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Pokemon Gotcha!
Posted on July 30, 2016 by marcia
Pokémon Go, the CIA, "Totalitarianism" and the Future of Surveillance
By Steven MacMillan
If anyone doubted that a percentage of the global population are akin to zombies, the incidents following the release of Pokémon Go have surely convinced you. Despite the game only being released in early July, we have already seen a man driving into a tree and a women getting locked in a graveyard whilst chasing these furry little creatures.
Pokémon describes the game on their website in the following way:
Travel between the real world and the virtual world of Pokémon with Pokémon GO for iPhone and Android devices. With Pokémon GO, you'll discover Pokémon in a whole new world—your own! Pokémon GO is built on Niantic's Real World Gaming Platform and will use real locations to encourage players to search far and wide in the real world to discover Pokémon… In Pokémon GO, the real world will be the setting!
Pokémon Go, Google, the State Department, the CIA and the DoD
The company behind Pokémon Go is a San Francisco software developer called Niantic, Inc, which was formed in 2010 as an internal startup at Google. The founder and current CEO of Niantic is John Hanke, a man who has connections both to the State Department and the CIA.
Before moving to San Francisco to study at the University of California, Hanke previously worked for the US State Department in Myanmar. Hanke also founded Keyhole, Inc in 2001, a company which specialized in geospatial data visualization applications. Google acquired the company in 2004, with many of the applications developed by Keyhole being instrumental in Google Maps and Earth. In 2003, the CIA's venture-capitalist firm, In-Q-Tel, invested in Keyhole, with the CIA's own website proudly detailing this investment:
The CIA-assisted technology probably most familiar to you is one many of us use on a regular basis: Google Earth. In February 2003, the CIA-funded venture-capitalist firm In-Q-Tel made a strategic investment in Keyhole, Inc., a pioneer of interactive 3-D earth visualization and creator of the groundbreaking rich-mapping EarthViewer 3D system. CIA worked closely with other Intelligence Community organizations to tailor Keyhole's systems to meet their needs. The finished product transformed the way intelligence officers interacted with geographic information and earth imagery.
One of the other intelligence organizations the CIA worked alongside was the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), which is partly under the control of the US Department of Defense (DoD).
So we have a somewhat enigmatic former State Department employee with connections to the CIA and the DoD, being the CEO of a company that created what seems to be a silly, harmless game. What's going on?
Selling and Sharing Your Data
Like so many new technologies in our digital age, Pokémon Go is constantly gathering information on the user and then openly admitting that they will share this data with anyone who wants it.
As James Corbett pointed out in his article titled: "The CIA's 'Pokémon Go' App is Doing What the Patriot Act Can't," the privacy policy of the app states that Niantic will share all the information they gather (which is a lot) with the state and private organizations:
We cooperate with government and law enforcement officials or private parties to enforce and comply with the law. We may disclose any information about you (or your authorized child) that is in our possession or control to government or law enforcement officials or private parties as we, in our sole discretion, believe necessary or appropriate.
Corbett also details how the game requires the user to give excessive access to Niantic/CIA/NGA/DoD (including access to the users' Google account and camera).
Oliver Stone on PG: "Totalitarianism" and a "New Level of Invasion"
Speaking at this year's Comic-Con, Oliver Stone – the award winning filmmaker and director of the new film on Edward Snowden – had some very insightful views on the new craze and the growing business of data-mining. As Vulture magazine reported in a recent article, Stone denounced the game as a "new level of invasion" and a new form of "totalitarianism:"
I'm hearing about it too; it's a new level of invasion. Once the government had been hounded by Snowden, of course the corporations went into encryption, because they had to for survival, right? But the search for profits is enormous. Nobody has ever seen, in the history of the world, something like Google – ever! It's the fastest-growing business ever, and they have invested huge amounts of money into what surveillance is; which is data-mining.
Stone continues:
They're data-mining every person in this room for information as to what you're buying, what it is you like, and above all, your behavior. Pokémon Go kicks into that. It's everywhere. It's what some people call surveillance capitalism; it's the newest stage. You'll see a new form of, frankly, a robot society, where they will know how you want to behave and they will make the mockup that matches how you behave and feed you. It's what they call totalitarianism.
Predicting Human Behavior
It is interesting that Stone doesn't just warn about the commercial aspect of data-mining, but the fact that the more data governments and private corporations collect on the citizens of the world, the easier it becomes to predict their behavior. It is not just Stone that is warning about this reality, however. At the start of last year, the UK governments own surveillance commissioner, Tony Porter, revealed how data obtained from CCTV cameras can be used to "predict behavior."
As we progress through the 21st century and more advanced algorithmic systems are developed to process the tsunami of data, intelligence agencies and governments will increasingly be able to predict (and manipulate) the behavior of their populations and the populations of foreign countries. We are already far along this path, will the trajectory for the future heading straight towards levels of surveillance far beyond even what George Orwell envisaged; with the fight for digital privacy being a major battleground in this century for those who value freedom.
Pokémon Go looks more like a Trojan horse of the CIA and the wider intelligence-security-data-mining-Big-Brother complex, than just a silly, innocent game. With all these connections to the State Department, the CIA and the DoD, no wonder some countries are reportedly considering banning the game.
Steven MacMillan is an independent writer, researcher, geopolitical analyst and editor of The Analyst Report, especially for the online magazine "New Eastern Outlook".
from: http://www.activistpost.com/2016/07/pokemon-go-cia-totalitarianism-future-surveillance.html
Posted in Of Interest | Tagged behavioral models, CIA, data mining, Pokemon Go, privacy, surveillance
Finding Peace Within
How To Master Inner Peace
In5D July 30, 2016
by Melind
I have learned in the past couple of years that nothing ever stays the same. Even after we start practicing mindfulness, we have our good and bad days.
People often tell me that sometimes they are still anxious, even after practicing peace for such a long time. They feel bad for it and want to eliminate it completely. But the truth is that anxiety, just like any other human feeling, cannot be eliminated completely. Because it is natural. And there's nothing wrong with it, just like there's nothing wrong with any other human feeling.
I have my own set of fears, just like everybody else does. Sometime I feel like my mind just picks a random worry off its big shelf of worries to bother me with. The shelf is never empty, it always has something to throw at me. I don't think it will ever be empty. And that's okay.
What I realized is that it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that the shelf is full. It doesn't matter what the mind throws at you. And I'm going one step further: It doesn't even matter what life itself throws at you. Because there is only one thing that matters, one thing that determines life.
And that is how we react to it.
This was one of the very first reminders I've written in my meditation diary: "Life is determined by our reactions to it." Because many things are out of our control, even our thoughts sometimes. But what will always remain in our control is our reactions. And through our reactions, we make life.
Let's look at an example. Imagine a person who is scared of public speaking because of what people might think about her. That's a very common fear. Now imagine that person going up to speak and messing up in the worst possible way. This is our main situation. There are two ways to go from there.
She either collapses mentally and scolds herself for being so stupid, never really getting over it, making it into one of her most horrible memories. Or she can shrug it off, accept with peace that it happened and move on. Will anyone in the audience care? No, everyone will forget after a short time. Of course they will, because it's not a big deal. It's nothing in the grand scheme of things.
Nothing is nearly as big of a deal as our minds make it out to be. It's good to remember that, so when the time comes, we can choose to react with peace. What happens doesn't matter as long as we choose to react to it with peace. Because whatever we react to in such a way will become a peaceful experience.
This is one of the most important things I've learned and I still remember what a freeing experience it has been to realize it. I don't have to suffer. I don't have to panic. I don't have to worry. I can choose to react with peace. To anything. Inside and outside of me.
"Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional," is one of my favorite quotes. Because it's so true. Things will happen, everyone goes through pain, hardship, bad thoughts, uncomfortable feelings. But those don't determine a life. What determines a life is how we react to all these things. Because that makes all the difference in the world.
(A guided meditation on the same topic can be found here:
"Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond to it." – Lou Holtz
from: http://in5d.com/how-to-master-inner-peace/
Posted in Body, Mind & Spirit | Tagged consciousness, Fear, inner peace, Meditation
Native Americans in Politics
A Political Turning Point for Native Americans
Who will be Indian Country's Obama? Look to the states. Her name will be Paulette, Peggy, or Denise.
Mark Trahant posted Jul 26, 2016
This is the first of a two-part series on this political turning point for Native Americans. Read Part 2 here.
Joe Garry was president of the National Congress of American Indians in an era when tribal rights were under assault from Congress. House Concurrent Resolution 108, passed in August 1953, declared that the federal government should "terminate" its responsibilities toward Native Americans, essentially breaking promises made through solemn treaties.
The threat was real. In a period of 30 years, more than a hundred tribes were disbanded and the tribal governments dissolved. The result was huge losses of land and natural resources in Oregon, Utah, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Texas.
The strongest weapon in this battle is the power to vote.
Garry's plan to counter that threat included the addition of more Native American voices to the country's conversations. The strongest weapon in this battle is the power to vote, Garry said. So I'll begin the story of Native America's growing political voice in Idaho, where Garry was the chairman of the Coeur d'Alene tribe. He ran for the Idaho House of Representatives and was elected in 1957. Later, he won a seat in the the Idaho Senate, and in 1960 sought the Democratic Party's nomination for the U.S. Senate.
Idaho is a surprising birthplace for Joe Garry's legacy. Not many Native Americans live in Idaho, where they comprise roughly 1 percent of the population. Garry's successes showed that someone from a tribal community could be a leader for all of the citizens in a state.
Joe Garry
In 1975, Garry's niece Jeanne Givens became the first Native woman elected to the Idaho House of Representatives. Like her uncle, she challenged the status quo with a bid for Congress in 1988. Givens lost, but four years ago another Coeur d'Alene tribal member, Paulette Jordan, ran for the Idaho House seat. She lost that attempt but won in 2014, illustrating what may be the most important lesson in politics: You have to run to win—sometimes more than once. Jordan describes Givens as a mentor who has taught her much about politics. Both have earned the legacy of Joe Garry.
Larry Echo Hawk won a seat in the Idaho Legislature in 1992. After serving two terms he ran for and won election as the Bannock County prosecuting attorney—another first. Then, in 1990 he was elected attorney general of Idaho and became one of the few Native Americans to ever win a statewide office. Four years later he ran for governor, but he lost.
When a state like Idaho has a history of electing Native Americans to public office, you have to wonder, "Where else?" It has almost been a story of success-by-stealth.
There is a win in Arizona, another in Kansas. And when you add them up, there are at least 73 American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians serving in 19 state legislatures.
When a state like Idaho has a history of electing Native Americans to public office, you have to wonder, "Where else?"
Why hasn't the scope of this story been told before? Because each race is local; no one has ever collected all of the data that make a complete picture. So at the start of the election season I set out to build a complete list of Native Americans running for state and federal office. My list is always changing, but there are seven candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives, one for the U.S. Senate, and some 80 state legislative candidates. (What I really like is that it's crowdsourced: Every time I publish the latest candidate charts at TrahantReports.com, readers let me know who I have missed.)
I'd love to proclaim this to be a record year, but there's nothing to measure against. We don't know how many Native Americans have taken the plunge in previous election cycles. We do know, however, who has won.
One source for that information is membership in the National Caucus of Native American State Legislators. This is an association of people already elected, so it tells us more about what happened in 2014 than in 2016. Still, it's important for three reasons: First, if you look at the body of work of these state senators and representatives, you'll find that they advocate for better services, more funding, and improving relationships between tribal nations and state governments. Second, there is a mechanism to share information with each other about what works (and what does not). And third, this association is the talent pool for federal posts, from Congress to the White House.
Remember, it was just 1996 when Barack Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate.
To see the growing influence of Native Americans elected to office we need only to look at Montana.
Right now, the big story there is Denise Juneau, the state's superintendent of public instruction, who is running for the U.S. House of Representatives. She's a member of the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes and grew up in the Blackfeet Nation in Browning, Montana. She has already won two statewide contests, so she knows what it takes to win Montana's only U.S. House seat. If successful, she (along with Arizona congressional candidate Victoria Steele) would be the first American Indian woman in Congress.
Yet the Montana story is richer than just Juneau. Some 20 years ago, Montana was much like any other state with a significant Native American population with only one or two Native Americans serving in the state Legislature. But in 1997, a third Native American candidate won. And again in 2003. By 2007, Native Americans in Montana occupied 10 seats in the state Legislature—6.6 percent of that body. Montana's population is 7.4 percent Native American.
Today there are three Native Americans in the Montana Senate and five in the Montana House of Representatives, some 5.3 percent of the state Legislature. This is the highest percentage of Native American representation in the country.
Let's put the Montana percentages in national terms: If Congress were 5.3 percent Native American, that would be five U.S. Senators and 21 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Even if you adjust for population, the number of Native American members of Congress would have to more than double to equal the representation found in Montana.
YES! Infographic by Tracy Loeffelholz Dunn.
After the 2016 election, Montana's state-level Native representation is likely to grow. There are 11 Native American candidates on Montana's ballot this year, including Juneau.
Montana's Native American legislators are in office to raise overlooked issues that are important to their constituents. According to the Montana Budget and Policy Center, this past session produced a number of innovative laws, including Medicaid expansion (a financial boost to the Indian health system) and laws that will improve funding for tribal colleges, support for tribal languages, and streamline Indian business ventures. The success rate of Native American legislators to push through policy changes was less than perfect, but their voices were heard. It's likely that during the next session many of the ideas that failed to pass will be back on the agenda.
Native voters and elected officials are only at the beginning of a demographic trend.
At nearly 1 percent nationwide, the Native American rate of representation in state legislatures still trails that of the nation's overall population of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. But that's more than half of the 1.7 percent that make up the Native American population in the United States. Compare that to Congress, where only two elected Native Americans equal only 0.33 percent. Compare that to the federal judiciary, where only one Native American judge equals a representation of about 0.1 percent.
Then consider the young and growing Native American population. Native voters and elected officials are only at the beginning of a demographic trend. The American Indian and Alaska Native population is younger and growing faster than the general population. About one-third of all Native Americans are under the age of 18 (compared to 24 percent for the total population), and the median age for Native Americans is 26 (compared to 37 for the nation).
While it's overdue for America's first citizens to have a voice in how governments are run and how the country's future is shaped, it is happening now. Just imagine what it could mean for climate change policy decisions, for example, to hear from people who think about the future in terms of a 10,000-year history. Imagine also the healing message for a new generation of Native Americans—and for the country as a whole—to finally see in positions of power the people who suffered loss of both lands and culture and genocide.
This is a story that has been unfolding slowly, chapter by chapter. It started even before Joe Garry, when 19th century tribal treaty negotiators demanded a seat in Congress (a promise never kept). It's a legacy that is infused with presidential politics, especially when candidates like Jesse Jackson, Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders, and Hillary Clinton campaign in tribal communities. The election of Obama elevated the possible. He kept his promises to include tribal nations in his government and in his actions. His rise from community organizer representing poor Black communities illuminated a path to meaningful politics.
This is a story that's been unfolding slowly, chapter by chapter.
It's also a progressive legacy, of which Minnesota Rep. Peggy Flanagan of the White Earth Ojibwe tribe is an excellent example. Flanagan told The Circle when she was elected, "I have been clear that for myself personally as an Ojibwe woman and mother—but also what I've heard from my constituents—is that Minnesotans believe in protecting our land and water. That's why people live here in the first place. Indian or non-Indian, we live in a really beautiful state, and to throw it all away for short-term financial gain is really troubling to me."
It's hard to look across the country and not be optimistic about the quality, and the growing quantity, of Native American political voices. We know the story won't end here because history tells us that state legislatures are the route that leads the next generation of leaders into Congress—and one day the White House.
So if you want to know who will be Indian Country's Barack Obama, look to the states. Her name will be Paulette Jordan, Peggy Flanagan, or Denise Juneau.
And whoever she is, she will represent Joe Garry's legacy.
from: http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/a-political-turning-point-for-native-americans-20160726
Posted in Of Interest | Tagged Native Americans
Changing Times, Changing Views
Transformation, X-Ray Eyes and the Lifting of the Veil
by Zen Gardner
These are very exciting times as well as extremely challenging ones. Changes continue to accelerate on personal as well as external fronts, and will continue to do so. This veil lifting meme has come on strong. It's in our collective consciousness. It's the awakening morphing as we said it would and will continue to do.
On the external front, the BREXIT issue is very indicative of the growing effects of recent events, even if it's engineered to try and bring on a new globalist plan. The point is people are getting a sense of empowerment and involvement. When these openings arise they lead to more awakenings of the spirit as related issues come to light.
I see and feel it here in Spain, as there are a lot of Brits here and they're talking about it quite a bit and recalculating many things as a result, as are all other nationalities here in Europe. It affects trade, freedom of movement and places of residence the most immediately.
People are already on the defensive with the monetary manipulations and the underlying issue of disappearlng national cultures with the migration agenda in full swing, so the cumulative effect of these issues is precipitating new viewpoints and understandings about what's going on.
Populations are also being battered about by these escalating false flags and ginned up fear with the resulting militarization of their otherwise peaceful nations. They're seeing through all this more and more. That's pretty powerful. It's all backfiring as they get more and more desperate to gain control, and people aren't buying into it nearly as much.
The Break Though Is Under Way – And It's Very Personal
The truth is bubbling through this lifting veil and changing the playing field in more ways than we can even clearly identify. It's a shift – ultimately in consciousness that is affecting the entire planet and everything and everyone in and on it.
The most profound manifestations are what's happening in people's personal lives. I've been going through a major shift the past 10 months with very personal ramifications coming at me full speed and from all sides. The thing is, I'm hearing this from every quarter. My own children, close friends, readers and commenters on the site, people I'm meeting, and just perusing the consciousness oriented web sites.
The shift is hitting the fan. And it's all for good.
It's really remarkable how lives are being impacted. And it's clearly what's most important – that we make the personal changes that are being required of us to prepare us for what's ahead, as well as in fulfilling our essential roles as sovereign awakened souls and awake and responsible inhabitants of this glorious planet.
Y-Ray Eyes – Just Wait To See What You're Gonna See!
What's thrilling about these changes is what is being revealed to us. Not only in our general outlook as that will continually keep morphing, but our self perception and how we view those about us that closely influence our lives.
You'll see yourself, first of all, warts and all as the layers peel off. But it's revealing your real shining self. It's all good. I get into this in other articles but you know what I'm talking about. Transformation is a painful but necessary process.
Don't fight it. In fact, pursue it.
The wild stuff I've been experiencing the past several months and which continues to step up is seeing not only myself, but other people differently. Especially the ones I thought I "knew". Things get revealed to you. Brace yourself, a lot of it comes as a shocker or sideways revelation, but trust what your heart is telling you. And respond accordingly as you're led.
It's an ongoing adjustment process but quite a thrilling experience. It'll make you draw close to some and distance yourself from others as your newly revealed self comes to the surface.
The Bombastic Bullshit Factor
There's a lot of complete bullshit getting thrown around, and pointless, distracting and time and energy wasting drama. It'll be cloaked in anything from morphed new age type spiritual rigamarole, a very toxic infection going around, to shallow amusements with no lasting value that also drain the spirit and distract from deeper relationships grounded in reality.
You'll also see other people you don't know differently. It's sort of like having x-ray eyes that are waking up and activating. It gives you a lot more compassion to realize what people are trapped in, as well as an increasing disdain for destructive behavior and deliberate ignorance.
