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Category Archives: greece
Marxistoid Economists Consider Bankrupt Left as Saviour of Greece
Fair is foul, and foul is fair, /Hover through the fog and filthy air (Witches of Macbeth chanting their cursing ditty)
By Con George-Kotzabasis— July 04, 2013
In their article published in the New York Times on June 23, under the title "Only the Left Can Save Greece", the two politically 'pinkish' economists teaching at the University of Texas at Austin, James Galbraith (the son of the famous John Galbraith) and Yannis Varoufakis, argue that neither America nor Europe should fear an ascension to power of the Left wing party of Syriza in Greece on the contrary, they should applaud it, as a government of the left would reverse the defective policies of the European Union that have been so destructive to the Greek polity and to its people as well as to many other European countries.
The two economists were shocked at the closure of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) and denounced the Samaras government for its authoritarian and undemocratic action, of depriving Greeks of a public service of information and entertainment that was invaluable to them. The government however closed the public broadcaster temporarily and planned to replace this cesspool of administrative corruption, opacity, and cronyism, for which each Greek household had to pay a levy of 50 Euros per year, with a new public broadcaster not run by the government but by personnel chosen on meritocratic criteria and professionalism that would upgrade the service provided to Greek viewers and at a cheaper price. Galbraith and Varoufakis, in their support of this corrupt and inefficiently run public entity and demand of its reopening, found a kindred political ally in the leader of the Marxist party of Syriza, Alexis Tsipras, who had committed himself to re-open with all its personnel intact if he became prime minister. Tsipras' crocodile tears for the public broadcaster, which in the recent past had condemned as being the mouthpiece of the extreme right, exposed his blatant political opportunism in this U-turn from hate to love for ERT. But they found him also to be an invaluable ally to their economic proposals of how to lift Greece out of the crisis. .
Galbraith's and Varoufakis' solution to the crisis springs from the growing of a hundred blooming flowers in the luxuriantly prodigal Keynesian garden. Their package of Keynesian remedies consist of "a kind of European equivalent of America's post-crisis Troubled Asset Relief program; an investment and job program; and a European initiative to meet the social and human crisis by strengthening unemployment insurance, basic pensions, deposit insurance, and the expansion of core public institutions like education and health." Notice, that all of these remedies are to be financed by government and taxes from private enterprises. How then government can finance all these things when its coffers are empty and depend on European loans to pay for primal services such as schools, hospitals, and public servants, and when private enterprise has no incentive to function or remain in an unstructured economy that has been for many years inimical to it? And the two economists do not make a pip about the necessity of private foreign and domestic investments that are the only economically sustainable and viable investments that can initiate growth and economic development that are the sine qua non that will pull Greece out of the crisis. And that these investments can only be made under the incentive of structural economic reforms that are favorable to private enterprise, and strict fiscal policies that perforce can only be accomplished by hard measures which are inevitably painful to the general populace.
Since neither the political color nor the gray matter of Galbraith and Varoufakis were able to convince serious politicians and economists in the Euro zone, or Greece, of the correctness of their Keynesian mirage as a solvent to the European and Greek crisis, they found in the fiasco leadership of Syriza, of Tsipras, the intellectual salvation of their by now withered flowers of their Keynesian remedy. (This speaks volumes about the value of their proposals in that they found their support and cerebral salvation in the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of the Greek left.) Tsipras bereft of any tenable economic policies, and rationalizing this vacuity in policy making by populist rhetorical denunciations of the policies of the Samaras government, eagerly embraced the policies of Galbraith and Varoufakis, which ideologically are cognate to his own as a ne plus ultra government interventionist himself, thus giving to his own policies some sort of academic prestige from this 'south of the border' economists that he is unable to get from more serious experts in the profession. (But beggars cannot choose.)
Indeed, the policies of Tsipras have their source in a variegated coterie of Marxists getting their inspiration from the flashing pan of Marxism, as the rising sun of the latter has long ago disappeared from the astral constellation of the universe, never to rise again. Tsipras, as a true believer of the great man, Karl Marx, attended the Marxist organised Subversive Festival of Zagreb in Croatia last March, which was likewise attended by both Galbraith and Varoufakis. Indeed, the former announced with pride his attendance of the Festival, in a lecture he gave to socialists in the German Parliament last week, where the gladiators of the great imperator Karl Marx had gathered together from all over the world and rushed into the arena of the Amphitheatre of Zagreb, with nets in one hand and swords in the other, to fight and slay the wild animals of capitalism, which their predecessors in the socialist camp, even better armed with technological weapons, had failed to slay. Moreover, Tsipras was an aficionado of Chavez and had visited Venezuela last year with the hope of getting financial help from its president with an implied commitment of making Greece a protectorate of Venezuela, if not the European Venezuela. And yet Galbraith and Varoufakis in their political naiveté write in their article in the New York Times that the Americans have nothing to fear from a Syriza government.
Galbraith and Varoufakis, like the witches of Macbeth cursing the Samaras' government as foul, undemocratic and authoritarian, slavishly implementing the dictates of the European Union, and as economically incompetent, are predicting its downfall while stirring the pot of their quackish remedies which nobody will 'buy' other than Tsipras. Meanwhile, Samaras wisely, assiduously, and decisively is transforming Greece within the short span of one year by an unprecedented series of structural reforms that are increasing competition–Greece is in the 22 position internationally for the first time–reducing the bureaucracy, especially its inefficient part that was an obstacle to investments, and planning to make it more efficient on meritocratic standards, changing the economic milieu by making it friendly to business and investments, and leashing the arbitrary and ruinous power of unions which for many years had prevented foreign investments in the country. Moreover by his virtuoso performance in the negotiations with the European Union and the IMF, Samaras has blunted some of the austerity measures that have been a major factor in obstructing the re-igniting of the economy and artfully polishing these measures that will put Greece on the track of development. He was able to convince the leaders of the EU to provide Greece with extra funds for employment programs that will materialize by the beginning of 2014, more resources from the European Bank of Investments so they can be ploughed into small and medium sized businesses. He has started building Autobahns that have created 25,000 new jobs and he has enticed the economically hard thinking Chinese government to invest 350,000 million Euros in the port of Piraeus thus making it the entrepot of commerce between south-east Asia and Europe. ( The European Council announced that the port of Piraeus will be named as the capital port of Europe for 2015.) Also the Chinese are interested in making more investments in the infrastructure of the country, especially in its railway network by which they will transport their goods into Europe. But the most important and greatest achievement of the Samaras' government up to this moment has been the building, through Greece, of the conduit by the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) that will convey natural gas from Azerbaijan to the heart of Europe. TAP will invest the huge amount of 1.5 billion in Greece and will generate 12,000 jobs by 2014 in the country. This, according to one authority in the energy industry, has been the personal accomplishment of Samaras who in his visit of Azerbaijan and meeting with the Prime Minister of the country three weeks ago, convinced the latter that it would be more efficient and economically cheaper to build the conduit through Greece instead of through Bulgaria and Romania, a project which the international consortium backing it was favorable to win, and lost it only, with the intervention of Samaras. Furthermore, this enormous investment, behind which one of its investors is the global gigantic company BHPBilliton, engenders confidence to other investors that Greece is about to pull itself out of the crisis, and hence, encourages and attracts more investments into the country and thus will increase employment which is one of the major challenges of the government.
The government under the statesmanship of Samaras is determined to pull Greece out of the crisis and not to squander the sacrifices Greeks had to make for the economic, political, and cultural Renaissance of the country. The great, fair achievements of the Samaras government, in an unprecedented short span of time, are depicted and cursed as foul by the two Marxistoid economists, James Galbraith and Yannis Varoufakis. Ignominy, loss of intellectual honor, is of no concern to them.
I rest on my oars:Your turn now
Leave a comment Posted in economics, europe, greece, politics Tagged ames galbraith, antonis samaras, banrupt left, consider, corruption, economists, europe, global journal, government, greece, intellectual, kotzabasis, marxistoid, opacity, saviour, university, yanis varoufakis
Greece:What to Do with Missed the Mark Politics of Coalition Partners?
Posted by kotzabasis on June 7, 2013
By Con George-Kotzabasis May 3, 2013
The Samaras' Government, like Atlas on his back, is carrying and attempting to transform and move Greece's awesome heavy burden of unprecedented economic insolvency, since the ending of the Second-World-War, onto the stage of economic recovery and development. By succeeding in this most difficult enterprise it will also justify the positive, against the negative, economic remedies formulated in the second Memorandum by the European Union (EU), the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the so called Troika, for the purpose of saving Greece from economic catastrophe, and thus simultaneously enhance the credibility, and indeed, the survival of the EU as an institution of crucial influence and guidance in world affairs.
In this call to national salvation three politically and ideologically disparate parties 0f New Democracy, Pasok, (Panhellenic Socialist Movement) and the Democratic Left (Demar) decided to form a coalition government whose main goal was to keep Greece within the European Union and salvage the country, with the financial help of the latter, from economic bankruptcy that would have devastated the standard of living of the major part of the population and would have brought a proud nation to the status of indigence and economic despair for at least a generation. The two leaders, of Pasok and Demar, Evangelos Venizelos and Fotis Kouvelis, respectively, seeing the prodigious dangers the country was facing, raised their height to these dire circumstances and wisely decided to stand hand in hand with an ideological opponent, that is, the liberal conservative party of New Democracy and its leader Antonis Samaras, for the purpose of saving Greece from this imminent catastrophe. Hence the two leaders of the left put their ideological reputation and the future viability, and, indeed, the existence of their parties at immense risk by their decision to support a government led by Samaras, their erstwhile conservative opponent, and tie themselves and their parties to the fortunes of the latter, that is, whether the Samaras' government will succeed or not in pulling the country out of the crisis and start the economic development that is so vital in overcoming the terrifying economic difficulties that Greece countenances at the moment.
There are grounds to make one believe that Greece economically and politically might be at a turning point. The Samaras government after succeeding in convincing its European partners, in exceedingly difficult negotiations, to provide the funds Greece needed, to ignite its economy and place the country on the path of development, under less onerous terms of the bailout than the initial ones the Europeans were demanding. This was a great success and a great achievement of the government and demonstrating at the same time its virtuoso skills in the art of negotiations.
The government announced last month that it had beat its budget targets for 2012. Finance Minister Stournaras claimed that the government was close to achieving a primary surplus—the budget surplus before taking into account payments on the debt—this year that would deliver, according to the mutual agreement of the parties, a further package of help from the Euro-zone. Employment statistics also showed, that within the span of the last two months the number of workers hired exceeded by nearly nine thousand the number of workers dismissed for the first time since the crisis. Furthermore, the recapitalization of the banks was on track and bound to be consummated in the next few weeks and the spigots of liquidity were therefore ready to be opened that would provide the private sector the funds for investment. Last week, the president of the National Bank stated that levels of liquidity are progressively established and 10 billion Euros could flow into the real economy. And already 50% of one thousand of small and large private enterprises announced that they were preparing to start investing within the current year. The internationally renowned telecommunications company Nokia is planning to establish a branch in Athens that would employ hundreds of highly skilled technicians and could become a magnet that would attract other foreign corporate giants to the country and thus by their presence would provide a continuous economic confidence for the country's future. The Task Force of the European Commission last week issued favourable reports that the Greek economy was about to be re-ignited although it warned the government that small businesses had been dried of funds and their future operations were at risk. Also the credit ratings agency Moody's estimated that Greece would have a positive rate of growth in 2014, after five years of negative growth.
