https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/millions-are-saying-no-to-the-vaccines-what-are-they-thinking/ar-BB1gj3tZ
What, on earth, are we (Patriots) doing?!? Well, let me tell you!
Patriots, across America have been watching, from the background, as things have unfolded since the stolen Presidential election in 2020. The so-called peaceful protests of BLM/Antifa. And, the 'storming' of the Capital by, supposen, Trump supporters - even though there is proof of it being Antifa dressed as Trump supporters.
More to come......
Poll: Nearly Half Of Republicans Think ‘Patriotic Americans’ Will One Day ‘Have To Take The Law Into Their Own Hands’
By Jon Brown
Jul 30, 2021 DailyWire.com
More than half of Republicans support the potential use of force to preserve traditional American values and nearly half believe a time will come when “patriotic Americans” will have to take the law into their own hands, according to the results of a George Washington University poll released this week.
The GW Politics Poll, which surveyed more than 1,700 registered voters from June 4 to June 23, also found that Republican trust in the integrity of U.S. elections has plummeted since the 2020 election.
“Support for fundamental principles such as free and fair elections, free speech, and peaceful protest are nearly unanimous among both Democrats and Republicans,” GWU wrote. “Their views on other democratic values, however, differ dramatically. Over half of Republicans (55%) supported the possible use of force to preserve the ‘traditional American way of life,’ compared to 15% of Democrats. When asked if a time will come when ‘patriotic Americans have to take the law into their own hands,’ 47% of Republicans agreed, as opposed to just 9% of Democrats.”
“Similar to other polls, the GW Politics Poll found that only 20% of Republicans were confident in the 2020 election results compared to the more than 90% confidence among Democrats,” the results continued.
Republicans also remained much more pessimistic about the integrity of elections heading into 2022 than they did in 2020. While 75% of Democrats have confidence in next year’s elections, only 28% of Republicans are now confident about the process, compared to 46% before the 2020 election.
Wednesday on CNN, network anchor and blowhard hypocrite Chris Cuomo declared during his handoff to fellow anchor Don Lemon that Americans who are still unvaccinated against the COVID-19 virus are ignorant and arrogant, with a “misplaced sense of righteous indignation.”
“Part of the metric here is ignorance, but part of it is also arrogance, this misplaced sense of righteous indignation, and resistance that they believe is a false manifestation of freedom,” Cuomo blathered. “This is not an issue of freedom.”
Fact check: yes, it is.
“Of course, you have freedom to make choices about your own body,” he continued. “Let’s put to the side the irony that so many of these people don’t want to afford that freedom to women.”
First, let’s put aside his lie that the pro-life position denies women choices about their own bodies. Being pro-life is about saving the bodies of unborn children.
“But what we’re saying is,” Cuomo added, “does it mean it’s the right choice?”
In other words, Cuomo believes you have the right to make choices about your own body as long as you make the choice Democrats want you to make
Signaling that perhaps the practice of taking the Biden administration and the Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) at their word is over, the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) has said it opposes mandatory COVID vaccinations for its rank-and-file.
Recent statements reveal that the Biden administration is considering so-called “vaccine passports” – or documentation proving someone has been vaccinated for the virus – as a condition of employment for federal employees.
The union, representing over 220,000 postal workers, said in a July 28th statement that while it will encourage postal workers to get vaccinated against the virus it’s “not the role of the federal government to mandate vaccinations for the employees we represent.”
“Issues related to vaccinations and testing for COVID in the workplace must be negotiated with the APWU. At this time, the APWU opposes the mandating of COVID vaccinations in relation to US postal workers,” the statement reads.
The APWU is not alone in questioning the legitimacy of COVID passports and a move toward reinstating mask mandate guidelines.
Authorities in several high-profile positions, including New York City Health and Hospitals President and CEO Mitchell Katz and Gregg Gonsalves, an associate professor at the Yale School of Public Health, are questioning the basis for the guidance as the CDC has not released any predicating data. “It’s meaningless unless we see the data,” Gonsalves said.
Why This Is Important
It would be nice to think that the US Postal Service union was pushing back on the rudderless dictates emanating from the White House but the “gimme money” dog whistle came in the “Issues related to vaccinations and testing for COVID in the workplace must be negotiated with the APWU” part of their statement.
But then, even a blind squirrel finds a nut from time to time and now the APWU has the opportunity to do something beneficial to the whole of the country, union members and not.
I don’t know whether you read the Whitehouse.gov website regularly but it contains a lot of information on their leftist and extremist future actions against who you and I call patriots and they call domestic terrorists.
I am copying and pasting a press release from June 23rd written and released by Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall. She is a career liberal minded government worker, (from 1986 with then Senator Biden) who has staunch leftist views. She has notably worked with testosterone challenged Hussein Obama and our mentally challenged Joe Biden, both of whose radical agendas she supports. Her father, surprise, was a wealthy liberal lawyer and patron of the arts in LA.
I want you to take the time to carefully read what I have copied here and understand the steps they are taking to silence the right and our voices, to ruin our lives and careers and take note who they are doing this with. I hope you are as alarmed as I am. As regards that web site, try hit it at least weekly. You will be shocked at what they post. They are not even trying to hide their agenda now.
As always I have included the link below for you all. Feel free to share this blog far and wide!!
Just click the title to go to page.....
Last year, when the COVID-19 virus reared its head and the world’s governments went into utter panic it was a massive red flag.
Yes, I get it. No one wants to get sick and with threats of bioweapons from other countries, of course, that would make anyone nervous, but this wasn’t that.
Especially when they were all about locking us down so quickly during an election year. However, here we are some 18 months later still listen to these fools blather on about the virus and now the Delta variant.
I cannot shake my head anymore over all of this or I will end up with brain injury. So, as Joe Biden is talking about forcing everyone to get the vaccine in America, whether you like Australia has gone full potato and has implemented martial law.
This comes after the Freedom Day protests that rocked Australia’s largest city, the Sydney lockdown was extended to at least August 28th.
However, instead of the police watching over their subjects, the military will obviously monitor them all to prevent future protests.
This is exactly what I was afraid of and also that it will make its way here too. However, the difference between us and them is that they willingly gave up their guns and we haven’t.
Maybe that’s why this is able to happen over there, but when you have power greedy Democrats in office you just never know.
https://dailyheadlines.net/martial-law-has-arrived-the-military-has-been-summoned-to-occupy-these-areas/
It all started with let’s just shut down for a couple of weeks to flatten the curve. That turned into months and executive orders to wearing masks, not being allowed to see loved ones, no church, social distancing, and now forcing people to take the vaccine.
Forcing you say? Yes, Joe Biden and his henchmen in the government are actually researching how they can FORCE all Americans to take the vaccine.
This is not a joke but all from his mouth on television telling the world that we are at this point in our nation.
I am not too sure if you are a religious person or have studied Revelations’ book, but this sounds more and more to me like the “Mark of the Beast”.
Trust me, I do not say that lightly either since that means we are in the final round and that can be scary for sure.
However, if it is not and it is just a precursor to things to come, it is just as equally terrifying. I was hoping it would not even come to this but here we are and I am sure it is only going to get so much worse before it gets better.
Don’t believe me?
Here is Biden in his own words…..
Watch it here on Rumble:
https://dailyheadlines.net/dementia-joe-is-about-to-force-everyone-to-get-the-shot/
Created by the team behind the game-changing Plandemic video segment from Mikki Willis featuring Dr. Judy Mikovits that went viral and was banned on every major social media platform for exposing the truth about Covid-19, this new FEATURE LENGTH PIECE which is the most revelatory film on what is driving the vaccine agenda, the various roles of the WHO, Bill Gates, Tedros Adhanom, Anthony Fauci and more.
Going deep into what is really happening with mainstream media, Silicon Valley tech giants, big pharma and our health protection agencies, Mikki’s new film finally connects the dots…
… And we are excited to be able to share this with you…
We believe that this film will fundamentally shift the discourse around Coronavirus, the lockdown and the vested interests involved.
https://freedomplatform.tv/plandemic-indoctornation-world-premiere/
We Won’t Be Getting “Back to Normal.” Not Soon. Not Ever.
The supply chain may never be the same.Nearly every store in America (the ones that are still open, anyway) has glaring bare spots on their inventory. Who would have expected paper products to be the “gold” of our apocalypse? There was an original run on supplies back in early March when the general public realized, “Hey, this is for real!” and razed store shelves bare. Even though preppers already had most of their supplies put back by the time this happened, we were no less vilified by the media as panicked shoppers got into physical altercations over toilet paper and macaroni.
Government officials told everyone to “calm down” and “just shop for the week.” They promised that if we did, everything would be back in stock in no time. Many of us knew even then that this wasn’t true. The ports in California were empty of shipping containers from China where many of our essential goods are produced. There’s no inventory with which to replenish the inventory.
It’s been more than a month since that first shopping frenzy and unfortunately, supplies are still limited in most parts of the country. A reasonably-sized package of toilet paper can’t be had for love or money, nor can one easily locate cleaning wipes, paper towels, 20-pound bags of rice, and bottles of bleach. Other supplies are available, but sparsely and often in limited quantities: meat, eggs, butter, dried goods like pasta and rice, and canned goods. Prices have approximately doubled on many items.
Don’t expect this to clear up any time soon. Abundant inventory may well be a thing of the past. Many of the products sold in American stores are made in China. Even much of our meat that is a “product of the USA” is processed in China. Obviously, China is going to replenish its own inventory before exporting goods to us. Here’s a list of goods that we import from China that we may not be receiving in the same quantities in the future.
And the generous offerings of days gone by are disappearing. In some areas, the store may have things you want but because the government there doesn’t consider them “essential,” you won’t be allowed to buy them. Ordering online may soon be your only option for things like craft supplies, clothing, decorative items, and shoes. And even when you order online, it may take quite some time before the goods arrive. Amazon has said it is prioritizing necessities, leaving people with uncertain shipping times.
And it could get even worse. What happens if the US Postal Service stops running? A House committee has warned the USPS could actually be forced to cease operations by June. So, if you think it’s hard to get supplies now, just wait.
http://themostimportantnews.com/archives/we-wont-be-getting-back-to-normal-not-soon-not-ever
Americans are completely upside down with their lives, views, and perceptions….the media lies, Trump appears (not in control) at times, some believe FEMA is now the new government, Constitution cancelled, several states are combining tyrannical policies against their own citizens, other states are trying to uphold the Constitution, the ‘Police State’ is on steroids, COVID-19 guidelines are out-of-whack from state to state, and what we are seeing….it’s not just one person controlling the levers of (our) merry-go-round, but instead an entire group of politicians, media, and various agencies fighting over the lever.
There is NO exit strategy, and the push for a “rolling lock-down” for up to 18 months, or when mass forced vaccines are ready in 22 months, is on the table, while President Trump is attempting to ‘down play’ the crisis by suggesting certain states will relax the guidelines, but emphatically putting those decisions on each governor.
The chaos between states can and will cause the current quasi-martial law, now in effect, WILL go [hot].
Is Trump wanting to show all Americans how the Democrat Communist controlled areas will continue enforcing draconian laws, while the rest of the country is free to roam, followed by the complete release of the [DECLAS] when arrests of the Deep State begins?
Or…is Trump under strict orders because (maybe his family was threatened) and was ordered to keep the ‘Patriot Movement’ calm and patient? Note: If true, it is enough to start a Civil War.
https://beforeitsnews.com/opinion-conservative/2020/04/trump-is-running-out-of-time-america-is-collapsing-faster-each-day-no-exit-strategy-patriots-are-watching-is-wwiii-on-the-horizon-capt-dave-bertrand-ret-video-3517984.html
Will You Resume Normal Daily Activities Once The Coronavirus Restrictions Are Finally Lifted?
COVID-19 has turned all of our lives upside down, and most people are quite eager for a return to normalcy. But as you will see below, fear of the coronavirus is going to prevent the vast majority of Americans from immediately resuming all of their normal daily activities once the coronavirus restrictions have been lifted. Every day there are more stories in the news about prominent individuals that have died from the virus, and the chilling testimonies of those that have wrestled with the virus and survived are extremely sobering. Yes, most people that catch this virus will ultimately recover, but the fact that tens of thousands of Americans are dying is seriously scaring a lot of people. And even though the “shelter-in-place” orders appear to be slowing the spread of the virus to a certain extent, the official U.S. death toll has actually doubled over the past week…
U.S. deaths from the novel coronavirus topped 25,000 on Tuesday, doubling in one week, according to a Reuters tally, as officials debated how to reopen the economy without reigniting the outbreak.
The United States, with the world’s third-largest population, has recorded more fatalities from COVID-19 than any other country. There were a total of nearly 597,000 U.S. cases – three times more than any other country – with nearly 2 million reported cases globally.
http://themostimportantnews.com/archives/will-you-resume-normal-daily-activities-once-the-coronavirus-restrictions-are-finally-lifted
President Trump on Saturday said he was considering a short term enforceable quarantine in Coronavirus hot spots such as New York, New Jersey and parts of Connecticut.
“I’m thinking about that right now. We might not have to do it but there’s a possibility that sometime today we’ll do a quarantine,” Trump told reporters at the White House Saturday. “Short-term, two week on New York, probably New Jersey and certain parts of Connecticut.”
The President also followed up his remarks in a tweet.
“I am giving consideration to a QUARANTINE of developing “hot spots”, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. A decision will be made, one way or another, shortly.” said Trump in a tweet.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/03/developing-hot-spots-president-trump-mulls-new-york-new-jersey-and-connecticut-quarantine/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailypm&utm_content=weekend
Turkey is the latest country to refuse Chinese coronavirus tests.
Spain returned their kits this week after finding them inaccurate.
The Chinese kits were only 30% accurate missing thousands of cases of the deadly virus.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/03/spain-czech-republic-ukraine-and-now-turkey-return-faulty-chinese-coronavirus-tests-that-only-caught-30-of-cases/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailypm&utm_content=weekend
President Trump signed an executive order on Friday that allows the Pentagon to mobilize former U.S. troops and members of the National Guard to help supplement troops already being used to combat the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
Trump's order allows the heads of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Homeland Security to recall up to 1 million reserve members to active duty for up to 24 months.
"The Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of Homeland Security, as applicable, will ensure appropriate consultation is undertaken with relevant state officials with respect to the utilization of National Guard Reserve Component units activated under this authority," Trump's order states.
"Generally, these members will be persons in Headquarters units and persons with high demand medical capabilities whose call-up would not adversely affect their civilian communities," chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement, according to The Washington Post.
"As this is a dynamic situation, we do not currently have a projected number of expected activations, but the Department is now fully authorized to make activations as needed. We will provide updates as they become available," the spokesman added.
During his press conference Friday night, Trump said the decision allows the federal government "to mobilize medical disaster emergency response personnel to help wage our battle against the virus."
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/489965-trump-orders-us-troops-back-to-active-duty-for-coronavirus-response
Law enforcement in Ewing Township, N.J., reportedly broke up a party Friday night with 47 people in a small apartment, despite recommendations from health officials amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The department confirmed it received an anonymous call about the alleged party Friday evening. Officers immediately dispersed the gathering that "the renter of the apartment called a 'Corona Party,'" according to a Saturday statement.
The apartment renter, Wade Jackson, 47, was issued summonses for allegedly obstructing the administration of law or other governmental function and violating emergency and temporary acts, according to the statement.
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/490023-man-charged-after-new-jersey-police-break-up-coronavirus-party
Policymakers deserve credit for coming together in a bipartisan way on three stimulus packages that help workers access paid sick leave, expand unemployment insurance, suspend work requirements for safety net programs, make very small investments in workforce training to dislocated workers, and take a first step towards helping businesses avert layoffs.
What’s missing is a robust, comprehensive workforce strategy to address the immediate shortages in industries that are needed to respond to this crisis, while at the same time preparing for our economic recovery afterwards.
The coronavirus pandemic has made one thing crystal clear: the unsung heroes in our society are the men and women at the frontlines, risking their health and safety to keep our country moving. They’re the health care professionals working around the clock to keep us healthy. The grocery store clerks working day and night to stock the shelves. The electricians, mechanics and HVAC technicians who keep our utilities up and running.
https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/490015-on-the-frontlines-of-a-pandemic-americas-workforce-needs-a
On Thursday's "Louder with Crowder" Live stream, Steven discussed how Communist China continues to cover up the severity of coronavirus; they are now throwing infected citizens in quarantine against their will. Why aren't American journalists reporting on the matter? It's likely due to the mainstream media's need to blame President Trump for the spread of COVID-19. So, in a way, the media could be seen as an accomplice to the oppression of the Chinese people.
https://www.theblaze.com/louder-with-crowder/american-journalists-blame-trump-for-covid-19-rather-than-report-chinas-oppression-of-citizens?utm_source=theblaze-dailyPM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily-Newsletter__PM%202020-03-22&utm_term=TheBlaze%20Daily%20PM%20-%20last%20270%20days
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio lashed out at President Donald Trump on Sunday, accusing the president of not helping New York fight the coronavirus outbreak.
Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," de Blasio claimed the president is dragging his feet and refusing to help out his home state.Unfortunately, New York currently accounts for nearly half of all known coronavirus cases in the United States — more than 15,000 active, confirmed cases as of Sunday afternoon — and the situation there is only getting worse.
"The truth is — and New Yorkers and all Americans deserve the blunt truth — it's only getting worse. And in fact, April and May are going to be a lot worse," de Blasio said. "The president of the United States is from New York City and he will not lift a finger to help his hometown."
https://www.theblaze.com/news/nyc-mayor-bill-de-blasio-lashes-out-at-trump-claims-people-will-die-who-could-have-lived?utm_source=theblaze-dailyPM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily-Newsletter__PM%202020-03-22&utm_term=TheBlaze%20Daily%20PM%20-%20last%20270%20days
2/27/20 - Three months after the coronavirus emerged in China, it has quickly spread to nearly half a million people across the globe, killing more than 22,000 people and bringing the world economy to a near-grinding halt.
Some scientists estimate that millions will ultimately die before COVID-19 runs its course. There’s a lot that infectious disease specialists and scientists still don’t know about the virus. Exactly how deadly and contagious COVID-19 is, is still a matter of debate.
We break down what we know about the virus and how it compares with some of history’s deadliest pandemics and diseases. First, you’ll have to bone up on a bit of epidemiology.
COVID-19
- R naught (a mathematical term that indicates how contagious an infectious disease is): 2
- Mortality rate: 4.5% (this number is in flux)
- World population: 7.8 billion
The mortality rate is basically the number of deaths divided by the number of infections. It’s also called the death rate or case fatality rate. At the beginning of an outbreak, it can be a moving target as more people are tested and an illness like COVID-19 travels to different parts of the world where the mortality rate can widely vary.
Looking at just the number of deaths over the number of cases reported “is only a snapshot,” Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the World Health Organization’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, told reporters last week.
A variety of factors affects the mortality rate: geography, the quality of health care, age of the population, life style and underlying conditions. In China, the mortality rate for CV-19 has been 4%. In Italy, it’s about 10%. In Iran, it’s about 7.6%. In Germany, it’s less than 1% and in the U.S., where the outbreak is just getting underway, it’s about 1.5%.
The mortality rate generally drops as testing rises and more patients are identified. But epidemiologists caution that the reverse can be true as U.S. hospitals get inundated and run out of necessary equipment, like ventilators, to treat patients who might have otherwise been saved. They also say it takes weeks for the virus to infiltrate a community and several more before people are sick enough to die. So it will be several months before the true mortality rate can be quantified in the U.S. or elsewhere.
Scientists still don’t know the true extent of the outbreak, so “we don’t know the precise number of those who will die out of those who are infected,” Kerkhove said.
The first estimate of the mortality rate for COVID-19 was roughly 2.3%, according to the WHO. As the death tally rose across the globe, so did the mortality rate, which the WHO revised on March 3 to 3.4%, meaning 3.4% of the population with confirmed infections died. Many scientists think, or are at least hopeful, that the mortality rate will fall as more people are tested and mild cases that have previously gone undetected are identified.
President Donald Trump is in that camp, calling the WHO’s revised estimate of 3.4% a “false number”and that he had a hunch the true mortality rate was well under 1%.
That hasn’t panned out so far, even as much of Europe, parts of Asia and the U.S. dramatically ramp up testing. More cases are being identified, to be sure, but people have been dying at a faster rate.
The current global mortality rate now stands at around 4.5%, which is calculated by dividing the 22,295 deaths by the 495,086 confirmed cases as of Thursday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Most scientists agree the mortality rate will fall by the time the disease runs its course.
The ‘R naught’
Scientists also assess the so-called R naught of the disease, a mathematical equation that shows how many people will get sick from each infected person. Just like the mortality rate, the R naught will fluctuate over time as scientists gather more data, and it can vary depending on where someone lives.
Estimates of the R naught for COVID-19 have ranged from 1.4 to about 5. The WHO has estimated the R naught of COVID-19 to be around 1.95 and other estimates from researchers following the outbreak put it around 2.2, meaning about two people will catch the virus from every person who already has it.
The R naught can also be heavily reduced, depending on what a nation does to contain the virus, which is why state and local officials are scrambling across the U.S. to close businesses and keep people indoors. China last week reported its first day with zero new cases after placing much of the nation under lockdown for nearly two months. The R naught can also dramatically increase if a country does nothing.
“If the R naught is higher than 1, it will spread and it will be contagious,” Yanzhong Huang, a public health researcher at the Council on Foreign Relations and director of the Center for Global Health Studies at Seton Hall University, said in a phone interview with CNBC last month. “Without any containment measures, technically it can spread to the whole population.”
The number of CV-19 cases and deaths changes by the hour. Some scientists predict half the world’s population will eventually get it.
Here’s how COVID-19 stacks up against other pandemics and serious outbreaks. (The R naught and mortality rates figures are from a March 9 report on deadly outbreaks by financial research firm Morningstar unless otherwise noted.)
Many have compared the COVID-19 outbreak to influenza, also known as the common flu, another respiratory illness that has symptoms similar to CV-19.
So far, COVID-19 is proving to be more infectious with an R naught of around 2 than the seasonal flu, which has an R naught of 1.3 and infects up to 49 million Americans each year. Based on the WHO’s most recent mortality rate of 3.4%, the COVID-19 outbreak is shaping up to be at least 34 times deadlier than the flu, which has a mortality rate of about 0.1% and kills 290,000 to 650,000 people per year across the globe. If the current mortality for CV-19 rate holds at 4.5%, it would make this coronavirus 45 times deadlier than the flu.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/26/coronavirus-may-be-deadlier-than-1918-flu-heres-how-it-stacks-up-to-other-pandemics.html
Vaccine For The China Virus — The Planet Is The Guinea Pig For A Vast ExperimentThe US National Institutes of Health (NIH) is launching a rush program to develop a vaccine against the China coronavirus.
The goal? Have a vaccine ready for human testing in an unprecedented 90 days.
NIH is partnering with a US vaccine company, Moderna, Inc.
The vaccine is a new type called RNA. According to Reuters (“With Wuhan virus genetic code in hand, scientists begin work on a vaccine,” Jan 24, 2020), “[these are] vaccines based on ribonucleic acid (RNA)—a chemical messenger that contains instructions for making proteins.”
The PHG Foundation/University of Cambridge explains further: “Unlike a normal vaccine, RNA vaccines work by introducing an mRNA sequence (the molecule which tells cells what to build) which is coded for a disease specific antigen [virus]; once produced within the body, the antigen [virus] is recognised by the immune system, preparing it to fight the real thing.”
More at https://www.naturalblaze.com/2020/01/vaccine-for-the-china-virus-the-planet-is-the-guinea-pig-for-a-vast-experiment.html?utm_source=Activist+Post+Subscribers&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=b12a9f6aab-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_term=0_b0c7fb76bd-b12a9f6aab-388073665
Desert locusts are invading and feasting on crops across Africa, and those affected are calling for international help, a new report states.
The outbreak of desert locusts is reportedly the worst that Kenya has seen in 70 years, according to the Associated Press. The insects have been flooding the country from Ethiopia and Somalia, leaving destroyed farmland in their wake in a part of the world that already suffers from hunger, drought, and flooding warned the UN. “We must act immediately,” David Phiri of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said.
“This has become a situation of international dimensions that threatens the food security of the entire subregion. FAO is activating fast-track mechanisms that will allow us to move swiftly to support governments in mounting a collective campaign to deal with this crisis,” FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said in a statement earlier this week.
Phiri called for aid to “avert any threats to food security, livelihoods, malnutrition.”
According to an FAO fact sheet, a swarm of locusts the size of Paris could eat the same amount of food as half the population of France in just a single day. The UN states that even a small swarm of locusts can eat through enough food for 35,000 people in a single day and can travel more than 90 miles.
The FAO estimates one swarm in Kenya to be around 930 square miles, suggesting it could contain up to as many as 200 billion locusts.
Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia are all struggling with “unprecedented” and “devastating” swarms of the insects, the FAO has said. And the locusts are not only eating crops but disrupting farm animals and basic farming operations, according to the agency.
Beyond that, the locusts can even disrupt passenger planes in the region and may have already done just that. In fact, earlier this month an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Djibouti to Dire Dawa performed an emergency landing after the insects collided with it. A report states that the locusts were trapped in the engine and others hit the aircraft’s windshield.
The UN proposed a six-month emergency action plan estimated to cost $70 million. The cost would include aerial pesticide spraying, which they say is the only effective way to combat the insects. However, that task won’t be an easy effort especially in Somalia, where parts of the country are controlled by the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab extremist group.
The United Nations said that the problem could increase in March when rainfall picks up in the region.
More @ https://www.naturalblaze.com/2020/01/billions-of-locusts-pose-an-unprecedented-threat-to-africa-un-warns.html?utm_source=Activist+Post+Subscribers&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=b12a9f6aab-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_term=0_b0c7fb76bd-b12a9f6aab-388073665
https://www.bitchute.com/video/Yi2q1H3PninI/
"By the way, people who know what's coming are taking advantage of our healthy & delicious storable food!"
"NOT LIKE CORONAVIRUS, SEEMS WEAPONIZED FOR HIGH CONTAGION & FATALITY RATES"
https://www.bitchute.com/video/S5_xJjodVeQ/ Posted Jan. 27, 2020
Toxicologist Dr. Joe Nieusma rejoins the program to discuss the coronavirus spreading like wildfire in China. As an expert in this area, he claims that no natural virus behaves in this manner with high rates of fatality and high contagion. He states it points to a weaponized virus geared specifically to target humans to be highly contagious and deadly. He also shares what you can do to keep you and your family safe including taking immunity building supplements such as C60, wash your hands, avoid crowded spaces, and others who may be sick.
A fifth case of the deadly new strain of coronavirus has been confirmed in Australia with a number of schools now issuing warnings to students at risk of infection to stay home. Jan. 27, 2020
Will we ever know the true numbers of the people infected with the Corona Virus? 1/27/20
"The U.S. embassy in China is evacuating American citizens from Wuhan, the city at the center of the Coronavirus outbreak. More than 1,300 cases have been reported in the country and at least 41 people have died. In the U.S., 63 patients have been tested in 22 states. Ramy Inocencio reports.
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Daniel Ou Yang was visiting his grandparents in Wuhan when the coronavirus outbreak occurred. He is now stuck in the city along with scores of other Australians who are pleading with the Australian government to help get them out.
1/27/2020
China's coronavirus outbreak continues, as concerns mount that the virus may be spreading faster than previously assessed. The Chinese city of Wuhan remains the epicenter of the outbreak, and its 11 million residents are currently living in a state of partial lockdown. William Brangham reports and talks to The New York Times’ Christopher Buckley, a China-based correspondent reporting from Wuhan.
DID CHINESE SPIES WEAPONIZE STOLEN CORONAVIRUS FROM CANADA?
https://www.bitchute.com/video/6Xz2azNsFkxQ/
Alex Jones details the power struggle behind the coronavirus outbreak, and how the virus could have been stolen from Canada and weaponized.
January 28th, 2020
- by Daisy Luther
I’ve seen a lot of people expressing worry and fear. They’re afraid we’re about to get involved in a war. They’re worried about terror attacks and conflicts on American soil. They’re terrified that their sons and daughters will be sent off to risk their lives and limbs in another Afghanistan.
Maybe the media is manipulating you to be in a constant state of fear. When we’re scared, we don’t think clearly or act effectively. I see a lot of fear and I don’t like it. It’s not a useful emotion. It’s not practical. Raging against the machine will not help you to survive anything from a car accident to a mass shooting to a nuclear attack. And I’m all about practicality. So let’s talk this through. You need to shake this off and get control of your thoughts.
Whatever your main concern is, I have bad news and good news.
First, the bad news. There’s not a darn thing you personally can do to prevent the things above from occurring. We are little fish in a big sea full of wealthy predators who are the ones that can actually cause change on those levels.
Now the good news. What we can change are our immediate environments. If you are expending a great deal of energy and emotion, focus it on the things that you can change. These (combined with luck) are the things that will have the biggest effect on whether you live or die.
Selco’s theory of circles
One of the things Selco spoke about last year in the Women’s Urban Survival Course in Croatia was circles. No, it wasn’t a geometry lesson. It was a way of looking at the world that he has learned the hard way. Imagine different parts of the world as giant circles. You’ve got North America, Europe, the Middle East, etc., etc.
Within those giant circles are smaller circles. To name a few, here in the US, you’ve got different states, you’ve got different movements like pro-gun and anti-gun, you’ve got different political belief systems, you’ve got different religions.
Then you’ve got smaller circles still. You have individual towns, churches, schools, and community organizations.
Then there are the circles that really count the most: your close friends, your family members, your immediate neighborhoods.
The summary of Selco’s lesson was this: When you think about where you personally can make the most changes that will have the greatest effect on your survival, where does your power lie?
That’s right. Within the smallest circles. Those are the things we can actually do something about so completely freaking out over the news is not productive at all.
Out of all the lessons we were taught in that week, I think the lesson about focusing our energy on the things we can control just might be the most important one of all. You should still pay attention to what is going on in the world.I’m not telling you that you shouldn’t be interested in or follow current events.
On the contrary.
It’s incredibly important to stay informed. But you can’t wallow in it and rail at it to the exclusion of taking common-sense steps.
We need to know what the potential threats are so that we can be prepared for them. We must be aware of what’s going on in the world instead of blithely keeping up with the Kardashians or some other nonsense.
I get my news from a wide variety of websites and generally find the truth lies somewhere in the middle if there’s any truth at all.
So watch the news. Read the articles. But understand two things.
#1) Your power ends at the knowledge of these events.When the wheels of the government are already in motion, there isn’t a whole lot we as individuals can do to stop them. We are screaming into the void when we rant on social media or website comments sections about being pro-war or anti-war or vent our fury about the mismanagement of the national budget.
Sure, it’s important to be heard and to let the figures pulling the strings know our thoughts about what’s going on.
But if we could really change things, do you think our food supply would be chemically tainted and that our national healthcare would be an unaffordable disgrace to which only the wealthy or the extremely poor have access? Do you think our government would be funding $22,000,000 efforts to bring Serbian cheese up to US standards or spending half a million to study the mating calls of Panamanian frogs?
We can be outraged all we want – and trust me – I am outraged. But I personally only have the power to point out these things. I cannot fix them no matter how much I want to do so. I’m not wealthy. I’m not a powerful politician. My ability to respond is limited to sharing information.
I don’t love it, but that’s reality. And you’ve got to live in reality.
#2) We’re probably being lied to anyway.Let’s look at a couple of events. The death of Soleimeni and the Las Vegas massacre. Do you really, honestly, deep down in your soul think we got the whole story on either of these events?
Was Soleimeni beloved or hated? It really depends on which news outlet you watch. I saw a lot of people who looked heartbroken when they turned up for his funeral on one news outlet but on others, there were people cheering in the streets. What’s the truth? We’re probably never going to know. The “reality” we’re given depends on the agenda of the news network that shows the footage.
And allegedly, nobody knows what caused Stephen Paddock to open fire on a country music concert in Las Vegas a couple of years back. Heck, many people aren’t even convinced that Paddock was the shooter. I don’t believe for one single second that no motive was ever found for such a horrific crime on such a massive scale, but we won’t get the answers anytime soon, if ever.
We simply cannot rely on the news to accurately inform us. The mainstream media is the modern-day Ministry of Propaganda. You can get a general idea of what’s going on, but don’t expect to learn the true motives behind these events from Fox or CNN or any of the other networks. Everyone’s got a bias. Everyone’s got an agenda.
When Selco talked about the Balkan war, he explained how people were bombarded with propaganda to make them hate and fear their neighbors. Why? Because a war was good for a handful of powerful people. And the little guys lie us got dragged along for a brutal ride on a tidal wave of manufactured rage.
So watch and read, but know that you’re only getting a biased fraction of the real story.
Try to focus on what you can control, not on what you can’t control. In these days when it seems like war is only a heartbeat away, or an EMP could strike at any moment, or a cyber attack could change the world as we know it, or any other epic disaster could occur, sometimes you have to take a step back.
Sometimes, current events are incredibly overwhelming.
When you find yourself getting overwhelmed, take a look at your circles. Are you getting overwhelmed by the big circles you can do nothing about?
If so then it’s time to focus on the small circles. The things you can do are: If you’re letting the news cycles drive you into a panic, then it’s time to take a step back. Turn off the television or computer or wherever you get your news. Focus on what you can do – and there’s a lot you can do.
Is World War III about to happen? We’ve been on this cusp multiple times over the past ten or twenty years. At some point, we’ll probably go over the edge. Will it be this time? I’ve written about the possibility of world war at least a dozen times over the past 7 years because tensions were incredibly high each time.
So far, we’ve been fortunate and all-out world war has not erupted. But for how long will our luck hold out? There’s absolutely no way to know.
All we can know for sure is that we can build strong communities. Perhaps we’re creating local civil defense teams. Maybe we’re getting ready to hunker down with our families. We can network and make friends where we are right now.
For your own sanity and peace of mind, focus on controlling your small circles. Stop expending so much energy and emotion on the things you cannot control. Prepping should give you peace of mind, not a constant anxiety attack. Don’t let the barrage of terrifying headlines send you spiraling into fear. We don’t make good decisions when we’re fearful. Awareness and fear are two entirely different things.
Workable survival plans aren’t big. They aren’t grandiose, national-level movements. They’re small. They are community-oriented at the largest and family-oriented at the smallest. Definitely pay attention to the world around you because you need to be aware of important signs and signals.
But focus your energy on your small circles. Change and enhance the things that are within your power.
How can you work in small circles? Read this, share this, and let’s all take a step back and think about the things we CAN do. Where will you focus your energy and efforts?
PREPPING
- Stock up on food.
- Become more physically fit.
- Put back some additional fuel.
- Buy that Big Berkey you’ve had your eye on.
- Improve your medical kit.
- Enhance your skills. Go shooting, learn to can, learn about hunting and foraging. There are many skills that would be useful in a bad situation that you can learn and practice right now.
- Seek practical information about dealing with a wide variety of potential disasters.
- Work on your relationships with those around you.
- Be aware – your situational awareness is your early warning system. Get your face out of your phone and pay attention to what’s happening around you. Here’s a great cautionary tale on situational awareness.
- NEWS
- FRUGALITY
- ABOUT
- MEDIA
- BOOKS
- FORUM
- SHOP
Whatever your main concern is, I have bad news and good news.
First, the bad news. There’s not a darn thing you personally can do to prevent the things above from occurring. We are little fish in a big sea full of wealthy predators who are the ones that can actually cause change on those levels.
Now the good news. What we can change are our immediate environments. If you are expending a great deal of energy and emotion, focus it on the things that you can change. These (combined with luck) are the things that will have the biggest effect on whether you live or die.
It’s incredibly important to stay informed. But you can’t wallow in it and rail at it to the exclusion of taking common-sense steps.
We need to know what the potential threats are so that we can be prepared for them. We must be aware of what’s going on in the world instead of blithely keeping up with the Kardashians or some other nonsense.
I get my news from a wide variety of websites and generally find the truth lies somewhere in the middle if there’s any truth at all.
I’m writing it because I see so many people utterly panicking over things beyond their control. We, the ordinary, everyday people, cannot prevent whoever is president, whether it’s Obama or Trump or Bush, from droning the daylights out of a country with nuclear capabilities. We can make our opinions known because sometimes a public outcry works. But we can neither prevent nor insist upon these events.
There’s good news, though.
The thing is, you do have power. You have the power to cause a change in your smaller circles. You can help your community to become better prepared because on smaller levels, in smaller circles, our voices do count for a whole lot more.
And if you aren’t interested in even going that big, you can dial it down to the smallest of circles. Your family, your friends, and your immediate neighbors. People always think that their prepping community has to be a group of self-proclaimed preppers with supplies stacked up to the rooftops.
But that isn’t the case.
There are all sorts of ways to build small circles. You can build communities in all sorts of ways. From your mail carrier to your neighbor who has laying hens to your other neighbor with the enviable 6-foot tall tomato plants, all of these folks could be valuable friends to have. You can meet with a group of ladies and knit or help a neighbor erect a shed in his backyard with an old-fashioned “barn-raising.”
You build your community by being a decent human being, by helping when you can, and by looking out for one another.
Obviously not all of us have neighbors we’d trust when battening down the hatches and in those situations, we could be better off to be with family members.
Earlier this winter, Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign was rocked by scandal, and not all of it was tied to him.
As NewsTarget reported, while Joe Biden was serving as Obama’s vice president, he was given the ‘assignment’ of being “point man” for Ukraine at a time when Russian aggression was overtaking the country and Kiev was turning to Washington for help. It wasn’t an unreasonable request. Under the terms of the Budapest Memorandum, signed in December 1994, the U.S. and Great Britain agreed to provide security assurances to Ukraine in exchange for that country surrendering nuclear weapons left on its territory after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The weapons were returned to Russia. But in 2014, Russian forces “annexed” the Crimea and began providing military assistance to “rebels” and “separatists” in eastern Ukraine. In response, the Obama administration sent Joe Biden and a loan guarantee of $1 billion so the country could arm itself. Only, the VP brought along the money with one condition: Kiev’s government was required to fire a prosecutor looking into corruption involving a company in which his son, Hunter, served as a board member (at tens of thousands of dollars per month).
It was a ‘quid pro quo’ in the classic sense. The prosecutor was fired, Kiev got the money, and the Bidens managed to exploit a country that was under attack for their own personal gain. This is the prototypical deal that the offspring of high-ranking American government officials usually get, as former first daughter Chelsea Clinton knows.
As reported by The Hill: Chelsea Clinton has reaped $9 million in compensation since 2011 for serving on the board of an internet investment company, according to Barron’s, the financial publication. Barron’s reported Sunday that Clinton has profited handsomely as a board member for IAC/InterActiveCorp, a media and internet investment company that has an ownership stake in 150 well-known brands, such as Vimeo, Tinder, Angie’s List and Home Advisor.
Clinton — daughter of former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has served on IAC’s board since 2011. She receives an annual retainer fee of $50,000 and $250,000 worth of restricted IAC stock. This kind of stuff is why Trump won At the end of December, she reported owning $8.95 million worth of the company’s stock to the Securities and Exchange Commission. This isn’t the only sweet deal Chelsea Clinton has managed to land.
According to the UK Daily Mail, Clinton made $300,000 for attending just a half-dozen meetings as an IAC board member in 2018 — a company that is run by Barry Diller, who is a family friend of the Clintons. The board position follows her brief career as a special correspondent for NBC, from November 2011 through August 2014. For that, she was paid well — $600,000 per year, though she had no prior media experience and no journalism training or education. In truth, it’s these kinds of deals that not only enrich the children of powerful American politicians, but their parents as well.
The Clintons themselves benefited from their positions to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, much of it laundered through a “foundation” that, after Hillary lost to President Trump, suddenly started downsizing and laying off people.
And according to presidential lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who has been probing Biden corruption now for months, the former VP and his son. “The constants here are: Joe becomes point man. Joe fails in his mission to the U.S. In Iraq, he can’t get a status of forces agreement,” Giuliani told talk host Dan Bongino this week. “In Ukraine, he can’t do a damn thing about corruption except contribute to it…But in each case, the Biden crime family made millions and millions of dollars. To me, it’s a racketeering case, a RICO case.” Sources include: TheNationalSentinel.com NewsTarget.com TheHill.com DailyMail.co.uk
Under the proposed plan, a lawful immigrant holding a visa could be passed over for getting permanent residency — a green card — if they use Medicaid, a subsidized Obamacare plan, food stamps, tax credits or a list of other non-cash government benefits, according to a draft of the plan published by The Washington Post.
BBC hits Trump for “dangerous rhetoric” for pointing out that “Christians are being murdered in Nigeria”
What is so complicated about the conflict in Nigeria? “It is a widely touted refrain that the conflict between farmers and herdsmen constitutes a ‘genocide against Christians’. It is hard to support this claim with any fact: there have been many killings on both sides in this conflict.”
Source: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2018/05/bbc-hits-trump-for-dangerous-rhetoric-for-pointing-out-that-christians-are-being-murdered-in-nigeria
BREAKING: North Korea releases U.S. detainees, bows to another Trump demand
The three Americans — Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim — were released from a North Korean labor camp and sent to Pyongyang for medical treatment, the Financial Times reported.
Source: http://dennismichaellynch.com/breaking-north-korea-releases-u-s-detainees-bows-to-another-trump-demand/?newsletter_uid=2764&newsletter_date=05%2F02%2F18
US Starts Processing Asylum Seekers Slammed by Trump
Caravan organizers said eight members of the group criticized by President Donald Trump that traveled from southern Mexico to the border city of Tijuana were allowed in to be interviewed by asylum officers, but U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not provide a number.
About 140 others were still waiting in Mexico to turn themselves in at San Diego's San Ysidro border crossing, the nation's busiest, said Alex Mensing, project organizer for Pueblo Sin Fronteras, which is leading the caravan.
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/migrant-caravan-immigration-asylum-seeker/2018/05/01/id/857655/?ns_mail_uid=829404&ns_mail_job=1791108_05012018&s=al&dkt_nbr=010502axgtix
Obama: My Plan Makes Electricity Rates Skyrocket
Barack Obama: “Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.” (January 2008)
Read more: http://freedomoutpost.com/2012/08/obama-my-plan-makes-electricity-rates-skyrocket-2/#ixzz2DeRdBBpm
Read more at http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2012/03/05/Obamas-Energy-Plan-Costs-Rise-Jobs-Decline.aspx#cmV1otVdfFHsmicE.99
A new report from Robert Bryce of the Manhattan Institute details the harm done by the fanciful quest for clean energy at any price. Mr. Bryce has studied the impact of so-called “renewable portfolio standards” (RPS) – the kind of directive that Mr. Obama wants to set for the entire nation -- on the 29 states that have adopted these required minimum mandates for “green” energy. He finds that forcing utilities to buy wind and solar energy drives up electricity costs and slows growth. Specifically, in the states adopting RPS, electricity costs were on average 32 percent higher than in states without such mandates. In coal-dependent states, the damage is even
worse; in the past decade, those regions have suffered a 54 percent hike in
electricity costs.
In his 2011 State of the Union address, President Obama called for a
renewable portfolio standard for the entire country – 80 percent to come from clean energy by 2035. Can our country afford to ladle sharply higher power costs on citizens and businesses? Those pushing these demands are clueless. They have not been required to produce cost-benefit analyses of these shifts to clean energy. In other words, we are flying blind even as we are well on our way to a country-wide mandate. Today, Bryce says, some two-thirds of the country’s population is impacted by these green mandates. As the policy spreads, the damage will grow.
Read more at http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2012/03/05/Obamas-Energy-Plan-Costs-Rise-Jobs-Decline.aspx#cmV1otVdfFHsmicE.99
Why Is Damning New Evidence About Monsanto's Most Widely Used Herbicide Being Silenced?
April 27, 2011 Dr. Don Huber did not seek fame when he quietly penned a confidential letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in January of this year, warning Vilsack of preliminary evidence of a microscopic organism that appears in high concentrations in genetically modified Roundup Ready corn and soybeans and "appears to significantly impact the health of plants, animals and probably human beings." Huber, a retired Purdue University professor of plant pathology and U.S. Army colonel, requested the USDA's help in researching the matter and suggested Vilsack wait until the research was concluded before deregulating Roundup Ready alfalfa. But about a month after it was sent, the letter was leaked, soon becoming an internet phenomenon.
Huber was unavailable to respond to media inquiries in the weeks following the leak, and thus unable to defend himself when several colleagues from Purdue publicly claiming to refute his accusations about Monsanto's widely used herbicide Roundup (glyphosate) and Roundup Ready crops. When his letter was finally acknowledged by the mainstream media, it was with titles like "Scientists Question Claims in Biotech Letter," noting that the letter's popularity on the internet "has raised concern among scientists that the public will believe his unsupported claim is true."
Now, Huber has finally spoken out, both in a second letter, sent to "a wide number of individuals worldwide" to explain and back up his claims from his first letter, and in interviews. While his first letter described research that was not yet complete or published, his second letter cited much more evidence about glyphosate and genetically engineered crops based on studies that have already been published in peer-reviewed journals.
PLEASE READ THE REST OF THIS VERY IMPORTANT ARTICLE!!!
http://www.alternet.org/story/150733/why_is_damning_new_evidence_about_monsanto%27s_most_widely_used_herbicide_being_silenced/?page=1
U.S. Counterinsurgency Manual Leaked
Calls for False Flag Operations, Suspension of Human Rights
Published on 04-12-2008
Editor’s note: Most of the tactics described below are now being implemented and used in the United States against the American people.
Wikileaks has released a sensitive 219 page US military counterinsurgency manual. The manual, Foreign Internal Defense Tactics Techniques and Procedures for Special Forces (1994, 2004), may be critically described as “what we learned about running death squads and propping up corrupt government in Latin America and how to apply it to other places”. Its contents are both history defining for Latin America and, given the continued role of US Special Forces in the suppression of insurgencies, including in Iraq and Afghanistan, history making.
The leaked manual, which has been verified with military sources, is the official US Special Forces doctrine for Foreign Internal Defense or FID.
FID operations are designed to prop up a “friendly” government facing a popular revolution or guerilla insurgency. FID interventions are often covert or quasi-covert due to the unpopular nature of the governments being supported (”In formulating a realistic policy for the use of advisors, the commander must carefully gauge the psychological climate of the HN [Host Nation] and the United States.”)
The manual directly advocates training paramilitaries, pervasive surveillance, censorship, press control and restrictions on labor unions & political parties. It directly advocates warrantless searches, detainment without charge and (under varying circumstances) the suspension of habeas corpus. It directly advocates employing terrorists or prosecuting individuals for terrorism who are not terrorists, running false flag operations and concealing human rights abuses from journalists. And it repeatedly advocates the use of subterfuge and “psychological operations” (propaganda) to make these and other “population & resource control” measures more palatable.
State fines fat workers
Government tells employees to slim down or pay monthly fee
Obese workers in Alabama are facing a state-imposed ultimatum: Lose the fat or pay a monthly fine.
Health insurance for the state's 37,527 employees is currently free, and it will continue to be for healthy workers. However, obese people will be forced to pay $25 a month for the same insurance if they don't lose the weight by 2010, the Associated Press reported.
Alabama is the first state to penalize workers for obesity. Some other states give workers added incentives to shed pounds and stay healthy.
The state turned to solving the Deep South obesity rate after successfully reducing the number of workers who smoke. It fined them until many kicked the habit.
According to the report, the State Employees' Insurance Board agreed on a plan to make workers pay fees if they don't submit to free health screenings.
If results from the screenings indicate medical concerns such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose or obesity, employees will be given one year to visit a doctor for free, begin wellness programs or show progress toward improving their health. If workers fail to comply, they will be charged the extra fee for health insurance.
State worker Robert Wagstaff serves on the insurance board. He said Alabama wants employees to take better care of themselves.
"We are trying to get individuals to become more aware of their health," he told the AP.
However, some state employees believe the fee is a form of discrimination.
Not all state employees see it that way.
"It's terrible," Chequla Motley said. "Some people come into this world big."
Computer technician Tim Colley has already been hit with a $24 monthly fee for smoking. He said he disagrees with the state's method of combating obesity.
"It's too Big Brotherish," he said
Birthright Citizenship and Dual Citizenship
BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP
…the policy whereby the children of illegal aliens born within the geographical limits of the United States are entitled to American citizenship - is a great magnet for illegal immigration. Many believe that this policy is an explicit command of the Constitution, consistent with the British common law system. But this is simply not true.
The framers of the Constitution were, of course, well-versed in the British common law, having learned its essential principles from William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England. As such, they knew that the very concept of citizenship was unknown in British common law. Blackstone speaks only of "birthright subjectship" or "birthright allegiance," never using the terms citizen or citizenship. The idea of birthright subjectship is derived from feudal law. It is the relation of master and servant; all who are born within the protection of the king owe perpetual allegiance as a "debt of gratitude." According to Blackstone, this debt is "intrinsic" and "cannot be forefeited, cancelled, or altered." Birthright subjectship under the common law is thus the doctrine of perpetual allegiance.
America’s Founders rejected this doctrine. The Declaration of Independence, after all, solemnly proclaims that "the good People of these Colonies. . . are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved." According to Blackstone, the common law regards such an act as "high treason." So the common law - the feudal doctrine of perpetual allegiance - could not possibly serve as the ground of American (i.e., republican) citizenship. Indeed, the idea is too preposterous to entertain!
James Wilson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a member of the Constitutional Convention as well as a Supreme Court Justice, captured the essence of the matter when he remarked: "Under the Constitution of the United States there are citizens, but no subjects." The transformation of subjects into citizens was the work of the Declaration and the Constitution. Both are premised on the idea that citizenship is based on the consent of the governed - not the accident of birth.
Who is a Citizen?
Citizenship, of course, does not exist by nature; it is created by law, and the identification of citizens has always been considered an essential aspect of sovereignty. After all, the founders of a new nation are not born citizens of the new nation they create. Indeed, this is true of all citizens of a new nation - they are not born into it, but rather become citizens by law.
Although the Constitution of 1787 mentioned citizens, it did not define citizenship. It was in 1868 that a definition of citizenship entered the Constitution, with the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. Here is the familiar language: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." Thus there are two components to American citizenship: birth or naturalization in the U.S. and being subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. We have somehow come today to believe that anyone born within the geographical limits of the U.S. is automatically subject to its jurisdiction. But this renders the jurisdiction clause utterly superfluous and without force. If this had been the intention of the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment, presumably they would simply have said that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are thereby citizens.
Indeed, during debate over the amendment, Senator Jacob Howard of Ohio, the author of the citizenship clause, attempted to assure skeptical colleagues that the new language was not intended to make Indians citizens of the U.S. Indians, Howard conceded, were born within the nation’s geographical limits; but he steadfastly maintained that they were not subject to its jurisdiction because they owed allegiance to their tribes. Senator Lyman Trumbull, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, rose to support his colleague, arguing that "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" meant "not owing allegiance to anybody else and being subject to the complete jurisdiction of the United States." Jurisdiction understood as allegiance, Senator Howard interjected, excludes not only Indians but "persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, [or] who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers." Thus "subject to the jurisdiction" does not simply mean, as is commonly thought today, subject to American laws or American courts. It means owing exclusive political allegiance to the U.S.
Consider as well that in 1868, the year the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified, Congress passed the Expatriation Act. This act permitted American citizens to renounce their allegiance and alienate their citizenship. This piece of legislation was supported by Senator Howard and other leading architects of the Fourteenth Amendment, and characterized the right of expatriation as "a natural and inherent right of all people, indispensable to the enjoyment of the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Like the idea of citizenship, this right of expatriation is wholly incompatible with the common law understanding of perpetual allegiance and subjectship. One member of the House expressed the general sense of the Congress when he proclaimed: "The old feudal doctrine stated by Blackstone and adopted as part of the common law of England . . . is not only at war with the theory of our institutions, but is equally at war with every principle of justice and of sound public policy." The common law established what was characterized as an "indefensible doctrine of indefeasible allegiance," a feudal doctrine wholly at odds with republican government.
In sum, this legacy of feudalism - which we today call birthright citizenship - was decisively rejected as the ground of American citizenship by the Fourteenth Amendment and the Expatriation Act of 1868. It is absurd, then, to believe that the Fourteenth Amendment confers the boon of American citizenship on the children of illegal aliens. Nor does the denial of birthright citizenship visit the sins of the parents on the children, as is often claimed, since the children of illegal aliens born in the U.S. are not being denied anything to which they have a right. Their allegiance should follow that of their parents during their minority. Furthermore, it is difficult to fathom how those who defy American law can derive benefits for their children by their defiance_or that any sovereign nation would allow such a thing.
There is no Supreme Court decision squarely holding that children of illegal aliens are automatically citizens of the U.S. An 1898 decision, U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark, held by a vote of 5-4 that a child of legal resident aliens is entitled to birthright citizenship. The Wong Kim Ark decision, however, was based on the mistaken premise that the Fourteenth Amendment adopted the common law system of birthright citizenship. The majority opinion did not explain how subjects were miraculously transformed into citizens within the common law. Justice Gray, writing the majority decision, merely stipulated that "citizen" and "subject" were convertible terms - as if there were no difference between feudal monarchy and republicanism. Indeed, Chief Justice Fuller wrote a powerful dissent in the case arguing that the idea of birthright subjectship had been repealed by the American Revolution and the principles of the Declaration.
The constitutional grounds for the majority opinion in Wong Kim Ark are tendentious and it could easily be overturned. This would, of course, require a proper understanding of the foundations of American citizenship, and whether the current Supreme Court is capable of such is open to conjecture. But in any case, to say that children of legal aliens are entitled to citizenship is one thing; after all, their parents are in the country with the permission of the U.S. It is entirely different with illegal aliens, who are here without permission. Thus repeal of the current policy of birthright citizenship for the children of illegal aliens would not require a constitutional amendment.
We have seen that the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment unanimously agreed that Indians were not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the U.S. Beginning in 1870, however, Congress began to pass legislation offering citizenship to Indians on a tribe by tribe basis. Finally, in 1923, there was a universal offer to all tribes. Any Indian who consented could become an American citizen. This citizenship was based on reciprocal consent: an offer on the part of the U.S. and acceptance on the part of an individual. Thus Congress used its legislative powers under the Fourteenth Amendment to determine who was within the jurisdiction of the U.S. It could make a similar determination today, based on this legislative precedent, that children born in the U.S. to illegal aliens are not subject to American jurisdiction. A constitutional amendment is no more required now than it was in 1923.
Dual Citizenship and Decline
The same kind of confusion that has led us to accept birthright citizenship for the children of illegal aliens has led us to tolerate dual citizenship. We recall that the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment specified that those who are naturalized must owe exclusive allegiance to the U.S. to be included within its jurisdiction. And the citizenship oath taken today still requires a pledge of such allegiance. But in practice dual citizenship - and dual allegiance - is allowed. This is a sign of the decline of American citizenship and of America as a nation-state.
It is remarkable that 85 percent of all immigrants arriving in the U.S. come from countries that allow - and encourage - dual citizenship. Dual citizens, of course, give the sending countries a unique political presence in the U.S., and many countries use their dual citizens to promote their own interests by exerting pressure on American policy makers. Such foreign meddling in our internal political affairs has in fact become quite routine. Thus we have created a situation where a newly naturalized citizen can swear exclusive allegiance to the U.S. while retaining allegiance to a vicious despotism or a theocratic tyranny.
Elite liberal opinion has for many years considered the sovereign nation-state as an historical anachronism in an increasingly globalized world. We are assured that human dignity adheres to the individual and does not require the mediation of the nation-state. In this new universe of international norms, demands on the part of the nation-state to exclusive allegiance or for assimilation violate "universal personhood." In such a universe, citizenship will become superfluous or even dangerous.
Those who advocate open borders tend to share this cosmopolitan view of transnational citizenship. Illegal immigrants, they say, are merely seeking to support their families and improve their lives. Borders, according to them, should not stand in the way of "family values" - those universal "values" that refuse to recognize the importance or relevance of mere political boundaries. Somehow, for those who hold these views, political exclusivity and the requirement of exclusive allegiance are opposed to these universal "values" if not to human decency itself.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon was in California recently pushing for more liberal immigration policies. He assured his fellow citizens who reside in the U.S. that he is "actively working to defend their human rights." "No matter their immigration status," Calderon said, "they are human beings with dignity and rights that should be respected. We are working, with the full effort of the [Mexican] government, to bring a halt to the campaigns that harass migrants." However much Calderon may be worried about the human rights of his fellow citizens, he is fully cognizant of the fact that Mexico’s economy depends on the remittances of its citizens working abroad. These remittances have become Mexico’s second largest source of revenue, trailing only its rapidly declining oil revenues. It is far easier - and politically safer - for Mexico to export its poverty than to reform its own political and economic system.
We must constantly remind ourselves, however, of the historical fact that constitutional democracy has existed only in the nation-state, and that the demise of the nation-state will almost certainly mean the demise of constitutional democracy. No one believes that the European Union or similar organizations will ever produce constitutional government. Indeed, the EU is well on its way to becoming an administrative tyranny. Nor would the homogeneous world-state - the EU on a global scale - be a constitutional democracy; it would be the administration of "universal personhood" without the inconvenience of having to rely on the consent of the governed. The doctrine of birthright citizenship and the acceptance of dual citizenship are signs that we in the U.S. are on the verge of reinstituting feudalism and replacing citizenship with the master-servant relationship. The continued vitality of the nation-state and of constitutional government depends on the continued vitality of citizenship, which carries with it exclusive allegiance to what the Declaration calls a "separate and equal" nation. Unless we recover an understanding of the foundations of citizenship, we will find ourselves in a world where there are subjects but no citizens.
World Court urges U.S. to halt Mexicans' executions
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- The U.N.'s highest court on Wednesday ordered U.S. authorities to do everything in their power to halt the executions of five Mexicans on death row in Texas until their cases are reviewed.
The Bush administration has said the World Court does not have jurisdiction in the case. The ruling followed hastily convened hearings last month at which Mexico argued that the United States is defying a 2004 order by the International Court of Justice to review the cases of 51 Mexicans sentenced to death by state courts.
That order was based on the court's finding that the condemned prisoners had been denied the right to help from their consulate following their arrest.
When the executions were cleared to go ahead despite that ruling, Mexico turned again to the court last month and asked the judges to issue an emergency injunction to stop the schedule of killings.
The World Court agreed Wednesday that it would consider Mexico's case and sought to prevent the imminent execution of five of the Mexicans.
"There undoubtedly is urgency," said the court's president, Rosalyn Higgins.
Higgins said U.S. authorities should "take all measures necessary to ensure that [the five Mexicans] are not executed pending judgment on the request for interpretation."
Fluoride: Miracle drug or poisonous chemical?
Safety debate over public water treatments heats up with release of shocking new studies
Posted: May 05, 2008
9:20 pm Eastern
WorldNetDaily
*In Clearfield, Pa., the municipal authority asked the state Department of Environmental Protection for permission to stop adding fluoride to its water. But before city officials got an answer, they got a lawsuit threat from the Pennsylvania Dental Association, which promised not only an injunction against any plans to stop adding the chemical to drinking supplies but litigation against the individual board members who approved the action. The city backed down and continues to fluoridate water.
*In Port Huron, Mich., officials are considering a halt to fluoridation that began in 1974, as residents have argued the treatment poses health risks to newborns and infants, those with thyroid conditions and others. Mayor Pro-Tem Jim Fisher said: "Fluoride is cumulative in your body. ... There's a fairly large body of scientists that believe it's not good for your health."
*In South Blount, Tenn., it's the opponents of fluoride who are threatening to sue city officials planning to introduce the chemical into water supplies. They cite new studies suggesting fluoride leads to brittle bones, cancer, kidney disease, neurological problems and other ailments, including lower IQs.
*In the Canadian community of Dryden, Ontario, residents voted against fluoridation of their water last month, ending a raging debate that has gone on for more than one year.
In Smithfield, Va., the fluoride problem is a little bit different. There the concern is too much naturally occurring fluoride in the town's supplies. The state's Department of Health has ordered those levels be reduced, but the state's Department of Environmental Quality is stopping action because the plan would draw too much water from a deep underground aquifer.
*In England, where most public drinking is not artificially fluoridated, Prime Minister Gordon Brown is pushing the practice by municipalities such as Southampton. Pushing back, however, is a strong effort by the country's Green Party, which says adding the chemical to water supplies removes the people's freedom to choose. Eric Hyland of the party said: "Fluoride is toxic waste. It is more toxic than lead and marginally less so than arsenic. This is what the government wants to put in your drinking water. It is illegal under the Poisons Act to administer poisonous or noxious substances to anyone, and the Green Party will continue to campaign against it."
*In the Canadian community of Drayton Valley in Alberta, where fluoride has been added to the tap water since the mid-1960s, the town council is considering backtracking. Last month, officials heard a presentation from water plant manager Bernie Berube, who urged them to abandon the process because of the inability to accurately measure amounts of fluoride in the water. He said it was a matter of health and safety for the community.
In Nebraska, the unicameral legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto of a bill mandating fluoridation of all water supplies serving 1,000 or more people, unless those communities hold referenda opting out before June 1, 2010. Communities like Chadron, which voted against fluoridation in 1978, would have to vote again before the new deadline to be eligible to maintain their fluoride-free status. Quebec City discontinued water fluoridation treatments last month.
*And in the Stuart, Fla., area, well owners are angry that they will be prohibited from using their own private wells in favor of the fluoridated water supplied by the city.
Federal prosecutor: Being an 'illegal' not a crime
Christie: Immigrants are not criminals
by Julie O'Connor/The Star-Ledger
Sunday April 27, 2008, 10:51 PM
Immigrants and their advocates today found an unlikely ally: the top law enforcement officer in New Jersey.
U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie surprised many at a Dover church public forum when he said sneaking into the United States is not a criminal act.
"Being in this country without proper documentation is not a crime," Christie told more than 60 residents and town officials. "The whole phrase of 'illegal immigrant' connotes that the person, by just being here, is committing a crime."
Being undocumented may be a civil wrong, but it's not a criminal act, Christie said.
"Don't let people make you believe that that's a crime that the U.S. Attorney's Office should be doing something about," he added of entering the country illegally. "It is not."
After touching on the usual topics of his corruption-busting career and battles against gang violence, Christie fielded questions -- mostly on immigration issues -- from Morris County residents and community leaders in an open forum that at times grew heated.
The U.S. attorney had been invited by the local chapter of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey, a statewide group formed to empower Latinos to obtain political, economic and social equity, and hosted by the First United Methodist Church of Dover.
While Christie told the audience it doesn't take a "genius" to see there's a "serious immigration problem" in this country, he stressed an undocumented immigrant is not a criminal unless that person re-enters the country after being deported.
Rather, the state's top federal prosecutor called the problem of undocumented immigration "an administrative matter" that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is supposed to address.
"If there are people out there committing crimes, they should be dealt with," Christie said. "If there are undocumented people running around, then Immigration and Customs Enforcement should do their jobs."
The food crisis begins to bite
Rioting in Haiti. Rationing in America. Queues in Egypt. Protests in Afghanistan. As the price of food continues to soar, the impact is being felt by people around the globe
By Jerome Taylor and Andrew Buncombe
Friday, 25 April 2008
CHINA
The roaring economy and an ever expanding middle class have had a particularly profound effect on food prices, particularly rice and wheat. Because of industrialisation, rice planting fell from 33 million hectares in 1983 to 29 million by 2006 and China now imports more than ever, placing a major strain on international supplies. Despite freezing prices, rampant inflation means the cost of food has risen by 21 per cent this year.
USA
In a land where supposedly the rich are thin and the poor are overweight, one of the largest cash and carry stores, Sam's Club, announced this week it would limit customers to take home a maximum of four bags of rice. The move came a day after Costco Wholesale Corp, the biggest US warehouse-club operator, limited bulk rice purchases in some stores and warned that customers had begun stockpiling certain goods.
NORTH KOREA
Even during times of relative stability, North Korea has shown itself to be inept at feeding its population. During the 1990s a famine caused by poor harvests killed an estimated two to three million people. On Wednesday the World Food Programme warned that the country could again be plunged into famine because of the spiralling cost of rice and there was an estimated shortfall of 1.6 million tons of rice and wheat.
EGYPT
Up to 50 million Egyptians rely on subsidised bread and this year Cairo has estimated it will cost $2.5bn. But with the price of wheat rocketing in the past year there are fears the country has plunged into a "bread crisis". Queues are now double the length they were a year ago. Inflation hit 12.1 per cent in February with prices for dairy goods up 20 per cent and cooking oils 40 per cent
VENEZUELA
Latin American countries were some of the first nations to voice their concern at rising wheat prices, particularly after thousands of people in Mexico took to the streets at the beginning of 2007 to take part in the so-called "Tortilla Protests". This week the presidents of Bolivia, Nicaragua and Cuba's vice-president flew to Caracas to announce a joint $100m scheme to combat the impact of rising food prices on the region's poor.
BRAZIL
On Wednesday Brazil became the latest major rice producer to temporarily suspend exports because of soaring costs and domestic shortages. In recent weeks Latin American countries and African nations have asked for up to 500,000 tons of rice from Brazil which will now not be delivered. Brazil's agricultural ministry has said it has to ensure that the country has at least enough rice reserves to last the next six to eight months.
IVORY COAST
Some of the worst instability resulting from high food prices has been felt in West Africa. One person was killed and dozens were injured last month as riots tore through Ivory Coast after the prices of meat and wheat increased by 50 per cent within a week. Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo was forced to cut taxes to halt the disorder. Violent protests have also broken out in Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Senegal.
AFGHANISTAN
There have been street protests about the soaring cost of food in a country almost entirely reliant on imports of wheat. Already utterly impoverished, the plight of Afghans has worsened because Pakistan has cut its regular flour supply. The government has sought to assure citizens that there is sufficient food and has set aside $50m for additional imports. The price of wheat has risen by around 60 per cent in the last year.
THAILAND
The price of rice in the world's largest exporter rose to $1,000 a ton yesterday and experts warned that it will continue to rise. This is because of the massive demand from the Philippines which is struggling to secure supplies after India and several other producers halted exports. The government has said it can meet the export requests. Indonesia has said it is withholding purchases for a year because prices are so high.
EAST AFRICA
Hundreds of thousands of poor Africans in Uganda and Sudan are to lose out on a vital source of food after one of the world's largest humanitarian organisations said it was cutting aid to 1.5m people. Dave Toycen, president of World Vision Canada, blamed soaring costs and countries failing to live up to aid commitments for the fact that the number of people the charity can help will fall by almost a quarter.
INDIA
The country as added to the problems facing many countries in the region by halting its export of rice, except for its premium basmati product. This has left countries normally reliant on Indian exports, such as the Philippines, searching for alternative supplies. India has more than half of the world's hungriest people and its priority is to safeguard domestic supply. But it too has watched as the cost of food has soared, not just rice but cooking oil, pulses and even vegetables. India has this year forecast a record grain harvest but experts warned farm productivity will have to rise much faster if the nation is to feed its 1.1bn people and avoid a food security crisis. Around two-thirds of India's population are dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods but agriculture is growing much more slowly than the overall economy.
HAITI
The poorest country in the Western hemisphere has seen a three to four-fold increase in the number of so-called boat people trying to leave because of food shortages. Already gripped by wretched poverty, the food crisis triggered riots that led to the death of six people. Haiti's wretched food security situation is a result of "liberalisation measures" forced on the country after former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was returned to power.
THE PHILIPPINES
The government has been desperately trying to secure alternative sources of rice to counteract the decision of a number of nations to halt rice exports. The country's National Food Authority, which handles rice imports for the government, has now said it plans to increase imports 42 per cent to 2.7m tons this year. This could cost $1.3bn if it does not increase the price of the subsidised rice it is selling to people. But the Philippines is responsible for producing 85 per cent of its own food and international experts believe the country will handle this crisis. The government has also been encouraging consumers and even fast food restaurants to be more frugal and be careful not to waste food. The government is confident it will be able to source sufficient supplies from Vietnam and Thailand.
EUROPE
Less vulnerable to food price fluctuations than emerging nations, but food prices across Europe have nonetheless increased. In Britain wholesale prices of food have increased by 7.4 per cent over the past 12 months, roughly three times the headline rate of inflation. According to the government's own statistics grocery bills have gone up by an average of £750 over the same period, the equivalent of a 12 per cent rise.
Cutoffs and Pleas for Aid Rise With Heat Costs
ERIK ECKHOLM
The New York Times
April 25, 2008
After struggling with soaring heating costs through the winter, millions of Americans are behind on electric and gas bills, and a record number of families could face energy shut-offs over the next two months, according to state energy officials and utilities around the country.
The escalating costs of heating oil, propane and kerosene, most commonly used in the Northeast, have posed the greatest burdens, officials say, but natural gas and electricity prices have also climbed at a time when low-end incomes are stagnant and prices have also jumped for food and gasoline.
In New Hampshire, applicants for fuel subsidies under the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program received an average of $600 in a one-time grant and up to $975 for the extremely poor who rely on heating oil or propane, the costliest fuels. But those grants, which in recent years have covered 60 percent of heating costs, covered only about 35 percent of those costs this winter, said Celeste Lovett, director of the state’s energy aid program. The state will have given aid to about 34,500 people by the end of April, Ms. Lovett said, a 5 percent increase over last year and the highest number ever.
The most immediate challenge is to help the high number of consumers who are far behind in electric and gas payments, said Mark Wolfe, director of the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association, which represents state aid officials in Washington.
Read entire article
National "DNA Warehouse" bill passes
American citizens to become unwilling subjects of genetic research
CCHC calls on President Bush to Veto the Bill
April 19, 2008
12:10 am Eastern
By Bob Unruh
WorldNetDaily
Minneapolis/Saint Paul - Yesterday, in a voice vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to authorize the creation of a national DNA warehouse and broad-scale genetic research on the American public. S.1858, passed by the U.S. Senate last December, has been sent to the President for signing.
Twila Brase, president of CCHC makes the following statements:
"We are asking President Bush to veto this unethical, immoral, and unconstitutional bill. Congress has voted to strip citizens of genetic privacy rights and DNA property rights. The bill also violates research ethics and the Nuremberg Code.
"Soon, under this bill, the DNA of all citizens will be housed in government genomic biobanks and considered government property for government research. The DNA taken at birth from every citizen is essentially owned by the government, and every citizen becomes a potential subject of government-sponsored genetic research.
"The public is clueless. S. 1858 imposes a federal agenda of DNA databanking and population-wide genetic research. It does not require consent and there are no requirements to fully inform parents about the warehousing of their child's DNA for the purpose of genetic research. Already, in Minnesota, the state health department reports that 42,210 children of the 780,000 whose DNA is housed in the Minnesota "DNA warehouse" have been subjected to genetic research without their parent's knowledge or consent.
"President Bush should not sign this bill."
Nuclear Fueled Explosion Reported In US Midwest
By: Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers
April 18, 2008
Reports from 3rd Army Headquarters of the Russian Space Command, located in Solnechnogorsk (Moscow oblast), are reporting today that a ‘nuclear fueled’ explosion has occurred in the United States region of Illinois after the downing of an American B-52 Bomber by, presumed, other elements of the US Air Force operating in that region.
So powerful was the explosion reported from this downed American Nuclear Bomber that Western propaganda media sources are reporting the effects of a 5.2 to 5.4 magnitude earthquake in that region, but to which the most accurate description of a nuclear type blast was reported by the Bloomberg News Service and who stated in their article: "You could hear a roaring sound and the whole motel shook, waking up the guests,'' Vibha Ambelal, manager of the Super 8 Motel in Mount Carmel, Illinois, near the epicenter, said in a telephone interview."
These reports further state that this was the second attempt by a US B-52 Nuclear Bomber to penetrate the North American Command Air Defenses surrounding the dissident United States Scott Air Force Base, located in Illinois, from which these aircraft seeking to bomb Iranian atomic facilities are based.
On Tuesday, April 15th, American citizens to the Indiana region immediately east of Illinois reported numerous ‘booms’ and ‘flashes’ in their night skies which some attributed to fireball meteorites crashing into the atmosphere, but which the United States Air Force reported was caused by F-16 jet fighters ‘sonic booms’ and their use of ‘military flares’.
These reports, however, state that this April 15th incident turned back the first abortive attempt by dissident American Forces to secret their plundered nuclear weapons out of that country for their intended use against Iran.
The ‘trigger’ to these latest desperate attempts to embroil the World in Total War arose from the US Defense Secretaries ordering of a full accounting of all American Nuclear Weapons on March 28th after the discovery of that an unspecified number of them were ‘missing’.
The first attempt to use these ‘missing’ nuclear weapons against Iran we had previously reported on in our April 5th report titled "US Nuclear B-1 Bomber On Iran ‘Attack Run’ Shot Down" and which occurred in the Middle Eastern Nation of Qatar.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman further report that the American War Leaders were warned this past week by the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and by Pope Benedict XVI, both of whom traveled to the United States this week, against the attempts by the US to escalate their conflicts into another World War, but which by these latest events these War Leaders appear not to have listened to.
As we have previously reported, the United States believes it has no option other than Total World War as their economy continues imploding while at the same time fuel prices are rising to catastrophic levels and more food riots are being reported the World over, all of which when combined signal the collapse of the American Empire on a scale not seen in since the collapse of the former Soviet Union on June 12, 1990.
“Your safe haven must be self-sufficient and capable of growing some kind of food,” Mr. Biggs writes. “It should be well-stocked with seed, fertilizer, canned food, wine, medicine, clothes, etc. Think Swiss Family Robinson. Even in America and Europe there could be moments of riot and rebellion when law and order temporarily completely breaks down.”
How Far is the US From Food Shortages and Food Riots?
by Monica Davis ( davis4000_2000 [at] yahoo.com )
Saturday Apr 12th, 2008 2:37 PM
Even the United States is not immune from the potential for food shortages, food riots and food insecurity. We’re just blind to the possibility.
As Americans complain over high gasoline and food prices, many third world countries are experiencing food riots over price and scarcity of food. In some parts of the word rice is so expensive that it is transported in heavily guarded convoys and farmers guard their fields from thieves.
Food riots are becoming more common, as more land and crops are being diverted from the food chain by the world biofuels industry. According to an investment magazine, the crisis shows no signs of weakening. Food, the bread of life, is fast becoming the “gold” of the Twenty-first century.
Fatal food riots in Haiti. Violent food-price protests in Egypt and Ivory Coast. Rice so valuable it is transported in armoured convoys. Soldiers guarding fields and warehouses. Export bans to keep local populations from starving. (Globalinvestor.com)
The face of food security is rapidly changing around the world and there are no quick fixes experts say. What worries many is that food stockpiles are at historic lows. In the United States alone,
stockpiles of wheat hit a 60-year low in the United States as prices soared. Almost all other commodities, from rice and soybeans to sugar and corn, have posted triple-digit price increases in the past year or two. (Ibid)
Experts say the high prices will continue for years, putting billions of people at risk for malnutrition or starvation. World leaders continue to cast fearful eyes at the burgeoning bio-fuels industry, noting that the competition generated by the industrial biofuels industry and food agriculture is pushing up food prices and making it more profitable to grow fuel crops for industrialized countries than it is for big farmers in Third World countries to grow food for their own citizens.
What has put many world leaders on notice is the fact that this artificially generated food crisis has not yet peaked. As of this writing, no one knows when the situation will reach a crescendo, or to what extent this demand will affect food security and political stability in the world.
Many believe that the food crisis is in its infancy and they worry about increasing food-based political instability worldwide.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said this week he's worried that ethanol production is pushing up food prices everywhere, and he called for an urgent review of the issue. Economist Dr. Hazell has said that filling an SUV tank once with ethanol consumes more maize than the typical African eats in a year. (Ibid)
So far, Americans have been able to weather the storm. While rising fuel and food prices have generated grumbling from the populace and hand wringing from the politicians, this country has yet to experience the level of social unrest and rioting that high food prices have generated in other parts of the world.
In Haiti, ongoing instability and riots over food prices has led to the probable ousting of the nation’s Prime Minister. Newswires are reporting “A Haitian senator says that parliament has voted to dismiss Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis following deadly riots over rising food prices.” (Wire services)
A few analysts believe that the United States is on the verge of a major economic revolution, a process, which will change where we live, what we eat, and how we view agriculture. Looking at the rumbles from around the world we are already seeing wars over oil and energy resources, not to mention the violent eviction of traditional farmers in South America and other parts of the world by the industrialized bio-fuels industry.
READ ENTIRE ARTICLE
So far, Americans are mostly bystanders in the game, content to grumble at the gas pump and complain in the grocery aisles. As a “First World” nation, the United States so far has not been subject to the food riots, which we have seen in Haiti and other parts of the world. Americans have more per capita income than much of the world; hence the crisis of the Third World, so far, is inconvenience in the “First World” and in developed nations such as the United States.
That said, however, we must understand that this situation is not sustainable. While Americans do have more disposable income than the rest of the word, that income is not unlimited and our food supply is much more vulnerable than we think. When it comes to food security, both in terms of supply and accessibility, this country is much more vulnerable than we think.
As one retired grain salesman noted, most of the nation’s grain is moved around the country by just TWO railroads. Little is stored in the event of disaster and the whole system is extremely vulnerable. While we in the United States look at the food riots in other countries with a sense of disbelief, we are not immune. Under the right circumstances, we could be in the same boat. (Ibid)
In order for riots to break out the whole food supply doesn't have to be wiped out. It just has to be threatened sufficiently. When people realize their vulnerability and the fact that there is no short-term solution to a severe enough drought in the Midwest they will have no clue as to what they should do. Other nations can't make up the difference because no other nation has a surplus of grain in good times let alone in times when they are having droughts and floods also. (Robert Felix, “US Food Riots Much Closer than You Think”)
Critics say the US is currently too preoccupied with foreign excursions and oil to pay attention to food security, particularly how concentration of suppliers and processors threaten the food chain. The highly concentrated meat processing industry has generated millions of pounds of recalls this year. Outbreaks in e.coli and other food borne pathogens continue to haunt the headlines, as food prices rise around the world.
Even the United States is not immune from the potential for food shortages, food riots and food insecurity. We’re just blind to the possibility.
READ ENTIRE ARTICLE
Police Remove Olympic Torch Bearer On Orders Of Chinese Paramilitary
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
Friday, April 11, 2008
Communist Chinese-style political oppression came to San Francisco on Wednesday when police, acting on the orders of Chinese paramilitary cops, removed and shoved to the sidewalk an Olympic torch bearer for displaying a Tibetan flag, as the woman’s pleas that she had the right to free speech as an American citizen fell on deaf ears.
After seizing the Tibetan flag, the blue tracksuit-clad specially trained Chinese paramilitary police thugs who manhandled protesters in London made the torch bearer known to the San Francisco police were all too willing to do their dirty work for them.
Equally outrageous as Carter having her right to free speech violated is the fact that San Francisco police were following the orders of the Chinese paramilitary cops who turned her over to them in the first place. This is completely illegal and lawsuits need to be brought on the basis that the city allowed foreign cops to police Americans, which is completely unlawful unless a state of martial law has been announced. The people of San Francisco have a basic human right to know whether or not their city is operating under martial law.
Cops Beat Peaceful Tibetan Protesters IN AMERICA
Unbelievable video of beatings outside UN building
Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Disgusting video footage of New York cops clubbing and arresting peaceful Tibetan protesters who were merely walking down the street has gone relatively ignored beyond Youtube.
While stories emerge out of China every day of police beating and killing Tibetan protestors in the streets, the same sort of behavior by cops in America tells its own story.
The footage was shot at a free Tibet peaceful assembly in New York on the 14th of March.
It shows the protestors holding flags and signs and peacefully walking down the street towards the UN building in the Turtle Bay neighborhood only to be accosted by police officers with batons.
One officer identified as "Delgado" is seen in the video pushing people as the group crosses the street.
Another officer, identified as "Serano" is caught threatening to kill two protesters as the cameraman passes. He later admits to the threat and apologizes for it.
Shoppers’ fear shakes U.S. economy
ANNE D ‘INNOCENZIO
Associated Press
April 7, 2008
The gloomiest outlook for the economy in 35 years may be forcing Americans to live with what they have and save up for what they want.
Lynda Nicely has been living in a sparsely furnished rental apartment in a Milwaukee suburb since October while she saves enough money for furniture at a second-hand store. And when temperatures soar this summer, she plans to buy a fan, not an air-conditioner.
“I am a little rattled, ” said the 28-year-old resident of West Allis, who took a second job as a waitress and plans to hoard three months worth of emergency cash just in case she loses her primary job in public relations.
A growing number of anxious people across all income segments are shopping at less-expensive stores, reacquainting themselves with the library, paying down credit-card debt and cutting back on new clothes and cars, vacations and meals out.
Read entire article
Why food prices will go through the roof in coming months
F. William Engdahl
Online Journal
April 5, 2008
A deadly fungus, known as Ug99, which kills wheat, has likely spread to Pakistan from Africa, according to reports. If true, that threatens the vital Asian Bread Basket including the Punjab region.
The spread of the deadly virus, stem rust, against which an effective fungicide does not exist, comes as world grain stocks reach the lowest in four decades and government subsidized bio-ethanol production, especially in the USA, Brazil and EU are taking land out of food production at alarming rates. The deadly fungus is being used by Monsanto and the US Government to spread patented GMO seeds.
Stem rust is the worst of three rusts that afflict wheat plants. The fungus grows primarily in the stems, plugging the vascular system so carbohydrates can’t get from the leaves to the grain, which shrivels. Ug99 is a race of stem rust that blocks the vascular tissues in cereal grains including wheat, oats and barley. Unlike other rusts that may reduce crop yields, Ug99-infected plants may suffer up to 100 percent loss.
Company 'gives away' U.S. Southwest to Mexico
Vodka ad shows 'Absolut world' in which California, Arizona, others secede
Posted: April 03, 2008
5:16 pm Eastern
WorldNetDaily.com
A new ad for Absolut vodka reconfigures North America according to the aspirations of many Mexicans, who believe the U.S. Southwest was stolen and should be returned.
Over a redrawn map of the U.S., the ad by the Absolut Spirits Co. declares, "In an Absolut World," noted columnist and blogger Michelle Malkin.
Major Hispanic civil rights groups in the U.S., such as the National Council of La Raza, are tied to movements advocating a "reconquista," or reconquest, of territory lost when Mexico signed the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo at the end of the Mexican-American War.
As WND reported in 2006, Rep. Charles Norwood, R-Ga., called on La Raza to renounce its support of the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan – which sees "The Race" as part of an ethnic group that one day will reclaim Aztlan, the mythical birthplace of the Aztecs. In Chicano folklore, Aztlan includes California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and parts of Colorado and Texas.
In 2002, a prominent Chicano activist and University of California at Riverside professor, Armando Navarro, told WND he believed secession is inevitable if demographic and social trends continue.
"If in 50 years most of our people are subordinated, powerless, exploited and impoverished, then I will say to you that there are all kinds of possibilities for movements to develop like the ones that we've witnessed in the last few years all over the world, from Yugoslavia to Chechnya," Navarro said.
"A secessionist movement is not something that you can put away and say it is never going to happen in the United States," he contended. "Time and history change."
Navarro said one could argue "that while Mexico lost the war in 1848, it will probably win it in the 21st century, in terms of the numbers," "But that is not a reality based on what Mexico does, it's based on what this country does," he insisted.
In a 1995 speech to Chicano activists, Navarro said demographic trends are leading to "a transfer of power" to the ethnic Mexican community in the Southwest. He notes that most studies show that within the next 20 to 30 years Latinos will comprise more than 50 percent of the population of California. This fact, and other cultural and social developments, are opening the door for "self-determination" and even "the idea of an Aztlan," he said in his speech.
'Silent' famine sweeps globe
Rice, fertilizer shortages, food costs, higher energy prices equal world crisis
Posted: April 01, 2008
8:59 pm Eastern
WorldNetDaily
WASHINGTON – From India to Africa to North Korea to Pakistan and even in New York City, higher grain prices, fertilizer shortages and rising energy costs are combining to spell hunger for millions in what is being characterized as a global "silent famine."
Global food prices, based on United Nations records, rose 35 percent in the last year, escalating a trend that began in 2002. Since then, prices have risen 65 percent.
Last year, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's world food index, dairy prices rose nearly 80 percent and grain 42 percent.
"This is the new face of hunger," said Josetta Sheeran, director of the World Food Program, launching an appeal for an extra $500 million so it could continue supplying food aid to 73 million hungry people this year. "People are simply being priced out of food markets. ... We have never before had a situation where aggressive rises in food prices keep pricing our operations out of our reach."
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Global food prices are even hitting home in New York City, according to a report in the Daily News. Food pantries and soup kitchens in the city are desperately low on staples for the area's poor and homeless.
The Food Bank for New York City, which supplies food to 1,000 agencies and 1.3 million people, calls it the worst problem since its founding 25 years ago.
Last year, the Food Bank received 17 million pounds of food through the Emergency Food Assistance Program, less than half of the 35 million pounds it received in 2002. And donations from individuals and corporations are also down about 50 percent, according to the report.
High gas prices, increased food production costs and a move to foreign production of American food are contributing to the problem.
Surging costs of groceries hit home
Published on Monday, March 10, 2008.
Source: Boston Globe American families, already pinched by soaring energy costs, are taking another big hit to household budgets as food prices increase at the fastest rate since 1990. After nearly two decades of low food inflation, prices for staples such as bread, milk, eggs, and flour are rising sharply, surging in the past year at double-digit rates, according to the Labor Department. Milk prices, for example, increased 26 percent over the year. Egg prices jumped 40 percent.
Escalating food costs could present a greater problem than soaring oil prices for the national economy because the average household spends three times as much for food as for gasoline. Food accounts for about 13 percent of household spending compared with about 4 percent for gas.
Rising food prices can be particularly corrosive to consumer confidence because people are so frequently exposed to the cost increases. "It's the biggest risk we face economically, and it might be the thing that does us in," said Rich Yamarone, director of economic research at Argus Research Corp. in New York. "There's nothing really worse than having a job, making money, and forking most of it over just so you can have the same amount of food. You're running in place, and it really weighs on you."
As with energy, higher food costs cut into discretionary income that buys everything from cars to computers to movie tickets and drives the consumer-based US economy. Falling home values and a faltering stock market have battered consumer confidence, spurring a retrenchment in spending that is contributing to recent job losses and pulling the economy toward recession.
Many analysts expect consumers to keep paying more for food. Wholesale food prices, an indicator of where supermarket prices are headed, rose last month at the fastest rate since 2003, with egg prices jumping 60 percent from a year ago, pasta products 30 percent, and fruits and vegetables 20 percent, according to the Labor Department.
"No retailer can absorb cost increases indefinitely," said Laura Sen, president of BJ's Wholesale Club, the Natick chain of discount warehouse stores. "Given what we are seeing, all retail channels need to raise prices, and from our observations, are doing so."
Amy Brnger, 43, of Portsmouth, N.H., just needs to look at her grocery receipts. For a long time, feeding her family of three used to cost around $125 a week. Suddenly this winter, her bill leaped to about $200.
Quickly, Brnger, a school counselor and mother of a 9-year-old daughter, looked for ways to save. She buys fewer organic products, which can cost twice as much as conventional goods. Instead of buying chicken breasts, she buys whole chickens and cuts them into parts, saving about $2 a pound. She buys dried beans, instead of canned. And she is baking her own bread.
"I can't believe a loaf of bread is like $4," she said. "I'm just being a lot more conscious of buying things."
Several factors contribute to higher food prices, analysts say, but none more than record prices for oil, which last week closed above $105 a barrel. Oil is not only driving up production and transportation costs, but also adding to demand for corn and soybeans, used to make alternative fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.
FEMA DEATH CAMPS AND THE RED AND BLUE LIST UNDER MARTIAL LAW
Pam Schuffert
02/23/2008 12:48:16 12/16/2007 22:32:31
While I have no doubt that the NWO-cravers at the CIA have their own list of people to round up and terminate, the actual proper agency behind the now-infamous "RED/BLUE LISTS" is none other than "FEMA BLACK OPS." FEMA is NOT here to primarily HELP YOU.
Under a full state of MARTIAL LAW, FEMA is here to send you to their DETENTION CAMPS to sort out WHO SHALL live AND WHO SHALL DIE. Those unfortunates whose names are found among the MILLIONS OF FELLOW AMERICANS on FEMA RED / BLUE LISTS will never come out of the FEMA CAMPS alive, although they may have to go through hell before they are finally terminated. Such "offenders" are essentially deemed RESISTERS OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER, as my CIA and military insiders told me personally. "Oh, ALL OF US in the CIA know ALL ABOUT the concentration camps in America and their purpose! We ALL KNOW that their purpose is to TERMINATE 'RESISTERS OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER' UNDER MARTIAL LAW!" (Source-Michael Maholy, 20 years Naval Intelligence/CIA under BUSH SR)
For example, THE FEMA DEATH CAMP OF THE MOJAVE is a full gassing/cremating DEATH CAMP, dedicated to the TERMINATION OF ALL ON FEMA'S RED/BLUE LIST UNDER MARTIAL LAW. I have previously documented this horrific death camp, and documented the eyewitness accounts of several former NWO supporters who were flown out there.
My friends, DOC MARQUIS (Illuminati) and ELAINE KNOST (CIA/Luciferian), formerly high level Illuminati Luciferians but now Christians for many years, were both flown separately to this facility in the Mojave Desert of California. It boasts a landing strip. According to another contact, a DEA agent who personally investigated this FEMA facility, it was recently DOUBLED IN SIZE TO INCREASE KILLING CAPACITY. It is fully staffed. All staff members WEAR BLACK SWAT TEAM UNIFORMS. When I asked Doc Marquis what his sentiments were, back when he was a member of the Illuminati and given a tour of this killing facility, his reply was, "SHEER JOY! I REJOICED at the thought of CHRISTIANS BEING TERMINATED IN THIS PLACE!" A chilling response, but typical of this nation's Satanists and NWO supporters!
This FEMA death camp was shown off as something the NWO and FEMA was literally PROUD OF!!! And there are MANY more FEMA detention camps whose ultimate purpose under MARTIAL LAW is NOT TO SAVE LIFE, but to TERMINATE HUMAN LIVES DEEMED UNWORTHY OF ENTERING INTO THE DAWNING OF LUCIFER'S NEW WORLD ORDER. KNOW THE COLD HARD FACTS ABOUT FEMA! And then think TWICE before going meekly to such camps under a STATE OF MARTIAL LAW in YOUR region.
RED AND BLUE LIST
We are all on a Red or Blue list somewhere, those on the red list will be woken at 4am and taken to the camps and probably killed.
Red List - These people are the enemies of the NWO. They are the leaders of patriot groups, outspoken ministers, outspoken talk show hosts, community leaders, and even probably NET leaders. These people will be dragged out of their homes at 4:00 am and will be taken to FEMA detention centers and killed. This will take place approximately 2 weeks before martial law is enforced.
Blue List - these are also enemies of the NWO, but are followers of the Red List folks. These people will be rounded up after martial law is in place, and will be taken to the detention centers and 're-educated'. Various mind-control techniques will used on them. Most will not survive this. Mr. Springmeier was not specific on exactly who was on the Blue List, but I would guess that people such as you and I are on that list.
Yellow List - these are citizens who know nothing about the NWO and don't want to know. They are considered to be no threat at all and will be instructed as to how to behave and will most likely do whatever they are told. Unfortunately there are too many of these to be effectively controlled, so many will be killed or starved.
Mr. Sea elaborates on the 'RED and BLUE Lists' and what they mean. Mr. Sea is a former inspector for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Department of Defense.
The RED List is for pick-up and execution before unobtrusive preparations for martial law are initiated. The BLUE List is also for execution, but later, within 6 weeks of martial law declaration. When you get picked up on a RED pick-up, they'll take you from your home at night, probably around 4 am and put you in a black van, then drive you to a helicopter waiting to fly you to an intermediate point. There, you'll be loaded onto a big 64-passenger CH-47 Chinook helicopter and fly you to one of 38 cities where you'll board a 747, 737, or 727. You may be taken straight to a red camp and executed. At some point, martial law will be declared.
Martial law is when the writ of Habeas Corpus to have a trial by jury is suspended. Instead, of going to the judge, you go straight to jail. At this point, the BLUE listed people will be picked up. At that time, the country will be regionalized into ten regions, which are already designated by FEMA.
The black choppers have state-of-the-art radio (RF) frequency wideband jammers, and can jam cell phones and CBs while they're executing black operations missions. This means that your cell phone could be jammed just before and/or during any action against you.
In June of 1996, an FBI agent got hold of the Region Three BLUE List (from a CIA agent), and found his own name on it, and those of several others he knew in Virginia. The Regional BLUE List stated that the names on the BLUE List would be picked up 'within six weeks of the actual martial law declaration.'
It will work if the 300,000 Soviet troops - which are ALREADY HERE - can get the guns. The ones doing all of this are operating out of the highest places in the Federal Government. They're cooperating with spirit guides and mediums and using astrology and numerology. The spirit guides are telling them what to do, and the entire thing is being orchestrated at the highest spiritual levels. Every base has been covered. They've thought of everything. They often do things on the13th of the month. Mr. Clinton does a lot of things on the 13th.
On September 13, 1993, the Satanic Oslo Israel-PLO 'peace' accord was signed. Amos 3:7 says that God doesn't do anything without first revealing His secrets to His servants the prophets. God is giving His people warnings. If we'll listen to God, He is warning us of the times that are coming. We need to prepare. There will be an interim of probably just days from the time they launch the RED List, to the declaration of martial law, when they'll start coming after those on the BLUE List. It's the same blueprint being used because it's the same spirit leading the Fourth Reich as led the Third Reich.
In Germany, they used trains, here it will be helicopters and 747s. They are now in the process of villainizing Christians, Patriots, Constitutionalists, and outspoken talk-show hosts, HERE IN AMERIKKKA! Who will be doing the actual picking up? Foreign UN cops, probably Muslims or communists. Over 30 foreign military bases under the United Nations flag are already set up in the USA .
These bases are already manned with over ONE MILLION troops from Russia, Poland, Germany, Belgium, Turkey, Great Britain, Nicaragua, and Asian countries. They will have no qualms about firing on U.S. citizens. There are Russian tanks, military trucks and chemical warfare vehicles outside Gulfport, Mississippi. Hello? That was hit by Katrina in 2005. Anyone see heavy military equipment and foreign troops near San Francisco? The Illuminati plan way ahead! There's not going to be some future event when the invading troops are going to show up. They're already here. When martial law is implemented, these foreign U.N. troops will be policing our country, carrying out the plans of the New World Order.
God is warning His people. There isn't much time before these events begin to take place. God's people need to prepare themselves in every way possible. It's not a time for fear. It's a time for prayer, preparation and sharing our faith with a lost world.
North American Army created without OK by Congress
U.S., Canada military ink deal to fight domestic emergencies
Posted: February 24, 2008
1:45 pm Eastern By Jerome R. Corsi
In a ceremony that received virtually no attention in the American media, the United States and Canada signed a military agreement Feb. 14 allowing the armed forces from one nation to support the armed forces of the other nation during a domestic civil emergency, even one that does not involve a cross-border crisis.
The agreement, defined as a Civil Assistance Plan, was not submitted to Congress for approval, nor did Congress pass any law or treaty specifically authorizing this military agreement to combine the operations of the armed forces of the United States and Canada in the event of a wide range of domestic civil disturbances ranging from violent storms, to health epidemics, to civil riots or terrorist attacks.
In Canada, the agreement paving the way for the militaries of the U.S. and Canada to cross each other's borders to fight domestic emergencies was not announced either by the Harper government or the Canadian military, prompting sharp protest.
"It's kind of a trend when it comes to issues of Canada-U.S. relations and contentious issues like military integration," Stuart Trew, a researcher with the Council of Canadians told the Canwest News Service. "We see that this government is reluctant to disclose information to Canadians that is readily available on American and Mexican websites."
The military Civil Assistance Plan can be seen as a further incremental step being taken toward creating a North American armed forces available to be deployed in domestic North American emergency situations.
The agreement was signed at U.S. Army North headquarters, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, by U.S. Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, commander of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command, or USNORTHCOM, and by Canadian Air Force Lt. Gen. Marc Dumais, commander of Canada Command.
"This document is a unique, bilateral military plan to align our respective national military plans to respond quickly to the other nation's requests for military support of civil authorities," Renuart said in a statement published on the USNORTHCOM website.
"In discussing the new bilateral Civil Assistance Plan established by USNORTHCOM and Canada Command, Renuart stressed, "Unity of effort during bilateral support for civil support operations such as floods, forest fires, hurricanes, earthquakes and effects of a terrorist attack, in order to save lives, prevent human suffering an mitigate damage to property, is of the highest importance, and we need to be able to have forces that are flexible and adaptive to support rapid decision-making in a collaborative environment."
Lt. Gen. Dumais seconded Renuart's sentiments, stating, "The signing of this plan is an important symbol of the already strong working relationship between Canada Command and U.S. Northern Command."
"Our commands were created by our respective governments to respond to the defense and security challenges of the twenty-first century," he stressed, "and we both realize that these and other challenges are best met through cooperation between friends."
FDIC to add staff as bank failures loom
Published on Tuesday, February 26, 2008
WASHINGTON -- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is taking steps to brace for an increase in failed financial institutions as the nation's housing and credit markets continue to worsen.
The FDIC is looking to bring back 25 retirees from its division of resolutions and receiverships. Many of these agency veterans likely worked for the FDIC during the late 1980s and early 1990s, when more than 1,000 financial institutions failed amid the savings-and-loan crisis.
FDIC spokesman Andrew Gray said the agency was looking to bulk up "for preparedness purposes." The division now has 223 employees, mostly based in Dallas.
The agency, which insures accounts at more than 8,000 financial institutions, is also seeking to hire an outside firm that would help manage mortgages and other assets at insolvent banks, according to a newspaper advertisement.
In public, policy makers are debating what role the government should play in trying to stabilize the housing market and minimize foreclosures. Meanwhile, regulators have worked discreetly behind the scenes to closely monitor the growing number of troubled banks and thrifts considered at risk.
"Regulators are bracing for well over 100 bank failures in the next 12 to 24 months, with concentrations in Rust Belt states like Michigan and Ohio, and the states that are suffering severe housing-market problems like California, Florida, and Georgia," said Jaret Seiberg, Washington policy analyst for financial-services firm Stanford Group.
In job postings on its Web site, the FDIC said it is looking for people with "skill in performing duties associated with a financial-institution closing, such as receivership management, resolutions and/or asset disposition; knowledge of the resolutions process as it relates to complex financial institutions." Such positions would require "very frequent overnight travel," the posting said, and would pay up to $180,770.
"The notion of bringing back some people who have been through it before is very smart," said William Isaac, who was FDIC chairman from 1981 until 1985. All told, the FDIC has roughly 4,600 employees, far fewer than the about 15,000 it had as recently as 1992.
On Sunday the FDIC ran a newspaper ad seeking companies that could service commercial loans, mortgages and student loans in the event of a bank failure. It didn't say how much a company could earn in this area.
The FDIC rated 65 banks and thrifts as "problem" institutions at the end of the third quarter of 2007, up from 47 institutions a year earlier. Both figures are low by historical standards. At the end of 1993, there were 572 "problem" banks and thrifts. The FDIC is expected to update its data on "problem" institutions today.
Feds admit vaccine 'aggravated' autism
Critics: Ruling major concession after years of government denials
Posted: February 28, 2008
6:43 pm Eastern
WorldNetDaily The federal government continues to deny a link between vaccines and autism, but the U.S. Court of Federal Claims has ruled in favor of a child alleged to have regressed into autism as a result of vaccinations.
Several of the vaccinations included the controversial mercury-based preservative thimerosal, points out the National Autism Association, which sees the ruling as confirmation of the claims of many parents.
"This case echoes the stories of thousands of children across the country," said NAA President Wendy Fournier. "With almost 5,000 similar cases pending in vaccine court, we are confident that this is just the first of many that will confirm what we have believed for so long – vaccines can and do cause children to regress into autism."
Fournier called on the Centers for Disease Control "to acknowledge that the current vaccine schedule is not safe for every child and as with the administration of any medicine, individual risks and susceptibilities must be considered for each patient."
The government's unprecedented concession – filed Nov. 9 and sealed to protect the plaintiff's identity – was obtained through individuals unrelated to the case, said David Kirby, author of "Evidence of Harm: Mercury in Vaccines and The Autism Epidemic, A Medical Controversy."
The concession was made by U.S. Assistant Attorney General Peter Keisler and other Justice Department officials on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services, the defendant in all vaccine court cases.
A CDC panel, meanwhile, voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend flu shots for all school-age children. The move would compel private insurers to cover the costs and require the CDC to make the vaccine available to anyone who can't afford it.
The NAA criticized the CDC decision, noting thimerosal is still found in flu shots recommended for children and pregnant women.
Thimerosal in vaccines is suspected of causing brain damage and weakening the immune system, making some children susceptible later to infection from measles, mumps and rubella shots.
Judge orders homeschoolers into government education
Court: Family's religious beliefs 'no evidence' of 1st Amendment violation
Posted: February 29, 2008
By Bob Unruh
A California court has ruled that several children in one homeschool family must be enrolled in a public school or "legally qualified" private school, and must attend, sending ripples of shock into the nation's homeschooling advocates as the family reviews its options for appeal.
The ruling came in a case brought against Jonathan and Mary Long over the education being provided to two of their eight children. They are considering an appeal to the state Supreme Court, because they have homeschooled all of their children, the oldest now 29, because of various anti-Christian influences in California's public schools.
The decision from the 2nd Appellate Court in Los Angeles granted a special petition brought by lawyers appointed to represent the two youngest children after the family's homeschooling was brought to the attention of child advocates.
"We find no reason to strike down the Legislature's evaluation of what constitutes an adequate education scheme sufficient to promote the 'general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence,'" the court said in the case. "We agree … 'the educational program of the State of California was designed to promote the general welfare of all the people and was not designed to accommodate the personal ideas of any individual in the field of education.'"
The words echo the ideas of officials from Germany, where homeschooling has been outlawed since 1938 under a law adopted when Adolf Hitler decided he wanted the state, and no one else, to control the minds of the nation's youth.
Wolfgang Drautz, consul general for the Federal Republic of Germany, has said "school teaches not only knowledge but also social conduct, encourages dialogue among people of different beliefs and cultures, and helps students to become responsible citizens."
Specifically, the appeals court said, the trial court had found that "keeping the children at home deprived them of situations where (1) they could interact with people outside the family, (2) there are people who could provide help if something is amiss in the children's lives, and (3) they could develop emotionally in a broader world than the parents' 'cloistered' setting."
The appeals ruling said California law requires "persons between the ages of six and 18" to be in school, "the public full-time day school," with exemptions being allowed for those in a "private full-time day school" or those "instructed by a tutor who holds a valid state teaching credential for the grade being taught."
The judges ruled in the case involving the Longs the family failed to demonstrate "that mother has a teaching credential such that the children can be said to be receiving an education from a credentialed tutor," and that their involvement and supervision by Sunland Christian School's independent study programs was of no value.
Nor did the family's religious beliefs matter to the court.
Their "sincerely held religious beliefs" are "not the quality of evidence that permits us to say that application of California's compulsory public school education law to them violates their First Amendment rights."
"Such sparse representations are too easily asserted by any parent who wishes to homeschool his or her child," the court concluded.
The father, Jonathan Long, said the family is working on ways to appeal to the state Supreme Court, because he won't allow the pro-homosexual, pro-bisexual, pro-transgender agenda of California's public schools, on which WND previously has reported, to indoctrinate his children.
"We just don't want them teaching our children," he told WND. "They teach things that are totally contrary to what we believe. They put questions in our children's minds we don't feel they're ready for.
"When they are much more mature, they can deal with these issues, alternative lifestyles, and such, or whether they came from primordial slop. At the present time it's my job to teach them the correct way of thinking," he said.
"We're going to appeal. We have to. I don't want to put my children in a public school system that teaches ideologies I don't believe in," he said.
A spokesman for the Home School Legal Defense Association, one of the world's premiere homeschooling advocacy organizations, said the group's experts were analyzing the impact of the decision.
"It's a very unfortunate decision," he said.
Randy Thomasson, of Campaign for Families and Children, said under California law parents have the legal right to create a private school in their home and enroll their own children.
"Children belong to the parents, not to the state," he said. But he acknowledged that there's a great deal of misinformation about the status of homeschooling in California.
"For years the government school establishment has been lying to parents about the law. Just this week, a Los Angeles Unified school district employee lied to a mother who wanted to homeschool, telling her you must have a license, you must be credentialed and you must follow all the state curriculum. That's three lies in one sentence."
"Now we have judges going crazy and actively separating children from their parents."
A legal outline for parents' homeschool rights in California, published by Family Protection Ministries, confirmed Thomasson's description.
Pharmaceuticals lurking in U.S. drinking water
AP probe found traces of meds in water supplies of 41 million Americans
By Jeff Donn, Martha Mendoza and Justin Pritchard
A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.
To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their water is safe.
But the presence of so many prescription drugs — and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen — in so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health.
From California to New Jersey
In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas — from Southern California to Northern New Jersey, from Detroit to Louisville, Ky.
Water providers rarely disclose results of pharmaceutical screenings, unless pressed, the AP found. For example, the head of a group representing major California suppliers said the public “doesn’t know how to interpret the information” and might be unduly alarmed.
How do the drugs get into the water?
People take pills. Their bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it passes through and is flushed down the toilet. The wastewater is treated before it is discharged into reservoirs, rivers or lakes. Then, some of the water is cleansed again at drinking water treatment plants and piped to consumers. But most treatments do not remove all drug residue.