ChanneledKnowledge

Klan Leader Opens Fire at BLM. Cops don't Move!

2017-08-29T14:13:00.000-07:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg6NHuHbaqk

FSU breaks ground on new Black Student Union building

2017-08-28T15:42:00.001-07:00

Established in 1968, the Black Student Union is a student government agency that offers black students a form of identity, a social life as a vehicle of communication to the FSU faculty and administration.

The new 5,600-square-foot, two-story building located at 921 W. Jefferson St., will house exhibit space, a student lounge, a large multipurpose room for classes and events, kitchen, conference room and staff offices. It is expected to be completed later this year.

“We’re not just breaking ground on a new facility today,” FSU President John Thrasher said. “We’re building the future of a student government organization that has a proud history of involvement and activism on campus. I hope it will also serve as a visible reminder of Florida State’s commitment to nurturing a diverse and multicultural, student-centered environment.”

Black Bank Trend Sweeping the Nation

2017-08-28T15:13:00.004-07:00

The #BankBlack national trend in which African Americans are responding to calls for depositing funds into Black-owned financial institutions has gained momentum, but is it more than just a hashtag?

It started with an emotional cry from rapper Killer Mike in the wake of the police shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile:

“We need one million people in Atlanta to take $100 out of their existing accounts, put $100 into a Citizens Trust [Bank] account…take that $100 million and promise $15,000 to $18,000 loans for Black businesses or small homes,” the MC said on Atlanta’s Hot 107.9.

People not only tuned in to hear his call, they listened, launching a nationwide trend in which African American-owned banks are seeing significant increases in new accounts. This might mark the beginning of a new type of Black economic power movement encapsulated by simple social media hashtags like #BankBlack and #MoveYourMoney.

Read more at EBONY http://www.ebony.com/news-views/bank-black-movement#ixzz4r5fqYzgl
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Sale Doesn't Wear 1940's Style White Sox Jersey as BLM Protest

2016-07-24T22:20:00.001-07:00

White Sox ace suspended for carving up throwback jerseys he didn’t like wins some sympathy in the Jays clubhouse.

White Sox ace Chris Sale was suspended by the club for cutting up throwback jerseys he didn't like. (ERIC CHRISTIAN SMITH / AP)

By Nate GreeneSports reporter

Sun., July 23, 2016

Chicago White Sox ace lefty Chris Sale was so put off by the collared throwback uniform he was supposed to wear in his start Saturday night that he shredded the entire set while his teammates were taking batting practice. The White Sox scratched Sale from his scheduled start, and on Sunday punished their star player with a five-day suspension in one of the more bizarre incidents of the season. Some say Sale’s issue was with the jersey’s discomfort and what he saw as putting “PR and jersey sales” ahead of winning. An un-named source has alleged that Sale actually was more concerned over the era of which the jersey orginated and said he did not want to promote a time when People of Color could not compete in America's Favorite Pasttime.

Pope Sent a Powerful Letter Via Attorney to the U.S

2016-05-15T16:21:00.000-07:00

Pope Francis Sends Obama Powerful Letter Via Attorney [on] July 4th 2014 (VI) (DM)

Most truth seekers know that Republic of the United States was turned into a corporation in 1871, and the U.S. Corporation is ultimately owned by the Vatican. See related links. This is what gives the pope or the Vatican the authority in this letter. This letter was posted today, August 19, 2015, but if this posting is correct it was sent to President O over a year ago, July 4th, 2014. The letter not only confirms that the U.S. is operating under a corporation, but it also confirms that General Carter Ham will be heading up the New Republic when it is announced. I believe the announcement will part of the NESARA announcements. Read the latest Matthew Message I posted. Matthew basically says that this current pope is working for the Light. Anyway, don’t waste your time on the political circus concerning the U.S. election. I don’t expect to see one. When NESARA is announced, the new interim president becomes the president of the new republic for six months after which free elections are held. We can then elect the interim president for another four years or elect someone else. The letter below is pretty self-explanatory. You may want to check out the attachment. –MrT.

Source: https://www.faceuni.com/article/11/pope-francis-sends-powerful-letter-to-obama-via-attorney-july-4th-2015/

Pope Francis Sends Obama Powerful Letter Via Attorney [on] July 4th 2014

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Truth Serum

CIVIL ORDERS – JULY 4, 2014

Issued to All Members of the Domestic Police Forces, US Marshals Service, the Provost Marshal, Members of the American Bar Association and the American Armed Services.

These organic American states of the Union known as The United States of America (major) exercising plenary civil power upon the land hereby appoint General Carter F. Ham to lead and command The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and its successors under the guidance of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and with their full support.

Should it become necessary to suppress commercial mercenary forces operating under the guise of being federal government agencies including but not limited to the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, etc., General Ham shall assume immediate command and control of all armed forces and services owed to The United States of America (major) stationed in North America and shall join them under his Command as The Grand Army of the Republic. All forces of air, land, and sea are to be employed.

Any cost or loss suffered as a result of deployment of The Grand Army of the Republic shall be charged as stipulated prior.

All effort shall be made by The Grand Army of the Republic to spare life and property while undertaking any action whatsoever within the states of the Union without exception. The GAR is uniquely enabled by these Orders to operate on the land of the fifty (50) organic states for the purposes of securing the lives and property of the American States and American State Citizens. The GAR is not a foreign army and is composed primarily of American State Citizens.