Thus we see that there are ample encouraging signs that Greece might be at the crucial point of overcoming the crisis. It is most important therefore that the two parties, Pasok and Demar, that support the Samaras government, must first take note of these auspicious indices and that the current measures of the government are putting the country on the axis of economic development, and second, must not jeopardise this favourable situation by rigidly sticking to their parties position on other issues, such as labor relations and on the restructuring of the public sector, which are contrary to the overall current policy of the government and could endanger the economic progress the latter is making in overcoming the crisis.
The coalition partners must become fully aware that their political viability is tied up not with the sacred ideological position these parties hold on a variety of issues, contra the neo-liberal position of New Democracy, and pushing these toward their consummation, at this critical juncture whose primary goal is the salvation of the country, is a most imprudent diversion from the main goal. On the contrary, their political future is tied up with the success of the Samaras government in pulling the country out of the crisis. The electorate will not remember them and will not elect them for being pure to their ideological position but for their pragmatic support of a neo-liberal government that saved Greece from economic oblivion and mass poverty. In the event the Samaras administration fails in this complex immensely difficult and great task would likewise totally discredit and everlastingly condemn and cast to political oblivion both Pasok and Demar for their support of this failed government, no matter how favorable the former have been on other minor issues, in comparison to the major issue, that are dear to the hearts of the many. Their responsibility to the country and to themselves therefore lies in their pragmatic assessment of the policies of the government beyond ideology as to whether they are better placed to extricate the country from the crisis.
It is for this reason that in this process of the Renaissance of Greece, under the wise and strong leadership of Antonis Samaras, the cohesion of these partners in the salvation of the country is of unaccountable importance. Thus for Pasok and Demar not to miss the mark is to realize that the failure or success, in this uniquely historical venture of saving Greece, will determine their political viability in the future and not their ideological hues on secondary issues.
Leave a comment Posted in europe, greece, terrorism, thoughts Tagged bankruptcy, coalition, economic despair, future, global journal, greece, kotzabasis, missed the mark, nation, partners, politics, samaras government, transform, what to do
What is Needed for a Recycling Mechanism to Start?
Posted by kotzabasis on May 13, 2013
A reply to Professor Varoufakis on his proposal of a recycling mechanism from countries with surpluses in his talk to the OECD.
The working of a recycling mechanism from countries that are in surplus would primarily need the physical stature of Professor Varoufakis, that is, lean efficient competitive economies with no wastage baggage and lean governmental apparatuses. Most economies, however, of southern Europe are in a state of pathological obesity in both regards and thus are being unfavourable turfs for surplus countries to plough their money into them. For the wheels of the recycling mechanism to start therefore, it would be necessary to fundamentally restructure the economies and governments in the former case, on the ethos of a competitive market economy, and on the latter, by removing the destructive policies of government intervention and excessive regulation in the sphere of private enterprise. Only countries free from the deleterious effects of un-competitiveness and government dirigisme and replete with entrepreneurial dynamism acting within a private enterprise system can be favoured to be the recipients of the manna of the recycling mechanism.
The above argument is reinforced by the two historical examples in Professor Varoufakis' presentation where he shows that the Americans at the end of the Second World War recycled the major part of their surplus to Germany and Japan, the two countries that were renowned for their economic efficiency and technological feats and operating within the private enterprise system, and the second, when China and the oil producing countries of the Arab peninsula recycled their surpluses to America on the basis of the same principle, that is, of economic prowess and competitiveness. In neither case were these surpluses recycled to "Africanized" economies. Likewise, why European countries, such as Germany, that are in surplus, should recycle the latter to the economically sclerotic countries of the south unless the latter engaged in a radical restructuring of their economies that initially would be followed with a lot of pain as Greece presently shows with the radical changes that are taking place in its economy under the robust and imaginative Samaras government? It is easy to talk about the misanthropy of the elites but what about the misanthropy of those politicians of the left, such as Andreas Papandreou, who for years created a false prosperity for their peoples without telling them of the heavy price and suffering they would have to pay for it and the great crisis that they would be engulfed in?
Can Professor Varoufakis envisage that the great foundational changes that are required, so the recycling river of funds will inundate those countries that are at the bottom pit, can occur without pain? Is the Heracletian profound maxim that out of "great discord rises the greatest harmony" to be negated by the votaries of the "dismal science"?
Guest (Xenos) says,
Incorrect, in every way and on every level.
Per capita, Greece received more than any other country from the Mashall Plan and other forms of financial assistance from the USA. Germany andJapan received the most because (a) they were the largest countries lined up to receive funds, and (b) because they had been decimated by the war. It had nothing to do with your homespun nonsense about "Africanised countries" — whatever you think those might be.
Your speech is nothing more than empty rhetoric and has no relation to historical reality or economic analysis.
Kotzabasis says,
Greece was a special case due to the civil war and the threat of a communist take-over and the fact that America replaced Britain as the plenipotentiary of Greece and its protector from communism. And it goes without saying that part of the reason why funds flowed to Germany and Japan was their devastation. But the major reason was that the Americans wanted to create a locomotive of economic development in these two regions and that is why they chose Germany and Japan renowned for their past economic prowess. Professor Varoufakis himself in his presentation makes it quite explicit that China invested its surplus in the United States precisely because of the latter's high competitiveness (M.E).
Leave a comment Posted in economics, europe, european unity, greece Tagged competitive, global journal, government intervention, kotzabasis, mechanism, needed, presentation, recipient, recycling, start, surpluses
A Functional Government a Prerequisite for Handling Crisis in Greece
Posted by kotzabasis on February 6, 2013
I'm republishing the following short piece that was written on June 20, 2012. As events have shown since then it was the unity of the tripartite government of New Democracy, Pasok, and the Democratic Left, that was set-up post-election, in regard to the policies to be followed with its negotiations with the European Union that has kept Greece within the union and has given the country a new opportunity to overcome the crisis. There are favorable signs that Greece under the strong and resilient leadership of Antonis Samaras the miracle of an economically resurgent Greece is about to unfold.
The present position of Evangelos Venizelos the leader of Pasok that the government to be formed on June 18 must include Syriza in a coalition of other parties so that it can presumably deal more effectively with European leaders in regard to the necessary modifications of the Second Memorandum, is to repeat the stupendous error of the Democratic Left, under the pusillanimous leadership of Fotis Kouvelis, when it too had placed the same pre-condition after the May 6 election. The present profound crisis of Greece needs a functional government with united policies and realistic and decisive leadership that can pull the country out of the crisis and not a government of factions whose deep differences of how to handle the negotiations with the European Union would inevitably lead to intestine fights and to the collapse of such government that would seriously exacerbate the crisis. Thus the pleading for a wider coalition as Venizelos proposes will result with mathematical precision to a dysfunctional government irretrievably incapable of handling the crisis.
Leave a comment Posted in greece, politics Tagged crisis, differences, favorable, functional government, global journal, greece, handling, kotzabasis, policies, precision, prerequisite, written
Greek Academic Deprecates Bailout of Greece
Posted by kotzabasis on December 3, 2012
By Con George-Kotzabasis December 2, 2012
Professor Varoufakis, certainly you may be right but only "figuratively" so, that according the incongruity of the figures you presented, if they are correct, will not lead to a reduction of debt by 40 billion Euros and will not change the fate of Greece in its insolvency. However, outside your numbers, absent in your analysis is the human factor, which obviously you tend nihilistically to underestimate, and indeed, to nullify, in its power to learn from its mistakes and transform things.
Your argument rests on the premise that only you can learn from your errors, as the serial revisions of your 'Modest Proposal' have shown since its birth, and that the governing class of the Euro-zone and its technocrats, including the IMF's, are inherently unable to do so and are fatefully stuck in their continued wrong policies without a 'smidgeon' of a chance of contributing toward the resolution of the Greek crisis. The breathing space that Greece has been given by the Troika in this bailout can be used by the decisive, resolute, and imaginative Samaras' government to create the right conditions by the restructure and privatization of the economy and its efficient operation both in the private and public sphere and hence turn the country into a centripetal force for investment that would rekindle its economy and put Greece on the trajectory of economic development.
Samaras endowed with strong attributes in the intellectual, spiritual, and moral field, has better than a chance to pull Greece out of its present tragic quandary. Indeed, he may turn out to be the Anagennitis (the progenitor) of the Greek Anagennisis (Renaissance), while you will be licking with relish the egg off your face.
Leave a comment Posted in greece, news, politics Tagged bailout, deprecates, eurozone, global journal, greece, greek academic, kotzabasis, renaissance, varoufakis
Statesmen Vulnerable to Whims of Electorate and Violent Protests
Posted by kotzabasis on September 8, 2012
Brief reply to two critics of Antonis Samaras
Eminent statesmen in democracies have no absolute power and all of them have their Achilles' heel and are vulnerable to the whims of the electorate or to the violent protests of powerful sectional interests. The most eminent among them, Churchill and Thatcher, despite their brilliant performance, were ousted from power respectively. Not to mention our own, the great Themistocles, who saved Greece from the barbarian invasion of Xerxes in the battle of Salamis and finished as an exile from Athens on alleged corruption charges.
My appellation of "eminent" to Samaras is based on two premises, one symbolic and the other predictive, and not on past "real achievements," although there have been some achievements since he became the leader of New Democracy. The first one attempts to counteract symbolically the 'mal-accusation' that Samaras was somehow directly associated with the past wrong policies of New Democracy and nullify this malevolent accusation by highlighting his eminent performance since he became leader, two and a half years ago, i.e., assessing correctly and solely the disastrous consequences of the first Memorandum with its austerity policies and not voting for it, and in his flexibility, celerity, and decisiveness to change course in different circumstances in regard to the second Memorandum, and thus thwart Greece from falling over the cliff, when the European leaders threatened to cut all financial assistance to the Greek government. The second is based on my judgment, after studying carefully the CONTENT of his arguments and proposals intoned in their ubiquitous strength that reveal the character of the man, and hence my prediction that he is the "eminent statesman" who will pull Greece out of the crisis.
I do have the proclivity like a sfoungaras (sponge divers in the Aegean) to plunge into the deep sea of prediction without fearing the 'fouska' (drowning) once I reasonably come to the conclusion that there are 'sfoungaria' to pick.
Leave a comment Posted in european, greece, politics Tagged democracies, electorate, eminent, global journal, kotzabasis, proclivity, statesmen, violent protests, vulnerable, whims
Greek Professor Disparages Newly Elected Government
The play is the thing/Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King Hamlet
A brief 'playful' reply to Professor Varoufakis's post on his blog of the 18th of July followed by his guilt-ridden counter-reply.
Why are you associating, even thinly, this 'ponzi' scheme that was consummated between May 2009 and January 2011 with the newly elected tri-partite government of Antonis Samaras? Why are you 'carpingly' searching to find faults in the present government and crave to be the Italian submarine commander to torpedo and sink the Elli (in the 1930's an Italian U-boat sunk the Greek cruiser Elli in the harbour of Rhodus), the Samaras' government, in the midst of its Herculean and admirable efforts just began to salvage Greece from its present tragic predicament? Is it because all you are concerned with is that with the failure of government you will be able to illustriously tell your friend Yannis Stournaras (the present Finance Minister), I told you so!
Professor Varoufakis says,
When a scandal surfaces it is the government and justices of the day that have a duty and obligation to investigate. Mr Samaras and his cabinet have a golden opportunity to confirm your trust and hope in them. Will they take it?
Leave a comment Posted in european, european unity, greece, politics Tagged disparages, elected government, global journal, kotzabasis, newly, ponzi scheme, professor varoufakis, searching, take


