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Justice Heals
"I am of the view that terrorists, anti-national people, rapists, strongest possible punishment including death sentence, should be given,"
Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said that strongest possible punishment, including death sentence should be given to terrorists, anti-nationalists and rapists.
"Glorifying terrorists and anti-nationalists is no good. Death penalty is an issue which can be debated upon. But surprisingly, some people come out openly as and when death penalty is given to a terrorist, anti-nationalist" he told reporters.
"Somebody is saying death penalty cannot take place. It may be their view. I am of the view that terrorists, anti-national people, rapists, strongest possible punishment including death sentence, should be given," he said.
Calling for a nation-wide debate on the topic…
"Some people are running stories of what he (Memon) had for breakfast on that day" he said. Noting that some people were trying to bring religion into the matter, he said, "terrorist is a terrorist. Does he have any religion? An anti-national is an anti-national. Why are you talking about his religion whether he is Hindu, Muslim or Christian?"
He claimed 37 persons had been hanged in the recent past.
"We were all in Rameswaram for the funeral of the great man, the great son of India, Dr A P J Abdul Kalam. But some of the (TV) channels were prominently showing and highlighting a remorseless terrorist. Are we serving the nation's interest?," he asked.
About rapists below the age of 18 not being given serious punishment, Naidu said, "Some people do not want people below 18 years to be given serious punishment. But when they (rapists) know how to rape, torture a woman, I do not have any sympathy for him (rapist) even if he is below 18 years. So the debate goes on in these issues.
Rapists. Anti nationalists. Terrorists.
No negotiation. No mercy. No comromise of any kind!
Shielded by Christian Love
Support for the young women. Options for adoption. Love and kindness.
Death cultists practice abortion as if human life was meaningless.
Is it trivial because it is small?
We were all so small once.
Too many young women are pressured into abortion. A traumatizing experience that causes great pain.
Hormone imbalances result from this corrupting practice.
If we can choose which innocent life dies and which lives. Are we still listening to our hearts?
I approach you like one human being to another. Would you want to live in a society that steps on the weak when it is convenient?
A society that gets rid of the downtrodden when they become inconvenient? That is not the society I want to live in. Look in your heart.
""As a child born to a 16 year old mother who was kicked out of her home for wanting to keep me I know the story.
They tried to abduct her and convince her how finishing school right now was more important than the life of her child.
I was there growing. The stress put on my mother was great. Her family was not very religious.
40 years later today I live with my own kids, graduates from college. My mother was able to finish school while having me due to the support of her local church.
People she had never met before who saw two lives in need. Years later my mother is a devout christian that listened to her heart when everything else in her life felt wrong.
Someone was guiding her to make the right decision before she even knew there was anyone out there.""
Oath Keepers Arrive in Ferguson To Protect Community From Riots
Oath Keepers Arrive in Ferguson To Protect Community From Riots
The Oath Keepers are in Ferguson to help protect local businesses and residents, the group says. St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said the presence of the organization primarily comprised of current and former police, military, and first responders, is both “unnecessary” and “inflammatory.”
The current Ferguson protests began on the anniversary of the Michael Brown shooting by police officer Darren Wilson. The former law enforcement officer was not indicted for any wrongdoing in the fatal shooting. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the Oath Keepers went to Ferguson during the riots last year and were reportedly kicked off the rooftops where they had positioned themselves to help protect private businesses. The armed men have reportedly been threatened with arrest for their activities.
At least one dozen Ferguson businesses were burned to the ground in the wake of the Darren Wilson decision in the Michael Brown shooting case.
According to a report by NBC, both Ferguson police officers and protesters stated that they saw Oath Keepers carrying their rifles and related gear around the town on Tuesday morning. The city was placed under a “state of emergency” due to the ongoing protests of the Mike Brown shooting. Missouri state law respects the Second Amendment and does not prohibit the open carry of firearms as long as the act is not done in an “angry or threatening manner.”
“I’m happy that we’re able to defend ourselves,” a man identifying himself as an Oath Keeper said in footage from NBC affiliate KSDK. “It’s been our right for a long time.”
The St. Louis County Police Department said it would consult with the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorneys Office about the legalities of the issue. Social media photos and posts about the Ferguson Oath Keepers sightings often stated that the men are armed with “assault rifles.” That phrase is most commonly used by individuals unfamiliar with firearms or gun control supporters. While the label is not used on any rifle box or item description, it is often cast upon a vast array of semi-automatic rifles – particularly the extremely popular AR-15 or SKS rifles.
Cultural Nationalist TEXAS
TEXAS NATIONALISTS
Even though the Texas Nationalist Movement is only 6 cities in on its 21 city tour across Texas, the evidence is clear that the tour is having an effect.
Take Texas Back, a tour to engage TNM supporters and train volunteers, is doing just that. With supporters coming to meet the leadership and volunteers coming aboard at every stop, the tour is fulfilling its intended purpose.
But according to TNM President, Daniel Miller, something unexpected is happening on this tour.
“It’s been great to connect with our supporters in these areas and get them trained as field volunteers, but what has been the most surprising are the people coming in from off the street, that have never had any interaction with the TNM, who are ready to get to work for Texas independence.”
The organization’s Executive Director, Daphne Armour, sees this as a growing trend that shows no sign of letting up.
“Although we didn’t directly reach out to these Texans, they are seeking us out. Whether it’s on social media, traditional media or through friends, family and co-workers they are finding out about us. They’ve got questions. We’ve got the answers. They want an organization with longevity and credibility on the issue of independence and they know that is the TNM.”
There is no doubt that the media has fueled the fire over independence and the TNM. With recent articles on Politico, the Houston Chronicle, Austin American Statesman, the Drudge Report as well as other TV and radio outlets, many Texans who support independence are realizing that there is an organization that represents them.
Miller commented on the recent media articles and their impact on the tour.
“Although many of these reports are filled with half-truths or outright lies, the simple fact is that Texans who support independence are sharp enough to cut through the noise and realize this one simple fact - if the media is willing to take hits at us, then we must be doing something right. And what we are doing is reminding Texans that they no longer have to accept dictates that they don’t want from bureaucrats that they didn’t elect. Texas can do better.”
Cultural nationalism generally refers to ideas and practices that relate to the intended revival of a purported national community’s culture. If political nationalism is focused on the achievement of political autonomy, cultural nationalism is focused on the cultivation of a nation. Here the vision of the nation is not a political organisation, but a moral community. As such, cultural nationalism sets out to provide a vision of the nation’s identity, history and destiny. The key agents of cultural nationalism are intellectuals and artists, who seek to convey their vision of the nation to the wider community. The need to articulate and express this vision tends to be felt most acutely during times of social, cultural and political upheaval resulting from an encounter with modernity. Cultural nationalism often occurs in the early phase of a national movement, sometimes before an explicitly political nationalism has appeared. But it can also recur in long-established national states (see Hutchinson 2013).
The history of cultural nationalism begins in late eighteenth-century Europe. Several developments in the realms of ideas, culture and politics converge at this time, including the emergence of historicism and Indo-European linguistics, the rise of Romanticism in literature and the arts and a growing commitment to constitutional politics and the idea of ‘rule by the people’ (Leerssen 2014, 11). From this period of change, ‘emerged a polycentric Weltanschauung that presented a pantheistic conception of the universe, in which all natural entities were animated by a force that individualized them and endowed them with a drive for realization. The nation was one such life-force, a primordial, cultural, and territorial people through which individuals developed their authenticity as moral and rational beings’ (Hutchinson 2013, 76). As a part of this new world-view, the rise of a belief in the possibility of progress was crucial. According to Gregory Jusdanis (2001) intellectuals in central and northern Europe became aware of their ‘backwardness’ in the face of French dominance and sought prestige in their own cultures, while simultaneously also embarking upon a programme of progress. From Europe, cultural nationalism spread outwards, enjoying a renewed efflorescence in the decolonising efforts of the twentieth century. It is now a recurring phenomenon throughout the world.
ECONOMY: CRUDE OIL
CRUDE OIL AND THE ECONOMY
Companies without price protection in 2016 could be forced to cut back further on new drilling if prices remain below their break-even costs.
“I think it’s a fair assessment that just about nobody is putting on hedges at this point,” said Jason Wangler, an analyst at Wunderlich Securities. “Why lock in the bottom?”
The drop in later-dated prices surprised some analysts and investors. Oil trader Andrew Hall, who is known for making long-term bullish oil bets, wrote in an investor letter dated Aug. 3 that he didn’t foresee the “pessimism” in the oil market. Mr. Hall’s $2.8 billion hedge-fund firm Astenbeck Capital Management LLC fell 16.6% in July.
"A large part of the current inflation is temporary. It has to do with the decline in the price of oil; it has to do with the decline in the price of raw materials," he said. "We are in a situation with … nearly full employment but very low inflation."
Fischer was careful not to give any solid indication as to when he believed the Fed would hike rates.
The glimmer of hope comes after Friday's U.S. jobs report quashed confidence the Federal Reserve might delay an interest rate hike until 2016. Not only did the U.S. economy see another month of job gains above 200,000, but any weakness in earnings looked to have abated as well. Stocks sold off on fears that the jobs report had set the stage for a rate hike as soon as next month.
Crude oil bounced back from levels that hit a four-month low last week. West Texas Intermediate crude closed 2.5% lower to $44.96 a barrel as the dollar fell on speculation about when the Fed might raise rates. Oil prices have been under pressure on signs of extended weakness in the Chinese economy, the world's second-largest, and fears that Iran will soon have the green light to add its production to already-oversupplied markets. Oil prices lost 6.9% last week.
Major oilers Exxon Mobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX), PetroChina (PTR) and BP (BP) also moved higher, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) spiked 2.6%.
The U.S. dollar dropped against other major currencies, down 0.4% against the euro, 0.65% against the British pound, and 0.9% against the Canadian dollar. The dollar, considered a safe-haven asset, fell as equities looked more profitable in the face of a potentially extended period of near-zero interest rates.
Billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A - Get Report) (BRK.B - Get Report) was also moving markets after it agreed to buy Precision Castparts (PCP), a manufacturer of aircraft components, one of its biggest deals ever. The deal is valued at $37.2 billion, with Berkshire offering $235 a share, a 21% premium to Precision's Friday close. Berkshire is one of Precision's largest shareholders with a stake of around 3%. Precision shares were jumping by 19.3%.
The Ability to Prevent a Crash No Longer Exists
The Ability to Prevent a Crash No Longer Exists
Financial writer and gold expert Bill Holter says the powers know that it physically can’t put off a financial crash much longer. Holter contends, “The system has gotten too big. The system has gotten bigger than the creators of the system, if you will. It is bigger than the sovereign governments collectively. It’s bigger than the central banks collectively. There’s too much debt. Too many sovereign governments have bumped up against debt saturation. In the U.S., we are over 100% debt to GDP. We are way over 100% debt to GDP if you include all debt. If you include all the off-book guarantees, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and all the other promises, we have blown up as far as debt to GDP ratios. So, the ability to prevent a crash no longer exists.”
For the people who think central banks can print money to infinity, Holter advises, “People have the belief in central banks because, to this point, it has worked. So, they extrapolate that it will always work. What they are not factoring in is many sovereign governments have reached debt saturation. In other words, many governments have gotten to the point of Greece or Puerto Rico. It can’t take more debt. The problem in Europe is the individual countries can’t print money. The U.S. can print money. The question is will foreigners accept what we print forever? The answer is no.”
Holter says the Fed will print more money. It will be forced to and it will not work the same as other money printing. Holter explains, “The next one, in my opinion, is going to be ‘QE Forced.’ It’s going to be forced on the Fed.”
The recent announcement the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will put off allowing the Chinese yuan to become part of the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket of currencies is a bad omen for the U.S. dollar. Holter thinks, “China being pushed off by the IMF until at least 2016 is a slap in China’s face. They publicly and officially requested to become part of the SDR. . . . The IMF, steered by the U.S., basically slapped them in the face. You’ve got to look at this as a financial war. This is a shot by the U.S. saying, no, we are not letting you in the club. It is inevitable that the Chinese currency will become part of the SDR or a reserve currency or ‘the’ reserve currency. It’s inevitable. The U.S. is trying to buy an extra year’s time, and it can’t.”
What can China do to retaliate? Holter says, “I think they have two potential moves. . . . The right time may be in a month or two during weakness in our markets. Remember, this was done by the IMF during very serious weakness in their markets. We kind of punched them on the way down. They have two real answers. They can tell the truth about how much gold they have. They can come out and say they have 10,000 tons or 15,000 or 20,000 tons or whatever it happens to be. The second is China has an awful lot of Treasuries. This is where I think they can force the Fed into monetizing their debt. They would be creating their own exit door. . . . Then, the Fed would have a big choice. Would the Fed buy them? There is your QE forced. Or, do they just let the interest rates go up and the bond market tank? It’s either option A or option B.”
Holter says, in the last year, there have been many big warnings from the Bank of International Settlements and the IMF about a coming financial calamity. Holter says, “I think they are trying to get out in front of this. I think they are telling the truth–the world is defenseless. The central banks, the sovereign Treasuries have fired all their bullets already, and they realize when this next crash comes, there’s nothing that can be done.”
India: Fighting Iodine Deficiency
REAL NEWS GETS NEWS FIRST
>Grey for Good teamed up with Talwar, a prominent bindi distributor, and Neelvasant, an NGO doing extensive work in rural areas of the western Indian state of Maharashtra, five months ago.
>The group came up with a standard scarlet bindi with a twist: Each bindi’s adhesive came covered with 150-200 micrograms of iodine. Throughout the day,
>a woman wearing the iodine bindi absorbs on average 12% of their daily requirement of iodine, a marked improvement from before.
>The Life Saving Dot uses the same technology and design as nicotine patches, and it’s cheap; production costs are minimal, Shabaz says, and are affordable
>at just two rupees per pack. (The rural Maharashtrian women Grey for Good worked with earned an average of 20-30 rupees per day.)
>Plus, wearing the iodine-infused bindi requires no behavioral change.
>The campaign hopes to spread awareness about iodine deficiency, a problem that even the most vulnerable populations don’t always know exists.
>Initial tests have been positive; of the approximately 150 women who have been given the bindis to wear,
>none have reported negative side effects and many have reported decreases in headaches, a common side effect of iodine deficiency.
>There are still some shortcomings. Since bindis are worn by the country’s dominant Hindu majority,
>rural women of other religions aren’t going to reap the benefits. And while women face the brunt of iodine deficiency—pregnancy and birth often exacerbate symptoms and effects, making women particularly susceptible to the consequences of iodine deficiency—
>men are affected by the lack of nutrient in their diets, too.
US Army Secretive Purchase of Riot Control Agent
US Army Secretive Purchase of Riot Control Agent
The U.S. Army is buying an undisclosed number of riot control CS gas canisters in order for troops to “become familiar with the effects of the agent,” as concerns grow about civil unrest inside the United States.
According to a solicitation posted on August 5, the U.S. Army is looking to secure a five year contract for the procurement of K765 CS Capsules.
“The CS (ortho-chlorobenzylidene malono-nitrile) Riot Control Agent Capsule is used in training scenarios for troops to become familiar with the effects of the agent,” states the solicitation.
The exact nature of the solicitation and the quantity of canisters being purchased remains secret as a result of the “Technical Data Package” that accompanies the order being classified.
“Distribution Statement D means that the TDP cannot be distributed on the Internet,” states the solicitation.
The equipment will be delivered to Army Contracting Command at Rock Island, Illinois, which hosts the largest government-owned weapons manufacturing arsenal in the country.
Read more: https://archive.is/YzgoN
FBI Says Citizens Should Have No Secrets That Government Can't Access
FBI Says Citizens Should Have No Secrets That Government Can't Access
The police and surveillance state predicted in the forward-looking 1940s classic “1984” by George Orwell, has slowly, but steadily, come to fruition. However, like a frog sitting idly in a pan of steadily-warming water, too many Americans still seem unaware that the slow boil of big government is killing their constitutional liberties.
The latest sign of this stealth takeover of civil rights and freedom was epitomized in recent Senate testimony by FBI Director James Comey, who voiced his objections to civilian use of encryption to protect personal data – information the government has no automatic right to obtain.
As reported by The New American, Comey testified that he believes the government’s spy and law enforcement agencies should have unfettered access to everything Americans may store or send in electronic format: On computer hard drives, in so-called i-clouds, in email and in text messaging – for our own safety and protection. Like many in government today, Comey believes that national security is more important than constitutional privacy protections or, apparently, due process. After all, aren’t criminals the only ones who really have anything to hide?
In testimony before a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee entitled “Going Dark: Encryption, Technology, and the Balance Between Public Safety and Privacy” Comey said that in order to stay one step ahead of terrorists, as well as international and domestic criminals, Uncle Sam’s various spy and law enforcement agencies should have access to available technology used to de-encrypt protected data. Also, he believes the government should be the final arbiter deciding when decryption is necessary.
What could go wrong there?
Top Chinese TV Star to Face Severe Punishment for Insulting Fascist Dictator Mao
Top Chinese TV Star to Face Severe Punishment for Insulting Fascist Dictator Mao
One of China’s best known television presenters is to face “severe punishment” after being caught on camera referring to his country’s Great Helmsman, Mao Zedong, as an “old son of a bitch”.
As the host of “Star Boulevard” - a Britain’s Got Talent style variety show - Bi Fujian was one of the most recognisable faces on state broadcaster CCTV.
The 56-year-old had worked for the channel since 1989.
However, Bi’s future at the channel was cast into doubt in April after he was filmed at a private dinner mocking Chairman Mao, who founded the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and ran it until his death in 1976.
The video – which has been viewed more than 480,000 times on Youtube – shows Bi entertaining fellow diners with a rendition of a song from a Cultural Revolution era opera called Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy.
The television host peppers his table-side performance with a series of sarcastic asides about Mao, including: “Don’t mention that old son of a bitch – he tormented us!”
Those “disparaging” remarks represented “a serious violation of political disciplines”, China’s media watchdog announced on Sunday. It called for CCTV, which had already suspended its star presenter, to impose a “severe punishment”.
In an editorial the China Discipline Inspection Daily, a state-run newspaper, said CCTV had been ordered to “educate its entire staff” in order to “combat behaviours that violate political disciplines and regulations”.
“There should be zero tolerance for such cases,” the newspaper added.
Senate Intelligence Authorization Act Allows Arrest of Journalists, Activists, Academics, Students
FASCISM: Senate Intelligence Authorization Act, Would Allow Arrest of Journalists, Anti-war Activists, Academics and Students
Freedom in America is being systematically destroyed: one police state law at a time – with most people ignorant and/or indifferent about what happening.
Washington’s criminal class is bipartisan – in lockstep against government representing everyone equitably and fairly, serving privileged interests only.
S. Res. 1705: Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 compromises free expression and privacy rights already gravely eroded.
If enacted, Section 603 will require online companies to inform Washington of any “actual knowledge” of “facts and circumstances” related to undefined “terrorist activity” – meaning warrantless searches and seizures of personal electronic content will be authorized, potentially subjecting countless numbers of innocent people to unjustifiable scrutiny.
Vague language makes independent journalists, political, anti-war, and social justice activists, academics and students doing legitimate research, as well as others vulnerable to being called suspected terrorists.
The possibility could encourage self-censorship. Service providers may over-report to show compliance with the law. Online users could be flagged for using suspect words or phrases.
One definition of terrorist activity can be another’s way of describing freedom fighting. Legitimate government criticism could be misinterpreted and misused.
Anyone ideologically opposed to US policies could become vulnerable to arrest, prosecution, conviction and imprisonment for expressing their views online. Police states operate this way.
Provisions like Section 603 violate fundamental constitutional and international law guaranteed rights. At stake is further erosion of First and Fourth Amendment freedoms.
Senate members overwhelmingly support S. 1705. Before recessing until September, they were set to pass it by voice vote until Senator Ron Wyden objected.
He wants normal debate procedure followed. He noted valid concerns raised by Internet companies about Section 603.
The Internet Association representing dozens of technology companies said vague language about what constitutes terrorism creates “an impossible compliance problem.”
It’ll result in “massive reporting of items that are not likely to be of material concern to public safety.” Wyden said “Internet companies should not be subject to broad requirements to police the speech of their users.”
He knows of no law enforcement or intelligence agencies suggesting Section 603 will help identify terrorists. He urges revision or elimination of this section altogether.
Thirty-one civil liberties organizations and trade associations expressed opposition to Section 603 in a letter sent Senate leaders.
Plummeting Oil Price: Near-prophetic Words of Sheikh Yamani
Plummeting Oil Price: Near-prophetic Words of Sheikh Yamani
The price of oil is plummeting and it has lost its value almost by 50% of what it was a year ago, without a trace of an immediate reversal, despite the never-ending volatility in the Middle East, which used to push the price up in the past.
Those who think otherwise, while ignoring the strong facts that slowly contributed to the catastrophic culmination, are simply burying their heads in the sand, in the desert or elsewhere, in the hope of an onset of good old days by a miracle.
Up until November last year, investors, economists, and experts had been forecasting a healthy growth in the oil industry – and a steady increase in price too – based on mathematical models, over-optimistic growth charts of emerging economies and of course, matching rhetoric of the corresponding political circles.
Who on earth forecast a steep decline in oil price, let alone more than 50% drop in price, this time last year? I can’t think of anyone. Nor can anyone from our readership, I assume.
There was someone, however, who foresaw what we see now almost 15 years ago. Surprisingly, he was an Arab; a powerful oil minster too. It was Sheikh Yamani, the former Saudi oil minister who predicted a cataclysmic crash in the price of oil, in an interview in June, 2000, with Gyles Brandreth, a Member of Parliament in Britain, who was a columnist for the Telegraph newspaper too.
In the unprecedented interview, Sheikh Yamani said that within a few decades, vast reserves of oil would lie unwanted and “oil age” will come to an end.
Then, Sheikh Yamani, a Harvard-educated law graduate, went on elaborating what he really meant: "Thirty years from now there will be a huge amount of oil - and no buyers. Oil will be left in the ground,” said Sheik Yamani before going poetic to take Mr Brandreth, who by then may have been shell-shocked by the revelation, to the metaphorical zenith of his blunt prophesy: “The Stone Age came to an end, not because we had a lack of stones, and the oil age will come to an end not because we have a lack of oil."
Nationalism and Its Effects on Peace in Europe
With global crisis, unemployment, dissatisfaction, poverty and intolerance has increased and with it also nationalism. Political parties with nationalist platforms are rising and gaining more support around the world and Europe is no exception.
In Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom and across Europe we can see the rise of the right. The financial crisis in the Eurozone and beyond has triggered rising of nationalists and far-right political parties.
The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) on 9th of July released a report about the dramatic increase in anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, online hate speech and xenophobic political discourse as the main trends in 2014.
Nationalism can be positive with legitimacy, promotion of nations and inspiration for citizens or negative by creating tensions between different ethnicity and groups in or outside the country. Some negative aspects of ideology or political movement can be seen in the latest football matches in the Balkans, where supporters of team groups have burned many national flags and hooliganism that is the result of long lasting hatred and nationalism on the ground. Every country has its own history and different positions, but still similarities could be found.
The country all news is regarding to in recent times is Greece. A known slogan “Greece for Greeks” is well known in its anti-austerity party. Attacks against minorities and immigrants with racism are seen in one of the European Union (EU) members. Golden Dawn neo-Nazi party is linked to hundreds of violent attacks against minorities.
It is known for anti-immigration, racist-nationalist worldview. With elections being held this year in January the party captured 6.3% of the vote and 17 senate seats in Hellenic parliament and become the country’s third largest party. In 2014 the party won 9.4% of votes in European parliamentary election and with it 3 seats out of 21.
The party has been put on a trial this year for its criminal activity.
Nationalism in Greece has divided citizens and noncitizens to us and them and created the gap between both. With the economic crisis, Greeks debt, overall economic meltdown, unemployment and increasing number of refugees from different countries, the party led by Nikos Michaloliakos has gained more support and caused even greater intolerance to foreign people in need. Unfortunately, they are not the only one spreading intolerance. Many politicians have a stance against immigrants, which shapes the Greeks’ attitude towards nationaIism.
QE Death Sentence & USTBond Black Hole
QE Death Sentence & USTBond Black Hole
Rather than stimulus, the USFed's Quantitative Easing is a death sentence for the USDollar. It might provide an ongoing backdoor bailout opportunity for Wall Street banks, and even a window for China to switch from long dated to short dated USTreasurys, but QE is death sentence. It guarantees that the USDollar will be removed from the global premises and placed in the dustbin of history. Foreign banking systems are largely devoted to USTBonds as the foundation for their entire reserves system. The African type of hyper monetary inflation blessed as good and fine stimulus is a sentinel signal by the US Federal Reserve itself, given to the Eastern producing nations who save in the $billions. They will start a caravan to exit the USDollar in their banking systems. They have great challenges in doing so, and must follow a prescribed path. That path is the Chinese RMB as an intermediary device, a transition tool. The goal is the return of the Gold Trade Standard, which will assure the return to the Gold Currency Standard and the Gold Banking Standard. The absent solution to the chronic global financial crisis has been the refusal to put Gold at the apex. Instead, the big banks have become zombies, the economies have become sclerotic, the financial structure have been control rooms, the bond platforms have been fracturing, while the USGovt has relied upon bond fraud, gold thefts, the printing press, and predatory wars to defend the King Dollar regime. It is due for the funeral pyre.
QE FACTORS
The QE initiatives are backfiring, adding incentive to the financial markets in a sick distorted manner, but at the same time killing the USEconomy from capital destruction. It has an equally destructive macro effect on the global economy. The USD is wrecking the world economic and financial system, even while the Petro-Dollar delivers equally powerful blows from its dismantling to the contract net foundation. The macro effect from QE is seen in hedging against the USD which is subjected to the African monetary policy. To praise it as adaptive and effective is intellectually criminal and abominable. Ironic that the White House has an African resident, and the USFed has an African monetary policy, and the USMilitary has hidden interests at the African Horn in Djibouti. But the Chinese have an African gold connection through Congo to Dubai and Hong Kong in return through the lower route on the distress road. The macro QE effect urges Eastern nations to divest USTreasury Bonds in favor of Gold bullion, mineral deposits, even energy deposits. The higher cost structure has killed working capital and put it on the sidelines, the retired capital concept that escapes the view of Western economists, mostly hacks and banker pimps. The Eastern nations also have embarked in numerous large capital projects, often called infrastucture deals. It is all hedging, diversifying, abandoning, done in preparation.
At the micro level, the continued Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) exerts a powerful force toward killing the USEconomy from the street level. It assures and delivers an inadequate income for pensions and insurance firms. The 0% rate has been in place since 2009, when the public was told it would be temporary. The Jackass warned it would be permanent. Pensions cannot meet their obligations any longer, and have resorted to selling their core holding assets, often called their nut. Not a single corporate or state pension fund has avoided serious problems. Insurance firms are more sprawling in their structure. They cannot meet their obligations any longer, and have resorted to selling their core holding assets, their nut. These are the strong detrimental micro effects on financial structures. The hundreds of thousands of private savers (like my father) have $billions stuck in bank certificates which earn paltry sums, unless they are old from the last decade or earlier. Worse, many banks forced older CD holders to convert to newer versions at much lower rates, using the contract fine print (font 4). In addition, the zero bound rate has resulted in harmful effects to entire financial market pricing and allocation of assets.
Read the rest here:
Scotland to Outlaw Growing of GM Crops
No to GMO! Scotland to Outlaw Growing of GM Crops!
Scotland says it will ban genetically modified crops on its soil. According to officials, the move will protect the environment. They are also taking advantage of new EU laws, allowing member states to decide whether they want to grow the crops or not.
Although the EU imports large quantities of GM crops from abroad, it is less sure about growing them on their own soil. Some environmental groups are worried about the impact they could have on the countryside, while there are also concerns over health issues for humans, despite producers of the crops insisting they are safe.
Only Monsanto’s maize MON810, which is cultivated in Spain and Portugal, is currently on sale for human consumption within the EU.
"Scotland is known around the world for our beautiful natural environment - and banning growing genetically modified crops will protect and further enhance our clean, green status," Richard Lochhead, the Scottish government's minister for the environment, food and rural affairs, said in a statement.
The politician also added there was no public demand for introducing GM crops.
"There is no evidence of significant demand for GM products by Scottish consumers and I am concerned that allowing GM crops to be grown in Scotland would damage our clean and green brand, thereby gambling with the future of our £14 billion ($22 billion) food and drink sector," Lochhead added.
‘GM not the answer to food security’
The decision was taken by Scotland’s devolved parliament, with the UK’s legislative body in London having no say in the matter.
The move was welcomed by the Scottish Green MSP Alison Johnstone. In a statement on the party’s website, she said, “Opting out of growing genetically modified crops is the right move for Scotland. Cultivation of GM crops would harm our environment and our reputation for high quality food and drink."
“GM is not the answer to food security, and would represent further capture of our food by big business. Scotland has huge potential with a diverse mix of smaller-scale producers and community food initiatives, and we need to see those grow further.”
However, the decision has not proved to be universally popular, with farmers saying they will lose out to competitors due to the ban being introduced.
“There is going to be one side of the border in England where they may adopt biotechnology, but just across the River Tweed farmers are not going to be allowed to. How are these farmers going to be capable of competing in the same market?” the National Farmers Union of Scotland vice-president Andrew McCornick told the Scotsman newspaper.
Mumps Outbreak Strikes College Students Who Already Received TWO MMR Vaccines
Mumps Outbreak Strikes College Students Who Already Received TWO MMR Vaccines
Dozens of students attending the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) have come down with the mumps virus in what authorities believe could snowball into an all-out epidemic. But once again, the vast majority of afflicted students were already twice vaccinated for mumps (MMR) prior to catching the disease, upending government claims about this dangerous and useless vaccine.
Reports indicate that some 69 cases of mumps have thus far been reported on the UIUC campus, and most of these, according to Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Director Nirav Shah, occurred among students who had previously received two rounds of the combination vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella.
As you may recall, the efficacy of the mumps component of the MMR vaccine was called into question by two former Merck scientists who filed a False Claims Act complaint in 2010. They allege that the vaccine giant fabricated study data to promote this controversial vaccine as effective, when in reality it doesn't actually work as claimed.
The escalating mumps outbreak at UIUC further substantiates what these two fleshed out in their court filing – that despite getting vaccinated for mumps with MMR, individuals are still getting sick. And yet IDPH's Shah believes the solution is to push more MMR vaccines on students to supposedly curb the disease's spread.
He told the media that, even though the first two rounds of MMR apparently didn't work amongst the affected students at UIUC, they should still opt for a third round of the vaccine because it "could help control the outbreak," reports Fox News.
Vet Resisted VA Gun Grab Tyranny With Help Of Local Sheriff
Vet Resisted VA Gun Grab Tyranny With Help Of Local Sheriff
Idaho residents gathered outside Veteran John Arnold’s home in Priest River on Thursday to protest the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs decision to threaten seizure of Arnold’s firearms after labeling him “financially incompetent.”
Arnold claims that an error on paper work he filed with the VA shortly after having a stroke one year ago is the reason he received the label.
“If somebody else makes an error and they cause you grief they should fix it,” Arnold told KREM 2. “That’s all I want is that stuff to get fixed.”
Roughly 100 people gathered outside Arnold’s house on Thursday to show support for the veteran’s right to bear arms.
A VA inspector was set to visit Arnold Thursday but likely flaked due to the protest.
Among the protesters was State Representative Heather Scott and Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler.
“I took an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution and uphold the laws of Idaho,” Sheriff Wheeler said. “This seemed appropriate to show my support. I was going to make sure Mr. Arnold’s rights weren’t going to be breached.”
Oathkeepers has reported that the VA was forced to stand down!
The VA goofed and had to back down. The Bonner County, Idaho, Sheriff sent the Feds packing. How did the VA goof? The VA wanted another Veteran’s guns. The People said “NO!” and the Sheriff backed them. Awesome.
I’m lovin’ it! All over the place people are beginning to stand up for their rights, and for all of our rights. I would like to invite all Oath Keepers to enjoy this brief video in which two State legislators and a solid good All American Sheriff stood up for a Viet Nam Veteran when the VA notified him that they were coming to inspect his house to remove any firearms he might have there. Here are three heroes:
Idaho Rep. Heather Scott, WA Rep. Matt Shea, and Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler.
Minnesota Expands Food Freedom in New Cottage Food Bill
Minnesota Expands Food Freedom in New Cottage Food Bill
Minnesota experienced a win for liberty recently when the state reformed regulations on in-home food businesses. According to the Institute for Justice, almost every state has regulations, called cottage food laws, that limit the sale of food out of the home. However, until last month Minnesota was one of the strictest states, allowing many bakers to sell their products only at farmers’ markets and events, and capping the amount they could earn annually to $5,000.
Under the new law, bakers can sell directly from their homes and even online to buyers in state. The annual sales cap was also raised to $18,000, a huge relief for many bakers who are reliant on the money they make from their home businesses and have been unable to expand because of the burdensome regulations.
The new law is not perfect. Though it “modif[ies] license exclusions for the direct sale of certain prepared food,” the bill still mandates that individuals register with the commissioner and pay a $50 fee every year unless they make less than $5,000 annually. Individuals must also take a course in handling food (up to eight hours long) every three years.
This is indicative of a mentality that the government ultimately owns its citizens and their property. Well intentioned people who are trying to make a living must pay the government off for permission to do so. However, this was a big step in the right direction for Minnesota, and those who worked on this bill should be congratulated.
Reform of small business regulation and licensure is picking up traction around the country. States including Texas and California have loosened their cottage food laws and seen booms in upstart home businesses. Wyoming enacted the Food Freedom Act this year allowing citizens to sell homemade and homegrown products (with the exception of meat products besides poultry) without a license or a state inspection. Just last week, the White House came out for occupational licensure reform, in an unexpected report by the Department of the Treasury Office of Economic Policy, the Council of Economic Advisers, and the Department of Labor.
EPA Causes Toxic Spill into Colorado River
EPA Causes Toxic Spill into Colorado River
Some of the major rivers and lakes of the Southwest, including the Colorado River, the San Juan River and Lake Powell, may turn polluted and dangerous after the Environmental Protection Agency badly managed a cleanup crew on Wednesday that was trying to drain water containing metals such as arsenic, lead, cadmium, aluminum, and copper from the Gold King Mine.
The operation was designed to force the water to flow into holding ponds, but the water surged, flowing into Cement Creek, then flowing into the Animas River. According to CNN, roughly one million gallons of wastewater spilled out on Wednesday. CNN reported the heavy metals released included iron, zinc, and copper.
The pellucid Animas, which supplies drinking water to the town of Durango, turned yellow as a result of the sludge, and was closed by EPA officials, who told local residents to start conserving water. Shocking pictures of the river showed how yellow it had become.
By Saturday, the sludge was traveling at 5 mph as it hit Farmington and Aztec, N.M., and threatened the San Juan and Colorado rivers and Lake Powell.
A cloud of orange-brown, toxic mine water and sludge accidentally released by the US Environmental Protection Agency is flowing down the Animas River through the hearts of towns in Colorado and New Mexico, and ultimately toward a lake in a national park.
The water, described as an “unnatural” orange color and loaded with heavy metals, was flowing through a stretch of wilderness as of Friday afternoon from Durango, Colorado toward Farmington, New Mexico. It is flowing toward the western edge of the Navajo Nation and along the Glen Canyon national recreation area in Utah.
The same area of wilderness in Utah contains well-known red rock cliffs and terraces in Utah, such as Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
“It’s awful, it’s awful,” said San Juan County undersheriff Stephen Lowrance. “It’s [a] horrible, horrible accident.”
“It’s, like I said, an orange-ish brown. You wouldn’t want to drink it – that’s for sure,” said Lowrance. Lowrance and another sheriff’s deputy were at the site of the spill almost instantly when an estimated 1m gallons of mine wastewater was released into Cement Creek north of Silverton, Colorado, a tiny town with just more than 600 people.
Pennsylvania to Become First State to Use “Precrime” Statistics in Criminal Sentencing
Pennsylvania to Become First State to Use “Precrime” Statistics in Criminal Sentencing
Criminal sentencing has long been based on the present crime and, sometimes, the defendant’s past criminal record. In Pennsylvania, judges could soon consider a new dimension: the future.
Pennsylvania is on the verge of becoming one of the first states in the country to base criminal sentences not only on what crimes people have been convicted of, but also on whether they are deemed likely to commit additional crimes. As early as next year, judges there could receive statistically derived tools known as risk assessments to help them decide how much prison time — if any — to assign.
As technology generally continues to advance, one thing you can be sure of is the criminal justice system’s use of innovative new “tools” will grow exponentially. This can be a good thing, but it can also be a very dangerous thing. Pennsylvania’s new law that permits the use of data showing whether people are “deemed likely to commit additional crimes” in criminal sentencing, is a perfect example of how an over reliance on technology can be a threat to liberty and due process.
Rather than explaining my position on the matter right here, I think it best to make my points within excerpts from the article itself.
Read the rest here: https://archive.is/Sc5A2
Oregon State Police Collecting Data On Gun Sellers
Oregon State Police Collecting Data On Gun Sellers
Just a few days before the universal gun owner registration bill kicks in, it appears that the Oregon State Police are planning on collecting data on sellers of guns, not just buyers.
We’ve been telling you all along that SB 941 was never intended to be anything but a vast database of gun owners and now it’s being proven to be all too true.
Starting today, gun dealers are seeing a new interface on their computer screens when they log in to conduct a background check on a gun sale. Now there is a box they can check for “Private Party Through Dealer.” While not fully functional, it is clear that the Oregon State Police plan to demand, and database, personal information on the seller, or transferor, of the firearm.
As of today, if a dealer checks the “Private Party Through Dealer” box they cannot actually enter the personal info of the seller, but they do get an error message saying “Alert!!!Please adjust for the following errors and try again” It then lists all the info “not supplied.” This includes the seller’s name, address, city, state and zip and their phone number.
Psychologist’s Work for GCHQ Deception Unit Inflames Debate Among Peers
Psychologist’s Work for GCHQ Deception Unit Inflames Debate Among Peers
A British psychologist is receiving sharp criticism from some professional peers for providing expert advice to help the U.K. surveillance agency GCHQ manipulate people online.
The debate brings into focus the question of how or whether psychologists should offer their expertise to spy agencies engaged in deception and propaganda.
Dr. Mandeep K. Dhami, in a 2011 paper, provided the controversial GCHQ spy unit JTRIG with advice, research pointers, training recommendations, and thoughts on psychological issues, with the goal of improving the unit’s performance and effectiveness. JTRIG’s operations have been referred to as “dirty tricks,” and Dhami’s paper notes that the unit’s own staff characterize their work using “terms such as ‘discredit,’ promote ‘distrust,’ ‘dissuade,’ ‘deceive,’ ‘disrupt,’ ‘delay,’ ‘deny,’ ‘denigrate/degrade,’ and ‘deter.’” The unit’s targets go beyond terrorists and foreign militaries and include groups considered “domestic extremist[s],” criminals, online “hacktivists,” and even “entire countries.”
After publishing Dhami’s paper for the first time in June, The Intercept reached out to several of her fellow psychologists, including some whose work was referenced in the paper, about the document’s ethical implications.
One of the psychologists cited in the report criticized the paper and GCHQ’s ethics. Another psychologist condemned Dhami’s recommendations as “grossly unethical” and another called them an “egregious violation” of psychological ethics. But two other psychologists cited in the report did not express concern when contacted for reaction, and another psychologist, along with Dhami’s current employer, defended her work and her ethical standards.
A British law firm hired to represent Dhami maintained that any allegations of unethical conduct are “grossly defamatory and totally untrue.”
Movie Theater Chain Looks To Hire TSA Gestapo
This may sound like a harmless bit of "doing something" in response to a few tragic incidents, but there's nothing really harmless about it.
First off, it subjects everyone to the same level of scrutiny – provided they're carrying a bag of some sort. If you have a purse or backpack or (god forbid) a fanny pack, you're a potential threat. Everyone else? Free to go. Weapons tucked into waistbands or shoved into pockets will go undetected.
And, like the TSA its emulating, the security measures will be easily thwarted and ultimately useless. For every weapon the TSA brags about seizing, many more end up on planes. A recent audit of the TSA's security efforts found it missed 95% of smuggled weapons and explosives. Anyone thinking Regal's security force is going to be better trained and more thorough than the TSA is kidding themselves.
Like the TSA's efforts, this will give moviegoers the illusion of safety, rather than actual safety. An illusion might be comforting enough for most moviegoers and it's all Regal can actually offer. This move is more about PR than reality.
According to a new survey conducted by consumer research film C4, following the Nashville incident, 48% of moviegoers are willing to pay $1 or more per ticket for the additional measures. Nineteen per cent of respondents said they would pay $3 or more.
And I'm sure Regal will be more than happy to take $1-3 more from every moviegoer in exchange for a hassling a few moviegoers. But Regal's move – while good-intentioned – is ill-advised. Offering your customers mostly-theoretical protection places responsibility for any future shootings almost solely on each individual theater. Now, if anyone shoots up a theater, Regal will very likely be successfully targeted in wrongful death suits. After all, it instituted additional measures to prevent further shootings… and then failed to prevent a shooting from happening. The additional measures seem unlikely to dissuade anyone but the most easily-deterred shooters from following through with their plans. In exchange for little more than a temporary bump in goodwill, Regal is assuming a great deal of liability.
And given what we know about the most recent theater shootings, a bag check wouldn't have stopped anything. James Holmes, who killed 12 and wounded 70 in Aurora, CO, stashed his weapons in his vehicle. The shooter in Louisiana may have had a backpack (reports are inconclusive), but it wasn't on or near him when police got to him, and a controlled detonation later proved there was nothing harmful inside it. The shooter at the Antioch, TN theater was carrying two backpacks – one of which was strapped across his chest. When police engaged him, he was also wearing a surgical mask. Most of what was in his bags weren't actually weapons, though. Pepper spray, a hatchet and an Airsoft gun were used in the theater attack. Only one of these is an actual weapon, and Regal's new policy doesn't make it clear what will happen to those who bring in legal items that aren't weapons but the theater decides could be deployed as one.
This focus on bags also makes it clear to potential attackers that security will be looking out for one thing – backpacks and bags. Avoiding scrutiny simply means not doing that one thing. So, while some moviegoers will be comforted by this security charade being performed on their behalf, many more will be irritated that attending a movie will be nearly as annoying as boarding a plane.
MPAA Behind Obama's New Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Gestapo
The MPAA has asked the U.S. Government for help in its efforts to reach private anti-piracy agreements with search engines, domain name registrars and hosting services. The Hollywood group believes that these three industries have shown "lagging progress" and should do more to deter online copyright infringement.
Following the failed SOPA and PIPA bills, entertainment industry groups have switched their efforts away from legislation and towards voluntary cooperation with various stakeholders.
This has resulted in several agreements in which Internet providers, advertising agencies, payment processors and other companies are more actively involved in deterring piracy.
These deals have been encouraged and facilitated by the Obama administration, often outside public view. The Copyright Alert System, for example, was negotiated with help from Vice President Joe Biden.
Despite various lobbying efforts the movie studios haven’t been able to strike a satisfactory deal with the domain name industry, search engines and hosting companies.
“…at least three areas have shown lagging progress: the use of domain names for unlawful conduct; the prevalence of piracy websites on the first pages of search results; and the use of data storage services to host websites trafficking in stolen content.”
To motivate various stakeholders to take action, the MPAA wants the U.S. Government to intervene. The Obama administration is currently working on a new Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement and the MPAA says that voluntary agreements should play a key role.
Read the rest here: