Activist Post

2nd Amendment Activist Removed from NJ Gun Control Hearing for Exercising 1st Amendment Rights

2013-05-22T07:29:00.000-07:00

The Daily Sheeple

Activist James Kaleda was giving testimony when state legislators did not agree with what he was stating and claimed that Mr. Kaleda was “Out of Order”, requesting that he be forcibly removed from the hearing on a new gun control bill in NJ.

Mr. Kaleda receives a standing ovation from the spectators as he is removed by NJ state troopers. Everyone is entitled under the 1st Amendment to express criticism of the government, but when Big Brother doesn’t like what you have to say, the Constitution is thrown out the window.

New York Mall Kiosks Raided by Homeland Security for "Terrorism" Goods

2013-05-22T07:19:00.001-07:00

Activist Post

Some people still might be unaware of just how long the reach of Homeland Security has become. How about counterfeit goods as possible terrorism? That is what has been suggested fairly recently as DHS has begun to conduct an increasing number of raids in several states over the past few years aimed at rooting out this "threat to our liberty and economy."

Operations such as 2012's "Operation Fashion Faux Pas" was part of a six-month crackdown that closed 20 businesses. As the video below illustrates, hundreds of others have been swept up in similar raids, many of which began by scouring the Internet for key words and indicators of illegal activity.

The latest example of connecting counterfeit goods to possible acts of terrorism comes out of Amherst, New York where a group of kiosks in the Walden Galleria and Boulevard Mall were shut down. Statements by Homeland Security raise a few questions about their role in this type of crime, which is also mirrored in cybersecurity directives.

According to local CBS news affiliate, WIBV4, agents descended upon two shopping malls, seizing merchandise and closing five kiosks.

Disturbingly, WIBV4 provides a link in their article to "report a business for selling goods you believe to be counterfeit." However, as we learned in the video above, most people can't tell what is real or not, hence the alleged problem. And, according to Orange County News reporting on Operation Fashion Faux Pas:

It's become progressively harder to tell what's fake and what's real that agents say they now rely on experts. (Source)

So, even though it is admitted that experts have to be called in for examination, the untrained public is being further encouraged to become involved in the snitch culture continuously promoted by Homeland Security in cooperation with media and other private companies.

buy gold ... it's real

Furthermore, as we learned from Operation In Our Sites, which led to the seizing of 150 domains on Cyber Monday in 2011, the sweep resulted in a guilty-until-proven-innocent framework where even linking to copyrighted material became part of the counterfeit-intellectual property dragnet. This was in addition to 82 sites seized in the first year of the Operation.

However, Homeland Security is apparently hell-bent upon bringing down its literal and virtual boot wherever it sees fit ... naturally, all in the name of security:

Jim Spero, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Buffalo office of Homeland Security, says the sale of counterfeit goods - in Buffalo and beyond - poses a major security threat.

"When you purchase counterfeit goods, when you sell counterfeit goods, you don't know who you're dealing with. You don't know what kind of criminal activity you're supporting," Spero said. "It's actually organized crime that is behind the distribution of these goods. It could be terrorists as well." (Source)

Other reports have cited cosmetics and suspicious chemicals as part of the justification for Homeland Security's intervention, in addition to their argument that this type of activity is essentially economic terrorism.

Counterfeiting is a problem, true, but to the level of national security? The real threat to liberty and economic security on a national level more closely comes from the DHS itself and other dangerous agencies of the U.S. government which far outweigh the threat of getting ripped off at the mall.

Furthermore, in a time where the mere accusation of terrorism can get someone locked away indefinitely, it is troubling to see the term being used in such a flippant way.

What is your opinion? Should Homeland Security be devoted to this type of crime? Or is this just one more example of DHS asserting their right to intervene so that it can reach in and examine anyone, anywhere, anytime, and for any reason?

Read other articles by Activist Post Here

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Is America’s Economy Being Sovietized?

2013-05-22T07:19:00.000-07:00

Brandon Smith
Activist Post

The foundation of the Soviet model of trade and investment was centralization under the guise of "universal public ownership". The entire goal of communism in general was not to give more social and political power to the people, but to extinguish alternative options and focus power into the hands of a select few.

The process used to reach this end result can vary, but the goal always remains the same. In most cases, such centralization begins with economic hegemony, and it is in our fiscal structure that we have the means to see the future. Sovietization in our financial life will inevitably lead to sovietization in our political life.

Does the U.S. economy’s path resemble the Soviet template exactly? No. And I’m sure the very suggestion will make the average unaware free market evangelical froth at the mouth. However, as I plan to show, the parallels in our fundamentals are disturbing; the reality is that true free markets in America died a long time ago.

The Tyranny Of Planned Economy

The characteristics of a free market society defy the use of centralized planning. Adam Smith’s original concept of free market trade stood as an antithesis to what was then referred to as “mercantilism,” a select few “joint stock companies” (corporations) monopolizing production while using government ties to destroy any new competition. Unfortunately, there are to this day economists and politicians who believe that corporate centralization is a “natural” function of a free market. In reality, corporate monopolies are an unnatural creation of collusion between governments and big-money interests designed to suffocate any entrepreneurship outside of their sphere of influence. Over time, as we now see in the United States today, government power and corporate power begin to hybridize, until one can barely be distinguished from the other.

The bottom line is that you cannot have planned structures, monopolized production or controlled capital flow within an economy and still claim it to be a “free market. There are no exceptions to this rule.

The Soviet system was the ultimate in centralization. Every aspect of financial life was dictated by the communist government, from industrial input and output to investment to food production and rationing to wages and retail prices. Some people might argue that this structure is a far cry from what we now have in the United States, but let’s look at the fundamentals.

Controlled Money Creation

One of the primary tenets of The Communist Manifesto was the creation of a central bank meant to keep tight controls over currency issuance. The existence of a central bank immediately disrupts any chance of a true free market. Central banking without competition allows an oligarchy, whether corporate or political or a meshing of the two, to manipulate interest rates as well as adjust prices through inflation. Lending standards (which the central bank determines arbitrarily) built on fractional reserve banking opens the door to murky debt instruments and toxic financial products that are further used to either fabricate a “high” standard of living (as we saw in the U.S. in the '90s and early 2000s) or execute a bubble implosion causing a lower standard of living (as the U.S. is experiencing today).

Since the establishment of the Federal Reserve through subversive collusion between banking interests and corrupt politicians in 1913, America has not had a free market system. From that point forward, every boom and bust, every interest rate disaster, every inflationary increase in prices has been scientifically engineered.

Dominance Of Industry

Soviet controls on industrial output are legendary. Every part of the resource allocation process became subject to bureaucracy, and this led to stunted manufacturing growth as well as a culture of misrepresented economic data. In the United States, the establishment has taken a slightly different approach but with the same end result.

Heavy taxation on business ventures within the U.S. against entrepreneurs not lucky enough to run in elitists circles has erased incentives for manufacturing experiments within our borders. In the meantime, members of the corporate glee club receive government subsidization while they simultaneously outsource industrial projects to Third World nations. Controlled industry within communist Russia was meant to force the population to depend upon the government for every means of survival. In the United States, dependency on government has been replaced by interdependency on the globalized model in general. Necessities are now compartmentalized, and only select international businesses with cooperation from government have the ability to bring all the pieces together to keep our domestic economy running smoothly. Our society has been so distanced from self-sufficiency that many people now consider the globalist dynamic indispensable.

The next step in this degradation of free market industry is the introduction of "public works projects" by the federal government, which gives the illusion that job creation through centralization is possible. This is the same strategy used in the Soviet Union and to this day, socialists still argue that the communist design for industrial expansion was "effective". In truth, the soviet public works plan with all its trains and transits and bridges and buildings was an absolute failure, as the collapse of the country made clear. Tax funded infrastructure is no replacement for free market invention, and at bottom, no public works enterprise can be undertaken without the government first stealing capital from one area in order to fund another. Governments can never and will never create wealth or jobs. They can only present the semblance of economic progress while siphoning wealth away from private citizens.

Bureaucracy And Food Production

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations, based on dubious junk science and often instituted on high without congressional oversight, further erode business possibilities, especially for young companies as well as private agriculture, while giving free reign to elitist entities like Monsanto, an organization the government actually PROTECTS through specialized legislation making it nearly immune to civil litigation.

While farms in the United States are not exactly “controlled” by the Federal government in the Soviet sense, many of them are subsidized through welfare on the condition that they grow only particular kinds of crops, raise particular animals or grow nothing at all. This subsidization is an indirect form of price control, creating engineered scarcity or abundance. At the same time, agricultural empires like Monsanto make private farm ownership increasingly difficult by using their government protection to harass and squeeze out independent food producers.

This destabilization of private resource management by common citizens has culminated in the passage of President Barack Obama’s executive order National Defense Resource Preparedness, which allows under a “national emergency” (which the President can declare for any reason) the confiscation of any and all private resources, including farms and businesses, to be redistributed by the government to ensure security conditions. This is the Stalinist model, pure and simple.

Centralized Control Of Investment

We now know that since at least 2008, the U.S. stock market, often presented by the mainstream as a paragon of free market prowess, has actually been propped up and inflated by Federal Reserve fiat. Both former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and current branch head Richard Fisher have openly admitted in separate news interviews that the central bank spends considerable energy in “artificially sustaining” equity markets. This has been done, I suspect, with full knowledge of the U.S. Treasury and the Obama Administration.

The Soviet model for investment was to remove all uncertainties from their domestic markets, often in the name of preventing manipulation by “speculators.” The speculator rationale was generally a distraction away from the attempt to dictate the natural forces of supply and demand. The idea was that if the government could dismiss legitimate demand or lack of demand or hide excess supply or lack of supply, the perception of a balanced economy could be conjured for the population. This led to strict redirection of capital to areas where manipulation was needed to artificially pump up (or deflate) a particular part of the economy. The government became the sole investor of the Soviet system and, thus, the sole determinant of the success or failure of any particular market.

This is EXACTLY what is going on in America today, in what mainstream economists now call "the new normal". Federal Reserve fiat is being printed and dumped into every financial mechanism that supposedly maintains our country’s fiscal health, including stocks, Treasuries and municipals, while trade volume remains low and private investment disappears. The Federal government now owes its very existence to the continued support of central bank dollars, and the Dow Jones does as well. If this is not the Soviet ideal, then I don’t know what is.

Labor Oppression, Dismal Living Standards And Government Dependency

Poverty levels within the United States are at record highs. Nearly 50 million Americans are now dependent on government-subsidized food stamps for their survival. Nearly 100 million Americans receive welfare (or Social Security) in one form or another from the establishment. That is almost one-third of our entire population that relies on the system for at least a part of their sustainment. If Obamacare is fully realized, millions more Americans will also be conditioned to become dependent on government-designated healthcare providers. The point is not to pass judgment on those people who get money or services from the government, only to make clear our progression away from freedom and into centralized servitude.

For a Soviet structure to thrive, poverty among common citizens has to be institutionalized. Dependency requires a constant state of desperation. In America, this has been accomplished through a combination of inflated prices and reduced wages in conjunction with the destruction of labor options.

At the height of the communist machine in Russia, employment was ample; but the kind of employment one could apply for was dependent on bureaucratic red tape and availability based on a worker’s record. Only the academic “elite” within the government-run cesspools of Soviet universities and military schools had their choice of employment; even then, they were often pressured into particular specialized fields, depending on the kind of labor the state needed done at that particular time.

In the United States anyone can certainly aspire to do whatever job he hopes to do. But again, options have been removed economically; and the same academic elitism pervasive in Soviet Union labor markets exists in America today. In a recent installment of his weekly radio show, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it was better for “so-so” high school students to pursue a career in plumbing rather than go to college.

Though I rarely agree with Bloomberg on anything, my initial reaction was surprise at his willingness to steer American youth away from university indoctrination centers. However, upon further examination, it became clear that Bloomberg was not trying to save the next generation time and money. Instead, he is promoting a shift in the labor dynamic of the U.S. economy toward a Soviet-style foundation. Bloomberg knows well that the U.S. labor market will never return to its former glory, partly because he is a supporter of the globalist policies that ruined our economy in the first place. Instead of suggesting ways to reverse the trend of progressive poverty and the lack of high-end jobs that engender ingenuity and invention, elitists like Bloomberg are saying “forget your dreams and get used to being a drone.”

In a 70% service and retail economy, where job availability is increasingly degraded and independent business is discouraged, Americans will have two choices: Excel in the world of federally funded and propagandized education and sell your soul just for a chance at obtaining a professional career in a field of influence, or, settle for the leftovers. Modern socialists often sing the praises of the soviet educational model for raising the literacy rates of once agricultural and isolated people to 98%, but what they fail to mention is that this literacy was only encouraged in order to create a more efficient servant class that was easier to propagandize. The U.S. is moving into a similar paradigm. For some people, being a plumber is a fine thing; but it should not be the only thing. In a true free market, a smart man can make his own way, even if he does not conform to the ideologies of the educational racket. In a Sovietized market, a smart man is prohibited from accomplishing anything unless he conforms to the ideologies of the educational racket.

Some people may respond that the centralization conspiracy within the American economy is an obvious thing today, and that there is little need to expose it any further. I would point out that centralization is not the only issue here; the guidebook by which that centralization is being implemented is also important. This has all been done before on the other side of the world only decades ago, and the end result was a horrifying cascade of social enslavement and mechanically inclined death.

In the end, the Soviet economy was so utterly fraudulent that the final breakdown of the system came as a complete surprise to many in political and economic fields of the era. This is what happens when governments control all source data for financial statistics; transparency dies and collapse creeps in. Centralization is an absolute affront to the natural laws of supply and demand and an oppressive hindrance to the innovation that humanity thrives on. Such systems require constant theft from the populace in the form of reduced employment, reduced wages, reduced resources, increased taxes, increased price controls and a highly ignorant citizenry in order to function even for a short time. Sadly, the United States is well on its way in all of these areas, emulating a poisonous fiscal system and lending itself to a global economic tyranny in which all of us work much harder, for much less, and all for a government that seeks to use our very labor against us.

RELATED ACTIVIST POST ARTICLE:

Independence Criminalized: The Great Wall of Bureaucracy Comes to America

You can contact Brandon Smith at: brandon@alt-market.com. Alt-Market is an organization designed to help you find like-minded activists and preppers in your local area so that you can network and construct communities for mutual aid and defense. Join Alt-Market.com today and learn what it means to step away from the system and build something better.

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This Is What A Tyranny Looks Like

2013-05-22T06:58:00.000-07:00

James Corbett

The tyrants of our modern age are smart enough not to declare themselves to be tyrants. They simply don't follow the rules that have been set for the common citizens. The other smart move that they have made is that the real tyrants don't put themselves in the supposed positions of power.

Does anyone really believe that the President is the top of the food chain in Washington? But if the political puppets aren't the tyrants, then who are? The ones who can't get prosecuted for their crimes, obviously.

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Israel Heads Closer to War on Syria

2013-05-22T06:57:00.000-07:00

image source

Stephen Lendman
Activist Post

Syria is Washington's war. It was planned years ago. It began in early 2011. No end of conflict looks near. Escalating it appears likely.

Israel's very much involved. It abhors peace and stability. Its history reflects belligerence. It’s a direct threat. It borders Syria.

Both countries are longstanding imperial partners. The Israeli Lobby plays a key role. So do major media scoundrels. More on Israel below.

Orwell once said "(w)ho controls the past, controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past."

Saving the future requires understanding both past and present. Preventing imperial annihilation depends on it.

So-called "rebel" forces are no match against Syria's military superiority. Al-Qusayr is a strategic western Syrian city. It's about 18 miles southwest of Homs.

It's located on Lebanon's border. It links Damascus with government controlled Mediterranean coastal areas.

It's a key smuggling route. Insurgents, weapons, munitions and supplies pass cross-border into Syria. Stopping them is strategically important.

Fighting for control continues. On May 21, Press TV said Syrian forces control over 70% of the city. According to a Syrian source:

We managed to enter the city from several directions. We encountered heavy resistance but we overpowered them and seized control of these places and we will pursue them and eliminate them wherever they go.

According to Voice of Russia, Syria captured the city. Russia's Rossia-24 TV reported it. Insurgents controlled the city throughout the conflict. No longer.

Capturing Al-Qusayr prevents supplying insurgents from key parts of Lebanon.

Voice of Russia and Rossia-24 reported "mopping-up operations" around Aleppo.

According to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), "Army units restored stability and security to the full eastern area of (Al-Qusayr) in Homs Countryside after killing big numbers of terrorists and destroying their hideouts."

A military source added that army units dismantled a number of explosive devices, planted by terrorists in al-Souk area in the middle of the city.

The source added that army units are continuing hunting the remnants of terrorists in some hideouts in the northern and southern areas of the city.

Insurgents suffered heavy losses. Leadership elements were killed or captured. "Tens of terrorist" surrendered. Others were arrested.

SANA said insurgents were routed in several provinces.

Local journalist Abdallah Mawazini told Russia Today that Syria's army "managed to make a full circle around the city, fighting the opposition fighters. The main achievement is to stop the line of supply chain between Lebanon and Syria."

They started from the western side of the city, in the rural areas. They control this zone with some fighters from Lebanon.

Some extremist groups were preparing to go into Syria to fight with the rebels, they were going to go make a bigger front in order to fight and expand the fighting line between the government and the opposition.

America's war of words continues. Assad's wrongfully blamed for US-backed insurgent crimes. They're death squads. They're US proxy foot soldiers. They're foreign invaders. They're recruited from many countries.

They're funded, armed, trained and directed. Don't expect US government sources to explain. Nor will media scoundrels.

On May 20, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said Washington "strongly condemns the Assad regime’s intense air and artillery strikes this weekend on the Syrian town of (Al-Qusayr), along the Lebanese border, where more than 90 people were reportedly killed."

The Assad regime deliberately provoked sectarian tensions through its assaults, which we saw recently in Sunni massacres in the towns of Bayada and Banias.

We reject the regime’s use of sectarian-driver war to divide the Syrian people. The Assad regime and its supporters who continue to commit crimes against the Syrian people should know that the world is watching and they will be identified and held accountable.

Insurgents bear direct responsibility for numerous massacres wrongfully blamed on Assad. Hezbollah elements are aiding their Syrian ally. They're doing so responsibly. They're confronting US imperialism. Not according to Ventrell.

He "condemn(ed) Hezbollah’s direct intervention in the assault on (Al-Qusayr) where its fighters are playing a significant role in the regime’s offensive."

Hezbollah’s occupation of villages along the Lebanese-Syrian border and its support for the regime and pro-Assad militias exacerbate and inflame regional sectarian tensions and perpetuate the regime’s campaign of terror against the Syrian people.

We reject Hezbollah’s efforts to escalate violence inside Syria and incite instability in Lebanon.

Hezbollah and Syrian forces are trying to end conflict. They want peace. They want stability restored. They want Washington's imperial intentions defeated. Much rides on their success.

On May 20, Lebanon's Daily Star headlined "Situation in Syria against US, Israel: Hezbollah."

According to Hezbollah MP Nawaf Musawi, Syria's conflict hasn't gone according to US and Israeli plans. He warned both countries against toppling Assad, saying:

If some were betting on weakening our ally in Syria and toppling him, he should keep in mind that two years into the (conflict) have passed while betting on delusions.

Those who were banking on US power and Israeli threats of war and victory of the US-Israeli attack on Syria are mistaken.

He added that Hezbollah won't hesitate to plunge "Israel into the abyss. If the enemy - through its aggression - is practicing brinkmanship with the resistance and its allies in this region, the resistance is not afraid to push the enemy itself into the abyss."