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Verchères ist eine Gemeinde in der kanadischen Provinz Québec. Sie liegt am Südufer des Sankt-Lorenz-Stroms in der Verwaltungsregion Montérégie.

Geschichte
Gegründet 1672, war die Siedlung Verchères noch im 17. Jahrhundert Schauplatz eines Irokesen-Angriffs, der durch den Einfallsreichtum eines 14-jährigen Mädchens namens Madeleine, heute bekannt als Madeleine de Verchères, vereitelt wurde. Eine gusseiserne Statue der Heldin befindet sich heute am Ort der früheren Befestigungsmauer der Siedlung am Ufer des Sankt-Lorenz-Stroms.

In Verchères wurde am Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts ein Ruderboot entwickelt, die Verchères-Schaluppe. Ein Exemplar dieses Bootstyps wird im Sommer und Herbst im Jean-Marie Moreau Park ausgestellt.

Der Wahlspruch von Verchères lautet "In Tenebris Lumen Rectis Corde", zu Deutsch "Aus Schatten entsteht Licht für ein rechtes Herz". Die Straßen sind nach den Anliegern, sowie nach berühmten Personen aus der Region benannt.

Die Bevölkerung von Verchères wächst stetig, 2001 betrug die Bevölkerungsgröße 4782 und erreichte 2010 5528 Einwohner.

Panorama

Sonstiges
Mehr als 97 % der Einwohner sind französischer Muttersprache.

Weblinks

 Offizielle Webpräsenz

Einzelnachweise

Ort in Québec
Montérégie
Ort am Sankt-Lorenz-Strom

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The repeal of Net Neutrality – is America okay?
It's not exactly new information that since Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States, America hasn't really improved as a nation, despite Trump's presidential campaign slogan 'make American great again.' The majority of the decisions he's made since winning the election has outraged most of the country, like his decision to ban transgender troops, or the travel ban he enforced just one week after his inauguration.
However, the most recent nation-wide dilemma, – the plan to repeal Obama-era net neutrality protections – even has Trump supporters up in arms, probably because this is the first major decision under Trump's rule that is actually going to affect all of them.
Net neutrality demands that all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should treat all web traffic the same, and should enable access to all content and applications, regardless of the source, and without favouring or blocking specific products or websites.
Without net neutrality, ISPs will no longer have to treat all internet traffic equally, and will be able to favour certain websites and services over others.
Think of Internet traffic like actual traffic, without net neutrality, ISPs like BT and Verizon can develop literal fast and slow lanes. One certain ISP could have the power to slow down its competitors' content, or block specific political opinions or beliefs that it disagrees with, and in turn could charge extra fees to the very few content companies that could afford to pay for special treatment, which will degrade everyone else to a slower tier of service. The repeal of net neutrality would destroy the open internet.
On Thursday 14th December 2017, Trump's Republican-led Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to approve this controversial plan of repealing net-neutrality.
Of course, no one, other than the FCC know what this repeal of net neutrality actually means for users of the Internet, although some people have made their predictions.
The most likely of outcomes, is that the prices the public pay for their Internet will go up, but variety and diversity of accessible web pages will go down and the largest, most well-known of Internet companies will gain a significant advantage over small, upstart companies. As a consumer, the end of net neutrality means your most-used and favourite websites are going to load a lot more slowly, and some of your favourite content may just go away, because your provider can't pay the fee. The consumer will no longer be in control, the ISP will start to pick the winners and losers instead of the Internet user themselves.
But that's not all. Under the new rules, ISPs won't just be free to charge more for faster access, they'll be completely free to simply block access to whatever part of the Internet they feel serves their financial interest. Comcast, for example, may decide that it makes no sense to allow Netflix to compete with its own streaming service and stop allowing its users access to the site.
Right now, it seems to be the end of the Internet as Americans know it. But a legal effort to overturn the decision made by Trump's FCC is expected to begin immediately. Congress has the power to pass legislation to restore net neutrality, and this could mean greater turn out in the 2018 midterm elections from millennials who care deeply about this issue. Around 18 states also plan on suing the FCC in order to defend net neutrality protections, including New York, California, North Carolina and Virginia.


Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Isabel Vernon was an actress with Thanhouser in 1917.
Biographical Notes: Isabella ("Isabel") Vernon was born in 1874. Her early career was on the stage, where she was seen in such productions as Daddy Long Legs, Peg o' My Heart, Uncle Vanya, The Tired Business Man, Cafe de Danse, and Pickwick. She appeared in the 1917 Thanhouser release of An Amateur Orphan. Isabel Vernon remained in films in later years, playing in Polly of the Circus (Goldwyn, September 1917), The Rise of Jennie Cushing (Artcraft, November 1917), Joan of Plattsburgh (May 1918, Goldwyn), and many other pictures through the 1920s. She was married to stage actor Henry Waterman. Isabel Vernon died on April 21, 1930 in New York City.


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Education in the 'Fourth Wave' of Science-Driven Economic Advancement
By David Nagel
Michio Kaku — theoretical physicist, author and pop science celebrity — has an emphatic message for educators: We are rapidly entering what he terms the "fourth-wave" of scientific advancement, and it's the duty of educators to prepare young people to survive and thrive in the radically different milieu that portends.
By Kaku's reckoning, science is the engine of economic prosperity and has been for hundreds of years. Steam power ushered in the first wave of prosperity enabled by scientific advancements that had a direct impact on the way we live. The harnessing of electricity brought the second wave. The third wave, the one in which we live now, is powered by computers and communication. Each of these waves has brought revolutionary changes to the way humanity lives and interacts. And that will continue into the fourth wave, one driven by nanotechnology, biotechnology and artificial intelligence.
Michio Kaku discusses the previous waves of scientific advancement and their effects on economic prosperity.
That's all well and great. But are we, asked Kaku, speaking before thousands of educators, preparing young people for that future?
"We have to prepare young people for the challenge of the future," Kaku said in his opening keynote address at last week's ISTE 2016 conference in Denver. "Because where do jobs come from? Jobs come from science, from the steam revolution to the electric revolution to the high-tech revolution of today to tomorrow when we have artificial intelligence, biotech and nanotechnology."
Kaku has not had particularly flattering things to say about education in the past. In at least one presentation, he referred to the American education system as "the worst educational system known to science." In his keynote address at ISTE, he moderated his tone for the most part but relayed an anecdote he attributed to one of his professors:
"One professor once told me that our educational system is excellent in terms of preparing students to live in the world of 1950. The only problem is, we don't live in 1950 anymore. That's why we have to undergo a revolution in the way we view education."
That urgency will become even more pronounced as we head toward the fourth wave, as all aspects of civilized life become "digitalized" the way music and other media have become digitalized over the last couple decades. Humans will have access to technologies on a scale never before envisioned, with the wealth of human knowledge not just in their fingertips, but in their prosthetics — Internet-connected contact lenses, for example, that can display data at the blink of an eye.
"The Internet will be everywhere and nowhere; the Library of Congress [will be accessible] by blinking," Kaku said. "This means that in the future education will gradually be changed. Instead of memorizing the periodic chart of elements, students will simply blink and see the periodic chart, right there in their glasses, their wrist watch or in their contact lens. This means that educators are going to have to stress concepts — principles — rather than the drudgery of memorization. Students are going to have to learn to use this information, not simply memorize it. For example, instead of memorizing all the wars of the past and the dates of all the wars in the past, you just will get them by blinking. You have to understand what the wars mean, the conditions that started the war, the aftereffects of the war. So concepts, principles, have to be stressed, rather than the drudgery of simply memorizing facts and figures. This is called augmented reality, when computer information is superimposed upon reality."
And that's where educators come in. The reasoning goes something like this: Although there will be a "perfect" and direct transfer of information to everyone with or without educators, students will still need to come to class to benefit from the wisdom and experience of their teachers.
"So what about 'e-courses' and 'cybereducation?'" he asked. "Will we all simply stay home and have all these lectures beamed into our home? The answer is no. You see, at Stanford and MIT, they have some of their graduate courses on the Internet. What is the drop-out rate on some of these courses? It approaches 90 percent. Why is that? Because students have no mentor. They have no one to talk to, no one to grade their homework; they have no one to share information with and do problem sets together, no one to give them career guidance. And so see cybereducation and e-courses as an aid, as an aid rather than a replacement. For example, a hammer is not going to replace a human. A hammer is great. It accelerates and enhances your ability, but it does not replace a human. In the same way, e-courses only go so far."
He continued: "So in the future, there's going to be a balance, a balance between 'e-instruction' and mentoring. And teachers, more and more, will be in the business of mentoring [and] personal experience because you cannot get that on the Internet."
Those aspects of "mentoring" and "career guidance" are especially important to Kaku, who said that teachers must push students to where the jobs will be in the future. (He said that medicine, in particular, is where those jobs will be.)
So what are the implications for education? "The job market will be turned upside-down. And ... as an educator, you have to prepare students, not to live in the world of 1950.... Jobs of the future will require creativity, will require imagination, experience. We're talking about the digitalization of life."
Delivering Desktops Virtually
As Lubbock Independent School District makes the transition from Windows devices to Chromebooks, it's relying more and more heavily on virtual desktop infrastructure to give users — both students and staff — access to the learning and work applications and other tools that still require Windows access. At the beginning of 2019, over a single weekend, the Texas district implemented hyperconverged infrastructure, and it's not looking back. As Chief Technology Officer, Damon Jackson, and Senior Platform Technology Engineer, Jason Blackburn, discuss, HCI has given them the "Easy Button" they sought for network management and delivered "remarkably faster" performance. Read more...


