Russian President Putin is taking a lead role in putting together the most powerful coalition of regional and superpowers in the world. The coalition consists of India, China, Russia and Brazil. This will challenge the superpower supremacy of America as well as the European Union. The Chinese are concerned about American and European influence over the world. So is India, Brazil and Russia. Russians need Brazil badly. Brazil is in South America in the American corridor. According to Startfor, a strategic think tank, when Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Brazil Nov. 21-23, he likely will talk economic issues with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva. However, Putin has bigger ambitions: He wants to establish a long-term Russian footprint in Latin America in order to expand Moscow's geopolitical influence in the region. Brazil is very open to the coalition concept where these large countries support each other in term of trade, economics, international politics and defense.
According other think tanks, this coalition will have an overwhelming influence over the United Nations. Russia and China are permanent members of the security council. India and Brazil are in the process of becoming the same. In terms of population, the coalition will have three quarters of the world population, largest amount of natural resources and largest pool of technical and scientific talent.
Human creation such as families, laws, institutions, money, textiles, rooms, carpets, cars, etc have little significance in the greater scheme of things. This is so because the connections that we share are shared by all; they have nothing to do with civilization or any of the other imaginings of mankind. In the realm of the Akasha, each of us possesses a light body and recognizes that others are always spiritually connected.
Our universal connections are seldom understood, even though they are accessible by everyone; this is because the human mind tends to indoctrinated with one of the many popular cultures of humankind. The indoctrination process often causes the mind to become engrossed in the generally accepted reality and filter all else out of their awareness. It is possible, however, to deactivate this firewall, of sorts, that we have created in our minds; a firewall which possessed the soul purpose of filtering out the myriad of things that are continuously streaming into our minds. It is essential that we open the gates to more of what exists so that we can have access to the greatest library of them all, the Akashic library.
In the early 1900s a psychic by the name of Edgar Cayce learned how to consult the Akashic Records. His readings are proof that we can all benefit from the knowledge derived from this realm. Cayce claimed, on several occasions, that we all posses the ability to traverse these higher realms; it can be done with or without the use of Shamanic substances such as Ayahuasca or Peyote, although the absence of such substances makes the transition considerably more difficult.
During the spring of 2002 I unexpectedly gained access to the vast library after ingesting a large quantity of the Ayahuasca root. I would never have been able to guess where the Ayahuasca would bring me.
It all started with the bitter experience of ingesting an entire bowl of this substance. I then had a period of about 20 minutes where nothing much was happening. Then it started to hit me and I ended up having to expel the substance from my body. It was not a pleasant experience, at that point in time, because my body was reacting as if it were food poisoning.
As I was expelling the Ayahuasca, I noticed that my perception of physical objects and myself was starting to change. I looked at the walls and they were more than just solid sheets of wood and paint, wavy patterns of light covered the walls and many of the objects in the bathroom. The toilet and all of the rubbish laying in the room took on a life of its own, I perceived it as a dark presence.
It appears as if the substance made me aware of my patterned states, this includes many sub-conscious archetypes which were present in my mind and I hadn't realized it prior. I then got up and looked into the mirror only to find that I look nothing like I remembered myself looking. Usually, when we look at ourselves or anyone else, we simplify what we are looking at.
Now that the "reality filter" was off, however, nothing is quite as simple as it used to seem; time begins to dilate to such an extent that the experience of a minute is equivalent to the experience of an hour in a "normal" state. In such a state, you begin to become keenly aware of nearly everything and everyone that is around you and all of the minutiae.
After having felt this hyper-awareness for about 20-30 minutes, I became intensely bored with the Earth and everything I was around and began to confront the many subconscious archetypes of myself and what I perceived in others. I noticed the patterns that everyone in the group was occupied with, it was intriguing for some time, but the time dilation became even more exacerbated as the substance kicked in.
I decided to retreat to a closet and do some soul searching until I reached the end of this experience. I laid my head back and confronted, head on, the dark entities which, increasingly, tormenting me with their many tools. For awhile they dominated over me and made fear their awesome level of control.
Gradually the filter dis-engaged and I saw less and less of my own mental archetypes; I began seeing things which cannot be very well described by words, terms and symbols. I cannot accurately say what they were, but I can say that they weren't like anything on the Earth, nor was there any simillence of a floor or ceiling. It was a three-dimensional realm of beings with light bodies, instead of the heavy chemical bodies that we are used to.
For awhile I watched, in awe of what I was seeing. I thought that it cannot possibly get more intense than this, but alas, there was more to it. I started to notice that I was experiencing other realities simultaneously. I don't know how this was done, but apparently the mind can do it, we are not simply locked into one field, but can experience many. I was able to experience approximately seven simultaneous realities.
The realities were vastly different from one another. In one reality, I was a man who was taking part in an Earth-like situation, while in others I was in totally Alien situations which are nearly indescribable. During all of this time, I retained mental access to the body I was in and anyone who came to see me, although I had to make a concerted effort to bring that reality back into focus with all of the intense things which were occurring in the many parallel realities.
The experience of parallel realities continued for several hours, it seemed like several years to me at the time, however, because the experience was a tremendous download of information for such a short period of time. After awhile of embracing the plenitude of the Akasha, I relaxed, accepted the beauty of it all, and began to feel the warmth of oneness. I felt as if everything is wrapped in different layers, like an onion, and I had finally reached the inner layers.
I began to see nothing more than a beautiful white light, which seemed to me to be pure energy. I embraced its presence and communicated with it telepathically for the duration of the heightened experience.
As I write, the treason Senate under intense pressure from Communist world government traitor Smirk W. Bush is preparing to pass the legislation that will legalize the present invasion of these United States. So here let me repeat something I have said many times, which nevertheless deserves repetition even more because it is so little mentioned, even by our friends.
The goal of the conspirators from the beginning has been to submerge and dissolve our country in a totalitarian socialist world government they would run. But they had a problem. Go back to World War II. When it ended, these united States indisputably comprised the most powerful country on earth.
Unlike most of the other participants, our homeland was completely undamaged. We had most of the gold. No other country even came close. The problem was that you cant merge a country at the pinnacle in everything with other countries at the bottom. That would be like trying to moor the Queen Elizabeth in a Dixie Cup. You could only merge them when they are sufficiently alike. So what would you do if your goal were world government?
One thing you could try is raising the levels of the countries on the bottom. The conspiracy for world government has tried doing that with programs like foreign aid; the problem is that the nations on the bottom tend to consume any help and stay where they are. Generally, they are bottom feeders. Instead, what about trying to reduce these united States, trying to lower its standard of living so that it corresponds better with the nations at the bottom?
At the Bretton Woods Conference in New Hampshire, the newly created International Monetary Fund, run by Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Harry Dexter White, a Soviet spy, arranged to deplete our gold supply. Years later, in a speech lauding IMF, Jack Kennedy interrupted his womanizing long enough to explain that the loss of our goal was not an accident, but the product of a carefully orchestrated plan.
In recent years, we saw the departure of our industry, thanks to agreements like NAFTA. Not to worry, they told us. Industry will be replaced by a service economy. Let the poor benighted slobs in other countries do the hard work. We here shall sit at desks in white shirts and work with computers. But then the service jobs departed. Now, when you talk with somebody at your credit card company, he or she is probably sitting at a desk in India, doing the job you were supposed to do.
And now comes the invasion from Mexico. Consider that a military invasion of our country could not get off the beach in Santa Monica. The invaders would be exterminated by .50 caliber rednecks the government has not been able to disarm. But speculate with me. Suppose you could mount an invasion that is not an invasion, an invasion in plain clothes, for which you could concoct a superficial, humanitarian excuse.
In fact, suppose your invasion conformed to the findings of Antonio Gramsci, founder of the Italian Communist Party, who said that because no military invasion of the advanced countries could succeed, the traditional Communist method of conquest must be reversed. Instead of seizing a country militarily, as in undeveloped Russia, and then perverting its institutions; in the advanced countries the Communists would first seize and pervert and subvert the institutions. Eventually, the government based on those rotting institutions would collapse.
In other words, the world government conspirators decided to use the technique of population replacement, a modern term for which is genocide. Our country is full of unreconstructed soreheads, people who still believe in the Constitution, many of them military veterans and dangerous. Even some of the women are armed. It would be too risky to try to remove them. Instead, the Gramsci technique would have them overrun.
What is the effect of the present invasion? Yes, it involves Mexicans. Remember that Mexico suffered a Communist revolution even before Russia. But Mexicans are simply the tool; they are fellow victims, victimized by their own socialist government. The conspiracy for world government is using them simply because they are there.
Is not our standard of living falling? Dad used to support the family alone. Now Mom has to pitch in. Pretty soon even the kiddos will have to contribute. Your waitress is so intelligent because she has a graduate degree. Yes, because the system is so gargantuan and has been running so long, inertia will keep it going for a while, but the telltale signs of degeneration are everywhere. Is not the dollar on the way down?
The new Communist invasion law will expand the process, adding millions upon millions of illegal aliens to those already here, overloading our hospitals, our schools, our courts and other facilities, draining our paychecks, but far more important than anything else, reducing our standard of living and changing our culture along with our population. Of course you dont need me to tell you this. Simply look around. Habla español? No? Well, you had better learn, compadre.
The plan is that after a while the merger will not seem so bizarre. Would you not agree that by now the idea already seems less incredible? Remember that, as we speak, about 10% of the population of Mexico lives in these united States. The Communist legislation coming out of conference committee will intrude the millions we have mentioned. After a while, you rednecks will be irrelevant. You already are close to a minority.
All of this answers the question of why the Senate votes Communist despite a literal firestorm of disagreement from their constituents, even from stalwart supporters of the Republicrud Party who at last feel disgust. With a few exceptions, your Senator is the best legislator corporate America could buy. For that America, an honest legislator is a legislator who stays bought. When Hitler and Mussolini married government and business, we called it Fascism.
Remember that for years the Republicruds told us they would restore America if only you would give them control. They have control of Congress and the White House they have had control for many years; yet the country is in far greater danger than it ever was under the Democruds. Smirk W. Bush is just as much a Communist as Clinton.
The latest demonstration of Bushs treason took even my jaded breath away. By now you know that Communist Bush has ordered the Border Patrol to inform the Mexican government as to the whereabouts of Americas heroes, the Minutemen, whom Bush earlier called vigilantes.
This is treason almost tantamount to telling the enemy where our military is during combat on a battlefield, which the Mexican border has become. Ask yourself my favorite question: How long could that order to the Border Patrol continue after Smirk W. Bush picks up the phone and says, Stop this at once! The fact that Bush doesnt make that call proves the treason is what he wants. He is a Communist. He is a traitor. What does the military do with a traitor who has betrayed his comrades in battle?
Some years ago, Steve Symms, then a U. S. Senator from Idaho, who retired too soon, said in a speech that Americans peaceably solve problems in the jury box. If that fails, they go to the ballot box. But is that fails, said Senator Symms, they go to the bullet box. My fear is that the pressure will intensify, and that someone who is threatened by the invaders will fire the second shot heard round the world, which would give Communist Bush the excuse for the martial law he wants.
By invoking the Executive Orders already in place, he could take direct control of everything in this country, including every human being. You couldnt eat, live, drive, talk, even walk without his permission. The merger would be complete. And it would all be legal. Would martial law be the whack upside the head that would finally awaken the American people? Nothing else has worked.
It was Soviet dictator Nikita Khrushchev, who many years ago at the Communist UN in New York, expressed his amazement at the depth of naiveté of the American people. Khrushchev exclaimed, These Americans! You can spit in their face and they call it dew! My guess is that today he would marvel even more.
In this lecture, Jordan Maxwell and Jason Whitney give an excellent presentation which covers: how Maritime Admiralty Law has over-ruled the Constitutional Law system, how the Federal Reserve and the IRS work in concert with the court system to circumvent the constitution; they also cover many other issues pertaining to Maritime Admiralty Law, its effect on each of us and the corrupting influence it has on governments.
The lecture starts with Jordan Maxwell, who gives a 15 minute introduction into some of the concepts surrounding Maritime Admiralty Law, then Jason Whitney picks up where Jordan left off and gives a lengthy explanation on these topics. I have been studying these topics for a couple of years and this lecture is one of the most comprehensive that I have come accross.
The dollar looks like it is bear flagging to me. It will take a convincing close over the .86 level to change the technical picture and disabuse me of this notion.
Sugar is basically trading the crude oil market right now as is bean oil. Both of them are trading the alternative energy play. When crude rallies, they rally. When crude moves down, they move down. Fundamentals have given way to the day to day vagaries of the energy complex.
Heating oil is trading hurricanes already but natural gas is not. Go figure!
I have mentioned to just about everyone I have spoken with today that the volatility we are seeing is indicative of the nervousness, confusion and uncertainty that exists in the market. We have also seen something that we have not seen in a very long time, the presence of FEAR. In times past, this sort of environment would see money move into gold as the ultimate safe haven. Today’s current crop of lemming investors have been conditioned that the safest place in the world to park money is US Treasuries. This is why bonds moved up today and is the excuse du jour given for the strength in the dollar. Money was flowing into bonds and out of everything else. Personally I find this quite laughable and can only wonder if that philosophy will still look sound when the dollar is knocking on the door from beneath the .70 level.
This kind of volatility does however usually presage some substantial moves. Currently there is absolutely ZERO conviction among the vast majority of players. The giant hedge funds have no investment strategy that they are even attempting to follow right now. Instead, button pushers are reacting to emotional swings which range from euphoric one day to panic the next as automated trading programs wreak havoc on these markets.
The result has been a large number of players in the gold pit at the Comex simply throwing in the towel, choosing to get out of the way of the wild swings while they wait for the market to calm down. This includes both longs and shorts who are exiting, in the process dropping the open interest to 316,143 as of yesterday. With today’s estimated volume at 155,000 there is little doubt we will see a significant decline in open interest again tomorrow.
This is the lowest reading since September 8, 2005 (an eight month low) where the open interest was 307,933. Front month gold closed at $447.70 that day. The next day it jumped to 317,409 as gold moved up to the $450 level once again.
I find this current decline in the open interest quite remarkable to say the very least, since we are getting down to levels where I believe we can expect to see prices stabilize fairly soon. The reason: the fuel for further significant declines simply is not there unless we see a wholesale entrance of hedge funds on the short side of the gold market, something which I believe is highly unlikely.
My point in what may seem like some meaningless rambling is that I view this situation as extremely bullish for the gold market. I was never of the opinion that this recent leg up to over $700 was due to “speculative froth” as has been parroted ad-nauseaum, but there is no doubt a huge number of players have exited the gold market. The fact remains that open interest levels are where they were when gold was last trading at $450. We have had what by any standard of measure could be considered a sizeable exit of traders and yet here we are sitting with the gold price $190 higher than the last time we were anywhere near this level of interest by the general trading public. This correction will give us a new point from which to consolidate and build the kind of base we need to see a further substantial price rise which will take out the recent peak near $730.
The widespread consumption of "soft" drinks is, by far, one of the most dysfunctional and self-destructive customs. Carbonated beverages do absolutely nothing for you, period.
Cancer-Causing Benzene Found in Drinks (source) By ANDREW BRIDGES, Associated Press Writer Fri May 19, 8:18 PM ET
WASHINGTON - A government analysis of more than 100 soft drinks and other beverages turned up five with levels of cancer-causing benzene that exceed federal drinking-water standards, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday.
The companies that make the drinks have been alerted and either have reformulated their products or plan to do so, the FDA said. Government health officials maintain there is no safety concern, an opinion not shared by at least one environmental group.
The five drinks listed by the government were Safeway Select Diet Orange, Crush Pineapple, AquaCal Strawberry Flavored Water Beverage, Crystal Light Sunrise Classic Orange and Giant Light Cranberry Juice Cocktail. The high levels of benzene were found in specific production lots of the drinks, the FDA said.
Benzene, a chemical linked to leukemia, can form in soft drinks containing two ingredients: Vitamin C, also called ascorbic acid, and either of the two preservatives: sodium benzoate and potassium benzoate.