Hezbollah has enough potential to make any Israeli official aware that the threat of war applies to him, and that he will be the first to lose as a result of his behavior.

Syria's military displayed a captured Israeli army vehicle. It did so in Al-Qusayr. Lebanon's Al-Mayadeen television aired video proof.

Military uniforms, wiretapping and jamming equipment were found in the vehicle. Damascus called it evidence of Israel's involvement.

Last June, insurgents were captured with Israeli weapons. Israel's very much involved.

On May 21, SANA said

the seizure of an Israeli military vehicle refutes the allegations made by Israel to justify its aggression on Syria and proves the scale of Israel's military and intelligence involvements in the events in Syria.

(T)he Israeli military support for the armed terrorist groups proves the involvement of Qatar, Turkey and Israel in the aggression on Syria which is waged through a single central operations room.

(T)he Israeli military support for terrorism in Syria proves once more that Israel was and still is adopting the policy of organized state terrorism, stressing that the world must act to confront this terrorism.

(T)he questions raised by the seizure of the Israeli military vehicle and the surveillance and jamming equipmentâ€¦.show that the armed terrorist groups with all their different names are merely headlines for a single structure led by Israel, Qatar and Turkey.

Syria understands Washington's key role. Partnered with Israel, other NATO countries, and rogue Arab states, they're waging imperial war against a non-belligerent country. Doing so is lawless aggression. It's the supreme crime against peace.

Israel escalated things further. In response to alleged cross-border gunfire, it "returned precise fire," according to IDF officials.

Tammuz missiles were used. Twice before they targeted Syrian sites.

Incidents are easy to manufacture. Doing so provide pretexts to respond. On May 4 and 5, Israel bombed Syria. It did so preemptively. It was a joint US-Israeli provocation. It suggests further aggression ahead.

On May 21, Mossad-connected DEBKAfile (DF) claimed a "Syrian-Israeli confrontation loomed closer."

DF alleges Damascus admitted responsibility for Monday night's cross-border gunfire. No source was cited. Syria's gone out of its way to avoid challenging other countries.

It hasn't retaliated against previous Israeli and Turkish provocations. It's unlikely to change tactics now. Doing so would be self-defeating. Assad has no death wish. DF's allegations don't wash.

It cites unnamed Israeli military sources claiming his "readiness for a war of attrition on Israel from the Golan."

It says Hezbollah will be involved. On Sunday, Netanyahu sent mixed messages. On the one hand, he said Israel won't intervene in Syria's conflict.

On the other, he stressed it will act if its own interests are affected. He said he'll topple Assad if he responds to Israeli attacks. He suggested further bombings may follow. Allegedly they'll target weapons transfers to Hezbollah.

Bombings and other belligerence are willful provocations. At issue is goading Syria to respond. Doing so would provide pretext for direct US/Israeli intervention.

Assad's not about to give them reason to attack. He's gone out of his way to avoid it. His ability to do so depends on US/NATO/Israeli plans. Direct intervention appears likely. How and when remains to be seen.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book is titled How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/

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Obama's War on Free Expression

2013-05-22T06:30:00.002-07:00

image source

Stephen Lendman
Activist Post

It's the most fundamental right. Without it all others are endangered. Obama's waging war to destroy it. He's done so throughout his tenure.

He targeted AP. He did so unjustifiably. A previous article discussed it.

It was lawless intrusion. It intimidates journalists, potential whistleblowers, valued sources, and others. It warns them against challenging or disclosing information Washington wants kept secret.

Obama's done it numerous times before. He's waging war on truth. He's targeted more whistleblowers than all previous administrations combined. Bradley Manning and Julian Assange are best known. Others faced similar abuse.

Fox News reporter James Rosen is another target. Headlines just revealed it. Since around 2010, his phone records were monitored. They were obtained for a defined period. His emails were read. His personal movements were tracked.

At issue are fundamental constitutional rights. They've been eroding for years. Obama's waging war to destroy them altogether.

Candidate Obama called whistleblowing "acts of courage and patriotism." His official document for change headlined "The Change We Need in Washington."

It discussed promises to do so. He systematically spurned them. He did so across the board. He pledged whistleblower protection, saying:

Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out.

Such acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often taxpayers dollars, should be encouraged rather than stifled as they have been during the Bush administration.

We need to empower federal employees as watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance.

Barack Obama will strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government.

Obama will ensure that federal agencies expedite the process for reviewing whistleblower claims and whistleblowers have full access to courts and due process.

He implied protection and encouragement for America's fourth estate. He's targeted them and government whistleblowers ruthlessly. He exploits secrecy and other repressive laws doing so.

He claims a national security priority. America's kept safe, he stresses. It's never been closer to full-blown tyranny. He's advancing it for our own good, he implies.

He's manipulating public sentiment to concur. Sacrificing freedom for security assures losing both.

So-called free flow of information or shield laws protect journalists. If properly drafted, they're freed from disclosing confidential sources and documents. Doing so assures they and informants won't be silenced.

It protects them from threat of prosecution. It forces Washington to prove a compelling need. It requires evidence outweighing journalists' nondisclosure/confidentiality rights.

Numerous US states provide these protections. No federal law exists. In 2007, Free Flow of Information Act legislation passed the House.

In 2008, it failed in the Senate. Its version fell short of full immunity. It permitted federal judges to declare some confidentially obtained information subject to disclosure. Bush administration officials felt not enough. They opposed the measure.

In 2009, proposed Shield Act legislation failed to pass. Obama opposed protecting reporters from imprisonment and/or fines for refusing to disclose confidential sources leaking alleged national security information.

Initial legislation weighed "the public interest in gathering news and maintaining the free flow of information" against national security considerations.

Obama proposed sweeping revisions. He wants press freedom compromised. In 2011, House and Senate Shield Law versions were introduced. They targeted free expression and whistleblowers. Both died in committee.

Attorney General Eric Holder supported harsh Shield Law provisions, saying:

To the extent there are gaps in the laws, we will move to close those gaps. The Shield Act will help close these holes in the law.

At the time, Congressional Research Service (CRS) legislative attorney Jennifer Elsea said:

Espionage Act provisions apply "to the receipt and unauthorized dissemination of national defense information, which has been interpreted broadly to cover closely held government materials related to US military operations, facilities and personnel."

It has been interpreted to cover the activities of foreign nationals overseas....

The Supreme Court has stated....that the question remains open whether the publication of unlawfully obtained information by the media can be punished consistent with the First Amendment.

Thus, although unlawful acquisition of information might be subject to criminal prosecution with few First Amendment implications, the publication of that information remains protected.

Whether the publication of national security information can be punished likely turns on the value of the information to the public weighed against the likelihood of identifiable harm to the national security, arguably a more difficult case for prosecutors to make.

CRS called prosecuting WikiLeaks unprecedented and challenging. It's so legally and politically.

"We are aware of no case in which a publisher of information obtained through unauthorized disclosure by a government employee has been prosecuted for publishing it," she added.

At issue are First Amendment rights and "concerns about government censor(ing)" information the public has a right to know.

In 2011, House and Senate Shield Act versions targeted whistleblowers. They amended the 1917 Espionage Act.

They criminalized free speech. They compromised the public's right to know how their elected officials govern. Suppressing truth is the first step toward tyranny. America's on a fast track toward it.

In December 2010, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) said:

The debate about the wisdom of releasing secret government documents has turned into a massive attack on the right of intermediaries to publish truthful information. Suddenly, WikiLeaks has become the Internet's scapegoat....

Like it or not, WikiLeaks has become the emblem for one of the most important battles for our rights that is likely to come along in our lifetimes. We cannot sit this one out.

Earlier Shield Act legislation criminalized good journalism. It did so for knowingly and willfully publishing material on human intelligence activities conducted by America or other governments.

Doing so responsibly is what investigative journalists do. It's their job. First Amendment rights protect them.

In Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), the Supreme Court ruled government can't punish inflammatory speech unless directed to incite lawless action.

In Texas v. Johnson, Justice William Brennan wrote the majority opinion, saying:

(I)f there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea offensive or disagreeable.

Former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall said:

Above all else, the First Amendment means that government has no power to restrict expression (regardless of its) ideasâ€¦subject matter (or) content.

Our people are guaranteed the right to express any thought, free from government censorship.

Thomas Jefferson warned:

What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance.

Free expression "cannot be limited without being lost."

Governments often overstate secrecy needs. Except under clear and present danger circumstances, doing so's unjustifiable.

Candidate Obama pledged openness and transparency. He repeatedly denounced Bush administration secrecy. He called it "one of the most secretive administrations in our nation's history."

It's no coincidence (that it) favored special interests and pursued policies that could not stand up to the sunlight.

As president," he vowed, "I'm going to change that. "The American people want to trust in our government again - we just need a government that will trust in us.

And making government accountable to the people isn't just a cause of this campaign - it's been a cause of my life for two decades.

Straightaway as president, a White House statement headlined "Change has come to WhiteHouse.gov," saying:

President Obama has committed to making his administration the most open and transparent in history.

In 2010, he said:

I will not stop fighting to open up government. (W)e have put in place the toughest transparency rules in history.

Throughout his tenure, his policies belied his rhetoric. He exceeded the worst of George Bush. He's obsessed with secrecy. According to ACLU staff attorney Alexander Abdo:

We've seen a meteoric rise in the number of claims to protect secret law, the government's interpretations of laws or its understanding of its own authority.

In some ways, the Obama administration is actually even more aggressive on secrecy than the Bush administration.

He's gone out of his way to find new ways to do it. He's waging war on free expression and other constitutional rights. He seeks legislative cover to disguise it.

On May 15, The New York Times headlined "Criticized on Seizure of Records, White House Pushes News Media Shield Law," saying:

"Under fire over" AP spying, he sought "to revive legislation that would provide greater protections to reporters in keeping their sources and communications confidential."

His way of doing it falls woefully short of what's needs. He wants full immunity avoided. He wants federal judges able to declare some confidentially obtained information subject to disclosure.

He opposes protecting reporters from imprisonment and/or fines for refusing to disclose confidential sources providing alleged national security information.

He's waging war on press freedom. He's done so throughout his tenure. He wants Shield Law cover for easier enforcement.

Perhaps he'll get it this time around. Enactment will further erode free expression. It's on the chopping block for elimination.

Alleged national security concerns don't wash. They're cover to destroy what's too precious to lose.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book is titled How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/

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Study Finds Vitamin C Kills Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis

2013-05-22T00:00:00.001-07:00

Activist Post

In a striking, unexpected discovery, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have determined that vitamin C kills drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) bacteria in laboratory culture. The finding suggests that vitamin C added to existing TB drugs could shorten TB therapy, and it highlights a new area for drug design. The study was published today in the online journal Nature Communications.

TB is caused by infection with the bacterium M. tuberculosis. In 2011, TB sickened some 8.7 million people and took some 1.4 million lives, according to the World Health Organization. Infections that fail to respond to TB drugs are a growing problem: About 650,000 people worldwide now have multi-drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), 9 percent of whom have extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB).TB is especially acute in low and middle income countries, which account for more than 95 percent of TB-related deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

The Einstein discovery arose during research into how TB bacteria become resistant to isoniazid, a potent first-line TB drug. The lead investigator and senior author of the study was William Jacobs, Jr., Ph.D., professor of microbiology & immunology and of genetics at Einstein. Dr. Jacobs is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and a recently elected member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Jacobs and his colleagues observed that isoniazid-resistant TB bacteria were deficient in a molecule called mycothiol. “We hypothesized that TB bacteria that can’t make mycothiol might contain more cysteine, an amino acid,” said Dr. Jacobs. “So, we predicted that if we added isoniazid and cysteine to isoniazid-sensitive M. tuberculosis in culture, the bacteria would develop resistance. Instead, we ended up killing off the culture— something totally unexpected.”

The Einstein team suspected that cysteine was helping to kill TB bacteria by acting as a “reducing agent” that triggers the production of reactive oxygen species (sometimes called free radicals), which can damage DNA.

"We predicted that if we added isoniazid and cysteine to isoniazid-sensitive M. tuberculosis in culture, the bacteria would develop resistance. Instead, we ended up killing off the culture— something totally unexpected."– William Jacobs, Jr., Ph.D.

“To test this hypothesis, we repeated the experiment using isoniazid and a different reducing agent— vitamin C,” said Dr. Jacobs. “The combination of isoniazid and vitamin C sterilized the M. tuberculosis culture. We were then amazed to discover that vitamin C by itself not only sterilized the drug-susceptible TB, but also sterilized MDR-TB and XDR-TB strains.”

To justify testing vitamin C in a clinical trial, Dr. Jacobs needed to find the molecular mechanism by which vitamin C exerted its lethal effect. More research produced the answer: Vitamin C induced what is known as a Fenton reaction, causing iron to react with other molecules to create reactive oxygen species that kill the TB bacteria.

“We don’t know whether vitamin C will work in humans, but we now have a rational basis for doing a clinical trial,” said Dr. Jacobs. “It also helps that we know vitamin C is inexpensive, widely available and very safe to use. At the very least, this work shows us a new mechanism that we can exploit to attack TB.”

The paper is titled, “Mycobacterium tuberculosis is extraordinarily sensitive to killing by a vitamin C-induced Fenton reaction.” The other contributors are Catherine Vilcheze, Ph.D., Travis Hartman and Brian Weinrick, Ph.D., all at Einstein.

The study was supported by a grant (AI26170) from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Deirdre Branley
718.430.3101
sciencenews@einstein.yu.edu

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Police State: Liberty Activist Illegally Searched and Arrested After Kokesh Hearing

2013-05-21T18:21:00.000-07:00

Activist Post

"Your megaphone might be a weapon," says the arresting officer to liberty activist and former Marine Kyle Prouty when he asked why he was being detained.

Five members of The Panic Hour were followed into the City Hall rail station in Center City Philadelphia after attending an arraignment hearing for Adam Kokesh and Nikki Allen Poe who were kidnapped from a peaceful marijuana rally on 5/18/13.

While quietly waiting for a train, Kyle Prouty was illegally searched and detained by SEPTA police officer Nicole Lawson at 3:20pm on 5/20/13 after refusing to show ID. You can hear Kyle screaming "I do not consent to a search" while they search him.

Kyle was charged with "disorderly conduct" "obstructing a highway and other public passage" and "resisting arrest". Can we call it a Police State yet?

Another angle below:

Source: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d7c_1369095693

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Are We Entering The Worst Period For Natural Disasters In U.S. History?

2013-05-21T18:12:00.001-07:00

Michael Snyder
Activist Post

Weather patterns are becoming increasingly erratic and the ground under our feet is becoming extremely unstable. So precisely what in the world is going on here? Is this the beginning of a trend? Could it be possible that we are entering the worst period for natural disasters in U.S. history?

The tornado that just hit the town of Moore, Oklahoma is already being called one of the most destructive tornadoes that America has ever seen. That tornado came almost two years to the day after the deadliest tornado in U.S. history hit Joplin, Missouri. But of course it is not just tornadoes that seem to be getting more powerful.

Giant sinkholes are appearing at an unprecedented rate, earthquakes are becoming more frequent and more powerful, 6 of the 10 worst years for wildfires ever recorded in the United States have all come since the year 2000, and the western part of the country is experiencing the worst stretch of drought since the days of the Great Depression. Is all of this just some sort of a giant coincidence? If not, what is causing these changes?

The giant F4 tornado that absolutely devastated Moore, Oklahoma had winds of up to 200 mph. It was estimated to be at least two miles wide at one point, and what made it especially destructive was the fact that it sat on the ground for 40 minutes. Most tornadoes only reach the ground for a couple of minutes. According to the latest reports, the tornado resulted in 24 deaths and hundreds of others were seriously injured.

It was far more powerful than the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, and it is being called “the worst tornado damage-wise in the history of the world” by a meteorologist at KFOR-TV.

You can see video of the tornado right here. Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb compared the tornado to a “two-mile-wide lawnmower blade going over a community.”

Meanwhile, other parts of Oklahoma experienced very unusual weather as well. In fact, hail the size of grapefruits was falling in one area near Oklahoma City.

Personally, I sure am glad that I don’t live in tornado alley. I don’t know if I could handle hail the size of grapefruits and tornadoes that are two miles wide.

But despite the fact that we have seen such destructive tornadoes in recent years, constructing storm shelters has very much gone out of style. This is very unfortunate, because as Mike Adams of Natural News has pointed out, even a very small storm shelter can save your life…

Storm shelters offer almost 100% survivability against tornados. Tornados cannot penetrate underground, after all. If YOU are underground, even in a small, cramped storm shelter that’s just two meters wide and two meters tall, you have an almost 100% chance of emerging from the storm completely unhurt.

Most fatalities in tornados happen because people are killed from flying debris. You might even call it “wind shrapnel.” Take a bunch of lumber, aluminum siding, bricks and roof trusses and accelerate them to 200 mph and you have a deadly weapon that will kill almost anyone it touches. But put your body just three feet underground — in a tornado shelter — and all that debris flies right past you, harmlessly above your shelter.

Another huge concern is the epidemic of sinkholes that we have seen all over the United States over the past few years.

Some cities are actually being eaten alive by these things. For example, just check out what is happening to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania…

Pennsylvania’s state capital is suffering from a rash of monster sinkholes, but city officials are too broke to do anything about it.

Loose soil and leaky, century-old underground water pipes are to blame for the municipal nightmare, which came to a head on the New Year’s Eve when a 50-foot sinkhole yawned open along Fourth Street, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The eight-foot deep crater — one of at least 41 in the city — is so large, locals made it a “check-in” site on the social media site Four Square.

Some cheeky residents and the media nicknamed the hole “Super Sinkhole Walter.”

And check out what is happening in one housing division out in California…

Scott and Robin Spivey had a sinking feeling that something was wrong with their home when cracks began snaking across their walls in March.

The cracks soon turned into gaping fractures, and within two weeks their 600-square-foot garage broke from the house and the entire property — manicured lawn and all — dropped 10 feet below the street.

It wasn’t long before the houses on both sides collapsed as the ground gave way in the Spivey’s neighborhood in Lake County, about 100 miles north of San Francisco.

For much more on this phenomenon, please see my previous article entitled “Why Are Giant Sinkholes Appearing All Over America? Is Something Happening To The Earth’s Crust?”

At the same time, we have seen the number and intensity of earthquakes increase all over the planet in recent years.

Thankfully, the U.S. has not seen “the big one” strike yet.

But everyone knows that it is going to happen at some point.

One of the areas that I am most concerned about is the New Madrid fault zone. A massive earthquake along that fault zone would deeply affect millions of lives. The following is from a recent article by Michael Fitzgerald of the CNHI News Service…

It’s a bleak scenario. A massive earthquake along the New Madrid fault kills or injures 60,000 people in Tennessee. A quarter of a million people are homeless. The Memphis airport – the country’s biggest air terminal for packages – goes off-line. Major oil and gas pipelines across Tennessee rupture, causing shortages in the Northeast. In Missouri, another 15,000 people are hurt or dead. Cities and towns throughout the central U.S. lose power and water for months. Losses stack up to hundreds of billions of dollars.

Fortunately, this magnitude 7.7 temblor is not real but rather a scenario imagined by the Mid-America Earthquake Center and the Institute for Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management at George Washington University. The goal of their 2008 analysis was to plan for a modern recurrence of quakes that happened along the New Madrid fault more than 200 years ago, in 1811 and 1812.

And remember, the scenario discussed above is just for a 7.7 earthquake. Much more powerful earthquakes have happened in the New Madrid fault zone in the past, and that is exactly what many are expecting to happen in the years ahead.

Meanwhile, the “Ring of Fire” continues to heat up. Over the past few years, there have been major earthquakes in almost every area along the Pacific rim except for the west coast of the United States. We should be very thankful for that, but that good fortune will not last indefinitely.

Personally, I would not want to be living anywhere along the Pacific coast in the coming years.

And it is not just earthquakes that we need to be concerned about along the Ring of Fire. We are also seeing a significant increase in volcanic activity.

Most Americans don’t realize it, but a major volcanic eruption is going on up in Alaska right now. The following is from Yahoo News…

One of Alaska’s most active volcanoes, which has been belching ash and spewing lava since last week, has forced regional flight cancellations and dusted some nearby communities with ash, scientists and local officials said on Monday.

Pavlof Volcano has sent up ash as high as 22,000 feet, with the cloud blowing eastward and the eruption showing no signs of abating, according to the federal-state Alaska Volcano Observatory.

The lava from its 8,261-foot (2,518-metre) peak has also created huge steam clouds on meeting the mountain’s snow.

And there are several volcanoes along the west coast of the United States that people should be keeping their eyes on as well. One of them is Mt. Saint Helens. The following is what one scientist recently said about Mt. Saint Helens…

We know magma is forming, we see little earthquakes, and we know it is reloading. We know it will erupt again and we know we may have as little as a week’s notice.

Personally, I am even more concerned about Mt. Rainier. That is one of the reasons why I included an eruption of Mt. Rainier in my new novel. Mt. Rainier has started to become unstable, and a full-blown eruption would be absolutely catastrophic.

In addition to everything else that I have discussed above, we have also been witnessing an increase in the intensity of hurricanes, wildfires, drought and dust storms over the past decade.
So what is causing all of this?

Do you have any idea?

Please feel free to post a comment with your opinion below…

This article first appeared here at the American Dream. Michael Snyder is a writer, speaker and activist who writes and edits his own blogs The American Dream and Economic Collapse Blog. Follow him on Twitter here.

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America’s Bubble Economy Is Going To Become An Economic Black Hole

2013-05-21T18:00:00.001-07:00

Michael Snyder
Activist Post

What is going to happen when the greatest economic bubble in the history of the world pops? The mainstream media never talks about that. They are much too busy covering the latest dogfights in Washington and what Justin Bieber has been up to. And most Americans seem to think that if the Dow keeps setting new all-time highs that everything must be okay. Sadly, that is not the case at all. Right now, the U.S. economy is exhibiting all of the classic symptoms of a bubble economy. You can see this when you step back and take a longer-term view of things.

Over the past decade, we have added more than 10 trillion dollars to the national debt. But most Americans have shown very little concern as the balance on our national credit card has soared from 6 trillion dollars to nearly 17 trillion dollars. Meanwhile, Wall Street has been transformed into the biggest casino on the planet, and much of the new money that the Federal Reserve has been recklessly printing up has gone into stocks. But the Dow does not keep setting new records because the underlying economic fundamentals are good. Rather, the reckless euphoria that we are seeing in the financial markets right now reminds me very much of 1929. Margin debt is absolutely soaring, and every time that happens a crash rapidly follows.

But this time when a crash happens it could very well be unlike anything that we have ever seen before.

The top 25 U.S. banks have more than 212 trillion dollars of exposure to derivatives combined, and when that house of cards comes crashing down there is no way that anyone will be able to prop it back up. After all, U.S. GDP for an entire year is only a bit more than 15 trillion dollars.

But most Americans are only focused on the short-term because the mainstream media is only focused on the short-term. Things are good this week and things were good last week, so there is nothing to worry about, right?

Unfortunately, economic reality is not going to change even if all of us try to ignore it. Those that are willing to take an honest look at what is coming down the road are very troubled. For example, Bill Gross of PIMCO says that his firm sees "bubbles everywhere"...

We see bubbles everywhere, and that is not to be dramatic and not to suggest they will pop immediately. I just suggested in the bond market with a bubble in treasuries and bubble in narrow credit spreads and high-yield prices, that perhaps there is a significant distortion there. Having said that, it suggests that as long as the FED and Bank of Japan and other Central Banks keep writing checks and do not withdraw, then the bubble can be supported as in blowing bubbles. They are blowing bubbles. When that stops there will be repercussions.

And unfortunately, it is not just the United States that has a bubble economy. In fact, the gigantic financial bubble over in Japan may burst before our own financial bubble does. The following is from a recent article by Graham Summers...

First and foremost, Japan is the second largest bond market in the world. If Japan’s sovereign bonds continue to fall, pushing rates higher, then there has been a tectonic shift in the global financial system. Remember the impact that Greece had on asset prices? Greece’s bond market is less than 3% of Japan’s in size.

For multiple decades, Japanese bonds have been considered “risk free.” As a result of this, investors have been willing to lend money to Japan at extremely low rates. This has allowed Japan’s economy, the second largest in the world, to putter along marginally.

So if Japanese bonds begin to implode, this means that:

1) The second largest bond market in the world is entering a bear market (along with commensurate liquidations and redemptions by institutional investors around the globe).

2) The second largest economy in the world will collapse (along with the impact on global exports).

Both of these are truly epic problems for the financial system.

And of course the entire global financial system is a giant bundle of debt, risk and leverage at this point. We have never seen anything like this in world history. When you step back and take a good, hard look at the numbers, they truly are staggering. The following statistics are from one of my previous articles entitled "Why Is The World Economy Doomed? The Global Financial Pyramid Scheme By The Numbers"...

- $70,000,000,000,000 - The approximate size of total world GDP.

- $190,000,000,000,000 - The approximate size of the total amount of debt in the entire world. It has nearly doubled in size over the past decade.

- $212,525,587,000,000 - According to the U.S. government, this is the notional value of the derivatives that are being held by the top 25 banks in the United States. But those banks only have total assets of about 8.9 trillion dollars combined. In other words, the exposure of our largest banks to derivatives outweighs their total assets by a ratio of about 24 to 1.

- $600,000,000,000,000 to $1,500,000,000,000,000 - The estimates of the total notional value of all global derivatives generally fall within this range. At the high end of the range, the ratio of derivatives to global GDP is more than 21 to 1.

The financial meltdown that happened back in 2008 should have been a wake up call for the nations of the world. They should have corrected the mistakes that happened so that nothing like that would ever happen again. Unfortunately, nothing was fixed. Instead, our politicians and the central bankers became obsessed with reinflating the system. They piled up even more debt, recklessly printed tons of money and kicked the can down the road for a few years. In the process, they made our long-term problems even worse. The following is a recent quote from John Williams of shadowstats.com...

The economic and systemic solvency crises of the last eight years continue. There never was an actual recovery following the economic downturn that began in 2006 and collapsed into 2008 and 2009. What followed was a protracted period of business stagnation that began to turn down anew in second- and third-quarter 2012. The official recovery seen in GDP has been a statistical illusion generated by the use of understated inflation in calculating key economic series (see Public Comment on Inflation).

Nonetheless, given the nature of official reporting, the renewed downturn likely will gain recognition as the second-dip in a double- or multiple-dip recession.

What continues to unfold in the systemic and economic crises is just an ongoing part of the 2008 turmoil. All the extraordinary actions and interventions bought a little time, but they did not resolve the various crises. That the crises continue can be seen in deteriorating economic activity and in the panicked actions by the Federal Reserve, where it proactively is monetizing U.S. Treasury debt at a pace suggestive of a Treasury that is unable to borrow otherwise.

And there are already lots of signs that the next economic downturn is rapidly approaching.

For example, corporate revenues are falling at Wal-Mart, Proctor and Gamble, Starbucks, AT&T, Safeway, American Express and IBM.

Would revenues at Wal-Mart be falling if the economy was getting better?

U.S. jobless claims hit a six-week high last week. We aren't in the danger zone yet, but once they hit 400,000 that will be a major red flag.

And even though we are still in the "good times" relatively speaking, the federal government is already talking about tightening welfare programs. In fact, there are proposals in Congress right now to make significant cuts to the food stamp program.

If food stamps and other welfare programs get cut, that is going to make a lot of people very, very angry. And that anger and frustration will get even worse when the next economic downturn strikes and millions of people start losing their jobs and their homes.

What we are witnessing right now is the calm before the storm. Let us hope that it lasts for as long as possible so that we can have more time to prepare.

Unfortunately, this bubble of false hope will not last forever. At some point it will end, and then the pain will begin.

This article first appeared here at the Economic Collapse. Michael Snyder is a writer, speaker and activist who writes and edits his own blogs The American Dream and Economic Collapse Blog. Follow him on Twitter here.

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The Best Kept Secrets of The Dollar

2013-05-21T16:56:00.002-07:00

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Former IRS commissioner refuses to apologize for targeting scandal when pressed by senator

2013-05-21T16:13:00.003-07:00

Douglas Shulman
credit: C-SPAN

Madison Ruppert
Activist Post

When former Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman was pressed by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) on Tuesday, Shulman refused to apologize for the targeting of conservative groups by the IRS.

Instead of apologizing, Shulman expressed regret and stated that the Inspector General report absolved him of any culpability for the agency’s conduct.

The IRS scandal has resulted in a surprising number of absurd situations similar to the interaction between Cornyn and Shulman.

On Sunday, an Obama aide attempted to defend the Obama administration in the face of multiple scandals, stating that the “law is irrelevant” when discussing the IRS scandal in particular.

Another particularly interesting claim made during a congressional hearing was that the United States tax system is in fact a voluntary one.

Cornyn pointed out that Steven Miller, former IRS acting commissioner, opened his testimony before the Senate with a clear apology but when he asked if Shulman would apologize for the IRS’ actions, Shulman avoided the question.

“Mr. Shulman, I wonder if you have any words of apology for my constituents and others who feel like the public trust has been violated by the IRS,” Cornyn said.

“You know, I’m deeply, deeply saddened by this whole set of events,” Shulman said. “I’ve read the [Inspector General’s] report and I very much regret that it happened and that it happened on my watch.”

“Is that an apology?” Cornyn asked.

“To your constituents? I don’t know the details of your constituents. I don’t know what happened to them, I didn’t look at particular constituent and taxpayer matters,” Shulman said.

Shulman went on to contend that as a general principle, as IRS commissioner between 2008 and 2012, he did not personally examine individual cases. He also said that he had nothing to do with cases that involved political activity.

“So if I knew the details of it, I could give you an answer,” Shulman said.

“So it’s not your responsibility,” Cornyn said. “The buck doesn’t stop with you.”

“I certainly am not personally responsible for creating a list that had inappropriate criteria on it,” Shulman said. “What I know with the full facts that are out is – from the Inspector General’s report – which doesn’t say that I’m responsible for that.”

“With that said,” Shulman continued, “this happened on my watch and I very much regret that it happened on my watch.”

After a long pause, Cornyn said, “Well I don’t think that qualifies as an apology.”

“It qualifies as an expression of regret,” Cornyn said, “which I think is well deserved.”

Shulman similarly would not admit that he was personally responsible when questioned by Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.).

Cornyn went on to ask Shulman if he is also concerned that “the IRS has deviated from its core function and should be reformed to focus on that core function and perhaps not be given these other additional responsibilities until it can get its house in order.”

Shulman said that the IRS is charged with administering the United States’ tax laws and those tax laws have been used for more and more things.

“I defer to Congress to decide what it wants to use the tax code for and whether it wants the IRS to do all of the functions in the tax code,” Shulman said. “As long as the IRS is given that responsibility I think the obligation of the agency is to do it to the best of its ability.”

I’d love to hear your opinion, take a look at your story tips and even your original writing if you would like to get it published. Please email me at Admin@EndtheLie.com

The clip can be seen below via C-SPAN:

The first part of the full hearing can be seen here.

Please support our work and help us start to pay contributors by doing your shopping through our Amazon link or check out some must-have products at our store.

This article first appeared at End the Lie.

Madison Ruppert is the Editor and Owner-Operator of the alternative news and analysis database End The Lie and has no affiliation with any NGO, political party, economic school, or other organization/cause. He is available for podcast and radio interviews. Madison also now has his own radio show on UCYTV Monday nights 7 PM - 9 PM PT/10 PM - 12 AM ET. Show page link here: http://UCY.TV/EndtheLie. If you have questions, comments, or corrections feel free to contact him at admin@EndtheLie.com

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Monsanto Declares a Sneaky Social Media War Against Protesters

2013-05-21T14:04:00.001-07:00

Daisy Luther

Activist Post

One of the most powerful tools in the arsenal of the grass roots food freedom fight is social media. Google, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and many more networks allow people to instantly connect and provide a platform for information to be passed on exponentially. Facebook and Google are the two biggest websites in the entire world, and their reach is nearly unlimited.

Last week, the Monsanto Company made it very clear that they were under the gun via social media, and they went on the defense, weakly claiming that those who object with their toxic seeds and deadly farming methods were “elitist,” thereby attempting to undermine us as snobbish people who don’t see the big picture and who don’t care about world hunger.

This week, they’ve upped their game. Mysterious things have been occurring on the social networks: posts have disappeared, some posts are hidden from the timelines of readers, and trolls abound on pages promoting this weekend’s March Against Monsanto, happening worldwide on May 25.

Like any cornered rat, the leviathan seed company can see the very large threat coming their way, and it appears that they are pulling out all the stops to fight as dirty as they can. But the movement against the company is so powerful, that despite paid-off politicians and billions of dollars in the war chest, Monsanto knows that they’ve been outmatched. What we’re seeing now are the last, desperate attempts to keep the general public from learning about the manmade global disaster that was created by Monsanto.

On my own page, I found an interesting anomaly. I posted this yesterday:

My children’s first protest march!!! Any ideas for our signs?
Everything you need to know and more about the March Against Monsanto. Don’t forget to subscribe to our email updates while you’re there: http://bit.ly/106qja2

1 Like · · Share 67 people saw this post

The thing that was very strange about this is that, at the bottom, you can see, it only got 67 views nearly 14 hours after I posted it. The posts that I shared above and below it all had hundreds of views. I asked some friends to check their timelines, and this particular post did not show up. They had to actually go to the page and look for it to find it tucked in near the bottom.

If I hadn’t heard from Tami Canal, the driving force behind the March Against Monsanto’s Facebook page, I would have thought it was merely a fluke. But mysterious things have been happening there as well.

Events are disappearing, posts are being put on city event pages that say events are cancelled. In no way, shape or form, has ANY event been cancelled. I believe Monsanto is behind this. Some of the people on the page that are commenting have newly made profiles and seemingly these profiles were made strictly to cause problems and get a rise out of our participants on the page.

Monsanto has openly carried on an internet war with anti-GMO activists for years. Back in 2002, Jay Byrne, the former director of Monsanto’s Internet outreach, had some advice for colleagues:

…’think of the Internet as a weapon on the table. Either you pick it up or your competitor does, but somebody is going to get killed.'

While he was working for Monsanto, Byrne told the internet newsletter Wow that he “spends his time and effort participating” in web discussions about biotech. He singled out the site AgBioWorld, where he “ensures his company gets proper play”. AgBioWorld is the site on which “Andura Smetacek” launched her campaign.

The biotech companies know that they will never conquer new markets while activists are able to expose the way their operations damage food security and consumer choice. ” (source)

The Monsanto Company’s current overt tactics are to try and polish their very tarnished image by portraying themselves as do-gooders set on feeding the world, while painting anti-GMO protesters as uncaring, selfish individuals that haven’t given hungry Third World residents a passing thought. Less overt are these guerrilla internet shills, causing divisiveness in the movement by starting arguments on forums and in comment threads on social media, and outright passing on misinformation.

Unfortunately, Facebook seems to have the back of the trolls. Occupy Monsanto‘s page was actually banned for three days when the owner publicly outed an abusive PM from a troll. The person who wrote the letter faced no repercussions from Facebook. Other anti-GMO activists have announced that their posts have been hidden or otherwise censored, just like mine was.

Despite the rumors started that events for this Saturday’s March Against Monsanto have been cancelled, or that times have been changed, this is absolutely untrue. Canal reiterated, “ In no way, shape or form, has ANY event been cancelled.” If you are planning to go to an event, rest assured, the events will go on as planned, despite the sneaky tactics of a desperate company.

Keep calm and don’t allow yourself to be provoked on Saturday. Anti-GMO activists are on the side of “good” in this battle, so it’s important to keep to the high road. Expect the presence of agent provocateurs, lots of law enforcement, and devious tactics to try to discredit the movement. The keys to successful resistance are unity, information, and public perception.

According to an article on Natural Society, Monsanto has allied with the notorious mercenary security group, Blackwater (now known as Academi) in the fight against anti-GMO protesters :

Monsanto and Blackwater are indeed working together to target anti-Monsanto activists and organizations. Known as far back as 2010, it was unveiled that Blackwater’s client list included Monsanto, Chevron, Walt Disney and many more. According to documents obtained by Scahill, it was also revealed that Monsanto was willing to pay upwards of $500,000 in order for Blackwater to join anti-Monsanto activist groups and infiltrate the ranks. Furthermore, a number of internet-based tactics could be utilized as incognito PR for Monsanto, who undoubtedly knew opposition would mount against their GMO crops as more individuals became aware of the dangers.

Don’t expect Monsanto to play fair. Tami Canal doesn’t.

I’m not really surprised by Monsanto and their tactics….their bottom line is at stake and as they have demonstrated time and again, profit is their main objective at any expense, whether it be humanity or the environment. I encourage our participants to remain peaceful on Saturday. Do not let the paid shills entice you to violence. March Against Monsanto is a peaceful campaign and our voices will resonate much more loudly if we remain calm.

Saturday promises to be one of the biggest worldwide protests that has ever taken place, with over two million people signed up to attend marches all over the globe. My children and I will absolutely be taking part in the historic event. Make a sign and join in – there is sure to be a March near you!

Daisy Luther is a freelance writer and editor. Her website, The Organic Prepper, where this article first appeared, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at daisy@theorganicprepper.ca

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Canada's War on Weed

2013-05-21T13:27:00.000-07:00

Vice

Excellent mini-documentary about the state of weed in Canada!

Vice.com

Are Japanese Bonds Signaling Trouble?

2013-05-21T12:59:00.006-07:00

image source

Stephen Lendman
Activist Post

A previous article discussed the disconnect between soaring markets and troubled economies. Liquidity driven markets only skyrocket so long.

What can't go on forever, won't. No one's sure when. Eventually the music stops. When that happens, watch out. Signals provide clues.

Fed governors hint at slowing QE. Some analysts think by year end or sooner. Bond prices affect other markets. Spiking Japanese sovereign yields (JGB) suggest trouble.

On May 18, The Japan Times headlined "JGB yield spikes raise alarm bells," saying:

Is it a sign of a full-fledged economic recovery or a looming catastrophe in the monetary making?

On April 5, the benchmark 10-year JGB perhaps bottomed at 0.315%. From there it surged. On May 17, it hit 0.92%. It pulled back. It resumed rising. On May 21, its yield was 0.88%.

At the same time, demand for 40-year debt waned. Yields closed at 1.955%. It's their highest level in almost a year. Bad auction results suggests higher levels ahead.

According to Sri-Kumar Global Strategies Inc., Japan's debt is so large it threatens to undermine its bond market. Doing so has a global effect. More on that below.

Rising levels means higher debt-servicing costs. According to Sumitomo Trust Bank, a 1% interest rate rise increases it by 10 trillion yen by 2020.

On May 14, the Financial Times headlined " 'Spiking' Japanese bond yields recall days of 2003," saying:

The 10-year yield has now almost doubled from last month's low, similar to the initial rise from an almost identical low a decade ago.

A new Bank of Japan governor then vastly increased bond purchases. Ministers first reacted by a record currency intervention. Public spending replaced it.