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Insurers Remain Wary of Exchange-Traded Funds, Despite Rule Change
February 21, 2019 by Rachel Evans
Many insurance companies are steering clear of exchange-traded funds even after a high profile rule change designed to make them easier to own.
Almost 40 percent of insurers aren't using ETFs more than a year after the National Association of Insurance Commissioners rewrote its accounting rules in an attempt to loosen the restrictions, according to a new survey sponsored by State Street Corp. and conducted by Greenwich Associates. For more than a third of non-users, internal policies and state regulations are to blame, the study showed.
That's a setback for ETF issuers like State Street, the third-largest in the U.S., that want to attract some of the trillions that insurers manage. BlackRock Inc. forecast two years ago that as much as $300 billion would flow into debt-focused funds by 2022 thanks to the regulatory shift, which was supposed to make it easier to compare debt ETFs to bonds. But so far, it's been slow going.
"It's still lower than I would think it would be at this point but we're excited to see the prospects," said Chad Nettleship, an insurance specialist for State Street's ETF business. "The regulatory changes are fairly recent."
Greenwich Associates interviewed 52 insurers overseeing about $1.9 trillion between September and October last year. About 40 percent of those companies were life insurers, and another 40 percent were property and casualty companies.
Patchy Reform
The patchwork nature of U.S insurance regulation seems to be at least partly responsible. Insurers are regulated state by state, with the NAIC making model laws that state officials then decide whether to adopt. Limits remain on the amount of exposure insurers can have to a single issuer, a problem given that more than 80 percent of ETF assets are in funds run by just three issuers.
Meanwhile less than half of insurers surveyed have embraced the new valuation system, which is more akin to the way bonds are accounted for.
Still, it isn't all bad news for companies that offer the funds. Insurers that do own ETFs are using them instead of cash and to create equity and fixed-income portfolios, according to the study. And 42 percent expect to use ETFs to capitalize on specific debt opportunities in three years time, up from 29 percent now, the survey showed.
Even the holdouts may come around, eventually. Of the 11 non-users that responded to a question on whether they would ever reconsider ETFs, more than 80 percent said they would. But for more than a quarter of those, that's unlikely to happen within the next three years.
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For the last two weeks — okay fine, the last two years — I have spent much of my free time thinking about (and also Googling) Poe Dameron. Listen, he's a cocky flyboy with a heart of gold who just wants to help his friends and save the galaxy, and I'm really into that. So while I've learned many, many things about Mr. Dameron, there's one hole in this narrative I can't pin down: How did Poe and BB-8 first meet?
When Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens, it's immediately established that Poe and BB-8 are "buddies." BB-8 is the droid unit for Poe's X-Wing, so obviously the two have a close-knit bond, just like Luke Skywalker and R2-D2 in the OG Star Wars trilogy. Watching Poe and BB onscreen, it becomes clear that there's nothing like the relationship between a boy and his droid, as these two are near inseparable — and when they are pulled apart, it's like both their worlds have ended. Do you even remember how downright excited BB-8 was to see his human, after being separated back on Jakku? BB-8 literally pushes Finn out of the way to get to Poe faster. It's adorable. I love it. I would live in this moment forever, if I could.
The Last Jedi only furthers this boy and droid connection. If I ever get a tattoo, it will probably just be one of Poe saying "BB-8, tell me something good!" And remember how when BB-8 shows up on Crait, he and Poe literally run/roll toward one another, and Poe greets the spherical droid like a dog? Poe literally rubs BB-8's tummy. He does that.
While we've seen these adorable moments onscreen, it doesn't answer the question as to how these two came to be. It might be something as simple and mundane as BB-8 was simply assigned to Poe first time he jumped into the cockpit of a ship, and they've been together ever since.
Or maybe, just maybe, BB-8 really is more like a loving and caring 'lil buddy for Poe, because the droid is Poe's comfort droid. Not comfort dog, but comfort droid.
There are many Star Wars novels and comics that expand on the stories in the new trilogy, and a few of them deal with Poe during his younger years. Poe's back story is both a happy and sad one, as his parents were pilots fighting in the war, and he rarely saw them as a child. The whole family eventually moved to Yavin 4, but Poe's mother Shara (who FYI was a totally badass pilot) died shortly thereafter (also FYI, Poe wears his late mother's wedding ring around his neck, waiting to give it "to the right partner"). On top of that, Poe's father, Kes, wasn't the best at being there for his son, and Poe took to one of his mother's closest friends, L'ulo, as a father figure/uncle.
Eventually, Poe decided he wanted to follow in his mother's footsteps, and became a pilot himself.
Honestly, this theory complete sense, and only further deepens the relationship between Poe and BB-8 (and my utmost love for these two buddies). Buddies that fight and fly in the Resistance together, stay together.