If required to take field position, the local commanders shall make every effort to communicate the basis of their authority and the reasons for their presence on American State soil to ensure a prompt cessation of hostilities and a widespread understanding of the usurpations and acts of fraud which have led to any conflict. All parties must be brought to understand the nature of the federal government, the limitations of its authority, and their own obligation to act in favor of the organic states of the Union. The Grand Army of the Republic shall continue to operate under General Order 100 known as the Lieber Code, extant from the pen of the last Republic President, Abraham Lincoln.

No orders, Executive or otherwise, issued by Barack H. Obama pretending authority on the land of the American States while operating as “President” of the UNITED STATES Corporation nor as the “President” of the United States of America (minor) are owed any performance by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Ham, or any Ordinary. All plainly stated grants of contractual authority evident in The Constitution for the united States of America remain in place, subject to good faith performance of the accompanying obligations and treaties.

Mr. Obama is the “President” of a governmental services corporation under contract to provide stipulated services to the organic states and is on their payroll. He otherwise acts as a foreign dignitary representing the United States of America (minor). In neither of these capacities is he allowed any granted authority to impose upon American State Citizens, endanger American State property, or command mercenary forces on American State soil, however veiled as federal civilian service agencies. We require the Joint Chiefs of Staff and General Ham to commence measures to disarm federal civilian agency personnel and to seize control of the vast stockpiles of arms which have been improperly amassed by “the Department of Homeland Security”, FEMA, and other agencies employed by the UNITED STATES.

The only federal agency allowed free egress on the land of the American States is the U.S. Marshals Service, and then only when their personnel are engaged in their duty to protect the U.S. Mail and sworn to act as constitutional officers. All other federal agency personnel are limited to unarmed service until further notice.

We direct the Joint Chiefs of Staff to communicate these first two General Civil Orders directly to Mr. Obama, the members of the “US Congress”, the administrators of all “federal” agencies, the members of the “Supreme Court” and those acting as “Governors” to compel their rapid understanding and cooperation.

Any expense or damage incurred by these organic states or any American State Citizen as a result of actions undertaken by any federal agency personnel acting as armed mercenaries on American State soil will be understood as the result of violent crimes committed against the peaceful inhabitants of the land and will incur immediate judgment liquidating the assets of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Federal Reserve (FEDERAL RESERVE) in payment of the stipulated reparations. Such crimes shall also be considered contract default increasing the public debt subject to bounty.

Any and all corporate officers of the UNITED STATES or any successor organization(s) inheriting “federal” service contracts who support, condone, or promote such crimes against the American States or against American State Citizens shall be subject to arrest and prosecution for commercial and violent crimes. All foreign officials operating as elected or appointed officials of the United States of America (minor) who support, condone, or promote such crimes against the American States or against American State Citizens shall be subject to arrest, confiscation of their assets, and deportation to Puerto Rico, Guam, or such other “states” as may be willing to receive them.

Such “foreign officials” include members of the American and British Bar Associations who were licensed to act as privateers against the interests of the American States and the American State Citizens from 1845 to 2013 in flagrant Breach of Trust. All such licenses are now extinguished. Members of the Bar Associations are required to cease and desist assaults against the American States and American State Citizens and shall be subject to arrest, confiscation, and deportation otherwise.

Insomuch as corporate officers operating the United States of America, Incorporated, and the UNITED STATES have contrived under conditions of fraud and semantic deceit to re-venue the estates of the American States and living American State Citizens to the foreign jurisdiction of the United States of America (minor) they are found guilty of capital crimes, including acts of fraud and treason committed between 1933 and 1945, and are condemned posthumously. Insomuch as elected officials operating the United States of America (minor) have similarly committed war crimes against the American States and their peaceful inhabitants during the same time period, they stand condemned posthumously.

No enforcement upon any American State or American State Citizen is owed as a result of any “Act” of any “Congress” operating as the sovereign government of the United States of America (minor), nor as the Board of Directors or Board of Trustees of any incorporated entity whatsoever.

All those Estates and ESTATES erroneously believed to represent the American States and American State Citizens and which were conveyed by fraud and legal deceit to the United States of America (minor) and more recently to the City-State of the United Nations, are re-venued without exception to the geographically defined American States and the American State Citizens where they shall remain in perpetuity as assets belonging to the rightful and lawful beneficiaries.

All legal fiction entities however structured and named after the American States and American State Citizens are returned to them and their control, free and clear of any debt, promise, encumbrance or obligation alleged against them as a result of false claims made “in their behalf” by officers of the United States of America, Inc. and the UNITED STATES, INC. or by any foreign officials operating the United States of America (minor), or the United Nations City State falsely claiming to “represent” them or have jurisdiction over them.

We note that the current circumstance is in part the result of criminal acts engaged in 150 years ago, which resulted in the commercial enslavement of African Americans who were summarily claimed as chattels backing “US government” debt in the wake of the Civil War.

Despite every act of abolition and declaration of prohibition against both peonage and slavery, it has been the policy of the “US government” to enslave its citizens and to operate as a rogue state among the nations of the world. Instead of freeing African Americans the sum total result of the Civil War was to vastly expand public sector ownership of slaves, giving rise to the outrageous and improper claims that have been made against the American States and the American State Citizens that we are dealing with today. It is uniquely fitting that The Grand Army of the Republic is recalled to settle this circumstance in favor of the people.