"If the parallels continue, bondholders will suffer a lot more pain." In 2003, rising yields lasted one month. They stayed flat until commodities soared. They did so in 2007.

The big difference this time is that the yen has collapsed, falling yesterday to its weakest in five years against the dollar, below Y102.

Domestic bondholders lost only 1% since December. Dollar-based ones are down about 20%. The good news perhaps is defeating deflation. The bad news may undermine doing so.

On May 10, Market Ticker's Karl Denninger headling "Japan's Ticking Fiscal Bomb."

Prime Minister Sinzo Abe and Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda may get more than they bargained for.

The yen collapsed against the dollar. It dropped nearly one-third in value. Doing so sent the Nikkei "screaming higher." Doing so's not like what it looks.

Currency devaluation to generate inflation has a price. "The 'bad news' came in the bond market." It went limit down on yield.

Since the government is massively in debt, it will be unable on a cash basis to pay its bills, as they will not be able to roll over the existing debt when it matures and pay the (new) coupon.

If (it tries) then (it's) forced to continue to print even more yen to fund the interest payments, which in turn causes the value of the bonds emitted to go down further - a monetary equivalent of a flat spin - and is unrecoverable.

Import prices already soared 30%. Japan's heavily dependent on foreign oil. Many of its other industrial requirements are imported.

In mid-April, former George Soros advisor on Japanese investments, Takeshi Fujimaki, tripled down on warnings.

He believes massive QE won't stimulate growth. It promises trouble.

By expanding the monetary base to 270 trillion yen, the BOJ is making a huge bet which I think it will ultimately lose.

Kuroda’s QE announcement is declaring double suicide with the government. The BOJ will have to share the country’s fate and default together.

The volatility in the JGB market as well as the fact that there is large selling represent fear among investors.

They are early signs of a larger selloff and we should continue to monitor the moves in the long-term bonds.

Japan's finance is sinking into the ocean. There's no escape from a market crash in the future when you have such enormous debt.

He sold almost all his Japanese equity holdings some time ago.

In early April, Bank of Japan governor Kuroda announced pedal-to-the metal QE. He plans to double Japan's monetary base. He'll do so in less than two years.

Any significant rise in JGB yields defeats his strategy. Japan’s government bond market stands at 240% of GDP. It’s the highest debt burden among developed countries.

Debt monetization doesn't produce growth. Doing what never worked before won't now. Previous Japanese grand plans failed.

In the late 1980s, BOJ policy escalated asset and property prices. It did so to unprecedented levels. Market crashes, rolling recessions, weak recoveries, malaise, deflation, and dangerous deficits followed.

Japan's in unchartered waters. Money printing madness fueled the latest rally in global equities.

On May 20, market analyst Graham Summers signaled trouble. Kuroda's announced $1.2 trillion QE policy hammered the yen. At the same time, it fueled over a 70% Nikkei rally in six months.

"This has been the fundamental driver of this latest risk on rally." Fed governors suggest reduced QE by yearend or sooner. "So it’s the Bank of Japan who’s in the driver’s seat for asset prices today."

What's good for stocks is bad for the yen. "(I)t's been an absolute disaster for Japanese bonds." Since announcing new BOJ policy, JGBs "triggered circuit breaks no less than four times due to increased volatility."

Late last week, they violated their multi-year trend line. They did so briefly. Doing so suggests again. Perhaps they'll breach it sharply. It matters.

Japan's bond market is the world's second largest. If sovereign debt keeps falling, rates rise. Higher levels affect global finance.

Greece impacted it earlier. It's bond market is miniscule. It's less than 3% of Japan's.

For many decades, Japanese bonds were considered "risk free." Investors bought them at very low yields. Doing so helped Japan's economically. It grew marginally. Absent foreign investors, it would have fared worse.

If Japanese bonds begin imploding, said Graham, expect trouble. Doing so means:

The second largest bond market in the world is entering a bear market (along with commensurate liquidations and redemptions by institutional investors around the globe).

The second largest economy in the world will collapse (along with the impact on global exports).

Worse still, global central bank efforts to hold international finance together "will have proven a failure."

Japan is a major central bank "progressive and accommodating policy" leader. For nearly two decades, BOJ kept interest rates near zero.

It launched nine QE plans. They equaled nearly 25% of Japan's GDP. Thus far, it's done so "with minimal consequences."

Other central banks believed they could replicate BOJ policy. If Japan's bond market craters, "then it's Game. Set. Match."

The greatest monetary experiment ever will have failed. "(W)hat follows will make Lehman look like a joke."

Global finance is flashing red. It's sending "major warnings." No one's sure what's coming or when.

Economies are troubled. Monetary stimulus failed. This time won't be different. All bubbles pop. Harder times loom.

Growth requires job creation. Unemployment's much too high. Eurozone joblessness hit another record. America's real rate is 23%.

Dropping money on bank balance sheets doesn't work. Main Street's beset with austerity. Dire conditions there matter most.

People can only borrow so much. They can't spend what they don't have. Bad policies beget bad results. Economies already are troubled.

They're heading for potential disaster. It may be worse than expected on arrival. Forewarned is forearmed.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book is titled How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/

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The Miracle of Tea Tree Oil: 80 Amazing Uses for Survival

2013-05-21T12:22:00.003-07:00

Gaye Levy

Activist Post

Essential oils have been used for healing and medicinal purposes for centuries and most certainly long before we had pills, capsules and big pharma to take care of our medical woes. And while there is a place for manufactured pharmaceuticals in our survival medicine kit, there exists the possibility that none will be available or that they will be in such scarce supply that they should be reserved for only the most dire of circumstances.

For that reason, many preppers and individuals seeking self-reliance are learning to use essential oils to manage the both routine and not-so-routine maladies that occur in daily life. There are about a dozen or so essential oils that belong in every survival kit including tea tree, peppermint, lavender, clove, rosemary and lemon among others. All of these essential oils have healing properties but today I would like to focus on just one, tea tree oil.

A Brief History Of Tea Tree Oil

It is believed that the Aborigines of Australia have been using the leaves of the indigenous Malaleuca Tree (whose leaves are used to make tea tree oil) in their medications for centuries. They inhaled the oils from the crushed leaves to treat coughs and colds, sprinkled crushed leaves on their wounds and used an infusion of soaked leaves to treat sore throats or skin ailments.

Use of the oil itself, as opposed to the un-extracted plant material, did not become common practice until researcher Arthur Penfold published the first reports of its antimicrobial activity in a series of papers in the 1920s and 1930s. In evaluating the antimicrobial activity, he found that tea tree oil was 11 times more active than phenol.

The commercial tea tree oil industry was born shortly thereafter although interest in tea tree oil ebbed after World War II, presumably due to the development of effective antibiotics and the waning image of natural products. Interest was rekindled in the 1970s as part of the general renaissance of interest in natural products.

80 USES OF TEA TREE OIL FOR SURVIVAL

For thousands of years, the derivatives of the Malaleuca Tree have been effective in treating a wide variety of ailments. Here are 80 reasons why you should use it, too!

Abrasions & Minor Cuts: After cleaning the area well, apply a few drops of the oil directly. If a bandage is needed, allow a few drops of the oil to penetrate a cotton ball, then lay it face down on the wound with a bandage on top.

Acne: Add a drop to your normal cleansing routine or dab a very small amount on acne breakouts. You can also add 20 – 40 drops of the oil to your regular face wash.

Air Freshener: Keep a supply of cotton balls soaked in tea tree oil packed away in a plastic bag or tin. When confronted with foul smells from cooking, musty orders from dampness or even the medicinal smell in a sick room, take a few out the freshen the air and remove the nasty smell.

Allergies: Use topically by massaging into the chest, abdomen or the reflex points of the feet.

Arthritis: To help reduce pain associated with the swelling of arthritis, add 20 drops of tea tree oil to 2 ounces of grapeseed or other carrier oil. Massage into affected area 2-3 times a day.

Asthma: Add a few drops of oil to a pan of water and heat on stove. When cooling, drape a towel over head and breath in for a few minutes.

Athletes Foot: Clean feet thoroughly, especially between toes. Add oil directly to feet every two weeks, dusting with corn starch after. Or add 10 drops oil to 1 tbsp of grapeseed or other carrier oil and massage on feet and between toes daily.

Baby Care: Keep your diaper pail clean and fresh with a spray of tea tree oil mixed with water.

Bacterial Infections: Use topically, either massaging into the reflex points of the feet, adding several drops to a bath or cautiously applying over an infected site.

Bad Breath: Rinse with 1 ounce water and 1 drop oil. Do not swallow!

Bladder Infection: In a shallow bath, add 10 – 15 drops of oil. Sit and wash area carefully.

Blisters: Wash area carefully, then apply as for cuts and wounds.

Boils: Apply a warm washcloth for a few minutes. Then apply a drop or two of oil to the area – the infection should rise to surface and eventually be released.

Bronchial Congestion: Use as directed for Asthma. Add 5 – 10 drops to 1 ounce of carrier oil, and massage into chest and throat 2 – 3 times daily.

Bronchitis: Add 1-2 drops to a pan of hot water and breath in the steam, or massage the oil over the chest.

Bruises: After icing, apply oil as directed for Arthritis.

Bunions: Massage area with 5 drops oil to 1 tbsp. of carrier oil.

Burns: Run icy cold water on area. After a few minutes, add a mix of 5 drops oil with 1 tsp. raw honey. Repeat 3 – 5 times daily.

Calluses & Corns: Massage area with 5 drops oil to 1 tbsp. of carrier oil. Repeat 2 times daily. Once the corn or calluses have become soft use tweezers to remove, and apply a few drops of tea tree oil and cover with bandage.

Canker Sores: Apply a drop or two of oil directly to infected area with a cotton swab, 2 times daily. Also, rinse as directed for bad breath.

Carbuncles: Add a drop or two of oil to cotton swab and apply directly to carbuncle. Repeat twice daily.