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October 24, 2007 by dandelionsalad
We the People versus a Government of, by and for The United Corporations of America by Manuel Valenzuela (2004)
by Manuel Valenzuela
Originally published in July 2004, this essay remains as relevant now, if not more so, than it did then. We the People's true enemey is corporatism, predatory capitalism run amok, emasculating the corporate world to levels never before seen. It is this world, composed of profit margins and cost-benefit analysis, that ignores the human soul and cherishes the Almighty Dollar, engendering creative chaos, war and complete catharsis of the individual spirit, that is the true enemy of humankind, the true terrorist entity upon which the People's War on Terror must focus upon.
If we continue lethargic and pacified, the corporate Leviathan will swallow us whole, making of us one more morsel of a gluttonous appetite that is destroying Earth and imprisoning billions of human beings. This enemy, already killing millions of individuals on a yearly basis, all clandestinely buried six feet under, all in the name of profit and power, all ignored and obfuscated, hidden under the noses of the world entire, will in the years to come become an even greater threat than it is at present.
In the last century we battled totalitarianism; in this century we will battle corporatism. The following essay should be interpreted as a call to action, following in the footsteps of those words of the past, stated by wiser men and greater principles. For if not today, when? If not when, then our failure will be the purgatory of those inheriting the tomorrow. The coporate world has become our tyrant, our mass murderer, our brain and puppetmaster. When we wake up to this reality, then perhaps our planet and our destiny will find salvation in the incredible potential of this the human race, this primate with the capacity for so much good, and so much evil.
We the People, the people of the World entire, not just those residing inside the bowels of predatory capitalism itself, must accept that there is a war against us, and we must resist, rebel and alter the course of human events before the course of corporate events shackles us to the prison of our minds and the domain of serfs, slaves and the destiny of so many that have come before. Viva la Revolucion! The Revolution of We the People, 6 billion strong.
Zapatista Manifesto:
TO THE PEOPLE OF MEXICO:
TO THE PEOPLES AND GOVERNMENTS OF THE WORLD:
The flower of the word will not die. The masked face which today has a name may die, but the word which came from the depth of history and the earth can no longer be cut by the ears with its cannons.
Our fight is caused by hunger, and the gifts of bad government are lead and paper for the stomachs of our children.
Our fight is for a roof over our heads which has dignity, and bad government destroys our homes and our history.
Our fight is for knowledge, and bad government distributes ignorance and disdain.
Our fight is for the land, and the government gives us cementaries.
Our fight is for a job which is just and dignified, and bad government buys and sells our bodies and our shames.
Our fight is for life, and bad government offers death as our future.
Our fight is for respect for our right to sovereignty and self-government, and bad government imposes laws of the few on the many.
Our fight is for liberty of thought and walk, and bad government builds jails and graves.
Our fight is for justice, and bad government consists of criminals and assassins.
Our fight is for history and the government proposes to erase history.
Our fight is for the homeland, and bad government dreams with the flag and the language of foreigners.
Our fight is for peace, and bad government announces war and destruction.
Housing, land, employment, food, healthcare, education,
independence, democracy, liberty, justice and peace. These were our
banners during the dawn of 1994. These were our demands during that long night of 500 years. These are, today, our necessities.
Thunderous booms echoed throughout the vast expanse of the land known as the United States, from the conifer forests of the Pacific Northwest to the magnificent Charles River flowing through historical Boston. An amalgam of bright lights bursting in air filled the night sky as Independence Day arrived yet one more time to remind us of the long ago birth of a new nation through the defeat of oppression, tyranny and exploitation. Millions of Americans raised their heads upwards into stars long since forgotten, hidden by our man made lights, blanketing dark skies yet unseen by human eyes. Instead, resounding echoes of exploding fireworks filled the sky, captivating us with their vast array of colors and shapes.
Independence Day in America is a remembrance of times long past and gone, a time to give thanks to those who came before in time and space, placed by fate to fight for freedom, against domination and despotism, towards a new dawn in human civilization. All men, it was believed, were created equal, endowed with certain unalienable rights, among these Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. To secure these rights, a government is created deriving its just powers from the consent of the governed. This government, it was believed, was to be of, by and for the people.
Never did the Founding Fathers envisage what love and devotion to the Almighty Dollar and his sister greed would unleash upon the once heavenly and diverse lands of their fledgling nation. Never did they comprehend the erosion of democracy the latter stages of American capitalism would bring forth, nor the cronyism, corruption and loss of integrity and honor at the highest levels of governance. Like a flashflood rushing down a dry-river bed devouring everything in its path, American capitalism has been an unstoppable and furious calamity, eroding democracy and the very foundations America gives thanks to on the Fourth of July.
An Enemy Like No Other
The growth of the corporate Leviathan over the last hundred years has coincided with the diminishing rights and power of the people. When out of the 100 richest economies in the world over 50 are corporations, it is easy to decipher what entity has contributed to our dwindling freedoms, rights, democracy and power. The tremendous growth of the Leviathan has spawned new generations of unscrupulous capitalists eager to exploit entire populations, hundreds of millions strong, in order to continue the exponential growth of the Leviathan, its minions and masters.
Never before has humanity faced an enemy like the Leviathan, oozing power and control, owning the mechanisms by which the masses are brainwashed and programmed, having fused with a government that now acts as one more tentacle by which it controls the citizenry. We have become the blood injecting oxygen into our enemy, the food that sustains it and the nutrition that grants it energy. Humanity's greatest threat has become a beast demanding global empire, molded out of our own clay, exploiting our own laws and rules, thriving off our easily manipulated and controlled minds.
Behind it, masked in power and thriving in orgasmic levels of control sit the elite, the oligarchs, exploiters of humanity and high priests of the Almighty Dollar. At the altar of greed they sacrifice their fellow human beings, at the temple of their god we are all made pawns. The engine of exploitation called capitalism enables them to prosper; the control of government grants them the purple robe of power. Over the last hundred years they have waged war against us, winning battle after battle, making lost powers the masses once possessed. Controlling those who govern, those who entertain, those who decide and those who create has given them unlimited means by which to assault us.
From all directions we are being bombarded, slowly being transformed into beasts of burden, unthinking and indifferent, ignorant beings programmed to consume what we produce, albeit at inflated prices, allowing our rights and freedoms to be eviscerated, our happiness to be manipulated, our minds to be numbingly conditioned by media and chemically oppressed by a plethora of pharmaceutical pills.
War Being Waged Against the People
What reality once was has disappeared into the fog of what the Leviathan deems it to be. We are being used and abused, serving the few at the top, becoming the four course dinner the elite succulently feast on. We are at war, or, rather, it has been declared against us. We just do not know it yet. Every battle lost sinks us deeper into the belly of the beast, gripped to the dungeons of the nadir we continue to breathe. Invisible shackles envelope our every appendage as unsuspecting slaves we have been made to be.
Battles have been and continue to be waged against our freedoms, destroying more of them each passing year. We might believe America to espouse the most freedoms in humanity but in truth it grants its people some of the least in the developed world. It is only our belief because we want to make it so, because those in power reinforce the illusion of it being reality. And with the continued marketing of dark-skinned bogeymen lurking in every corner, eager to inflict 'evil' on America's sons and daughters, these freedoms will only continue to disappear, until the day arrives our progeny have nothing left to fight for because there is nothing left to remember.
The noble experiment of democracy our Founding Fathers birthed over two centuries ago has been malevolently turned into a charade hiding the sinister fangs of debauchery and crony capitalism. This exercise in futility is now more a vote over who will become the grandest corporate puppets in the land than an endeavor to empower the population. Government in Washington has become an oxymoron, a place where legions of lobbyists rock the cradle of representatives, showering the mechanisms of power and control at spineless, malfeasant and immoral individuals.
It is in the halls of power, where once noble and just men walked, that the war against the masses begins. Where virtuous blood once flowed now tainted and smeared toxins now pollute, becoming an insult to a long gone tradition of enlightenment. An Almighty Creator has been replaced by the Almighty Dollar, flooding the great Potomac and its surrounding banks with the hypnotizing captivation of greenbacks polluting all minds that drink from the blessed chalice of corruption. It is so-called American democracy – another oxymoron – that grants cover to crony capitalism and corporatism, simply the latest reincarnation in a long and undistinguished line of ruthless and exploitative governance to help decimate the masses.
Worker rights, healthcare, education, Jeffersonian equality and liberty are now but mere drops falling from the once fluid faucet of American ideals. The 'peoples' representatives selling themselves to the highest bidder in the whore house named Congress continue to degrade the office they hold, becoming champions of corporations, not people, condemning millions for billions in profits.
At every level the American people continue to be swindled and cheated by the same government implicitly designed to serve the People, not the Leviathan. Corporate and foreign government lobbyists help feed addictions to money, power and control by presenting fat coffers of the Almighty dollar into the pockets of those wretched souls captured by greed, enrichment, power and exploitation. The Almighty Dollar is the ticket that grants access to power, suddenly transforming seemingly busy individuals into attentive listeners. It is here that average citizens cannot compete, and it is why laws and regulations favor the corporate dominated world and the elite that comprise it.
The privileges granted by wealth not only buys off our 'representatives' and their inherent powers to shape the direction of the nation but also assures the continued domination by corporations over every aspect of our lives. Suppressed wages continue to decline relevant to inflation, working hours continue to increase, powers once embedded in the working masses have vanished, benefits are slowly being made harder to attain and well paying jobs are being outsourced and replaced by minimum wage opportunities. In the land wishing to export equality abroad, the gap between rich and poor only continues to increase, all the while the middle class is subjected to disproportionate sacrifice in time of need that places a heavy burden on its capacity to save money and that in effect lowers its status relevant to that of the rich.
Education in America is becoming an endangered social necessity thanks to the apathetic cowardice and pathetic submission by our chosen 'representatives.' Millions of children are purposefully being made ignorant energies devoid of free-thinking minds. Schools are becoming conveyor belts of incurious and unquestioning children whose future is being decided before ever attaining even a semblance of opportunity, or chance. America's education budget is being decapitated, its diverse curriculum being shredded to pieces, making extinct art, music, philosophy, social and natural sciences, redesigned to create slaves and future members of the working class instead of the enlightened torchbearers carrying the prospect of hope through the keys of opportunity.
Higher education is being made harder to attain as increases in tuition and costs places a heavy handed burden on working and middle class students. Universities are slashing programs and courses in order to meet expenses, thereby offering students a less fruitful all around education. The barrier to entry has purposefully been elevated so that blue collar workers exist into perpetuity. Higher learning, a necessity for the richest nation on Earth, is being denied to millions, being made more expensive and less able to educate. Instead of encouraging America's children to pursue enlightenment, the government and the elite hinder their capacity to learn. There is something terribly wrong when a nation places so many obstacles to its citizens in pursuit of higher learning. The effects, however, are as naturally devastating as they are encouraged.
When the Leviathan controls, slave labor and a working class majority is exactly what America strives for. The assembly line spitting out products and services must continue churning out profits at the expense of the working class. Subservient armies of workers, underpaid, underappreciated and uneducated, transformed into drones unquestioning and compliant, must exist in large numbers in order for the economy to expand and the Leviathan hegemony to grow. Denying millions of Americans a worthy education assures this spring of success from ever drying up.
The Leviathan needs legions of citizens to produce its goods cheaply; it needs mindless drones that will without conscious purchase its products at inflated prices. It needs uninformed and incurious millions to vote for its puppets, ask not a question and seek no accountability. It must be allowed to continue clandestinely waging war against the American people without interruption, without the knowledge of the citizenry and without awakening the placid condition of our existence. Gentle ripples cannot be allowed to become enraged tsunamis.
The Leviathan and the corporatist form of governance needs soldiers to help pilfer, conquer and exploit the lands and people of the world. It needs cannon fodder to wage war, well-trained grunts to press triggers, direct tanks and press the buttons launching carnal death onto the peoples of the world. It is from our children that the Leviathan gets its power to exploit foreign lands, robbing them of precious natural resources, and condemns billions to slave like existences in wages, labor and life. From the poor of America the poor of the world are subjugated, enriching the elite and making more powerful the putrid seeds of American capitalism disguised as benevolent democracy. War is but a sad tale of exploited poor condemning subjugated poor, for the benefit of the few and the hegemony of the exploiters.
Poverty stricken boys and girls from rural and urban settings, already denied equal and worthy education, thrown into the rotting cesspool of lost opportunity and purposefully robbed of a fruitful future are socially engineered to desire entry into the elite's armed forces, pushed seemingly from birth towards servicing the death machines of the military industrial complex. Thus, the poor from one nation will be trained to kill the poor of another, and together the explosive Molotov cocktail called war will they form.
America's poor and working class children will sacrifice life, limb and mind for the benefits of the few at the top. From the bottom the rich feed, destroying lives and minds, condemning thousands to live altered lives and destitute futures as they struggle to understand the evils forced upon their consciousness. Our children are maimed in body and their minds infected with the inner demons of war. Back home, it is the masses that help finance the Leviathan's battles and wars; it is us building and designing the very same instruments of death and human evil our children kill and die with. It is from our pockets, purses and wallets that weapons of death and destruction come into existence. From our wages our children are trained to kill, to destroy and wage human evil onto the world. Our sacrifice helps make our children obedient, compliant and brainwashed soldiers of death, becoming a plague of virus wrapped in blind patriotism, believing everything those who govern espouse, willing to die not for freedom and democracy but for enslavement of their kind and the imposition of corrupt capitalism through the barrel of a gun.
Sinister Correlation of Power and Terrorism
A Leviathan comprised of terrorists runs amok, perpetrating crimes against humanity and the planet that is killing hundreds of thousands of people every year. Yet these terrorists control power, and are instead labeled industry and corporations. From their evil is spawned environmental degradation that penetrates lungs and bodies, creating cancers and disease. From their evil are spawned fabricated foods, chemicals, additives, preservatives and hormones that are altering our behaviors, our bodies and perhaps even our genetic composition.
Corporate terrorists are polluting waterways, the air we breathe, the land we live on and the Earth we dwell in. These miscreants care nothing about us; to them we are but the consumers from which to harvest profits and the assembly line from which to garner the next generation of producer and consumer.
Their policies have and continue to eviscerate futures, talents and opportunities, condemning untold billions to lives living in perpetual castes. It is from this careful and methodical social engineering that once promising human energies are transformed into the pawns of those in power, becoming exploitable and subjugated entities remaining in their predetermined lot while enriching the few at the top.
Corporate terrorists send our children to war, sent to die or get maimed in body and mind. They ruin us with interest payments, riddle us with growing debt and deny us medical attention needed. They help turn healthcare into an exercise in class warfare, dividing us into the treated and untreated, the rich and poor. Playing God, these terrorists determine who lives and dies, who heals and who withers. Putting profits over people, money over morality, these charlatans get rich off of others misfortune and suffering. Disease is their mistress, their reason for being. To them, it seems, healthcare cannot be universalized, communalized or socialized. To these terrorists it is a privilege, not a right, available only if fate has endowed you with the ability to pay.
While Arab terrorists are marketed as those we must most fear, it is the corporate kind that kills hundreds of thousands each and every year. It is they who are committing mass acts of genocide, it is they perpetrating crimes against humanity and the planet. It is they whose policies help impoverish hundreds of millions worldwide, using their mechanisms to create a mass slave labor workforce. It is they who do not allow peace from evolving that should be called terrorists. It is they whose pursuit of perpetual war for perpetual profit that sleep and dwell in caves of human evil.
It is those who purposefully instill fear into our minds for political reasons who we should fear most. It is those robbing us of treasure and of loved ones that belong in The Hague. It is hypocrites who spawn death of innocents and destruction of lives under the rubric of claiming to rid the world of evil that are evil themselves. It is those who torture and semantically bend the rules of international law who are terrorists. It is those who decapitate and maim thousands through missiles and bombs that have the same moral cavity as those who behead on video. Just because they govern America does not make these criminals less of a terrorist than others. Simply because they claim victory does not make them champions. Because they can foster unrelenting propaganda does not mean they are saviors to the world.
It is those who see War as Peace, Ignorance as Knowledge, Lies as Truth, lack of Education as Progress, Occupation as Liberation, Death and Destruction as Moral Superiority, Greed as Good, American Capitalism as Freedom and Democracy and Poverty as Wealth that the world should be fighting and purging from power.
Are we to label as terrorists individuals who decimate futures and abilities by preventing opportunity, increasing indigence, eviscerating education, polluting land and humans, manipulating minds, exploiting their brethren and controlling us through fear and insecurity? Should the Leviathan be labeled the greatest threat facing humanity, the ultimate cold blooded terrorist? To many of us, the answer is yes.
American Democracy a Sham
The feces stained hallways of Washington are slowly rotting with the defecation of what America once stood for. Democracy is now controlled and dominated by the rich and elite, the few at the top addicted to greed and the Almighty Dollar. Ordinary citizens can no longer enter the corridors of power, either as constituents or as representatives. The bar to holding office continues to be raised, millions of dollars are needed to win and keep a seat of power. Today only the most unscrupulous vermin, those elite few with special interests to uphold and wealth to increase can sit in the hallowed domes of government.
You think democracy as we believe it to exist still lingers? Not when over forty Senators and one-hundred Representatives are considered millionaires, many placed in office to help expand their own interests; not when certain lobbies determine and in essence select who will win elections through pressures and contributions; not when the corporate media pushes us to vote for whomever they want in office through distortion, manipulation, deceit and coverage; not when laws and regulations are passed that only favor corporations; not when cherished buildings of governance are beset with corporate executives, lobbyists and puppets running the mechanisms of the nation's management; not when freedoms, rights and social services are being made extinct, destroying what took decades to achieve; not when corporations dominate our daily lives through their vast array of tentacles; not when government has morphed with corporations to create a new corporatist world washing away centuries of what 'We the People' have struggled to attain; not when our choice for President comes down to two elites molded from the same clay, in many instances espousing the same interests; not when democracy means choosing from two parties battling each other for who will become the puppet to those in power; not when money determines who runs, who loses and whose interests are furthered; not when America is being dumbed down so that an informed and questioning citizenry no longer exists.
We the People are systematically being turned into We the Sheeple. Our government is now of the corporation, by the corporation and for the corporation. Our Founding Fathers are no doubt turning in their graves, unable to comprehend what has become of the cherished principles of We the People, of democracy, of American ideals and of the once noble institution of American government. We the People are being used and abused, bamboozled into believing the corrupt vices of our so-called leaders. We the People are now nothing more than hundreds of millions of hungry bodies and ignorant minds, manipulated to pursue materialistic worlds that exist only in the realm of fiction, programmed to instill in our society the vices of greed through the attainment of the Almighty Dollar and molded to stay silent even as war is waged against us, killing scores through environmental poisoning, ceaseless contamination of foods, educational evisceration and healthcare indifference.
Republican, Independent and Democrat, it does not matter from what spectrum we derive our beliefs, all of us are pawns in a game of hegemony and wealth. Many of us vote against our own self-interests, losing wealth, power, freedoms and rights, preferring instead to vote based on ideology. Those in power know this all too well, which is why they concoct these seeds of division from which to garner votes. Democracy in America is now a scam, a cynical manipulation of the masses that serves not our interest but those of the hand that controls the puppets.
We the People are all in this together, caught in the middle of thunderous cannons attacking us from all directions. Those in power need to divide us, they need us to split into conflict-laden entities that will never unite. They understand that strength in numbers must not be allowed to occur. They know that divided we all stand, blind to our common enemy, bereft of communalism toward each other, eager to fight ourselves instead of our masters. Not since the Civil War has this nation been so divided; yet not since that time has the nation been in such peril. America as we have known it is being melted away; the beast called the corporate Leviathan controls us more each day. It now owns a government that fails to serve 'We the People'; our interests have been vanquished, our rights trampled on. Laws, rules and regulations now only help to increase corporate power over our lives.
War has been brought to us and our children. The coming struggle for our future is of necessity, not choice, and we must heed the warnings being trumpeted before all that remains is an assembly line called human procreation whose conveyor belt spits out willing automatons and serfs without meaning, without happiness, without freedom and without free-will. Together we must stand, marching in unison, fighting a common enemy, providing for the common defense, struggling for our way of life, a future devoid of chains and for descendants still able to breathe the air of freedom, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
It is time. If not now, when? We the People stand at the threshold of a momentous decision, one whose decision will determine fates and directions. A growing storm gathers energy, its power derived from our existence and indifference. In its ominous blackened clouds can be seen the energized lightning charges ready to continue the devastation of America and its citizens. An enemy the likes of which humanity has never been privy to gathers in our midst, eager to continue the usurpation of what we hold to be most cherished and absolute. Like a freight train it continues to storm through; whether we stop it dead in its tracks is a choice for us to decide. We the People are all in this together. Perhaps the time has come to take our government and country back, returning this nation to what it once was, and to the greatness its potential once espoused.
The course of history changes many times, in many ways, taking many forms using many actors. One more fork in the road is upon us. Whether we choose the right path is up to us. Together, united as one, Americans of all colors, creeds, religions and ideologies can help defeat the greatest threat to ever attack this great nation. For our children, for their future and that of the entire planet we must act in unison. This is our greatest challenge, our biggest battle, where the collective future of humankind now rests. Unhindered the Leviathan will splurge on us, gorging on its exploitation of our existence, making itself more powerful, exerting tremendous hegemony over our lives. The Other Superpower must awaken. It must rise from its doldrums. We are the many, they the few. If Together we stand, then Together we will survive.
America's Founding Fathers saw the gathering storms of tyranny and oppression fast approaching over the horizon, compelling them to write the powerful words below that declared a monumental Independence spawning an evolved and progressive form of human governance. Wanting to escape a corrosive and exploitative system, they bequeathed to their descendants a future devoid of the form of government they so abhorred. The question thus becomes: will we have the courage to act as they once did?
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature´s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. –That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. –Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.
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Claude, Texas is located at Latitude 35.107313 and Longitude -101.362282. Claude is in the Central (GMT -06:00) time zone. Telephone area codes in Claude include 806. This hometown does use daylight savings time.
Claude, Texas is situated in Armstrong County. Armstrong County has an average elevation of 3407 feet.
Please explore this site for detailed population, demographic and housing data for Claude, Texas and Armstrong County.


