OFF NEWS: May 24-27, 2013: Screw Monsanto: War is Terrorism: Jay-Z Sucks: JFK Still Rules

Memorial to All Victims of the Endless War on/of Terror, March Against Monsanto, Military Propaganda Flawed, Redefining Democracy and Freedom, Jay-Z Sucks Ass, JFK Still Kicks Ass 50 Years After Banksters Killed Him, Government Plans 11 Hurricanes in 2013, Navy Flies A New Drone, All Children Left Behind, Keep Portland Weird and Unfluoridated, Why the American Cancer Society Doesn't Want A Cure, Keystone XL Equally Unnecessary and Dangerous, Israel Losing War in Syria,  Whole World Knows 9/11 Was an Inside Job, IRS Pleads the 5th!, Angelina Jolie = Cray Cray Publicity Ho, DOJ Injustices, Inside a Bankster Gold Vault, Only US Doesn't Get Paid Time Off, "Fleeting Japan Scare Proves It's All About the FED", Got Starving People?!?! Just Build More Airports!... Never-mind the Greenhouse Gasses, ACADEMI (aka Blackwater) Now Hiring Mercenaries!, USA TODAY is a 40 Page Paper, but Only 2.5 Pages Actual News, Rich Getting Richer While the World Burns (Destruction is Profitable but I Ain't Buying It), Testimonial Against GMOs, Wake Up!, Stand Up!, Speak Up!, Like!, Share!, and Special Musical Guest Cymande Performing "One More"!

Surfing while Speaking In Support Of March Against Monsanto: MOG VLOG #13

Why I support March Against Monsanto and ongoing actions against genetically modified foods and big agribusiness:

1.  We are what we eat, so we shouldn't eat untested and/or dangerous foods.  GMOs have not been tested long term and have been proven dangerous in short term testing.

2.  Food and water are basic human rights.  Allowing corporations to patent seeds takes away these rights.

3.  Food companies (not just Monsanto!) have been feeding us junk and calling it food for decades.  Changing humanity's diet will eliminate most of our species' health issues.

4.  Over the last century of experimentation, industrial agriculture has not solved our economic and food issues.  Localized organic agriculture creates good jobs, strong communities, empowered citizens, and healthy people.

Having some fun with the river wave, my cameras, and spreading awareness...

X BOX ONE Sucks, Microsoft Blows, and Bill Gates Wants You Dumb Now and Dead Sooner Than You Would Be Otherwise

This new video summarizing the unveiling of the much-hyped Xbox One says a lot about Microsoft's role in our increasingly interconnected global civilization: purveyors of mindless TV, pointless SPORTS, and senseless VIOLENCE masquerading as a "Call of Duty".  Just as Monsanto executives refuse to eat the toxic GMO foods they foist upon the masses, its clear that these Microsoft execs don't actually use the products they expect you to buy.

XBOX ONE is essentially a distraction from life and a destroyer of productivity, creativity, and community.  I'll be smashing any I come across as a tough love service to my species.

PS There's a rather compelling body of evidence supporting the belief that Bill Gates is a genocidal maniac who has murdered millions of people around the world with toxic vaccines and is plotting to take over and toxify the global food supply.  Know that before you decide to shut yourself in with an XBOX ONE and assorted processed, GMO, HFCS-laced junk "foods".   I don't have time to get into it, but Natural News does.

Knowledge is power, folks.  Get some.

Geoengineered Mega Tornado in Oklahoma: Meteorologist Scott Stevens Weighs In

Scott Stevens was a television weatherman before he started focusing on the real causes of weather instead of merely reporting what he was supposed to.  Here is his latest video on the deadly twisters in Moore, Oklahoma.

For more from Scott on the topic of weather modification and weather warfare, check out the documentaries What In the World Are They Spraying? and Why In the World Are They Spraying?...

Here's another new vid on the topic as well. Stoked to hear this full interview...

"Any, ya know, experiment that you're trying to improve upon there's certainly enough evidence here in Oklahoma. We've seen enough tornadoes." -- Weather Channel Reporter

"The images here just continue to boggle the mind.  You've got homes homes that are completely mangled to the point where you don't know which room is what -- you don't even know where the rooms are -- just basically stripped from their floors.  And, so, any, ya know, experiment that you're trying to improve upon there's certainly enough evidence here in Oklahoma.  We've seen enough tornadoes."

In the short video below we see a bit of what this reporter is talking about.  Notice the standing wave patterns East of Moore, Oklahoma before a line of tornadoes appears in what was just clear sky.


Check out my video below that offers a bit of digital evidence that the tornadoes raking the Midwest recently were intentionally manipulated using "geoengineering" technologies.  These efforts certainly didn't make things any better for the people of Moore, Oklahoma.

Record Tornado Decimates Moore, Oklahoma: Could Geoengineering Prevent (or Cause) Disasters Like This?

FACT: Climate manipulation technologies exist and have been in use for decades.

FACT: Climate manipulation technologies exist and have been in use for decades.  Could geoengineering stop storms like this before they ruin lives?  If so, why isn't that happening?  What if these technologies are already being used covertly as a tool of disaster capitalism or a weapon of war?! 

WeatherWar101 (youtube channel) http://www.youtube.com/user/weatherwar101?feature=results_main

WeatherWars.info (youtube channel) http://www.youtube.com/user/weatherwars?feature=results_main

ClimateViewer3D (youtube channel): http://www.youtube.com/user/r3zn8d?feature=results_main

Why In The World Are They Spraying (video) http://www.oilfreefun.com/2012/07/why-in-world-are-they-spraying-watch.html

What In The World Are They Spraying? (video) http://www.oilfreefun.com/2012/01/must-see-video-what-in-world-are-they.html

Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Recommends GEO-ENGINEERING Investment Opportunities (To Help Them "Fight Against" Climate Change They've Been Causing With Geoengineering) http://www.oilfreefun.com/2012/10/council-of-foreign-relations-discusses.html?utm_source=BP_recent

Geoengineering: Dangerous Proposal Or Lethal Reality? by Dane Wigington http://www.oilfreefun.com/2012/10/geoengineering-dangerous-proposal-or.html

Philadelphia Police Planting Drugs on Adam Kokesh?! (VIDEO EVIDENCE SURE LOOKS LIKE IT)

Whether or not you identify with Adam Kokesh's message or agree with his upcoming armed march on DC, he certainly has a right to speak his mind and protest as he sees fit.  We all do.

It appears that Philadelphia Police disagree: they arrested Adam while he spoke at a "Smoke Down Prohibition" marijuana protest on Saturday, May 19, 2013.  According to his official Facebook page, Kokesh has been charged with resisting arrest and will face a judge on Monday.

If amateur video of the event can be trusted, it appears as if a plainclothes cop attempted to plant something on Kokesh while police in uniform were arresting him.

This footage of Philly cops detaining Adam Kokesh clearly shows a man with a shaved head wearing a dark green shirt attempting to put something in Adam's back pocket.  At first glance it appears that this ass-grabbing mystery man is being arrested as well, but the police do not appear to be restraining his right arm very effectively or handling him nearly as roughly as they do Kokesh.  It looks more like the mystery man is being intentionally pushed into Kokesh so he can plant something in his pocket.



This is the best video I've found on the topic.  Other videos are posted below.



See for yourself... watch the whole video for slow motion of the potentially incriminating part.

This video is not has high quality but it shows another angle of the man attempting to access Kokesh's back pocket while police herd the two men against one another.

Here's another video of the scene in slow motion...



This video is obnoxiously loud and 90* off normal but it shows the initial arrest from another angle in HD...

Again, regardless of what you think of Kokesh's message or methods, he is one heck of a rabble rouser, and he has every right to speak as freely as he wants to.  A lot of what he says makes perfect sense too.  Peace.

Obvious Geoengineering in Action: Covert Climate Manipulation: Governments and Establishment Scientists LIE

Listen to Mr. Max Bliss as he deftly explains geoengineering programs while showcasing them taking place in the skies over his home in rural France.  Max does an excellent job of explaining the overall situation while summarizing the technical details of geoengineering in common language.

When listening I can really tell how passionate Mr. Bliss is about this issue because his voice is filled with such conviction and he effectively speaks truth to power.

Banksters, Corrupt Government, and Mainstream Media Are Afraid Of Crowd Funding. Support Crowd Funding! OFF NEWS: May 17-19, 2013

Why Wall Street Hates Crowd Funding... also Texas Tornadoes, Weather Weapons, Cyberwar Proposed Against Syria, Boston Bombing Lies Continue, Pentagon Abuses Every Human & Planet Earth, E Verify Big Brother, Benghazi Coverup, IRS Scandal, AP Intimidation, Obama Plays Dumb, Divide & Conquer Debunked, Private Prisons Break Laws, Education Investments in Police State and Medical Mafia, Oil Price Rise Lies, and Lupe/Dosage's 2011 mixtape "Friend of the People"... PEACE

Why does Obama do the exact opposite of what he says? Watch him jerk around spastically while reading his script.

"...too often our politics aren't focused on the same things you are: working hard, supporting your family, and supporting your community."

There you have it folks, straight from the top puppet's mouth: openly admitting that Washington politics are not about hard work, supporting families, or building strong local communities.

Obama chatters endlessly about his alleged desire to support small businesses, build a strong middle class, and create jobs that pay a living wage.  That's funny because on his watch the wealthiest 7% of Americans have gained a whopping $5.6 trillion in net worth (assets minus liabilities) while the other 93% of Americans lost $669 billion. Their wealth went up by 28% while ours went down by 4 percent.

While the Banksters print themselves $85 billion per month indefinitely to inflate the market, fund corruption, and line their pockets, more than 2/3rds of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.    This figure obviously excludes people who don't have jobs and no longer qualify for meager unemployment benefits.

If Obama was serious about helping Americans transcend poverty, a practical solution would be quite simple.  If that $85 billion per month were distributed to or invested in the people instead of being used to prop up the banking cartel and financial casino, it would juice the national economy to the tune of ~1% monthly.  $85 billion is enough money to gift 300 million Americans $283 monthly.  Obviously increasing Americans spending power by that much every month would increase spending, boost earnings, create jobs, raise standards of living, and ease the collective stress of widespread poverty.

Instead, that $85 billion is gifted to the already obscenely wealthy every month... like the $19 TRILLION in backdoor bailouts that were distributed to banks around the world in the wake of 2008.

The bigger question is: Why does Obama shake his head around so much while reading his lines off of a teleprompter?  Is it merely a flourish to get people's attention?  Does he have Tourette's Syndrome?  Or is he just nervous about all the lies he's told and corruption he has overseen finally coming to light?  You decide...

I missed Mike's birthday but he kicks ass... SUPPORT MOXNEWS

Mike at MOXNEWS subjects himself to the mainstream media's lies and posts incredible videos every damn day... over 50,000 over the last 7 years!  This guy is one of the top dogs of the independent media and he's running to 10 year old computers... it's time for an upgrade!
Watch his latest video and check out his website.  If you've ever watched or embedded a MOXNEWS video, please consider subscribing to his channel for $1, $5, or $10 per month.

Every little bit helps, people!

Jump Like Frog: Stand Like Bear: Swim Like Fish: Surf The Snake: MOG VLOG #7

Surfing Wyoming's Snake River while simultaneously calling out fake environmentalism.  Good times!

YOU Are A Slave and Here's How - Lee Camp's MOC #234

We live in a world of debt-based money.
All people and organizations are forced to play by money's rules.

Ergo, we're all slaves to the global banksters who control the debt-based money.

Spaceweather 101: How to Watch the Sun (Suspicious0bservers)

It's interesting to see how much awareness is spreading and at such a rapid pace.  Obviously the Sun is not a gigantic nuclear furnace and the huge solarflares we see are not gigantic tongues of flame like we were taught in elementary school.  This is a good video on a topic a lot more fundamental than the current political/economic/societal scandals and corruption... well worth 36 minutes of your life.

Corbett Report: Scandal Week, Angelina Eugenics, Mini-Bilderberg - New World Next Week

Parents, Pot, and Prohibition: California CPS Stole Daisy Bram's Children Because She Was Legally Growing Medical Marijuana

Daisy Bram has had her three young children taken from her, her husband locked up, and even her vehicle confiscated for growing marijuana "legally" in Northern California.

This is the human cost of the for-profit "war on drugs", the for-profit prisons, the for-profit police state, and for-profit pharmaceutical lobbyists screwing up sane governance. Hopefully this heart-wrenching story turns the tide away from institutional insanity and towards freedom of medical choice.

Angelina Jolie wants women to mutilate themselves to prevent cancers they don't and may never have. Medical madness mafia doubling down on deception...

Eating marijuana, eating Vitamin B17, getting enough Vitamin D, eating vegetables, drinking lots of clean water, detoxification, and avoiding environmental toxins are all more likely to prevent and cure cancer than cutting your boobs off.  Jolie's doctors know this.  This whole thing is an absurd PR stunt.  Listen up to these two...

The Truth about School

Barack Obama: The Case for Impeachment [SCG News 5.15.2013]

Just how much criminal activity does a president have to be involved in before impeachment becomes a serious possibility?

Saving the Planet with Poison? Stanford/Carnegie Geoengineer Ken Caldiera calls for Global Chemotherapy (VIDEO)

Equating climate manipulation with chemotherapy seems odd unless these stratospheric aerosol geoengineering programs are designed to intentionally injure something or someone OR -- more likely --. a whole lot of people who've been dehumanized with the slur "worthless eaters" and/or "terrorist threats to 'democracy'".

This video filmed recently at a geoengineering conference in Berkeley shines light in the darker corners of modern "science" and "academics". We get to see Carnegie Geoengineer Ken Caldiera's true colors as he squirms when asked difficult questions and lashes out at his critics with condescension and name-calling...

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS!
At 0:20 Ken equates geoengineering with planetary chemotherapy.
At 2:03 Ken admits that widespread cirrus cloud blankets formed by jet trails have warming impact on Earth's surface temperatures.  This scientific fact contradicts the establishment's basic justification for stratospheric aerosol geoengineering via jet trail seeding.
At 6:20 Caldiera admits to discussing "weaponizing geophysical interventions" while working at the Lawrence Livermore National (Government) Laboratory which included "putting pathogens in a cloud".
At 9:40 he calls the interviewer an "idiot" after getting caught in a lie.  Perhaps the true idiot should keep his mouth shut instead of poorly whoring himself under the guise of legitimate science.

Like many environmentalists I would argue that our pollution and climate problems are the result of too much large scale human intervention in the atmosphere, so industrialized planetary stratospheric aerosol geoengineering chemotherapy sounds like a horrible idea.

Maybe Ken Caldiera doesn't know that marijuana cures Cancer and chemotherapy is a criminally expensive and ineffective farce.  Establishment "science" and "medicine" has more skeletons in its closet -- and in the ground -- than the Banksters and the Politricksters do.

Please watch, like, and share!  Peace!

USA TODAY: Worst Newspaper In Human History: OFF NEWS: May 10-12, 2013

35% Ads, 40% Sports/Entertainment, 20% "News", 5% Opinion...

U.S. Currently Fighting 74 Different Wars ... And Many More Covert Wars

The 4th Law of Thermodynamics: If you have enough evidence to create reasonable doubt for any of the first 3 laws... no funding for you! -- Jason Verbelli, Atomic Feng Shui

This is a great read.  I don't claim to understand all of it, but it sure is thought-provoking.  Enjoy.

Despite all the problems in the world today, we certainly live in a great time.  It's an honor to be here.

Atomic Feng Shui - Aetheric Diodes and Magnetization by Jason Verbelli

Exposing The Mask of Sanity: Psychopaths Seeking Power & Profit Create Global Disorder

In his 2005 book "A Man Without A Country" my favorite author, Kurt Vonnegut (rest his soul) explains humanity's current situation concisely and clearly.  Vonnegut says many of the most powerful and "successful" people in the world today got that way by being (or behaving like) psychopathic personalities.

Click book for full PDF file!!!

Vonnegut did not call them that as a slur or put-down, but rather in defining their medical condition. In fact, he recommended the medical textbook on psychopaths, "The Mask of Sanity" written by a brilliant MD named Hervey Cleckley way back in 1941.

Wikipedia summarizes:

Cleckley describes the psychopathic person as outwardly a perfect mimic of a normally functioning person, able to mask or disguise the fundamental lack of internal personality structure, an internal chaos that results in repeatedly purposeful destructive behavior, often more self-destructive than destructive to others. Despite the seemingly sincere, intelligent, even charming external presentation, internally the psychopathic person does not have the ability to experience genuine emotions.

