By Jan Markell
www.olivetreeviews.org
Could we say that the church has failed to wake up very many people so, by default, a Mormon -- Glenn Beck -- has made quite a stir and has become an official spiritual leader? He rallied hundreds of thousands last weekend with themes of faith and love of our country. Americans are desperate and fearful of what is coming upon this land so they look to a Mormon for leadership. I am glad his Saturday event was successful for just some of these reasons:
* Americans came to celebrate America after the highest leaders in our land have trashed her around the world.
* They focused on what was right in America and they also honored our military.
* Faith and patriotism were lifted up -- two items that the Left despises.
* Attendees were passionate -- traveling thousands of miles and, once arriving in D.C., walking for miles, even if handicapped.
* Conservative Americans must gather together to fortify one another. Such events strengthen one another and offer hope. Finding kindred spirits in a depressing age is essential.
* Whether the Left heard or not, the attendees sent a message that they are fed up. November is around the corner and they had better look out.
In light of the positive aspects of the honoring America weekend, could there possibly be a down side? I tried to do a fair and balanced radio program last Saturday, August 28, with Brannon Howse, former Mormon Ed Decker, and apologetics' expert Eric Barger. We raised a few issues, and you can hear them here. I have received some thanks for the honesty and integrity of the two hours, and a few hate e-mails and calls for the position the panel took, which will be explained in the paragraphs below.
The theme of the Friday gathering of spiritual leaders and the Saturday rally was an encouragement to turn back to God. The not-so-subtle theme was "many faiths, but one God."
I believe many conservative Christians would have been relieved if Glenn had not brought out Mormon doctrine that very few are familiar with. He stated at the Saturday event that the American Indians are the "chosen people" -- blatant Mormon doctrine. The crowd applauded in approval. You can view that here at the 4:30 mark.
He stated -- and has affirmed this on his radio and television programs -- that God is the only answer. While much was troublesome last weekend, who else is sticking their neck out saying we have to turn back to God and gathering hundreds of thousands in the process? It would be wonderful if Franklin Graham or even Joel Rosenberg could attract a half-million people and deliver the true gospel. We aren't quite there yet. Again, by default, we defer to Glenn Beck.
The weekend opened on Friday night, Augsust 27, with Glenn's "Divine Destiny" program which again, is straight out of Mormonism. Many participants have implied, or blatantly stated, that Glenn is a "saved Mormon" or on the way to becoming one.
Friend and frequent radio guest John McTernan, was present both days just to observe. He writes on his blog, "There were several prayers offered at the Friday event and none were made in the name of Jesus. I was deeply grieved after I left.
"On Saturday, I attended the rally. If it had been just political, I could accept Beck as a leader; however, it went way beyond that. I am not questioning anything about Beck's character or motives. What I am deeply grieved about is that this was not led by the real church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Is America in such desperate spiritual condition that masses of Christians will follow a Mormon for spiritual revival?"
McTernan continues, "The sheep in America are desperate and fearful of what is coming, so they look to a Mormon for leadership. A Mormon leading a meeting like this for America turning back to God should have God-fearing pastors in America on their knees crying out to God for mercy. I am grieved, not so much with Glenn Beck, but that the church is so pitifully weak that a Mormon can now lead God's people, and they do not see the spiritual danger."
What are major Mormon beliefs and how do they play into this scenario? When God is the professed focus of the August 27-28 weekend, what is the deeper meaning? And Glenn is outspoken about his Mormon faith. He so-stated that fact many times over the weekend and in the weeks and months leading up to it. It was not subtle or hidden. But Glenn does not bring out the bullet points below because it reads like science fiction.
Mormon theology teaches:
* God was born and raised on another planet.
* He has a harem of wives.
* They produce spirit-babies that are sent to earth; there they gain bodies and earn sainthood.
* Jesus is the brother of Lucifer.
* Jesus is the chosen/elected savior by a council of gods from other worlds.
* America is the promised land, not Israel. The holy city is Independence, Missouri, not Jerusalem. Jesus' latter-day agenda is to return to Missouri.
* The U.S. Constitution is as sacred as the Book of Mormon. In the latter days, it will be under siege and will be saved by Mormons. Thus, we must "reclaim America" to save the Constitution and usher in a genuine age of Mormon leadership. They want to build a Mormon kingdom on earth, similar to modern day Dominionists/Kingdom Now proponents within Christianity. Founder Joseph Smith had a socialistic philosophy and wished to have a society that shared things in common.
* America's founding fathers were "spirit babies" who created a "sacred Constitution."
* Salvation is works-based and not through grace and faith.
This is what Glenn Beck believes. Is the god of this system, this faith, the one he referred to when he stated, "Today, America turns back to God?" Is his god concept one we can turn back to?
For greater insights, visit the Web site of former Mormon and radio guest, Ed Decker. Also visit the apologetics' site of Eric Barger.
Brannon Howse has done extensive radio programs and written cutting-edge articles on this issue for over a week.
Jim Garlow, a popular and influential pastor who partnered with the Mormon faithful in California to defend traditional marriage, was quoted recently in CNN's Belief Blog, saying, "I have interviewed persons who have talked specifically with Glenn about his personal salvation -- persons extremely well known in Christianity -- and they have affirmed (using language evangelicals understand), 'Glenn is saved. He understands receiving Christ as Savior.' "
In short, Mormonism has a different holy book, father, Jesus, concept of grace, salvation, end-times, etc. You cannot be a "saved Mormon." Evangelicals who should know better already call him a "brother in Christ." Some of those share the Mormon "dominion" of the earth and this is their connection. Promoting this false end-time theology of making the earth perfect seems to trump everything else. We can't save the earth and make it perfect. Jesus Christ has to return to do that.
So, was the following the purpose? Brannon Howse has posted a story at his Worldview Weekend site that the LDS Examiner states through Mormon writer Greg West, "As a Mormon, I have to consider an unintended message throughout Beck's work, which has culminated in this event. That message is: 'Mormons are Christian believers. Despite nearly two centuries of misrepresentation and religious envy by sectarian Christianity, Beck has achieved the visibility, prominence, and has had the time day after day, week after week, to speak openly and truly about his core beliefs. Those statements of faith have disoriented and confused those who had previously believed the lies about Mormons."
West has proved our point. "Evangelicals and Mormons Together" will be next. Why not? A Mormon successfully called a nation back to God.
Most who stand with Glenn, however, do not embrace this theology. Some Christian leaders are just deceived and others think it is hip and cool to align themselves with a man who is so prominent and so pro-America.
John McTernan states, "I know Mormonism real well. There is a Mormon prophecy that America is going to be nearly destroyed with the Constitution hanging by a thread. A Mormon savior would arrive and lead the Mormon church to save America. I can see this coming into play real soon. Maybe the revival Beck is talking about is a massive conversion to Mormonism."
We sincerely hope Glenn Beck will become a true brother in Christ. We can pray to that end and also that Christian leaders will sharpen their discernment and understand the disservice they are doing to the body of Christ by exalting an unsaved man, and allowing him to be a virtual shepherd over millions of Americans who just want to take back America.
View Original Article With Links
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Living In Fear
The American Dream
Can you feel the rising fear in America today? It has gotten to the point where it is almost palpable. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs and fear what is going to happen when their unemployment benefits run out. Millions of others fear what would happen if they lose the job that they still have. A rapidly growing number of Americans are getting behind on their mortgage payments and fear that they might lose their homes to foreclosure. Still others are looking retirement directly in the eye and are realizing that they aren't going to have enough money to make it. So why all the fear? Well, over the past several decades an increasing number of Americans have come to define their lives by the amount of stuff that they have accumulated and the amount of money in their bank accounts. For these Americans, living the American Dream is dependent on these material possessions. So what happens when these material possessions are threatened? What you get is millions upon millions of Americans living in fear.
What is your greatest fear?
Death?
Losing a loved one?
Speaking in public?
Well, if one new survey is to be believed, running out of money is the greatest fear of all. According to a recent poll of Americans between the ages of 44 and 75, 61% said that running out money was their greatest fear. The other 39% said that death was scarier.
That is where we are at as a society.
Literally billions of people around the world have next to nothing, so if they were to lose the little that they have it would not be that big of a deal.
But for Americans, we are so used to such an insane level of prosperity that the thought of losing it all creates a great deal of fear.
These days Americans spend a great deal of time worried about the economy. Terms like "double-dip recession" and "economic downturn" are brought up even on mainstream news programs constantly now.
Economists such as Nouriel "Dr. Doom" Roubini make worldwide headlines with their pronouncements that more hard times could be on the way. In fact, Roubini recently said that he thinks that the odds of a double-dip recession have risen to more than 40 percent.
So are there legitimate reasons to be concerned about the economy?
Absolutely.
I have written about them over and over.
But the appropriate response is not fear.
Nor is it an appropriate response to bury one's head in the sand and pretend that nothing bad is going to happen.
Rather, the appropriate response is to see things the way they really are and make the best preparations that we can.
Even in the incredibly difficult economic times that are ahead, some people are going to have the greatest adventures of their entire lives.
For some people, times don't have to be "good" in order to experience great love and joy and peace.
But for millions of other Americans, a full blown economic collapse will mean that they will totally lose it.
Sadly, when things really and truly do melt down, there will be rioting in the streets and hordes of Americans begging the federal government for assistance.
The truth is that we can already see signs of this. Thousands of desperate people from all over America lined up one recent Friday morning outside the Palm Beach County Convention Center hoping that a non-profit organization called the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America could help them save their homes. NACA had received $41.5 million in federal money from the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program, and it was expected that 50,000 people would ultimately show up from all across the nation to try to take advantage of the program.
You see, in 2010 Americans have been taught that when they feel fear they should turn to the government for a handout. Recently, in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia 30,000 people turned out to pick up only 13,000 applications for government-subsidized housing. A near-riot ensued and the sad thing is that there weren't even any openings in the program. The whole thing was just to get on a waiting list.
But America has now become so socialized that tens of millions of Americans are clamoring for government assistance. Government anti-poverty programs have absolutely exploded in size in response to the recent economic downturn. Now, a record one in six Americans are enrolled in at least one government anti-poverty program.
Take a moment to think about that.
That is absolutely staggering.
People are even putting off having kids because of the bad economy. The U.S. birth rate has dropped for the second year in a row. It is now about the lowest it has been in a hundred years. There are many reasons for this phenomenon, but many experts believe that one of the big factors is that people simply do not believe that they can afford children right now.
But not only are people putting off bringing new life into the world, an increasing number of Americans are actually ending their lives because of soul crushing economic problems.
The following is an excerpt from an actual letter to U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner....
"My dad, S, killed himself March 16, 2009 because he ran out of money and could not find work. My whole family had been devastated by the economy. He was 61 years old and could not take it anymore. He could not figure out how to keep the electric on, buy food, or keep a roof over his head. A day before his electric was to be shut off, and 2 weeks away from eviction, my dad took the hardest walk of his life. He left a note on the dining room table for my sister and I. His suicide letter said ‘I love you. I had to do this. I ran out of money. I wish you both luck in your lives’. He left the door unlocked with the door key left in the lock. He carefully laid out two suits for us to pick from to bury him in."
This is really happening in America in 2010.
People are giving in to fear.
But they do not need to.
As we read in I John chapter 4, "perfect love casts out fear". If the American people had something more to live for than materialism and entertainment then they could overcome the fear of hard economic times.
But for most Americans, "building a life" means buying a home, building up a bank account and accumulating as big a pile of possessions as possible.
When the good times are gone, a very large percentage of Americans is going to totally lose it and will think that life is not worth living anymore.
What about you?
Are you going to give in to fear or are you going to have something to live for when that day arrives?
View Original Article
Can you feel the rising fear in America today? It has gotten to the point where it is almost palpable. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs and fear what is going to happen when their unemployment benefits run out. Millions of others fear what would happen if they lose the job that they still have. A rapidly growing number of Americans are getting behind on their mortgage payments and fear that they might lose their homes to foreclosure. Still others are looking retirement directly in the eye and are realizing that they aren't going to have enough money to make it. So why all the fear? Well, over the past several decades an increasing number of Americans have come to define their lives by the amount of stuff that they have accumulated and the amount of money in their bank accounts. For these Americans, living the American Dream is dependent on these material possessions. So what happens when these material possessions are threatened? What you get is millions upon millions of Americans living in fear.
What is your greatest fear?
Death?
Losing a loved one?
Speaking in public?
Well, if one new survey is to be believed, running out of money is the greatest fear of all. According to a recent poll of Americans between the ages of 44 and 75, 61% said that running out money was their greatest fear. The other 39% said that death was scarier.
That is where we are at as a society.
Literally billions of people around the world have next to nothing, so if they were to lose the little that they have it would not be that big of a deal.
But for Americans, we are so used to such an insane level of prosperity that the thought of losing it all creates a great deal of fear.
These days Americans spend a great deal of time worried about the economy. Terms like "double-dip recession" and "economic downturn" are brought up even on mainstream news programs constantly now.
Economists such as Nouriel "Dr. Doom" Roubini make worldwide headlines with their pronouncements that more hard times could be on the way. In fact, Roubini recently said that he thinks that the odds of a double-dip recession have risen to more than 40 percent.
So are there legitimate reasons to be concerned about the economy?
Absolutely.
I have written about them over and over.
But the appropriate response is not fear.
Nor is it an appropriate response to bury one's head in the sand and pretend that nothing bad is going to happen.
Rather, the appropriate response is to see things the way they really are and make the best preparations that we can.
Even in the incredibly difficult economic times that are ahead, some people are going to have the greatest adventures of their entire lives.
For some people, times don't have to be "good" in order to experience great love and joy and peace.
But for millions of other Americans, a full blown economic collapse will mean that they will totally lose it.
Sadly, when things really and truly do melt down, there will be rioting in the streets and hordes of Americans begging the federal government for assistance.
The truth is that we can already see signs of this. Thousands of desperate people from all over America lined up one recent Friday morning outside the Palm Beach County Convention Center hoping that a non-profit organization called the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America could help them save their homes. NACA had received $41.5 million in federal money from the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program, and it was expected that 50,000 people would ultimately show up from all across the nation to try to take advantage of the program.
You see, in 2010 Americans have been taught that when they feel fear they should turn to the government for a handout. Recently, in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia 30,000 people turned out to pick up only 13,000 applications for government-subsidized housing. A near-riot ensued and the sad thing is that there weren't even any openings in the program. The whole thing was just to get on a waiting list.
But America has now become so socialized that tens of millions of Americans are clamoring for government assistance. Government anti-poverty programs have absolutely exploded in size in response to the recent economic downturn. Now, a record one in six Americans are enrolled in at least one government anti-poverty program.
Take a moment to think about that.
That is absolutely staggering.
People are even putting off having kids because of the bad economy. The U.S. birth rate has dropped for the second year in a row. It is now about the lowest it has been in a hundred years. There are many reasons for this phenomenon, but many experts believe that one of the big factors is that people simply do not believe that they can afford children right now.
But not only are people putting off bringing new life into the world, an increasing number of Americans are actually ending their lives because of soul crushing economic problems.
The following is an excerpt from an actual letter to U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner....
"My dad, S, killed himself March 16, 2009 because he ran out of money and could not find work. My whole family had been devastated by the economy. He was 61 years old and could not take it anymore. He could not figure out how to keep the electric on, buy food, or keep a roof over his head. A day before his electric was to be shut off, and 2 weeks away from eviction, my dad took the hardest walk of his life. He left a note on the dining room table for my sister and I. His suicide letter said ‘I love you. I had to do this. I ran out of money. I wish you both luck in your lives’. He left the door unlocked with the door key left in the lock. He carefully laid out two suits for us to pick from to bury him in."
This is really happening in America in 2010.
People are giving in to fear.
But they do not need to.
As we read in I John chapter 4, "perfect love casts out fear". If the American people had something more to live for than materialism and entertainment then they could overcome the fear of hard economic times.
But for most Americans, "building a life" means buying a home, building up a bank account and accumulating as big a pile of possessions as possible.