Events and news morph too. You'll be able to more easily resist areas of information that you once tolerated and even sought after. Go with it. As we detoxify it gets easier and easier and we naturally spend more time on connecting with nature and relaxing as well as working on spiritual grounding, essential to our health and survival, especially now in these increasingly turbulent times, both socially and spiritually.
Hyperdimensional Stuff
This can't be emphasized enough. Without awareness of this aspect we're sitting ducks. Almost if not all of our problems are influenced by hyperdimensional energies and entities. We're under attack now more than ever and as the veil lifts, but we're going to be able to identify these pestering spirit influences at work.
That's why grounding work in order to stay firmly planted in reality is so very important.
But it's all for our good and growth, so react consciously. Again, the Wetiko information is very empowering in this regard. We need to understand what is going on in this important hyperdimensional aspect and there's a lot of great information regarding this available.
But nothing takes the place of vigilance. If we're "on call" we're much more likely to nip things in the bud before we get entangled and things really become complicated and confusing. That's why I wrote about social contracts and co-dependence recently, because these can be activated before we know it. It's bad enough the ones we're aware of and already disengaging from, but why bring on more problems for ourselves if we can avoid them?
Can I Help?
Co-dependency often manifests in trying to help others in the wrong way and with the wrong motives driving us. Maybe we're drawing others to ourselves, or working out old issues with wanting to feel needed. It could be a lot of things.
This phrase "can I help?" has become a joke with my closest friends. We talk about all these things I'm writing about here a lot which really helps heighten awareness of it. But if you can laugh when you catch yourself doing it it's a real good sign! Issues like this are a manifestation of previous trauma and tragedy in our lives and may not seem so funny at times, but we can get past it.
We just need to see it for what it is.
That takes some "homework" but it's an essential part of our growth. Wrong, binding social contracts are another extension of co-dependency. It's that thing that reaches out and attaches in completely unhealthy ways. It reminds me of the quote:
"Thoughts are not the problem… it's the thing that goes out and grabs them and makes them 'yours' that's the problem."- Jack O'keeffe
Watch Your Thoughts – And Everything Else
That quote above is like anything in us that seeks attachment. And let me tell you, hyperdimensionals LOVE attachment! Besides what basic attachments to to bind up personally, attachment is how these entities and influences work and even travel from person to person. So watch out where you hang out, who you're with and what you think. Do regular energetic cleansing. All this may seem a tall order but it's the nature of the beast right now.
Actually it always has been.
"Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom" is a lot deeper than we thought. But it's not that complicated. It will take some tough decisions to let go of compromised situations. The answer is usually clear and easy but the execution can be tough. Some things take more time to unravel and disconnect from than others. But we all can do it.
Unveil Yourself
I'm dwelling on these personal aspects because self-healing is the most profound manifestation of this lifting of the veil. And once we're whole we're way more effective in helping to change the vibrational level of our environment. That's the most effective thing any of us can do.
It's also where these other forces and issues can't touch us, and that awakening process continues to self replicate and raise in not just frequency, but power and speed. Besides, it's the unknown territory we all crave to find and explore and dwell in.
And it's at all of our fingertips.
Now that's empowering. We're in the midst of a planetary shift that's being energetically charged, and as we respond and resonate it works synergistically to compound this wonderful change exponentially.
Keep on. It's an individual fight, but we each help each other massively by overcoming.
Meet you in the unknown! It's the place to be! 😉
Love always and all ways,
from: http://www.zengardner.com/the-lifting-of-the-veil/
Posted in Body, Mind & Spirit | Tagged awakening, global transformation, Transformation
Seeing Some Changes in Yourself?
17 Advanced Signs Of Spiritual Awakening
by Gregg Prescott, M.S.
Editor, In5D.com
Every day, we receive confirmation that we are on the right path. Little synchrocities may pop up or perhaps a white feather will slowly fall from the sky and land at your feet. These aren't mere coincidences as EVERYTHING has a meaning and a purpose!
We're entering a new spiritual awakening paradigm of thought which is exponentially gaining momentum. People are waking up and are facing their biggest fears, only to find out that this reality is a dream inside of a dream. In other words, we never die and our waking lives are merely a reflection of the subconscious mind which always brings us our biggest obstacles and fears in order to overcome these obstacles and to grow spiritually.
Within this shift of consciousness is a new mentality that refuses to be locked inside the box of conventional wisdom and brainwashed rhetoric. This is part of the great awakening.
At first, one may begin to seek their own inner truths in private but as the awakening continues, his or her search becomes an integral part of their lives. For example, people beginning their spiritual journeys may not talk about their concerns, issues or discoveries with their friends due to a fear of peer ridicule. Unfortunately, this falls under the category of "groupthink" and is akin to the same psychological conformity tests such as the Asch Conformity Experiments.
We begin to realize that virtually all of our thoughts have been cultivated by society through our biased educational facilities and through the main stream media, which dictates how we should behave, what we should eat, how we should look, etc… If we trace the roots of ALL of the main stream media, we find that they're predominantly run by 6 people who control ALL of the media, which includes our educational facilities.
This is why we were never taught how George W. Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush, funded both sides on World War II. Why? Because the Zionists have an agenda that's been cultivated for many, many years. This is why we're over-stimulated and over-entertained.
You end up rolling your eyes when you hear questions like these:
"Who's gonna win the big game this weekend?"
"Did you see the latest Dancing With the Stars?"
"Check out my new i-Phone."
I have the same answer that I say under my breath: "Who really gives a rat's ass?" How does that fit into your spiritual growth? How is that making you a better person? How is that helping the world resolve its current issues?
Beginning Stages Of Spiritual Awakening
Many people begin their spiritual journey through the seeking of truths, such as the 911 coverup, chemtrails, secret societies (Builderbergs, Committee of 300, Skull & bones, Freemasons, etc…) and other conspiracy theories.
For a better idea of who REALLY runs this PLANET, please check out my article, "Pyramid Of Death: Who REALLY Runs This World?".
The term "conspiracy theory" always seems to have a negative association linked to it, mainly by the main stream media. Why would this be? I think you know the answer… Yet this form of truth seeking seems to lead to a spiritual path for many as they realize that everything that's currently happening in politics and religion leads to a greater awakening through truth. This brings us to the next level of spirituality.
The ego becomes exposed as we learn how to understand and control our materialistic ways. We start to make changes in our lives that are more positive. Sometimes, we also confront what we fear the most, such as a failed relationship, losing your job or loss of long-time friends who don't understand your change in demeanor.
At times, it seems like the universe is taking a dump on you, yet when you look back at your difficulties, you realize that the universe presented you an OPPORTUNITY to overcome and grow from these obstacles.
You begin to surround yourself with like-minded people who share similar views and thoughts about making this world a better place for all of us. Many of these people are brought into our lives through the Law of Attraction or have soul contracts to meet with you at a specific time in your life. These contracts were made in the ethereal realms and can include literally millions of people.
For example, one small action can influence many people. As a driver, if you let someone into traffic, then that makes their day. It's also likely that the same person will do the same for other people that same day. Your one action has now multiplied into many kind gestures. The same principle works when we smile at someone or open the door for a stranger.
You may experience the discontinuation of a dead-end relationship. At that point in time, it seems unbearable, but the universe is allowing you to get a fresh, new start on life by releasing negative influences that are attached to you. At this point in time, it's important to forgive the other person, as well as yourself, for the failed relationship. By doing so, you've released any negative karma associated with this person.
Now your spirituality begins steamrolling forward! How many of these have you experienced?
You openly talk about spiritual issues with virtually everyone. If you have Facebook, your wall is literally plastered with spiritual and metaphysical quotes, links and videos and you no longer post trivial statements that relate to the ego or materialism.
Your heart is filled with love for all living things, including plants and animals.
You react differently to things that used to bother you, including any political rhetoric because you realize that most world leaders do not care about you and that it's up to you to become real change that you want to see in this world.
You completely understand what it means to "become one with everything" but also know the importance of healing and integrating all soul fractions of yourself, positive and negative, from this life and in the past.
You have a greater appreciation and understanding of nature and her elements.
You become more conscientious about what you're eating and drinking, as well as how that affects your DNA.
You realize what your life purpose is.
Metaphysical abilities, both suppressed and new, begin to surface.
You are more in touch with your body than ever before, through meditation and reflection.
You're learning new things at an exponential rate.
Your entire body begins to resonate at a higher vibration.
You may experience a high pitched frequency that are not the result of tinnitus or a Vitamin D deficiency.
Your dreams are very positive or futuristic because your subconscious mind no longer relates to fear.
Your higher self keeps reminding you, "It's time".
You experience synchronicities on a daily basis and understand that these synchronicities are signs of your awakening. These synchronicities may include numerical sequences, such as 11:11 or finding the right video or article at an opportune time in your life.
Time seems to be speeding up for you as the days and weeks fly by.
You stand within your truth. Like Gandhi said, "Even if you're the minority of one, the truth is still the truth."
One last thing to mention: It doesn't matter where you are on your spiritual journey as long as you're moving forward!
This is much more than the "Barnum Effect" in which people accept vague generalizations as truth. This is reality. This is your journey, enjoy the ride!
from: http://in5d.com/17-advanced-signs-of-spiritual-awakening/
Posted in Body, Mind & Spirit | Tagged awakening, conformity, focus, synchronicity
What's Going On Underground?
Deep Underground Military Bases? California Hit By Mysterious Clockwork "Booms" Daily For Years
Submitted by Piper McGowan via The Daily Sheeple,
For years now, residents of Sonora, California have been hearing a window-shaking loud and so far officially unexplained BOOM! that always happens between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. daily.