Can you see how a lack of genuine emotions, a lack of sincere empathy, and a brilliant mimicking ability would allow psychopaths to become extremely successful in the world today?  Can you see how within the current economic/financial/political/military system these people would be most prone to rising to the top?

Colin Todhunter explains in a brilliant new column reblogged from GlobalReseach.ca.

Psychopathy, Politics and The New World Order

By Colin Todhunter

Global Research, May 09, 2013

Url of this article:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/psychopathy-politics-and-the-new-world-order/5334458

When attempting to analyse what is happening in the world, it is important to appreciate past economic, social and political processes that led us to where we are today. Understanding the tectonic plates of history that led certain countries towards fascism, communism or capitalist liberal democracy, for example, is essential (1) (2).

At the same time, however, it can become easy for us to push aside the individual as we focus on theoretical perspectives that refer to the ‘underlying logic of capitalism’ or some other notion that draws heavily on theory. It can get to the point where individual motive or intent (agency) is airbrushed from the narrative because human action is deemed to have been shaped by the dead weight of history or forces beyond our control.

While not wishing to understate the role that such constraints have on human action, I wish to draw attention to researcher Stefan Verstappen who provides valuable insight into how individual agency has shaped and continues to shape society (3).

While Machiavellianism has long been associated with politics and public conduct, Verstappen shifts focus somewhat by arguing that people with psychopathic personalities have for thousands of years tended to grasp power and impose their views and deeds on the rest of us. In order to get power, he concludes that people cheat, kill or lie their way to the top. Whether it has been due to the butchery or lies of royalty, religious leaders, politicians or corporate oligarchs, nice guys have tended to finish last.

What leads him to conclude this?

Psychopathy is a personality disorder identified by characteristics such as a lack of empathy and remorse, criminality, anti-social behaviour, egocentricity, superficial charm, manipulativeness, irresponsibility, impulsivity and a parasitic lifestyle (4).

With that definition in mind, look around: the criminal, parasitic activities by bankers that have plunged millions into poverty; the destruction, war and death brought to countries in order that corporations profit by stealing resources; the dropping of atom bombs on innocent civilians in 1945 or the use of depleted uranium which again impacts innocent civilians; and the many other acts, from the use of death squads to false flag terror, that have brought untold misery to countless others just because powerholders wanted to hold onto power or to gain more power, or the wealthy wanted to hold onto their wealth or gain even more.

Based on these terrible deeds, it becomes easy to argue that the people ultimately responsible for them do not adhere to the same values as ordinary people. It may be even easier to conclude that it’s not the cream that rises to the top, but, in many cases, the scum.

Now such a scenario might seem awful enough, but the people who tend to control the world, the ones responsible for these acts, try to impose their warped world view and twisted values on everyone else. Hollywood films, commercials and political ideology are all engaged in forwarding the belief that it’s a dog eat dog world, war and violence abroad is necessary, competition and not cooperative is what counts, aggression and not passivity is the key to ‘success’ and that success equates with amassing huge amounts of personal wealth and lavish displays of conspicuous consumption.

“A person with a psychopathic personality, which manifests as amoral and antisocial behavior, lack of ability to love or establish meaningful personal relationships, extreme egocentricity, failure to learn from experience, etc.” - definition of a psychopath from Dictionary.com

Again, bearing this definition in mind too, the acts mentioned above are not those of properly functioning social beings that contribute to a sense of communality, altruism, love or morality; quite the opposite in fact.

Yet this is the type of stuff that is rammed down our throats as constituting normality every day. Whether it’s the ‘Big Brother’ TV show or ‘The Apprentice’ show, these values are promoted day and night. The ‘Big Brother’ winner is the one who can survive and outdo the competition in terms of the duplicity and backstabbing involved along the way. The winner of ‘The Apprentice’ must be more aggressive, more duplicitous, more devious and cunning and more willing to trample over everyone else. And the winner is judged as such by a multi-millionaire who himself was cunning and ruthless enough to have made it to the top of the pile and has amassed millions for his own personal benefit. These are the role models to be admired and emulated!  These are the measures of success, of sanity, of normality.

“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti

Apprentice competitors are highly driven individuals: not driven by a need to help humanity, but by egocentricity and greed. And, ultimately, these are the values that many mainstream opinion leaders, senior politicians and their corporate masters hold dear.

These values of egocentricity, aggression, competitiveness, duplicity and greed are not confined to some TV show. There are part of a much more sinister process. They are inextricably linked to and underpin the actions that resulted in the killing of half a million children in Iraq for geo-political gain (5) and the sending in of military forces into the jungles of India to beat, rape and dispose of a nation’s poorest people because they stand in the way of profit and greed (6). From Congo and Libya to Syria and beyond, we witness the outcome of a terrifying mindset that is nurtured and encouraged throughout society.

Too many people have become “well adjusted to the values of a profoundly sick society,” whether residing in middle England, middle America or the gated communities of south Delhi or Mumbai. Humanity is being beaten down to be neurotic, vicious and to regard these traits as constituting normal, acceptable behaviour. Thanks to the media, this becomes engrained from an early age as comprising ‘common sense’, and those who question it are merely sneered at or ridiculed by a system that promotes a mass mindset immune to its own lies.

Whether this is all due to psychopathy, narcissism or ‘Machiavellian personalities’ is open to debate. Moreover, as implied at the outset, historical and sociological factors often compel usually decent people to act in terrible ways. The debate within academic sociology between structure and human agency is after all a very long one (7). 

Whatever the underlying reason, however, as a global community we are being force fed a diet of perverse values and destructive actions, all spuriously justified on the basis that ‘there is no alternative’ and ‘needs must’.