When the good times are gone, a very large percentage of Americans is going to totally lose it and will think that life is not worth living anymore.
What about you?
Are you going to give in to fear or are you going to have something to live for when that day arrives?
View Original Article
Control Of Food Supply To Be Handed Over To Department Of Homeland Security
S.510 deceptively titled "Food Safety and Modernization Act" written by and for Monsanto lobbyists.
by Alan Villegas
(OfficialWire)
The words "homeland security" are found 41 times in the text of the bill S. 510, also known as the Food Safety Modernization Act. Unprecedented powers over food are set to be handed over to Homeland Security if the bill is not stopped.
The bill opens opens the door to even more federal control over the everyday lives of American citizens. Since they are already engaging in organic raw milk raids without the increased powers of S. 510, the question is going to be how many more guns-drawn raids are we to expect after the bill becomes law? It gets worse. Not only does the bill grant the FDA more power, Michael R. Taylor was named deputy commissioner for foods at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in January 2010. Michael R. Taylor also worked for Monsanto, was a lobbyist for them, according to Wikipedia. And all of this activity is happening at a time when a flourishing self-sufficiency movement is taking hold in this country, at a time when demand for fresh, local, and organic food is at an all time high.
The question is: Do America's small farmers want a pro-Monsanto lobbyist in charge of the nation's food supply?
The answer is clear and this may turn out to be a draw-the-line-in-the-sand moment for many people. May God bless America!
Read Article With Links
Related Article: Food War On The People Escalates
by Alan Villegas
(OfficialWire)
The words "homeland security" are found 41 times in the text of the bill S. 510, also known as the Food Safety Modernization Act. Unprecedented powers over food are set to be handed over to Homeland Security if the bill is not stopped.
The bill opens opens the door to even more federal control over the everyday lives of American citizens. Since they are already engaging in organic raw milk raids without the increased powers of S. 510, the question is going to be how many more guns-drawn raids are we to expect after the bill becomes law? It gets worse. Not only does the bill grant the FDA more power, Michael R. Taylor was named deputy commissioner for foods at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in January 2010. Michael R. Taylor also worked for Monsanto, was a lobbyist for them, according to Wikipedia. And all of this activity is happening at a time when a flourishing self-sufficiency movement is taking hold in this country, at a time when demand for fresh, local, and organic food is at an all time high.
The question is: Do America's small farmers want a pro-Monsanto lobbyist in charge of the nation's food supply?
The answer is clear and this may turn out to be a draw-the-line-in-the-sand moment for many people. May God bless America!
Read Article With Links
Related Article: Food War On The People Escalates
30 Statistics That Prove The Elite Are Getting Richer, The Poor Are Getting Poorer And The Middle Class Is Being Destroyed
The Economic Collapse
Not everyone has been doing badly during the economic turmoil of the last few years. In fact, there are some Americans that are doing really, really well. While the vast majority of us struggle, there is one small segment of society that is seemingly doing better than ever. This was reflected in a recent article on CNBC in which it was noted that companies that cater to average Americans are doing rather poorly right now while companies that market luxury goods and services are generally performing exceptionally well. So why aren't all American consumers jumping on the spending bandwagon? Well, it seems that there are a large number of Americans who either can't spend a lot of money right now or who are very hesitant to. A stunningly high number of Americans are still unemployed, and for many other Americans, there is a very real fear that hard economic times will return soon. On the other hand, there is a significant percentage of Americans who are blowing money on luxury goods and services as if the economy has fully turned around and it is time to let the good times roll. So exactly what in the world is going on here?
Well, in 2010 life is very, very different depending on whether you are a "have" or a "have not". The recent article on CNBC referenced above described it this way....
Consumer spending in the U.S. has turned into a tale of two cities in 2010, with an entire segment of consumers splurging confidently on the finer things in life, while another segment, concerned about unemployment and with little or no discretionary income, spends only on bare necessities.
So why is this happening?
It is happening because the rich are getting richer and they have plenty of money to buy stuff and the poor are getting poorer and have less money to spend than ever.
In case you haven't been paying attention over the past couple of decades, what we have in America today is a system that is designed to funnel as much wealth into the hands of the elite as possible.
This isn't capitalism that we have in America in 2010. Instead, what we have created is a system where the laws are set up so that the power elite and their big, dominant corporations always win.
Why do you think so many of America's largest corporations pay so little in taxes?
Why do you think so many of them are showered with government subsidies, tax breaks and bailouts?
It's not about competition anymore.
It's about rigging the game in your favor.
The power elite and the giant corporations they control spend millions and millions on lobbying and campaign contributions and they expect a big return on that investment.
Let's take a look at one example. Many people think that Barack Obama and the Democrats are supposed to be anti-business, right?
Well then why are some of Barack Obama's biggest donors the very same corporations that are receiving giant bailouts, making record profits and paying their employees billions in bonuses?
Goldman Sachs was Barack Obama's second biggest donor. Microsoft was number four. Citigroup was number six. JPMorgan Chase was number seven. Time Warner was number eight.
Are you starting to get the picture?
Every single year, the U.S. Congress passes law after law after law that makes it easier for big corporations to dominate and makes it easier for the rich to get even richer.
America's economy is not about competition anymore.
It is about eliminating competition.
And unfortunately for middle class Americans, the giant predator corporations that now dominate our economy are realizing that they don't really need nearly as many American workers anymore.
Instead, they are slowly but surely shipping our jobs off to the other side of the world where workers are willing to work for about a tenth as much.
And yet we still run out to the "big box" stores and fill up our carts with a bunch of plastic crap made on the other side of the world by these giant corporations.
Meanwhile, those giant corporations are taking the profits they make out of our communities and they are taking our jobs and are shipping them overseas.
So in the final analysis, is it any wonder why the income inequality gap is growing?
Without small businesses having a legitimate chance to compete and without good jobs for American workers, the middle class in America is going to continue to get chewed up and spit out.
The following are 30 statistics that prove that the elite are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer and the middle class is being destroyed in 2010....
The Rich Are Getting Richer
1 - As of 2007, the top 1 percent of all Americans was taking home 24 percent of the national income. This was a level that had not been seen since the days of the Great Depression.
2 - Incomes have been growing in the United States, but those at the very top of the pyramid have been gobbling up almost all of the income growth. According to Harvard Magazine, 66% of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1% of all Americans.
3 - Even official government figures bear out the fact that the rich are getting richer. An analysis of income-tax data by the Congressional Budget Office a few years ago found that the top 1% of all American households own nearly twice as much of the corporate wealth as they did just 15 years ago.
4- Most Americans have suffered during the last few years, but not the boys and girls down on Wall Street. New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says that Wall Street bonuses for 2009 were up 17 percent when compared with 2008.
5 - Even as the number of Americans living in poverty skyrockets, the number of millionaires just keeps growing. In fact, the number of millionaires in the United States rose a whopping 16 percent to 7.8 million during 2009.
6 - The amount of money some of these Wall Street hotshots are making is incredible. Back in 2005, the top 25 hedge fund managers earned a total of 9 billion dollars. That would be bad enough, but even in these hard economic times the rich just keep getting richer. One year after the recent financial collapse the top 25 hedge fund managers earned a total of approximately $25 billion. That breaks down to an average of $1 billion each. The truth is that the United States has been experiencing uneven prosperity for quite some time and things just seem to get worse with each passing year.
The Poor Are Getting Poorer
7 - Government anti-poverty programs are exploding in size in response to the recent economic difficulties. USA Today is reporting that a record one in six Americans are now being served by at least one government anti-poverty program.
8 - Over 50 million Americans are on now Medicaid. That figure is up more than 17 percent since the beginning of the recession.
9 - The number of Americans in the food stamp program rose to a new all-time record of 40.8 million in May. That number is up almost 50 percent since the beginning of the recession.
10 - The number of Americans who cannot afford even the basic necessities is absolutely staggering. A whopping 50 million Americans could not afford to buy enough food in order to stay healthy at some point over the last year.
Read More
Not everyone has been doing badly during the economic turmoil of the last few years. In fact, there are some Americans that are doing really, really well. While the vast majority of us struggle, there is one small segment of society that is seemingly doing better than ever. This was reflected in a recent article on CNBC in which it was noted that companies that cater to average Americans are doing rather poorly right now while companies that market luxury goods and services are generally performing exceptionally well. So why aren't all American consumers jumping on the spending bandwagon? Well, it seems that there are a large number of Americans who either can't spend a lot of money right now or who are very hesitant to. A stunningly high number of Americans are still unemployed, and for many other Americans, there is a very real fear that hard economic times will return soon. On the other hand, there is a significant percentage of Americans who are blowing money on luxury goods and services as if the economy has fully turned around and it is time to let the good times roll. So exactly what in the world is going on here?
Well, in 2010 life is very, very different depending on whether you are a "have" or a "have not". The recent article on CNBC referenced above described it this way....
Consumer spending in the U.S. has turned into a tale of two cities in 2010, with an entire segment of consumers splurging confidently on the finer things in life, while another segment, concerned about unemployment and with little or no discretionary income, spends only on bare necessities.
So why is this happening?
It is happening because the rich are getting richer and they have plenty of money to buy stuff and the poor are getting poorer and have less money to spend than ever.
In case you haven't been paying attention over the past couple of decades, what we have in America today is a system that is designed to funnel as much wealth into the hands of the elite as possible.
This isn't capitalism that we have in America in 2010. Instead, what we have created is a system where the laws are set up so that the power elite and their big, dominant corporations always win.
Why do you think so many of America's largest corporations pay so little in taxes?
Why do you think so many of them are showered with government subsidies, tax breaks and bailouts?
It's not about competition anymore.
It's about rigging the game in your favor.
The power elite and the giant corporations they control spend millions and millions on lobbying and campaign contributions and they expect a big return on that investment.
Let's take a look at one example. Many people think that Barack Obama and the Democrats are supposed to be anti-business, right?
Well then why are some of Barack Obama's biggest donors the very same corporations that are receiving giant bailouts, making record profits and paying their employees billions in bonuses?
Goldman Sachs was Barack Obama's second biggest donor. Microsoft was number four. Citigroup was number six. JPMorgan Chase was number seven. Time Warner was number eight.
Are you starting to get the picture?
Every single year, the U.S. Congress passes law after law after law that makes it easier for big corporations to dominate and makes it easier for the rich to get even richer.
America's economy is not about competition anymore.
It is about eliminating competition.
And unfortunately for middle class Americans, the giant predator corporations that now dominate our economy are realizing that they don't really need nearly as many American workers anymore.
Instead, they are slowly but surely shipping our jobs off to the other side of the world where workers are willing to work for about a tenth as much.
And yet we still run out to the "big box" stores and fill up our carts with a bunch of plastic crap made on the other side of the world by these giant corporations.
Meanwhile, those giant corporations are taking the profits they make out of our communities and they are taking our jobs and are shipping them overseas.
So in the final analysis, is it any wonder why the income inequality gap is growing?
Without small businesses having a legitimate chance to compete and without good jobs for American workers, the middle class in America is going to continue to get chewed up and spit out.
The following are 30 statistics that prove that the elite are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer and the middle class is being destroyed in 2010....
The Rich Are Getting Richer
1 - As of 2007, the top 1 percent of all Americans was taking home 24 percent of the national income. This was a level that had not been seen since the days of the Great Depression.
2 - Incomes have been growing in the United States, but those at the very top of the pyramid have been gobbling up almost all of the income growth. According to Harvard Magazine, 66% of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1% of all Americans.
3 - Even official government figures bear out the fact that the rich are getting richer. An analysis of income-tax data by the Congressional Budget Office a few years ago found that the top 1% of all American households own nearly twice as much of the corporate wealth as they did just 15 years ago.
4- Most Americans have suffered during the last few years, but not the boys and girls down on Wall Street. New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says that Wall Street bonuses for 2009 were up 17 percent when compared with 2008.
5 - Even as the number of Americans living in poverty skyrockets, the number of millionaires just keeps growing. In fact, the number of millionaires in the United States rose a whopping 16 percent to 7.8 million during 2009.
6 - The amount of money some of these Wall Street hotshots are making is incredible. Back in 2005, the top 25 hedge fund managers earned a total of 9 billion dollars. That would be bad enough, but even in these hard economic times the rich just keep getting richer. One year after the recent financial collapse the top 25 hedge fund managers earned a total of approximately $25 billion. That breaks down to an average of $1 billion each. The truth is that the United States has been experiencing uneven prosperity for quite some time and things just seem to get worse with each passing year.
The Poor Are Getting Poorer
7 - Government anti-poverty programs are exploding in size in response to the recent economic difficulties. USA Today is reporting that a record one in six Americans are now being served by at least one government anti-poverty program.
8 - Over 50 million Americans are on now Medicaid. That figure is up more than 17 percent since the beginning of the recession.
9 - The number of Americans in the food stamp program rose to a new all-time record of 40.8 million in May. That number is up almost 50 percent since the beginning of the recession.
10 - The number of Americans who cannot afford even the basic necessities is absolutely staggering. A whopping 50 million Americans could not afford to buy enough food in order to stay healthy at some point over the last year.
Read More
An Open Letter to US EPA, Region 6
Riki Ott
Marine toxicologist and Exxon Valdez survivor RikiOtt.com
Huffington Post.com
Sam Coleman
U.S. EPA, Region 6
1445 Ross Ave.
Dallas, TX 75202-2733 Via email: coleman.sam@epa.gov
August 27, 2010
Re: Documentation of continued dispersant spraying in near shore and inland waters from Florida to Louisiana (despite contrary claims by USCG and BP) and documentation that dispersants made oil sink
Dear Mr. Coleman,
During the August 25 Dockside Chat in Jean Lafitte, LA, it came to our attention that the federal agencies were unaware -- or lacking proof -- of the continued spraying of dispersants from Louisiana to Florida. Further, the federal agencies were woefully ignorant of the presence of subsurface oil-dispersant plumes and sunken oil on ocean and estuary water bottoms. We offer evidence to support our statements, including a recently declassified subsurface assessment plan from the Incident Command Post.
But first, you mentioned that such activities (continued spraying of dispersants and sinking oil) -- if proven -- would be "illegal." As you stated, sinking agents are not allowed in oil spill response under the National Contingency Plan Subpart J §300.910 (e): "Sinking agents shall not be authorized for application to oil discharges."
We would like to know under what laws (not regulations) such activities are illegal and what federal agency or entity has the authority to hold BP accountable, if indeed, such activity is illegal. It is not clear that the EPA has this authority.
For example, on May 19, the EPA told BP that it had 24 hours to choose a less toxic form of chemical dispersants and must apply the new form of dispersants within 72 hours of submitting the list of alternatives. Spraying of the Corexit dispersants continued unabated. On May 26, the EPA and Coast Guard told BP to eliminate the use of surface dispersants except in rare cases where there may have to be an exemption and to reduce use of dispersants by 75 percent. Yet in a letter dated July 30, the congressional Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment reported the USCG on-scene commander (OSC) had approved 74 exemption requests to spray dispersants between May 28 and July 14.
Under the National Contingency Plan Subpart J, the authorization of use §300.910 (d) gives the OSC the final authority on dispersant use: "The OSC may authorize the use of any dispersant... without obtaining the concurrence of he EPA representative... when, in the judgment of the OSC, the use of the product is necessary to prevent or substantially reduce a hazard to human life."
Given this history of events and the NCP regulation, we would like to know what federal entity actually has the final authority to: order BP to stop spraying of dispersant; declare that spraying of dispersant after issuance of a cease and desist order is illegal; and prosecute BP for using product to sink oil.
The documentation of dispersant spraying in nearshore and inland waters includes:
√ claims by USCG and BP
√ eyewitness accounts
√ fish kills in areas of eyewitness accounts
√ photos of white foam bubbles and dispersant on boat docks in areas of eyewitness accounts
√ sick people in areas of eyewitness accounts
Read More
Marine toxicologist and Exxon Valdez survivor RikiOtt.com
Huffington Post.com
Sam Coleman
U.S. EPA, Region 6
1445 Ross Ave.
Dallas, TX 75202-2733 Via email: coleman.sam@epa.gov
August 27, 2010
Re: Documentation of continued dispersant spraying in near shore and inland waters from Florida to Louisiana (despite contrary claims by USCG and BP) and documentation that dispersants made oil sink
Dear Mr. Coleman,
During the August 25 Dockside Chat in Jean Lafitte, LA, it came to our attention that the federal agencies were unaware -- or lacking proof -- of the continued spraying of dispersants from Louisiana to Florida. Further, the federal agencies were woefully ignorant of the presence of subsurface oil-dispersant plumes and sunken oil on ocean and estuary water bottoms. We offer evidence to support our statements, including a recently declassified subsurface assessment plan from the Incident Command Post.
But first, you mentioned that such activities (continued spraying of dispersants and sinking oil) -- if proven -- would be "illegal." As you stated, sinking agents are not allowed in oil spill response under the National Contingency Plan Subpart J §300.910 (e): "Sinking agents shall not be authorized for application to oil discharges."
We would like to know under what laws (not regulations) such activities are illegal and what federal agency or entity has the authority to hold BP accountable, if indeed, such activity is illegal. It is not clear that the EPA has this authority.
For example, on May 19, the EPA told BP that it had 24 hours to choose a less toxic form of chemical dispersants and must apply the new form of dispersants within 72 hours of submitting the list of alternatives. Spraying of the Corexit dispersants continued unabated. On May 26, the EPA and Coast Guard told BP to eliminate the use of surface dispersants except in rare cases where there may have to be an exemption and to reduce use of dispersants by 75 percent. Yet in a letter dated July 30, the congressional Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment reported the USCG on-scene commander (OSC) had approved 74 exemption requests to spray dispersants between May 28 and July 14.
Under the National Contingency Plan Subpart J, the authorization of use §300.910 (d) gives the OSC the final authority on dispersant use: "The OSC may authorize the use of any dispersant... without obtaining the concurrence of he EPA representative... when, in the judgment of the OSC, the use of the product is necessary to prevent or substantially reduce a hazard to human life."
Given this history of events and the NCP regulation, we would like to know what federal entity actually has the final authority to: order BP to stop spraying of dispersant; declare that spraying of dispersant after issuance of a cease and desist order is illegal; and prosecute BP for using product to sink oil.
The documentation of dispersant spraying in nearshore and inland waters includes:
√ claims by USCG and BP
√ eyewitness accounts
√ fish kills in areas of eyewitness accounts
√ photos of white foam bubbles and dispersant on boat docks in areas of eyewitness accounts
√ sick people in areas of eyewitness accounts
Read More
Obama’s Department of Justice Puts Out Master Patriot Hit-list
Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
The Department of Justice has fired a salvo in the war against patriotic Americans supporting the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The DOJ has issued Investigating Terrorism and Criminal Extremism –Terms and Concepts, a 120-page propaganda addendum described as “a glossary designed primarily as a tool for criminal justice professionals to enhance their understanding of words relating to extremist terminology, phrases, activities, symbols, organizations, and selected names that they may encounter while conducting criminal investigations or prosecutions of members of extremist organizations.”
The DOJ glossary will be used by the federal government and increasingly federalized law enforcement to criminalize language used by the patriot movement.
The glossary describes the word “constitutionalist” as a “generic term for members of the ‘patriot’ movement. It is now often used to refer to members of the sovereign citizen or common law court movement. Sometimes the word ‘constitutionalist’ is also used.”
According to Merriam-Webster, a constitutionalist is a person who adheres to a form of government according to constitutional principles.
The DOJ is now apparently in the business of newspeak. In his dystopian novel on totalitarian government, Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell introduced the term doublethink, from which the terms newspeak and doublethink were later derived. Newspeak has come to mean any attempt by the government to restrict or modify language. The DOJ, in an effort to further demonize a growing patriot movement, has attempted to redefine the word consitutionalist in true newspeak fashion.
The word constitutionalist is now shorthand for the sovereign citizen movement, in other words people who support the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are violent cop killers. Earlier this year, two West Memphis, Arkansas, police officers were killed in a shootout allegedly involving a man and his son who were supposedly linked to the sovereign citizen movement in Ohio and Florida.
Prior to this incident, the FBI, an agency of under the DOJ, profiled the “domestic terror threat” posed by the sovereign citizen movement. “Sovereign citizens are anti-government extremists who believe that even though they physically reside in this country, they are separate or ‘sovereign’ from the United States. As a result, they believe they don’t have to answer to any government authority, including courts, taxing entities, motor vehicle departments, or law enforcement,” the FBI wrote on April 13, 2010. The FBI provides contact information for turning in people who espouse “the bogus claims and scams of sovereign citizens.”
The DOJ prefaces its glossary by stating that “the fact that an entry appears in this publication does not imply a connection to illegal activity,” and then precedes to connect constitutionalists to alleged cop killers.
In addition, the DOJ’s glossary attempts to criminalize people who use the terms New World Order, Bilderberg Group, Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, and One World Government. The latter term, according to the DOJ — obviously under the ideological sway of the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center — is used by “some right-wing extremists” to claim “white people will be in the minority, with Jewish people ultimately controlling the world.” In short, if you believe there is an effort to establish world government, you are an anti-semitic Jew hater.
The DOJ glossary arrives after the appearance of the Department of Homeland Security’s report on “right-wing extermism” and a similar report produced by the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) and leaked to Alex Jones by a police officer last year. The MIAC report specifically singles out supporters of Ron Paul and Chuck Baldwin — the presidential nominee of the Constitution Party in 2008 — as domestic terrorists posing a threat to law enforcement.
Fresh food that lasts from eFoods Direct (Ad)
The DOJ glossary will be used by the federal government and increasingly federalized law enforcement to criminalize language used by the patriot movement. It will be used in an effort to compile a hit-list of patriots and target them as threats to national security. The glossary is part of an ongoing campaign to demonize those of us who insist the United States is a constitutional republic and portray people who insist the government respect and follow the Constitution and the Bill of Rights as violent cop killers and white supremacist extremists.
For more on the DOJ glossary, see Department of Justice Lists Constitutionalists in Extremism Guide. A PDF of the glossary is available here.
View Online With Links
Infowars.com
The Department of Justice has fired a salvo in the war against patriotic Americans supporting the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The DOJ has issued Investigating Terrorism and Criminal Extremism –Terms and Concepts, a 120-page propaganda addendum described as “a glossary designed primarily as a tool for criminal justice professionals to enhance their understanding of words relating to extremist terminology, phrases, activities, symbols, organizations, and selected names that they may encounter while conducting criminal investigations or prosecutions of members of extremist organizations.”
The DOJ glossary will be used by the federal government and increasingly federalized law enforcement to criminalize language used by the patriot movement.
The glossary describes the word “constitutionalist” as a “generic term for members of the ‘patriot’ movement. It is now often used to refer to members of the sovereign citizen or common law court movement. Sometimes the word ‘constitutionalist’ is also used.”
According to Merriam-Webster, a constitutionalist is a person who adheres to a form of government according to constitutional principles.
The DOJ is now apparently in the business of newspeak. In his dystopian novel on totalitarian government, Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell introduced the term doublethink, from which the terms newspeak and doublethink were later derived. Newspeak has come to mean any attempt by the government to restrict or modify language. The DOJ, in an effort to further demonize a growing patriot movement, has attempted to redefine the word consitutionalist in true newspeak fashion.
The word constitutionalist is now shorthand for the sovereign citizen movement, in other words people who support the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are violent cop killers. Earlier this year, two West Memphis, Arkansas, police officers were killed in a shootout allegedly involving a man and his son who were supposedly linked to the sovereign citizen movement in Ohio and Florida.
Prior to this incident, the FBI, an agency of under the DOJ, profiled the “domestic terror threat” posed by the sovereign citizen movement. “Sovereign citizens are anti-government extremists who believe that even though they physically reside in this country, they are separate or ‘sovereign’ from the United States. As a result, they believe they don’t have to answer to any government authority, including courts, taxing entities, motor vehicle departments, or law enforcement,” the FBI wrote on April 13, 2010. The FBI provides contact information for turning in people who espouse “the bogus claims and scams of sovereign citizens.”
The DOJ prefaces its glossary by stating that “the fact that an entry appears in this publication does not imply a connection to illegal activity,” and then precedes to connect constitutionalists to alleged cop killers.
In addition, the DOJ’s glossary attempts to criminalize people who use the terms New World Order, Bilderberg Group, Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, and One World Government. The latter term, according to the DOJ — obviously under the ideological sway of the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center — is used by “some right-wing extremists” to claim “white people will be in the minority, with Jewish people ultimately controlling the world.” In short, if you believe there is an effort to establish world government, you are an anti-semitic Jew hater.
The DOJ glossary arrives after the appearance of the Department of Homeland Security’s report on “right-wing extermism” and a similar report produced by the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) and leaked to Alex Jones by a police officer last year. The MIAC report specifically singles out supporters of Ron Paul and Chuck Baldwin — the presidential nominee of the Constitution Party in 2008 — as domestic terrorists posing a threat to law enforcement.
Fresh food that lasts from eFoods Direct (Ad)
The DOJ glossary will be used by the federal government and increasingly federalized law enforcement to criminalize language used by the patriot movement. It will be used in an effort to compile a hit-list of patriots and target them as threats to national security. The glossary is part of an ongoing campaign to demonize those of us who insist the United States is a constitutional republic and portray people who insist the government respect and follow the Constitution and the Bill of Rights as violent cop killers and white supremacist extremists.
For more on the DOJ glossary, see Department of Justice Lists Constitutionalists in Extremism Guide. A PDF of the glossary is available here.
View Online With Links
Spy Satellites Used to Control American Citizens (Video)
Kurt Nimmo and Alex Jones
Infowars.com
According to the CNN report below, the government will use satellites “sparingly” to spy on the American people. However, as Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com have reported at least since 2007, the government has used this technology consistently to prey into the affairs of the citizenry. Spy satellite technology — lasers, infrared, electromagnetic data and other technologies — is a primary component in the police state control and surveillance grid. The technology was not designed to protect us from foreign terrorists.
In 2007, then director of National Intelligence, Michael McConnell, authorized Michael Chertoff’s Department of Homeland Security to use data collected from satellites and pass this information on to civilian agencies and law enforcement. Prior to this, we are told, access to only the most basic spy-satellite data was limited to a handful of federal civilian agencies, such as NASA and the US Geological Survey, which used the images for scientific and environmental study.
So egregious was the plan to spy on the American people, the Department of Homeland Security’s top intelligence, privacy and civil rights officials were called before Congress in August of 2007 to answer questions about violating the privacy rights of Americans. DHS never got around to creating a legal framework or standard operating procedures for the National Applications Office, the agency responsible for oversight of satellite technology. It has no intention of ever doing so.
In May of 2008, Chertoff said during a speech at the Heritage Foundation that the U.S. needs to engage in a “nonpoliticized, serious discussion while writing new laws to define the best way to combat terrorism,” in other words the American people need to stop complaining about the government violating the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and adjust their thinking to accept Stasi-like 24-7 snooping.
From RFID tagging school children and surreptitiously taking the blood of newborn babies to be included in a government DNA database to airport naked body scanners and warrantless checkpoints cropping up around the country, the government has stepped up its efforts to impose a high-tech surveillance and control grid on the American people.
Former CIA director Michael Hayden characterizes the internet as “lawless.”
Prior to the anointment of Barry Obama to the presidency, we were told government would suddenly become transparent. Instead, the policies escalated under Bush have continued. The Obama administration has taken the snoop grid to the next level with his plan to allow the NSA snoop computer traffic on private-sector networks. Congress is ready to hand him the authority to shut down the internet.
It should be obvious to all who pay attention that the encroaching surveillance grid is not about saving us from al-Qaeda or medieval Muslims in remote caves, but is designed to be used to track and ultimately control the movement and thus liberty of the American people.
View Original Article With Links
Infowars.com
According to the CNN report below, the government will use satellites “sparingly” to spy on the American people. However, as Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com have reported at least since 2007, the government has used this technology consistently to prey into the affairs of the citizenry. Spy satellite technology — lasers, infrared, electromagnetic data and other technologies — is a primary component in the police state control and surveillance grid. The technology was not designed to protect us from foreign terrorists.
In 2007, then director of National Intelligence, Michael McConnell, authorized Michael Chertoff’s Department of Homeland Security to use data collected from satellites and pass this information on to civilian agencies and law enforcement. Prior to this, we are told, access to only the most basic spy-satellite data was limited to a handful of federal civilian agencies, such as NASA and the US Geological Survey, which used the images for scientific and environmental study.
So egregious was the plan to spy on the American people, the Department of Homeland Security’s top intelligence, privacy and civil rights officials were called before Congress in August of 2007 to answer questions about violating the privacy rights of Americans. DHS never got around to creating a legal framework or standard operating procedures for the National Applications Office, the agency responsible for oversight of satellite technology. It has no intention of ever doing so.
In May of 2008, Chertoff said during a speech at the Heritage Foundation that the U.S. needs to engage in a “nonpoliticized, serious discussion while writing new laws to define the best way to combat terrorism,” in other words the American people need to stop complaining about the government violating the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and adjust their thinking to accept Stasi-like 24-7 snooping.
From RFID tagging school children and surreptitiously taking the blood of newborn babies to be included in a government DNA database to airport naked body scanners and warrantless checkpoints cropping up around the country, the government has stepped up its efforts to impose a high-tech surveillance and control grid on the American people.
Former CIA director Michael Hayden characterizes the internet as “lawless.”
Prior to the anointment of Barry Obama to the presidency, we were told government would suddenly become transparent. Instead, the policies escalated under Bush have continued. The Obama administration has taken the snoop grid to the next level with his plan to allow the NSA snoop computer traffic on private-sector networks. Congress is ready to hand him the authority to shut down the internet.
It should be obvious to all who pay attention that the encroaching surveillance grid is not about saving us from al-Qaeda or medieval Muslims in remote caves, but is designed to be used to track and ultimately control the movement and thus liberty of the American people.
View Original Article With Links
Monday, August 30, 2010
California Students Get Tracking Devices
The Associated Press
RICHMOND, Calif.—California officials are outfitting preschoolers in Contra Costa County with tracking devices they say will save staff time and money.
The system was introduced Tuesday. When at the school, students will wear a jersey that has a small radio frequency tag. The tag will send signals to sensors that help track children's whereabouts, attendance and even whether they've eaten or not.
School officials say it will free up teachers and administrators who previously had to note on paper files when a child was absent or had eaten.
Sung Kim of the county's employment and human services department said the system could save thousands of hours of staff time and pay for itself within a year.
It cost $50,000 and was paid by a federal grant.
Information from: KTVU-TV
View Original Article
RICHMOND, Calif.—California officials are outfitting preschoolers in Contra Costa County with tracking devices they say will save staff time and money.
The system was introduced Tuesday. When at the school, students will wear a jersey that has a small radio frequency tag. The tag will send signals to sensors that help track children's whereabouts, attendance and even whether they've eaten or not.
School officials say it will free up teachers and administrators who previously had to note on paper files when a child was absent or had eaten.
Sung Kim of the county's employment and human services department said the system could save thousands of hours of staff time and pay for itself within a year.
It cost $50,000 and was paid by a federal grant.
Information from: KTVU-TV
View Original Article
The Death Of Cash? All Over The World Governments Are Banning Large Cash Transactions
The Economic Collapse Blog.com
Are we witnessing the slow but certain death of cash in this generation? Is a truly cashless society on the horizon? Legislation currently pending in the Mexican legislature would ban a vast array of large cash transactions, but the truth is that Mexico is far from alone in trying to restrict cash. All over the world, governments are either placing stringent reporting requirements on large cash transactions or they are banning them altogether. We are being told that such measures are needed to battle illegal drug traffic, to catch tax evaders and to fight the war on terror. But are we rapidly getting to the point where we will have no financial privacy left whatsoever? Should we just accept that we have entered a time when the government will watch, track and trace all financial transactions? Is it inevitable that at some point in the near future ALL transactions will go through the banking system in one form or another (check, credit card, debit card, etc.)?