Inquisitr reports that the explanation floating around Sonora from a local geologist/teacher is that an Army Depot in Hawthorne, Nevada, all the way across the state and behind a mountain range which disposes of old munitions like bombs, might be what residents have been hearing.
But do they have so many old bombs to dispose of that they do it daily every single day even on weekends and holidays without fail for years? Why would Sonora, California of all locations near Hawthorne be the seemingly most affected city of all?
Besides, even people who work at the depot aren't hearing the booms regularly (via ABC News)
Ken Thomas, a contracting officer for the Hawthorne Army Depot, told ABC News today that they do detonate munitions regularly at the depot when the munitions are past their shelf-life, but he is not convinced that it can be heard in Sonora.
"It doesn't feel right that what we're doing here would be heard 200 miles away when there's a mountain range in between us," Thomas said. "My office is 27 miles from where they detonate the old munitions, I only hear it here maybe one time a month, and just barely and it's like 'Was that a boom?'"
On top of that, not only are they clockwork, but these have been described as deep, low booms which can almost be felt by the people who live there. In fact, a friend who lives near Sonora said that sometimes they can actually see their windows warp during the booms.
So what is it? Lots of conspiracies are, of course, floating around including aliens (as per the usual).
But one in particular sounds a lot more plausible than an old weapons depot that's a three-hour drive from Sonora: DUMBs.
Deep underground military bases.
We all know there's an extensive network of them which has been significantly expanded since 9/11 and the creation of Homeland Security…
…and we're all just supposed to put our fingers in our ears and go "la la la" and pretend like they don't exist.
The tunneling project is a joint venture involving the National Security Agency, CIA, FBI, MiB, Homeland Security & a few other groups that are buried in the Congressional Intelligence Committees with some weird acronyms no one really understands. Much of the info on this comes from private citizens in the county, public officials, as well as Coast to Coast with George Noory & Art Bell. These shows have given incredibly good information on the topic for the last several months, beginning in late 2003…
According to the information available, there are several reasons for the project:
1) Homeland Security needs an system of rapid deployment in the South, free of traffic;
2) certain gov't agencies want an easy connection route with other gov't installations in the South;
3) there is a move on in the intelligence community to begin more efficient use of the underground rail system already in place at Lockheed in Marietta;
4) Paulding is a central location for the complete project that will eventually connect installations in Anniston, AL; Macon, GA; Lockheed in Marietta; Lookout Mtn, TN; Greenville-Spartanburg, SC; & Raleigh-Durham, NC;
5) the Yorkville area of Paulding has been designated as the prime location for these hubs to come together because of geological preference;
6) the addition of new Walmart facilities in NW GA give spur hubs & depots easy access to large areas that can be partitioned off for moving of very large equipment & large numbers of people in case of national emergency.
Kinda like the CIA kept pretending Area 51 didn't exist for decades until it was finally, quietly admitted it in 2013.
from: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-07-24/deep-underground-military-bases-california-hit-mysterious-clockwork-booms-daily-year
Posted in Of Interest | Tagged Area 51, Underground Bases
Moving Into Awakening
Awakening: 7 Steps to Ease the Labor Pain of Spiritual Rebirth
By Juliet Tang
Guest Writer for Wake Up World
Awakening is a unique journey that can only be experienced. The closest description I can come up with is that it feels like finally seeing the true colors of the world for the first time after having taken off a pair of tinted glasses that was tied around your eyes since birth. As you are running down the path with enthusiasm, you realize just how magnificent everything is and you are eager to inhale all its beauty. You long to find all the treasures you never thought were there, and every time when you find something and hold it in your hands to examine its intricate details, you remember it is something you've left behind long ago. In fact, the entire journey looks familiar.
Eventually, it dawns on you that this is the path that takes you back to your true origin and the further you go, the more illuminated your path becomes until you see an infinite number of paths all around you and billions of souls traveling at their own pace back to the same place, a place that has birthed the light.
With the excitement of finally starting a new chapter in the journey comes a series of challenges and confusions that can be overwhelming. After all, rebirth is never without its labor pains and some can be quite intense to the point of making us wonder whether this is worth it. There is no "one size fits all" formula or linear path that works for every individual; however, these are some steps that can be taken to ease the impact of the speed bumps. Usually, the more out of alignment we are prior to awakening, the more intense the journey can be felt on all levels because there is much that needs to be unlearned.
It is a journey of letting go and home coming.
Step 1. Acknowledgement
"Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one area I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive… And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life." – J.K. Rowling
Many would describe one of the triggers of the awakening process is hitting rock bottom. The common feelings accompanying this step are often depression, anger, despair and loneliness. It can be a dark period of time when we feel no matter how much we try, we continue to slam our faces against the cold brick floor of the pit we have fallen into. We condemn life and everything in it believing it has all been a mistake and we have reached an end.
It is only when we can acknowledge the defeat of the existing paradigm will we be able to liberate ourselves from it and awaken to our true nature. When we are faced with our greatest challenges and darkest moments after having failed to change what is outside of ourselves, we often are left with only one choice — taking the journey inward and changing ourselves.
As difficult as this step is, being in a place in the absence of what we desire in life be it love, joy or fulfillment becomes the motivational factor that pushes us to journey within to a sacred place where higher wisdom can be accessed.
This step is the starless dark night before dawn and the ferocious storm before the rainbow. Many refer to it as the dark night of the soul. As debilitating as the step is, underneath the pain is tremendous love and grace that allows us to journey back to who we truly are if we choose to, but the journey must be taken outside of the mind and existing beliefs. The more we can question every belief we hold onto and see beyond the thin veil separating what's real and what's illusive, the more we will be able to see our existing system as a mirage created by others around us to maintain a façade of this dream state.
We begin to realize just how heavy our baggage is from carrying and living those beliefs that we have internalized from our caretakers, teachers, peers and culture without ever questioning whether they represent who we are.
Eventually, we begin questioning ourselves, "If I am not my beliefs, who am I?"
Step 2. Trust
"Faith is trust. Faith is a deep sense of connectedness with Being." – Eckhart Tolle
Trusting that all will work out for the greatest good when nothing seems to be is a crucial step in the process of awakening. It can also be one of the most frightening steps because it requires a giant leap of faith. Personally, I feel it is the catch-22 of awakening. We simply cannot move forward without at some point making a deliberate choice of being willing to let go of any and everything. However, without knowing how long the tunnel is and whether we will ever see the light at the end, we hesitate with each step because we are consumed by fear of possibly making the wrong move hence losing everything we've ever worked for.
This step always involves much fear of change. As miserable as we may be with certain aspects of our lives and as much as we yearn for the better, we are so used to things being one way that we fear once we change, we will change for the worse and end up with regrets. This is why we often choose to stay in failing relationships and careers. We tell ourselves we've invested too much in something, that the only way we may change it is if we are guaranteed some kind of success while that very belief keeps us trapped in less than satisfying circumstances for years and decades.
Everything in life is energy that flows to us and from us. When we refuse change, we are placing roadblocks to limit or stop the energy flow and eventually causing stagnation in life force energy. Blocked energy in our bodies creates dis-ease while stagnant energy in our lives creates distressing situations. When we say to ourselves we are stuck and we are not moving forward, we are essentially referring to the lack of energy flow.
The truth is, we are change and life is change. In 1 year, 98% of the subatomic particles in our bodies will be different, yet we continue to attempt to hold onto the same beliefs and expectations by imprisoning ourselves in the cages we build with them. By choosing not to change, we are ultimately still choosing and that choice comes from fear.
Awakening requires us to shed our caterpillar skins so we may emerge as butterflies, and trusting the process of metamorphosis is an absolutely necessary step to awaken. Underneath every fear is a dream waiting to blossom and a wish waiting to be fulfilled.
In order to wake up, we must trust enough to take the red pill. That leap of faith is a trade-off with the divine intelligence in the universe. To remember and claim the greatest gift we each have — the gift of our ability to consciously create, we must first give something in return, and that is our very doubt in that creative power. The journey of awakening is nothing but a process of giving back everything that is not us so we can travel with the lightness of who we really are.
Remember, life begins once we step out of our comfort zone.
We may ask ourselves at this point, "How is my fear holding me back from living the life I desire?"
Step 3. Allowing
"The wound is where the Light enters you." ~ Rumi
We all have wounds. Prior to awakening, it is tempting to cover them up with bandages so we can present ourselves to the world as whole and perfect based on the world's expectations. When we finally come to the realization that we have been dragging others' baggage all along and realize the wounds have never healed from being covered up, anger is usually a common response.
It is easy to slip into a phase of judging and blaming ourselves and others for the flawed lives we have lived. We begin to see problems in everyone and everything. Our families, friends, media, society and often times ourselves all seem to represent sources of our pain. More often than not, we are so eager to shed the disempowering beliefs that we couldn't purge them fast enough.
The risk of finger pointing is that we can easily slip back into the old victimhood except instead of being the victims with blindfolds on, now they have come off to reveal to us the dungeon we believe we are in. Some of us during this time will turn to teachings of law of attraction without first having taking care of the baggage. We convince ourselves in order to attract what we desire in our lives, we must raise our vibration to that which matches what we seek. As a result, we attempt to bypass all the intense emotions of awakening which is equivalent to introducing new expensive Italian furniture into a packed house that has never done spring cleaning.
The emotions we are bombarded with when we take the first few steps to awaken are part of the journey, and must be processed and integrated before we continue. If we try to resist by judging, denying or repressing any of them, we are still reacting to them and identifying with them which essentially means we are placing ourselves at the mercy of those beliefs we so desperately want to get rid of.
Know that the reason we may still be categorizing emotions into good/bad, positive/negative, acceptable/non-acceptable is because we have been conditioned to attach beliefs to the entire spectrum of emotions that are otherwise natural to us. This is the time to allow ourselves to feel without judgment or resistance. We can do so by journaling, talking to our emotions, practicing sitting with our emotions to understand their language, and inviting all parts of ourselves to participate in our meditations.
The question we may ask is, "What are my emotions trying to tell me?"
By being fully present with all emotions and sitting with them, we are beginning to step into our own power of being conscious creators.
Step 4. Acceptance
"I don't let go of my thoughts, I meet them with understanding. Then they let go of me." – Bryon Katie
We cannot disown anything before we own it. If we pick and choose what we wish to accept be it an aspect of ourselves or a person in our lives, we are only shining the flashlight in one corner of the room and leaving the rest of it in the dark. It is only when we have the courage to turn on the light fully and see all there is to see in front of us without looking away can we truly decide which ones no longer speak to who we are.
As our emotions are being processed, more and more clarity begins to surface to guide us in being selective with our thoughts, company we keep and experiences we wish to have. Once again, it may be tempting for us to judge parts within us that we do not like, or judge others for being in deep slumber and engaging in activities we do not agree with. We may get judged by others for being different. We may even feel the urge to persuade others to awaken so they can lift the thin veil between the dream state and reality.
It is important for us to understand that the journey of awakening is an inbound journey that involves individual souls remembering who we are through divinely placed and timed circumstances that are specific to each one of us; hence even if some of us are lucky enough to share it or travel parts of it with others, ultimately, the journey is unique to each individual as no two paths are alike. Just as we cannot rush a bud to blossom, we are not helping anyone by attempting to rush them to awaken or judge them for choosing to be asleep.
What we can do is to accept all there is with love and see the perfection in everything. To clear a common misconception, acceptance has nothing to do with agreeing to or condoning anything that is not aligned with who we are and seeing the perfection does not mean forcing ourselves to glorify things and calling them fabulous when they are not. Rather, by accepting, we are dropping our stories of how our experiences and people around us should be, hence freeing ourselves from fear attachments and whatever actions we decide to take from there emerge from a much higher vibration and clearer understanding.
This step, like all others, is simple but not necessarily easy.
For those who have experienced trauma at the hands of others, even the concept of accepting certain people or past events without judgment and anger is simply inconceivable. After the ending of my 8-year abusive relationship, I held onto the trauma for another decade and it was evident to me that my wounds were never fully healed when I had to take sedatives to fall asleep night after night without ever skipping a dosage. I made up stories and excuses to either condemn or justify why it happened so I could work through the forgiveness; the person went from a monster to someone who deserved pity as I continued to assign him new identities which secured my attachment to the very thing I tried to heal.
Eventually, I dropped my role of the storyteller and I met my past with acceptance and understanding—it happened and the person was who he was. When I accepted that what I thought shouldn't have happened happened because it did and no amount of inner dialogue about the person or experience would change it, it transformed my life and spontaneous healing took place that led to instantaneous recovery of the natural sleep that eluded me for 14 years.
A question we may ask while going through this step is, "What stories am I telling that are keeping me from moving forward?"
It is easy to mistaken acceptance with passivity especially if we are still in a situation where harm is being done to us. Acceptance is the opposite of taking no action, committing to no change, agreeing with and inviting abuse as well as denying our pain which are all fear responses of non-acceptance. Rather, to accept means to not argue with what is so we can convert the tremendous energy we spend in opposing reality to healing and rebuilding our lives in the present moment whether it is to leave an abusive relationship or stand up for ourselves in a situation. When we accept life and open the space within us, inspired action arises.
When we can embrace all parts without labeling, when we can see the perfection in everyone and everything, we are in a powerful position to forgive, release and heal.
Step 5. Releasing
"Enlightenment is a destructive process. It has nothing to do with becoming better or being happier. Enlightenment is the crumbling away of untruth. It's seeing through the facade of pretence. It's the complete eradication of everything we imagined to be true." ~ Adyashanti
It is only after we have allowed and accepted every aspect of our lives can we finally make the decision to keep, or let go of certain people and patterns based on who we desire to be rather than who we thought we had to be. If we try to release a pattern or belief out of fear, that energy only acts to strengthen the bond between us and that which we seek to dismiss.
The step of releasing can take place simultaneously with the other steps. This is a rather chaotic step and is often referred to as "ego death."
Initially, it can resemble a demolition project in which drastic changes are made and we go from changing jobs to letting go of relationships within a short period of time with little care about what others think. There may still be fear lingering but it cannot match our enthusiasm to finally live differently as we taste the sweetness of liberation. Our decisions are influenced and fueled by our desire to be and do all that was once held back by our own fears in the past.
Suddenly, our new and lighter vibration begins to attract like-minded individuals from unexpected places and teachers begin to appear out of nowhere. We are also likely to notice divine synchronicity and all those perfectly timed events, resources and people just pop up when we ask for them!
This step is an intimate dance between pain and joy, destruction and reconstruction, confusion and clarity, and despair and hope. On some days when we feel everything has come crashing down and we have absolutely nowhere to hide, somewhere in the middle of the most violent storm, there is a glimpse of hope that lights up like a beacon and the light cannot be extinguished by the waves. Eventually we come to know that the beacon is our spirit guiding us to the shore. We become our own bridges of past and future anchored in this very present moment, inspired, or, in spirit.
One may ask the question, "Where am I going?"
Step 6. Integration
"If we imagine that we're free of all labels, all separation, and all judgments about this world and the life inhabiting it, we can begin to understand oneness. The place we want to enter is of simply being. We can picture the Source of being as an energy that's as available to us as is the sky. There's no anger toward anyone or anything because everyone and everything is Spirit. This Spirit is God, our Source of being. We are it, and it is who we are." – Wayne Dyer
At a certain point, we realize nothing needs fixing as nothing has ever been broken. Instead, we see the perfection of every moment in our timelines as we can look at our existence from a much bigger picture. We know from a deeper place within us that even those who have caused us pain were beings who were intended for our paths to push us in this direction. Everything, the good and the bad, the laughter and the sadness, everything has been orchestrated by divine intelligence that flows inside of us based on the energy of what we needed to master at the time.
A stream of dreams and aspirations fills us with endless inspiration. We no longer feel the void from those we have let go of because we understand it is only from this infinite space can we write the stories we desire to write. We know whenever we encounter a less than ideal situation in life, it is something that has been called forth by ourselves and we only need to go into that space within ourselves to call on the gentle wisdom. We rely less on others' teachings and more on our inner resources.
Every once in a while, we may still notice the faint and weak voices from our old patterns trying to speak to us and we consciously choose to overwrite them. We see fear for what it truly is — an illusion as False Evidence Appearing Real. The echoes of our past surface few and far between, and when they do, we approach them with curiosity and understanding knowing no experience is innately positive or negative, it is only our perception that gives anything meaning.
We realize that the ego is not the enemy; it was only doing its job by trying to keep us alive on this dimension. Once we have remembered who we truly are, we can come to a compromise with the ego to allow it to do its part as needed without having to take over. The inner harmony allows us to blend all experiences we've ever had and we emerge with greater purpose.
As we are integrating all that is within us, we also experience a deeper connection with everything and everyone around us. We know that energetically, we are all connected as we have all come from the same source. We replace judgment with love; we honor differences but transcend division. Our decisions become driven by the knowing, "We are all one."
The question may be, "How may I serve?"
Step 7. Gratitude
"The struggle ends when the gratitude begins. The search is over when the finding starts. And the finding is not a finding at all, but a creating. You cannot find what you have been struggling for, but you can create it. And the jump-start of creation is gratitude". – Neale Donald Walsch
Gratitude naturally arises when we approach the gate of non-duality on our journeys though it may appear much sooner in conjunction with any step towards awakening. Heartfelt gratitude is more than an affirmation, a feeling or a prayer, it is a state of being. That means it is no longer dependent on or conditional to what is happening in us and around us. It is a song and an eternal blessing we are immersed in no matter what we choose to focus our attention on.
We welcome and thank every person and experience that comes across our paths knowing there is a gift that we may choose to accept that will serve us in our evolution. We send gratitude to the ex-lover who "forced" us to remember how to love and value ourselves, to the boss who drove us to quitting that job and finally answering our calling, and to all the moments of tears and struggle for reminding us to step into our inner strength so we can make empowered choices. The imperfections in life become perfections because we know even if they may not be apparent at the moment, they are here to invoke greater wisdom within us.
Gratitude is on the same vibration as love. Love is the highest vibration of the universe. It is the divine source, or life energy itself. We are all beings of love. When we choose to live in gratitude, we are naturally aligning our creation with the very vibration of what we are made of. When we are gratitude, our every thought, word and deed is infused with this infinite creative life force energy that resides in everything in the universe. Our every expression declares and demonstrates who we know ourselves to be — love and Oneness, and from there, creation becomes effortless.
Gratitude allows us to let go of our need to control as control only stems out of the insecurities of our ego. When we allow our experiences to come from our Being and from gratitude, we are stepping into our true power of the creator role we have all chosen prior to this home coming journey.
The question for everything becomes, "What can I create that is a demonstration of love?"
Whether it seems obvious or hidden from us at the moment, we are all given the same creative power of free will. Our destinies are not written in the stars. The happenings in our external environment only reflect the conscious and unconscious choices we've made so far, and if something is not to our liking, it is only through inner work can we create a desirable outer reality that matches our own raised vibration.
Know that there is absolutely no destination or requirement in this human experience called life but only perfection wherever we are. The people, experiences and events in our lives at this very moment are exactly what we need to take the next step to create, demonstrate and declare to the world who we are based on the choices we make right here, right now.
We are here to experience every aspect of our infinite Being. We are life energy, manifested in physical form.
from: http://www.zengardner.com/awakening-7-steps-ease-labor-pain-spiritual-rebirth/
Posted in Body, Mind & Spirit | Tagged awakening, consciousness, gratitude, Spiritual Development
Who's Paying Your Politician?