Colin Powell speaks on GOP Race

2016-05-15T16:16:00.002-07:00

Colin Powell: The GOP Race Has ‘Gone Into The Mud’

“You know you’re in trouble when Jerry Springer even thinks it’s over the top,” said the former secretary of state.

03/07/2016 11:37 am ET

Mollie Reilly Deputy Politics Editor, The Huffington Post

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell criticized the state of the Republican presidential primary in an interview Monday, warning the candidates to avoid making the contest a “reality show.”

In an interview with CBS’ “This Morning,” Powell, who served as secretary of state under former President George W. Bush, said he’s run into criticism of the Republican race during his travels overseas.

“I think the campaign has gone into the mud,” he said. “The comments that they’re making toward each other, the nastiness, it’s running us into the ground. The foreigners of the world, looking at this, are distressed.”

Powell, who also served in former President Ronald Reagan’s administration, said he hoped the mourning period following the death of former first lady Nancy Reagan would bring some civility to the GOP race.

“This nastiness, they really have to stop it,” he said.

“Let’s not make this a reality show,” Powell continued. “You know you’re in trouble when Jerry Springer even thinks it’s over the top.”

While Powell is a Republican, he endorsed President Barack Obama in 2008 and2012. Powell declined to back anyone during Monday’s interview, but did say his party affiliation would not be the determining factor when he does decide.

“I always vote for the person who I think is best for America at that time,” he said.

Donald Trump Silent After Samuel L Jackson Response

2016-01-07T17:15:00.003-08:00

Has Donald Trump finally picked a fight that may not pay dividends?

In the midst of his provocative 2016 campaign for the presidency, the Republican presidential front-runner has engaged in a very public feud with "The Hateful Eight" star and ubiquitous Capital One pitchman actor Samuel L. Jackson.

It all started when Jackson claimed in a recent interview with Rhapsody magazine that he'd received a bill from Trump's National Golf Club even though he isn't a member. He went on to say he's golfed with Trump before and added that he was more "P.T. Barnum than politician."

Never one to let a single slight slip by, Trump took to Twitter, denying any relationship with the popular actor.

"I don't know @SamuelLJackson, to best of my knowledge haven't played golf w/him & think he does too many TV commercials—boring. Not a fan," the GOP presidential candidate tweeted on Monday.

It appears that Trump has poked the bear.

Jackson posted the bill from Trump on his Instagram account with the caption: "A bill from the guy that doesn't know me & never golfed with me! I'm gonna Block his a** too!" Meanwhile, "Blackish" star Anthony Anderson came to Jackson's defense on Twitter writing to Trump: "C'mon @realDonaldTrump you played Golf with @SamuelLJackson and me as well. we also had lunch together! shrimp and hot dogs. sound familiar?"

On Tuesday, Jackson appeared on "The Late Show with Seth Meyers" and addressed his "beef" with Trump again. "I met him a lot," the actor told Meyers, countering Trump's claims and corroborating Anderson's assertion that the three played a round of golf together. "We clearly saw him hook a ball into a lake at Trump National in Jersey. And his caddy told him, 'We found it.'" Jackson said Trump's caddy didn't appear to be wet. Allegations of Trump cheating in golf are nothing new, however.

The 67-year-old veteran actor went on to say that Trump has called him personally to invite him to play golf. According to Jackson, Trump would refer to himself in third person as "The Don," and he once asked him to join former president Bill Clinton to play a round of golf in New York City. Jackson claimed Clinton "could also verify" that he knows Trump, who he said bought the ex-president a jacket that day "because he was a little chilly." Clinton famously also attended the ceremony for Trump's third marriage in 2005, but, now that the real estate mogul is a Republican candidate for president, he has recently started launching vicious attacks at the former commander-in-chief.

"If we can prove that Donald Trump is lying when he says he doesn't know you, this might be the thing that finally brings down his campaign," quipped Meyers.

"Let's get on that," replied Jackson, who had in a previous interview said Trump's campaign was based on "hate," but conceded "there's nothing I can do about it."

Trump would not let Jackson have the last word. "I don't cheat at golf but@SamuelLJackson cheats—with his game he has no choice—and stop doing commercials!" he tweeted Thursday, although it was unclear if was admitting seeing the Oscar-nominated actor play in person. He then tweeted: "Don't like@SamuelLJackson's golf swing. Not athletic. I've won many club championships. Play him for charity!"

Jackson, who has described himself as "forever a Democrat," has been a vocal supporter of President Obama in the past, and has made his intention to vote for Hillary Clinton this year public as well (although he "loves" Sen. Bernie Sanders). He also has a social media presence that easily rivals Trump's. His 5.5 million Twitter followers is roughly on par with Trump's 5.6 million. Besides being bankable at the box office — he is technically the highest grossing actor of all time — he's occupied a significant cultural space as an acclaimed actor for more than 20 years, and his irreverence as a public figure has endeared him to legions of fans.

And Jackson is infamous for being a no-nonsense tough guy both on and off-screen. If "Snakes on a Plane" were no match for him, why would Trump be? On a more pragmatic note, voters in early primary states may be troubled by Trump's delving into a petty squabble with a celebrity at a time when his national security credentials and ability to be viewed as serious potential president are routinely in question.

Clearly, Jackson seems revel in getting under Trump's skin, and the fracas is only providing more free publicity for his new film "The Hateful Eight," which is currently playing in theaters nationwide. Meanwhile, Trump, who has claimed to have the "world's greatest memory," is sticking by his story, for now.

St Louis Man Shot in the Back by Police was a Moor (Moorish-American)

2016-01-07T14:41:00.000-08:00

Autopsy results show Mansur Ball-Bey, who was shot and killed by St. Louis police officers, died from a single gunshot wound to the back. Police say he was armed at the time of the shooting. VPC

ST. LOUIS — The man who was fatally shot by police officers Wednesday died from a single gunshot wound to the back, a preliminary autopsy has confirmed.

Mansur Ball-Bey, 18, was shot and killed by police officers while they were executing a warrant at a home in the north part of St. Louis.

Police say two men armed with guns fled out the back door as officers were about to enter the house. Officers say Ball-Bey was armed with a firearm with an extended magazine, and the other suspect, a man in his mid- to late-teens, was armed with two guns and was in possession of crack cocaine.

USA TODAY

9 arrested in St. Louis protest over shooting

As the suspects fled, officers in the alley near the house ordered them to stop and drop their weapons. Police say Ball-Bey then turned and pointed a gun at the officers.

Four guns, including the gun dropped by Ball-Bey, and "a quantity" of crack cocaine were recovered from the house. Police say three of the four weapons were stolen, including the gun Ball-Bey was holding. After further investigation, police say the gun recovered from Ball-Bey had been reported stolen from Rolla, Mo.

One person has been arrested since the incident. Roderick Williams faces charges for unlawful possession of a firearm. Officers say Williams is not the other man who fled the home with Ball-Bey. Williams' bond has been set at $50,000 cash.

In a statement released Friday, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said, "The results of the autopsy along with witness statements and forensic evidence, obtained during the (Force Investigative Unit) investigation, will be included in a final report." The report will then be sent to the circuit attorney for the city who will conduct a review of the facts in the case.

USA TODAY

Suspect killed in St. Louis officer-involved shooting

Police statements clash with statements from Ball-Bey's family attorney, who says witnesses told him Ball-Bey was unarmed.

A University of Missouri-St. Louis criminologist, David Klinger, said the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled it constitutional for police to shoot someone in the back if they believe that person could be a threat.

Ball-Bey's death triggered a series of protests that have been violent at times. Crowds began to gather Wednesday afternoon, shortly after the shooting. On Wednesday night, police said some vacant buildings and a car were set on fire. Several businesses also reported burglaries. Nine people were arrested.

Contributing: Jimmy Berhnard, KSDK-TV, St. Louis; The Associated Press.

Police are investigating after a suspect was killed in an officer-involved on the 1200 block of Walton in north St. Louis Wednesday. KSDK

Obama Signs Rights of Indigenous People

2016-01-07T05:47:00.000-08:00

At the White House Tribal Nations Conference, Obama reminded the group that last year he signed a resolution passed by Congress that “finally” recognizes “the sad and painful chapters in our shared history--a history too often marred by broken promises and grave injustices against the First Americans,” he said.

The president added that “no statement can undo the damage that was done,” but he said the resolution can “help reaffirm the principles that should guide our future.”

“It’s only by heeding the lessons of our history that we can move forward,” Obama said.

In his remarks, Obama also recalled his trip to a Montana Indian reservation during his presidential campaign where he said he was honored with a new name.

“I remember, more than two years ago, in Montana, I visited the Crow Nation -- one of the many times I met with tribal leaders on the campaign trail,” Obama said. “You may know that on that trip, I became an adopted Crow Indian.”

“My Crow name is ‘One Who Helps People Throughout the Land,’” Obama said. “And my wife, when I told her about this, she said, ‘You should be named ‘One Who Isn’t Picking Up His Shoes and His Socks.’”

Another reversal of Bush policy

The president told the Native Americans the U.S. will now support the U.N Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a resolution the U.N. General Assembly adopted in 2007 but the Bush administration rejected because of language it described as vague and open to interpretation.

The U.N. declaration begins by affirming a view of equal rights that seems consistent with the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, namely that "indigenous peoples are equal to all other peoples" and "should be free from discrimination of any kind." But then it goes beyond that.

The declaration expresses concern that indigenous peoples have "suffered from historic injustices" as a result of colonization and "dispossession of their lands, territories and resources," and recognizes "the urgent need to respect and promote the inherent rights" of indigenous peoples -- "especially their right to their lands, territories and resources."

The U.S. State Department, in a Dec. 16 posting on its Web site, explained the Obama administration’s decision to support the U.N. resolution, saying it “resulted from a comprehensive, interagency policy review, including extensive consultation with tribes.”

The State Department noted that the U.N. declaration is not legally binding, but it “carries considerable moral and political force and complements the president’s ongoing efforts to address historical inequities faced by indigenous communities in the United States.”

Brent Schaefer, an analyst with the Heritage Foundation, told CNSNews.com that although the U.N. declaration now supported by the Obama administration is non-binding, it represents a “significant policy shift” from the Bush administration.

Schaefer also said that before crafting legally binding international treaties, the U.N. usually starts the process with a non-binding resolution -- a fact that will put the U.S. in a more difficult position if it objects to similar language in a formal treaty.

“It puts our negotiators in a weaker position going forward,” Schaefer said.

The Bush administration voted against the resolution in 2007, noting that under U.S. law, Indian tribes already are recognized as self-governing political entities.

The Bush administration said many of the issues covered by the U.N. declaration already are covered by U.S. law, including self-determination, lands, resources and redress for past mistreatment.

The U.N. declaration includes 46 articles, many of which dictate how nations should deal with their indigenous peoples.

Article 26 reads in part, “Indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired,” and it says nations “shall give legal recognition and protection to these lands, territories and resources.”

The Bush administration called Article 26 “particularly unworkable,” because it “appears to require recognition of indigenous rights to lands without regard to other legal rights existing in land.”

The text “could be misread to confer upon a sub-national group a power of veto over the laws of a democratic legislature,” the Bush administration warned. “We strongly support the full participation of indigenous peoples in democratic decision-making processes, but cannot accept the notion of a sub-national group having a ‘veto.’”

Article 21 reads in part, “States shall take effective measures and, where appropriate, special measures to ensure continuing improvement of their (indigenous people’s) economic and social conditions. Particular attention shall be paid to the rights and special needs of indigenous elders, women, youth, children and persons with disabilities.”

Article 16 directs nations to “take effective measures to ensure that State-owned media duly reflect indigenous cultural diversity. States…should encourage privately owned media to adequately reflect indigenous cultural diversity.”

U.S Supreme Court Rules no I.D Required to Travel

2016-01-07T05:43:00.000-08:00

U.S. SUPREME COURT AND OTHER HIGH COURT CITATIONS PROVING THAT NO LICENSE IS NECESSARY FOR NORMAL USE OF AN AUTOMOBILE ON COMMON WAYS

“The right of a citizen to travel upon the public highways and to transport his property thereon, by horsedrawn carriage, wagon, or automobile, is not a mere privilege which may be permitted or prohibited at will, but a common right which he has under his right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Under this constitutional guaranty one may, therefore, under normal conditions, travel at his inclination along the public highways or in public places, and while conducting himself in an orderly and decent manner, neither interfering with nor disturbing another’s rights, he will be protected, not only in his person, but in his safe conduct.”

Thompson v.Smith, 154 SE 579, 11 American Jurisprudence, Constitutional Law, section 329, page 1135 “The right of the Citizen to travel upon the public highways and to transport his property thereon, in the ordinary course of life and business, is a common right which he has under the right to enjoy life and liberty, to acquire and possess property, and to pursue happiness and safety. It includes the right, in so doing, to use the ordinary and usual conveyances of the day, and under the existing modes of travel, includes the right to drive a horse drawn carriage or wagon thereon or to operate an automobile thereon, for the usual and ordinary purpose of life and business.” –

Thompson vs. Smith, supra.; Teche Lines vs. Danforth, Miss., 12 S.2d 784 “… the right of the citizen to drive on a public street with freedom from police interference… is a fundamental constitutional right” -White, 97 Cal.App.3d.141, 158 Cal.Rptr. 562, 566-67 (1979) “citizens have a right to drive upon the public streets of the District of Columbia or any other city absent a constitutionally sound reason for limiting their access.”

Caneisha Mills v. D.C. 2009 “The use of the automobile as a necessary adjunct to the earning of a livelihood in modern life requires us in the interest of realism to conclude that the RIGHT to use an automobile on the public highways partakes of the nature of a liberty within the meaning of the Constitutional guarantees. . .”

Berberian v. Lussier (1958) 139 A2d 869, 872, See also: Schecter v. Killingsworth, 380 P.2d 136, 140; 93 Ariz. 273 (1963). “The right to operate a motor vehicle [an automobile] upon the public streets and highways is not a mere privilege. It is a right of liberty, the enjoyment of which is protected by the guarantees of the federal and state constitutions.”

Adams v. City of Pocatello, 416 P.2d 46, 48; 91 Idaho 99 (1966). “A traveler has an equal right to employ an automobile as a means of transportation and to occupy the public highways with other vehicles in common use.”

Campbell v. Walker, 78 Atl. 601, 603, 2 Boyce (Del.) 41. “The owner of an automobile has the same right as the owner of other vehicles to use the highway,* * * A traveler on foot has the same right to the use of the public highways as an automobile or any other vehicle.”

Simeone v. Lindsay, 65 Atl. 778, 779; Hannigan v. Wright, 63 Atl. 234, 236. “The RIGHT of the citizen to DRIVE on the public street with freedom from police interference, unless he is engaged in suspicious conduct associated in some manner with criminality is a FUNDAMENTAL CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT which must be protected by the courts.” People v. Horton 14 Cal. App. 3rd 667 (1971) “The right to make use of an automobile as a vehicle of travel long the highways of the state, is no longer an open question. The owners thereof have the same rights in the roads and streets as the drivers of horses or those riding a bicycle or traveling in some other vehicle.”

House v. Cramer, 112 N.W. 3; 134 Iowa 374; Farnsworth v. Tampa Electric Co. 57 So. 233, 237, 62 Fla. 166. “The automobile may be used with safety to others users of the highway, and in its proper use upon the highways there is an equal right with the users of other vehicles properly upon the highways. The law recognizes such right of use upon general principles.

Brinkman v Pacholike, 84 N.E. 762, 764, 41 Ind. App. 662, 666. “The law does not denounce motor carriages, as such, on public ways. They have an equal right with other vehicles in common use to occupy the streets and roads. It is improper to say that the driver of the horse has rights in the roads superior to the driver of the automobile. Both have the right to use the easement.”

Indiana Springs Co. v. Brown, 165 Ind. 465, 468. U.S. Supreme Court says No License Necessary To Drive Automobile On Public Highways/Streets No License Is Necessary Copy and Share Freely YHVH.name 2 2 “A highway is a public way open and free to any one who has occasion to pass along it on foot or with any kind of vehicle.” Schlesinger v. City of Atlanta, 129 S.E. 861, 867, 161 Ga. 148, 159;

Holland v. Shackelford, 137 S.E. 2d 298, 304, 220 Ga. 104; Stavola v. Palmer, 73 A.2d 831, 838, 136 Conn. 670 “There can be no question of the right of automobile owners to occupy and use the public streets of cities, or highways in the rural districts.” Liebrecht v. Crandall, 126 N.W. 69, 110 Minn. 454, 456 “The word ‘automobile’ connotes a pleasure vehicle designed for the transportation of persons on highways.”

-American Mutual Liability Ins. Co., vs. Chaput, 60 A.2d 118, 120; 95 NH 200 Motor Vehicle: 18 USC Part 1 Chapter 2 section 31 definitions: “(6) Motor vehicle. – The term “motor vehicle” means every description of carriage or other contrivance propelled or drawn by mechanical power and used for commercial purposes on the highways…” 10) The term “used for commercial purposes” means the carriage of persons or property for any fare, fee, rate, charge or other consideration, or directly or indirectly in connection with any business, or other undertaking intended for profit. “A motor vehicle or automobile for hire is a motor vehicle, other than an automobile stage, used for the transportation of persons for which remuneration is received.”

-International Motor Transit Co. vs. Seattle, 251 P. 120 The term ‘motor vehicle’ is different and broader than the word ‘automobile.’”

-City of Dayton vs. DeBrosse, 23 NE.2d 647, 650; 62 Ohio App. 232 “Thus self-driven vehicles are classified according to the use to which they are put rather than according to the means by which they are propelled” – Ex Parte Hoffert, 148 NW 20 ”

The Supreme Court, in Arthur v. Morgan, 112 U.S. 495, 5 S.Ct. 241, 28 L.Ed. 825, held that carriages were properly classified as household effects, and we see no reason that automobiles should not be similarly disposed of.”

Hillhouse v United States, 152 F. 163, 164 (2nd Cir. 1907). “…a citizen has the right to travel upon the public highways and to transport his property thereon…” State vs. Johnson, 243 P. 1073; Cummins vs. Homes, 155 P. 171; Packard vs. Banton, 44 S.Ct. 256; Hadfield vs. Lundin, 98 Wash 516, Willis vs. Buck, 263 P. l 982;

Barney vs. Board of Railroad Commissioners, 17 P.2d 82 “The use of the highways for the purpose of travel and transportation is not a mere privilege, but a common and fundamental Right of which the public and the individual cannot be rightfully deprived.”

Chicago Motor Coach vs. Chicago, 169 NE 22; Ligare vs. Chicago, 28 NE 934; Boon vs. Clark, 214 SSW 607; 25 Am.Jur. (1st) Highways Sect.163 “the right of the Citizen to travel upon the highway and to transport his property thereon in the ordinary course of life and business… is the usual and ordinary right of the Citizen, a right common to all.” –

Ex Parte Dickey, (Dickey vs. Davis), 85 SE 781 “Every Citizen has an unalienable RIGHT to make use of the public highways of the state; every Citizen has full freedom to travel from place to place in the enjoyment of life and liberty.” People v. Nothaus, 147 Colo. 210. “No State government entity has the power to allow or deny passage on the highways, byways, nor waterways… transporting his vehicles and personal property for either recreation or business, but by being subject only to local regulation i.e., safety, caution, traffic lights, speed limits, etc. Travel is not a privilege requiring licensing, vehicle registration, or forced insurances.”

Chicago Coach Co. v. City of Chicago, 337 Ill. 200, 169 N.E. 22. “Traffic infractions are not a crime.” People v. Battle “Persons faced with an unconstitutional licensing law which purports to require a license as a prerequisite to exercise of right… may ignore the law and engage with impunity in exercise of such right.”

Shuttlesworth v. Birmingham 394 U.S. 147 (1969). U.S. Supreme Court says No License Necessary To Drive Automobile On Public Highways/Streets No License Is Necessary Copy and Share Freely YHVH.name 3 “The word ‘operator’ shall not include any person who solely transports his own property and who transports no persons or property for hire or compensation.”

Statutes at Large California Chapter 412 p.83 “Highways are for the use of the traveling public, and all have the right to use them in a reasonable and proper manner; the use thereof is an inalienable right of every citizen.” Escobedo v. State 35 C2d 870 in 8 Cal Jur 3d p.27 “RIGHT — A legal RIGHT, a constitutional RIGHT means a RIGHT protected by the law, by the constitution, but government does not create the idea of RIGHT or original RIGHTS; it acknowledges them. . . “ Bouvier’s Law Dictionary, 1914, p. 2961. “Those who have the right to do something cannot be licensed for what they already have right to do as such license would be meaningless.”

City of Chicago v Collins 51 NE 907, 910. “A license means leave to do a thing which the licensor could prevent.” Blatz Brewing Co. v. Collins, 160 P.2d 37, 39; 69 Cal. A. 2d 639. “The object of a license is to confer a right or power, which does not exist without it.”

