Monday, August 1, 2011

As America Continues to Tank, What Will You Do?

The Daily Bell -

Over the course of the past dozen or so years I have had the pleasure of rubbing shoulders with some of the more savvy free-market thinkers around. And during much of that time, my own formulative views of the word have tended to ebb and flow as I processed information from a variety of sources, most importantly my own real-life experiences.

One of those free-thinkers who had a big impact on me was Harry Browne. We all suffered a great loss when Harry passed away a few years ago, but his message of how people could obtain personal freedom in an unfree world is as powerful and relevant today as it was when Harry wrote the book on that in 1973.

It is very easy for all of us to become mesmerized by the blitzkrieg of information that seems to constantly invade our minds. It is so overpowering at times that, without proper discipline, one can find himself missing out on the joys of life and dwelling only in darkness. And that is not a healthy way to go through life. Harry understood that – better than most.

The only true commodity of scarcity is time. And the only time that truly matters is yours and mine. Each of us has an expiry date and what we do with our time between the two goal posts should be left to each person to determine in their personal pursuit of self-interest.

Now obviously there are some basic "rules to the road" that determine how people should interact in a functional civil society. Personally, Richard Maybury has done the best job I know of reducing it down to a managable number – two. That's it, two simple natural laws that make it very easy for anyone to discipline himself before taking action. Here they are:

1) Do all you say you are going to do.

2) Do not encroach on other persons or their property.

That's it folks. Two simple and easy to understand "rules" through which any person with an IQ above 50 should be able to navigate their way through life. The first law governs acts of contract and civil engagement, while the second deals with acts of a more criminal nature. But together, both cover the gammut of potentialities that we all face in our daily lives.

Understanding that self-interest and the pusuit of maximizing one's life does not conflict with either of these two natural laws is perhaps the first step in appreciating the power of a truly free society – one in which each person is his or her own master and determines how they wish to spend their time.

Today, for most people caught up in the daily struggle to maintain their heads above water, it is difficult to see how one can actually "break free" from a system that is anything but. And this was no different in 1973 when Harry wrote his bestselling book, How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World.

When we are born, we are born free. As we grow older and are shepparded through public schools and out into the work force, we begin to face the realities of a centralized society – one that continually tries to collectivize people's time under a life-long bond to the State. It is as if there are fields full of gallows with fresh nooses swaying gently in the winds of time awaiting the necks of all the fresh blood entering the workforce. The heads slip in and the serpent-like noose fastens itself – for life. And once a person succumbs to the pressure, they lose their abilty to think. For who has time to think when one's life (time) is constantly being robbed by a collectivist State?

The answer is YOU. You do not have to accept the burdens being levied upon your shoulders by the "time-taxing" power elite and YOU CAN LIVE FREE. To do so is to remember that YOU WERE BORN FREE. It is your right to live free and die free too. Your life is yours to live and as long as the two natural laws mentioned above are respected and adherred to, your right to spend your time as you choose is yours and yours alone. The question you may be asking now is: How do I break free?

Please read it all.

Depression in Command

By "crisis", he means war. It takes a mentally disturbed man to effectively and remorselessly drop bombs on innocent people, to destroy water treatment plants and powdered milk factories, contaminate countries forever with radioactive weapons...to commit genocide. The author doesn't mention this, but by "mentally ill" he doesn't mean, like, really mentally ill, like Hitler or Mao. Hitler threw Jews and gypsies and homosexuals into ovens and gas chambers; Churchill killed three quarters of a million Germans indirectly, and is hailed as a hero for it, or, at least, justified and apologized for it.

Sarcasm aside, it is difficult to know for sure if people like Nassir Ghaemi are willing shills for the State, or just too intoxicated by decades of grotesque propaganda, pseudo history, exceptionalism and lies to know better. For while there are those who willingly lie for the government, there are those in and out of the establishment who believe the State is deity. I think if precedent has established anything, it's that what we've had is an unbroken (except possibly for Kennedy) string of mentally ill leaders who've led us to complete and utter ruin. But what's really mentally disturbed is that people somehow think there's any sanity to the way the world is governed today, or for the past hundred years for that matter.

    Wall Street Journal -

    When times are good and the ship of state only needs to sail straight, mentally healthy people function well as political leaders. But in times of crisis and tumult, those who are mentally abnormal, even ill, become the greatest leaders. We might call this the Inverse Law of Sanity.

    Consider Neville Chamberlain. Before the Second World War, he was a highly respected businessman from Birmingham, a popular mayor and an esteemed chancellor of the exchequer. He was charming, sober, smart—sane.

    Winston Churchill, by contrast, rose to prominence during the Boer War and the first World War. Temperamental, cranky, talkative, bombastic—he bothered many people. During the "wilderness" years of the 1930s, while the suave Chamberlain got all the plaudits, Churchill's own party rejected him.

    When not irritably manic in his temperament, Churchill experienced recurrent severe depressive episodes, during many of which he was suicidal. Even into his later years, he would complain about his "black dog" and avoided ledges and railway platforms, for fear of an impulsive jump. "All it takes is an instant," he said.

Read all of it.

U.S. Auto Sales Stall, Casting Doubt on Rebound

Bloomberg -

U.S. auto sales have stalled, casting doubt on a rebound this year as persistent unemployment and tighter lending deter buyers.

Light-vehicle deliveries in July, to be released tomorrow, may have run at an 11.8 million seasonally adjusted annual rate, the average estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. That would trail the 12.5 million rate in the first half.

The auto industry may lose 1.5 million in projected sales in 2011, according to consultant AlixPartners LLP. The economy isn’t picking up as fast as anticipated, and the drag may continue beyond this year, AlixPartners said. That may put a return to average annual sales of 16.8 million vehicles from 2000 to 2007 out of reach. Unemployment reached the highest level this year in June.

“This curve of unemployment looks like it’s got a lot of legs,” Mark Wakefield, an AlixPartners director in Southfield, Michigan, said in a telephone interview. “This is one of the first recent cycles where demand is not going to go back above its prior peak, because there are just so many structural things that are different this time around.”

Read it all.

6 Ways Food is Being Used as a Weapon

Activist Post -

Hungry people will do anything for food, which means that those who have control over food can use it as leverage. In 1974, Henry Kissinger suggested using food as a weapon to induce targeted population reduction in a previously classified 200-page report, National Security Study Memorandum 200: Implications of Worldwide Population Growth for U.S. Security and Overseas Interests. The primary tactic to be applied is that food aid would be withheld from developing nations until they submitted to birth control policies:

There is also some established precedent for taking account of family planning performance in appraisal of assistance requirements by AID [U.S. Agency for International Development] and consultative groups. Since population growth is a major determinant of increases in food demand, allocation of scarce PL 480 resources should take account of what steps a country is taking in population control as well as food production. In these sensitive relations, however, it is important in style as well as substance to avoid the appearance of coercion.
So, food was to be used as just another method of imperial colonization to force countries to conform their policies to those desired by the controllers. Notably, this tactic only works as a blunt weapon on territories enduring a severe economic collapse and with little resources for food production. Today, however, it appears that the entire globe is receiving an arsenal of food bombs as there appears to be a multifaceted attack on people's access to food. In other words, what has been an admitted tactic for nearly 40 years of controlling food aid for regional population reduction has now grown more complex and expansive.

Because of massive corporate consolidation of agriculture, centrally coordinated global regulations, a devalued commodity-dollar and unrestrained commodity speculation, chemical and genetic modification, and real or manipulated food shortages; there is indeed a war being waged -- with food as the primary weapon. Understand, this is a not purely a war on food, but rather a war on the general population. Therefore, it is crucial to understand these tactics in order to defend against them.

Here are six ways food is being used to wage war against the population:

1. Food inflation: Crippling food inflation is now affecting every corner of the world with the poorest feeling the worst pangs. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) food price index increased by 3 points to 234 points in June – a 39% increase on the year. These increases are causing mass starvation and rioting in many poor regions of the world, but they are also beginning to punish the middle-class in the Industrialized nations. The price of food is inflating primarily because of a devalued commodity-dollar from excessive money printing and Wall Street commodity speculation. Perhaps it's more appropriate to call it commodity manipulation, not speculation. As William Engdahl recently pointed out: "The ability to manipulate the price of essential foods worldwide at will -- almost irrespective of today’s physical supply and demand for grains -- is quite recent....Up until the grain crisis of the mid-1970s there was no single 'world price' for grain, the benchmark for the price of all foods and food products."

What fuels commodity speculation is not just the obvious decline of the dollar and a flight to something tangible, but also genuine supply concerns based on a variety of factors that cause crop shortages like extreme weather or disease. Regardless of real or manipulated food shortages, food prices will continue to rise because of increased demand and an incrementally weaker dollar. Luckily, there are many ways to protect yourself from food inflation and the food war in general.

2. Shortages: Through supply controls, food shortages have been used as a weapon to create regional conflicts, to encourage peacekeeping missions, and as a foreign policy carrot -- as clearly outlined in Kissinger's 1974, Memorandum 200. The most recent examples can be found with the current and ongoing negotiations with North Korea who perpetually holds a nuclear gun to the West's head in exchange for food. Somalia, who was food self-sufficient until the 1970s, has become a "failed state" because of food shortages. Significantly, the situation in Somalia and other large-scale famine are usually caused by a manipulated economic collapse. In fact, many have reported that the lack of food was an underlying factor of the Egyptian revolution.

Because of corporate consolidation of staple crops such as corn, soybeans, and wheat -- and the central control of food aid -- it is now easy to manipulate food shortages. But, clearly, there are also catastrophic weather events that destroy production in entire regions such as the heat wave in Russia last summer that caused them to restrict wheat exports in what some referred to as food wars. Many countries who had contracts with Russia were not happy, and their protectionist move had global effects on the food prices. In other words, imminent food shortages are typically a localized problem, but because the food system is so interconnected, local problems now affect the global community.

3. Chemical Additives: Chemical additives, from pesticides to preservatives, can only be viewed as a weapon in the depopulation agenda. Clearly, laboratory-concocted chemicals were never meant for human consumption. Therefore, they can only be attributed to an effort to deliberately and slowly poison the population. Many food and drink toxins like fluoride, aspartame, or monosodium glutamate (MSG) are now well-known to have negative health effects. Other lab creations like high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) are also beginning to prove very unhealthy with tests showing mercury in corn syrup. Incidentally, we dare you to find any sweet food that doesn't contain either aspartame or HFCS. Even wholesome Campbell's Tomato soup has HFCS, as does Heinz ketchup -- while nearly every candy or gum contains aspartame. It's estimated that the average American consumes 12 teaspoons of HFCS per day, while the younger population consumes nearly double that. "Mercury is toxic in all its forms. Given how much high-fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered," said Dr. David Wallinga of the Agriculture and Trade Policy whose study found about a third of brand-name foods with HFCS had measurable amounts of mercury.

Pesticides fall into the chemical additive category -- GM pesticides especially (called Bt toxins). They are found in the blood stream of nearly all North Americans, and even in 80% of their unborn babies. It is presumed these toxins are acquired by eating genetically modified corn or soy, and from the livestock that feed on it. A recent study proved that the chemical found in best-selling pesticides, glyphosate, causes birth defects among other ailments. We must understand that although all of these toxins, and a host of others, are approved for consumption by the FDA, it doesn't make them safe. And even the ones that have exotic names but have yet to be proven to have ill effects surely have a cumulative impact on human health. They're so pervasive that it seems impossible to evade them, but there are still ways to eat like a human.

4. Regulations: By restricting food freedom, regulatory agencies purposely increase dependence on the Big Ag monopoly cartel that fully controls the basic building blocks of food. Simply put, those who control the corn, wheat, soybeans and rice, control all food, since all livestock and all processed foods are dependent on those food sources. In America, and increasingly around the world, this cartel places their cronies in government regulatory agencies like the USDA to weed out their competition through excessive regulation. Furthermore, this restriction of food freedom is happening in concert across the globe, precisely because it is a top-down globalist initiative driven by international regulatory agencies such as the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. It is a complex, interwoven agenda that takes into account everything from health safety to land use rights in order to force independent food producers to conform in ways that only benefit a global corporate structure. Regulatory agencies are one of the primary weapons deployed against independent living.

5. Genetic Modification: There are many reasons to avoid eating genetically modified food, from health concerns to supporting a fundamentally evil food cartel. Genetically modified foods are the path to monopolies over human life through patented technology and environmental destruction by chemical-heavy monoculture practices. GMOs are so pervasive in the United States that it is estimated that 70% of the average American diet contains them. Many European countries, and other regions, have rejected GMOs. Hungary recently destroyed illegal GM corn crops and plans to make distributing seeds a felony offense. However, because of corporate/political pressure, most resistant countries are being forced to adopt them. All of this despite the fact that environmental infection and contamination are proven effects of transgenic plants. Meanwhile, the control is being implemented under convoluted patent laws, where the mutation itself signifies originality and control over the natural organism it imitates.

6. The Weather: Weather undeniably affects food access and food costs. One glance at maps across the globe reveals that food production areas are being especially hard hit, and we are seeing prices rise accordingly. These natural events can be exploited both by speculators and governments. However, with the introduction of weather modification, invested in by those such as Bill Gates and openly promoted by elite globalist think tanks, concerns have been raised over the possibility that governments could use weather as a deliberate weapon to create food wars. Accusations have already been leveled charging exactly that. While some might dismiss the various possibilities of "steering the weather" for malevolent purposes as conspiracy, it is much more difficult to ignore the 1996 document presented to the Air Force titled Owning the Weather 2025 (PDF), which explicitly states as a heading on page 10: Applying Weather-modification to Military Operations. One key section states that weather control could be virtual, as well as literal:
Offensive abilities could provide spoofing options to create virtual weather in the enemy's sensory and information systems, making it more likely for them to make decisions producing results of our choosing rather than theirs. It would also allow for the capability to mask or disguise our weather-modification activities.
[...]
[...]Also key to the feasibility of such a system is the ability to model the extremely complex nonlinear system of global weather in ways that can accurately predict the outcome of changes in the influencing variables.
[...]
Conceivably, with enough lead time and the right conditions, you could get “made-to-order” weather.
This would certainly be the ultimate endgame for anyone wishing to use food as a weapon of control and profit. This possibility should not be easily dismissed, but rather it warrants open-minded investigation and research.

As we can see, food control is full spectrum, with wars being declared on the individual, states, and sovereign nations simultaneously. Food controllers utilize health, politics, and economics to integrate their agenda. Only full spectrum solutions can be employed as protection. There is much hope to be offered through alternative markets, barter systems, and local co-ops. We welcome your thoughts in the comments section below about other creative ideas we can implement to preserve our independence.

"True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made." -- Franklin Roosevelt

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Big Pharma looks to capitalize on success of vitamin D by turning it into a 'drug' for kidney disease

It can never be stressed enough: only an FDA-approved drug can cure or treat disease. At least, that's what the law says. It took them a while to figure out, but now they will patent vitamin D for distribution for profit at pharmaceutical prices.

As Codex Alimentarius is incrementally implemented, more and more of your vitamins and supplements will be declared drugs, and you will need a prescription for them. And even then, except for fluoride of course, most of those vitamins and supplements will be in doses so inadequate they're not even worth taking. This leaves you with but one choice: cultivate your own vitamins, naturally. Learn which fruits and vegetables give you the vitamins your body needs, and grow them organically. For Vitamin D, don't fear the sun. No matter how bad they tell you it is for you.

    Natural News -

    With an incredible success rate for vitamin D in treating a myriad of health conditions, it is no wonder that some drug companies are looking for new ways to capitalize on this natural, inexpensive nutrient.

    Biopharmaceutical giant Rockwell Medical recently announced that it has acquired a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for a generic, injectable form of vitamin D called Calcitriol, that it openly refers to as a "drug."

    Marketed under several brand names including Rocaltrol (Roche), Calcijex (Abbott), and Decostriol (Mibe, Jesalis), Calcitriol is really nothing more than vitamin D3, or 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol, that has been placed in a syringe with sterile fluids and other additives. And yet Rockwell Medical, as well as various medical information sources, refer to Calicitriol as a "drug," which is why Rockwell Medical obtained an ANDA in the first place.

Read it all.

If at First You Don't Get a Prison Sentence, Try, Try Again

Fire that Lee Greenwood back up. It just never gets old. And you probably think, who cares? He's a scumbag child porn freak. And you thought the same thing about the Patriot (sic) Act. Who cares if you're not a terrorist? Then they started using it in drug cases. Then against anti-war activists. And then we find out the NSA has a secret interpretation of the Patriot (sic) Act, one even more lose and vague than the original. Who knows who the victims are now? People who opposed Obamacare? Ron Paul supporters? You know..."terrorists".

Now all they have to do is leave it to the states to prosecute, so they get two shots at the suspect if the system doesn't uhhh work the way it's supposed to. The Soviets would be very proud.

    Reason Magazine -

    Two years ago Steven D. Ballinger of Collinsville, Illinois, was sentenced to two and a half years of probation in state court after he pleaded guilty to sexual abuse and child pornography charges stemming from his videotaped encounter with a 12-year-old girl in July 2006, when he was 26. Last Friday he was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the same crime, this time in federal court. A federal prosecutor explained that U.S. Attorney Steve Wigginton was "very offended by what he perceived as an extremely lenient sentence for this type of crime."

    While Wigginton's reaction is understandable, do we want to let prosecutors try a defendant again whenever they think he got off too lightly the first time around? Isn't that sort of serial prosecution barred by the Fifth Amendment's Double Jeopardy Clause? Not, according to the Supreme Court, if it involves two different levels of government. According to the "dual sovereignty" doctrine, even though Ballinger pleaded guilty to the same crime (producing child pornography) both times, the fact that it was a state offense the first time and a federal offense the second time means the Double Jeopardy Clause does not apply. In fact, even if Ballinger had been acquitted in state court he still could have been convicted in federal court. Or if he had received a 30-year sentence in state court, he could have received another 30-year sentence in federal court.

Read it all.

Nasa warns solar flares from 'huge space storm' will cause devastation

I've been focusing a lot on economic apocalypse lately. A lot of people are also watching space. Particularly our sun. Ironically, 2012 also happens to be an important year in terms of solar activity. Prepare for all eventualities.

    London Telegraph -

    National power grids could overheat and air travel severely disrupted while electronic items, navigation devices and major satellites could stop working after the Sun reaches its maximum power in a few years.

    Senior space agency scientists believe the Earth will be hit with unprecedented levels of magnetic energy from solar flares after the Sun wakes “from a deep slumber” sometime around 2013, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

    In a new warning, Nasa said the super storm would hit like “a bolt of lightning” and could cause catastrophic consequences for the world’s health, emergency services and national security unless precautions are taken.

    Scientists believe it could damage everything from emergency services’ systems, hospital equipment, banking systems and air traffic control devices, through to “everyday” items such as home computers, iPods and Sat Navs.

Read all of it.

Park service to thin out Yosemite's growing crowds -- of trees

Guess they're not really worried about their carbon footprints. Let's cut down all the carbon dioxide-sucking trees so people can see the scenic vistas. And while the government - the real environmental criminals we insanely look to to protect the environment - is cutting down the trees that supposedly could help reduce global warming, they'll punish you for your supposed carbon footprint, triple your energy bills, and put you out on the street.

    Los Angeles Times -

    Thousands of younger pines and cedars will be cut down this fall to restore many of the park's original scenic vistas that in previous decades were managed by natural and controlled fires.


    The granite walls of the Yosemite Valley are illuminated by stars and the moon on a clear winter night. The stand of evergreens at the base of the cliff would obscure such a view for most drivers and visitors.

    National parks tend to be a tree hugger's paradise. Layers of federal laws, strict park service rules and even the disapproving scowls from some visitors prohibit so much as driving a nail into a tree, much less cutting one down.

    But it's getting a bit crowded in Yosemite, where more than a hundred years of prompt firefighting have allowed towering pines and cedars to clog the park's meadows and valleys. These days, you can barely see the granite for the trees.

    That's about to change. Yosemite National Park officials say thousands of trees will be felled to preserve the iconic views of the park's waterfalls and the craggy faces of El Capitan and Half Dome.

Read it all.

Police inquiry reveals violations in arrest, beating of videographer

I'm proud to be an Amurr'can...where at least I know I'm *cough...hack...spit...*

What did they do to this slob of a cop? They sent him on paid vacation.

    Las Vegas Revue Journal -

    A Las Vegas police officer under investigation for the videotaped beating of a man in March violated several Metropolitan Police Department policies, an internal investigation found.

    Mitchell Crooks' complaint about officer Derek Colling's excessive force was sustained, Deputy Chief Gary Schofield said Friday.

    The specific policy violations will not be released until the case is finalized.

    Crooks, 36, received a letter from the Internal Affairs Bureau notifying him of the findings earlier this week.

    He said he was pleasantly surprised.

    "It seems like they're saying he was guilty, which is what I've been saying," Crooks said. "I really hope he gets fired."

    Colling has been on paid suspension since April 1.

Everyone sing along!


Spending Has Collapsed, the Economy Is Next

At this point, there are only two factors to consider: will the economy continue its paced, gradual decline, or will it fall off a cliff and collapse suddenly and violently. That's about the only factor I can't predict, along with what, exactly, the government reaction will be once total collapse is realized.

    SHTF Plan -

    We’ve been warning about it since the beginning of this crisis – that consumers are simply not interested in spending money they don’t have. In the first quarter of 2011 the government attempted to convince us that the economy was growing at a slow, but steady, rate of 1.8%. This was used as evidence the economic recovery had taken hold.

    President Obama and his administration specifically told us that a depression had been avoided:

    We can safely say that we are no longer facing the potential collapse of our financial system and we’ve avoided the depression many feared.

    President Barrack Obama – December 9, 2009

    But today’s growth domestic product revisions suggest otherwise.

    That 1.8% that convinced the average uninformed American economic activity had increased was nothing but a fabrication – a bold faced lie – and that’s official. The government revised that number to 0.4% – a significant difference. They were only off by about 75%.

    Today, the government released it’s second quarter GDP numbers, and as was predicted in many alternative media circles, it’s a clear indication that things are turning for the worse. Karl Denninger weighs in:

    Sorry guys, the clock has rung. It’s not ringing any more, it has rung and the spring-powered alarm has run out.

    There is no recovery to speak of.

    Four years into this the policies of the government and Fed have failed.

    It gets worse:

    “The price index for gross domestic purchases, which measures prices paid by U.S. residents, increased 3.2 percent in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 4.0 percent in the first Excluding food and energy prices, the price index for gross domestic purchases increased 2.6 percent in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 2.4 percent in the first.”
    (source: US Dept. of Commerce)

    Your standard of living is being shredded.

    “Real personal consumption expenditures increased 0.1 percent in the second quarter, comparedwith an increase of 2.1 percent in the first.”
    (source: US Dept. of Commerce)

    Spending has effectively collapsed.

    This puts into stark relief the reality of the government deficit spending – it is doing nothing more than covering up an economic Depression, and the so-called “exit plan” – that private consumption, investment and borrowing will “take the baton back” is not working.

Read it all.

'Growth Recession' Latest Bad News for Faltering US Economy

The newest term to the Newspeak dictionary: Growth Recession. Used to be that depression was the only economic term for a negative GDP. They didn't like that, so they started calling it a recession...you know, for those times when the economy is depressed but not depressed enough to call it a depression. It makes you feel better. Through all this, always keep in mind that over 40% of the GDP is government spending, which is not a domestic product. It's wealth redistribution. And even with all the government spending, there's barely a pulse.

    CNBC -

    In addition to all the other ignominy heaped upon the US economy comes the latest insult Friday—confirmation of a “growth recession” that foretells a long, ugly road ahead.

    “Growth recession” is a term that means the economy actually is growing but not at a fast enough pace to head off rising unemployment, which is at 9.2 percent and trending higher.

    The term was unleashed Friday by Deutsche Bank economist Joseph LaVorgna, who said the government’s latest reading on the economy showing just a 1.3 percent gain in gross domestic product in the second quarter is ominous in more ways than one.

    “The disappointing Q2 GDP results and downward revisions to the prior three quarters lead us to believe that this (growth recession) indeed is the case,” LaVorgna wrote in an analysis.

Read it all.

Layoffs May Worsen if Economic Growth Doesn't Pick Up

You might as well say something like, the sky may turn blue once the sun rises. Because as sure as the sun rises every day, economic growth will not pick up. How can it?

A service sector economy is completely unsustainable, because it doesn't create wealth. If we don't produce anything, where does the money come from? All of our goods are created in China, and therefore that's where all our wealth is going. If it's not coming back in from somewhere, then sooner or later we run out of it. Common sense enough for you?

The only source at that point is the Fed's printing presses, which devalues the currency and causes prices to rise. Where does the money come from; where do the jobs come from, especially when Obama's jobs czar, Jeffery Immelt, who is also the CEO of General Electric, is shipping tens of thousands of jobs to China? When Hummers are now made in Brazil? Who can grow enough to hire people when there's no money left, or when the money they do have can't counter inflation? This is so fundamental.

    CNBC -

    Thousands of layoffs were announced in just the past week, and that trend could continue if economic growth does not start to pick up speed.

    Merck [MRK 34.13 -0.80 (-2.29%) ] on Friday became the latest company to announce a new round of job cuts, saying it would trim 13,000 employees from its work force of 91,000 by 2015. It joins HSBC, which is reported to be trimming 10,000 jobs from its global staff, and Borders, letting go another 10,700 workers, as it shuts down all of its retail stores.

    "These heavy cuts are a sign the economy is stalling. The GDP numbers back it up. This is a concrete result of what you get when you see GDP stalling under 2 percent, like we've seen for two consecutive quarters," said John Challenger, CEO of Challenger Gray and Christmas, which monitors layoffs.

    "It's across the board industries. It's not like the auto sector or something doing poorly. We are seeing pharmaceuticals; defense; retailers - in terms of Borders; and financial firms - in terms of Goldman..It's so very broad-based and it certainly poses a risk to the economy turning around, as people lose their jobs, and a lot of consumers who support these companies lose their jobs," he said.

It's all over but the shouting. Read it all.

Data Show Deeper US Recession, Sharper Slowdown

I've been telling people for a long time: if they admitted how bad things were, too many people might be tempted to go off the grid, which is the only way to shelter yourself from the storm in progress, the eye still approaching. Why does it matter to them that you stay dependent on the grid? Because attached to the grid, you're increasingly dependent, especially as the grid collapses, and you don't bite the hand that feeds. They need to rob you of all your wealth and means to sustain yourself, so that when the grid collapses they, the people who created the crisis, can throw their solution at you. And they won't shove it down your throat; you'll be so desperate at that point that you'll beg them to do something.

CNBC -

The "Great Recession" was even greater than previously thought, and the U.S. economy has skated uncomfortably close to a new one this year.

New data on Friday showed the 2007-2009 U.S. recession were much more severe than prior measures had found, with economic output declining a cumulative of 5.1 percent instead of 4.1 percent.

The report also showed the current slowdown began earlier and has been deeper than previously thought, with growth in the first quarter advancing at only a 0.4 percent annual pace.

The data indicated the economy began slowing in the fourth quarter of last year before high gasoline prices and supply chain disruptions from Japan's earthquake had hit, suggesting the weakness is more fundamental and less temporary than economists had believed.

Read it all.

Friday, July 29, 2011

GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt, The Head Of Obama’s Jobs Council, Is Moving Jobs And Economic Infrastructure To China

It's not really difficult to figure out where things are going. On the one hand, you could learn economics. On the other, you can just look at what they're doing, blatantly, to destroy the economy. I don't know about you, but when the head of the president's Jobs Council is shipping jobs to China, that says to me that economic recovery and growth is not the agenda. Economic ruin and depression is. But that's just me.

    The Economic Collapse -

    Jeffrey Immelt, the head of Barack Obama's highly touted "Jobs Council", is moving even more GE infrastructure to China. GE makes more medical-imaging machines than anyone else in the world, and now GE has announced that it "is moving the headquarters of its 115-year-old X-ray business to Beijing". Apparently, this is all part of a "plan to invest about $2 billion across China" over the next few years. But moving core pieces of its business overseas is nothing new for GE. Under Immelt, GE has shipped tens of thousands of good jobs out of the United States. Perhaps GE should change its slogan to "Imagination At Work (In China)". If the very people that have been entrusted with solving the unemployment crisis are shipping jobs out of the country, what hope is there that things are going to turn around any time soon? (Read More....)

First Quarter Growth Revised: 0.4%

The original data was 1.9%. So what will the second quarter's 1.3% GDP be revised to next quarter? Now would be a good time to detach your ass from the couch and go prepare for an inflationary depression.

    CNBC -

    The U.S. economy grew less than expected in the second quarter as consumer spending barely rose, and growth braked sharply in the prior quarter, a government report showed on Friday.

    Growth in gross domestic product—a measure of all goods and services produced within U.S. borders—rose at a 1.3 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said.

    First-quarter output was sharply revised down to a 0.4 percent pace from 1.9 percent.

    Economists had expected the economy to expand at a 1.8 percent rate in the second quarter.

    In addition, fourth-quarter growth was revised down to a 2.3 percent pace from 3.1 percent, indicating that the economy had already started slowing before the high gasoline prices and supply chain disruptions from Japan hit.

Read all of it.

Ron Paul: Default is coming

Real Clear Politics -

Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) explains why default by inflation is worse than default by not raising the debt ceiling.

Rep. Paul also talks about how the devaluing of the U.S. has led to record prices in gold bullion.

"Default is coming. The only argument that's going on now is how to default, not send the checks out or just print the money. In all countries our size, they always print the money," Paul said.

"They're going to raise the debt limit, and then they're going to print the money, and then they'll default by inflation, and that's much more dangerous than facing up to the facts of what's happening today."

White House threatens take extra-Constitutional action to avoid default

Welcome to the dictatorship.


Bill Would Force Intel Chief to Renounce ‘Secret Patriot Act’

Wait...what's this? A secret Patriot Act?! Well I'm sure it's fine, because Americans would never illegally persecute their own people. And besides, who cares? You aren't doing anything wrong, are you?

    Wired -

    For months, two Senators have screamed bloody murder that the government holds a secret legal interpretation of the Patriot Act so broad that it amounts to a whole different law giving the feds massive domestic surveillance powers. Now, a measure by Sens. Ron Wyden and Mark Udall would force the U.S. intelligence chief, and by extension the entire intelligence community, to admit that they went too far in their Patriot Act interpretations — if they don’t find a way to wiggle out of it.

    The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence meets Thursday to prepare the annual bill authorizing the U.S. intelligence agency’s operations. During that “mark-up” process, Wyden and Udall will ask their colleagues to include a measure compelling the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General to produce a “detailed assessment of the problems posed by the reliance of government agencies” (.pdf) on “interpretations of domestic surveillance authorities that are inconsistent with the understanding of such authorities by the public.” Wyden’s staff provided Danger Room with a copy of the proposed amendment.

    Specifically, Attorney General Eric Holder and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper would have to produce “a plan for addressing such problems” with secret legal interpretations regarding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the Patriot Act, the government’s two most important domestic spying laws.

Read it all.

Ghost towns on the increase as rural America accounts for just 16% of population

The policy is to herd everyone into mega-cities and shut off the rest of the country, so they know exactly where you are and you can't leave the quarantine zones. And if you think that's a quack conspiracy theory, you obviously have never heard of Agenda 21.

    UK Daily Mail -

  • Migration will form a virtual mega-city stretching through Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Baltimore, Maryland and ending in the capital Washington D.C.
  • In 1910 72% of Americans lived in rural areas

    Vast swathes of the U.S. countryside are emptying and communities becoming ghost towns as rural America now only accounts for just 16 per cent of the population.

    The 2010 census results suggest that by 2050 many of these areas could shrink to virtually nothing as businesses collapse and schools close.

    This dramatic population implosion is the culmination of a century of migration to cities, as in 1910 the share of rural America was at 72 per cent.


    Blackout: This official graphic shows dominant U.S. urban areas, marked in white, while large swathes of rural areas are becoming darker as people move away

Read it all.

Economy growing at slowest pace since recession

These numbers are fake. Always remember: at least 40% of the GDP is government spending:

    Yahoo News -

    The economy likely grew in the first half of the year at the slowest pace since the recession ended, and the second half isn't looking much better.

    Weak consumer spending, dismal hiring and cuts in government spending likely held back growth in the April-June quarter. The government will report on second-quarter growth on Friday.

    Economists forecast the economy expanded at an annual rate of 1.7 percent, according to a FactSet survey. That follows a 1.9 percent (it's actually 1.3%) growth rate in the first three months of the year. Those are the slowest back-to-back quarters since the economy began recovering from the recession two years ago.

Read all of it.

What's really in the food? The A to Z of the food industry's most evil ingredients

Mike Adams
Natural News -

Ever wonder what's really in the food sold at grocery stores around the world? People keep asking me, "What ingredients should I avoid?" So I put together a short list that covers all the most toxic and disease-promoting ingredients in the food supply. These are the substances causing cancer, diabetes, heart disease and leading to tens of billions of dollars in unnecessary health care costs across America (and around the world).

If you want to stay healthy and out of the hospital, read ingredients labels and make sure you avoid all these ingredients:

Acrylamides - Toxic, cancer-causing chemicals formed in foods when carbohydrates are exposed to high heat (baking, frying, grilling). They're present in everything from bread crusts to snack chips, and because they aren't intentional ingredients, acrylamides do NOT have to be listed on labels.

Aspartame - Chemical sweetener that causes neurological disorders, seizures, blurred vision and migraine headaches. (http://www.naturalnews.com/030918_a...)

Autolyzed Proteins - Highly processed form of protein containing free glutamate and used to mimic the taste-enhancer chemical MSG.

BPA (Bisphenol-A) - A hormone mimicking chemical found in nearly all food packaging plastics. Active in just parts per billion, BPA promotes cancer, infertility and hormone disorders. It also "feminizes" males, promoting male breast growth and hormone disruption (http://www.naturalnews.com/032860_B...).

Casein - Milk proteins. Hilariously, this is widely used in "soy cheese" products that claim to be alternatives to cow's milk. Nearly all of them are made with cow's milk proteins.

Corn Syrup - Just another name for High Fructose Corn Syrup (see below). Frequently used in infant formula products (http://www.naturalnews.com/029863_S...).

Food Colors - FD&C Red #40, for example, is linked to behavioral disorders in children. Nearly all artificial food colors are derived from petroleum, and many are contaminated with aluminum.

Genetically Modified Ingredients - Not currently listed on the label because the GMO industry (Monsanto and DuPont) absolutely does not want people to know which foods contain GMOs. Nearly all conventionally grown corn, soy and cotton are GMOs. They're linked to severe infertility problems and may even cause the bacteria in your body to produce and release a pesticide in your own gut. If you're not eating organic corn, you're definitely eating GMO corn. (http://www.naturalnews.com/026426_G...) Learn more at www.ResponsibleTechnology.org or watch my GMO music video (hilarious) at www.NaturalNews.com/NoGMO

High Fructose Corn Syrup - A highly processed liquid sugar extracted with the chemical solvent glutaraldehyde and frequently contaminated with mercury (http://www.naturalnews.com/032948_h...). It's also linked to diabetes, obesity and mood disorders. Used in thousands of grocery items, including things you wouldn't suspect like pizza sauce and salad dressings.

Homogenized Milk - The fats in the milk are artificially modified to change them into smaller molecules that stay in suspension in the milk liquid (so the milk fat doesn't separate) (http://www.naturalnews.com/022967_m...). While it makes milk look better on the shelf, it's also blamed for promoting heart disease and may contribute to milk allergies. Raw milk is healthier, which is why the government had outlawed it (http://www.naturalnews.com/029322_r...).

Hydrochloride - When you see anything hydrochloride, such as Pyridoxine Hydrochloride or Thiamin Hydrochloride, those are chemical forms of B vitamins that companies add to their products to be able to claim higher RDA values of vitamins. But these are synthetic, chemical forms of vitamins, not real vitamins from foods or plants. Nutritionally, they are near-useless and may actually be bad for you. Also watch out for niacinamide and cyanocobalamin (synthetic vitamin B-12). (http://www.naturalnews.com/032766_c...)

Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein - A highly processed form of (usually) soy protein that's processed to bring out the free glutamate (MSG). Use as a taste enhancer.

Partially Hydrogenated Oils - Oils that are modified using a chemical catalyst to make them stable at room temperature. This creates trans fatty acids and greatly increases the risk of blocked arteries (http://www.naturalnews.com/027445_f...). It also promotes what I call "sludge blood," which is thick, viscous blood that's hard to pump. This is usually diagnosed by doctors as "high blood pressure" and (stupidly) treated with blood-thinning medications that are technically the same chemicals as rat poison (warfarin) (http://www.naturalnews.com/023149_d...).

Phosphoric Acid - The acid used in sodas to dissolve the carbon dioxide and add to the overall fizzy-ness of the soda. Phosphoric acid will eat steel nails. It's also used by stone masons to etch rocks. The military uses it to clean the rust off battleships. In absolutely destroys tooth enamel (http://www.naturalnews.com/021774.html). Search Google Images for "Mountain Dew Mouth" to see photos of teeth rotted out by phosphoric acid: http://www.google.com/search?q=moun...

Propylene Glycol - A liquid used in the automotive industry to winterize RVs. It's also used to make the fake blueberries you see in blueberry muffins, bagels and breads. (Combined with artificial colors and corn syrup.) See shocking "Fake Blueberries" video at: http://www.naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=7...

Sodium (Salt) - The processed white salt lacking in trace minerals. In the holistic nutrition industry, we call it "death salt" because it promotes disease and death. Real salt, on the other hand, such as "dirty" sea salt or pink Himalayan salt, is loaded with the trace minerals that prevent disease, such as selenium (cancer), chromium (diabetes) and zinc (infectious disease). Much like with bread and sugar, white salt is terrible for your health. And don't be fooled by claims of "sea salt" in grocery stores. All salt came from the sea if you go far back enough in geologic time, so they can slap the "sea salt" claim on ANY salt!

Sodium Nitrite - A cancer-causing red coloring chemical added to bacon, hot dogs, sausage, beef jerky, ham, lunch meats, pepperoni and nearly all processed meats. Strongly linked to brain tumors, pancreatic cancers and colon cancers (http://www.naturalnews.com/007024.html). The USDA once tried to ban it from the food supply but was out-maneuvered by the meat industry, which now dominates USDA regulations. Sodium nitrite is a complete poison used to make meats look fresh. Countless children die of cancer each year from sodium nitrite-induced cancers.

Soy Protein - The No. 1 protein source used in "protein bars," including many bars widely consumed by bodybuilders. Soy protein is the "junk protein" of the food industry. It's made from genetically modified soybeans (often grown in China) and then subjected to hexane, a chemical solvent (http://www.naturalnews.com/026303_s...) that can literally explode.

Sucralose - An artificial chemical sweetener sold as Splenda. The sucralose molecule contains a chlorine atom (http://www.naturalnews.com/027491_a...). Researchers have repeatedly found that artificial sweeteners make people fat by actually promoting weight gain (http://www.naturalnews.com/024543_h...).

Sugar - The bleached, nutritionally-deficient byproduct of cane processing. During sugar cane processing, nearly all the minerals and vitamins end up in the blackstrap molasses that's usually fed to farm animals. (Blackstrap molasses is actually the "good" part of sugar cane juice.) Molasses is often fed to farm animals because every rancher knows that farm animals need good nutrition to stay alive. Amazingly, conventional doctors don't yet realize this about humans, and they continue to claim that eating sugar is perfectly fine for you. Sugar promotes diabetes, obesity, mood disorders and nutritional deficiencies.

Textured Vegetable Protein - Usually made of soy protein which is extracted from genetically modified soybeans and then processed using hexane, an explosive chemical solvent (see Soy Protein, above). Widely used in vegetarian foods such as "veggie burgers" (most of which also contain MSG or Yeast Extract, by the way).

Yeast Extract - Hidden form of MSG that contains free glutamate and is used in many "natural" food products to claim "No MSG!" Yeast extract contains up to 14% free glutamate. You'll find it in thousands of grocery store products, from soups to snack chips. I even once spotted it used on fresh meat!