The presence of those ingredients doesn't mean benzene is present. Scientists say factors such as heat or light exposure can trigger a reaction that forms benzene in the beverages.
Federal rules limit benzene levels in drinking water to 5 parts per billion. A limited FDA analysis of store-bought drinks found benzene levels as high as 79 parts per billion in one lot of Safeway Select Diet Orange.
A Safeway Inc. spokeswoman did not immediately return a message left seeking comment.
Dr. Laura Tarantino, director of the FDA's Office of Food Additive Safety, said drinking sodas high in benzene does not pose a health risk.
"This is likely an occasional exposure, it's not a chronic exposure. Obviously, no benzene is something someone wants to have, but the amount of benzene you are getting in a soda is very, very small compared to what you're being exposed to every day from environmental sources," Tarantino said.
However, a spokesman for Environmental Working Group — which has accused the FDA of suppressing information about benzene in soft drinks — saw the results as a problem.
"FDA's test results confirm that there is a serious problem with benzene in soda and juices," said Richard Wiles, senior vice president at Environmental Working Group.
The Cancer-Fighting Power of Veggies Work With Your Genes (source)
Need another reason to eat vegetables? A new study at Rutgers shows that certain vegetables – broccoli and cauliflower, in particular – have natural ingredients that may reduce the risk of developing hereditary cancers.
A research team led by Rutgers' Ah-Ng Tony Kong has revealed that these widely consumed cruciferous vegetables – so called because their four-petal flowers resemble crosses – are abundant in sulforaphane (SFN). This compound had previously been shown to inhibit some cancers in rodents induced by carcinogens – substances or agents external to the body. Kong's investigations, however, focused on whether SFN might inhibit the occurrence of hereditary cancers – those arising from one's genetic makeup.
The American Cancer Society estimates that more than two-thirds of cancer may be prevented through lifestyle modification, and nearly one-third of these cancer occurrences can be attributed to diet alone.
"Our research has substantiated the connection between diet and cancer prevention, and it is now clear that the expression of cancer-related genes can be influenced by chemopreventive compounds in the things we eat," said Kong, a professor of pharmaceutics in the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
Chemopreventive properties are those that prevent, stop or reverse the development of cancer. In a study published online in the journal Carcinogenesis, Kong and his colleagues used a mouse model for human colon cancer to demonstrate the chemopreventive power of SFN and explain how it works to thwart cancer at the biomolecular level.
The researchers employed a specially bred strain of mice (labeled Apc/Min/+) that carry a mutation that switches off a gene (Apc) that suppresses tumors. This is the same gene known to be directly implicated in the development of most colon cancers in humans. When the gene is inactivated in the mice, polyps, which lead to tumors, appear spontaneously in the small intestine. Experiments using these mice can help in designing human clinical trials that can lead to new treatments for colon cancer in humans.
Two groups of mice were fed diets supplemented with SFN for three weeks, one group receiving 300 parts per million (ppm) of SFN and the other getting 600 ppm. "Our results clearly demonstrated that those mice fed with an SFN-supplemented diet developed significantly fewer and smaller tumors," Kong said.
After the three weeks, the average number of polyps in the small intestine in each mouse decreased more than 25 percent in those on the 300 ppm diet and 47 percent in the 600 ppm treatment group, as compared to control animals who had received no SFN.
"Our results showed that SFN produced its cancer preventive effects in the mice by inducing apoptosis (programmed cell death) and inhibiting proliferation of the tumors; however, it was not clear what mechanism SFN employs to accomplish this," Kong said.
Using biomarkers (indicator molecules) associated with apoptosis and proliferation, Kong's team found that SFN suppressed certain enzymes or kinases that are highly expressed both in the mice and in patients with colon cancer. The researchers concluded that this enzymatic suppression activity is the likely basis for the chemopreventive effects of SFN.
"Our study corroborates the notion that SFN has chemopreventive activity. Based on these findings, we feel SFN should be evaluated clinically for its chemopreventive potential in human patients with Apc related colon cancers," Kong said.
For years I wanted to have a large garden, until recently, however, I didn't have a place where I could plant one; now I have an excellent spot for gardening.
Over the last few months, a friend and I have been planting, maintaining and improving this garden. A great deal of work has gone into it and we've found it to be a wonderfully rejuvinating experience.
This is the largest section, it consists of rows of assorted Tomato (front two rows) and Pepper plants (rear two rows), a patch of cucumbers (rear left), two and grape vines (back left).
Here is the front flower garden consisting of Begonias and another flower that I don't remember the name for.
Here is the back flower garden consisting primarily of Marigolds and a couple of other varieties.
Here is one of the Tomato plants with two plump Tomatoes about ready to ripen.
This is a view from the opposite end of the largest portion of the garden; Tomatoes are on the right and peppers are on the left. There's also an Eggplant growing at the bottom right of the shot.
This is the Cucumber patch which, after being the laggard for the first month, is now growing at a nice pace.
This is one of the fastest-producing pepper plants (hot bananna) which has produced edible food faster than anything else in the garden.
This is a patch of Sunflowers that have grown at a nice pace with all of the rain we've had in the past couple of weeks.
Arthur is my Feline friend. Sometimes he helps to keep the Birds from destroying the smaller plants.
I remember reading an issue of Popular Science several years ago which spoke of the Navy's inability to defend against missile technology at certain ranges. The Sunburn Missile (or one of the more advanced varieties) could be used in the Persian Gulf; if it were to be used, it has the capability to destroy any ship in the region.
There is a chance that we will see a Sunburn Missile used in the Gulf, and it may be friendly fire in a sort of Gulf of Tonkin / 911 incident. Most of the American citizens fail to realize just how vulnerable the Navy is to these easily acquired missiles. They shouldn't be shocked when they are used but, nonetheless, they probably will be; after the shock, they will probably do whatever their leaders ask of them.
Iran deploys Russian-made 3M-82 Moskit anti-ship cruise missiles (NATO designation: SS-N-22 Sunburn), a weapon for which the US Navy currently has no defense. The SS-N-22 Sunburn, has been called “the most lethal missile in the world today.” The Sunburn missile has never seen use in combat, which probably explains why its fearsome capabilities are not more widely recognized. Other cruise missiles have been used, of course, on several occasions, and with devastating results. During the Falklands War, French-made Exocet missiles, fired from Argentine fighters, sunk the HMS Sheffield and another ship. And, in 1987, during the Iran-Iraq war, the USS Stark was nearly cut in half by a pair of Exocets while on patrol in the Persian Gulf. On that occasion US Aegis radar picked up the incoming Iraqi fighter (a French-made Mirage), and tracked its approach to within 50 miles. The radar also “saw” the Iraqi plane turn about and return to its base. But radar never detected the pilot launch his weapons. The sea-skimming Exocets came smoking in under radar and were only sighted by human eyes moments before they ripped into the Stark, crippling the ship and killing 37 US sailors.
The 1987 surprise attack on the Stark exemplifies the dangers posed by anti-ship cruise missiles. And the dangers are much more serious in the case of the Sunburn, whose specs leave the sub-sonic Exocet in the dust. Not only is the Sunburn much larger and faster, it has far greater range and a superior guidance system The Sunburn can deliver a 200-kiloton nuclear payload, or: a 750-pound conventional warhead, within a range of 100 miles, more than twice the range of the Exocet. The Sunburn combines a Mach 2.1 speed (two times the speed of sound) with a flight pattern that hugs the deck and includes “violent end maneuvers” to elude enemy defenses. The missile was specifically designed to defeat the US Aegis radar defense system. Should a US Navy Phalanx point defense somehow manage to detect an incoming Sunburn missile, the system has only seconds to calculate a fire solution –– not enough time to take out the intruding missile. The US Phalanx defense employs a six-barreled gun that fires 3,000 depleted-uranium rounds a minute, but the gun must have precise coordinates to destroy an intruder “just in time.”