Payne v. Massey (19__) 196 SW 2nd 493, 145 Tex 273. “The court makes it clear that a license relates to qualifications to engage in profession, business, trade or calling; thus, when merely traveling without compensation or profit, outside of business enterprise or adventure with the corporate state, no license is required of the natural individual traveling for personal business, pleasure and transportation.”

Wingfield v. Fielder 2d Ca. 3d 213 (1972). “If [state] officials construe a vague statute unconstitutionally, the citizen may take them at their word, and act on the assumption that the statute is void.” –

Shuttlesworth v. Birmingham 394 U.S. 147 (1969). “With regard particularly to the U.S. Constitution, it is elementary that a Right secured or protected by that document cannot be overthrown or impaired by any state police authority.” Donnolly vs. Union Sewer Pipe Co., 184 US 540; Lafarier vs. Grand Trunk R.R. Co., 24 A. 848; O’Neil vs. Providence Amusement Co., 108 A. 887. “The right to travel (called the right of free ingress to other states, and egress from them) is so fundamental that it appears in the Articles of Confederation, which governed our society before the Constitution.”

(Paul v. Virginia). “[T]he right to travel freely from State to State … is a right broadly assertable against private interference as well as governmental action. Like the right of association, it is a virtually unconditional personal right, guaranteed by the Constitution to us all.” (U.S. Supreme Court,

Shapiro v. Thompson). EDGERTON, Chief Judge: “Iron curtains have no place in a free world. …’Undoubtedly the right of locomotion, the right to remove from one place to another according to inclination, is an attribute of personal liberty, and the right, ordinarily, of free transit from or through the territory of any State is a right secured by the Constitution.’

Williams v. Fears, 179 U.S. 270, 274, 21 S.Ct. 128, 45 L.Ed. 186. “Our nation has thrived on the principle that, outside areas of plainly harmful conduct, every American is left to shape his own life as he thinks best, do what he pleases, go where he pleases.” Id., at 197.

Kent vs. Dulles see Vestal, Freedom of Movement, 41 Iowa L.Rev. 6, 13—14. “The validity of restrictions on the freedom of movement of particular individuals, both substantively and procedurally, is precisely the sort of matter that is the peculiar domain of the courts.” Comment, 61 Yale L.J. at page 187. “a person detained for an investigatory stop can be questioned but is “not obliged to answer, answers may not be compelled, and refusal to answer furnishes no basis for an arrest.”Justice White, Hiibel “Automobiles have the right to use the highways of the State on an equal footing with other vehicles.”

Cumberland Telephone. & Telegraph Co. v Yeiser 141 Kentucy 15. “Each citizen has the absolute right to choose for himself the mode of conveyance he desires, whether it be by wagon or carriage, by horse, motor or electric car, or by bicycle, or astride of a horse, subject to the sole condition that he will observe all those requirements that are known as the law of the road.”

Swift v City of Topeka, 43 U.S. Supreme Court says No License Necessary To Drive Automobile On Public Highways/Streets No License Is Necessary Copy and Share Freely YHVH.name 4 Kansas 671, 674. The Supreme Court said in U.S. v Mersky (1960) 361 U.S. 431: An administrative regulation, of course, is not a “statute.” A traveler on foot has the same right to use of the public highway as an automobile or any other vehicle.

Cecchi v. Lindsay, 75 Atl. 376, 377, 1 Boyce (Del.) 185. Automotive vehicles are lawful means of conveyance and have equal rights upon the streets with horses and carriages.

Chicago Coach Co. v. City of Chicago, 337 Ill. 200, 205; See also: Christy v. Elliot, 216 Ill. 31; Ward v. Meredith, 202 Ill. 66; Shinkle v. McCullough, 116 Ky. 960; Butler v. Cabe, 116 Ark. 26, 28-29. …automobiles are lawful vehicles and have equal rights on the highways with horses and carriages. Daily v. Maxwell, 133 S.W. 351, 354.

Matson v. Dawson, 178 N.W. 2d 588, 591. A farmer has the same right to the use of the highways of the state, whether on foot or in a motor vehicle, as any other citizen.

Draffin v. Massey, 92 S.E.2d 38, 42. Persons may lawfully ride in automobiles, as they may lawfully ride on bicycles. Doherty v. Ayer, 83 N.E. 677, 197 Mass. 241, 246;

Molway v. City of Chicago, 88 N.E. 485, 486, 239 Ill. 486; Smiley v. East St. Louis Ry. Co., 100 N.E. 157, 158. “A soldier’s personal automobile is part of his ‘household goods[.]’

U.S. v Bomar, C.A.5(Tex.), 8 F.3d 226, 235” 19A Words and Phrases – Permanent Edition (West) pocket part 94. “[I]t is a jury question whether … an automobile … is a motor vehicle[.]”

United States v Johnson, 718 F.2d 1317, 1324 (5th Cir. 1983). Other right to use an automobile cases: –

EDWARDS VS. CALIFORNIA, 314 U.S. 160 –

TWINING VS NEW JERSEY, 211 U.S. 78 – WILLIAMS VS. FEARS, 179 U.S. 270, AT 274 – CRANDALL VS. NEVADA, 6 WALL. 35, AT 43-44 – THE PASSENGER CASES, 7 HOWARD 287, AT 492 – U.S. VS. GUEST, 383 U.S. 745, AT 757-758 (1966) –

GRIFFIN VS. BRECKENRIDGE, 403 U.S. 88, AT 105-106 (1971) – CALIFANO VS. TORRES, 435 U.S. 1, AT 4, note 6 –

SHAPIRO VS. THOMPSON, 394 U.S. 618 (1969) – CALIFANO VS. AZNAVORIAN, 439 U.S. 170, AT 176 (1978) Look the above citations up in American Jurisprudence. Some citations may be paraphrased.

