Monday, June 29, 2015

Pay Very Close Attention to this Nightmare Scenario Because it will Soon Happen in the U.S.

LibertyNEWS.com
Link
I’ve been saying it for years. And for years now I’ve been called a “doom and gloom” pessimist who is scare mongering for no reason at all. Yes, the U.S. economy is on a path to complete collapse and chaos. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The stock market is rigged, the […]

via IFTTT

WW3: Putin To Western Elites: Your Time Is Over (Video)

Before It's News | ALTERNATIVE NEWS
Link
(N.Morgan) In this latest move by Vladimir Putin, he issues his final warning, Elites your time is at an end. As we know, Putin has been very open about his disdain for the Power Elite and now he is ready for war. Putin wants Russia to get the respect he feels is due his country. Please read this speech very carefully, as Putin is not bluffing.

via IFTTT

Joseph Stiglitz: how I would vote in the Greek referendum

Network Front | The Guardian
Link

Neither alternative – approval or rejection of the troika’s terms – will be easy, and both carry huge risks

The rising crescendo of bickering and acrimony within Europe might seem to outsiders to be the inevitable result of the bitter endgame playing out between Greece and its creditors. In fact, European leaders are finally beginning to reveal the true nature of the ongoing debt dispute, and the answer is not pleasant: it is about power and democracy much more than money and economics.

Related: Greece debt crisis: Europe says referendum is euro vs drachma - live

Continue reading...

via IFTTT

Putin Gobsmacks Uncle Sam … Again

CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names » article
Link
Way to Go Vladimir

via IFTTT

Greek Banks Get Shut Down For A Week And A ‘Grexit’ Is Now Probable

Freedom Outpost
Link

Is this the beginning of the end for the eurozone?  For years, European officials have been trying to “fix Greece," but nothing has worked.  Now a worst case scenario is rapidly unfolding, and a “Grexit” has become more likely than not.  On Sunday, the European Central Bank announced that it was not going to provide […]

The post Greek Banks Get Shut Down For A Week And A ‘Grexit’ Is Now Probable appeared first on Freedom Outpost.



via IFTTT

Is Fukushima Getting Worse?

CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names » article
Link
Straight Disaster

via IFTTT

Friday, June 26, 2015

Marriage: The news is bad

Marriage: The news is bad:



Justice Thomas:  "Our Constitution—like the Declaration of Independence before it—was predicated on a simple truth: One’s liberty, not to mention one’s dignity, was something to be shielded from—not provided by—the State. Today’s decision casts that truth aside. In its haste to reach a desired result, the majority misapplies a clause focused on “due process” to afford substantive rights, disregards the most plausible understanding of the “liberty” protected by that clause, and distorts the principles on which this Nation was founded. Its decision will have inestimable consequences for our Constitution and our society."



'via Blog this'

On Obamacare It's the Supreme Court vs. Rule of Law

Reason.com Full Feed
Link
On King v. Burwell


via IFTTT

Networks Yawn at News IRS Destroyed 24,000 Lois Lerner E-Mails


Link

On Thursday night, the major broadcast networks ignored a new development in the IRS scandal that the agency erased 422 backup tapes and in turn destroyed 24,000 of embattled former official Lois Lerner. With ABC, CBS, and NBC on the sidelines, the Fox News Channel’s Special Report offered a full report on Thursday’s House Oversight Committee hearing concerning the multi-year scandal. Host Bret Baier introduced the segment by informing viewers that there was “new information about thousands more e-mails in the IRS targeting scandal destroyed during the investigation.” 



via IFTTT

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Trans-Pacific Partnership fast track authority passes as U.S. sovereignty takes devastating blow: Obama now a “dictator”

Intellihub
Link
Intellihub News | The TPP will cover 12 countries and over 40% of the world's economy,

via IFTTT

ECONOMIC SLAVERY FOR ALL: While we were distracted with the Confederate flag flap, Congress quietly forfeited our entire economic future via fast-track trade authority

NaturalNews.com
Link
(NaturalNews) While America was distracted by a contrived, pre-planned Confederate flag distraction, the U.S. Congress forfeited the entire economic future of the country by quietly passing so-called "fast-track authority" which will allow President Obama to approve the TPP "free...


via IFTTT

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

CDC: “Possibility” that vaccines rarely trigger autism (AUDIO) | Sharyl Attkisson

CDC: “Possibility” that vaccines rarely trigger autism (AUDIO) | Sharyl Attkisson: "
CDC’s immunization safety director says it’s a “possibility” that vaccines rarely trigger autism but “it’s hard to predict who those children might be.” (They’re not even trying.)"



'via Blog this'

In 2014, Police Killed Nearly Twice as Many Americans than Mass Shooters Combined Since 1982

We Are Change
Link

We Are Change

  Matt Agorist | FreeThoughtProject As Karl Rove c […]

The post In 2014, Police Killed Nearly Twice as Many Americans than Mass Shooters Combined Since 1982 appeared first on We Are Change.



via IFTTT

Government Wipes Recent Vaccine Injury Data from Website

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/06/23/vaccine-injury-data.aspx?e_cid=20150623Z1_DNL_art_2&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art2&utm_campaign=20150623Z1&et_cid=DM79755&et_rid=1006062909

Dr. Josh Park’s Courage at Fukushima

CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names » article
Link
A Hero Amongst the Radiation

via IFTTT

Human rights are revolutionary—in principle not practice

openDemocracy
Link

The practice of human rights is utterly inconsistent with the subversive backbone expressed in its norms, and this tension presents problems for the movement. EspañolFrançais

In her compelling article, Doutje Lettinga prompts us to critically consider the relationship between transnational NGO advocacy and revolutionary grassroots activism, and the contrast is indeed stark. When activists Nadia Tolokonnikova and Masha Alyokhina departed from the band Pussy Riot and later appeared at the 2014 Amnesty International benefit concert, “Bringing Human Rights Home,” it was a far cry from their radical origins with the art collective, Voina. Attending an event hosted at a pro-basketball arena, sponsored by multinational corporations, and accessible only to those who could afford the costly price of admission was not exactly an act of resistance. Indeed, the remaining members of Pussy Riot called out their comrades for joining the mainstream, pointing out that “institutionalized advocacy” clashed strongly with radical movements for emancipation.

But one initial, knee-jerk response to Lettinga’s probing question of “How revolutionary are global human rights?” may be “Very revolutionary!” After all, human rights demand a confrontation between citizens and the state. Human rights check the arbitrary exercise of power and correct market excess. To claim that the dignity of individuals should be prioritized in political and social decision-making is a subversive act. Only true radicals would even attempt to require the powerful to be transparent and accountable. And human rights seek to do precisely that by undermining traditional hierarchies and remaking society in line with their lofty aspirations. Human rights marshal resources and legal reform to better respect physical integrity, protect vulnerability and administer justice equitably. Constructing an ideal-type rights-bound political order would entail a fundamental transformation of any state that has ever existed. If human rights express a utopian vision, then they must be profoundly revolutionary.

If these principles capture the essential nature of human rights, then why would radical activists like the remaining members of Pussy Riot distance themselves from such a noble enterprise? What explains this tension and how do we understand its origins and impact?

Stephen Hopgood describes Amnesty International as having “no building blocks”: no prerequisite for membership, no philosophical litmus test, no audition, no faith commitment, no blood oath, no party affiliation and no barrier to entry. From the ideological perspective of the Cold War, this was seen as an attractive feature. Human rights were a catchall for disaffected liberal classes drawn to moral crusades and the pursuit of justice. Human rights advocacy groups positioned themselves as an alternative, as a palatable, least-common-denominator approach to politics. This, in a sense, is the force and meaning of universal human rights. It fits into whatever worldview you have without any anchors or attachments. Human rights can be personalized and can accommodate multiple functions.


Shutterstock/ojka (All rights reserved)

"Human rights can be personalized and can accommodate multiple functions."


As a source of norms and ideas about the world, human rights have come to mean anything to anyone. Into this ideological vacuum steps an odd cast of characters. As a source of norms and ideas about the world, human rights have come to mean anything to anyone. Conservative advocates champion free speech and expression, while ignoring threats against workers. Trade unions utilize human rights discourse, but have opposed the extension of rights to immigrant laborers. Catholic opponents of women’s access to health care frame their agenda in terms of human rights and religious freedom. Human rights are appropriated and selectively applied across the political spectrum, from BDS to men’s rights with no checks, no permissions and no propriety. At times “human rights” seems to stand for nothing in particular at all. Human rights are political claims without politics. In the world of human rights advocacy, anything goes—and that’s exactly the problem.

That human rights assume this role in 21st century global affairs is a product of the mainstreaming of human rights values undertaken by the major transnational NGOs over the past fifty years. The desire to build a broad constituent base compels organizations to conduct outreach and mobilization campaigns with mass appeal. In a strong sense, transnational human rights NGOs run away from anything resembling ideational foundations so as to coax the most diverse audience. Cobbling together opportunistic coalitions may win advocates short-term victories, but it will also hollow out the core of a nascent movement. Many major organizations want elected officials and corporate CEOs to see them as partners to court, not as challengers to fear. Lettinga is absolutely correct to point to impartiality as a tactic that serves this goal as well: to bolster credibility, even as it diminishes the prowess to pressure for structural change.

Resolving the debate over the revolutionary nature of human rights rests on a paradox of form and content. Global human rights advocacy is housed in professional institutions, which are seen as bureaucratic, detached and alien. But the form of human rights is also expressed in the media, marketing and communication strategies that filter out radicalism in order to foster mass appeal. The insurgent qualities of human rights claims become diluted when processed through branding strategies and affixed to bumper stickers. Human rights discourse is weakened when it graces the lips of vapid celebrities who seek only to grow their own status. Outreach efforts that hinge on cheap emotional pleas and simplified narratives do damage to the radical content of human rights by assuming so little of potential supporters—meeting them where they are, rather than getting them where they need to be. Human rights, like art, “should elevate, not pander,” and when commercialism and consumerism become key platforms for human rights struggle, we must not be surprised when our demands are met with derision.

The practice of human rights is utterly inconsistent with the subversive backbone of the movement, and Pussy Riot articulated this contradiction elegantly in their Dear John letter to Masha and Nadia. Unless the human rights community develops a voice—an assertive, genuine, self-realized voice—its language will continue to be misappropriated and revolutionary grassroots activists will continue to look elsewhere for collaborative partnerships. Instead of using Pussy Riot as a prop or publicity stunt to leverage for cultural cachet, human rights NGOs should learn from them about true radical praxis. The promising moment at which the human rights community now finds itself may either be a turning point for a new positive direction, or the last gasp before slinking into irrelevance.

Sideboxes
'Read On' Sidebox: 

Sidebox: 



via IFTTT

Monday, June 22, 2015

1984 Arrives Thirty Years Late: Say Goodby to Privacy Forever if This Bill Passes

Diane Ravitch's blog
Link
Legislation called “The Student Right to Know Before You Go Act” has been introduced in both houses of Congress. Nice name, no? Don’t you think you should have “the right to know before you go” to a college or university?   What it really means is that the federal government will:   authorize the creation […]

via IFTTT

Warning: Federal Court Rules that 2nd Amendment Right is Now a Reason for Cops to Detain You

The Daily Coin
Link
2nd Amendment constitutionby Jay Syrmopoulos, The Daily Sheeple In a stunning violation of 2nd Amendment rights, the U.S. District Court of Western Michigan ruled police have the legal authority to detain individuals that choose to exercise their constitutional right to open carry a firearm. Open Carry is also specifically allowed under Michigan law. The ruling means that people in Michigan who choose to exercise this constitutional right are now subject to being stopped by law enforcement for...

via IFTTT

A Must-Watch Video About Monsanto and GMOs

Food Revolution Network
Link

Monsanto now has control over as much as 90 percent of seed genetics on the planet. Why does this matter? Watch this humorous, entertaining, and chillingly accurate 5-minute video to find out. Then tell everyone you know. ; Want to take action? Share this video! And if you want to go further, you can join the Food Revolution Network’s Campaign, calling on Coca-Cola to stop fighting GMO labeling. Coke says it supports transparency and consumer empowerment. But last year, the company spent more than $2 million fighting against labeling of genetically engineered foods in Oregon and Colorado. Click here to join the Coke boycott, and to stand with more than 300,000 people in demanding that Coca-Cola stop fighting against GMO labeling.

The post A Must-Watch Video About Monsanto and GMOs appeared first on Food Revolution Network.



via IFTTT

Glyphosate Cancer Cover-up: Control Animals in Studies Also Ate Glyphosate-Contaminated Food

Health Impact News
Link
Dr. Anthony Samsel was recently interviewed by Tony Mitra, where he discussed certain documents he has in his possession from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that allegedly show Monsanto knew about research connecting glyphosate to cancer since the 1970s. In this follow-up interview, Dr. Samsel discusses how the rat chow used in the laboratory feeds he analyzed were all contaminated with glyphosate. This is significant, as it means standard rat chow used in scientific studies have probably been contaminated since they started using GMO feeds that had been sprayed with glyphosate.


via IFTTT

Black GOP Senator Just Destroyed Obama’s Response to Church Shooting With This One Burning Question

Western Journalism
Link

“I think the president is off base on this one to be honest with you.”

This post originally appeared on Western Journalism - Equipping You With The Truth



via IFTTT

Why You Should Ignore Canada's Food Guide and Follow Brazil's Instead

http://www.alternativesjournal.ca/community/blogs/mouthful/why-you-should-ignore-canadas-food-guide-and-follow-brazils-instead

Last year Brazil made radical changes to its food guide. Unlike most national food guides, which categorize foods based on type (grains, vegetables, dairy, etc.), Brazil has categorized foods based on processing. Their four food categories are:
naturally or minimally processed foods;
oils, fats, salt and sugar;
processed foods (these include bread, cheeses, cured meats and pickles); and
ultra-processed foods.

AMA Prepares Gag Order for Medical Dissenters

Health Impact News
Link
The American Medical Association’s latest attempt to shore up their medical monopoly could have stiff consequences for practitioners who don’t toe the line. Action Alert! Angered by what they call “quack MDs,” the AMA recently decided to “actively defend the profession.” In particular, it plans to "create ethical guidelines for physicians in the media, write a report on how doctors may be disciplined for violating medical ethics through their press involvement, and release a public statement denouncing the dissemination of dubious medical information through the radio, TV, newspapers, or websites." Dr. Mehmet Oz of The Dr. Oz Show was specifically mentioned as being responsible for the type of behavior and “pseudoscience” that the AMA would like to curtail. Keep in mind that the AMA is not the voice of the medical profession. Its membership has slipped to the point where it represents only 17% of MDs, and many of those are free memberships given to medical students, yet it remains the fifth most powerful special interest on Capitol Hill, spending $19.7 million on lobbying in 2014. This gives it the clout to influence Medicare prices, make recommendations that shape national policy, and rake in about $218.8 million a year from its government-granted CPT medical code monopoly.


via IFTTT

Sunday, June 21, 2015

The economics of vaccines - greed, politics, and disease profit

NaturalNews.com
Link
(NaturalNews) Imagine if you had a product to sell that didn't require advertising or marketing, but the majority of people thought they had to have it. Better still, millions of children and adults are forced to obtain your product in order to keep their jobs or go to school.The...


via IFTTT

Anti-fluoride activists receive roaring applause after presenting powerful testimony to Austin Public Utilities Commission

NaturalNews.com
Link
(NaturalNews) The presentation of more than 50 pages worth of scientific reviews and studies detailing the adverse health impacts of water fluoridation wasn't enough to persuade the Public Utilities Commission to urge Austin City Council to stop the controversial practice.On Wednesday...


via IFTTT

Nearly every mass shooting in the last 20 years shares one surprising thing… and it's not guns

NaturalNews.com
Link
(NaturalNews) The following is a republishing of an important article written by Dan Roberts from AmmoLand.com. It reveals the real truth about mass shootings that bureaucrats and lawmakers are choosing to sweep under the rug: psychiatric drugs. If you want to know the real reason...


via IFTTT

On Financial Parasites and Predators

The Liberty Beacon
Link

by Charles Hugh Smith Reform is impossible in a system optimized for…

The post On Financial Parasites and Predators appeared first on The Liberty Beacon.



via IFTTT

Government emails reveal Fukushima radiation could cause thryoid cancer to skyrocket in Americans

http://m.naturalnews.com/news/050121_Fukushima_radiation_thyroid_cancer_America.html

Barbaric practice of vaccination is modern-day version of bloodletting

NaturalNews.com
Link
(NaturalNews) Throughout history, there have been plenty of examples of quack medicine that after being accepted and institutionalized for a time was later exposed as a fraud. A perfect example of this is the heinous practice of bloodletting, one of the longest running traditions...


via IFTTT

Independent 23-year-old journalist uncovers truth about FBI spy planes running covert surveillance over U.S. cities

NaturalNews.com
Link
(NaturalNews) In recent days, the mainstream media has focused on some rather inane things – events or occurrences that, given rising dangers in the world and the important issues facing our country, have virtually no impact or meaning whatsoever.Take the Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner...


via IFTTT

NOAA 'adjusts' global warming data the same way the Fed and BLS 'revise' economic data

NaturalNews.com
Link
(NaturalNews) What do you do if you're an ardent believer in manmade "global warming" but the data don't prove your case? Easy -- just change the data in a way that "proves" your case.And that's just what scientists at President Obama's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration...


via IFTTT

Denver implements urban farming program, allowing residents to sell produce in front yard stands

NaturalNews.com
Link
(NaturalNews) Passionate about health and the great outdoors, Coloradans are insistent on producing more food locally, a move that would greatly reduce carbon footprints, provide more transparency and supply communities with fresh produce year-round.While commercial food production...


via IFTTT

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Got Chrome? Google Just Silently Downloaded This Onto Your Computer

We Are Change
Link

We Are Change

By Alec Cope We Are Change “Don’t Be Evil&# […]

The post Got Chrome? Google Just Silently Downloaded This Onto Your Computer appeared first on We Are Change.



via IFTTT

Debunked: Major Weight Loss & Exercise Myth

GreenMedInfo
Link

Major Weight Loss & Exercise Myth Debunked

If only we weren't so lazy, obesity wouldn't be a problem.  That seems to be the assumption behind Michelle Obama's Let's Move! program which aims to solve the epidemic of childhood obesity within a generation. 

But as with many government programs, Let's Move! avoided addressing the real cause of obesity.  Because that would require taking on the food industry and its quest to foist ever more junk food products on unsuspecting Americans, especially children. 

read more



via IFTTT

We Declare The US Government Illegitimate, Agenda For Peaceful Transition » EXIT.media

We Declare The US Government Illegitimate, Agenda For Peaceful Transition » EXIT.media:



'via Blog this'

Medical insider: "science has taken a turn towards darkness"

Signs of the Times
Link
A shocking admission by the editor of the world's most respected medical journal, The Lancet, has been virtually ignored by the mainstream media. Dr. Richard Horton, Editor-in-chief of the Lancet recently published a statement declaring that a shocking amount of published research is unreliable at best, if not completely false, as in, fraudulent. Horton declared, "Much of the scientific literature, perhaps half, may simply be untrue. Afflicted by studies with small sample sizes, tiny effects, invalid exploratory analyses, and flagrant conflicts of interest, together with an obsession for pursuing fashionable trends of dubious importance, science has taken a turn towards darkness." To state the point in other words, Horton states bluntly that major pharmaceutical companies falsify or manipulate tests on the health, safety and effectiveness of their various drugs by taking samples too small to be statistically meaningful or hiring test labs or scientists where the lab or scientist has blatant conflicts of interest such as pleasing the drug company to get further grants. At least half of all such tests are worthless or worse he claims. As the drugs have a major effect on the health of millions of consumers, the manipulation amounts to criminal dereliction and malfeasance.

via IFTTT

FBI Agent: The CIA Could Have Stopped 9/11

FBI Agent: The CIA Could Have Stopped 9/11: "As for why CIA analysts at the CTC ordered Rossini and Miller not to tell the FBI about Al-Qaeda terrorists at large in the U.S., Bernazzani can only theorize. "It was a classic example of analysts owning information,” he says. “Operators share information. Some analysts tended to think of information as none of your business.”

Rossini is more blunt. “They ran a clandestine op in the U.S., and they didn’t want the bureau involved in it.”"



'via Blog this'

Poison is Treatment: The Campaign to Fluoridate America | Global Research - Centre for Research on Globalization

Poison is Treatment: The Campaign to Fluoridate America | Global Research - Centre for Research on Globalization: "Bernays recalled the fluoridation campaign in which he was involved as merely another assignment. “The PR wizard specialized in promoting new ideas and products to the public by stressing a claimed health benefit,” explains journalist Christopher Bryson, who interviewed Bernays on the fluoride campaign in 1993.

“’You can get practically any ideas accepted,’ Bernays told me, chuckling. “If doctors are in favor, the public is willing to accept it, because a doctor is an authority to most people, regardless of how much he knows, or doesn’t know … By the law of averages, you can usually find an individual in any field who will be willing to accept new ideas, and the new ideas then infiltrate the others who haven’t accepted it.’”[11]"



'via Blog this'

The Fluoride Deception: US Government Ignores Fluoride's Role

The Fluoride Deception: US Government Ignores Fluoride's Role:



'via Blog this'

Everyday Plastics Plunge Men Into Fertility Crisis

http://www.sagaciousnewsnetwork.com/everyday-plastics-plunge-men-into-fertility-crisis

Friday, June 19, 2015

Refusal to Call Charleston Shootings “Terrorism” Again Shows It’s a Meaningless Propaganda Term

The Intercept
Link

Terrorism: a term that justifies everything yet means nothing -- other than "violence we want to delegitimize."

The post Refusal to Call Charleston Shootings “Terrorism” Again Shows It’s a Meaningless Propaganda Term appeared first on The Intercept.



via IFTTT

Fluoride Action Network | A Bad Year for Fluoridation Gets Worse

Fluoride Action Network | A Bad Year for Fluoridation Gets Worse:



'via Blog this'

DOJ's Wiretapping of AP Results in Lengthy Prison Term for Source | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

DOJ's Wiretapping of AP Results in Lengthy Prison Term for Source | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community: "When it was first reported that the Department of Justice was illegally combing through the phone records of Associated Press offices and targeting journalists with secret subpoenas for their communication records, outrage erupted among free press advocates and journalism professionals.

Caught red-handed with the disclosures, Obama's Attorney General Eric Holder was forced to perform damage control, defending the practice against those who said it was a violation of key constitutional protections while saying that future safeguards would be put in place to censure overreach by the DOJ.

On Monday, however, a plea-agreement by a former FBI agent—who disclosed information about a terrorist plot in Yemen to the Associated Press and was discovered after the FBI secretly obtained access to the news agency's phone records—shows that, despite the outrage behind the practice of wiretapping journalists, the man is now heading to prison for a lengthy term."



'via Blog this'

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Psychiatry exposed as hidden killer of U.S. veterans in new documentary featuring Health Ranger Mike Adams

NaturalNews.com
Link
(NaturalNews) According to a shocking statistic from the Department of Veterans Affairs from 2013, 22 U.S. military veterans were committing suicide every day. And while the figure may have tempered somewhat since then, it still remains high.There have been a number of "mainstream...


via IFTTT

Big Pharma responsible for another mass shooting? SC church shooter took psych drugs before attack

NaturalNews.com
Link
(NaturalNews) Mass shootings, sadly, have become a part of the American lexicon, and without question the majority of the American people are not comfortable with this fact. The latest outrage: A young white man who allegedly possessed some racist animosity went into a predominantly...


via IFTTT

All 50 US states fail to meet global police use of force standards, report finds

Network Front | The Guardian
Link

Amnesty International report describes ‘shocking lack of fundamental respect for the sanctity of human life’ as nine states have no laws to deal with police force

Every state in the US fails to comply with international standards on the lethal use of force by law enforcement officers, according to a report by Amnesty International USA, which also says 13 US states fall beneath even lower legal standards enshrined in US constitutional law and that nine states currently have no laws at all to deal with the issue.

The stinging review comes amid a national debate over police violence and widespread protest following the high-profile deaths of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri; 43-year-old Eric Garner in New York; 50-year-old Walter Scott in South Carolina; and 25-year-old Freddie Gray in Baltimore – all unarmed black men killed by police within the past 11 months.

Continue reading...

via IFTTT

Epic Failure by the Senate on Transparency Provisions in STOCK Act

For those to whom online disclosure would still apply (the president, vice president, members of Congress, congressional candidates and individuals subject to Senate confirmation) the Senate bill made electronic filing of the information optional and struck the requirement that online information be searchable, sortable and downloadable, making even the disclosures that remain in the bill tepid and relatively unusable.

Not only does the change undermine the intent of the original bill to ensure government insiders are not profiting from non-public information (if anyone thinks high level congressional staffers don’t have as much or more insider information than their bosses, they should spend some time on Capitol Hill) but it sets an extraordinarily dangerous precedent suggesting that any risks stem not from information being public but from public information being online.

http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2013/04/12/epic-failure-by-the-senate-on-transparency-provisions-in-stock-act/

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Report: Pfizer ‘Hid Link’ Between Anti-Depressants and Birth Defects

The Liberty Beacon
Link

by Anthony Gucciardi Something we’ve been reporting on for years Pharmaceutical mammoth…

The post Report: Pfizer ‘Hid Link’ Between Anti-Depressants and Birth Defects appeared first on The Liberty Beacon.



via IFTTT

5 Reasons the FDA's Ban on Trans Fat Is a Big Deal : Anything Peaceful : Foundation for Economic Education

5 Reasons the FDA's Ban on Trans Fat Is a Big Deal : Anything Peaceful : Foundation for Economic Education: "Government doesn’t always know best, nor do its friends in “public health.” The story has often been told of how dietary reformers touted trans fats from the 1950s onward as a safer alternative to animal fats and butter.

Public health activists and various levels of government hectored consumers and restaurants to embrace the new substitutes. We now know this was a bad idea: trans fats appear worse for cardiovascular health than what they replaced. And the ingredients that will replace minor uses of trans fats – tropical palm oil is one – have problems of their own. "



'via Blog this'

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

EFF and Eight Other Privacy Organizations Back Out of NTIA Face Recognition Multi-Stakeholder Process | End the Lie - Independent News

EFF and Eight Other Privacy Organizations Back Out of NTIA Face Recognition Multi-Stakeholder Process | End the Lie - Independent News: "After 16 months of active engagement in the process, we decided this week it was no longer an effective use of our resources to continue in a process where companies wouldn’t even agree to the most modest measures to protect privacy.

EFF was joined by ACLU; Center for Democracy & Technology; Center for Digital Democracy; Consumer Action; Consumer Federation of America; Consumer Watchdog; Common Sense Media; and Alvaro M. Bedoya, the executive director of the Center on Privacy & Technology at Georgetown University Law Center.

EFF has been actively engaged in encouraging companies and federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to limit the use of face recognition. As our joint public statement notes:

We believe that people have a fundamental right to privacy. People have the right to control who gets their sensitive information, and how that information is shared. And there is no question that biometric information is extremely sensitive. You can change your password and your credit card number; you cannot change your fingerprints or the precise dimensions of your face. Through facial recognition, these immutable, physical facts can be used to identify you, remotely and in secret, without any recourse."



'via Blog this'

France Bans Sale of Monsanto Herbicide Roundup in Garden Centers

Health Impact News
Link
French Ecology Minister Segolene Royal announced today a ban on the sale of popular weedkiller Roundup from garden centres, which the UN has warned may be carcinogenic. The active ingredient in Roundup, glyphosate, was in March classified as "probably carcinogenic to humans" by the UN's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The weedkiller, used by amateur gardeners as well as farmers, is the star product of American biotechnology giant Monsanto. "France must be on the offensive with regards to the banning of pesticides," Royal said on French television. "I have asked garden centres to stop putting Monsanto's Roundup on sale" in self-service aisles, she added.


via IFTTT

One-Minute Video Shows The Problem with For-Profit Prisons

GOOD
Link
This is just wrong.

via IFTTT

Food flavor safety system a ‘black box’ | Center for Public Integrity

Food flavor safety system a ‘black box’ | Center for Public Integrity: "But the organization responsible for the safety of most “natural” and “artificial” flavors that end up in foods and beverages isn’t part of the U.S. government. Rather, the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association — a secretive food industry trade group that has no in-house employees, no office of its own and a minuscule budget — serves as the de-facto regulator of the nation’s flavor additives."



'via Blog this'

Obama confidant’s spine-chilling proposal - Salon.com

Obama confidant’s spine-chilling proposal - Salon.com: "This isn’t an instance where some government official wrote a bizarre paper in college 30 years ago about matters unrelated to his official powers; this was written 18 months ago, at a time when the ascendancy of Sunstein’s close friend to the Presidency looked likely, in exactly the area he now oversees.  "



'via Blog this'

Fluoride Side Effects: New Evidence Against Fluoridation

Fluoride Side Effects: New Evidence Against Fluoridation: "Just when you thought the evidence against fluoridation couldn’t get any more damning, several new studies and reviews have been published so far in just the past five months that ought to condemn fluoridation to the history books once and for all.   "



'via Blog this'

Mercury in Vaccines: A Ridiculous Practice Still in Use Today

Health Impact News
Link
Last night, I viewed the movie, “Trace Amounts: Autism, Mercury, and the Hidden Truth.” This movie should be seen by every parent, medical student and physician in this country. If you are curious about what is in a vaccine and why there are still people out there who do not blindly support mass vaccination, this movie is for you. In fact, if you are worried about the future of our children, this movie is for you.


via IFTTT

Video Debate Illuminates Successful Rebuttals of Claims Made by Fluoride Proponents

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/06/16/more-evidence-against-fluoride.aspx

Research links fluoridated water consumption to endocrine dysfunction, hypothyroidism, ADHD, and reduced IQ

Many water authorities do not use pharmaceutical grade fluoride; they use hydrofluosilicic acid—a toxic waste product of the fertilizer industry that is frequently contaminated with heavy metals and other toxins

Monday, June 15, 2015

What’s Really Going on at Fukushima?

CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names » article
Link
The Real Story

via IFTTT

Truvia’s Sweet Scam: Highly Processed, GMO, and Contains Hardly Any Stevia

The Organic Prepper | RSS Feed
Link
Truvia is the second best-selling sugar substitute in the United States, most likely because the deceptive marketing is targeted at those who want to make healthier, less artificial choices.

via IFTTT

America’s Most Advanced Climate Station Data Shows US In A 10-Year Cooling Trend

The Daily Caller
Link
'Clearly, a pause or hiatus exists in this most pristine climate data'

via IFTTT

CIA torture appears to have broken spy agency rule on human experimentation

US news | The Guardian
Link

Exclusive: Watchdogs shocked at ‘disconnect’ between doctors who oversaw interrogation and guidelines that gave CIA director power over medical ethics

The Central Intelligence Agency had explicit guidelines for “human experimentation” before, during and after its post-9/11 torture of terrorism detainees, the Guardian has learned, which raise new questions about the limits on internal oversight over the agency’s in-house and contracted medical research.

Related: 'Human experimentation' and the CIA: read the previously classified document

Continue reading...

via IFTTT

Whooping cough outbreak occurred among student population that was 99.5 percent vaccinated

NaturalNews.com
Link
(NaturalNews) As corrupt California lawmakers push to implement Senate Bill 277, which would bar parents from opting their children out of vaccines for personal reasons, a whooping cough outbreak has reportedly occurred at a public school in the coastal town of Salinas, where 99.5...


via IFTTT

Study shows cholesterol drugs cause memory loss; MSM reports the exact opposite

NaturalNews.com
Link
(NaturalNews) A new study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine (formerly Archives of Internal Medicine) has revealed that taking statin drugs for high cholesterol increases one's risk of developing memory loss. But the mainstream media, funded in large part by pharmaceutical...


via IFTTT

Sunday, June 14, 2015

The Sunday Times’ Snowden Story is Journalism at its Worst — and Filled with Falsehoods

The Intercept
Link

The British Murdoch-owned paper publishes a report trying to exploit this mindset: "If some anonymous government officials said it, and journalists repeat it while hiding who they are, I guess it must be true."

The post The Sunday Times’ Snowden Story is Journalism at its Worst — and Filled with Falsehoods appeared first on The Intercept.



via IFTTT

Friday, June 12, 2015

Leviathan’s Response to Utter Failure: “Investigate” the “Leaker”

LewRockwell » LRC Blog
Link
You might think that failing to find 95% of the fake contraband the TSA’s “Red Team” of undercover agents sneaked through its checkpoints would convince even Our ridiculously stupid Rulers of what we serfs have known all along: the TSA absolutely begs for abolition. Alas, no. Congress actually huddled earlier this week trying to fix the unfixable. I’ve read only extracts of their plotting, not the whole transcript, but I’ll eat my hat–no, worse: I’ll vote in the next election–if the A-word appears anywhere in it. Meanwhile, the closest the bozos came to a solution was when the Department of … Continue reading

via IFTTT

Scientists Blow The Lid on Cancer & Sunscreen Myth

The Liberty Beacon
Link

  by Paul Fassa According to a June 2014 article featured in The Independent (UK),…

The post Scientists Blow The Lid on Cancer & Sunscreen Myth appeared first on The Liberty Beacon.



via IFTTT

Is the Black Community Finally Waking Up to Vaccine Discrimination?

Health Impact News
Link
Is the African American community finally waking up to the discriminatory vaccine policies in the United States? In a rally this week at the California State capitol in Sacramento, several African American leaders spoke out against mandatory vaccinations. Today's pro-vaccine fanatics, those who believe ALL vaccines are good for ALL people ALL of the time, by force if necessary, fail to acknowledge not only that many children are harmed by vaccines, but that African American children have been shown to react differently to vaccines, and therefore may have a much higher risk to be injured or killed by vaccines than other children. California vaccine bill SB277 seeks to take away parental choice in exempting out of childhood vaccines which are a requirement for school attendance. There is no disputing the fact that mandatory vaccines will affect lower-income families in public education the most. Wealthier families will home school, find private alternative doctors to sign waivers, or move out of the State of California altogether.


via IFTTT

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Katy Perry’s Killer Propaganda - Bananas! -

Liberty.me Articles: Daily Roundup
Link


via IFTTT

New York National Guard conducts training at simulated detainee facility as fears of internment camps in America continue to rise

Intellihub
Link
Intellihub News | National Guard soldiers recently conducted their annual training at Fort Drum in a simulated detention center.

via IFTTT

Amnesty for Edward Snowden

The Nation: All Articles
Link
Martin Garbus

His claims have been vindicated by the courts, Congress, and the US public. It’s time to bring him home.



via IFTTT

Summer Has Arrived with the Annual Shutting Down of a Kid’s Lemonade Stand

Reason.com Full Feed
Link
Texas regulations intended to improve the legal climate for home cooks invoked.


via IFTTT

Big Pharma Revealed As Puppetmaster Behind TPP Secrecy

BlackListed News
Link
It is no secret that US healthcare corporations have been among, if not the biggest beneficiaries of Obamacare: by "socializing" costs and spreading the reimbursement pool over the entire population in the form of a tax, pharmaceutical companies have been able to boost medical product and service costs to unprecedented levels with the help of complicit insurance companies who have subsequently passed through these costs to the consumer, in the process sending the price of biotech and pharma stocks to levels not seen since the dot com bubble.

via IFTTT

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Obama Goes Full Stalin: Tells Secret Court To Ignore Law He Signed 4 Hours Earlier, Extend Illegal NSA Surveillance

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-06-09/obama-goes-full-stalin-tells-secret-court-ignore-law-he-signed-4-hours-earlier-exten

The Part of the Dennis Hastert Scandal That No One’s Paying Attention To

We need some rules here.

First, former government officials, including members of Congress, shouldn’t be able to lobby or take jobs in industries over which they had some oversight, for at least three years after leaving office.

Second, anyone who runs for office should bear the burden of showing that whatever personal payments they received up to three years before were based on their economic worth, not anticipated political clout.

Finally, once they declare, even their spouses should desist from collecting big bucks that could look like anticipatory bribes.

http://m.truthdig.com/report/item/part_of_dennis_hastert_scandal_no_ones_paying_attention_to_20150609

By the numbers: US police kill more in days than other countries do in years

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/09/the-counted-police-killings-us-vs-other-countries

Schools will be allowed to test four-year-olds from 2016, government confirms

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/mar/27/four-year-olds-compulsory-tests-2016-government-confirms#img-1

All Eyes on Jackson County Oregon as GMO Ban Survives Legal Challenge and Takes Effect

Health Impact News
Link
This past weekend (June 6, 2015) a historic ban on growing GMO crops went into effect in Jackson County, Oregon. The ban was the result of a ballot initiative in 2014, where citizens voted overwhelmingly to ban the growing of GMO crops in Jackson County, Oregon, by a 65.9% to 34.1% measure. This was seen as a significant victory, since the corporate opposition to the GMO ban spent over $1 million to try and defeat the measure. Just after the GMO ban ballot initiative was passed, two GMO alfalfa farmers sued Jackson County saying the GMO ban would cause them undue financial hardship and violated their constitutional rights. But a federal judge rejected their request to block the ban on May 30th. U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke ruled that the GMO ban is not pre-empted by Oregon's "right to farm" law. Non-GMO farmers now seem to have a clear path to sue GMO farmers if their crops are contaminated by GMO crops in Jackson County, which would be a first in the U.S.


via IFTTT

Vaccine Whistleblowers File to Compel Merck to Respond to Federal Lawsuit

Health Impact News
Link
In a brief mention in the mainstream media that as far as we can tell only Reuters reported, former Merck vaccine scientists, who have become whistleblowers and have had a federal lawsuit pending against Merck since 2010 for vaccine fraud, have filed another court document in their case accusing Merck of withholding evidence and not complying with court orders.


via IFTTT

Boy, 11, Plays Basketball in Own Yard as He Awaits Delayed Parents. Cops Take Him & Brother Away for a Month

Free Range Kids
Link
If this doesn’t convince lawmakers that they had better start revising the child neglect laws — and convince politicians that supporting Free-Range legislation would be a great, vote-getting platform — I’m not sure what will. I got this letter a week ago and was waiting for the mom’s permission to run it. Got it.  Boldface […]

via IFTTT

The Unintended Consequences Of North Carolina’s ‘Ag-Gag’ Law

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/06/07/3666617/north-carolina-ag-gag-environmental-impacts/

Saturday, June 6, 2015

Todd Farley Explains “Aholistic Education”

Diane Ravitch's blog
Link
Todd Farley wrote a terrific book about his 15 years inside the standardized testing industry. It is called “Making the Grades.” It is an exposé of serial, institutionalized malpractice.   Here he responds to an opinion piece that appeared in the Néw York Times defending standardized testing.   Farley writes:   Aholistic Education   “​In […]

via IFTTT

Ron Paul: Before Applauding Freedom Act, Address “CIA Secret Government Far Above the Law”

SHTF Plan - When It Hits The Fan, Don't Say We Didn't Warn You
Link
Finally, a move towards freedom and the restoration of rights... well, not quite so fast.

via IFTTT

Missing Evidence of Prior FBI Relationship with Boston Bomber

WhoWhatWhy
Link

Almost universally overlooked congressional testimony from then-FBI director Robert Mueller directly contradicts a deliberately-propagated misconception: that the Boston Marathon bombers were unknown to the US government until the Russians issued a vague warning that was dismissed as inconsequential. This revelation calls into question the precise nature of the FBI’s relationship with the bombers—before they became bombers.

The post Missing Evidence of Prior FBI Relationship with Boston Bomber appeared first on WhoWhatWhy.



via IFTTT

The Chinese Are Coming to Collect On the American Debt

Before It's News | ALTERNATIVE NEWS
Link
Chinese Peacekeepers coming to collect on the debt. There is an aspect of Jade Helm that we have not considered and that is the Chinese perspective. Bad Times Are Coming I have written about various alphabet soup agency people and their families who have gone into hiding in specially prepared enclaves with their colleagues in anticipation to what is coming. Many, including one FEMA family that I knew personally, have repeatedly spoken about the taking down of the power grid.

via IFTTT

U.S. Govt. Once Protected “Privacy Rights” of Terrorists in Freedom of Info Case

Sharyl Attkisson
Link
In 1985, Islamic terrorists kidnapped Associated Press reporter Terry Anderson in Beirut, Lebanon. They held him for seven long years. But there’s a story behind his story. And if you’ve never heard it, you should. It’s a lesson in the U.S. government’s twisted application of Freedom of Information (FOI) and public records laws. When Anderson […]

via IFTTT

Friday, June 5, 2015

Report Reveals $8.5 Trillion Missing From Pentagon Budget

disinformation
Link
David B. Gleason (CC BY-SA 2.0)

David B. Gleason (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Via Crooks and Liars:

Yahoo Money’ The Daily Ticker  is reporting that is has discovered a Reuters investigation that reveals$8.5 trillion – that’s trillion with a “T” – in taxpayer money doled out by Congress to the Pentagon since 1996 that has never been accounted for.

You read that right. While Republican politicians rush to slash food stamps for the 47 million Americans living in poverty – the highest amount in nearly two decades –  Republican U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has the audacity to complain that $20 billion dollars in automatic sequester cuts to the massive and secretive $565.8 billion Defense Department budget are ” too steep, too deep, and too abrupt,” all while the Pentagon and the Defense Department are overseeing massive fraud, waste, and abuse.

For anyone wondering, Reuters reports that the D.O.D.’s 2012 budget totaled $565.8 billion, more than the annual defense budgets of the 10 next largest military spenders combined, including Russia and China.

Read the rest

The post Report Reveals $8.5 Trillion Missing From Pentagon Budget appeared first on disinformation.



via IFTTT

Video: “The FBI is Responsible for More Terrorism Plots In the United States Than Any Other Organization. More Than Al Qaeda, More Than Al Shabaab, More Than the Islamic State, More Than All Of Them Combined”

Washington's Blog
Link

Investigative reporter Trevor Aaronson- executive director of the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, author of The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI’s Manufactured War on Terrorism – has spent years researching and writing about FBI terrorism “stings” on mentally retarded and destitute … Continue reading

Video: “The FBI is Responsible for More Terrorism Plots In the United States Than Any Other Organization. More Than Al Qaeda, More Than Al Shabaab, More Than the Islamic State, More Than All Of Them Combined” was originally published on Washington's Blog



via IFTTT

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: protecting the private good? | The BMJ

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: protecting the private good? | The BMJ: "Industry funding of the CDC has taken many doctors, even some who worked for CDC, by surprise. Philip Lederer, an infectious diseases fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and a former CDC epidemic intelligence service officer, told The BMJ he was “saddened” to learn of industry funding."



'via Blog this'

Millions in Brazil Follow a Teen Leader to Freedom : The Freeman : Foundation for Economic Education

Millions in Brazil Follow a Teen Leader to Freedom : The Freeman : Foundation for Economic Education: "“I like a little rebellion now and then,” Thomas Jefferson famously wrote. The primary author of the Declaration of Independence and America’s third president regarded rebellion as “like a storm in the atmosphere.” It clears the air and settles matters."



'via Blog this'

Vaccine Exemption: Don't Give Up This Medical Choice

Vaccine Exemption: Don't Give Up This Medical Choice:



'via Blog this'

10 Stories the Mainstream Media Ignored While Obsessing Over #CaitlynJenner

Nevada Abandons Public Education

CURMUDGUCATION
Link


via IFTTT

You’re a Criminal in a Mass Surveillance World – How to Not Get Caught

https://bananas.liberty.me/youre-a-criminal-in-a-mass-surveillance-world-how-to-not-get-caught/

To apologists of mass surveillance, what did Anne Frank have to hide? I ask because the person credited with popularizing the nothing-to-hide argument is none other than Joseph Goebbles, Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda for the Third Reich. (Back then the word propaganda didn’t have a negative connotation. It meant public relations.)

...

People censor what they share with friends on social networks. They increasingly limit posts to selfies, photos of food, and opinions about approved topics like sports and movies, rather than information or opinions that can land them on a terror suspect list.

They shy away from protesting and see the often brutal treatment of those who do. They hear about domestic black sites. Signing a petition opposing a government program is like handing the government a suspect list.

...

Obeying authority is what we’re taught to do from childhood. You don’t want trouble, do you? Then don’t complain and abide by the laws. Next time somebody wonders how things got so bad, there’s your answer. We’re raised to follow orders and pledge allegiance to authority. “Just following orders” and “Just doing my job” often precede the most atrocious acts perpetrated against other human beings.

The realization that mass surveillance makes you a perpetual suspect and non-compliance with any government rule makes you a criminal silences meaningful discourse. It doesn’t take many horror stories to roll a fog of fear over an entire population. Especially when people know they’re being continually watched and recorded.

...

Most people prefer to feel rather than think. I know I’d feel much better pretending all this is much ado about nothing. Even if you’re not the fact-resistant type, the temptation to abdicate responsibility and hope politicians will “fix the system” is as tempting as it is delusional. The system we live under was built by people who want it to work this way. To those in control, it’s not broken. It may not work for you, but it works for them. And you work for them. The only hope we have for change is to do it ourselves.

Photo: Mass casualty units seen on Chester County, South Carolina highway

Intellihub
Link
Intellihub News | A photo taken in South Carolina shows mass casualty vehicles traveling down a highway.

via IFTTT

Thursday, June 4, 2015

WikiLeaks Releases Secret Documents Related to Controversial US Trade Pact | Alternet

WikiLeaks Releases Secret Documents Related to Controversial US Trade Pact | Alternet: She said: “It is outrageous that our democratically elected governments will not tell us the laws they are making. What has our democracy come to when the community must rely on Wikileaks to find out what our governments are doing on our behalf”

“The irony of the text containing repeated references to transparency, and an entire annex on transparency requiring governments to provide information useful to business, being negotiated in secret from the population exposes in whose interests these agreements are being made,” she said.



'via Blog this'

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

*Updated: Cops, Media Applaud Local Busybody for Bravely Harassing Dad Who Briefly Left Kid Alone

Reason.com Full Feed
Link
Maybe try minding your own business and not exaggerating the threat to kids in parked cars?


via IFTTT

You’ll Be Enraged When You Find Out What the FBI Just Did– 30 Cities Targeted and It's Worse Than Jade Helm

Before It's News | ALTERNATIVE NEWS
Link
By Lisa Haven Sometimes I just want to scream from the top of my lungs about the atrocities that surround us on a daily basis… well today is one of those days! This morning as I rolled out of bed I awake to the blare of the Christian radio station buzzing in the background, “don’t be alarmed at the FBI aircrafts in your skies, they are only there to collect video and cell phone data.” The voice then happily stammered while playing the next tune. Since when did it become acceptable to promote our government breaking the law on open airwaves in such a satisfactory manner as if what they were doing was legal? No court approved the FBI’s usage of these aircrafts, yet they did as they pleased and monitored anyone and everyone they deemed necessary.

via IFTTT

Australian doctors told not to prescribe homeopathic items as 'they do nothing'

Network Front | The Guardian
Link

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners says pharmacists should not stock such products because there is no evidence they are effective in any way

The official body for Australian GPs has asked pharmacists to strip their shelves of homeopathic products and warned doctors not to prescribe them because they do nothing.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has formally recommended GPs stop prescribing homeopathic remedies and says pharmacists must also stop stocking such products because there is no evidence they are effective in any way.

Related: Homeopathy not effective for treating any condition, Australian report finds

Continue reading...

via IFTTT

Now the truth emerges: how the US fuelled the rise of Isis in Syria and Iraq | Seumas Milne

Network Front | The Guardian
Link
The efforts of western states are fruitless – the sectarian terror group won’t be defeated by the same power that incubated it in the first place

The war on terror, that campaign without end launched 14 years ago by George Bush, is tying itself up in ever more grotesque contortions. On Monday the trial in London of a Swedish man, Bherlin Gildo, accused of terrorism in Syria, collapsed after it became clear British intelligence had been arming the same rebel groups the defendant was charged with supporting.

The prosecution abandoned the case, apparently to avoid embarrassing the intelligence services. The defence argued that going ahead withthe trial would have been an “affront to justice” when there was plenty of evidence the British state was itself providing “extensive support” to the armed Syrian opposition.

Continue reading...

via IFTTT

A Capitalist Command Economy | George Monbiot

A Capitalist Command Economy | George Monbiot: "So much for all those treasured Tory principles. Choice, freedom, competition, austerity: as soon as they conflict with the demands of the corporate elite, they drift into the blue yonder like thistledown.

This is a story about England’s schools, but it could just as well describe the razing of state provision throughout the world. In the name of freedom, public assets are being forcibly removed from popular control and handed to unelected oligarchs.

All over England, schools are being obliged to become academies: supposedly autonomous bodies which are often “sponsored” (the government’s euphemism for controlled) by foundations established by exceedingly rich men. The break-up of the education system in this country, like the dismantling of the National Health Service, reflects no widespread public demand. It is imposed, through threats, bribes and fake consultations, from on high."



'via Blog this'

Apple CEO Tim Cook Pushes Back on Government Efforts to Stymie Private Encryption

Reason.com Full Feed
Link
Weakening encryption "has a chilling effect on our First Amendment rights and undermines our country’s founding principles."


via IFTTT

You’ve Been Scammed! Going for Broke in Ponzi Scheme America - Truthdig

You’ve Been Scammed! Going for Broke in Ponzi Scheme America - Truthdig: "In possibly the last graduation speech of 2015, I know I should begin by praising your grit, your essential character, your determination to get this far. But today, it’s money, not character, that’s on my mind. For so many of you, I suspect, your education has been a classic scam and you’re not even attending a “for profit” college—an institution of higher learning, that is, officially set up to take you for a ride."



'via Blog this'

Attkisson’s Written Testimony on Federal Agencies Violating Freedom of Info Act | Sharyl Attkisson

Attkisson’s Written Testimony on Federal Agencies Violating Freedom of Info Act | Sharyl Attkisson: "The Freedom of Information Act or FOIA should be one of the most powerful tools of the public and the press in a free and open society. Instead, it’s largely a pointless, useless shadow of its intended self.

Federal bureaucrats paid tax dollars to act on our behalf routinely break the law with impunity, treating public material as if it’s confidential, secret information to be controlled by a chosen few. They withhold it from the public, its rightful owners, while sharing it with select partners such as corporations or other so-called “stakeholders.”"



'via Blog this'

BREAKING: Certain medications cause people to commit murder� homicide risk increased by 31% to 200%... 100 million Americans take these drugs

http://m.naturalnews.com/news/049921_psychiatric_medications_homicide_risk_drug_violence.html

Explosions rock Michigan neighborhood as US Army urban military training exercise begins

Intellihub
Link
Alex Thomas | Residents angry after urban military training shakes neighborhood with explosions.

via IFTTT

An Obama, Adams, and Jefferson Debate

Oliver DeMille
Link
(Should Presidents be Treated Like Royalty?) by Oliver DeMille News and Fans A strange thing happened recently. President Obama visited my state, just a quick flight and a few meetings. But to watch the state news reports, you would think the most important celebrity in all of history was visiting. The media simply fawned over […]

via IFTTT

At Eight Years Old We Learned to Torture

Freeman's Perspective -
Link

Sometimes their faces pop up in my mind and I shudder. I don’t want to recall their suffering but I also can’t pretend it never happened. They were tormented, day after day, and for extended periods. I can only hope and pray that they recovered. I am torn over using their names; I wouldn’t want […]

The post At Eight Years Old We Learned to Torture appeared first on Freeman's Perspective - .



via IFTTT

Systemic Corruption Has Destroyed America

Washington's Blog
Link

Preface: It’s been less than a month since we last posted on this topic … but, sadly, we’ve got many more examples. The Cop Is On the Take Government corruption has become rampant: Senior SEC employees spent up to 8 … Continue reading

Systemic Corruption Has Destroyed America was originally published on Washington's Blog



via IFTTT

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

US Congress passes surveillance reform in vindication for Edward Snowden

US news | The Guardian
Link

Bulk collection of Americans’ phone records to end as US Senate passes USA Freedom Act

Continue reading...

via IFTTT

Florida Court Rules “Off Grid” Living Illegal

http://www.thedailysheeple.com/florida-court-rules-off-grid-living-illegal_062015

This Shadow Government Agency Is Scarier Than the NSA

http://phasezero.gawker.com/this-shadow-government-agency-is-scarier-than-the-nsa-1707179377

To curb cyberbullies, this district will monitor students' social media | eSchool News | eSchool News

To curb cyberbullies, this district will monitor students' social media | eSchool News | eSchool News:



'via Blog this'

DOJ Lumps “Right Wing” With Islamic Extremism, Plans to Study Right Wing Social Media

LibertyNEWS.com
Link
There is no question a few extremist groups who self identify as “right wing” exist. But there is also no question such groups are few and far between. In fact, it could be easily and rightfully argued there are MANY more extremist “left wing” groups who are constantly and actively organizing violence across America. Many […]

via IFTTT

Why Police Kill So Often

CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names » article
Link
Because They Can

via IFTTT

Arms companies are making money by taking over UK schools

openDemocracy
Link

Europe's largest arms manufacturer, BAE Systems, has applied to sponsor the failing Furness Academy. The reason is profit. 

A 12 foot effigy of the BAE chairman at the 'people's jury' protest outside the BAE AGM. Credit: Demotix/Peter Marshall. A 12 foot effigy of the BAE chairman at the 'people's jury' protest outside the BAE AGM. Credit: Demotix/Peter Marshall.

Corporations have already established a growing foothold in many UK schools, but the idea of Europe's biggest arms company running a school still seems like something out of an Orwellian nightmare.

However, it may be about to happen in Barrow, Cumbria, where BAE Systemsis on the verge of taking overthe faltering Furness Academy. The proposal is currently going through due diligence before being opened to a consultation with stakeholders, parents and staff, where it is expected to be supported. If it is agreed, BAE will become the school's sole sponsor later this year. They will also take responsibility for the 'strategic direction' of the school.

Education isn't just about grades, it's also about promoting values, informing perspectives and expanding minds. Could a weapons manufacturer ever act in the best interests of school children? How can a company that profits from international hostility ever be trusted to teach about areas like conflict resolution or the human cost of war?

BAE has a shameful, inglorious history of corruption and deals with dictators. It has been the subject of investigations across a number of countries and was fined $400 million in the US for bribery. It has also sold weapons to human rights abusers and dubious regimes across the world, including Saudi Arabia, Libya, Bahrain and Egypt.

Despite all of the ramifications for education, the move has been welcomed by local MP John Woodcock, who greeted it as a “really exciting” development. Furness Academy's acting head called it “a fantastic opportunity.

Arms companies and schools 

If education is a public good, should it be given away to big business? Arms companies already spend a lot of time and resources on infiltrating schools and trying to influence the curriculum. 

One way they are doing this is through their marketing and promotional materials. Raytheon, an arms company that has been linked to the production of bombs used against Gaza last summer, hosts competitions for science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) students. Similarly, fighter jet manufacturer Boeing works with schools to design mock military planes and BAE runs a schools “ambassador” program, with the stated objective of improving its “corporate reputation at both a local and national level.”

Things will get worse this September, with the opening of a number of institutions that are directly tied to arms companies. These include South Wiltshire University Technical College, which will teach science and engineering to 14-18 year olds “in the context of the defence industries.” Its 'sponsors' include Chemring, which has been linked to the use of tear gas in Hong Kong and Egypt, and QinetiQ, which has applied for arms export licences to sell weapons to countries including Bahrain, Pakistan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Israel.

Although these arms companies are described as 'sponsors', their roleswill include "helping to construct the curriculum”, allowing them to build “close links with students who will be potential future employees.”

The end goal for these companies is not to help produce an educated, questioning cohort of young people, it is to normalise their business practices and influence potentially impressionable young minds, while making a profit.

The militarisation of classrooms 

All of this represents a worrying expansion of militarism into our schools, but it's not the first sign of it. Forces Watch estimates that around 900,000 young people come into contact with the armed forces every year through their schools.

A disproportionate numberof these students are those from disadvantaged backgrounds, which is where many of the resources are targeted. Some of this is done through recruitment fairs, and some through the government's own 'military ethos' programme, which brings military veterans into schools to “build character, resilience and grit in their pupils.” 

The military also provides free 'support and resources'for schools; these include promotional materials for classrooms and Armed Forces Day assembly plans for children as young as seven. 

In simple terms the military wants to transform our schools into a recruitment ground. This is acknowledged by the head of army recruitment, who described army careers advisers as “skilled salesmen”, saying: “It starts with a seven-year-old boy seeing a parachutist at an air show and thinking, 'That looks great.' From then the army is trying to build interest by drip, drip, drip.”

As Turkish academic Serdar M. DeÄŸirmencioÄŸlu has said: “Schools provide fertile ground for militarism: there is a captive audience, a comprehensive mandate, a hierarchical structure and a clear power differential between students and professionals.”

Groups such as Veterans for Peace and the Peace Education Network do crucial and invaluable work in promoting peace and non-violence in schools and countering the growth of youth militarisation by offering an alternative to the army's pro-military messages. But neither has anywhere near the same level of access and support that is enjoyed by the armed forces or the arms industry.

What kind of education do we want?

Central to the debate is the wider question of what kind of values we want in our education system and what kind of future we want for young people. 

Arms manufacturers would not commit to these kinds of programmes if it wasn't profitable to do so. These companies may pay lip-service to encouraging critical thinking and promoting positive learning outcomes, but their shareholders will always be the main beneficiaries of any arrangement.

This kind of involvement gives them a chance to gloss over the human rights abuses they facilitate and to present themselves as legitimate businesses. It also gives them direct access to potential future employees and allows them to influence young people's decisions and direction.

Schools are fundamental to our society. They are meant to be safer places for learning and should not be sold hotbeds for militarism and corporations. They exist to educate children and young people and to develop their ideas and understanding of the world. They should not be allowed to become training grounds for arms companies and those that profit from war.

Sideboxes
Rights: 
CC by NC 3.0


via IFTTT