The odds will be heavily against the US, because they will face the same type of danger, tantamount to envelopment. The US ships in the Gulf will already have come within range of the Sunburn missiles and the even more-advanced SS-NX-26 Yakhonts missiles, also Russian-made (speed: Mach 2.9; range: 180 miles) deployed by the Iranians along the Gulf’s northern shore. Every US ship will be exposed and vulnerable. When the Iranians spring the trap, the entire lake will become a killing field.
At the time of the Falklands war the Argentine air force possessed only five Exocets, yet managed to sink two ships. With enough of them, the Argentineans might have sunk the entire British fleet, and won the war. Although we’ve never seen a massed attack of cruise missiles, this is exactly what the US Navy could face in the next war in the Gulf. Try and imagine it if you can: barrage after barrage of Exocet-class missiles, which the Iranians are known to possess in the hundreds, as well as the unstoppable Sunburn and Yakhonts missiles. The questions that our purblind government leaders should be asking themselves, today, if they value what historians will one day write about them, are two: how many of the Russian anti-ship missiles has Putin already supplied to Iran? And: How many more are currently in the pipeline? In 2001 Jane’s Defense Weekly reported that Iran was attempting to acquire anti-ship missiles from Russia.
In this interview, the former Army Ranger Jessie Macbeth discusses what is really going on in Iraq and what he and his fellow soldiers did to the Iraqi people. There are numerous admissions to war crimes and genocide.
The Iraq war is nothing like it is being portrayed as on the media.
The Christian organizations of America have given a great deal of money to Israel each year. It is relieving to see that they finally realize what they are contributing to.
Israel bears the burden of responsibility for the present crisis in the Middle East, the World Council of Churches has announced, following a meeting of its Executive Committee in Geneva from May 16-19.
The Christian Left's leading ecumenical organization stated Israel's actions towards the Palestinians "cannot be justified morally, legally or even politically."
The failure "to comply with international law" had "pushed the situation on the ground to a point of no return," they concluded.
The WCC condemned the killing of innocent civilians by "both sides" in the conflict and called for the Palestinians to "maintain the existing one-party cease-fire toward Israel" and asked Israel to base its security on "the equitable negotiation of final borders" with its neighbors.
However, the present disparities between Israel and Palestine were "appalling," the WCC said.
"One side is positioning itself to unilaterally establish final borders on territory that belongs to the other side; the other side is increasingly confined to the scattered enclaves that remain. On one side there is control of more and more land and water; on the other there are more and more families deprived of land and livelihoods.
On one side as many people as possible are being housed on occupied land; on the other side the toll mounts of refugees without homes or land. One side controls Jerusalem, a city shared by two peoples and three world religions; the other-Muslim and Christian-watches its demographic, commercial and religious presence wither in Jerusalem," the WCC said.
The WCC claimed a double standard was at work in the international community that favored Israel, saying, "The side set to keep its unlawful gains is garnering support from part of the international community. The side that, despairing at those unlawful gains, used legitimate elections to choose new leaders is being isolated and punished."
"Democracy must be protected where it is taking root," the WCC said, calling for a relaxation of American, British and EU sanctions against Hamas. "Peace must come soon or it may not come to either people for a long time," they concluded.
The WCC's Executive Committee called upon its 340 member churches in over 100 countries representing approximately 550 million Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant Christians to "share solidarity with people on both sides of the conflict," and to "use legitimate forms of pressure to promote a just peace and to end unlawful activities by Israelis or Palestinians."
It also asked its members to "find constructive ways to address threats experienced among the Jewish people, including the nature, prevalence and impact of racism in local, national and international contexts."
In March 2005, the WCC urged its member churches give "serious consideration" to pulling investments out of Israel and endorsed the 2004 decision by the Presbyterian Church of the United States to seek "phased selective divestment" from Israel. "This [Presbyterian] action is commendable in both method and manner, uses criteria rooted in faith and calls members to do the things that make for peace," the WCC said.
The Presbyterian Church will revisit its 2004 divestment decision next month at its 217th General Assembly in Birmingham, Alabama, in response to criticism that the divestment call was one-sided and ill-informed.
Having gone from about $6 to $15, Silver recently settled back down to the lower $12 range. Now it looks as if Silver may continue its runup and settle in the $20 range for awhile.
For those of you who aren't familliar with the history of Silver, it is important to note that silver was at $50 in the 1980s. If, adjusted for inflation, this price were to be achieved again, then we will see Silver prices reach $125 or more.
It is also important to emphasize the economic security guaranteed by posessing the physical metal as opposed to unbacked paper banknotes.
Have we lost all similance of sanity? They're talking seriously about putting someone away for 10 years for bringing a batch of magic muffins to a school.
With all that is going on in the world today, we often find ourselves overwhelmed and confused. It is often difficult to decide what the thrust of our existence is to be in each moment. Many of the things that we discover are meant to do just that; this is why it is important to step back for a moment and re-discover the divinity within ourselves.
Journeys of re-discovery tend to begin with a trigger of some sort. It can be be triggered by a work of art such as a musical album or painting, an encounter with another and even a trip into nature. Regardless of the triggering event, it is important that we break familliar patterns in search of a new angle on things.
In my life, I have recently begun a re-discovery; one which was triggered by a variety of occurences that have been happening lately. It started last weekend when a friend and I decided to take a trip to the foothills and do some hiking; this is something that I hadn't done in months, so it was a truly invigorating experience.
We walked through nature, through all of the poison ivy and rosebushes, blazing our own path, working our way up to the top of a foothill overlooking the city. It was fascinating to see the many facets of nature; all of the things which are there for our enjoyment.
While most of our lives are a monotonous routine, repeated day after day, a new quest can awaken one's thirst for re-discovery and redefine one's relationship to themselves and others. Ever since I began this process, I've had a creative boost and a desire to tear down the old and rebuild from scratch; rebuilding with a solid foundation that was not built upon the pillars of indiscretion.
I have a difficult time figuring out why this degenerate civilization, one which has enveloped the entirety of this beautiful planet, has chosen to enthrall themselves in rote and ritual to such an extent that many of them fail to see one another as living beings. One can avoid the trap by realizing it as mere rote and ritual, which is an utter lack of compassion. The shedding of indiscretions is essential if we are to truly walk a new path and bring about a new reality.
I am confident that each of us posesses the ability to change ourselves, no matter how set we are in our routines. Let us use our intellect and creativity to forever alter the face of existence rather than the traditional method of fear and violence. When a signifcant number of us refuse to cooperate with the systems of fear and violence, we will start to see changes in society at large. The time has come for us to walk to the beat of a different drum.
This certainly isn't the first time that you'll hear this sort of thing here. There are so many ways for me to show you how the modern medical establishment is corrupt to the core and lacks basic standards of ethical conduct.
I refuse to visit a doctor unless there is no other option; the same goes for taking pharmaceuticals, including antibiotics. These prescription and over-the-counter drugs are killing and harming millions of people every year and the medical profession in conjunction with big pharma is to blame; the blood of millions is on their hands.
Do you remember that we said: "most of modern health care and modern education was a swindle?" We said it without any real evidence. It was just an observation, a prejudice and a guess.
Well, cometh a new book by an old friend, Randy Fitzgerald. In "The Hundred Year Lie," Randy argues that most of modern medicine is a fraud:
"At the turn of the 20th century the average life span was about forty years of age in developed countries. By the beginning of the 21st century life spans were nearing eighty years on average.
"Of those 40 years of increased lifespan during the 20th century, no more than seven years can be credited to modern medicine, with even most of that due to advances in medical technology rather than drugs. That estimate comes from Dr. Dick Jackson, director of the Center for Environmental Health at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Ninety percent of the reduction in the death rate occurred before the introduction of antibiotics or vaccines, adds Dr. Anthony Cortese, a former U.S. Public Health Service official. It was largely due to improved water, food, and milk sanitations; a reduction in physical crowding; the introduction of central heating, municipal sewer systems, and refrigeration; and the move away from highly toxic coal and wood burning to less toxic natural gas and oil."
"The scientist who discovered the first two commercially manufactured antibiotics, the microbiologist Rene Dubos, admitted in his book The Mirage of Health: 'The introduction of inexpensive cotton undergarments easy to launder and of transparent glass that brought light into the most humble dwelling, contributed more to the control of infection than did all the drugs and medical practices.'"