Ren faire las vegas. Ren faire las vegas.
Oct 8, - The first rule of Renaissance festivals: Don't be afraid to wear a costume. Sure, when a Renaissance festival first-timer sees the cool outfits and.
Three-day passes are available through Ticketfly and must be redeemed at the event box office the first day of the festival. The fair will boast a royal parade, ending with a public stoning, featuring kings, queens, warriors and peasants on Saturday and Sunday. Alcohol sales begin at 2 p.
Friday October 9th, Saturday October 10th from Traveling back through centuries when knights and kings, maidens and wenches, minstrels and jesters ruled the world, the festivities begin on Friday, Oct. Any participants in costume must have all related props or weapons peace tied, or those items will be denied at time of entry. No re-entry is allowed.
About Clark County Parks and Recreation Clark County Parks and Recreation enriches the community through parks, programs and services while maintaining the indoor and outdoor recreation needs of Southern Nevada with more than 1, of acres of parks and open play space, pools and water parks, recreation and senior centers, special events and sports and fitness and fine arts programming. Three-day passes are available through Ticketfly and must be redeemed at the event box office the first day of the festival.
Additional attractions include bow and arrow and axe target games, medieval barber and surgeon demonstrations, Princess Tea Party and storytelling, Scavenger Hunt and Renaissance guilds. Guests should refrain from parking at area businesses as they will tow unauthorized vehicles. ATMs will be on site and located by the each entrance gate, next to the main food court and in vendor village. Ages five and younger are free.
Ages five and younger are free. Guests should refrain from parking at area businesses as they will tow unauthorized vehicles. Traveling back through centuries when knights and kings, maidens and wenches, minstrels and jesters ruled the world, the festivities begin on Friday, Oct.
ATMs will be on site and located by the each entrance gate, next to the main food court and in vendor village. Patrons may bring one sealed bottle of water, sunscreen, blankets and still camera. Any participants in costume must have all related props or weapons peace tied, or those items will be denied at time of entry. Any participants in costume must have all related props or weapons peace tied, or those items will be denied at time of entry.
Las Vegas Renaissance Festival. Las Vegas, NV SUNSET PARK BOX OFFICE HOURS: October 12 - 14, only (2 entry gates) Friday: 9 a.m. � 9� ?Tickets ��?Camping ��?Vending ��?Villages. Oct 12, - Recreation presents Age of Chivalry Renaissance Festival - Friday, October 12, | Sunday, October 14, at Sunset Park, Las Vegas. For over twenty years, the Age of Chivalry Renaissance Festival has provided attendees with an event that lives up to its Las Vegas surroundings. The festival.
Parking is available for free at Sunset Park. Guests should refrain from parking at area businesses as they will tow unauthorized vehicles.
Ages five and younger are free. The festival is open from 10 a.
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These interested in the Age of Determination Renaissance Draining can call or have the website at www. Know tickets are outmoded through Ticketfly; pole chevera offices will be apt at the subsequent 9 a.
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Friday October 9th, Saturday October 10th from The festival presents various shows per day along with historical re-enactments, jousting tournaments, medieval pageantry and more than artisans � including blacksmiths, stained glass designers, jewelers, wood workers, toy makers, perfume blenders, stone carvers and sword, dagger and armor craftsman � to demonstrate and sell their wares.


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PERSONALITIES & ORGANIZATIONS
MEMORIALS & TRIBUTES
In memory of Clive law
Perth-Regiment(M.G.)
Location : Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
by Perth-Regiment(M.G.) on Tue Jun 13, 2017 5:07 pm
It's with a very heavy heart that I inform you all that Canada has Lost one of it's Best military historians Clive Law. He passed away peacefully and comfortably the evening of june 10 having succumbed to his stroke.
The funeral has been confirmed for Saturday June 17th at the National Military Cemetery at Beechwood in Ottawa (280 Beechwood Ave, Vanier ON K1L 8A6).
Visitation will take place from 0900-1000hrs followed by the service at 1000hrs and interment of the ashes immediately following.
Due to allergies and respiratory issues we also ask that perfumes and the like be avoided, please.
Re: In memory of Clive law
I am richly blessed to have known Clive Law, and to have read some of his many informative books that have taught me so much about Canadian military history. As a Young collector all I can hope to do is pass on the torch of knowledge that Clive has given us and to teach Future military collectors and historians about Canadian military history. R.I.P. Clive
Tankermike
by Tankermike on Fri Jul 28, 2017 10:46 am
The military collectors scene has lost a true champion, I have only meet Clive a couple of times and was always a pleasure to talk with him. My condolences to his son Richard and his family. I hope his publishing business will continue.


Natal Settlers Homes is an organisation based in Umbilo, and cares for old age pensioners and special needs children. Commented Belinda Naidoo, Chairperson of the organisation : "Our aim is to provide and foster holistic care to the most vulnerable members of society, with respect and dignity. Most of the children we care for have cerebral palsy and have been abandoned by their families and left in our care."The organisation contacted Hirsch's for a much needed food processer and together with Kenwood/Braun they were able to assist in donating a brand new food processor. "Thank you so much you have no idea how much money we are going to save in the long run as we are now able to buy fresh vegetables and process them ourselves instead of buying frozen veg, This cuts down our food costs buy over 45%" said Craig Elgelbrecht Chairperson on the committee. The organisation has to feed and care for hundreds, and with only a small subsidy for the government they find it difficult to reach their targets. Hirsch's was happy to get involved and make their lives a bit easier.


To promote the launch of the MiTo 1.3 JTDM-2, Alfa Romeo has enlisted Louise Dear to create an art car.
Titled "Because I Can," the car features a floral design and a portrait that draws inspiration from Louise Dear's 17 year old daughter. According to the artist, "The Alfa MiTo is targeted at a young, stylish audience who have a positive attitude to life, and are focused on being successful, and within my painting I have tried to bring this across using a combination of designs that convey powerful imagery mixed with elegance and beauty."
The car will be displayed at three Castle Galleries in the United Kingdom, so hit up the press release for additional information.


The warmest month (with the highest average high temperature) is June (35.5°C).
The month with the lowest average high temperature is January (13.9°C).
The month with the highest average low temperature is July (21.2°C).
The coldest month (with the lowest average low temperature) is January (2.2°C).
The wettest month (with the highest rainfall) is July (384.3mm).
The driest month (with the lowest rainfall) is November (44mm).


White Walls is conveniently situated on Cannongate Road, an exclusive location only a short walk from the town centre with its 4 supermarkets (including Waitrose, Sainsburys and Aldi), bustling and vibrant High Street with a range of independent shops, boutiques, cafes and restaurants, doctors' surgeries, dentists etc. The Royal Military Canal is close by, with pleasant towpath walks and cycle path and the attractive, unspoilt seafront and long pebbly beach is a level walk away. There is a wide variety of sporting and leisure facilities in the area, including the Hotel Imperial Leisure Centre, cricket and lawn tennis clubs, 2 golf courses, sailing club, etc. There are many clubs and societies within the town that welcome new members, and a fortnightly farmers' market. The town is well served with educational establishments including Hythe Bay C of E Primary School, St Augustines Roman Catholic Primary School and Brockhill Performing Arts College. There are boys and girls Grammar in nearby Folkestone.
Approached via a sweeping driveway leading through its grounds, White Walls occupies an elevated position from where No.4 commands magnificent views over Hythe and of the sea. This grand period building has been thoughtfully converted to provide four units, three apartments and No.4 which is a maisonette which has the sense of being a cottage.
The property benefits from a garage at the end of the driveway and is approached through its own private garden, passing by the original vinery and leading to a courtyard at the rear where the main entrance is. The accommodation is bright and spacious and comprises an entrance hall, generous sitting/dining room, kitchen/breakfast room and cloakroom. On the first floor there are three double bedrooms and a bathroom. Although in need of some general updating this unique property has the potential to provide an enchanting and particularly special home.