Corporate capitalism, consumerism, the new world order, a war on terror (or drugs or poverty, take your pick), neo-liberalism – call it what you will, but it’s all based on the filthy lie that those in control have wider humanity’s interests at heart. They don’t. By any means possible – war, murder, torture or propaganda, they seek to convince people otherwise. What price human life? None whatsoever for such people.

Notes

1) Robert Brenner (1976), “Agrarian Class Structure and Economic Development in Pre-industrial Europe”.Past and Present 70

2) Barrington Moore (1993) [First published 1966]. Social origins of dictatorship and democracy: lord and peasant in the making of the modern world (with a new foreword by Edward Friedman and James C. Scott ed.). Boston: Beacon Press.

3) Defense Against the Psychopath (2013): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQkDvO3hz1w

4) Polaschek, D. L. L., Patrick, C. J., Lilienfeld, S. O. (15 December 2011). “Psychopathic Personality: Bridging the Gap Between Scientific Evidence and Public Policy”. Psychological Science in the Public Interest 12 (3): 95–162.

5) Reuters report (2000), UN Says Sanctions Have Killed Some 500,000 Iraqi Children:http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/072100-03.htm

6) BBC Newsnight interview with Arundhati Roy (2011): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrYQmRBdMPQ

7) Colin Hay (2001), What Place for Ideas in the Structure-Agency Debate? Globalisation as a ‘Process Without a Subject’: http://www.criticalrealism.com/archive/cshay_wpisad.html

Copyright © 2013 Global Research

UN exposes NATO funded mercenaries' use of Sarin Gas on Syrian Civilians (video)

If NATO and the US claim to be interested in Syria for humanitarian reasons, why are they funding and supporting a mercenary army accused of using chemical weapons on innocent Syrian civilians?

Using chemical weapons is a war crime.  The "rebels" in Syria used toxic Sarin Gas on civilians, according to the UN.  In my opinion Isreal has been using chemical weapons against Syria in its recent air strikes as well.  Depleted Uranium warheads are still quite radioactive and the dusty fallout generated by them stays radioactive for thousands of years.

Check this out...

Glorious, Natural Partly Cloudy vs. Chemmy Cloudy: Jackson Hole Skywatch: May 9, 2013

Israel Bombs Syria with Radioactive Munitions: Banksters Pump DOW to 15,000: OFF NEWS: May 6, 2013

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American Mainstream Newspapers Suck: 28 pages of entertainment vs 12 pages of "news": Media Literacy 101

OFF NEWS WEEKEND: May 5, 2013  Picking on USA TODAY's Friday/Saturday/Sunday rag and any other mainstream nuzak that really catches my eye.  Sharing my perspective on media literacy and related topics...  enjoy!

Alternet: The Rich Have Gained $5.6 Trillion in the 'Recovery,' While the Rest of Us Have Lost $669 Billion

I hope that AlterNet doesn't mind that I've reproduced this article in it's entirety.  I don't agree with every statement in this article but the info on what has actually happened since 2008 is crucial knowlege.  Leopold mentions the Robin Hood Tax and State Banks as solutions.  I think we need broader solutions including prosecution of all crooked bankers and politicians and fundamental changes to the monetary system as well.  Regardless, it's a great article, which is why I've stolen it with good intent.  --MOG

Reblogged from AlterNet [1] / By Les Leopold [2] May 3, 2013  |  

Oh, are we getting ripped off. And now we've got the data [3] to prove it. From 2009 to 2011, the richest 8 million families (the top 7%) on average saw their wealth rise from $1.7 million to $2.5 million each. Meanwhile the rest of us --  the bottom 93% (that's 111 million families) -- suffered on average a decline of $6,000 each.

Do the math and you'll discover that the top 7% gained a whopping $5.6 trillion in net worth (assets minus liabilities) while the rest of lost $669 billion. Their wealth went up by 28% while ours went down by 4 percent.

It's as if the entire economic recovery is going into the pockets of the rich. And that's no accident. Here's why.

1. The bailouts went to Wall Street, not to Main Street.

The federal government and Federal Reserve poured trillions of dollars into Wall Street through a wide variety of financial maneuvers, many of which were hidden from view until recently. When we add it all up, it's clear that most of the money floated right into Wall Street. (Fannie and Freddie were private institutions that also considered themselves part of the Wall Street elite.)

2. Wall Street is Washington, Washington is Wall Street.

Those who shuttle back and forth between Washington and Wall Street designed the basic policies that both led to the crash and that responded to it. Hank Paulson, Bush's Secretary of the Treasury, served as chairman of Goldman Sachs before going to Washington. Timothy Geithner, Obama's Secretary of the Treasury, headed the regional Federal Reserve Board in New York (a board composed of Wall Street's Who's Who) before joining the Obama cabinet.

Countless government officials and congressional staffers can't wait to leave public service for  lucrative jobs on Wall Street. Their collective mindset is that the world can't function properly unless the richest of the rich get richer. Any and all policies should therefore protect our biggest banks, rather than hinder them. And, of course, both parties are in hot pursuit of Wall Street campaign cash. Little wonder the so-called "recovery" transferred wealth from us to them.

3. The Federal Reserve banks on trickledown.

The Federal Reserve's ongoing stimulus policy comes down to this: The goal is to reduce interest rates on bonds of all kinds so that money flows into stocks. The more money that goes into the stock market, the higher go the stocks. Rising stock prices leads to what economists call the wealth effect -- those who see their stocks rise dramatically feel richer and spend more. That's supposed to trickle down to the rest of us: The rich spend more, businesses recover and then, maybe, hire more people. It's working beautifully for the super-rich but obviously not for the rest of us.