The following documentary discusses the history of religion and the use of enthiogens in the ancient religions. It explains the antropomorphic symbology of the Sun God Jesus and its relation to the Sun and to the Amanita Muscaria mushroom.
For more information on this fascinating topic, please visit:
Major telecommunications companies like AT&T, Verison and Bellsouth have been illegally divulging call information for millions of Americans. The NSA made illegal requests of all of the phone companies to divulge this information. If there is any law and order in this country, they will be fined $1,000 per incident.
It is interesting how QWEST was the only company with the integrity to put a stop to this. What is even more interesting about this whole situation is the fact that the NSA refused to get authorization from the Attorney General or the FISA courts...
Telcos Could Be Liable For Tens of Billions of Dollars For Illegally Turning Over Phone Records
This morning, USA Today reported that three telecommunications companies – AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth – provided “phone call records of tens of millions of Americans” to the National Security Agency. Such conduct appears to be illegal and could make the telco firms liable for tens of billions of dollars. Here’s why:
1. It violates the Stored Communications Act. The Stored Communications Act, Section 2703(c), provides exactly five exceptions that would permit a phone company to disclose to the government the list of calls to or from a subscriber: (i) a warrant; (ii) a court order; (iii) the customer’s consent; (iv) for telemarketing enforcement; or (v) by “administrative subpoena.” The first four clearly don’t apply. As for administrative subpoenas, where a government agency asks for records without court approval, there is a simple answer – the NSA has no administrative subpoena authority, and it is the NSA that reportedly got the phone records.
2. The penalty for violating the Stored Communications Act is $1000 per individual violation. Section 2707 of the Stored Communications Act gives a private right of action to any telephone customer “aggrieved by any violation.” If the phone company acted with a “knowing or intentional state of mind,” then the customer wins actual harm, attorney’s fees, and “in no case shall a person entitled to recover receive less than the sum of $1,000.”
(The phone companies might say they didn’t “know” they were violating the law. But USA Today reports that Qwest’s lawyers knew about the legal risks, which are bright and clear in the statute book.)
3. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act doesn’t get the telcos off the hook. According to USA Today, the NSA did not go to the FISA court to get a court order. And Qwest is quoted as saying that the Attorney General would not certify that the request was lawful under FISA. So FISA provides no defense for the phone companies, either.
In other words, for every 1 million Americans whose records were turned over to NSA, the telcos could be liable for $1 billion in penalties, plus attorneys fees. You do the math.
By DAVID STRINGER, Associated Press Writer Wed May 10, 11:21 AM ET Yahoo News
LONDON - A British court recommended Wednesday that a man be extradited to the United States to face charges in the largest attack on U.S. government computer networks — including Army, Air Force, Navy and NASA systems.
Gary McKinnon, 40, of London has been indicted in New Jersey and Virginia for allegedly hacking into U.S. government computers between February 2001 and March 2002. He was arrested in 2002 and has fought his extradition by claiming he could face prosecution under U.S. anti-terror laws.
"My intention was never to disrupt security. The fact that I logged on and there were no passwords means that there was no security," McKinnon said, outside the hearing at London's Bow Street Magistrates Court. "I was looking for UFOs."
Court records in Virginia said McKinnon caused $900,000 in damage to computers, including those of private companies, in 14 states.
In New Jersey, he is accused of hacking into a network of 300 computers at the Earle Naval Weapons Station in Colts Neck, N.J., and stealing 950 passwords.
The break-in — which occurred immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — shut down the whole system for a week, Judge Nicholas Evans said. The station is responsible for replenishing the Atlantic fleet's munitions and supplies.
Though McKinnon was able to view sensitive details about naval munitions and shipbuilding on the secure U.S. systems, he did not access classified information, an investigation found.
British Home Secretary John Reid will make the final decision on extradition. If he approves it, McKinnon will appeal to the High Court, his lawyer Karen Todner said.
Edward Lawson, another attorney for McKinnon, told an earlier hearing that his client feared prosecution by a U.S. military commission under powers introduced after the Sept. 11 attacks.
But the judge said there was no "real, as opposed to fanciful, risk" of McKinnon being prosecuted under anti-terror laws, asking the suspect to accept an assurance provided by the U.S. Department of Justice.
He told McKinnon that in choosing to target the United States he had "run the risk of being prosecuted in that country."
Officials in New Jersey and Virginia would have to decide where McKinnon should stand trial. If convicted of the charges in New Jersey, McKinnon faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
more monkeys killing monkeys killing monkeys over pieces of the ground...
By Khalid Hasan
WASHINGTON: Israel will strike Irans nuclear facilities in the next month or two or three, an Israeli official has been quoted here as saying.
The unnamed official told Arnaud de Borchgrave, editor-in-chief of the United Press International (UPI), at the recently held national day reception at the Israeli Embassy that he believed Israel would strike Iran first in the next two or three months and that fighter bombers would not be involved as they had been to take out Iraqs Osirak nuclear reactor before it went critical in 1981. For Osirak, Israel had used 14 F-15s and F-16s. This time, the Israeli said, it would be missiles. Asked if Israel would employ Cruise missiles, he replied, with a gesture of his hand that went up and down again, which meant that it would be the weapon of choice.
Asked if tunnel entrances to widely scattered Iranian nuclear facilities would be targeted, he responded that Israel had its own geo-stationary spy-in-the-sky satellite taking constant pictures of Iran with a resolution down to 70 centimetres. We know far more than anyone realises, he added.
De Borchgraves report quoted a poll of conservative Republicans by a conservative web-based news service, which showed overwhelmingly strong support for bombing Iran. Almost 60,000 people took part in the poll and 88 percent agreed that Iran poses a greater threat than Saddam Hussein did before the Iraq War. To the question, Should the US undertake military action against Iran to stop their (nuclear) programme? 77 percent replied yes, 23 percent said no. Forty-five percent said that military action should be taken by the United States, while 35 percent wanted Israel to do that. Twenty percent said neither. As for whether US efforts to contain Irans nuclear weapons are working, 93 percent said they were not, while 89 percent said the US should not rely solely on the UN.
According to de Borchgrave, Israel has developed some 100 Jericho-II medium-range ballistic missiles (which entered service in 1989). Jericho IIs range varies from 1,500 to 3,500 kilometres, depending on payload weight. They are deployed in underground caves and silos. Israel has several satellites in orbit - Ofeq-1 through Ofeq-5 - that were launched by Shavit space launch vehicles (SLV). The first two stages of the Shavit were Jericho II missiles. There are unconfirmed reports of an upgraded Jericho-3 missile with a range of over 3,000 kilometres.
The recent release of Tool's new album 10,000 Days reinvigorated my passion for their great works. If more of us understood what true art and music are all about, the way that Tool does, we would have a far more interesting and diverse world; a world in which people aren't afraid to express their true passions; a world in which more of us feel the need to bridle the indiscretions which eat at the very heart of mankind.
I find it incomprehensible that people still find music such as the monotonous beating of the eurotrash techno music interesting, yet fail to any musical excitement when listening to the monumental creations of Tool. I have, on several occasions, played music from the various albums for people who aren't familliar with it; I found that some of them enjoyed it while many of them completely ignored it.
When I played the 10,000 Days album, for example, many of the people I exposed to it were so focused on the artwork that they didn't even listen to the music; after they were done fiddling with the nifty artwork they promptly moved on; they couldn't care less about the music itself.
I guess most people simply lack the sophistication to delve into something different like Tool's works. To these poor souls, music is nothing more than a repetative and comfortable frequency that they tune their mind to in order to create a comfort zone. I suppose that there's no room for higher consciousness; they just haven't got the time for such things, I suppose. 'Tis sad to realize that there's no time for truth and beauty in most people's lives.
I listen to music to feel new feelings and think new thoughts; thoughts which are, preferably, deeper than everyday thoughts centered on material needs, etc. Tool's music, in particular, has given me much to consider; Tool has opened up a great chasm with their heartfelt songs and I am forever greatful for their willingness to contribute to my ultimate goal of reaching higher consciousness.
Most "artists" produce mediocre crap in an effort to rake in as much money as possible; they do this without even a thought towards the implications. Little do they realize that they are contributing to the degredation of the hearts and minds of all of the lost-souls who actually consider the works of these individuals "music."
Perhaps these things are considered "music" because many have never really known what music is and have therefore failed to develop the ability to discern what is music from the cleverly marketed trash that tends to be passed off as music in our society.
Maynard James Keenan once said that there should be a separate chart for most of what is considered "music" by the populous; it would be a chart for clever marketing schemes like the chicken McNuggets and whatnot. You'll have music like slip biscuit, or whatever that shit's called, and then you'll have the chicken McNuggets on there somewhere. There's really no music in most of the releases, just like there's no real chicken in the chicken McNuggets. Most of it is just one commercial after another, how unfortunate it is for anyone who genuinely wants to find something of substance in the whole mess.
More of us need to realize the importance of expanding our minds and feeding them a steady spiral of truth and beauty. Far too many of our minds are lazy and, essentially, sedentary. A sedintary mind, unwilling to break free from its familliar comfort zone, will fail to reach its potential. It is truly sad to see a mind which has given up and found itself trapped in, what is essentially, a cycle of abuse.
I hope that, with the release of this new album, sparks of intrigue will ignite passion in the hearts and minds of the those who lack it. For those of us who embrace each day with loving compassion and seek to eliminate indiscretions, it is important to remember that it is impossible to be truly free until the others are free.
There's much work to be done if we are to prevent the greedy and heartless vultures of the entertainment industry from deceiving and subjugating everyone into believing that music is all about image and "fitting in." I tremble when I think of what the world would be like if these vultures were to continue, unopposed, the process of assimilating everyone into their putrid American Idol conception of music.
With my feet upon the ground I lose myself between the sounds and open wide to suck it in, I feel it move across my skin. I'm reaching up and reaching out, I'm reaching for the random or what ever will bewilder me. And following our will and wind we may just go where no one's been. We'll ride the spiral to the end and may just go where no one's been.
Angels on the sideline, Puzzled and amused. Why did Father give these humans free will? Now they're all confused.
Don't these talking monkeys know that Eden has enough to go around? Plenty in this holy garden, silly monkeys Where there's one you're bound to divide it Right in two
Angels on the sideline, Baffled and confused. Father blessed them all with reason, And this is what they choose?
Monkey killing monkey killing monkey over pieces of the ground. Silly monkeys give them thumbs they forge a blade And where there's one they're bound to divide it Right in two
Monkey killing monkey killing monkey over pieces of the ground. Silly monkeys give them thumbs they make a club, And beat their brother down. How they survive so misguided is a mystery. Repugnant is a creature who would squander the ability, To lift an eye to heaven, conscious of his fleeting time here.
[Cutting it all right in two / Cut it all right in two] / Cutting our love right in two]
Fight over the clouds, over wind, over sky Fight over your lie, over blood, over anything Fight over love, over sun, over nothing Fight till they die, (Ahhh!) over what? for their ending
[This whole part above needs a lot of help - head for the Opinion page and help out!]
Angels on the sideline again, [Mixing love / Benched along] with patience and reason. Angels on the sideline again, Wondering where this tug of war will end.
[Cutting it all right in two / Cut it all right in two] / Cutting our love right in two]
Listen to the tales and romanticize, How we follow the path of the hero. Boast about the day when the rivers overrun. How we rise to the height of our halo.
Listen to the tales as we all rationalize Our way into the arms of the savior, Feigning all the trials and the tribulations; None of us have actually been there. Not like you.
Ignorant fibbers in the congregation Gather around spewing sympathy, Spare me. None of them can even hold a candle up to you. Blinded by choices, hypocrites won't [seek / see].
But, enough about the collective Judas. Who could deny you were the one who [would have made it, / illuminated] You'll have a piece of the divine.
And this little light of mine, the gift you passed on to me; I'll let it shine to guide you safely on your way, Your way home ...
Oh, what are they going to do when the lights go down Without you to guide them all to Zion? What are they going to do when the rivers overrun Other than tremble incessantly?
High as a wave, but I'll rise on up off the ground. You [are / were] the light and the way, they'll only read about. I only pray, [Heaven / God] knows when to lift you out. Ten thousand days in the fire is long enough, you're going home.
You're the only one who can hold your head up high, Shake your fists at the gates saying: "I have come home now! Fetch me the spirit, the son, and the father. Tell them their pillar of faith has ascended. It's time now! My time now! Give me my, give me my wings!"
Give me my wings!
You are the light and way, that they will only read about.
Set as I am in my ways and my arrogance, Burden of proof tossed upon the believers. You were the witness, my eyes, my evidence, Judith Marie, unconditional one.
Daylight dims leaving cold fluorescence. Difficult to see you in this light. Please forgive this bold suggestion: Should you see your Maker's face tonight, Look Him in the eye, look Him in the eye, and tell Him: I never lived a lie, never took a life, but surely saved one. Hallelujah, it's time for you to bring me home.
This is an excellent overview of the banking system in the United States. The video clearly explains how the Federal Reserve has crippled the United States and will continue to lower the living standard until it is abolished.
When teaching economics I sometimes find it beneficial to use government budget data to apply the lessons of economics to our current political circumstances. The students tend to be surprised at the size of our government, the amount of tax revenues that we "pay," and the amount of government debt. The following numbers get the point across.
We, in the United States, live under the rule of the largest civil government, measured in budgetary terms, in history. Federal spending alone in fiscal year 2006 is expected to be over $2.7 trillion, which means the federal government spends $7.4 billion a day or $5.1 million in every minute of the year. This is 815 times the level of federal spending in 1930.
Things have been getting worse recently. In the first five years of the Bush regime, federal spending increased 45 percent. Readers of Mises.org may remember that they were warned about Bush's fiscal irresponsibility before he took office. For comparison's sake, during the eight Clinton years nominal federal spending increased 32 percent, and under Bush I federal spending increased 23 percent in four years. In the 2000 election, Bush II promised to shovel money into all sorts of programs and hes kept that promise.
Since 1930, in addition to the spending increases, the feds also drove prices up more than 1,100 percent, according to the Consumer Price Index. Also, we should suspect that these inflation numbers are low since government officials have an incentive to underestimate inflation.
If we adjust the spending numbers to account for this inflation, real federal spending is 65 times larger than it was in 1930. The U.S. population has more than doubled since 1930 and if we take the population changes into account, real per capita spending is 27 times higher than in 1930.
In estimating real federal spending Im not dismissing the effects of inflation, nor am I absolving the state of its complicity in driving prices up. These calculations are simply an attempt to give us some idea of the growth in government and the attendant loss of our liberties over the last several decades.
This $2.7 trillion in federal spending breaks down to $9,000 per capita or more than $36,000 for the average family of four. If we add in all state and local spending, then total government depredations (a term Murray Rothbard used to describe the greater of government spending and government receipts) are currently over $4.4 trillion or about $14,700 per person annually. Since 1959, government depredations, in real terms, have increased at an average annual rate of 4 percent. That kind of spending will buy a lot of votes.
A significant portion of this spending is being financed with government borrowing. In 1930, the per capita debt load was $140 per person. The current federal total debt level is $8.4 trillion, which works out to around $28,000 per person. In short, the per capita debt load is 200 times larger than it was in 1930. Adjusting for inflation, the real debt per capita is still over 16 times more than it was in 1930.
Federal government debt increased $553 billion in fiscal year 2005 alone. That's more than $1.5 billion of additional debt per day and over $1 million of borrowing per minute for every minute of the year. The interest on the debt in 2005 was $352 billion or more than $1,100 for every man, woman and child in the country. These interest payments are roughly equal to 37 percent of federal income tax revenues.
Much of this debt is owed to the Federal Reserve. U.S. taxpayers are on the hook for $758 billion of government securities that are held by the Fed. So, on average, every person in the country owes the Fed about $2,500.
Tax revenues and borrowing have financed all sorts of interventions. Since 1959, we have suffered from the Great Society, the war on poverty, price controls, increasingly burdensome environmental regulations, the establishment of the Department of Education and its increasing federal control over local schools, Federal Reserve created recessions, agricultural price supports, minimum wage laws and energy policies that keep oil and gasoline prices high.
Theres more. Weve also had labor policies that increase the costs of hiring workers (driving down their take-home pay), trade restrictions and trade agreements that give the feds control over our international trade, massive increases in the welfare state, the drug war, endless pork barrel spending and the prosecution of businessmen for political gain.
One way to see the harm of government intervention is to realize its effects on our standard of living. The depredations of the state reduce the incentives to be productive, destroy our capital base and have a negative effect on economic growth. From 1959 to 2005, adjusting the numbers using the implicit price deflator, real Gross Domestic Product increased an average of 3.37 percent annually.
Consider the possibility that government interventions reduced real economic growth 1 percent annually during this time. If there had been an additional 1 percent per year economic growth since 1959, then real GDP would currently be 55 percent higher than it is. The 2005 GDP of $12.5 billion would have been $19.3 billion. The median family income is estimated to be $44,389. A proportionate increase in this statistic results in a median income of $68,800.
In this scenario, a worker with a salary of $44,389 who is losing 35 percent of his salary to taxes has a tax liability of $15,536. After paying the various types of taxes he gets to keep only $28,853 of his salary. With the extra 1 percent growth per year since 1959, if that worker represented the average, his gross salary would be $68,800 and he would get to keep all of it.
It is conceivable that the $4.4 trillion of annual depredations could have caused more than 1 percent annual damage to our economic growth since 1959. What are the implications of a 2 percent negative impact on GDP? If the absence of interventions had added an additional 2 percent annual growth, this would have resulted in 141 percent more output today. The 2005 GDP would have been over $30 trillion and the median family income would now be $107,000. The worker described above with the $44,389 gross salary and the $28,850 of after tax pay, would have an income of $107,000. The depredations have reduced his net income by 73 percent.
The point here is that we cannot precisely know the magnitude of the damages that intervention has on the economy, but we do know that those damages compound over time, resulting in significant negative effects on our prosperity.
Those of us making the case for liberty have logic, history and morality on our side. Government intervention is immoral and should be stopped for that reason alone. However, the economic costs of the intervention are also important. Part of the appeal of freedom is that it leads to tremendously higher standards of living and these numbers show that government interventions that cause seemingly small amounts of harm, over time, impoverish a society.
..........
Mark Brandly teaches economics at Ferris State University and is an adjunct scholar of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a research and educational institute headquartered in Midland, Mich.
However, I woke enraged on this topic before I read Daou's piece, so I wanted to add my two cents. (And I include a full transcript of Colbert's remarks at the bottom of this entry, so scroll down if you want to see it right away.)
Stephen Colbert was the star attraction at the White House Correspondents Dinner Saturday night, and his performance was thrilling or insulting or uncomfortable, depending on your point of view. Apparently, according to Editor and Publisher.com, President and Mrs. Bush looked very uncomfortable, and quickly left right afterward.
But the mainstream media is apparently ignoring this part of the evening, and instead is covering the early entertainment where Bush and a look-alike imitator do a "he says this, he's really thinking this" routine. Moderately amusing, but very mild.
This, by the way, is the same Washington event where Bush previously charmed many (and horrified others) by pretending to have trouble finding Weapons of Mass Destruction (after we'd started to realize they weren't in Iraq), and wandered the room looking under tables. Really cute, huh? They should send videos of that to the families of soldiers killed.
The media's ignoring Colbert's effect at the White House Correspondents Dinner is a very clear example of what others have called the media's penchant for buying into the conservative/rightwing "narrative."
In this instance, the "narrative" is that President Bush, for all his missteps, has a darling sense of humor and is a real regular guy, able to poke delightful fun at himself and his penchant for mis-using and mispronouncing words.
Who cares if he lied to start a war? (Or chose to ignore all contrary opinion, which as far as war-starting goes, is pretty crummy.) Who cares if he declares he's above the law, and according to the Boston Globe yesterday there are something like 750 laws he's decided don't apply to him as "Commander-in-Chief"?
The Globe article's first sentence: "President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution."
If the President doesn't obey the law, what the heck is he? He's a dictator in a coup, I think -- but no matter, according to the media, he's A-DOR-ABLE!
Meanwhile, at this Correspondents White House Dinner, the star attraction of the evening -- the last person to perform (of a small group) and whose act went on for about 20 minutes -- is Stephen Colbert. Yesterday the blogs were a-buzz with how shocking his remarks were. In his comic persona of Bush Supporter Nonpareil, Colbert stood on the dais near the President and kept making eye contact with him as he said truly biting comic remarks.
I found two sites that showed clips from Colbert's performance. This one (at Crooks and Liars) has most of the act, though it's missing the beginning.
It's insane journalism not to write about Colbert's appearance. It's the main event. Like it or hate it, it's the thing to talk about. You have to CHOOSE to focus on the lightweight entertainment that preceded it.
The right wing blogs are saying Colbert bombed, and in some ways that's not wrong, the gathered audience wanted and expected something lighter - but that's what makes the appearance so startling. It's very witty when you read the text; but actuality as Colbert says these things to the President's face, it's very uncomfortable. Watching it, It's like Hamlet forcing King Claudius to watch the play that accuses him of murder. Or it's like a man asked to be Court Jester who shows up and tells the king exactly what's wrong with him, and gets out of the building before they can behead him. (Why do I keep having "king" examples, lol. No reason, I'm sure.)
Colbert's was a brave and shocking performance. And for the media to pretend it isn't newsworthy is a total bafflement. And a symbol of how shoddy and suspect the media is.
(And a truly interesting news question - who chose the biting Colbert to be the entertainment? And are they now in trouble?)
This morning, Katie Couric and Matt Lauer giggled and got all warm about the cutesy performance of Bush and the Twin look-alike imitator. Really funsy. Colbert was not mentioned.
I'm old enough to remember when Eartha Kitt told off Lady Byrd Johnson for her husband's policies in Vietnam at some innocent luncheon... the news media reported that, they didn't only report on the chicken salad sandwiches.
Yesterday the New York Times had no coverage of the event, except buried in its Washington section was a small, uninteresting blurb picked up from Reuters.
This morning, lo and behold, they have more... a fawning piece by someone named Elizabeth Bumiller called "At Award Correspondents' Dinner, A Set of Bush Twins Steal the Show."
Like Katie and Matt's briefer piece, this article too finds the President absolutely adorable. And makes the judgment call that the President's darling sense of humor is the true story of the event.
And the Colbert appearance -- which chilled the room, attacking journalists as well as Bush -- is literally not worth reporting. Back before blogs and C-Span, we wouldn't even know about it.
The Times piece also has a video clip, which features Bush and the Twin, but at the tail end includes Colbert, saying he was biting, but then quotes one of his milder jabs (making fun of the Iraqis' troubles putting together a government). (To find you must click on "video report" under "Washington Letter.")
I suppose I can be dismissed as a conspiracy type, but if Ohio was stolen in the last election (which I think it was), and if more and more computer voting is put into place with NO PAPER RECORD (Democrats, wake up on this one please, please, please), and if Matt and Katie and other media people keep feeding us the Conservative Narrative on and on, then our democracy is over. (Some say it's already over.) McCain has been taken over like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" -- he too now finds Bush adorable. I keep having hopes for Arlen Specter, he seems truly upset by Bush breaking the law to allow warrantless wiretapping. But will he have the courage and stamina to keep fighting?
Well I'm talking myself into a gloomy corner, so let me stop, and reprint the full Colbert speech, which I found at this link.
Tell me if you don't think it's newsworthy he said all this IN FRONT OF THE PRESIDENT:
parked 14 black bullet proof S.U.V.'S out front, could you please move them. They are blocking in 14 other black bulletproof S.U.V.'S and they need to get out. Wow, wow, what an honor. The White House Correspondents' Dinner. To just sit here, at the same table with my hero, George W. Bush, to be this close to the man. I feel like I'm dreaming. Somebody pinch me. You know what, I'm a pretty sound sleeper, that may not be enough. Somebody shoot me in the face.