Tired of Our Bought-and-Paid-For Congress? This 18-Year-Old Created an App That Exposes Sellout Politicians
By Carolanne Wright
"In the last 5 years, the 200 most politically active companies in the U.S. spent $5.8 billion influencing our government with lobbying and campaign contributions. Those same companies got $4.4 trillion in taxpayer support — earning a return of 750 times their investment." ~Greenhouse
In 2010 the Supreme Court handed down a ruling that has forever changed the political landscape of the United States. The decision opened the floodgates for corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts of money on political activities. The result of the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission has been a deluge of cash lavished on super PACs, which are just one very small step away from the candidates they support. The ruling has also established legal protections for corporations, where political spending falls into the realm of "dark money" and never needs to be publicly disclosed. As discouraging as this can be for those who value truth and transparency, the entire situation is about to get a major overhaul by way of an app that exposes corrupt politicians.
Welcome to the oligarchy of the United States
When a small group of people have control over an entire country, organization or institution, we call it an oligarchy. Here in the United States, we've crossed the line into this territory years ago and have seemingly turned our backs on the republic that was established when the country was founded. And yet, up until 2010, this creeping movement towards oligarchy wasn't as obvious as it is today. It's almost as if those in power have pulled out all the stops and are unconcerned about public opinion because, after all, the momentum is so strong, who are we to stop it?
"This place is just so inundated with corruption – it's steeped in corruption like a teabag", said Florida Representative Alan Grayson of Washington DC. "There was a Roman emperor – Caligula – who appointed his horse to the senate. At this point, the system has gotten so bad that if the Koch brothers appointed their horse to the Senate, it wouldn't even make a difference. That's where we are." [source]
The ruling behind Citizens United brought the game to a whole new level, where corporations, corruption and money go hand in hand with members of Congress. A perfect example is the recent vote by the Senate to pass the DARK Act, against strong public outcry — legislation that is in the best interest of the biotech industry, but not the people of this country.
We have to face the fact that our politicians are merely puppets, bending to the highest corporate bidder. We also have a choice, either sit back and reap the consequences of such a government or take action to reform our political contribution laws. When choosing the latter, a powerful new tool has come into play that makes it almost effortless to gather information about which industries are financially supporting a politician.
Always follow the money
With so much corporate money saturating U.S. politics, it can seem an impossible task to try and keep track of which lobbyists are funded by whom. But now, thanks to 18-year-old Nick Rubin, we can clearly see which politicians have sold out. "As you can imagine, reading about how your member of Congress voted in a recent health bill becomes all the more enlightening if you know how much money the health industry showered him in at the last election," points out Tim Mak of Vice.
Rubin created Greenhouse, a browser plug-in that aims "to shine light on a social and industrial disease of today: the undue influence of money in our Congress." The app runs under the motto "Some are red. Some are blue. All are Green." He chose the name Greenhouse due to the color of money in the U.S. and because there are two houses of Congress. It also indicates transparency — a greenhouse is clear and created to help things flourish.
The free plug-in runs on Chrome, Firefox and Safari and, once installed, highlights the name of any member of Congress on any website. When you hover over those names, a small box appears which lists total contribution information and industry breakdown from the current election cycle for that particular politician. Click on the popup to get more detailed information from OpenSecrets. For Safari only, Greenhouse also installs a dollar sign button in the toolbar. Press the button to type a name or scroll down to find any member of Congress. Hovering over the name will open a popup with contribution information.
Rubin has been interested in politics since the seventh grade while learning about corporate personhood. As he got older, he recognized there was a real need to have the sources of income for members of Congress in a simple and easily accessible format. More recently, he's been teaching himself to code and felt something like Greenhouse would be a perfect solution, essentially putting the data at peoples fingertips with minimal effort. It doesn't get much easier.
"I just want it to educate people because that's really the first step toward a solution. That's exactly why I designed Greenhouse with simplicity in mind, so that everyone—even kids—are able to understand it. In terms of whether Greenhouse will solve this issue—well, education is the first step. I really do believe that increased transparency will help fix the problem. Easy access to data empowers voters to make better decisions. Once people are informed, they will reject elected officials who are motived by money instead of principles." [source]
Once you know where your member of Congress stands on the corruption scale, you can either support him or her in the next election, or not. We also need to get money out of politics once and for all. Have a look at this article by Bill Moyers that offers a range of organizations and action points to help end the fraud.
from: http://wakeup-world.com/2016/07/26/tired-of-our-bought-and-paid-for-congress-this-18-year-old-created-an-app-that-exposes-sellout-politicians/
Posted in Of Interest | Tagged DARK Act, lobbyists, political greed, Politicians
Access to the Alzheimer's Prevention Summit
OUTRAGE as pharma-corrupted Google censors Alzheimer's prevention summit, claiming disease is not 'preventable'
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Tags: Google censorship, Alzheimer's summit, disease prevention
Facebook (2,604)
(NaturalNews) We are living in an age of massive censorship, collusion and criminality by the internet's top gatekeepers. Google, Facebook and Twitter are all deeply corrupt, compromised organizations, and they systematically censor everything they don't want you to see. For example, Twitter was just caught censoring the #DNCleaks hashtag following the Wikileaks release of 20,000 damning emails from DNC staffers (which revealed an astonishing pattern of corruption and an organized attempt to smear and destroy Bernie Sanders).
Now, Google has been caught shutting down the Adwords advertising campaign for an empowering online summit that teaches people how to prevent Alzheimer's and dementia. (See details here.)
"Back in May, I hired a professional marketing firm in New York to help me share the news about this event and the hope was to literally reach millions of people by this time," wrote Jonathan Landsman, organizer of the online event.
"Within 48 hours of placing our first ads on the internet – THEY SHUT US DOWN," Landsman explained. And the reason for the shut down? Because a Google representative claimed Alzheimer's isn't preventable!
Google censors ads that teach disease prevention (and hurt Big Pharma's profits)
So now, Google executives are self-proclaimed medical scientists who can censor any advertising campaign that threatens the profits of big pharma. Any ads that attempt to teach people how to prevent cancer, diabetes, heart disease or Alzheimer's is systematically censored by Google under the fraudulent excuse that such diseases "aren't preventable." (This is Big Pharma's BIG LIE that keeps them rolling in the profits by selling "treatments" that never stop the cycle of disease.)
As Google news very well, preventing disease means taking away billions of dollars in profit from the corrupt drug companies who maintain FDA-enforced monopolies on disease treatment in America. The last thing they want us for people to learn how to prevent chronic degenerative disease.
So Google is willing to deny people access to honest information about preventing disease in order to protect the profit interests of Big Pharma. And it's not just Google, either. Did you know that Facebook bans dietary supplements from its Facebook shopping system? No supplements are allowed whatsoever… not even vitamin C!
Google is all-in for Big Pharma, vaccines, GMOs and Hillary Clinton
What's readily apparent is that Google, just like Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo News and all the other large internet gatekeepers, is all-in for every destructive, evil form of medicine or politics imaginable. They're 100% pro vaccines, GMOs, SSRI drugs, psychiatric drugs and Hillary Clinton. They routinely censor the truth across all these topics while promoting the lies and propaganda of the corrupt, criminal cartels that operate at every level of our present-day fascist police state society.
"The Alzheimer's Association had its 'Alzheimer's awareness' month in June," Landsman explained. "And their message is 'there's no cure … just donate money for research.'"
As long as you don't promote a cure for anything, you won't be censored. If you keep stupidly promoting Komen's fraudulent pink ribbons, or breast cancer awareness month (which feeds the for-profit cancer industry), you'll be granted a voice through Google, Facebook, Twitter and other online gatekeepers. But the minute you start to teach people something TRUTHFUL about preventing disease or reversing disease, you will be targeted and silenced. In some cases, credit card merchants will even cut off your ability to process online payments, denying you a revenue stream.
This is what America has become under the fascist corporate-government power cartels. This is where we are after 8 years of Bush's police state and 7.5 years of Obama's "transformation of America" into a criminal cartel of totalitarian traitors. Every sector of modern society has now been overrun with sellouts and traitors who actively seek to enslave the American people by separating them from real solutions that could save lives and end suffering. And it was all propagandized be seditious, subversive disinfo agents (like Wolf Blitzer and Andrea Mitchell) who pretend to be journalists.
Thankfully, we still have Natural News, NewsTarget, Drudge and Breitbart. And although Google has deliberately censored the Alzheimer's summit advertising, they can't stop the summit itself!
How to hear the summit that Google censored
The summit begins on Monday, and you can register at this link (it's free). Once you hear the very first interview, you'll immediately understand why Google had to censor all online advertising for this summit: The information you'll learn threatens the profit monopolies of the pharmaceutical cartels who are counting on a massive wave of Alzheimer's and dementia to fill their bank accounts with financial riches.
If you want to keep your mind intact, protect your sanity and deny Big Pharma more profits, you need to hear this summit. Find out what Google was so terrified of… learn what the internet's largest gatekeepers are desperately trying to prevent you from discovering.
Because the simple, fundamental truth on all this is that Alzheimer's and dementia can be prevented. You just need to know how. Click here to join the summit and find out for yourself. It begins Monday, July 25th and features new, exclusive interviews each day next week.
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/054755_Google_censorship_Alzheimers_summit_disease_prevention.html#ixzz4FRjm028W
Posted in Body, Mind & Spirit | Tagged ALzheimers, censorship, disease prevention
Let Fruit Be Your Medicine: Watermelon's Remarkable Health Benefits
Sunday, July 21st 2013 at 10:15 am
Sayer Ji, Founder
This article is copyrighted by GreenMedInfo LLC, 2013
Watermelon is so much more than just a highly refreshing summertime treat. From the perspective of a growing body of clinical research, it is a truly medicinal food.