But wait, don't most of us own stocks either directly or through our pension funds and 401ks? Dream on, says this chart:

4. Washington fails to create enough jobs.

Wall Street's gambling spree tore a gaping hole to our economy. In a matter of months more than 8 million workers lost their jobs due to no fault of their own. What these elite financiers did to us is unconscionable, and they haven't had to pay a dime for the damage they caused. Although the stimulus programs prevented the slide from deepening, it was far too small to put America back to work. So now we're facing the highest levels of sustained unemployment since the Great Depression. The biggest victims of Wall Street greed are the long-term unemployed.

Source: Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/unemployed-for-more-than-26-weeks-population-ratio-january-2010-2 [4]

5. Government goes on a job-killing spree.

After Wall Street crashed the economy, businesses failed, workers lost their jobs and state and local tax revenues collapsed. In a just world, Wall Street would have been taxed to make up the difference. Instead, public employment was slashed. This further cut back on consumer demand, reduced tax revenues and then created pressure for another round of government job cuts. Of course, the Tea Party right loves the idea of crushing government jobs and public employee unions as well. But the main result is to increase unemployment, which in turn puts downward pressure on wages and increases profits for the wealthy.  

As Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney point out ("A Record Decline in Government Jobs: Implications for the Economy and America's Workforce" [5]), "we are in unchartered territory when it comes to government employment." The chart below from their Brookings article shows that among the major state and local job categories, only firefighters saw an increase.   

Occupation	Employment (2009)	Employment (2011)	Change in Employment	Percent Change in Employment
Teachers	3,942,700	3,721,938	-220,762	-5.6%
Policemen	666,579	610,427	-56,125	-8.4%
Fire fighters	233,051	277,158	44,107	18.9%
Emergency responders	69,370	39,170	-30,200	-43.5%
Air-traffic controllers	23,959	17,128	-6,831	-28.5%

Overall, the combination of state, local and foolish federal cutbacks are collapsing public employment like never before. And again, whenever unemployment increases, it places downward pressure on the wages and reduces the wealth of the many, while the few are enriched.

6. The big banks have become even bigger criminal conspiracies.

Not only did we bail out too-big-to fail banks with public money and get nothing back in return, but Washington allowed them to grow even bigger. The biggest banks now have oligopoly power to rig prices. They also can illegally collude in order to siphon off more wealth from the rest of us. (For some juicy details, see Matt Taibbi's "Everything is Rigged: The Biggest Price-Fixing Scandal Ever." [6] ) The corruption and cheating are reaching epic proportions as they gamble with insured deposit money, partner with loan sharks, money launder for drug cartels, and foreclose on homeowners who are up-to-date on their payments. All of that dirty money goes to the rich. (See"Are Big Banks Organized Criminal Conspiracies?" [7])

Source: Federal Reserve http://www.ffiec.gov/nicpubweb/nicweb/Top50Form.aspx [8]

7. Hedge funds run wild.

In 2012, the top hedge fund manager "earned" in one hour as much as the average family makes in 21 years. The top 10 hedge fund managers made as much in one year as 196,000 registered nurses. What exactly do these hedge fund honchos do? Much of it comes from what normal people call cheating -- some of it legal, some of it borderline, and much of it criminal. But they're hard to catch. They profit from illegal insider tips, high frequency trading, rumor-mongering, front-running trades, special tax loopholes and even by creating financial products that are designed to fail so that they can collect the insurance. They have their hands in our pockets 24/7. (See"America's New Math: 1 Wall Street Hour = 21 Years of Hard Work For the Rest of Us." [9])

8. The rise of the Ayn Rand Right.

The Tea Party brought a new viciousness to the national dialogue. Not only do they hate the government, but also, they hate the poor. Using the twisted logic of Ayn Rand, they see the world divided into winners and losers -- and screw the losers. Not only do they oppose social programs like Social Security and Medicare, they also don't believe that government should work on behalf of the collective good. In fact, they see any and all collective efforts as an affront to personal liberty. They want a world where the creators rule and the moochers suffer. They would rather the rich rob us blind, than have the government try to stop the financial cheating and deception. If Wall Street destroys your job -- too bad. Go get another one and don't expect the government to help.

9. The silencing of Occupy Wall Street.

For a few short months, the hundreds of Occupy Wall Street encampments dramatically shifted the national debate. Wall Street was in the crosshairs and "We are the 99 percent" spread into our consciousness. It's still there, but Occupy Wall Street isn't...at least not in the potent form that shook the rich and powerful. We don't have time here to discuss whether it was silenced by repressive authorities, or if it primarily caved in due to internal weaknesses in strategy and tactics. But this much is certain: a mass movement to take on Wall Street makes a difference.

***

The solutions are simple, but the fight is hard.

The Robin Hood Tax

The best way to move money from Wall Street to Main street is through a financial transaction tax -- a small charge on each and every sale of stocks, bonds and derivatives of all kinds. Consider it a sin tax on Wall Street's many vices. Such a tax could raise enough money so that every student in this country could go to a two- or four-year public college or university, tuition-free Just think what the elimination of increasing student debt would do to the lopsided wealth statistics. Just think of what that would do for jobs as colleges expanded to deal with the demand. It's not a wild-eyed demand: 11 countries are about to adopt such a tax. (See robinhoodtax.org [10])

Public State Banks

A second critical strategy to end Wall Street as we know it is to form 50 public state banks on the model of the Bank of North Dakota. These would function as real banks rather than the rigged casinos that pass for banks on Wall Street. State banks are designed to support community banks that, in turn, lend to local businesses. Most importantly, the public bankers would be paid reasonable salaries rather than gouging themselves at the trough. (See "Why is Socialism doing so darn well in Deep Red North Dakota?" [11])

The Public Banking Institute [12] is paving the way as its leaders (Ellen Brown and Marc Armstrong) help some 20 states explore the idea. They need and deserve our support. And for all you Fed haters, they also are formulating some very cool ideas about how to dramatically transform our central bank. (More on that in a future piece.) Most importantly, we all need to find a common way to protest Wall Street's rule over the economy and over Washington. This isn't about redistributing their wealth. It's about getting ours back.