The truth is that we now live at a time when people who use large amounts of cash are looked upon with suspicion. In fact, authorities in many countries are taught that anyone involved in a large expenditure of cash is trying to hide something and is probably a criminal.
And yes, a lot of criminals do use cash, but millions upon millions of normal, law-abiding citizens simply prefer to use cash as well. Should we take the freedom to use cash away from the rest of us just because a small minority abuses it?
Unfortunately, the freedom to use cash is being slowly stripped away from us in an increasingly large number of countries.
In fact, as countries like Mexico "tighten the noose" around big-ticket cash purchases, our freedom to use cash is going to erode rather rapidly.
The following is a summary of some of the very tight restrictions being placed on large cash transactions around the globe right now....
Mexico
In Mexico, a bill before the legislature would completely ban the purchase of real estate in cash. In addition, the new law would ban anyone from spending more than MXN 100,000 (about $7,700) in cash on vehicles, boats, airplanes and luxury goods.
$7,700 is not a very high limit, and this legislation has some real teeth to it. Anyone violating this law would face up to 15 years in prison.
Greece
In Europe, some of the "austerity packages" being introduced in various European nations include very severe restrictions on the use of cash.
In Greece, all cash transactions above 1,500 euros are being banned starting next year. The following is a comment by Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou at a press conference discussing the new austerity measures as reported by Reuters....
"From 1. Jan. 2011, every transaction above 1,500 euros between natural persons and businesses, or between businesses, will not be considered legal if it is done in cash. Transactions will have to be done through debit or credit cards"
Italy
Even Italy has gotten into the act. As part of Italy's new "austerity measures", all cash transactions over 5,000 euros will be banned. It is said this is being done to crack down on tax evasion, but even if this is being done to take down the mafia this is still quite severe.
The United States
The U.S. government has not banned any large cash transactions, and hopefully it will not do so any time soon, but it sure has burdened large cash transactions with some heavy-duty reporting requirements.
For example, your bank is required to file a currency transaction report with the government for every deposit, withdrawal or exchange over $10,000 in cash.
Not only that, but if a bank "knows, suspects, or has reason to suspect" that a transaction involving at least $5,000 is "suspicious", then another report must be filled out. This second type of report is known as a suspicious activity report, and it is also filed with the government.
But the reporting does not stop there. As Jeff Schnepper explained in an article for MSN Money, if you are in business and you receive over $10,000 in cash in a single transaction you must report it to the IRS or you will go to prison.....
If you're in a business and receive more than $10,000 in cash from a single transaction, or from related transactions within a 12-month period, you have to file Form 8300 and report the buyer to the IRS. Don't file, and you go to jail.
The IRS isnt kidding. I had a client who was a dealer in Corvette sports cars. He told me he didnt have time to file the forms. I told him several times to file. He thought he knew better. He went to jail. So did his children who were involved in the business.
This is very, very serious.
Just because someone forgets to file a certain form with the IRS, that person can go do serious jail time?
Yes.
According to Schnepper, quite a few Americans have already received very substantial sentences for this kind of thing....
In fiscal 2004, the Internal Revenue Service initiated 1,789 criminal investigations. There were 1,304 indictments and 687 convictions -- and an 89.1% incarceration rate. The average sentence: 63 months.
In fiscal 2005, the IRS started 4,269 investigations, winning 2,406 indictments and 2,151 convictions and an 83% incarceration rate. Average sentence: 42 months.
The reality is that governments around the world are getting very, very sensitive about large amounts of cash and they are not messing around.
They don't want all of us running around with big piles of cash. They want our money in the banks where they can track it, trace it and keep a close eye on it.
On the one hand, it is a good thing to catch criminals and terrorists, but on the other hand how much privacy and freedom are we willing to lose just so that we can feel a little safer?
And as cash becomes criminalized, are all of us going to be forced into the banking system whether we like it or not? If we cannot pay for things in cash, what other choices are we going to have?
The truth is that the more you think about this issue, the more disturbing it becomes.
View Original Article
Are we witnessing the slow but certain death of cash in this generation? Is a truly cashless society on the horizon? Legislation currently pending in the Mexican legislature would ban a vast array of large cash transactions, but the truth is that Mexico is far from alone in trying to restrict cash. All over the world, governments are either placing stringent reporting requirements on large cash transactions or they are banning them altogether. We are being told that such measures are needed to battle illegal drug traffic, to catch tax evaders and to fight the war on terror. But are we rapidly getting to the point where we will have no financial privacy left whatsoever? Should we just accept that we have entered a time when the government will watch, track and trace all financial transactions? Is it inevitable that at some point in the near future ALL transactions will go through the banking system in one form or another (check, credit card, debit card, etc.)?
The truth is that we now live at a time when people who use large amounts of cash are looked upon with suspicion. In fact, authorities in many countries are taught that anyone involved in a large expenditure of cash is trying to hide something and is probably a criminal.
And yes, a lot of criminals do use cash, but millions upon millions of normal, law-abiding citizens simply prefer to use cash as well. Should we take the freedom to use cash away from the rest of us just because a small minority abuses it?
Unfortunately, the freedom to use cash is being slowly stripped away from us in an increasingly large number of countries.
In fact, as countries like Mexico "tighten the noose" around big-ticket cash purchases, our freedom to use cash is going to erode rather rapidly.
The following is a summary of some of the very tight restrictions being placed on large cash transactions around the globe right now....
Mexico
In Mexico, a bill before the legislature would completely ban the purchase of real estate in cash. In addition, the new law would ban anyone from spending more than MXN 100,000 (about $7,700) in cash on vehicles, boats, airplanes and luxury goods.
$7,700 is not a very high limit, and this legislation has some real teeth to it. Anyone violating this law would face up to 15 years in prison.
Greece
In Europe, some of the "austerity packages" being introduced in various European nations include very severe restrictions on the use of cash.
In Greece, all cash transactions above 1,500 euros are being banned starting next year. The following is a comment by Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou at a press conference discussing the new austerity measures as reported by Reuters....
"From 1. Jan. 2011, every transaction above 1,500 euros between natural persons and businesses, or between businesses, will not be considered legal if it is done in cash. Transactions will have to be done through debit or credit cards"
Italy
Even Italy has gotten into the act. As part of Italy's new "austerity measures", all cash transactions over 5,000 euros will be banned. It is said this is being done to crack down on tax evasion, but even if this is being done to take down the mafia this is still quite severe.
The United States
The U.S. government has not banned any large cash transactions, and hopefully it will not do so any time soon, but it sure has burdened large cash transactions with some heavy-duty reporting requirements.
For example, your bank is required to file a currency transaction report with the government for every deposit, withdrawal or exchange over $10,000 in cash.
Not only that, but if a bank "knows, suspects, or has reason to suspect" that a transaction involving at least $5,000 is "suspicious", then another report must be filled out. This second type of report is known as a suspicious activity report, and it is also filed with the government.
But the reporting does not stop there. As Jeff Schnepper explained in an article for MSN Money, if you are in business and you receive over $10,000 in cash in a single transaction you must report it to the IRS or you will go to prison.....
If you're in a business and receive more than $10,000 in cash from a single transaction, or from related transactions within a 12-month period, you have to file Form 8300 and report the buyer to the IRS. Don't file, and you go to jail.
The IRS isnt kidding. I had a client who was a dealer in Corvette sports cars. He told me he didnt have time to file the forms. I told him several times to file. He thought he knew better. He went to jail. So did his children who were involved in the business.
This is very, very serious.
Just because someone forgets to file a certain form with the IRS, that person can go do serious jail time?
Yes.
According to Schnepper, quite a few Americans have already received very substantial sentences for this kind of thing....
In fiscal 2004, the Internal Revenue Service initiated 1,789 criminal investigations. There were 1,304 indictments and 687 convictions -- and an 89.1% incarceration rate. The average sentence: 63 months.
In fiscal 2005, the IRS started 4,269 investigations, winning 2,406 indictments and 2,151 convictions and an 83% incarceration rate. Average sentence: 42 months.
The reality is that governments around the world are getting very, very sensitive about large amounts of cash and they are not messing around.
They don't want all of us running around with big piles of cash. They want our money in the banks where they can track it, trace it and keep a close eye on it.
On the one hand, it is a good thing to catch criminals and terrorists, but on the other hand how much privacy and freedom are we willing to lose just so that we can feel a little safer?
And as cash becomes criminalized, are all of us going to be forced into the banking system whether we like it or not? If we cannot pay for things in cash, what other choices are we going to have?
The truth is that the more you think about this issue, the more disturbing it becomes.
View Original Article
Senate Blocks BP Investigation
Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
Do you think the Black Nobility of Germany and the City of London are about to allow a few lowly senators in a former colony investigate the largest environmental disaster in history? Not.
Infowars.com
Do you think the Black Nobility of Germany and the City of London are about to allow a few lowly senators in a former colony investigate the largest environmental disaster in history? Not.
Vaccine Deaths And Injuries Skyrocket As Cover-Up Implodes
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Global revolt against deadly vaccines spreads as cases of debilitating illnesses, soft-kill side-effects and even instant deaths become widespread.
Cases of debilitating illnesses, soft-kill side-effects and even instant deaths as a result of vaccinations across the world are skyrocketing as the cover-up of deadly inoculations implodes and more people than ever become suspicious about what they are being injected with by health authorities who have proven they cannot be trusted.
The implosion of the vaccine cover-up is sure to discourage more parents from vaccinating their children in the coming months, with the swine flu shot now being combined with the regular seasonal flu jab. A recent Rasmussen poll found that 52 per cent of Americans were concerned about the safety of vaccines as we approach the start of school and college terms, where many children and teenagers will be “required” to take shots before they can attend.
A global revolt against dangerous vaccines is brewing following a series of cases where children have been killed as a direct result of inoculations.
A measles vaccination program in India was halted after four children died almost immediately after receiving the shot. “Four children died within minutes of receiving a vaccine for measles followed by drops of Vitamin A solution on Saturday,” reports MedGuru.
Indian newspaper reports carried eyewitness accounts of what happened. “The four children were reported to have fainted soon after they were vaccinated and witnesses reported seeing the children’s eyes roll back as they began to have seizures,” reports Blitz.
Furious villagers reacted to the tragedy by going on a rampage, attacking health workers and holding government doctors hostage.
Read More
Infowars.com
Global revolt against deadly vaccines spreads as cases of debilitating illnesses, soft-kill side-effects and even instant deaths become widespread.
Cases of debilitating illnesses, soft-kill side-effects and even instant deaths as a result of vaccinations across the world are skyrocketing as the cover-up of deadly inoculations implodes and more people than ever become suspicious about what they are being injected with by health authorities who have proven they cannot be trusted.
The implosion of the vaccine cover-up is sure to discourage more parents from vaccinating their children in the coming months, with the swine flu shot now being combined with the regular seasonal flu jab. A recent Rasmussen poll found that 52 per cent of Americans were concerned about the safety of vaccines as we approach the start of school and college terms, where many children and teenagers will be “required” to take shots before they can attend.
A global revolt against dangerous vaccines is brewing following a series of cases where children have been killed as a direct result of inoculations.
A measles vaccination program in India was halted after four children died almost immediately after receiving the shot. “Four children died within minutes of receiving a vaccine for measles followed by drops of Vitamin A solution on Saturday,” reports MedGuru.
Indian newspaper reports carried eyewitness accounts of what happened. “The four children were reported to have fainted soon after they were vaccinated and witnesses reported seeing the children’s eyes roll back as they began to have seizures,” reports Blitz.
Furious villagers reacted to the tragedy by going on a rampage, attacking health workers and holding government doctors hostage.
Read More
Saturday, August 28, 2010
America’s Coming Super Depression
A Warning to America and to the World!
Nathan Leal - November 29, 2009
The Watchman's Cry
Hello friends, over the last several months I have been wrestling with a prophetic warning that I received from God. In this letter, I am going to share these things with you.
This warning from God is not one to be taken lightly. Based on its contents, every one that is reading this prophetic alert needs to prepare themselves and their families for very hard events that are approaching. The warning of God always begins with a trumpet sound. And by the leading of the Holy Spirit, I am sounding an alarm.
A very loud alarm!
If you reside within the borders of the United States, what is coming, concerns you and your family. If you reside outside of the borders, you will also feel the residual effects of what is coming. So likewise, take notice!
A quick summary of this warning includes the following: In our future, America is going to face the incredible torrent of a Dollar crisis. How bad will it be? Bad enough to forever change the landscape of the United States! What is coming will not be a mere correction in the markets, but instead, will be at the level of currency extinction!
The Super Depression
It is not easy to share these things. But as Americans, we are all facing a tsunami of economic destruction! The US Dollar is going to collapse! As a result, life in America is going to change. The once strong middle class of the USA is going to be slaughtered and replaced with a new type of lifestyle. The rest of the world calls this lifestyle; Third world living!
The historians that chronicle the approaching crisis in America will have to fumble to find the right words; The Greatest Depression - The Dark Years of America - The Super Depression, etc.
America, the once mighty fortress of commerce and strength has lost her luster to the world. And in the next few years, this will become very evident to her apathetic citizens.
When the financial super storm arrives, the administration will no longer be able to lie to the public and say, "All is well and recovery has begun!"
It will be difficult for the media, to successfully tell the general public that things are okay, when the people are starving and eating out of garbage dumpsters!
A Prophetic Dream - The Dollar's Demise
Read Full Article
Nathan Leal - November 29, 2009
The Watchman's Cry
Hello friends, over the last several months I have been wrestling with a prophetic warning that I received from God. In this letter, I am going to share these things with you.
This warning from God is not one to be taken lightly. Based on its contents, every one that is reading this prophetic alert needs to prepare themselves and their families for very hard events that are approaching. The warning of God always begins with a trumpet sound. And by the leading of the Holy Spirit, I am sounding an alarm.
A very loud alarm!
If you reside within the borders of the United States, what is coming, concerns you and your family. If you reside outside of the borders, you will also feel the residual effects of what is coming. So likewise, take notice!
A quick summary of this warning includes the following: In our future, America is going to face the incredible torrent of a Dollar crisis. How bad will it be? Bad enough to forever change the landscape of the United States! What is coming will not be a mere correction in the markets, but instead, will be at the level of currency extinction!
The Super Depression
It is not easy to share these things. But as Americans, we are all facing a tsunami of economic destruction! The US Dollar is going to collapse! As a result, life in America is going to change. The once strong middle class of the USA is going to be slaughtered and replaced with a new type of lifestyle. The rest of the world calls this lifestyle; Third world living!
The historians that chronicle the approaching crisis in America will have to fumble to find the right words; The Greatest Depression - The Dark Years of America - The Super Depression, etc.
America, the once mighty fortress of commerce and strength has lost her luster to the world. And in the next few years, this will become very evident to her apathetic citizens.
When the financial super storm arrives, the administration will no longer be able to lie to the public and say, "All is well and recovery has begun!"
It will be difficult for the media, to successfully tell the general public that things are okay, when the people are starving and eating out of garbage dumpsters!
A Prophetic Dream - The Dollar's Demise
Read Full Article
Unplug the Signal: The Truth Will Not Be Televised
Pupaganda.com
Nathan James
A flow of information is constantly streaming from the television set; a bombardment of words and pictures. The speed at which this information is communicated makes it easy for the signal to take control, switching the viewer’s brain to stand-by as information is absorbed without analysis or question. Today the television’s constant signal shapes the conclusions of the masses and produces the collective norm. The signal prescribes what is news and what is truth through the words of so-called experts and authorities, gelding the consciousness and independent thoughts of those subjected to it. Through television, the masses can be made to accept the most monstrous distortions of reality. The signal is a chill wind of continuous oppression over the minds of the masses. It controls the management of society and culture, creating uniformity across all subjects.