Is he really not here tonight? The one guy who could have helped. By the way, before I get started, if anybody needs anything at their tables, speak slowly and clearly on into your table numbers and somebody from the N.S.A. Will be right over with a cocktail.
Mrs. Smith, ladies and gentlemen of the press corps, Mr. President and first lady, my name is Stephen Colbert and it's my privilege tonight to celebrate our president. He's no so different, he and I. We get it. We're not brain backs on the nerd patrol. We're not members of the fact (police). We go straight from the gut, right sir? That's where the truth lies, right down here in the gut. Do you know you have more nerve endings in your gut than you have in your head? You can look it up. I know some of you are going to say I did look it up, and that's not true. That's but you looked it up in a book.
Next time look it up in your gut. I did. My gut tells me that's how our nervous system works. Every night on my show, the Colbert report, I speak straight from the gut, ok? I give people the truth, unfiltered by rational argument. I call it the no fact zone. Fox News, I own the copyright on that term.
I'm a simple man with a simple mind, with a simple set of beliefs that I live by. Number one, I believe in America. I believe it exists.
My gut tells me I live there. I feel that it extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and I strongly believe it has 50 states. And I cannot wait to see how "the Washington Post" spins that one tomorrow. I believe in democracy. I believe democracy is our greatest export. At least until China figures out a way to stamp it out in plastic for three cents a unit.
In fact, ambassador, welcome, your great country makes our happy meals possible. I said it's a celebration. I believe the government that governs best is the government that governs least. And by these standards, we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq.
I believe in pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. I believe it is possible -- I saw this guy do it once in Cirque du Soleil. It was magical. And though I am a committed Christian, I believe that everyone has the right to their own religion, be it Hindu, Jewish or Muslim. I believe our infinite paths to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior. Ladies and gentlemen, I believe it's yogurt. But I refuse to believe it's not butter. Most of all I believe in this president.
Now, I know there's some polls out there saying this man has a 32% approval rating. But guys like us, we don't pay attention to the polls. We know that polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking in "reality." And reality has a well-known liberal bias.
So, Mr. President, pay no attention to the people that say the glass is half full. 32% means the glass -- it's important to set up your jokes properly, sir. Sir pay no attention to the people who say the glass is half empty, because 32% means it's 2/3 empty. There's still some liquid in that glass is my point, but I wouldn't drink it. The last third is usually backwash.
Folks, my point is that I don't believe this is a low point in this presidency. I believe it is just a lull, before a comeback.
I mean, it's like the movie "Rocky." The president is Rocky and Apollo Creed is everything else in the world. It's the 10th round. He's bloodied, his corner man, Mick, who in this case would be the Vice President, and he's yelling cut me, dick, cut me, and every time he falls she say stay down! Does he stay down? No. Like Rocky he gets back up and in the end he -- actually loses in the first movie. Ok. It doesn't matter.
The point is the heart-warming story of a man who was repeatedly punched in the face. So don't pay attention to the approval ratings that say 68% of Americans disapprove of the job this man is doing. I ask you this, does that not also logically mean that 68% approve of the job he's not doing? Think about it. I haven't.
I stand by this man. I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message, that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world.
Now, there may be an energy crisis. This president has a very forward-thinking energy policy. Why do you think he's down on the ranch cutting that brush all the time? He's trying to create an alternative energy source. By 2008 we will have a mesquite powered car.
And I just like the guy. He's a good joe. Obviously loves his wife, calls her his better half. And polls show America agrees. She's a true lady and a wonderful woman. But I just have one beef, ma'am. I'm sorry, but this reading initiative. I've never been a fan of books. I don't trust them. They're all fact, no heart. I mean, they're elitist telling us what is or isn't true, what did or didn't happen. What's Britannica to tell me the Panama Canal was built in 1914. If I want to say it was built in 1941, that's my right as an American. I'm with the president, let history decide what did or did not happen.
The greatest thing about this man is he's steady. You know where he stands. He believes the same thing Wednesday, that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday. Events can change, this man's beliefs never will.
And as excited as I am to be here with the president, I am appalled to be surrounded by the liberal media that is destroying America, with the exception of Fox News. Fox News gives you both sides of every story, the President's side and the Vice President's side.
But the rest of you, what are you thinking, reporting on N.S.A. wiretapping or secret prisons in Eastern Europe? Those things are secret for a very important reason, they're superdepressing. And if that's your goal, well, misery accomplished.
Over the last five years you people were so good over tax cuts, W.M.D. intelligence, the affect of global warming. We Americans didn't want to know, and you had the courtesy not to try to find out. Those were good times, as far as we knew.
But, listen, let's review the rules. Here's how it works. The President makes decisions, he's the decider. The Press Secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Put them through a spell check and go home.
Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know, fiction.
Because really, what incentive do these people have to answer your questions, after all? I mean, nothing satisfies you. Everybody asks for personnel changes. So the White House has personnel changes. Then you write they're just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
First of all, that is a terrible metaphor. This administration is not sinking. This administration is soaring. If anything, they are rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg.
Now, it's not all bad guys out there. Some heroes, Buckley, Kim Schieffer. By the way, Mr. President, thank you for agreeing to be on my show. I was just as shocked as everyone here is I promise you. How is Tuesday for you? I've got Frank Rich, but we can bump him.
And I mean bump him. I know a guy. Say the word.
See who we've got here tonight. General Mowsly, Air Force Chief of Staff. General Peter Pace. They still support Rumsfeld. You guys aren't retired yet, right? Right, they still support Rumsfeld.
Look, by the way, I've got a theory about how to handle these retired generals causing all this trouble, don't let them retire. C'mon, we've got a stop loss program, let's use it on these guys. If you're strong enough to go on one of those pundit shows, you can stand on a bank of computers and order men into battle. C'mon.
Jesse Jackson is here. I had him on the show. Very interesting and challenging interview. You can ask him anything, but he's going to say what he wants at the pace that he wants. It's like boxing a glacier.
Enjoy that metaphor, because your grandchildren will have no idea what a glacier is.
Justice Scalia's here. May I be the first to say welcome, sir. You look fantastic. How are you? (imitates hostile gestures Scalia was reported to have made)
John McCain is here. John McCain John McCain. What a maverick. Somebody find out what fork he used on his salad, because I guarantee you wasn't a salad fork. He could have used a spoon. There's no predicting him. So wonderful to see you coming back into the republican fold. I have a summerhouse in South Carolina, look me up when you go to speak at Bob Jones University. So glad you've seen the light.
Mayor Nagin is here from New Orleans, the chocolate city. Yeah, give it up. Mayor Nagin, I would like to welcome you to Washington, D.C., The chocolate city with a marshmallow center. And a graham cracker crust of corruption. It's a mallomar is what I'm describing, a seasonal cookie.
Joe Wilson is here, the most famous husband since Desi Arnez. And of course he brought along his lovely wife Valerie Plame. Oh, my god! Oh, what have I said. I am sorry, Mr. President, I meant to say he brought along his lovely wife, Joe Wilson's wife. Pat Fitzgerald is not here tonight? Dodged a bullet.
And we can't forget man of the hour, new Press Secretary, Tony Snow. Secret service name, Snow Job. What a hero, took the second toughest job in government, next to, of course, the ambassador to Iraq. Got some big shoes to fill, Tony. Scott McClellan could say nothing like nobody else.
McClellan, eager to retire. Really felt like he needed to spend more time with Andrew Card's children.
Mr. President, I wish you hadn't made the decision so quickly, sir. I was vying for the job. I think I would have made a fabulous press secretary. I have nothing but contempt for these people. I know how to handle these clowns. In fact, sir, I brought along an audition tape and with your indulgence, I'd like to at least give it a shot. So, ladies and gentlemen, my press conference. "
(Note: A video section followed with Colbert sparring with reporters and eventually running away from journalist Helen Thomas. It's included in the Crooks and Liars link above.)
"Where the world ceases to be the scene of our personal hopes and wishes, where we face it as free beings admiring, asking and observing, there we enter the realm of Art and Science" ~Einstein