See more stories tagged with:

wealth distribution [13],

Occupy [14],

wall street [15],

banks [16],

wealth [17],

stocks [18],

economy [19],

Public Banking Institute [20],

income [21],

math [22],

money [23],

bailouts [24],

wealth chart [25],

breakdown [26],

federal reserve [27],

trickle down [28]

---

Source URL: http://www.alternet.org/economy/rich-have-gained-56-trillion-recovery-while-rest-us-have-lost-669-billion

Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org
[2] http://www.alternet.org/authors/les-leopold-0
[3] http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/04/23/a-rise-in-wealth-for-the-wealthydeclines-for-the-lower-93/
[4] http://www.businessinsider.com/unemployed-for-more-than-26-weeks-population-ratio-january-2010-2
[5] http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/jobs/posts/2012/08/03-jobs-greenstone-looney
[6] http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/everything-is-rigged-the-biggest-financial-scandal-yet-20130425
[7] http://www.alternet.org/corporate-accountability-and-workplace/are-big-banks-bunch-organized-criminal-conspiracies
[8] http://www.ffiec.gov/nicpubweb/nicweb/Top50Form.aspx
[9] http://www.www.alternet.org/corporate-accountability-and-workplace/americas-new-math-1-wall-street-hour-21-years-hard-work-rest
[10] http://robinhoodtax.org/
[11] http://www.alternet.org/corporate-accountability-and-workplace/why-socialism-doing-so-darn-well-deep-red-north-dakota
[12] http://publicbankinginstitute.org/
[13] http://www.alternet.org/tags/wealth-distribution-0
[14] http://www.alternet.org/tags/occupy-0
[15] http://www.alternet.org/tags/wall-street
[16] http://www.alternet.org/tags/banks
[17] http://www.alternet.org/tags/wealth
[18] http://www.alternet.org/tags/stocks-0
[19] http://www.alternet.org/tags/economy-0
[20] http://www.alternet.org/tags/public-banking-institute
[21] http://www.alternet.org/tags/income
[22] http://www.alternet.org/tags/math
[23] http://www.alternet.org/tags/money-0
[24] http://www.alternet.org/tags/bailouts-0
[25] http://www.alternet.org/tags/wealth-chart
[26] http://www.alternet.org/tags/breakdown-0
[27] http://www.alternet.org/tags/federal-reserve
[28] http://www.alternet.org/tags/trickle-down-1
[29] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B

The Truthseeker: Boston Bombing - What You Aren't Told: RT

Americans are 17,600X more likely to die form heart diseases than they are from terrorism, so why don't we declare war on the food companies poisoning us with fat, sugar, salt, pesticides, and GMOs?

Americans are even 15X more likely to die from slipping in the bathtub than they are of dying from terrorism.  Every three days more Americans die from tobacco use than died in the 9/11 (false flag) terror attacks.  Why don't we declare war on slipperiness and the tobacco companies as well?

Despite the absurdity of fighting terrorism (a minimal threat that can never actually be defeated), the federal goverment has flushed away over $5 TRILLION doing just that in the post-9/11 (false flag) world.

According to the video below, over the last 15 years only 6% of US terrorists have been Muslim, 7% were Jewish, with the remainder made up by "white extremists" and freedom fighters in Puerto Rico.  Long ago Puerto Rico was invaded by the US when it declared war on Spain which was justified with a false flag attack on a ship called the USS Maine.  Look it up, or just watch this...

Free speech.  God bless it and God bless America.  Peace.

"Thunderbolts of the Gods" and "Symbols of an Alien Sky" (interesting Cosmology films from Thunderbolts.info)

"We can demonstrate the existence of electrical currents flowing between galaxies and between stars by the presence of the magnetic fields they generate.  Magnetic fields are threaded through space in all dimensions -- within the solar system, on the surface of the sun, between stars, and within galaxies, and even between galaxies.  Now a magnetic field can only be generated by electric current, so in other words to continue that magnetic field for any length of time requires that there be electrical power input into those magnetic fields.  And that raises the whole question of where does this power come from."

--Wallace Thornhill, Physicist/Author in the film "Thunderbolts of the Gods"

Hawaii rallies to evict Monsanto's experimental farms for untested, unnatural #GMOs and poisonous chemical pesticides

Once again, we Americans are forced to turn to Middle Eastern news media (Al Jazeera) to get a serious discussion on the most important issues affecting all Americans.  Here we have Dustin Barca of the Hawaii GMO Justice Coalition and David Murphy of Food Democracy Now attempting to debate the ever-elusive and well-fed Monsanto Lobbyist Alicia Maluafiti.

I find it interesting that Monsanto claims they're doing nothing different in Hawaii than anywhere else while simultaneously admitting that they use Hawaii as a testing ground because it provides them with 3 or 4 growing seasons annually compared to the 1 growing season commonly experienced in areas of the continental US like the Midwest and Northeast.  Clearly -- at the very least -- Monsanto is spraying 3-4 times as much pesticide during their year round growing as they do in more seasonal climates.  The impact of all that pesticides on the local population is apparent.  I'll take local surfer, activist, and MMA fighter Dustin Barca's word for it over some well-paid and well-fed Monsanto Lobbyist.

