For non-partisan discussion ONLY. This policy will be strictly moderated and enforced. For those with eyes wide open, visionaries, lunatics, humorists (definitely!)
SquidInk wrote:
I completely agree, Doka. However, I think a lot of the over-the-top ridiculous corruption could be removed from our monetary system by simply allowing competing currencies to arise. Our particular monetary system - the fed, fractional reserve banking, etc., is incredibly corrupt. In fact it's criminal & it severely punishes wage earners & savers.
There is, in my opinion, another key component. Once any human organization grows beyond a certain size (as outlined in something known as a 'dunbar grouping'), be they nations or businesses or service clubs or whatever, they will nearly always be destroyed by corruption and dishonest behavior. This happens, again in my opinion, because true accountability among humans comes directly from the community. Insulate yourself from the community by obscuring yourself in the crowd or hiding behind a legal fiction and you become unaccountable. A failure in the human psyche causes unaccountability to lead to bad behavior in almost every case. I think the YouTube comment section proves my point.
We need greater numbers of smaller, more accountable organizations, across the spectrum, imho. We like competition, right?
It's all about accountability and some folks if they don't have to look the buyer/user in the eye - they move right by being accountable.
Very tragic and disheartening.
I have been reading about the horse meat in hamburger and thought of you regarding our discussion of do we really know what we are ingesting.
On another note I am in desperate need of buying a new car and cannot bring myself to look because I hate that process so so much. Talk about convoluted and a shell game.
Absolutely fascinating! Will have to go back and read carefully. What a concept.!
In the here and now we are being pushed, I believe, into a One world bank, corruption at its finest. The "sleepers" are in "lemming" state and the cliff is coming up fast. IMO. I am wondering when or even "if" the "stampede" can be turned. So we can regroup and be still long enough to work on such UP Lifting concepts. Now I need a rest, I think my eyeballs may fall out from over exposure.
Fan wrote:
Universities have been corporate controlled for a long time, but this is just so outrageous.
Indeed. So, if Monsanto's meddling with universities brought us modified and patented gm seeds at a great profit to Monsanto despite enormous disruption (and possible global ecological/health catastrophes[1]) along several cultural-level fronts, what could possibly go wrong with this:
Florida Atlantic U. Faces Questions Over Naming Stadium for Prison Company
Some students and immigrant-rights activists are angry about Florida Atlantic University’s announcement on Tuesday that it would rename its football stadium for a prison company in recognition of a -million gift from its charitable foundation. The gift came from the GEO Group, a company that owns or operates a global chain of prisons and detention centers, including one about 10 miles from the stadium. The pledge will be paid over 12 years. The university’s president, Mary Jane Saunders, said in a written statement that the gift represented the company’s “incredible generosity,” noting that its chief executive is a Florida Atlantic alumnus and a former chair of the institution’s Board of Trustees. The company’s critics have accused it of human-rights violations, and some said they don’t want the university to be associated with a company that is facing such allegations.
Where does this one logically conclude? Sure, eyebrows were raised this time, but these everlasting corporations are playing the long game, and next time this will sail without a second glance. To what end?
~*~
[1] one example:
Following a 6 year approval battle, the USDA fully deregulated Monsanto's Roundup Ready alfalfa in January 2011. A week later, they partially deregulated GM sugar beets. This occurred despite Secretary of Agriculture's Tom Vilsack's knowledge of a stark warning letter by Dr. Don M. Huber, Emeritus Professor of Plant Pathology, Purdue University two weeks prior, who found a link between the modified organisms and the proliferation of the new pathogen. Huber knew about its presence in Roundup Ready soy and corn and sought to hold off the GE alfalfa calling the situation an "emergency." - source
Last edited by SquidInk on 02-22-2013 11:17 AM, edited 1 time in total.
Diogenes wrote:
I have been reading about the horse meat in hamburger and thought of you regarding our discussion of do we really know what we are ingesting.
[yt]R_qezHandk8#![/yt]
According to the study, commonly substituted fish include escolar and talapia. Let's see...
Some individuals suffering from escolar-induced keriorrhea also report other digestive issues, including stomach cramps, diarrhea, headaches, nausea, vomiting, and anal leakage; onset may occur between 30 minutes and 36 hours following consumption.[5] This condition may also be referred to as steatorrhea.