Only this month, research published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found watermelon juice is an effective remedy for reducing the recovery heart rate and muscle soreness in athletes who were given 500 ml of watermelon juice (16.9 oz) containing 1.17 grams of the naturally occurring amino acid L-citrulline.[1]
Additional research indicates watermelon may possess the following health benefits:
Boosting Your Antioxidant Levels: Watermelon is exceptionally rich in lycopene (hence its red color) and other carotenoids such as lutein and beta carotene.[2] A 2003 study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that regular watermelon juice consumption resulted in significant increases in blood plasma concentrations of lycopene and beta carotene.[3] Keep in mind that lycopene has been found to have over 40 potential health benefits, and beta carotene (especially in its natural, food-complexed form) equally plentiful health benefits, adding extra significance to this finding. Also, the watermelon-induced increase in plasma antioxidant levels may lend explanation to why an epidemiological study of the Chinese found greater watermelon intake to be associated with a lower risk of cancer.[4]
Reducing Blood Pressure/Improving Arterial Health: A 2012 study published in the American Journal of Hypertension found that middle-aged obese subjects with prehypertension or stage 1 hypertension who were given 6 weeks of treatment with a watermelon extract containing 6 grams of L-citrulline and L-arginine daily, experienced reduced ankle blood pressure and altered carotid wave reflection, an indication of improved arterial function.[5] The inability of the blood vessels to dilate and function properly is known as endothelial dysfunction, and is likely the most well-known initiating step in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. If watermelon can ameliorate or reverse this process, it would certainly provide a breakthrough alternative to many of the drugs used for primary prevention, such as the cholesterol-lowering statin drug class, whose side effects, numbering in the hundreds, include heart muscle dysfunction and damage.
Increasing Plasma Arginine Concentrations: A 2007 study published in the journal Nutrition found that watermelon juice consumption increases plasma arginine concentrations in adults, proving that the L-citrulline from this plant origin was effectively converted into arginine. This is a highly significant finding because arginine has a great number of health benefits, especially for ameliorating the aforementioned cardiovascular problem known as endothelial dysfunction. There are at least 20 studies in the biomedical literature documenting its therapeutic role in improving endothelial dysfunction, but you can view over 150 potential health benefits of arginine on the GreenMedInfo database.
Combatting Metabolic Syndrome: A promising preclinical study published in the Journal of Nutrition in 2007 found that watermelon pomace, a rich source of L-citrulline, significantly improved metabolic syndrome in diabetic, overweight rats.[6] This study is of particular interest because it lends support to relatively new research showing that fruit consumption is not harmful for type 2 diabetics.[7] The new study results were described as follows: " These results provide the first evidence to our knowledge for a beneficial effect of watermelon pomace juice as a functional food for increasing arginine availability, reducing serum concentrations of cardiovascular risk factors, improving glycemic control, and ameliorating vascular dysfunction in obese animals with type-II diabetes."
Watermelon Seeds, a Rich Source of Protein: It behooves us to mention the fact that all parts of the watermelon have something to offer. The seeds, in fact, are an excellent source of protein. A 2011 study published in the Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology found that "The good nutritional and functional properties of watermelon seed meal proteins suggest their potential use in food formulations."[8] While seedless watermelon are far more convenient to eat, keep in mind that they can not reproduce without human intervention and so there are several good reasons to choose seeded varieties.
So, next time you are in the mood for watermelon, and are concerned about its notorious sugar content, 'weight-promoting effects,' and therefore possible diabetogenic and cardiotoxic properties – think again. Quality and moderation are the only things to make sure you are careful about when deciding to consume watermelon. Otherwise, enjoy it (remember Vitamin P(leasure))and know that it may just be as good for you as it tastes.
[1] Martha Patricia Tarazona-Díaz, Fernando Alacid, María Carrasco, Ignacio Martínez, Encarna Aguayo. Watermelon Juice: A Potential Functional Drink for Sore Muscle Relief in Athletes.J Agric Food Chem. 2013 Jul 17. Epub 2013 Jul 17. PMID: 23862566
[2] U G Chandrika, K S S P Fernando, K K D S Ranaweera. Carotenoid content and in vitro bioaccessibility of lycopene from guava (Psidium guajava) and watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) by high-performance liquid chromatography diode array detection. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2009 Nov;60(7):558-66. PMID: 19817635
[3] Alison J Edwards, Bryan T Vinyard, Eugene R Wiley, Ellen D Brown, Julie K Collins, Penelope Perkins-Veazie, Robert A Baker, Beverly A Clevidence. Consumption of watermelon juice increases plasma concentrations of lycopene and beta-carotene in humans. J Nutr. 2003 Apr;133(4):1043-50. PMID: 12672916
[4] Cai-Xia Zhang, Suzanne C Ho, Yu-Ming Chen, Jian-Hua Fu, Shou-Zhen Cheng, Fang-Yu Lin.Greater vegetable and fruit intake is associated with a lower risk of breast cancer among Chinese women. Int J Cancer. 2009 Jul 1;125(1):181-8. PMID: 19358284
[5] Arturo Figueroa, Marcos A Sanchez-Gonzalez, Alexei Wong, Bahram H Arjmandi. Watermelon Extract Supplementation Reduces Ankle Blood Pressure and Carotid Augmentation Index in Obese Adults With Prehypertension or Hypertension. Am J Hypertens. 2012 Mar 8. Epub 2012 Mar 8. PMID: 22402472
[6] Guoyao Wu, Julie K Collins, Penelope Perkins-Veazie, Muhammad Siddiq, Kirk D Dolan, Katherine A Kelly, Cristine L Heaps, Cynthia J Meininger. Dietary supplementation with watermelon pomace juice enhances arginine availability and ameliorates the metabolic syndrome in Zucker diabetic fatty rats. J Nutr. 2007 Dec;137(12):2680-5. PMID: 18029483
[7] Christensen AS, Viggers L, Hasselström K, Gregersen S. Effect of fruit restriction on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes–a randomized trial. Nutr J. 2013 Mar 5;12:29.
[8] Ali Abas Wani, Dalbir Singh Sogi, Preeti Singh, Idrees Ahmed Wani, Uma S Shivhare.Characterisation and functional properties of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) seed proteins. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2011 Feb;137(2):279-86. Epub 2010 Apr 18. PMID:20824684
from: http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/let-fruit-be-your-medicine-watermelons-remarkable-health-benefits-1?page=2
"© http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/let-fruit-be-your-medicine-watermelons-remarkable-health-benefits-1?page=2 GreenMedInfo LLC. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of GreenMedInfo LLC. Want to learn more from GreenMedInfo? Sign up for the newsletter here http://www.greenmedinfo.com/greenmed/newsletter."
Posted in Body, Mind & Spirit | Tagged health, watermelon


text:
Biz / Event
It's a wrap! More than a Market Forum and Awards Gala 2021!
For the sixth time the German Chamber of Commerce in China and the German diplomatic missions hosted the CSR initiative's highlight event.
IT'S A WRAP!
For the sixth time the German Chamber of Commerce in China and the German diplomatic missions hosted the CSR initiative's highlight event, the More than a Market Forum and Awards Gala - this time, under the umbrella of "Sustainable Mindsets for Sustainable Business" on 16 September 2021 in Shanghai.
With over 20 partners and more than 200 guests both events were a great success!
The Awards Gala
At the More than a Market Awards Gala, once again, an independent jury was honoring exceptional CSR projects by German companies in China with awards in five different categories. This year, we are awarding outstanding examples in the areas of:
"Education"
"Environmental Protection"
"Diversity & Inclusion"
"Sustainable Supply Chains"
"Jury Selection" - a mix of CSR projects!
The Awards Gala was moderated by Brigitte Wolff, President at EIM Executive Interim Management China and Dr. Sigrid Winkler, Executive Chamber Manager at the German Chamber of Commerce in China | Shanghai, with opening remarks by Maximilian Butek, Executive Director at the German Chamber of Commerce in China | Shanghai.
We were extremely honored to welcome Pit Heltmann, the new Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Shanghai who highlighted the importance for companies to include CSR into daily business.
At glance at this year's winning projects:
In the Awards Category "Education" Covestro China received an award for their project "Covestro MagicMaterial School." The award was presented by Pit Heltmann, Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Shanghai.
About the project:
Covestro China leveraged its technology and material expertise to create a Covestro science classroom in the Zhelin School, a local elementary and high school located in the Fengxian district, Shanghai for children of migrant workers ranging from six to sixteen years old. So far, the "MagicMaterial School" has reached 6,000 students and 10,000 people.
Read more about the project!
Congratulations to all nominees!
· Porsche (China) Motors Limited - "Porsche Art Healing Project"
· Crossboundaries - "Design Thinking Studio"
. Covestro China - "Covestro MagicMaterial School"
· LANXESS Chemical (China) Co., Ltd. - "Clean Water for Better Life"
In the Awards Category "Environmental Protection" Trolli Guangzhou Confectionery Co., Ltd. was honored for their "Waste Water Treatment Plant(WWTP)Upgrading Project." The award was presented by Callen Fang, Deputy CEO of Legal Center for NGO.
Trolli Guangzhou Confectionery has worked closely with its partner vendors to upgrade wastewater treatment processes and enhance the processing capacity by installing new, high-efficiency equipment. As a result, the company has increased its capacity of wastewater treatment from 2.25 tons COD per day to 9.5 tons COD per day and is exploring new energy-saving solutions to achieve the ultimate goal: zero waste.
· Lautsprecher Teufel GmbH - "30 Green Days"
· Continental Tires (China) Co., Ltd. - "Green Plant_Air Treatment with Innovative Technology RTO & Cold Plasma"
· Trolli Guangzhou Confectionery Co., Ltd. - "Waste Water Treatment Plant(WWTP)Upgrading Project"
· Bosch Automotive Aftermarket (China) Co., Ltd. - "Bosch Nanjing Photovoltaic (PV) Project"
In the Awards Category "Diversity & Inclusion" Bosch Automotive Products (Suzhou) Co., Ltd was awarded for their outstanding efforts in the company's project "Hand in Hand-Caring Children with Autism." The award was presented by Oliver Ye Yang, Trustee at Shanghai Soong Ching Ling Foundation.
Bosch Automotive Products partnered with Sunflower; an organization dedicated to supporting children with autism. Bosch supports Sunflower by providing financial assistance, organizational skills and, training opportunities for the organization's teachers. In the past four years, Bosch Suzhou has successfully held 235 events, involving more than 1,000 volunteers and 839 direct beneficiaries.
· Würth (China) Holding Co., Ltd. - "Christmas Wish List"
· Bosch Automotive Products (Suzhou) Co.,Ltd.- "Hand in Hand-Caring Children with Autism"
· Linde (China) Investment Co., Ltd. - " 'Women Elite Engineer Club' Program"
· Henkel (China) Investment Co., Ltd. - "Diversity Talk Series"
In the Awards Category "Sustainable Supply Chains" the jury honored BRUGGER Magnetsysteme GmbH and its "Increasing Sustainability in Magnet Supply Chains" project. The award was presented by Richard Zhang, CEO at Kern-Liebers Taicang and Board Member of the German Chamber of Commerce in China | Shanghai.
BRUGGER Magnetsysteme decided to focus on the risks associated with rare earths because it was concerned about the consequences of its sourcing activities in China. In 2014, it launched a project to increase sustainability in magnet supply chains. The project team carried out initial audits and a comprehensive upstream supply-chain study and organized training sessions in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
· BRUGGER GmbH Magnetsysteme - "Increasing Sustainability in Magnet Supply Chains"
· Volkswagen Automatic Transmission (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. - "Business Partner Compliance Management"
· Siemens China - "Siemens SCM China Leads the Way in Building a Sustainable Supply Chain"
In this year's Special Category "Jury Selection" ALDI CHINA has been selected for its "Cooperation with Food Bank to Avoid Food Waste." The award was presented by Rolf Koehler, Principal at Koehler & Co and the German Chamber's Honary Member and one of the founders of the More than a Market initiative.
ALDI CHINA officially launched a partnership with Green Food Bank to reduce food waste and give back to the community. The project first started in the company's warehouse on Tmall, where ALDI CHINA sorted food items close to their expiry date and donated them to the food bank. Through Green Food Bank's distribution network in Shanghai, these food items were distributed to families in need, closing the gap between food surplus and food shortage.
· Borussia Dortmund China - "Black & Yellow in Hubei Province"
· GSN Electronics (Shenzhen) Ltd - "The See Your Child Program"
· ERGO (China) Management Company Limited - "Access to Healthcare - ERGO Healthy Days"
· ALDI (China) Investment Co., Ltd - "Cooperation with Food Bank to Avoid Food Waste"
Congratulations to all winners and further 69 submitted projects!
All projects can be found in the More than a Market 2021 publication on www.morethanamarket.cn
"Sustainability is not a 'nice to have' anymore, but doing business sustainably is quickly becoming a license to operate for manufacturing companies - and the More than a Market initiative is highlighting this importance!"
Ulf Dressler, Head of Corporate Communications, LANXESS APAC, at LANXESS Chemical (China) Co., Ltd.
Some snaps from our CSR ambassadors:
Gold Partner Panel
During the Awards Gala, our More than a Market Gold Partners 2021 had the chance to introduce their biggest CSR and Sustainability milestones as well as give a lookout on the way ahead.
Special thanks goes to Ling Tianxu, Vice President, Integrity & Compliance, Volkswagen (China) Investment Ltd., Ulf Dressler, Head of Corporate Communications, LANXESS APAC, LANXESS Chemical (China) Co., Ltd, Beijue Tang, Head of Legal & Tax, Wuerth Group Asia, Phipps Xue, Director, Strategic Partnership and Innovation, SAP Labs China and Covey Wang, Head of Environment, Safety and Health, Continental Tires (China) Co., Ltd.
During the More than a Market Forum participants were benefitting from a wide range of CSR-related workshops as well as high-level panel discussions and keynotes. On top of that, guests were networking with NGOs and further social enterprises during our Social Market.
The Forum kicked off by the moderators Dr. Sigrid Winkler, Executive Chamber Manager at German Chamber of Commerce in China | Shanghai and Oliver Ye Yang, Jury Member of More than a Market and Trustee of the Shanghai Soong Ching Ling Foundation, with greetings by Maximilian Butek, Executive Director at the German Chamber of Commerce in China | Shanghai and Richard Cuntz, Head of Science & Technology; Economic Affairs at Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Shanghai.
The Forum continued with a keynote by Zhang Yifei, Secretary General at Fosun Foundation. He shared Fosun's approach and engagement in CSR and gave insights on the way ahead of CSR in China.
"I loved the format of the afternoon within the More than a Market Forum - such informative and stimulating workshops! Great speakers and overall, a very lively conference! A really worthwhile afternoon!"
Simon Aliband, Founder and CEO of Keystone (Shanghai) Business Consulting Co., Ltd.
About the Workshops
Workshop 1:
"Why Diversity and Inclusion Needs To Be a Top Priority for SMEs"
In partnership with our Think Tank Partner, D&I Consulting
In this workshop, Charlene Liu and Ivy Wong, both Executive Directors at D&I Consulting defined what D&I means by breaking down the terms diversity and understanding inclusion. During this interactive session, participants learnt to understand and articulate why diversity and inclusion matters to business and how to take steps to establish a diverse and inclusive business culture.
The workshop concluded with a Fireside Chat and Q&A with Sebastien Denes, VP & Head of Mission Control Center APJ/GC at SAP Greater China.
"残障包容的双赢价值" ("The Win-win of Disability Inclusion")
In partnership with our Think Tank Partner, Taicang Inclusion Factory
Wang Li, Program Development Manager at Taicang Inclusion Factory shared why employing people with disabilities makes good business sense for private companies as well as how the power of a large company can help to promote inclusion. Catherine Wu, HR Manager at Brose China introduced how Brose is integrating inclusion in their business strategy. Zhao Hongcheng, freelancer blogger,shared her experience of working, traveling and growing up in a wheelchair and her work as a full-time blogger in which she is dedicated to helping people with disabilities to better integrate into society. Fu Gaoshan, Founder and Partner of Youren Foundation and One Plus One Group for Disability, shared the seven systemic challenges in diversity and inclusion employment and the eight concerns of employers when it comes to hiring people with disabilities. He also introduced the experience of Youren Foundation in developing data annotator positions for Chinese internet companies.
"Inspiring & Empowering Your Employees on Sustainability"
In partnership with our Think Tank Partner, Collective Responsibility
In this workshop, Richard Brubaker, Managing Director of Collective Responsibility shared the key issues and mega trends for CSR and sustainability in China so that participants were able to understand the core elements for developing a China-centric CSR or sustainability strategy. In interactive sessions, participants were gaining insights into how to effectively educate and empower their teams and also identified CSR and sustainability initiatives that they can implement in their company of all sizes.
"Make Environmental Protection Your Competitive Advantage"
In partnership with our Think Tank Partners, Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung Shanghai Representative Office and Business Ecology
During this workshop, hosted by Chengzhan Zhuang, Program Manager at Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Shanghai Representative Office and Sun Haiyan, Co-Founder and Chief Editor of Business Ecology invited speakers from various industries to share their sustainability strategy and introduce projects that reduce the company's environmental footprint. Among the best practice sharinig sessions were Ketin Lei, Corporate Affairs General Manager and the Special Assistant for Group Executive Board Member's China Affairs at Beiersdorf China, Covey Wang, Head of ESH at Continental Tires (China) Co., Ltd., Chunlei Liu, Founder of Shanghai Minhang District Qingyue Environmental Information Technology Service Center and Hanna Zhao, Manager of Sustainable Development Department, Energy Officer, Engineer at Zhejiang Weixing Industrial Development Co., Ltd (SAB Group)
In the high-level panel on "The Supply Chain of CO2 Emissions - Best Practices and Long-Term Solutions" representatives from German companies were discussing what their company's overall approach for reducing CO2 emissions is, and how they are planning to further decarbonize their supply chains. Among the panelists were Bradley Morrison, Senior Vice President of Operations & Site Management at Greater China, BASF, Michael Haendel, Corporate SCM Head China and Asia-Australia at Siemens China and Zixi Zheng, CEO of SupplyOn Asia-Pacific. The panel was moderated by Jens Hildebrandt, Executive Director and Board Member of German Chamber of Commerce in China | North China.
Thank you to our Partners!
The More than a Market initiative relies on valuable partnerships of all kinds.
Thank you to everyone who supports us!
For more information about CSR initiative More than a Market, please contact:
Veronika Glauberman
Manager for Social Responsibility
German Chamber of Commerce in China | Shanghai
Glauberman.veronika@china.Ahk.de
Source: SHINE Editor: Wang Qingchu
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Listed here are our forthcoming open-registration events on the use of dedicated CAQDAS packages for qualitative and mixed-methods analysis. We also provide tailored training and support for individuals and teams - contact us if you would like to arrange a tailored session. Find out more about the types of training we provide.


CONDIMENT SERVER; Three bowls stoneware condiment server K.N. | Gifts and Collectibles Galore offering unique gift ideas!
Description: Nice stoneware three section condiment server with attached handle in a brown/earth color with embossed lines. The brown color appears to be more limited in this pattern so harder to find. Hand-washing is recommended. 9 3/4" wide x 2 1/2" tall (does not include handle), With the brown color, this nice condiment server could be used with other dish patterns.