Text below the video is reblogged from Damon Tucker's blog...

Alicia Maluafiti,  Executive Director of the Hawai’i Crop Improvement Association sent out a news release on 3/16 responding to the Monsanto Marches on Kauai and Hawai’i Island.  While everyone is entitled to their opinion in the US, we do disagree with her “assessment” of our actions and would like to provide our own reality check.

Photo from the GMO Free Hawaii Facebook page

Alicia:   “Organizers of these anti-GMO and evict Monsanto marches are creating a hostile environment in our communities by using scare tactics and spreading misinformation.” 

Our Response:   Actually,  the marches have been very peaceful, and the “scare tactics and misinformation” have been folks just telling the truth.  The truth about genetically engineered crops is actually pretty scary:  Superweeds on Moloka’i, high fructose corn syrup linked to autism, lack of long-term studies on health effects, increased use of herbicides and pesticides leading to severe problems with our pollinators to name just a few!

Alicia:  “It is not pono to rally support for an agenda by repeating myths and exaggerations to our Hawaii communities.”  

Our Response:  The communities ”agenda” in speaking out and holding marches is that we care about the health of our families, our lands, our food, and our communities.  One doesn’t need to exaggerate about Monsanto and it’s poor record of community health in communities all across the US.   But, why pick on just Monsanto when we also have companies like Dupont/Pioneer, Syngenta, BASF, Dow Agrosciences, conducting experimental genetically engineered field trials in Hawai’i?

Alicia:  ”It is also unfortunate that misleading and false claims made by these activist groups are often repeated by mainstream media without verification of their accuracy.”  

Our Response:  There are also often repeated “misleading and false claims” such as “GMOs can feed the world,” or “farmers need all the tools in the toolbox” which justifies contamination of conventional and organic crops which are inaccurate and unverifiable.

Alicia:  “We value the concerns of the public and work to address these concerns through informative and respectful dialogue based on facts and proven studies.”  

Our Response:  Do you value the health concerns of the people of Waimea, Kauai or Kaunakakai, Moloka’i?  The biotech industry seems to value the studies done by industry scientists, and doesn’t allow independent testing of seed or genetically engineered products.

Alicia:   “We also respect freedom of speech; however, we believe the community would be better served if they were provided facts instead of myths and false accusations.  Some of those facts include:”

Alicia:  “To date, people have consumed more than 3 trillion servings of foods produced using biotechnology, without one documented case of illness resulting from these foods.” 

Our response:  The obesity rate in the US has tripled in the time GE foods have been on the market, with 70% of adults  and 30% of children overweight or obese.  According to the CDC,  1 in 3 children today are expected to become diabetic and experience the adult diseases of hypertension, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, in their youth.  Autism has increased 78% from 2002-2008, childhood cancers have increased 25% since 1989, and obesity has increased 171% in children ages 6-11 from 1989-2004.

Alicia:  “Seed farmers keep agricultural land in agricultural use, with plenty of land available for other farmers. Seed farmers own or lease approximately 5 percent of the available prime agricultural land in Hawaii.”

Our Response:  I think the point she is trying to make is,  that we don’t have very many farmers anymore,  so someone using the land is better than no one using the land.    However, not all land use is “pono.”  The increased use of 400 million pounds, of herbicides sprayed upon the land in the US has not increased the fertility of that land, and indeed has destroyed microbial life and contributed to polluted waterways, decreased aquatic life, and superweeds.  This is not myth or misinformation, these are just the facts.  Universities have done many studies on these topics.

Alicia:  ”GMOs are some of the most extensively tested and federally regulated of all crops, so we actually know more about their safety than many other types of crops, including conventional and organic.” 

Our response:   The only testing that has been done on GE crops has been done by the companies themselves.  Everyone knows the FDA, EPA, and USDA don’t test, they rely on companies to test and report their findings.

We would like to pose a few question to Alicia and the HCIA:

1.  How is your organization funded?

2.  How would you address the problem of Superweeds on Molokai and Kauai?

3.  How would you and your organization address the problem of soil erosion (into the reef or airborne soil dust storms) on the Island of Molokai?

For the following questions please see this study:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22101424

and this article

http://www.ithaka-journal.net/herbizide-im-urin?lang=en

1.  Currently, GMO products tested and grown in Hawaii are intended to maximize the effect of glyphosphate products, isn’t that correct?

2.  Isn’t it true that recent scientific studies show that glyphosphate is contaminating aquifers, wells and springs nationwide and worldwide?

3.  Isn’t it true that glyphosate actually doesn’t break down rapidly in the environment, and is continuously building up in concerning quantities?

4.  Isn’t it true that although glyphosate is the mostly widely used herbicide in the world, we know very little about its long term effects to the environment?

The March to Evict Monsanto will have its 4th of 5 marches this Saturday in Maui. The final march will be in Molokai on Saturday, March 30th.

Mahalo,
Justin Avery
GMO Free Hawai`i Island

1.  Journal of Clinical Epigenetics  - http://www.clinicalepigeneticsjournal.com/content/4/1/6  (Study on High Fructose Corn Syrup)

2.  PAN:  ”A Generation in Jeopardy:  How Pesticides are Undermining Our Children’s Health and Intelligence”  http://www.panna.org/publication/generation-in-jeopardy

A Generation in Jeopardy: PAN’s groundbreaking report examines how pesticides are undermining our children’s health & intelligence.

3.    ”Patented Seeds vs. Free Inquiry” Council for Responsible Genetics February 2013  http://www.councilforresponsiblegenetics.org/GeneWatch/GeneWatchPage.aspx?pageId=456