Chapped Lips: Add 1 or 2 drops of oil to lip balm. Apply to lips as necessary.

Chicken Pox: Apply a drop of oil directly to blisters. Allow to dry, then dust with corn starch. Repeat every few hours or until blisters disappear.

Chigger Bites: Apply a drop of oil directly to bites.

Cold Sores: Apply a drop or two of oil directly to the sore with a cotton swab. Re-apply 2 – 3 times daily.

Coughs: Use as directed for bronchial infections. For a vaporizer, add 10 drops to steamer and leave on 5 – 10 minutes.

Dandruff: Add 20 – 30 drops oil to any shampoo. Apply a few drops to scalp and massage after washing.

Dermatitis: Add 10 drops oil to 1 tbsp of grapeseed or other oil and massage into affected areas. Repeat 2-3 times daily.

Dry Skin: Add 5 drops oil to 1 tbsp sweet almond oil. Massage into skin.

Earache and Infection: Add 2 – 3 drops of oil to 2 tbsp warm olive oil. With a dropper, drop a small amount into aching ear, tilting head to one side for a moment. Use cotton swab to absorb oil. Repeat 2 – 3 times daily.

Eczema: Add 10 drops oil to 1 tbsp grapeseed oil or coconut oil and massage into affected areas. Repeat 2-3 times daily. Also can be applied undiluted.

Emphysema: Use as directed for bronchial infections. For a vaporizer, add 10 drops to steamer and leave on 5 – 10 minutes.

Flea Bites: Apply a drop of oil directly to bites.

Gout: Add 10 drops of oil to 2 tbsp of carrier oil; massage into affected area 2-3 times a day.

Gum Disease: Create a mouthwash with purified water, 1 drop of peppermint and 1 drop of tea tree oil.

Head Lice: Add 20 drops of oil to 2 tbsp shampoo. Massage into scalp and hair, leave on for 10 minutes. Rinse. Repeat 3 – 4 times daily, until eggs are gone.

Hives: Add 10 drops of oil to 4 tbsp of witch hazel. Apply with cotton ball. Or, mix with coconut oil (which is naturally healing and soothing itself) and gently apply to the infected areas.

Homemade Mouthwash: Make a simple homemade mouthwash with purified water and tea tree oil.

Household Cleaning: Can be used aromatically or added to homemade cleaners to kill germs and prevent the spread of colds and flus. You can make a general tea tree cleaner by combining 2 teaspoons of tea tree oil with 2 cups of water in a spray bottle. Shake to blend and use for household cleaning tasks. This is especially good in the bathroom and in toilets.

Immune System: To stimulate the immune system, diffuse through the air on a regular basis, massage into the soles of the feet to increase your immune response.

Infected Wounds: Adding the oil to steaming water, hold the infected area over the steam. Or dilute 1 drop of tea tree with 1 cup of water and rinse the infected area 1-2 times a day, as needed.

Inflammation: Massage over the inflamed areas, gently and always toward the heart, or diffuse and inhale the tea tree oil directly or indirectly.

Ingrown Hairs: Add 1 – 2 drops of oil directly to area. Repeat every 2 hours or until signs of infection disappear.

Insect Repellant: Add 15 drops to a quart of water and use as an effective insect repellent.

Jock Itch: Apply 10 – 15 drops of oil to 2 tbsp of carrier oil. Apply 2 times daily. Dust with corn starch, to reduce chapping.

Laryngitis: Add 5 – 10 drops of oil and pinch of sea salt to 1 cup of warm water, gargle 2-3 times a day. Do not swallow!

Laundry Helper: Add 1/2 teaspoon tea tree oil to your laundry for towels and other fabric prone to getting moldy.

Mildew and Mold Remover: Spray an all-purpose cleaner made with 2 teaspoons of tea tree oil and 2 cups of water on growing mold and mildew. Shake well before using and do not rinse.

Mosquito Bites: Apply a drop of oil directly to bites.

Muscle Aches and Pains: Add 10-15 drops of oil to half cup Epsom salts, and dissolve in bath. Add 10 drops of oil to 2 tbsp of carrier oil. Massage well.

Mumps: Massage over the body and into the feet, and diffuse through the home.

Nail Fungus: Add 1 – 2 drops of oil directly to nail and the surrounding tissue. Allow to dry completely on hands before touching anything. Repeat morning and night for a week.

Pest Control: Household ants and other pests dislike Tea Tree Oil, so a few drops put at the point of entry will deter them. Wipe cupboards out with an oil and water solution to keep ants away.

Plantar Warts: Apply oil undiluted to affected area 2-3 times daily.

Psoriasis: Add 10 drops oil to 1 tbsp carrier oil and massage into affected areas. Repeat 2-3 times daily. Also can be applied undiluted.

Rashes: Mix with coconut oil and massage over the affected areas.

Rheumatism: To help reduce pain associated with rheumatism, add 20 drops of tea tree oil to 2 ounces of carrier oil. Massage into affected are 2-3 times a day.

Ringworm: Apply a drop or two of oil undiluted, repeat 2 times daily. Can also mix 1 drop of tea tree oil with 1 drop of lavender oil for added benefit.

Rubella: Dilute as needed and massage into the affected areas.

Scabies: Apply 1 – 2 drops of oil directly to area in the morning and at night.

Sciatica: Add 10 drops oil to 1 tbsp carrier oil and massage into affected areas. Repeat 2-3 times daily. Also can be applied undiluted.

Seborrhea: For skin: Add 10 drops oil to 1 tbsp of carrier oil and massage into affected areas. Repeat 2-3 times daily. For scalp: Add 10 drops of oil to 2 tbsp shampoo. Massage into scalp and hair, leave on for 10 minutes. Rinse. Repeat 3 – 4 times daily. Bath: Add 10-15 drops of oil to bath.

Shingles: Add 10-15 drops of oil to half cup Epsom salts, and dissolve in bath. Add 10 drops of oil to 2 tbsp of grapeseed oil or coconut oil and massage well.

Shock: Massage tea tree oil into the soles of the feet as needed.

Sinusitis: Use as directed for bronchial infections. For a vaporizer, add 10 drops to steamer and leave on 5 – 10 minutes. Also add 2 drops to a neti pot.

Sore muscles: Fill your bathtub with warm water. Add a few drops of tea tree oil to the water to relax tight muscles.

Sore Throat: Add 2 drops of oil to 1 cup of warm water with pinch of sea salt, gargle 2-3 times a day. Do not swallow!

Staph Infection: Best used topically, rubbed into the soles of the feet to increase the immune response and fight infection.

Stye: Add 5 drops oil to a pan of steaming water. Drape towel overhead and steam 5 minutes. Apply warm compresses directly to stye.

Sunburn: Mix 1 TB coconut oil with 1 drop of tea tree and 1 drop of lavender and gently apply to to sunburned areas.

Tattoos: Apply after tattoos to avoid infection. Use undiluted, diluted with coconut oil or as a spray with purified water.

Thrush: Gargle with sea salt, warm water and 1 drop of tea tree.

Ticks: Apply a drop or two directly to the tick and the surrounding area.

Toenail fungus: Rub the tea tree oil directly onto the affected toenail and underneath the tip of the nail. Apply 1 to 2 drops of tea tree oil. Apply the oil once a day, preferably at bedtime.

Toothbrush Cleaner: Apply oil directly to toothbrush 1-2 times a week to kill bacteria.

Tonsillitis: Inhale from steaming water with tea tree, gargle, and massage into neck and soles of feet.

Vaginal Infection: Add several drops to the bath water.

Viral Infections: Diffuse tea tree oil throughout the home or inhale from steaming water.

Warts: Apply undiluted directly to wart. Use morning and night, until wart begins to disappear. Dilute if necessary for sensitive skin.

Wounds: Soak wounded area in water with tea tree oil, or spritz from a bottle of water with several drops of oil. Depending on the wound and your own sensitivity you may be able to apply directly.

A NOTE ABOUT CARRIER OILS

In order to effectively use essential oils – not just tea tree oil – it is often necessary to dilute the essential oil in another oil so that it can be easily spread or massaged on the affected area. These oils are called “carrier” oils. Common carrier oils include coconut oil, grapeseed oil, sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, olive oil and others.

Fractionated coconut oil [remains liquid] and grapeseed oil are favorites because they are odorless and in the case of fractionated coconut oil, immune to rancidity. In practical use, any oil can be used if you do not have one of these more therapeutic oils on hand.

The properties of the various carrier oils is beyond the scope of this article but my favorite? Easy. Fractionated coconut oil. Is is relatively inexpensive, odorless and has a long shelf life making it perfect for the survival kit.

THE FINAL WORD

My first experience with tea tree oil occurred in the '80s when I was faced with a nail fungus that would not go away. The pharmaceutical solutions at the time (and for all I know, even now) were harsh and required frequent monitoring of liver enzymes. For a simple, non-life threatening nail fungus, I chose to pass. After using a topical application of tea tree oil for three months, the fungus was all but gone.

I then became interested in aromatherapy (which uses essential oils). I read every book I could get my hands on and dabbled at creating synergies (a combination of two or more oils that create a chemical compound that is greater than the sum of its individual components). My bible then, and even now, is The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy by Valerie Ann Worwood.

Since then I have used essential oils off and on for a variety of woes and have never been disappointed. My recommendation is that you pick up a few essential oils – and especially some tea tree oil – and start to use them now to supplement any other remedies that you are using to keep your family and your home in tip top shape.

Read other articles by Gaye Levy here.

Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!

Gaye started Backdoor Survival to share her angst and concern about our deteriorating economy and its impact on ordinary, middle-class folks. She also wanted to become a prepper of the highest order and to share her knowledge as she learned it along the way. She considers her sharing of knowledge her way of giving back and as always, we at Activist Post are grateful for her contributions.

If you would like to read more from Gaye Levy, check out her blog at http://www.backdoorsurvival.com/. You can also visit her Facebook page or sign up for updates by email by clicking on Backdoor Survival Updates.

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