: