Fukushima radiation detected 400 miles away in Pacific Ocean at levels 1,000 times higher than previous readings

From: Natural News

by Ethan A Huff

2-25-2012

Source

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster is far from over, as new reports explains that water samples taken nearly 400 miles off the coast of Japan in the Pacific Ocean are showing radiation levels of up to 1,000 times higher than previous readings. Presenting their findings at the recent Ocean Sciences Meeting in Salt Lake City, Ut., scientists continued to claim these severely elevated radiation levels are not a significant health or environmental threat.

Back in June 2011, a ship carrying scientists traveled off the eastern coast of Japan collecting water samples at distances of roughly 20 miles to 400 miles from the coast. Upon analysis, these samples were found to contain elevated levels of cesium-137 at ten to 1,000 times higher than levels detected before the Fukushima disaster, which is highly alarming.

Included in the detections was the presence of radioactive silver, which is an obvious product of melted control rods at the nuclear facility. The mainstream media is claiming that this silver is simply a result of nuclear fission, but the reality of the situation is that this silver is evidence of a complete core meltdown at the facility, which is obviously having widespread repercussions.

Meanwhile, Hartmut Nies, an official from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), insists that all this radiation is not that big of a deal. He even went so far at the recent meeting to claim that "if it was not seawater, you could drink it without any problems," a completely absurd position that has no grounding in science.

As part of their misinformation campaign, IAEA officials and others compared the radioactive cesium and silver to the naturally-occurring, elemental potassium-40 found in seawater. This natural potassium, of course, is much different than the radioactive elements being emitted from Fukushima, as sea creatures have developed a natural tolerance for potassium-40.

Even those falsely claiming that all this radiation is completely harmless to humans are at least admitting that the findings are indicative that the Fukushima nuclear facility is still leaking radiation into the environment. Marine chemist Ken Buesseler, for instance, who recently said radioactive seafood is safe and that he would eat it, told Fish Info & Services that the reactor "still seems to be leaking," and that it "hasn't shut off completely."

Sources for this article include:

http://www.cbsnews.com

http://enenews.com

http://www.cnn.com

http://www.fis.com

Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/035065_Fukushima_radiation_Pacific_Ocean.html#ixzz1nRZqbl4e

The Fall of Communism in Virginia

From: The Ludwig von Mises Institute

by Murray N. Rothbard

2-25-2012

In fact, the Virginia colony was not doing very well in drawing off England’s surplus poor. Besides transporting vagrants and criminals to Virginia, the London Company and the City of London agreed to transport poor children from London to Virginia. However, the poorest refused the proffered boon and the company moved to obtain warrants to force the children to migrate. It seemed, indeed, that the Virginia colony, failing also to return profits to the company investors, was becoming a failure on every count.

Captain John Smith read his absolute powers to the colonists once a week. “There are no more Councils to protect or curb my endeavors,” he thundered.

The survival of the Virginia colony hung, in fact, for years by a hair-breadth. The colonists were not accustomed to the labor required of a pioneer, and malaria decimated the settlers. Of the 104 colonists who reached Virginia in May 1607, only 30 were still alive by that fall, and a similar death rate prevailed among new arrivals for many years. As late as 1616, only 350 colonists remained of a grand total of over 1,600 immigrants.

One major reason for the survival of this distressed colony was the changes that the company agreed to make in its social structure. The bulk of the colonists had been under “indenture” contracts, and were in servitude to the company for seven years in exchange for passage money and maintenance during the period, and sometimes for the prospect of a little land at the end of their term of service. The contract was called an indenture because it was originally written in duplicate on a large sheet — the two halves separated by a jagged line called an “indent.” While it is true that the original contract was generally voluntary, it is also true that a free society does not enforce even temporary voluntary slave contracts, since it must allow for a person to be able to change his mind, and for the inalienability of a person’s control over his will and his body. While a man’s property is alienable and may be transferred from one person to another, a person’s will is not; the creditor in a free society may enforce the collection of payment for money he may have advanced (in this case, passage and maintenance money), but he may not continue to enforce slave labor, however temporary it may be. Furthermore, many of the indentures were compulsory and not voluntary — for example, those involving political prisoners, imprisoned debtors, and kidnapped children of the English lower classes. The children were kidnapped by professional “spirits” or “crimps” and sold to the colonists.

In the concrete conditions of the colony, slavery, as always, robbed the individual of his incentive to work and save, and thereby endangered the survival of the settlement. The new charter granted in 1609 by the Crown to the company (now called the Virginia Company) added to the incentives of the individual colonists by providing that every settler above the age of ten be given one share of stock in the company. At the end of seven years, each person was promised a grant of 100 acres of land, and a share of assets of the company in proportion to the shares of stock held. The new charter also granted the company more independence, and more responsibility to its stockholders, by providing that all vacancies in the governing Royal Council be filled by the company, which would thus eventually assume control. The charter of 1609 also stored up trouble for the future by adding wildly to the grant of land to the Virginia Company. The original charter had sensibly confined the grant to the coastal area (to 100 miles inland) — the extent of English sovereignty on the continent. But the 1609 charter grandiosely extended the Virginia Company “from sea to sea,” that is, westward to the Pacific. Furthermore, its wording was so vague as to make it unclear whether the extension was westward or northwestward — not an academic point, but a prolific source of conflict later on. The charter of 1612 added the island of Bermuda to the vast Virginia domain, but this was soon farmed out to a subsidiary corporation.

The incentives provided by the charter of 1609, however, were still only future promises. The colony was still being run on “communist” principles — each person contributed the fruit of his labor according to his ability to a common storehouse run by the company, and from this common store each received produce according to his need. And this was a communism not voluntarily contracted by the colonists themselves, but imposed upon them by their master, the Virginia Company, the receiver of the arbitrary land grant for the territory.

The result of this communism was what we might expect: each individual gained only a negligible amount of goods from his own exertions — since the fruit of all these went into the common store — and hence had little incentive to work, or to exercise initiative or ingenuity under the difficult conditions in Virginia. And this lack of incentive was doubly reinforced by the fact that the colonist was assured, regardless of how much or how well he worked, of an equal share of goods from the common store. Under such conditions, with the motor of incentive gone from each individual, even the menace of death and starvation for the group as a whole — and even a veritable reign of terror by the governors — could not provide the necessary spur for each particular man.

The communism was only an aspect of the harshness of the laws and the government suffered by the colony. Absolute power of life and death over the colonists was often held by one or two councillors of the company. Thus, Captain John Smith, the only surviving Royal Council member in the winter of 1609, read his absolute powers to the colonists once a week. “There are no more Councils to protect or curb my endeavors,” he thundered, and every violator of his decrees could “assuredly expect his due punishment.” Sir Thomas Gates, appointed governor of Virginia in 1609, was instructed by the company to “proceed by martial law … as of most dispatch and tenor and fittest for this government [of Virginia].” Accordingly, Gates established a code of military discipline over the colony in May 1610. The code ordered strict religious observance, among other things. Some 20 “crimes” were punishable by death, including such practices as trading with Indians without a license, killing cattle and poultry without a license, escape from the colony, and persistent refusal to attend church. One of the most heinous acts was apparently running away from this virtual prison to the supposedly savage Indian natives; captured runaway colonists were executed by hanging, shooting, burning, or being broken on the wheel. It is no wonder that Gates’s instructions took the precaution of providing him with a bodyguard to protect him from the wrath of his subjects; for, as the succeeding governor wrote in the following year, the colony was “full of mutiny and treasonable inhabitants.”

The directors of the Virginia Company decided, unfortunately, that the cure for the grave ailments of the colony was not less but even more discipline. Accordingly, they sent Sir Thomas Dale to be governor and ruler of the colony. Dale increased the severity of the laws in June 1611. Dale’s Laws — “the Laws Divine, Moral and Martial” — became justly notorious: They provided, for example, that every man and woman in the colony be forced to attend divine service (Anglican) twice a day or be severely punished. For the first absence, the culprit was to go without food; for the second, to be publicly whipped; and for the third, to be forced to work in the galleys for six months. This was not all. Every person was compelled to satisfy the Anglican minister of his religious soundness, and to place himself under the minister’s instructions; neglect of this duty was punished by public whipping each day of the neglect. No other offense was more criminal than any criticism of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England: torture and death were the lot of any who persisted in open criticism. This stringent repression reflected the growing movement in England, of Puritans and other Dissenters, to reform, or to win acceptance alongside, the established Church of England. Dale’s Laws also provided

That no man speak impiously … against the holy and blessed Trinity … or against the known Articles of the Christian faith, upon pain of death.…

That no man shall use any traitorous words against His Majesty’s person, or royal authority, upon pain of death.…

No man … shall dare to detract, slander, calumniate or utter unseemly speeches, either against Council or against Committees, Assistants … etc. First offense to be whipped three times; second offense to be sent to galleys; third offense — death.

Offenses such as obtaining food from the Indians, stealing food, and attempting to return to England were punishable by death and torture. Lesser offenses were punished by whipping or by slavery in irons for a number of years. Governor Dale’s major constructive act was to begin slightly the process of dissolution of communism in the Virginia colony; to stimulate individual self-interest, he granted three acres of land, and the fruits thereof, to each of the old settlers.

Dale’s successor, Captain Samuel Argall, a relative of Sir Thomas Smith, arrived in 1617, and found such increased laxity during the interim administration of Captain George Yeardley that he did not hesitate to reimpose Dale’s Laws. Argall ordered every person to go to church Sundays and holidays or suffer torture and “be a slave the week following.” He also imposed forced labor more severely.

Fortunately, for the success of the Virginia colony, the Virginia Company came into the hands of the Puritans in London. Sir Thomas Smith was ousted in 1619 and his post as treasurer of the company was assumed by Sir Edwin Sandys, a Puritan leader in the House of Commons who had prepared the draft of the amended charter of 1609. Sandys, one of the great leaders of the liberal dissent in Parliament, had helped to draw up the remonstrance against the conduct of James I in relation to the king’s first Parliament. Sir Edwin had urged that all prisoners have benefit of counsel; had advocated freedom of trade and opposed monopolies and feudalism; had favored religious toleration; and generally had espoused the grievances of the people against the Crown. For Virginia, Sandys wanted to abandon the single company plantation and to encourage private plantations, the ready acquisition of land, and speedy settlement.

The relatively liberal Puritans removed and attempted to arrest Argall, and sent Sir George Yeardley to Virginia as governor. Yeardley at once proceeded to reform the despotic laws of the colony. He substituted a much milder code in November 1618 (called by the colonists “The Great Charter”): everyone was still forced to attend Church of England services, but only twice each Sunday, and the penalty for absence was now reduced to the relatively innocuous three shillings for each offense. Yeardley also increased to 50 acres the allotment of land to each settler, thereby speeding the dissolution of communism, and also beginning the process of transferring land from the company to the individual settler who had occupied and worked it. Furthermore, land that had been promised to the settlers after a seven-year term was now allotted to them immediately.

The colonists themselves testified to the splendid effects of the Yeardley reforms, in a declaration of 1624. The reforms

gave such encouragement to every person here that all of them followed their particular labors with singular alacrity and industry, so that … within the space of three years, our country flourished with many new erected Plantations.… The plenty of these times likewise was such that all men generally were sufficiently furnished with corn, and many also had plenty of cattle, swine, poultry, and other good provisions to nourish them.

In his Great Charter, Yeardley also brought to the colonists the first representative institution in America. The governor established a General Assembly, which consisted of six councillors appointed by the company, and burgesses elected by the freemen of the colony. Two burgesses were to be elected from each of 11 “plantations”: 4 “general plantations,” denoting subsettlements that had been made in Virginia; and 7 private or “particular” plantations, also known as “hundreds.” The 4 general plantations, or subsettlements, each governed locally by its key town or “city,” were the City of Henrico, Charles City, James City (the capital), and the Borough of Kecoughtan, soon renamed Elizabeth City. The Assembly was to meet at least annually, make laws, and serve as the highest court of justice. The governor, however, had veto power over the Assembly, and the company’s edicts continued to be binding on the colony.

The first Assembly met at Jamestown on July 30, 1619, and it was this Assembly that ratified the repeal of Dale’s Laws and substituted the milder set. The introduction of representation thus went hand in hand with the new policy of liberalizing the laws; it was part and parcel of the relaxation of the previous company tyranny.

Here’s the Deal With Reporting Guidelines on Jeremy Lin From the Asian American Journalists Association

From: The Blaze

by Mike Opelka

2-25-2012

Source

The Jeremy Lin saga continues.

On Thursday, the Asian American Journalists Association posted something on their website that has confused many professionals in the media. It gave guidelines for journalists on how to cover Asians in the news, like New York Knicks star Jeremy Lin, and how to avoid pitfalls dealing with his race, like ESPN’s recent headline use of the phrase “chink in the chain.” As you read them, you might think this is a joke, but it’s not. And that’s why we contacted the AAJA and talked with them. It was an interesting conversation.

But more on that conversation later. First, let’s review the terms and topics considered to be “Danger Zones” by the AAJA when reporting on Mr. Lin or any other Asian sports figure.

By the way, the online posting was advertised with a tweet to all journalists:

But since the guidelines have driven so much traffic to  the AAJA’s website, its servers have crashed. Several attempts to access their web pages have resulted in this message appearing on my screen:

Fortunately, we captured the pages before the rules disappeared.

From the AAJA post:

DANGER ZONES

“CHINK”: Pejorative; do not use in a context involving an Asian person on someone who is Asian American. Extreme care is needed if using the well-trod phrase “chink in the armor”; be mindful that the context does not involve Asia, Asians or Asian Americans. (The appearance of this phrase with regard to Lin led AAJA MediaWatch to issue a statement to ESPN, which subsequentlydisciplined its employees.)

So the AAJA has deemed that “chink in the armor” is legitimate when used in any application that does not include Asia, Asians or Asian Americans? That seems to be confusing. And it should also be clarified that ESPN “disciplined” one employee and terminated another. The badly timed use of the term “chink in the armor” cost a man his job.

The rules continue:

DRIVING: This is part of the sport of basketball, but resist the temptation to refer to an “Asian who knows how to drive.”

As might be expected, comics are having a field day with this. Friday morning on SiriusXM satellite radio, Australian comedian Jim Jeffries wondered why a film called “White Men Can’t Jump” is okay, but any reference connecting Asians to bad driving is an offensive stereotype that must be avoided.

Here’s another:

EYE SHAPE: This is irrelevant. Do not make such references if discussing Lin’s vision.

I have to completely agree with this one:

FOOD: Is there a compelling reason to draw a connection between Lin and fortune cookies, takeout boxes or similar imagery? In the majority of news coverage, the answer will be no.

The deeper we get into the list of hot zones when reporting on Lin or any Asian athlete is now bordering on hog-tying the writers and reporters. And it is about to get worse. Read on:

MARTIAL ARTS: You’re writing about a basketball player. Don’t conflate his skills with judo, karate, tae kwon do, etc. Do not refer to Lin as “Grasshopper” or similar names associated with martial-arts stereotypes.

“ME LOVE YOU LIN TIME”: Avoid. This is a lazy pun on the athlete’s name and alludes to the broken English of a Hollywood caricature from the 1980s.

“YELLOW MAMBA”: This nickname that some have used for Lin plays off the “Black Mamba” nickname used by NBA star Kobe Bryant. It should be avoided. Asian immigrants in the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries were subjected to discriminatory treatment resulting from a fear of a “Yellow Peril” that was touted in the media, which led to legislation such as the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Like me, you might have been a little perplexed by the guidelines. So I reached out to the media watch group at AAJA and had an enlightening conversation with one of their co-chairs, Jam Sardar.

Sardar addressed my concerns and also was very clear on the topic of the termination of the ESPN headline writer, Anthony Federico. According to Sadar, “AAJA never asked for anyone to be fired.”

The letter sent from AAJA to ESPN opened like this:

Dear ESPN:

New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin had a bad night Friday. Regrettably, so did ESPN. Using “a chink in the armor” to describe Lin’s poor performance was inexcusable.

We at the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) find it hard to fathom how such and offensive headline appeared on your publishing platforms. The phrase was even spoken on-air.

We are glad ESPN has recognized its mistake, and we appreciate the quick apology for the transgression.

Note, the apology was appreciated, but not accepted.

During our telephone discussion, it was made clear by Mr. Sardar several times that AAJA is merely a group interested in making certain that reporting in all areas is free from racism and ethnic stereotyping. And that the published guidelines were just that, guidelines and not a mandate.

After reading the rules and speaking with Jam Sardar, I asked what the AAJA’s stance is on people like television personality and comedian Suzanne Whang? Who is Whang? She is the media personality who hosts HGTV’s highly-rated “House Hunters.”

Suzanne Whang refers to herself as "Little. Yellow. Different. Better."

Look at the top graphic on her website. Ms. Whang has refers to herself as “Little. Yellow. Different. Better.”

You may not recall it, but “Little. Yellow. Different. Better” is an homage to an ad campaign for the pain killer Nuprin.

This is a Nuprin commercial from 1987:

Popout

 Does the AAJA have a problem with Suzanne Whang’s website? Mr. Sardar was not aware of Ms. Whang and therefore had no knowledge of her website. He did stress that his organization was primarily focused on journalists and journalism. Therefore, this situation was really not his concern. He did say that quoting Suzanne’s depiction of herself was acceptable, but had we chosen to categorize her in that same manner, we would have crossed the line.

I asked if that might be considered a double standard along the lines of black people who think using the n-word is okay for black people and not for whites or others. Sardar reminded me that he was a media watcher for journalism and not entertainment. Again, he stated that it would be appropriate to quote Suzanne Whang’s description of herself, but should I be using the same terms to describe her, I would be considered in violation of their guidelines.

Interesting, indeed.

Author’s note — Full disclosure: I worked with Ms. Whang during my tenure at Fox TV. She is a brilliant, relentless woman with a wicked sense of humor and is also a fearless defender of her Asian heritage. Whang once delayed an entire production crew to try and convince the owners of a Florida restaurant named “Chinee-Takee-Outee” that the name of their establishment was racist.

Breaking News! New Algae Czar!

From: ZION'S TRUMPET 

by ZTW

2-25-2012

Batboy Named Algae Czar – CDN

Fresh off blowing hot air at the press about the dire need to move U.S. energy dependence from oil to algae, President Barack “Downgrade” Obama today took daring steps, naming Batboy as the nation’s first Algae Czar.

In his first official decree, Batboy, who has lived openly in public for 27 years as Congresscriminal Henry Waxman from California, announced the president will issue an executive order later today to create the Dental Algae Reclamation Project, to be funded by confiscated tax returns of the 1%.

. 

“Never before in our history has it been more important to explore alternative energy, what with vast deposits of natural gas that must remain in the earth in order to hasten the prophecy of Atlas Shrugged and the successful blocking of the Keystone XL pipeline to appease environmentalist voters in time for the 2012 election,” said WaxmanBatboy, who will continue to serve in Congress, since he doesn’t do anything there in the first place except try to take over the Internet so he can increase his bandwidth for viewing YouPorn videos of himself with The Wicked Witch of Congress.

The Dental Algae Reclamation Project will mandate that a lottery choose annual dental visits for all Americans, for the scraping of algae from their teeth. WaxmanBatboy said he and the 99% of Occupy Wall Street will be the first in line because they’ve “been storing enough algae in our mouths to fuel the nation for centuries.”

In other news, the Downgrade administration will also empanel a commission to study the efficacy of renewing the horse and buggy as the dominant mode of American transportation, how well fat liposuctioned from Michael Moore could provide fuel for gas lamps in 100 million American homes, and whether Obama darling and failed solar energy company Solyndra can use a new $535 million loan guarantee to convert the dead into food to offset the rising cost of grocery bills.

Solyndra Green is people!

From The Daley Gator at: http://thedaleygator.wordpress.com/

Why the medical establishment will never find a cause or cure for autism

From: Natural News

by Jonathan Benson

2-25-2012

Source

No matter how you look at it, autism research is big business. Just like the Susan G. Komen Foundation's "Race for the Cure" for breast cancer, the autism industry pretends to be looking for the causes of autism and how to cure it, when in reality it is on a never-ending hunt for money to fund so-called research into the bodily changes associated with autism in order to push more profit-generating screenings and drug therapies on the public.

The worldwide propaganda campaign that continues to repeat the lie that vaccines are in no way related to autism is one great example of the medical establishment covering up one of the most obvious causes of autism. Rather than actually investigate how the body responds to vaccines, and how these responses are clearly associated with the neurological damage that is part and parcel of autism symptoms, researchers continue to churn out studies that completely avoid any investigation of this or any other likely cause of autism.

Instead, the vast majority of autism studies, which happen to be funded mostly by the pharmaceutical industry, focus solely on the physical, genetic, and chemical changes that accompany the disease, and ignore trying to identify the causes that lead to these changes in the first place. This approach is deliberate, of course, because it facilitates the development of an endless cycle of drug and behavioral therapies for autism that never get to the root of the problem, which means they will forever generate a continuous stream of new profits.

"To find a disease cause and solution to prevent disease isn't profitable," says a recent article in Gaia Health that addresses this important issue. "However, to find even the most miniscule physical, genetic, or chemical change in someone with an existing disease means that even more money can be squeezed out of the research funders like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), agencies funded by taxpayers. Anything that leads away from causes and focuses on the physiochemical effects of autism always leads to more questions and more research funds."

The medical establishment seeks to destroy the lives, careers of researchers who actually try to identify causes of, and cures for, disease

On the rare occasion that an honest researcher comes along and tries to actually conduct legitimate research into the causes of autism, he or she is eventually cut off from the funding chain, and sometimes even maligned and slandered in the public eye by the medical and media establishment. This is precisely what has happened to Dr. Andrew Wakefield, whose honest research into one cause of autism led to an ongoing barrage of character and career assassination that continues to this very day (http://www.naturalnews.com/Andrew_Wakefield.html).

Be sure to take a look at the sample studies on autism analyzed by Gaia Health that show a clear disinterest by the medical establishment in actually finding causes of, or cures for, autism. These studies are clearly aimed at discovering and promoting new drug and vaccine protocols for treating autism symptoms, rather than actually trying to prevent it from developing in the first place:
http://gaia-health.com

Sources for this article include:

http://gaia-health.com

http://www.ageofautism.com/

Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/035057_autism_censored_cures.html#ixzz1nRSPVsB6

The Great Debate: How Ron Paul’s Presidency Will Reshape America

From: LewRockwell.com

by Allan Stevo

2-25-2012

Krummel Design.

America is a place where neighbors rarely speak openly about politics, and when they do, it is usually only to repeat media sound bites. An Obama / Paul race will change that. Two differing ideologies will Clash. One for greater individual freedom. The other for more government. This competition of ideas will not occur with other Republican candidates, since they are ideologically aligned with President Obama when it comes to the power of the individual over the power of the state. Inevitably, debates will take place between the two candidates. Discussions in the new media will take place on the candidates. And most importantly, neighbors will discuss these two ideologies with each other. Because the differences between them are so significant these two candidates will compel us to move beyond the media sound bites and really examine our beliefs about the idea of America and the direction we should take as a nation. We can make that debate happen.

Many proponents of the statist ideology will work hard to see to it that the champions of freedom are denied a candidate in the general election who expresses those viewpoints. As usual, America’s political class will try to limit debate so that only statist viewpoints are widely expressed and only candidates with statist viewpoints are included on the ballot in November. This year is very different. It is possible and likely that Ron Paul will win the Republican nomination and that great contest of ideas will take place. Instead of Americans being forced to choose between two statists of different flavors (“the lesser of two evils”), they will be able to decide between an advocate of statism and an advocate of freedom.

President Obama is very charismatic and energizes large groups of people with his charm. Congressman Paul, too, energizes large groups of people, but with his relentless pursuit of the truth and his insistence on communicating that truth. These two men will face off and provide America with two different choices for what the future holds. America will have the opportunity to decisively choose which of those paths take. Never in my life have I been able to experience America the way America will look come autumn of 2012 as economic conditions worsen and Americans look to two very different philosophies to explain the cause and correction of the nation’s problems.

It’s the Intellectual Revolution that Matters Most

Canadian philosopher John Ralston Saul informs us that election day is but a punctuation mark on the debates of society, a punctuation mark on the active participation of the citizenry. Historian Murray Rothbard points out that the American Revolution took place at least a decade prior to 1776. The shooting war from 1776 onward was but a bloody rebellion that came about because the British government refused to recognize that the colonies had forged a new society. What happens in the hearts and minds is what matters. While winning the election will be the goal of these two political campaigns, what all of us Americans should want above all else is to see this “Great Debate” when Paul and Obama run against each other. I fully expect that Paul will win the nomination, will go on to win the presidency, will make important policy changes, and will lead necessary legislative changes while in office, but it will be that discussion that will change history. However much he changes the face of government, inspiring this Great Debate will be Paul’s most significant impact on America.

When I speak of this Great Debate, I refer not to any specific debate or series of debates between the candidates. I refer instead to the necessary discussion of ideas that takes place between the two campaigns in this election, and especially to the discussion of ideas that will take place in the new media, among neighbors, and in many other forums when these two very different candidates square off.

Ron Paul and Barrack Obama are the Ideal Candidates

There are few people as qualified to represent the sides of the debate. Obama is the charismatic figurehead of the political establishment that calls for greater statism and corporatism. This establishment crosses party lines and includes the vast majority of federal politicians. He is the figurehead of what pollster Scott Rasmussen identifies as the American political class – a group of less than 10% of Americans who identify with the government on at least two of the following three questions:

1. Whose judgment do you trust more: that of the American people or American political leaders?
2. Has the federal government become its own special interest group?
3. Do government and big business often work together in ways that hurt consumers?

President Obama, a man whose time in office has aptly demonstrated his belief that the federal government can solve life’s problems by force of mandate, is qualified to represent the American political class in an election.

Ron Paul has spent approximately 40 years establishing himself as the most qualified person to represent freedom – he is well mannered, well read, knowledgeable of the workings of the halls of power, and an adherent to constitutional and pro-freedom values. He regularly finds himself in direct opposition to the ideas of the political class. He is unique among the Republican candidates in flatly speaking out against the statism and corporatism of the political establishment. It is imperative to that establishment that Paul not be allowed to win the presidency and nearly as important that his voice not even be heard. The political establishment does not want the American people to examine their beliefs, forced to think, forced to choose, forced to be exposed to a debate that is so powerful and expansive that neighbors and strangers will reach out to each other to discuss the issues of the day. The establishment is terrified by the potential of that debate. They realize that merely opening the channels of communication between friends and neighbors is enough to bring drastic and lasting change.

I know that debate will happen.

Both you and I know how important that debate is. After all, it’s the debates – the shifting intellectual environment – that made the American Revolution what it was. The act of taking up arms wasn’t the important part. Some piece of each one of us understands how important that debate is; that’s why we are active in the freedom movement. Let’s face it – both you and I have more relaxing and more comfortable things to do than win the day for Ron Paul. For example, instead of spending my time with the people I love the most, I am writing this to you. I am writing this book because I know that the small percentage of Americans who make up the political establishment can be overcome by the rest of the population. I write this because I know that you personally can so successfully appeal to the sense of reason of so many other Americans. Are we not better served by an Obama / Paul race in November than by another contest of Statist vs. Statist? Isn’t it good for the nation to debate the questions that will arise from these two very different candidates meeting? I’m suspect of anyone who doesn’t think that debate is a good idea.

‘Freedom Isn’t Free’ Gets Misused Often

I am active in the liberty movement, and I write this because I know the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. I imagine the reason that you are reading this right now is because you know the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. “Freedom isn’t free” is popularly used to explain why America should start wars around the world, and why those wars should be unquestioningly supported by the citizenry. However, “freedom isn’t free” more accurately is just a more concise way to say “the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” “Freedom isn’t free” means that we should always question, we should always challenge anyone who would limit our freedom. “Freedom isn’t free” comes down to a basic reality – only those who will force others to allow them to be free will actually be allowed to be free. Some may dislike the fact that freedom requires constant vigilance and struggle, but dislike of the truth does not make the truth any less true.

I believe, dear reader, you realize that freedom is costly; otherwise it’s unlikely that you’d spend your time reading about the arduous work of bringing greater freedom to America.

You are sacrificing by reading this. Instead of spending your time with the people you love most or engaging in a host of other more relaxing activities, you are giving me the chance to share my plan for making the Great Debate happen. Maybe better than referring to it as “sacrificing,” is pointing out that it is more of an investment. The work you and I put in today in the freedom movement may pay dividends today and may pay dividends for many years to come. Do the wrong work and there will be no dividends. Do the right work for freedom and the dividends will be clear.

We are communicating through this writing because we want to invest in the future of America. We can invest time and effort today to reap benefits in the future. We want to work efficiently, because we all know that our personal resources (time, money, and energy) are limited. Many of us probably also know the feeling of ineffective work. Some who read this may even know the disappointment of what may feel like decades of ineffective work on behalf of freedom.

The Liberty Movement Is Succeeding

If we zoom the camera out, we see that America is in the midst of a great change; the false claims for change from the 2008 election have been rejected; it is the liberty movement that has created a foundation for the change that is taking place. The calls for freedom are loud and widespread. No matter how high the establishment media raises its volume, it can’t talk over those voices. As strong and secure as the established voices may seem, the American political class is terrified at the change it sees taking place in America, which is precisely why they ignore us. Our challenge to them is formidable, and we have everything in order to see the first great political victory of our movement. We overestimate their strength when we think otherwise. Now is the time to push even harder, because our efforts are so close to bearing fruit.

My book How to Win America for Ron Paul and the Cause of Freedom in 2012 is my call to the freedom movement – how to be as effective as possible, both personally and as a movement. If we agree on common goals – getting Ron Paul the Republican nomination, getting Ron Paul into the Oval Office, and severely limiting the power of the federal government once he is in the Oval Office, then this is the most effective, publicly available road map to that goal. We must work quickly. So many opportunities are available today that will be gone in a few months. Today is the day to begin this important work. Wait three months and the road map becomes obsolete. Get to work on this plan today and the road map becomes effective, the road map becomes true, the road map becomes our way to make the Great Debate happen, and the road map becomes the path to the White House on inauguration day, January 20, 2013.

The text in this post is excerpted from the newly-released How to Win America for Ron Paul and the Cause of Freedom in 2012.

Pilot‘s ’Mom on Board’ Announcement Misheard, Prompts Bomb Scare for Passengers

From: The Blaze

by Madeleine Morgenstern

2-25-2012

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating after an airline pilot’s mid-flight announcement of a “mom on board” was misheard by passengers as a “bomb on board,” New York’s WCBS-TV reported.

The pilot of Southwest Airlines Flight 1155 meant to tell the 100 passengers aboard his Long Island-bound flight Friday that an air traffic controller’s mother was on the plane, Southwest spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger told Newsday.

“Just making a fun announcement — just letting everyone know she was on board,” Eichinger said.

The problem happened when some passengers mistook the word “mom” for “bomb.”

“There was some confusion on board,” Eichinger acknowledged, adding that flight attendants tried to explain that nothing was wrong.

When the plane landed a half-hour later, two passengers reportedly complained to airport security.

Eichinger said it was unclear what prompted the pilot’s announcement, though an FAA official told Newsday it was at the request of an air traffic controller working on the ground who wanted to wish her mother a happy birthday.

Making such a personal request is not grounds for firing, though the controller may be retrained on appropriate conduct, the official said.

According to Newsday, investigators plan to listen to flight recordings to figure out precisely what was said in the announcement.

Newt Gingrich says Obama energy speech was more like a Saturday Night Live skit than presidential

From: MRCTV

by TheFoundersKeeper

2-25-2012

Moyers: ‘We can’t count on divine intervention’

From: The Raw Story 

by Andrew Jones

2-25-2012

In his latest essay Friday evening, PBS host Bill Moyers expressed concern over the growing rate of children not being vaccinating due to their parents receiving exemptions from states for religious purposes.

Inspired by what he witnessed in the movie Contagion, Moyers mentioned a variety of statistics to his audience on the sudden increase in children not vaccinated and provided his frank assessment on how harmful those choices are to society.

“When and if a contagion strikes, we can’t count on divine intervention to spare us,” he said. “That’s when you want a darn good scientist in a research lab. We’ll need all the help we can get from knowledge and her offspring.”

WATCH: Video from PBS, which was broadcast on February 24, 2012.

Madness after girl, 4, draws gun pic at school

From: KommonCents

by Patr10t

2-25-2012

This is how ‘they’ plan to disarm us. This was not about the parents, it was about teaching the next generation. What was the message sent to all the kids at that school; that owning a gun is bad.

‘They’ are the men who have been planning and scheming for decades to rule the world. It doesn’t matter what you call them; the Illuminati,  the globalists, the shadow government, the elites, etc., etc., etc., I’ve settled on the banksters of late.

They have decided that this is the generation, now is the time…

I know this happened in Canada but similar things are happening here as a student got in trouble recently because her handbag had a gun decoration on it, another because he pointed his finger as though it was a gun, there is even legislation being drawn up outlawing toy guns. 

Dad: 'I'm picking up my kids and then, next thing you know, I'm locked up'

A father has been arrested, strip-searched and hauled in for questioning – all because his four-year-old daughter drew a picture of a gun at school.

“I’m picking up my kids and then, next thing you know, I’m locked up,” Jessie Sansone, 26, told the Waterloo Region Record in Canada. “I was in shock. This is completely insane. My daughter drew a gun on a piece of paper at school.”

Sansone, a Kitchener resident, had arrived at Forest Hill public school to pick up his children when he was called to the principal’s office. Three police officers informed him he was being charged with possession of a firearm. Then he was escorted out of the school, handcuffed and locked in the back of a police car.

According to Sansone, he didn’t learn what had caused the investigation until hours after his arrest. Other officers arrived at his home, where they instructed his wife to come to the police station and took his other three children to Family and Children’s Services to be questioned.

“Nobody was given any explanation,” Sansone’s wife, Stephanie Squires, told the paper. “I didn’t know why he was being arrested. He had absolutely no idea what this was even about. I just kept telling them. ‘You’re making a mistake.’”

Sansone was forced to undergo a full strip search.

The school principal, police and child welfare officials said there would need to be an investigation to determine whether he had a gun in his home that children could find.

Alison Scott, executive director of Family and Children’s Services, told the Record, “From a public safety point of view, any child drawing a picture of guns and saying there’s guns in a home would warrant some further conversation with the parents and child.”

Waterloo Regional Police Inspector Kevin Thaler said Forest Hill public school had complained that “a firearm was in a residence and children had access to it. We had every concern, based on this information, that children were in danger.”

He told the paper the school officials’ concern wasn’t based merely on the girl’s picture. Neaveh, Sansone’s daughter, also purportedly made remarks about the drawing that troubled officials.

When a teacher asked Neaveh who the man in the picture was, she purportedly said, “That’s my daddy’s. He uses it to shoot bad guys and monsters.”

Sansone said several hours after his arrest a detective apologized and informed him that he would be released without charges.

“To be honest with you, I broke down,” Sansone told the Record. “My character got put down so much. I was actually really hurt, like it could happen that easy. How do you recognize a criminal from a father?”

After his release, authorities asked Sansone to sign a document allowing a search of his house. He said he signed it, even though he had the option to decline.

“I just think they blew it out of proportion,” his wife said. “It was for absolutely nothing. They searched our house upside down and found nothing. They had the assumption he owned a firearm.”

She added, “The way everything happened was completely unnecessary, especially since we know the school very well. I don’t understand how they came to that conclusion from a four-year-old’s drawing.”

Alison Scott, executive director of Family and Children’s Services, said the agency was required to investigate after the school reported the incident.

“Our community would have an expectation if comments are made about a gun in a house, we’d be obligated to investigate that to ensure everything is safe,” she said. “In the end, it may not be substantiated. There may be a reasonable explanation for why the child drew that gun. But we have to go on what gets presented to us.”

According to the report, she acknowledged, “I’m sure this was a very stressful thing for the family.”

As for the strip search, Thaler said the procedure was required “for officer safety, because it’s a firearms-related incident.”

He noted, “At the point in the investigation when it was determined it was not a real firearm, the individual was released unconditionally.”

The Syrian Mess

From: Western Journalism.com

by Jim Emerson

2-25-2012

The civil war in Syria has been in the news lately. Most of the reports have been focused on describing the Assad regime as the evil empire killing innocent civilians in places that have no military value. What the press isn’t telling us is this is a war between two evil entities.

The Regime

The Assad regime is a Ba’ath Party dictatorship; like a majority of dictatorships, the son takes over when the father dies. The atrocities committed by this regime can fill volumes. The military is loyal to the regime and has been committing atrocities within its boarder to protect the regime. The military depends on Russia for its weapons and military support. China and Iran are also aligned with the regime and will block any UN sanctions being placed against it. The wildcard Assad has is a sizable stockpile of Chemical and Biological Weapons. To date, there is no evidence that the weapons have been used against the rebels and civilian population, but that possibility is always present.

The Opposition

The Syrian National Council (SNC) is a loosely based organization that is heavily controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood, other extreme Islamists and various leftists groups. They are calling for the ouster of President Assad and his Ba’ath Party loyalists and the establishment of Sharia law as derived from the Quran. Recent news reports indicate that al-Qaeda was in Syria also. Wherever the Muslim Brotherhood shows up al-Qaeda will be close by. If the SNC does manage to gain power the Weapons of Mass destruction (WMD) will be in terrorist hands.

The Biggest loser

There are about 2.5 million Syrian Christians – about 10% of the total population of the country. Syria is one of the few Arab countries that actually tolerated religious minorities. The Obama administration and Europe have been supporting the rebels and their extremist handlers to bring about democracy in Syria similar to Egypt and Libya. If the Muslim Brotherhood and their military arm, Al-Qaeda, get control of Syria’s WMDs the Syrian Christians will be the first to be slaughtered. Then the Islamists will move to take Jordon and attack their ultimate goal: Israel.

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