The fuel for this vehicle of mass deception is a technique known as perception management where an array of psychological techniques are used to alter the truth, leading the viewer to a desired conclusion. Some call this spin or propaganda while others know it as lying. According to Joseph Goebbels, Propaganda Minister for Adolph Hitler, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it… It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” Most of what can be found on the nightly news is nothing but advertisements selling more government and a false reality that benefits only those in control. Television is the dictator of information; newspaper and radio are the whisper campaign of the television’s message.
It is expected that Americans will consistently prescribe to the doctrine of the television. It is subtly communicated that one should stay within the collective and never challenge the message, for doing so may be considered an aggression towards culture. The message is, “Be a good consumer; always obey authority; you know nothing; listen only to experts; be content and never question or express new ideas.” This signal is being broadcast across millions of screens, indoctrinating the unconscious minds of those who choose this as their only reality. Self-censorship occurs when these individuals become so deeply indoctrinated that they are afraid to discuss any information outside the paradigm of television-created culture; they police their thoughts to ensure they won’t conflict with this culture. Sadly, many people’s reality today does not allow any outside information to process, instead it is written off as conspiracy or blatant lies. Our consciousness has been destroyed so much that fiction has become reality. An entire lifestyle of poisonous foods, pharmaceuticals, and fluoridated water are accepted as safe and sold to us at the cost of our health and well being.
Read Full Article HERE
Nathan James
A flow of information is constantly streaming from the television set; a bombardment of words and pictures. The speed at which this information is communicated makes it easy for the signal to take control, switching the viewer’s brain to stand-by as information is absorbed without analysis or question. Today the television’s constant signal shapes the conclusions of the masses and produces the collective norm. The signal prescribes what is news and what is truth through the words of so-called experts and authorities, gelding the consciousness and independent thoughts of those subjected to it. Through television, the masses can be made to accept the most monstrous distortions of reality. The signal is a chill wind of continuous oppression over the minds of the masses. It controls the management of society and culture, creating uniformity across all subjects.
The fuel for this vehicle of mass deception is a technique known as perception management where an array of psychological techniques are used to alter the truth, leading the viewer to a desired conclusion. Some call this spin or propaganda while others know it as lying. According to Joseph Goebbels, Propaganda Minister for Adolph Hitler, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it… It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” Most of what can be found on the nightly news is nothing but advertisements selling more government and a false reality that benefits only those in control. Television is the dictator of information; newspaper and radio are the whisper campaign of the television’s message.
It is expected that Americans will consistently prescribe to the doctrine of the television. It is subtly communicated that one should stay within the collective and never challenge the message, for doing so may be considered an aggression towards culture. The message is, “Be a good consumer; always obey authority; you know nothing; listen only to experts; be content and never question or express new ideas.” This signal is being broadcast across millions of screens, indoctrinating the unconscious minds of those who choose this as their only reality. Self-censorship occurs when these individuals become so deeply indoctrinated that they are afraid to discuss any information outside the paradigm of television-created culture; they police their thoughts to ensure they won’t conflict with this culture. Sadly, many people’s reality today does not allow any outside information to process, instead it is written off as conspiracy or blatant lies. Our consciousness has been destroyed so much that fiction has become reality. An entire lifestyle of poisonous foods, pharmaceuticals, and fluoridated water are accepted as safe and sold to us at the cost of our health and well being.
Read Full Article HERE
Turn Prisons Into Welfare Dorms
Beth Fouhy
Associated Press
Republican candidate for governor Carl Paladino said he would transform some New York prisons into dormitories for welfare recipients, where they could work in state-sponsored jobs, get employment training and take lessons in “personal hygiene.”
Republican candidate for New York governor Carl Paladino visits the Altamont Fair in Altamont, N.Y., on Friday, Aug. 20, 2010. Paladino greeted fairgoers during a one-hour visit.
Paladino, a wealthy Buffalo real estate developer popular with many tea party activists, isn’t saying the state should jail poor people: The program would be voluntary.
But the suggestion that poor families would be better off in remote institutions, rather than among friends and family in their own neighborhoods, struck some anti-poverty activists as insulting.
Read Full Article
Associated Press
Republican candidate for governor Carl Paladino said he would transform some New York prisons into dormitories for welfare recipients, where they could work in state-sponsored jobs, get employment training and take lessons in “personal hygiene.”
Republican candidate for New York governor Carl Paladino visits the Altamont Fair in Altamont, N.Y., on Friday, Aug. 20, 2010. Paladino greeted fairgoers during a one-hour visit.
Paladino, a wealthy Buffalo real estate developer popular with many tea party activists, isn’t saying the state should jail poor people: The program would be voluntary.
But the suggestion that poor families would be better off in remote institutions, rather than among friends and family in their own neighborhoods, struck some anti-poverty activists as insulting.
Read Full Article
Large Oil-Corexit Plumes, Fish Kill Coverup and Wackenhut
The Intel Hub
Everyday it seems we get more and more proof that oil and dispersant are still poisoning the Gulf of Mexico. Project Gulf Impact recently took their second boat trip in the last week. The first trip brought us photos of freshly sprayed dispersant, totally destroying the myth that this disaster is reaching its end.
Large oil and dispersant plumes still linger, continually poisoning and destroying our precious oceans. Internal BP documents show that there were not one but TWO wells, raising the possibility that the ROV cameras may have never been placed near the real leak.
I spoke to Project Gulf Impact about their trip and they had this to say:
“In some places you could see oil, in others it was clearly freshly sprayed dispersant. In certain areas there was a heavy chemical smell, in others it was oddly quiet.”
“As far as that trip goes, it was defintly the worse i have seen the dispersant. It was scarey because some of the dispersant was still in powder form which would indicate that it was from a plane. It was horrifying to see the jelly fish and dolphins attempting to get away from the plumes, especially when certain plumes were over a mile long!“
When they reached the shore they came across a massive fish kill. Later that day they attempted to go back to the area of the fish kill and found that it was crawling with private security. That’s right, BP has hired private security to cover up the damage caused by the oil spill and the subsequent dispersant overkill.
“When we were coming in we saw a fish kill, that was the hardest part. When we came back later a huge cover up had begun. The beach was full of private security, Wackenhut security called in our plates and forced us off the beach. Private security on a public beach! This all happened in a matter of hours.”
Wake up people, this chemical rape will continue until the American people demand it is stopped. How has Wackenhut, with their reputation after Hurricane Katrina, been able to control and dictate the American people?
View Article With Links and Pics
Everyday it seems we get more and more proof that oil and dispersant are still poisoning the Gulf of Mexico. Project Gulf Impact recently took their second boat trip in the last week. The first trip brought us photos of freshly sprayed dispersant, totally destroying the myth that this disaster is reaching its end.
Large oil and dispersant plumes still linger, continually poisoning and destroying our precious oceans. Internal BP documents show that there were not one but TWO wells, raising the possibility that the ROV cameras may have never been placed near the real leak.
I spoke to Project Gulf Impact about their trip and they had this to say:
“In some places you could see oil, in others it was clearly freshly sprayed dispersant. In certain areas there was a heavy chemical smell, in others it was oddly quiet.”
“As far as that trip goes, it was defintly the worse i have seen the dispersant. It was scarey because some of the dispersant was still in powder form which would indicate that it was from a plane. It was horrifying to see the jelly fish and dolphins attempting to get away from the plumes, especially when certain plumes were over a mile long!“
When they reached the shore they came across a massive fish kill. Later that day they attempted to go back to the area of the fish kill and found that it was crawling with private security. That’s right, BP has hired private security to cover up the damage caused by the oil spill and the subsequent dispersant overkill.
“When we were coming in we saw a fish kill, that was the hardest part. When we came back later a huge cover up had begun. The beach was full of private security, Wackenhut security called in our plates and forced us off the beach. Private security on a public beach! This all happened in a matter of hours.”
Wake up people, this chemical rape will continue until the American people demand it is stopped. How has Wackenhut, with their reputation after Hurricane Katrina, been able to control and dictate the American people?
View Article With Links and Pics
Our Future In Chains: The For Profit Debtor's Prison System
Michael Edwards
Activist Post
Debtors' prisons have a sordid history that was thought to be best left behind in Medieval Europe and in Charles Dickens' fictionalized accounts of the 19th-century hellholes of Victorian England. America was not to be outdone, debtors’ prisons were widespread in the United States as well, and stories of the conditions in New York's debtors’ prisons could make one question if repayment of debts was really the purpose; violent criminals were much better clothed and fed. In fact, history shows that terror and slavery have always had a close relationship with debt, and it follows a path from the Romans right through to 17th century England, and into America from English common law. However, America chose to abolish her debtors’ prisons a full 36 years before England; first in New York in 1831, and by 1833 the rest of the America had followed.(1)
Now, debtors' prisons seem to be making a comeback in America. A recent article in the Star Tribune in Minnesota titled, "In jail for being in debt," exposes the growing number of citizens going to jail at the behest of banks and a welcoming judicial system. They write:
It's not a crime to owe money, and debtors' prisons were abolished in the United States in the 19th century. But people are routinely being thrown in jail for failing to pay debts. In Minnesota, which has some of the most creditor-friendly laws in the country, the use of arrest warrants against debtors has jumped 60 percent over the past four years, with 845 cases in 2009, a Star Tribune analysis of state court data has found.
Read Full Article HERE
Activist Post
Debtors' prisons have a sordid history that was thought to be best left behind in Medieval Europe and in Charles Dickens' fictionalized accounts of the 19th-century hellholes of Victorian England. America was not to be outdone, debtors’ prisons were widespread in the United States as well, and stories of the conditions in New York's debtors’ prisons could make one question if repayment of debts was really the purpose; violent criminals were much better clothed and fed. In fact, history shows that terror and slavery have always had a close relationship with debt, and it follows a path from the Romans right through to 17th century England, and into America from English common law. However, America chose to abolish her debtors’ prisons a full 36 years before England; first in New York in 1831, and by 1833 the rest of the America had followed.(1)
Now, debtors' prisons seem to be making a comeback in America. A recent article in the Star Tribune in Minnesota titled, "In jail for being in debt," exposes the growing number of citizens going to jail at the behest of banks and a welcoming judicial system. They write:
It's not a crime to owe money, and debtors' prisons were abolished in the United States in the 19th century. But people are routinely being thrown in jail for failing to pay debts. In Minnesota, which has some of the most creditor-friendly laws in the country, the use of arrest warrants against debtors has jumped 60 percent over the past four years, with 845 cases in 2009, a Star Tribune analysis of state court data has found.
Read Full Article HERE
Government wants your 401(k)
By Jerome R. Corsi
WND.com
The Obama administration appears to be proceeding with a novel way of financing trillion-dollar budget deficits by forcing IRA and 401(k) holders to buy Treasury bonds by mandating the placement of government-structured annuities in their investment accounts.
The requirement to invest private retirement assets has been cleverly buried within plans to create "automatic IRAs" that would mandate employer groups enroll all employees in 401(k) or IRA plans.
The U.S. Department of Labor released yesterday an agenda for an upcoming joint hearing with the Department of the Treasury scheduled for Sept. 14 and 15 on whether government life-time annuity options funded by U.S. Treasury debt should be required for private retirement accounts, including IRAs and 401(k) plans.
WND reported in January that Assistant Labor Secretary Phyllis C. Borzi and Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Mark Iwry are planning to stage a public comment period before implementing regulations that would require private investors to structure IRA and 401(k) accounts into what could amount to a U.S. Treasury debt-backed government annuity.
In a 2010 budget blueprint unveiled Feb. 26, President Obama proposed that employers sponsoring 401(k) plans or other defined contribution plans should be required to offer automatic enrollment in these plans, or in direct-deposit IRAs, as steps that would change the nation's voluntary retirement plan into a government-mandated nationalized program.
With the Treasury needing to sell another $1.4 to $1.5 trillion in government debt to finance the anticipated fiscal year 2010 federal budget deficit, the Obama administration is obviously scrambling to find ways to sell government debt without having to raise interest rates.
Under ERISA, the Department of Labor regulates approximately 700,000 private pension plans, with approximately $4.7 trillion in assets.
The Investment Company Institute estimates that IRA assets have grown from $25 billion in 1980 to a peak of $4.747 trillion by the end of 2007, declining to $3.613 trillion in 2008.
For 401(k) plans, the ICI estimates a peak of $3.025 trillion in total assets was reached in 2007, declining to $2.350 trillion in 2008.
The ICI estimates that total U.S. retirement assets decreased to $14 trillion in 2008, down 22 percent from the peak of $17.9 trillion in 2007.
Kerry introduces 'Automatic IRAs'
Read Full Article With Links
WND.com
The Obama administration appears to be proceeding with a novel way of financing trillion-dollar budget deficits by forcing IRA and 401(k) holders to buy Treasury bonds by mandating the placement of government-structured annuities in their investment accounts.
The requirement to invest private retirement assets has been cleverly buried within plans to create "automatic IRAs" that would mandate employer groups enroll all employees in 401(k) or IRA plans.
The U.S. Department of Labor released yesterday an agenda for an upcoming joint hearing with the Department of the Treasury scheduled for Sept. 14 and 15 on whether government life-time annuity options funded by U.S. Treasury debt should be required for private retirement accounts, including IRAs and 401(k) plans.
WND reported in January that Assistant Labor Secretary Phyllis C. Borzi and Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Mark Iwry are planning to stage a public comment period before implementing regulations that would require private investors to structure IRA and 401(k) accounts into what could amount to a U.S. Treasury debt-backed government annuity.
In a 2010 budget blueprint unveiled Feb. 26, President Obama proposed that employers sponsoring 401(k) plans or other defined contribution plans should be required to offer automatic enrollment in these plans, or in direct-deposit IRAs, as steps that would change the nation's voluntary retirement plan into a government-mandated nationalized program.
With the Treasury needing to sell another $1.4 to $1.5 trillion in government debt to finance the anticipated fiscal year 2010 federal budget deficit, the Obama administration is obviously scrambling to find ways to sell government debt without having to raise interest rates.
Under ERISA, the Department of Labor regulates approximately 700,000 private pension plans, with approximately $4.7 trillion in assets.
The Investment Company Institute estimates that IRA assets have grown from $25 billion in 1980 to a peak of $4.747 trillion by the end of 2007, declining to $3.613 trillion in 2008.
For 401(k) plans, the ICI estimates a peak of $3.025 trillion in total assets was reached in 2007, declining to $2.350 trillion in 2008.
The ICI estimates that total U.S. retirement assets decreased to $14 trillion in 2008, down 22 percent from the peak of $17.9 trillion in 2007.
Kerry introduces 'Automatic IRAs'
Read Full Article With Links
Friday, August 27, 2010
The Nazification of the United States
Paul Craig Roberts
Prison Planet.com
Friday, August 27, 2010
Chuck Norris is no pinko-liberal-commie, and Human Events is a very conservative publication. The two have come together to produce one of the most important articles of our time,“Obama’s US Assassination Program.”
It seems only yesterday that Americans, or those interested in their civil liberties, were shocked that the Bush regime so flagrantly violated the FISA law against spying on American citizens without a warrant. A federal judge serving on the FISA court even resigned in protest to the illegality of the spying.
Nothing was done about it. “National security” placed the president and executive branch above the law of the land. Civil libertarians worried that the US government was freeing its power from the constraints of law, but no one else seemed to care.
Encouraged by its success in breaking the law, the executive branch early this year announced that the Obama regime has given itself the right to murder Americans abroad if such Americans are considered a “threat.” “Threat” was not defined and, thus, a death sentence would be issued by a subjective decision of an unaccountable official.
There was hardly a peep out of the public or the media. Americans and the media were content for the government to summarily execute traitors and turncoats, and who better to identify traitors and turncoats than the government with all its spy programs.
The problem with this sort of thing is that once it starts, it doesn’t stop. As Norris reports citing Obama regime security officials, the next stage is to criminalize dissent and criticism of the government. The May 2010 National Security Strategy states: “We are now moving beyond traditional distinctions between homeland and national security. . . . This includes a determination to prevent terrorist attacks against the American people by fully coordinating the actions that we take abroad with the actions and precautions that we take at home.” [PDF]
Most Americans will respond that the “indispensable” US government would never confuse an American exercising First Amendment rights with a terrorist or an enemy of the state. But, in fact, governments always have. Even one of our Founding Fathers, John Adams and the Federalist Party, had their “Alien and Sedition Acts” [7] which targeted the Republican press.
Few with power can brook opposition or criticism, especially when it is a simple matter for those with power to sweep away constraints upon their power in the name of “national security.” Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan recently explained that more steps are being taken, because of the growing number of Americans who have been “captivated by extremist ideology or causes.” [8] Notice that this phrasing goes beyond concern with Muslim terrorists.
In pursuit of hegemony over both the world and its own subjects, the US government is shutting down the First Amendment and turning criticism of the government into an act of “domestic extremism,” a capital crime punishable by execution, just as it was in Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Russia.
Initially German courts resisted Hitler’s illegal acts. Hitler got around the courts by creating a parallel court system, like the Bush regime did with its military tribunals. It won’t be long before a decision of the US Supreme Court will not mean anything. Any decision that goes against the regime will simply be ignored.
This is already happening in Canada, an American puppet state. Writing for the Future of Freedom Foundation, Andy Worthington documents [9] the lawlessness of the US trial of Canadian Omar Khadr. In January of this year, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled [10] that the interrogation of Khadr constituted “state conduct that violates the principles of fundamental justice” and “offends the most basic Canadian standards about the treatment of detained youth suspects.” According to the Toronto Star, the Court instructed the government to “shape a response that reconciled its foreign policy imperatives with its constitutional obligations to Khadr,” but the puppet prime minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, ignored the Court and permitted the US government to proceed with its lawless abuse of a Canadian citizen.[Khadr ill-served without Supreme Court prescription, [11] By Chantal Hébert, August 11, 2010]
September 11 destroyed more than lives, World Trade Center buildings, and Americans’ sense of invulnerability. The event destroyed American liberty, the rule of law and the US Constitution.
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts is the father of Reaganomics and the former head of policy at the Department of Treasury. He is a columnist and was previously an editor for the Wall Street Journal. His latest book, “How the Economy Was Lost: The War of the Worlds [12],” details why America is disintegrating.
View Article With Links
Prison Planet.com
Friday, August 27, 2010
Chuck Norris is no pinko-liberal-commie, and Human Events is a very conservative publication. The two have come together to produce one of the most important articles of our time,“Obama’s US Assassination Program.”
It seems only yesterday that Americans, or those interested in their civil liberties, were shocked that the Bush regime so flagrantly violated the FISA law against spying on American citizens without a warrant. A federal judge serving on the FISA court even resigned in protest to the illegality of the spying.
Nothing was done about it. “National security” placed the president and executive branch above the law of the land. Civil libertarians worried that the US government was freeing its power from the constraints of law, but no one else seemed to care.
Encouraged by its success in breaking the law, the executive branch early this year announced that the Obama regime has given itself the right to murder Americans abroad if such Americans are considered a “threat.” “Threat” was not defined and, thus, a death sentence would be issued by a subjective decision of an unaccountable official.
There was hardly a peep out of the public or the media. Americans and the media were content for the government to summarily execute traitors and turncoats, and who better to identify traitors and turncoats than the government with all its spy programs.
The problem with this sort of thing is that once it starts, it doesn’t stop. As Norris reports citing Obama regime security officials, the next stage is to criminalize dissent and criticism of the government. The May 2010 National Security Strategy states: “We are now moving beyond traditional distinctions between homeland and national security. . . . This includes a determination to prevent terrorist attacks against the American people by fully coordinating the actions that we take abroad with the actions and precautions that we take at home.” [PDF]
Most Americans will respond that the “indispensable” US government would never confuse an American exercising First Amendment rights with a terrorist or an enemy of the state. But, in fact, governments always have. Even one of our Founding Fathers, John Adams and the Federalist Party, had their “Alien and Sedition Acts” [7] which targeted the Republican press.
Few with power can brook opposition or criticism, especially when it is a simple matter for those with power to sweep away constraints upon their power in the name of “national security.” Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan recently explained that more steps are being taken, because of the growing number of Americans who have been “captivated by extremist ideology or causes.” [8] Notice that this phrasing goes beyond concern with Muslim terrorists.
In pursuit of hegemony over both the world and its own subjects, the US government is shutting down the First Amendment and turning criticism of the government into an act of “domestic extremism,” a capital crime punishable by execution, just as it was in Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Russia.
Initially German courts resisted Hitler’s illegal acts. Hitler got around the courts by creating a parallel court system, like the Bush regime did with its military tribunals. It won’t be long before a decision of the US Supreme Court will not mean anything. Any decision that goes against the regime will simply be ignored.
This is already happening in Canada, an American puppet state. Writing for the Future of Freedom Foundation, Andy Worthington documents [9] the lawlessness of the US trial of Canadian Omar Khadr. In January of this year, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled [10] that the interrogation of Khadr constituted “state conduct that violates the principles of fundamental justice” and “offends the most basic Canadian standards about the treatment of detained youth suspects.” According to the Toronto Star, the Court instructed the government to “shape a response that reconciled its foreign policy imperatives with its constitutional obligations to Khadr,” but the puppet prime minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, ignored the Court and permitted the US government to proceed with its lawless abuse of a Canadian citizen.[Khadr ill-served without Supreme Court prescription, [11] By Chantal Hébert, August 11, 2010]
September 11 destroyed more than lives, World Trade Center buildings, and Americans’ sense of invulnerability. The event destroyed American liberty, the rule of law and the US Constitution.
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts is the father of Reaganomics and the former head of policy at the Department of Treasury. He is a columnist and was previously an editor for the Wall Street Journal. His latest book, “How the Economy Was Lost: The War of the Worlds [12],” details why America is disintegrating.
View Article With Links
Censored Gulf News: Deadly Denial of Core Exit. Evacs in Days. Griff's Agenda 21 Facts.
Nashville Examiner
Deborah Dupré
Human Rights Examiner
"Agenda 21's written goals are the same as the outcome of their actions in the Gulf of Mexico." A.C. Griffith
Deadly Denial of Core Exit
Denial that Americans are under a planned chemical warfare attack by their own own government gassing Gulf coast residents is resulting in a deadly slow-kill, rendering it impossible for most locals to self-relocate. Project Gulf Impact filmmaker has learned from government officials that "forced evacuation will begin within days" as Agenda 21 escalates, impacting not only Gulf Coast residents but also, in a domino effect, the entire nation equally in denial due to the unprecedented petrochemical-military-industrial-complex (PMIC) cover-up of the continuing U.S. crime against humanity for its ultimate "Full Spectrum Dominance."
Hugh Kaufman' words, "Americans can't handle truth" about the Gulf ring truer each passing day.
Matt Smith of Project Gulf Impact has spoken to numerous government officials who all say the same thing: Forced evacuation will begin soon.
Since mid-June, the military and FEMA have been engaged in Emergency Plans for 36 urban areas from Texas to Florida due to the unstoppable Gulf oil volcano the size of Mt. Everest according to WMR.
Smith has documented the abundance of oil, the Corexit still being sprayed, the people influenced by chemicals, unable to move from denial, the first stage of the death of their beloved Louisiana home. (See Wherethereistruth Youtube video below; Intel Hub “We’re seeing way more dispersant than ever before” Large, thick oil plumes, freshly sprayed with poison!", Aug 25; and Intel Hub: Photos: Oil And Dispersants in Ocean Springs Mississippi In Newly Opened Fishing Waters)
"Aerial spraying is a primary Department of Defense (DoD) chemical and biological weapon of war to achieve its stated goal, Full Spectrum Dominance by 2020 of which Agenda 21 is part... As far back as 1925, the U.S. has been a world leader in research, development and application of poisonous gas as a weapon to further political agendas in "the hope of reducing the barbarity of modern warfare." (Censored Gulf News: State sponsored terrorism targets Deep South for Agenda 21, Examiner, August 3, 2010)
People are "literally being gassed" and they are "asleep," in "denial," according to Smith.
An Examiner Human Rights article reader, "Johnny," commented:
"At the core of a human is their soul, their life - if you will. When I compute that into an analogy by name - I sadly come to the conclusion of a deeper meaning behind the name "COREXIT" or perhaps more appropriately "CORE - EXIT". The "nickname" for the dispersant is "TOP KILL" - how apt for it WILL kill many on "the top" as will their poisoning of the gulf will kill underwater life as well."
Ocean Energy Institute founder has stated that a new hurricane will require gulf evacuation. (See: http://colonel6.com/2010/07/22/ocean-energy-institute-founder-says-new-hurricane-will-require-gulf-evacuation/)
Smith's filming, documenting the reality of the situation has resulted in his being followed over the past several days. When he returned to his Los Angeles resident a couple of week ago, he was subjected to an intimidating late night call by two men, first ringing his doorbell and then pounding on his door.
A former intelligence officer has told the author that he answered his door, he probably would not be alive.
"We've really got to stand up as a country," says Smith. "They probably want us to revolt... We have to be smarter than them."
PMIC thugs are also threatening scientists that have found Corexit and oil according to Alexander Higgins.
Read Full Article HERE
Deborah Dupré
Human Rights Examiner
"Agenda 21's written goals are the same as the outcome of their actions in the Gulf of Mexico." A.C. Griffith
Deadly Denial of Core Exit
Denial that Americans are under a planned chemical warfare attack by their own own government gassing Gulf coast residents is resulting in a deadly slow-kill, rendering it impossible for most locals to self-relocate. Project Gulf Impact filmmaker has learned from government officials that "forced evacuation will begin within days" as Agenda 21 escalates, impacting not only Gulf Coast residents but also, in a domino effect, the entire nation equally in denial due to the unprecedented petrochemical-military-industrial-complex (PMIC) cover-up of the continuing U.S. crime against humanity for its ultimate "Full Spectrum Dominance."
Hugh Kaufman' words, "Americans can't handle truth" about the Gulf ring truer each passing day.
Matt Smith of Project Gulf Impact has spoken to numerous government officials who all say the same thing: Forced evacuation will begin soon.
Since mid-June, the military and FEMA have been engaged in Emergency Plans for 36 urban areas from Texas to Florida due to the unstoppable Gulf oil volcano the size of Mt. Everest according to WMR.
Smith has documented the abundance of oil, the Corexit still being sprayed, the people influenced by chemicals, unable to move from denial, the first stage of the death of their beloved Louisiana home. (See Wherethereistruth Youtube video below; Intel Hub “We’re seeing way more dispersant than ever before” Large, thick oil plumes, freshly sprayed with poison!", Aug 25; and Intel Hub: Photos: Oil And Dispersants in Ocean Springs Mississippi In Newly Opened Fishing Waters)
"Aerial spraying is a primary Department of Defense (DoD) chemical and biological weapon of war to achieve its stated goal, Full Spectrum Dominance by 2020 of which Agenda 21 is part... As far back as 1925, the U.S. has been a world leader in research, development and application of poisonous gas as a weapon to further political agendas in "the hope of reducing the barbarity of modern warfare." (Censored Gulf News: State sponsored terrorism targets Deep South for Agenda 21, Examiner, August 3, 2010)
People are "literally being gassed" and they are "asleep," in "denial," according to Smith.
An Examiner Human Rights article reader, "Johnny," commented:
"At the core of a human is their soul, their life - if you will. When I compute that into an analogy by name - I sadly come to the conclusion of a deeper meaning behind the name "COREXIT" or perhaps more appropriately "CORE - EXIT". The "nickname" for the dispersant is "TOP KILL" - how apt for it WILL kill many on "the top" as will their poisoning of the gulf will kill underwater life as well."
Ocean Energy Institute founder has stated that a new hurricane will require gulf evacuation. (See: http://colonel6.com/2010/07/22/ocean-energy-institute-founder-says-new-hurricane-will-require-gulf-evacuation/)
Smith's filming, documenting the reality of the situation has resulted in his being followed over the past several days. When he returned to his Los Angeles resident a couple of week ago, he was subjected to an intimidating late night call by two men, first ringing his doorbell and then pounding on his door.
A former intelligence officer has told the author that he answered his door, he probably would not be alive.
"We've really got to stand up as a country," says Smith. "They probably want us to revolt... We have to be smarter than them."
PMIC thugs are also threatening scientists that have found Corexit and oil according to Alexander Higgins.
Read Full Article HERE
10 Practical Steps That You Can Take To Insulate Yourself (At Least Somewhat) From The Coming Economic Collapse
The Economic Collapse
Most Americans are still operating under the delusion that this "recession" will end and that the "good times" will return soon, but a growing minority of Americans are starting to realize that things are fundamentally changing and that they better start preparing for what is ahead. These "preppers" come from all over the political spectrum and from every age group. More than at any other time in modern history, the American people lack faith in the U.S. economic system. In dozens of previous columns, I have detailed the horrific economic problems that we are now facing in excruciating detail. Many readers have started to complain that all I do is "scare" people and that I don't provide any practical solutions. Well, not everyone can move to Montana and start a llama farm, but hopefully this article will give people some practical steps that they can take to insulate themselves (at least to an extent) from the coming economic collapse.
But before I get into what people need to do, let's take a minute to understand just how bad things are getting out there. The economic numbers in the headlines go up and down and it can all be very confusing to most Americans.
However, there are two long-term trends that are very clear and that anyone can understand....
#1) The United States is getting poorer and is bleeding jobs every single month.
#2) The United States is getting into more debt every single month.
When you mention the trade deficit, most Americans roll their eyes and stop listening. But that is a huge mistake, because the trade deficit is absolutely central to our problems.
Every single month, Americans buy far, far more from the rest of the world than they buy from us. Every single month tens of billions of dollars more goes out of the country than comes into it.
That means that every single month the United States is getting poorer.
The excess goods and services that we buy from the rest of the world get "consumed" and the rest of the world ends up with more money than when they started.
Each year, hundreds of billions of dollars leave the United States and don't return. The transfer of wealth that this represents is astounding.
But not only are we bleeding wealth, we are also bleeding jobs every single month.
The millions of jobs that the U.S. economy is losing to China, India and dozens of third world nations are not going to come back. Middle class Americans have been placed in direct competition for jobs with workers on the other side of the world who are more than happy to work for little more than slave labor wages. Until this changes the U.S. economy is going to continue to hemorrhage jobs.
The U.S. government has helped to mask much of this economic bleeding by unprecedented amounts of government spending and debt, but now the U.S. national debt exceeds 13 trillion dollars and is getting worse every single month. Not only that, but state and local governments all over America are getting into ridiculous amounts of debt.
So, what we have got is a country that gets poorer every single month and loses jobs to other countries every single month and that has accumulated the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the world which also gets worse every single month.
Needless to say, this cannot last indefinitely. Eventually the whole thing is just going to collapse like a house of cards.
So what can we each individually do to somewhat insulate ourselves from the economic problems that are coming?....
1 - Get Out Of Debt: The old saying, "the borrower is the servant of the lender", is so incredibly true. The key to insulating yourself from an economic meltdown is to become as independent as possible, and as long as you are in debt, you simply are not independent. You don't want a horde of creditors chasing after you when things really start to get bad out there.
Read Full Article HERE
Most Americans are still operating under the delusion that this "recession" will end and that the "good times" will return soon, but a growing minority of Americans are starting to realize that things are fundamentally changing and that they better start preparing for what is ahead. These "preppers" come from all over the political spectrum and from every age group. More than at any other time in modern history, the American people lack faith in the U.S. economic system. In dozens of previous columns, I have detailed the horrific economic problems that we are now facing in excruciating detail. Many readers have started to complain that all I do is "scare" people and that I don't provide any practical solutions. Well, not everyone can move to Montana and start a llama farm, but hopefully this article will give people some practical steps that they can take to insulate themselves (at least to an extent) from the coming economic collapse.
But before I get into what people need to do, let's take a minute to understand just how bad things are getting out there. The economic numbers in the headlines go up and down and it can all be very confusing to most Americans.
However, there are two long-term trends that are very clear and that anyone can understand....
#1) The United States is getting poorer and is bleeding jobs every single month.
#2) The United States is getting into more debt every single month.
When you mention the trade deficit, most Americans roll their eyes and stop listening. But that is a huge mistake, because the trade deficit is absolutely central to our problems.
Every single month, Americans buy far, far more from the rest of the world than they buy from us. Every single month tens of billions of dollars more goes out of the country than comes into it.
That means that every single month the United States is getting poorer.
The excess goods and services that we buy from the rest of the world get "consumed" and the rest of the world ends up with more money than when they started.
Each year, hundreds of billions of dollars leave the United States and don't return. The transfer of wealth that this represents is astounding.
But not only are we bleeding wealth, we are also bleeding jobs every single month.
The millions of jobs that the U.S. economy is losing to China, India and dozens of third world nations are not going to come back. Middle class Americans have been placed in direct competition for jobs with workers on the other side of the world who are more than happy to work for little more than slave labor wages. Until this changes the U.S. economy is going to continue to hemorrhage jobs.
The U.S. government has helped to mask much of this economic bleeding by unprecedented amounts of government spending and debt, but now the U.S. national debt exceeds 13 trillion dollars and is getting worse every single month. Not only that, but state and local governments all over America are getting into ridiculous amounts of debt.
So, what we have got is a country that gets poorer every single month and loses jobs to other countries every single month and that has accumulated the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the world which also gets worse every single month.
Needless to say, this cannot last indefinitely. Eventually the whole thing is just going to collapse like a house of cards.
So what can we each individually do to somewhat insulate ourselves from the economic problems that are coming?....
1 - Get Out Of Debt: The old saying, "the borrower is the servant of the lender", is so incredibly true. The key to insulating yourself from an economic meltdown is to become as independent as possible, and as long as you are in debt, you simply are not independent. You don't want a horde of creditors chasing after you when things really start to get bad out there.
Read Full Article HERE
Thursday, August 26, 2010
"We’re seeing way more dispersant than ever before” Large, thick oil plumes, freshly sprayed with poison!
The Intel Hub.com
Today, Project Gulf Impact is out on the waters in and around Orange Beach Alabama. What they have found is exactly the opposite of what BP and the federal government have told the American people. Not only did they find oil but they apparently found what looks to be freshly sprayed dispersant, still in powder form.
Why is this toxic dispersant still being sprayed? Warnings from scientists and independent journalists have indicated that Corexit could effect the gulf for at least twenty years.
“Dead fish in Alabama – cells ruptured with lots of corexit and dispersed oil all around….The oil is thick, dispersant already trying to hide it, with dead catfish in plumes.”
As I am writing this article, Project Gulf Impact is still out on the waters. They are documenting the existence of oil and dispersant and will be uploading more videos/pictures. This is absolutely disgusting.
The federal government needs to stand up and tell BP that they will NOT be allowed to continually screw the American people. Why is CNN openly lying and covering up for the very corporations that have financially and chemically attacked the Gulf?
While our Gulf is being chemically raped, CNN has not only kept quiet, they have actually ran stories which indicate that if you aren’t for banksters than you are a domestic terrorist.
As more and more people wake up, the corporate news will continue to change the story, demonizing all movements against the banks, and continually lying about the severity of the Gulf Oil Disaster.
Read Online HERE
Today, Project Gulf Impact is out on the waters in and around Orange Beach Alabama. What they have found is exactly the opposite of what BP and the federal government have told the American people. Not only did they find oil but they apparently found what looks to be freshly sprayed dispersant, still in powder form.
Why is this toxic dispersant still being sprayed? Warnings from scientists and independent journalists have indicated that Corexit could effect the gulf for at least twenty years.
“Dead fish in Alabama – cells ruptured with lots of corexit and dispersed oil all around….The oil is thick, dispersant already trying to hide it, with dead catfish in plumes.”
As I am writing this article, Project Gulf Impact is still out on the waters. They are documenting the existence of oil and dispersant and will be uploading more videos/pictures. This is absolutely disgusting.
The federal government needs to stand up and tell BP that they will NOT be allowed to continually screw the American people. Why is CNN openly lying and covering up for the very corporations that have financially and chemically attacked the Gulf?
While our Gulf is being chemically raped, CNN has not only kept quiet, they have actually ran stories which indicate that if you aren’t for banksters than you are a domestic terrorist.
As more and more people wake up, the corporate news will continue to change the story, demonizing all movements against the banks, and continually lying about the severity of the Gulf Oil Disaster.
Read Online HERE
Microwave Weapons: Los Angeles County Jail to Heat Up Misbehaving Inmates with Target Wave Technology
Aug 25, 2010, By Russell Nichols, Staff Writer
Govtech.com
If a fight breaks out at one Los Angeles County jail, inmates might get shot -- not with bullets, but a millimeter wave from a military-based device that penetrates the skin to heat up nerves.
Dubbed the Assault Intervention Device (AID), the 7½-foot-tall nonlethal weapon transmits a focused, invisible beam at a specified target, causing an unbearable burning sensation that forces individuals to recoil. The L.A. County Sheriff's Department unveiled the device this month at the Pitchess Detention Center for the launch of a six-month operational evaluation to see if the tool will help stop or lessen the severity of inmate assaults.
"We believe that technology can help solve problems facing the corrections community, including addressing issues of inmate violence," Sheriff Lee Baca said in a statement. "This device will allow us to quickly intervene without having to enter the area and without incapacitating or injuring either combatant."
The technology, developed by Raytheon Co., stems from a family of bigger, more powerful military solutions created for the battlefield. These larger versions work the same way, but on a grander operational scale, such as creating a protective zone to safeguard aircraft or using lasers to disrupt shoulder-fired missiles from combat helicopters. In L.A. County, the device will be installed near the ceiling in a dormitory that houses about 65 inmates at the Pitchess Detention Center's North County Correctional Facility (NCCF).
Read Full Article
The New Phoenix Program
Govtech.com
If a fight breaks out at one Los Angeles County jail, inmates might get shot -- not with bullets, but a millimeter wave from a military-based device that penetrates the skin to heat up nerves.
Dubbed the Assault Intervention Device (AID), the 7½-foot-tall nonlethal weapon transmits a focused, invisible beam at a specified target, causing an unbearable burning sensation that forces individuals to recoil. The L.A. County Sheriff's Department unveiled the device this month at the Pitchess Detention Center for the launch of a six-month operational evaluation to see if the tool will help stop or lessen the severity of inmate assaults.
"We believe that technology can help solve problems facing the corrections community, including addressing issues of inmate violence," Sheriff Lee Baca said in a statement. "This device will allow us to quickly intervene without having to enter the area and without incapacitating or injuring either combatant."
The technology, developed by Raytheon Co., stems from a family of bigger, more powerful military solutions created for the battlefield. These larger versions work the same way, but on a grander operational scale, such as creating a protective zone to safeguard aircraft or using lasers to disrupt shoulder-fired missiles from combat helicopters. In L.A. County, the device will be installed near the ceiling in a dormitory that houses about 65 inmates at the Pitchess Detention Center's North County Correctional Facility (NCCF).
Read Full Article
The New Phoenix Program
Aerial Surveillance Used To Enforce Laws
FRANK ELTMAN
Huffington Post
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — On New York's Long Island, it's used to prevent drownings. In Greece, it's a tool to help solve a financial crisis. Municipalities update property assessment rolls and other government data with it. Some in law enforcement use it to supplement reconnaissance of crime suspects.
High-tech eyes in the sky – from satellite imagery to sophisticated aerial photography that maps entire communities – are being employed in creative new ways by government officials, a trend that civil libertarians and others fear are eroding privacy rights.
"As technology advances, we have to revisit questions about what is and what is not private information," said Gregory Nojeim, senior counsel at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Democracy and Technology.
Online services like Google and Bing give users very detailed images of practically any location on the planet. Though some images are months old, they make it possible for someone sitting in a living room in Brooklyn to look in on folks in Dublin or Prague, or even down the street in Flatbush.
Sean Walter, an attorney and first-term town supervisor in Riverhead, N.Y., insists he is a staunch defender of privacy rights and the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure.
But Walter supported using Google Earth images to help identify about 250 Riverhead homes where residents failed to get building permits certifying their swimming pools complied with safety regulations. All but about 10 eventually came to town hall.
Walter said the focus was safety, not filling town coffers with permit money, which averaged about $150 depending on the size of the pool. A 4-foot fence is required, gates have to be self-closing and padlocked. All pools must have an alarm that sounds when sensors are activated indicating someone is in the pool.
"We have a town employee who is a personal friend of mine whose son was found face-down in a swimming pool," Walter said. "He's OK, but I don't want to be the supervisor that attends the funeral of a child that drowns in a swimming pool."
Lillie Coney, associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C., fears that while Walter's focus was safety, other municipalities may use the images to check for other transgressions.
Read Full Article
Huffington Post
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — On New York's Long Island, it's used to prevent drownings. In Greece, it's a tool to help solve a financial crisis. Municipalities update property assessment rolls and other government data with it. Some in law enforcement use it to supplement reconnaissance of crime suspects.
High-tech eyes in the sky – from satellite imagery to sophisticated aerial photography that maps entire communities – are being employed in creative new ways by government officials, a trend that civil libertarians and others fear are eroding privacy rights.
"As technology advances, we have to revisit questions about what is and what is not private information," said Gregory Nojeim, senior counsel at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Democracy and Technology.
Online services like Google and Bing give users very detailed images of practically any location on the planet. Though some images are months old, they make it possible for someone sitting in a living room in Brooklyn to look in on folks in Dublin or Prague, or even down the street in Flatbush.
Sean Walter, an attorney and first-term town supervisor in Riverhead, N.Y., insists he is a staunch defender of privacy rights and the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure.
But Walter supported using Google Earth images to help identify about 250 Riverhead homes where residents failed to get building permits certifying their swimming pools complied with safety regulations. All but about 10 eventually came to town hall.
Walter said the focus was safety, not filling town coffers with permit money, which averaged about $150 depending on the size of the pool. A 4-foot fence is required, gates have to be self-closing and padlocked. All pools must have an alarm that sounds when sensors are activated indicating someone is in the pool.
"We have a town employee who is a personal friend of mine whose son was found face-down in a swimming pool," Walter said. "He's OK, but I don't want to be the supervisor that attends the funeral of a child that drowns in a swimming pool."
Lillie Coney, associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C., fears that while Walter's focus was safety, other municipalities may use the images to check for other transgressions.
Read Full Article
The ABC’s Of The Great American Housing Crisis
End of The American Dream.com
It doesn't take a genius to realize that a horrific housing crisis in unfolding right in front of our eyes. Yesterday it was announced that existing home sales plummeted 27 percent in the month of July. Today it was announced that new homes sales dropped to the lowest level ever recorded in July. But why is this happening? Why is the American Dream still dying for millions of American families? Wasn't the recession supposed to be over by now? Weren't home prices supposed to be moving back up by this time? Well, in this article we will attempt to succinctly break down the ABC's of the Great American Housing Crisis. Hopefully this will help people understand why all of this is happening.
A - The Gigantic Mountain Of Unsold Homes Combined With Very Few Buyers Is Going To Force Home Prices Down
For decades, Americans could purchase a home and know that it was inevitable that the value of that home would eventually just keep going up and up and up. But those days are over.
Over the past two decades, we experienced a huge bubble in the housing market. As prices skyrocketed, home builders built homes like crazy and it seemed like virtually everyone in the world was getting a home loan.
But then a funny thing happened.
The bubble popped.
It turns out that millions and millions and millions of Americans could not afford all of those crazy mortgages that were being passed out, and foreclosures have set record after record after record over the last couple of years.
This has resulted in a gigantic mountain of foreclosed homes being forced back on to the market. As of this March, U.S. banks had an inventory of 1.1 million foreclosed homes, which was a new all-time record and which was up 20 percent from one year ago.
Meanwhile, banks and lending institutions have learned their lessons and now it is much, much tougher to get a home loan. Therefore, there are a whole lot less qualified buyers in the marketplace.
So with a ton of homes on the market and very few buyers, it is going to take a long, long time to get all of those homes sold. In fact, there is now over a year's worth of unsold homes sitting on the market in the United States.
And do you realize what happens when supply is very high and demand is very low?
Prices go down.
Right now home owners are very hesitant to lower the prices of their homes much further, but if they want to sell their homes, that is what has got to happen.
B - Without Good Jobs The American People Cannot Buy Homes
Read Full Article HERE
It doesn't take a genius to realize that a horrific housing crisis in unfolding right in front of our eyes. Yesterday it was announced that existing home sales plummeted 27 percent in the month of July. Today it was announced that new homes sales dropped to the lowest level ever recorded in July. But why is this happening? Why is the American Dream still dying for millions of American families? Wasn't the recession supposed to be over by now? Weren't home prices supposed to be moving back up by this time? Well, in this article we will attempt to succinctly break down the ABC's of the Great American Housing Crisis. Hopefully this will help people understand why all of this is happening.
A - The Gigantic Mountain Of Unsold Homes Combined With Very Few Buyers Is Going To Force Home Prices Down
For decades, Americans could purchase a home and know that it was inevitable that the value of that home would eventually just keep going up and up and up. But those days are over.
Over the past two decades, we experienced a huge bubble in the housing market. As prices skyrocketed, home builders built homes like crazy and it seemed like virtually everyone in the world was getting a home loan.
But then a funny thing happened.
The bubble popped.
It turns out that millions and millions and millions of Americans could not afford all of those crazy mortgages that were being passed out, and foreclosures have set record after record after record over the last couple of years.
This has resulted in a gigantic mountain of foreclosed homes being forced back on to the market. As of this March, U.S. banks had an inventory of 1.1 million foreclosed homes, which was a new all-time record and which was up 20 percent from one year ago.
Meanwhile, banks and lending institutions have learned their lessons and now it is much, much tougher to get a home loan. Therefore, there are a whole lot less qualified buyers in the marketplace.
So with a ton of homes on the market and very few buyers, it is going to take a long, long time to get all of those homes sold. In fact, there is now over a year's worth of unsold homes sitting on the market in the United States.
And do you realize what happens when supply is very high and demand is very low?
Prices go down.
Right now home owners are very hesitant to lower the prices of their homes much further, but if they want to sell their homes, that is what has got to happen.
B - Without Good Jobs The American People Cannot Buy Homes
Read Full Article HERE
ALERT: 13.3 ppm of COREXIT found INLAND, near Florida border — Chemist says tests show “toxic solvent” 2-butoxyethanol that “RUPTURES red blood cells” (VIDEO & PHOTOS)
Florida Oil Spill Law.com
Corexit found in Orange Beach Waters, WKRG Channel 5, August 19, 2010:
[Cotton Bayou, Ala. resident] Margaret Long… first got suspicious when she saw something in the water she had never seen before. She even took photographs, “Some times it’s about the size of a half dollar. Some times it streams along and its like floating sand.”
She got samples and sent them to chemist Bob Naman in Mobile whose tests results show 13.3 ppm of the chemical dispersant corexit. …
“It concerns me,” says Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon.
http://www.wkrg.com/gulf_oil_spill/article/corexit-found-in-orange-beach-waters/916773/Aug-19-2010_11-31-pm/
Bob Naman is the analytical chemist who performed the tests featured in WKRG’s broadcast. He was interviewed by Washington’s Blog for an August 24 report. Highlights include:
Naman found 2-butoxyethanol in the Cotton Bayou sample. [Ingredient in 'discontinued' Corexit 9527.]
Naman said found no propylene glycol, the main ingredient of Corexit 9500.
Naman said he went to Dauphin Island, Alabama last night and while there observed many 250-500 gallon barrels which were labeled Corexit 9527. Naman took pictures that he will soon be sharing.