At Chen Qiang’s tilapia farm in Yangjiang city in China’s Guangdong province, which borders Hong Kong, Chen feeds fish partly with feces from hundreds of pigs and geese.
[...]
“The manure the Chinese use to feed fish is frequently contaminated with microbes like salmonella,” says Doyle, who has studied foodborne diseases in China.
SquidInk wrote:
** It's critical for each of us to understand (independently & of our own study) how important food sourcing is in the philosophical struggle against a corrupted system of laws. We can not allow the system to provide our food for us, or even allow them to act as providers, indirectly, by setting up excessive & exclusive checkpoints along the pathway to market.
The expansion of the doctrine of parens patriae must be checked, and it must be checked hard.
Corporate politics is business as usual inside the United States, as I am once again shocked to report the EPA has sided with industry lobbyists over public health in approving a highly dangerous pesticide that the European Union recently decided to ban over fears of environmental devastation. Not only have neonicotinoid pesticides been linked repeatedly to mass bee deaths, also known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), but the continued use of such pesticides threatens other aspects of nature (and humans) as well.
What’s even more amazing is that the decision not only comes after the EU publicly discussed the major dangers surrounding the use of the pesticides, but after the USDA released a report surrounding the continued honeybee deaths and the related effects — a report in which they detailed pesticides to be a contributing factor. Just the impact on the honeybees alone, and we now know that these pesticides are killing aquatic life and subsequently the birds that feed upon them, amounts to a potential 0 billion in global damages per year. We’re talking about the devastation of over 100 crops, from apples to avocados and plums.
And there’s countless scientists and a large number of environmental science groups speaking out on this. The EPA has no lack of information the subject. And sure, there are other contributing factors to bee deaths, there’s no question about that. We have an environment right now being hit with Monsanto’s Roundup even in residential areas, we have chemical rain, we have insane amounts of EMF — but it’s pretty clear that neonicotinoid pesticides are at least a major contributing factor. And beyond that, they have no place in the food supply to begin with.
Let me put forth a 'scenario' for discussion...
Some 'industry lobbyists' show up in DC and pass around bags of money & anonymous concubines to our esteemed lawmakers who then seem to defy logic by giving the thumbs-up to a DDT style environmental toxin. Could those same 'industrial lobbyists' along with the principals they represent have a secondary interest? Say, in a technology like this...
[yt]YQIMGV5vtd4#![/yt]
So to put the theory into bullet points:
step one: invest in appropriate emergent technologies
step two: collude with lawmakers & high powered good ole' boy network to eliminate vast populations of natural pollinators
step three: ride up on white horse & offer mechanical substitute for extict pollinators --- to those who can afford the subscription
step four: profit. a lot.
This offers tons of advantages -- to the patent holders, and none to people living on the land. I believe this kind of plan could be very effective against home gardening revolts like the one described below.
Additionally, the year over year growth model (which virtually all businesses use to define 'success', and in fact use to 'value' themselves) continues plodding forward, well, year after year. We're all being slowly squeezed into a narrow spectrum of more and more predictable, efficient routines because 'wall street' and 'MBAs' like to see predictable revenue. They love subscriptions, and they love it even more if you feel pain for letting your subscription lapse. It's guaranteed money.
If any region, or wily upstart urban farmer (who is not, say, using Monsanto seeds...) gets a wise idea, then *BAM *--- no pollinators will visit that sector until the famine causes them to relent, and get back in line.
This, more than anything, is a frontal assault on liberty, and a dire threat to our families, and most certainly a clear and present danger.
Trust me, we do not want 'the private sector' trying to do the heavy lifting these guys do. They're not up to the job. Period.
Last edited by SquidInk on 10-26-2013 01:56 AM, edited 1 time in total.
SquidInk wrote:
We also need to look to the past, look back to the root for ideological sustenance. Many ancient cultures employed a variation of the following, and I believe it's worth revisiting today:
Rolling Jubilee, set up by Occupy's Strike Debt group following the street protests that swept the world in 2011, launched on 15 November 2012. The group purchases personal debt cheaply from banks before "abolishing" it, freeing individuals from their bills.
By purchasing the debt at knockdown prices the group has managed to free ,734,569.87 of personal debt, mainly medical debt, spending only 0,000.
A much better way to lead by example than say, riding around on a stupidly loud motorcycle, making zero difference.