Naman said he saw men applying the Corexit 9527 while he was in Dauphin Island and also in Bayou La Batre, Alabama.
Naman said the Corexit 9527 is being haphazardly sprayed at night and is impacting beach sands in a highly concentrated form.
Scientists oppose the use of dispersant chemicals in the Gulf of Mexico, MSNBC, July 16, 2010:
Corexit 9527A contains 2-BTE (2-butoxyethanol), a toxic solvent that ruptures red blood cells, causing hemolysis (bleeding) and liver and kidney damage (Johanson and Bowman, 1991, Nalco, 2010). Both Corexit dispersants contain petroleum solvents that mix with the crude oil mass and move through it, thus increasing the uptake of oil by organisms (NRC, 2005, Nalco, 2010). Signed by:
Read Full Article HERE
Corexit found in Orange Beach Waters, WKRG Channel 5, August 19, 2010:
[Cotton Bayou, Ala. resident] Margaret Long… first got suspicious when she saw something in the water she had never seen before. She even took photographs, “Some times it’s about the size of a half dollar. Some times it streams along and its like floating sand.”
She got samples and sent them to chemist Bob Naman in Mobile whose tests results show 13.3 ppm of the chemical dispersant corexit. …
“It concerns me,” says Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon.
http://www.wkrg.com/gulf_oil_spill/article/corexit-found-in-orange-beach-waters/916773/Aug-19-2010_11-31-pm/
Bob Naman is the analytical chemist who performed the tests featured in WKRG’s broadcast. He was interviewed by Washington’s Blog for an August 24 report. Highlights include:
Naman found 2-butoxyethanol in the Cotton Bayou sample. [Ingredient in 'discontinued' Corexit 9527.]
Naman said found no propylene glycol, the main ingredient of Corexit 9500.
Naman said he went to Dauphin Island, Alabama last night and while there observed many 250-500 gallon barrels which were labeled Corexit 9527. Naman took pictures that he will soon be sharing.
Naman said he saw men applying the Corexit 9527 while he was in Dauphin Island and also in Bayou La Batre, Alabama.
Naman said the Corexit 9527 is being haphazardly sprayed at night and is impacting beach sands in a highly concentrated form.
Scientists oppose the use of dispersant chemicals in the Gulf of Mexico, MSNBC, July 16, 2010:
Corexit 9527A contains 2-BTE (2-butoxyethanol), a toxic solvent that ruptures red blood cells, causing hemolysis (bleeding) and liver and kidney damage (Johanson and Bowman, 1991, Nalco, 2010). Both Corexit dispersants contain petroleum solvents that mix with the crude oil mass and move through it, thus increasing the uptake of oil by organisms (NRC, 2005, Nalco, 2010). Signed by:
Read Full Article HERE
The Government Can Use GPS to Track Your Moves
Time.com
Government agents can sneak onto your property in the middle of the night, put a GPS device on the bottom of your car and keep track of everywhere you go. This doesn't violate your Fourth Amendment rights, because you do not have any reasonable expectation of privacy in your own driveway — and no reasonable expectation that the government isn't tracking your movements.
That is the bizarre — and scary — rule that now applies in California and eight other Western states. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which covers this vast jurisdiction, recently decided the government can monitor you in this way virtually anytime it wants — with no need for a search warrant.
(See a TIME photoessay on Cannabis Culture.)
It is a dangerous decision — one that, as the dissenting judges warned, could turn America into the sort of totalitarian state imagined by George Orwell. It is particularly offensive because the judges added insult to injury with some shocking class bias: the little personal privacy that still exists, the court suggested, should belong mainly to the rich.
This case began in 2007, when Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents decided to monitor Juan Pineda-Moreno, an Oregon resident who they suspected was growing marijuana. They snuck onto his property in the middle of the night and found his Jeep in his driveway, a few feet from his trailer home. Then they attached a GPS tracking device to the vehicle's underside.
After Pineda-Moreno challenged the DEA's actions, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit ruled in January that it was all perfectly legal. More disturbingly, a larger group of judges on the circuit, who were subsequently asked to reconsider the ruling, decided this month to let it stand. (Pineda-Moreno has pleaded guilty conditionally to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana and manufacturing marijuana while appealing the denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained with the help of GPS.)
In fact, the government violated Pineda-Moreno's privacy rights in two different ways. For starters, the invasion of his driveway was wrong. The courts have long held that people have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their homes and in the "curtilage," a fancy legal term for the area around the home. The government's intrusion on property just a few feet away was clearly in this zone of privacy.
The judges veered into offensiveness when they explained why Pineda-Moreno's driveway was not private. It was open to strangers, they said, such as delivery people and neighborhood children, who could wander across it uninvited.
(See the misadventures of the CIA.)
Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, who dissented from this month's decision refusing to reconsider the case, pointed out whose homes are not open to strangers: rich people's. The court's ruling, he said, means that people who protect their homes with electric gates, fences and security booths have a large protected zone of privacy around their homes. People who cannot afford such barriers have to put up with the government sneaking around at night.
Read Full Article With Links HERE
Government agents can sneak onto your property in the middle of the night, put a GPS device on the bottom of your car and keep track of everywhere you go. This doesn't violate your Fourth Amendment rights, because you do not have any reasonable expectation of privacy in your own driveway — and no reasonable expectation that the government isn't tracking your movements.
That is the bizarre — and scary — rule that now applies in California and eight other Western states. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which covers this vast jurisdiction, recently decided the government can monitor you in this way virtually anytime it wants — with no need for a search warrant.
(See a TIME photoessay on Cannabis Culture.)
It is a dangerous decision — one that, as the dissenting judges warned, could turn America into the sort of totalitarian state imagined by George Orwell. It is particularly offensive because the judges added insult to injury with some shocking class bias: the little personal privacy that still exists, the court suggested, should belong mainly to the rich.
This case began in 2007, when Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents decided to monitor Juan Pineda-Moreno, an Oregon resident who they suspected was growing marijuana. They snuck onto his property in the middle of the night and found his Jeep in his driveway, a few feet from his trailer home. Then they attached a GPS tracking device to the vehicle's underside.
After Pineda-Moreno challenged the DEA's actions, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit ruled in January that it was all perfectly legal. More disturbingly, a larger group of judges on the circuit, who were subsequently asked to reconsider the ruling, decided this month to let it stand. (Pineda-Moreno has pleaded guilty conditionally to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana and manufacturing marijuana while appealing the denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained with the help of GPS.)
In fact, the government violated Pineda-Moreno's privacy rights in two different ways. For starters, the invasion of his driveway was wrong. The courts have long held that people have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their homes and in the "curtilage," a fancy legal term for the area around the home. The government's intrusion on property just a few feet away was clearly in this zone of privacy.
The judges veered into offensiveness when they explained why Pineda-Moreno's driveway was not private. It was open to strangers, they said, such as delivery people and neighborhood children, who could wander across it uninvited.
(See the misadventures of the CIA.)
Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, who dissented from this month's decision refusing to reconsider the case, pointed out whose homes are not open to strangers: rich people's. The court's ruling, he said, means that people who protect their homes with electric gates, fences and security booths have a large protected zone of privacy around their homes. People who cannot afford such barriers have to put up with the government sneaking around at night.
Read Full Article With Links HERE
Home Sales Drop 27 Percent In July And Things Are Only Going To Get Worse For The U.S. Housing Industry
The Economic Collapse
On Tuesday the National Association of Realtors announced that existing home sales in the United States dropped a whopping 27.2% in the month of July. The consensus among analysts was that we would see a drop of around 13 percent, so when the 27 percent figure was announced it sent a shock through world financial markets. To say that the real estate industry is alarmed by these numbers would be a tremendous understatement. What we are seeing unfold is essentially "Armageddon" for those involved in the housing and real estate industries. The real estate market is grinding to a standstill and a shockingly low number of people are actually in the market to buy a home right now. In the months ahead home sales may pick up a little bit, but only if housing prices start to fall. Why? Because right now there are tons of houses on the market and there are very few qualified buyers available to purchase them and potential buyers are starting to realize this. Buyers are beginning to understand that they have all the leverage now and they are waiting for prices to fall.
Anyone who has taken Economics 101 in college knows that when supply is high and demand is low prices will fall, and that is exactly the situation we have in the U.S. housing market right now.
At the moment, most home sellers in the United States are very hesitant to lower the prices on their homes too much. Many have no intention of selling their homes below what they originally paid for them, and many others truly believe that the housing market will eventually rebound.
But the truth is that housing prices are simply not going to rebound to 2006 levels. If anything, they are going to continue to fall.
The following are the three basic points that every American needs to understand about the U.S. housing market right now....
1) There Is A Gigantic Mountain Of Unsold Homes On The Market
There are a staggering number of unsold homes on the market right now. As you can see from the chart from the Calculated Risk blog below, there is now over a year's worth of unsold homes flooding the marketplace....
So who is going to buy all of those unsold homes with so few qualified purchasers in the marketplace?
That is a very good question.
Unfortunately, all the signs indicate that the glut of unsold homes is going to get even worse.
As of this March, U.S. banks had an inventory of 1.1 million foreclosed homes, which was a new all-time record and which was up 20 percent from one year ago.
And the tsunami of foreclosures and repossessions just keeps growing....
Read Full Article HERE
On Tuesday the National Association of Realtors announced that existing home sales in the United States dropped a whopping 27.2% in the month of July. The consensus among analysts was that we would see a drop of around 13 percent, so when the 27 percent figure was announced it sent a shock through world financial markets. To say that the real estate industry is alarmed by these numbers would be a tremendous understatement. What we are seeing unfold is essentially "Armageddon" for those involved in the housing and real estate industries. The real estate market is grinding to a standstill and a shockingly low number of people are actually in the market to buy a home right now. In the months ahead home sales may pick up a little bit, but only if housing prices start to fall. Why? Because right now there are tons of houses on the market and there are very few qualified buyers available to purchase them and potential buyers are starting to realize this. Buyers are beginning to understand that they have all the leverage now and they are waiting for prices to fall.
Anyone who has taken Economics 101 in college knows that when supply is high and demand is low prices will fall, and that is exactly the situation we have in the U.S. housing market right now.
At the moment, most home sellers in the United States are very hesitant to lower the prices on their homes too much. Many have no intention of selling their homes below what they originally paid for them, and many others truly believe that the housing market will eventually rebound.
But the truth is that housing prices are simply not going to rebound to 2006 levels. If anything, they are going to continue to fall.
The following are the three basic points that every American needs to understand about the U.S. housing market right now....
1) There Is A Gigantic Mountain Of Unsold Homes On The Market
There are a staggering number of unsold homes on the market right now. As you can see from the chart from the Calculated Risk blog below, there is now over a year's worth of unsold homes flooding the marketplace....
So who is going to buy all of those unsold homes with so few qualified purchasers in the marketplace?
That is a very good question.
Unfortunately, all the signs indicate that the glut of unsold homes is going to get even worse.
As of this March, U.S. banks had an inventory of 1.1 million foreclosed homes, which was a new all-time record and which was up 20 percent from one year ago.
And the tsunami of foreclosures and repossessions just keeps growing....
Read Full Article HERE
Evangelist Denied Entry to U.S. All Meetings Cancelled
John The Baptist.com
ENTRY DENIED. All MEETINGS CANCELED -Andrew Strom
I am very sorry to announce to those of you who were planning on attending some of our meetings over the next month that we have been denied entry to the USA and sadly will have to cancel all the meetings.
My whole family were detained for over 6 hours at the US border
yesterday (the USA side), questioned, photographed, fingerprinted
like criminals – and sent back to Canada. We were told we could
not come in to preach to a series of Christian groups like this –
even though their website clearly says we CAN – and I have already
been in TWICE THIS YEAR doing exactly the same thing. They let
me in then – but no more. They even fingerprinted my 15-year-old
daughter. None of us (except our 9 and 11-year olds) can even set
foot in the USA again without going to the US Consulate and getting
special permission. We literally are now in the “criminal” class
according to US Immigration.
All this because we were invited by church groups and Christian
groups across the USA to come preach a series of meetings.
They told me to do that I have to have an “R” visa. (These take
months and months to get – often never). This is not what their
website says. New Zealand is a “visa-waiver” country and Conference
speakers are specifically allowed into the US under those rules. I
asked them, “How then can a foreign preacher who is invited by a
Christian group to the USA ever get in to preach?” They said maybe
that is OK for one or two meetings, but not for a series. So we
cannot preach in churches across the nation – even though that is
exactly what they have let me in to do before. This is the first time
I have ever been denied entry to do that very thing. And now we are
all – very evidently – “criminals”. Never to darken the door again.
My family and I naturally came home from this pretty distraught
and devastated. My daughter was crying in the car. Six hours is a
long time to be detained like that.
But, you know, at the end of the day, God is in control. I felt sure
then and I feel sure now that even though this was so distressing,
God was still speaking to us through it all. I believe He is the one
who is slamming the door shut on America right now – and doing
so in no uncertain terms. We have been praying and many others
have been praying for too long for this to have just been “man’s”
decision. I accept it as the voice of God. America is over for us.
WHERE to FROM HERE?
The most likely thing is a return “Down-Under” to New Zealand and
Australia. We have been away from home now – traveling and
ministering – for 18 months. Perhaps it is time for a return to what
the explorer Pedro Fernandez de Quiros called the “Great South
Land of the Holy Spirit.”
I just want to apologize again to all those who wanted to attend
our upcoming meetings. I am very sorry, my friends. Our family
is still pretty shaken by all of this, so we would certainly appreciate
your prayers at this time.
-Please comment on this article below.
God bless you all.
Andrew Strom.
View Website HERE
ENTRY DENIED. All MEETINGS CANCELED -Andrew Strom
I am very sorry to announce to those of you who were planning on attending some of our meetings over the next month that we have been denied entry to the USA and sadly will have to cancel all the meetings.
My whole family were detained for over 6 hours at the US border
yesterday (the USA side), questioned, photographed, fingerprinted
like criminals – and sent back to Canada. We were told we could
not come in to preach to a series of Christian groups like this –
even though their website clearly says we CAN – and I have already
been in TWICE THIS YEAR doing exactly the same thing. They let
me in then – but no more. They even fingerprinted my 15-year-old
daughter. None of us (except our 9 and 11-year olds) can even set
foot in the USA again without going to the US Consulate and getting
special permission. We literally are now in the “criminal” class
according to US Immigration.
All this because we were invited by church groups and Christian
groups across the USA to come preach a series of meetings.
They told me to do that I have to have an “R” visa. (These take
months and months to get – often never). This is not what their
website says. New Zealand is a “visa-waiver” country and Conference
speakers are specifically allowed into the US under those rules. I
asked them, “How then can a foreign preacher who is invited by a
Christian group to the USA ever get in to preach?” They said maybe
that is OK for one or two meetings, but not for a series. So we
cannot preach in churches across the nation – even though that is
exactly what they have let me in to do before. This is the first time
I have ever been denied entry to do that very thing. And now we are
all – very evidently – “criminals”. Never to darken the door again.
My family and I naturally came home from this pretty distraught
and devastated. My daughter was crying in the car. Six hours is a
long time to be detained like that.
But, you know, at the end of the day, God is in control. I felt sure
then and I feel sure now that even though this was so distressing,
God was still speaking to us through it all. I believe He is the one
who is slamming the door shut on America right now – and doing
so in no uncertain terms. We have been praying and many others
have been praying for too long for this to have just been “man’s”
decision. I accept it as the voice of God. America is over for us.
WHERE to FROM HERE?
The most likely thing is a return “Down-Under” to New Zealand and
Australia. We have been away from home now – traveling and
ministering – for 18 months. Perhaps it is time for a return to what
the explorer Pedro Fernandez de Quiros called the “Great South
Land of the Holy Spirit.”
I just want to apologize again to all those who wanted to attend
our upcoming meetings. I am very sorry, my friends. Our family
is still pretty shaken by all of this, so we would certainly appreciate
your prayers at this time.
-Please comment on this article below.
God bless you all.
Andrew Strom.
View Website HERE
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