OG article

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/us-supreme-court-says-license-necessary-drive-public-letennier

Revolution in Iceland gets no Coverage in Western Media

2013-06-29T17:50:00.000-07:00

Iceland’s on-going revolution is a stunning example of how little our media tells us about the rest of the world. Americans may remember that at the start of the 2008 financial crisis, Iceland literally went bankrupt. The reasons were mentioned only in passing, and since then, this little-known member of the European Union fell back into oblivion.
As one European country after another fails or risks failing, imperiling the Euro, with repercussions for the entire world, the last thing the powers that be want is for Iceland to become an example. Here’s why:
Five years of a pure neo-liberal regime had made Iceland, (population 320 thousand, no army), one of the richest countries in the world. In 2003 all the country’s banks were privatized, and in an effort to attract foreign investors, they offered on-line banking whose minimal costs allowed them to offer relatively high rates of return. The accounts, called IceSave, attracted many English and Dutch small investors. But as investments grew, so did the banks’ foreign debt. In 2003 Iceland’s debt was equal to 200 times its GNP, but in 2007, it was 900 percent. The 2008 world financial crisis was the coup de grace. The three main Icelandic banks, Landbanki, Kapthing and Glitnir, went belly up and were nationalized, while the Kroner lost 85% of its value with respect to the Euro. At the end of the year Iceland declared bankruptcy.
Contrary to what could be expected, the crisis resulted in Icelanders recovering their sovereign rights, through a process of direct participatory democracy that eventually led to a new Constitution. But only after much pain.
Geir Haarde, the Prime Minister of a Social Democratic coalition government, negotiated a two million one hundred thousand dollar loan, to which the Nordic countries added another two and a half million. But the foreign financial community pressured Iceland to impose drastic measures. The FMI and the European Union wanted to take over its debt, claiming this was the only way for the country to pay back Holland and Great Britain, who had promised to reimburse their citizens.
Protests and riots continued, eventually forcing the government to resign. Elections were brought forward to April 2009, resulting in a left-wing coalition which condemned the neoliberal economic system, but immediately gave in to its demands that Iceland pay off a total of three and a half million Euros. This required each Icelandic citizen to pay 100 Euros a month (or about $130) for fifteen years, at 5.5% interest, to pay off a debt incurred by private parties vis a vis other private parties. It was the straw that broke the reindeer’s back.
What happened next was extraordinary. The belief that citizens had to pay for the mistakes of a financial monopoly, that an entire nation must be taxed to pay off private debts was shattered, transforming the relationship between citizens and their political institutions and eventually driving Iceland’s leaders to the side of their constituents. The Head of State, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, refused to ratify the law that would have made Iceland’s citizens responsible for its bankers’ debts, and accepted calls for a referendum.
Of course the international community only increased the pressure on Iceland. Great Britain and Holland threatened dire reprisals that would isolate the country. As Icelanders went to vote, foreign bankers threatened to block any aid from the IMF. The British government threatened to freeze Icelander savings and checking accounts. As Grimsson said: “We were told that if we refused the international community’s conditions, we would become the Cuba of the North. But if we had accepted, we would have become the Haiti of the North.” (How many times have I written that when Cubans see the dire state of their neighbor, Haiti, they count themselves lucky.)
In the March 2010 referendum, 93% voted against repayment of the debt. The IMF immediately froze its loan. But the revolution (though not televised in the United States), would not be intimidated. With the support of a furious citizenry, the government launched civil and penal investigations into those responsible for the financial crisis. Interpol put out an international arrest warrant for the ex-president of Kaupthing, Sigurdur Einarsson, as the other bankers implicated in the crash fled the country.
But Icelanders didn’t stop there: they decided to draft a new constitution that would free the country from the exaggerated power of international finance and virtual money. (The one in use had been written when Iceland gained its independence from Denmark, in 1918, the only difference with the Danish constitution being that the word ‘president’ replaced the word ‘king’.)
To write the new constitution, the people of Iceland elected twenty-five citizens from among 522 adults not belonging to any political party but recommended by at least thirty citizens. This document was not the work of a handful of politicians, but was written on the internet. The constituent’s meetings are streamed on-line, and citizens can send their comments and suggestions, witnessing the document as it takes shape. The constitution that eventually emerges from this participatory democratic process will be submitted to parliament for approval after the next elections.
Some readers will remember that Iceland’s ninth century agrarian collapse was featured in Jared Diamond’s book by the same name. Today, that country is recovering from its financial collapse in ways just the opposite of those generally considered unavoidable. The people of Greece have been told that the privatization of their public sector is the only solution. And those of Italy, Spain and Portugal are facing the same threat.
They should look to Iceland. Refusing to bow to foreign interests, that small country stated loud and clear that the people are sovereign.
That’s why it is not in the news anymore.

http://leaksource.wordpress.com/2013/03/10/icelands-revolution-against-globalist-banksters/

Judge Weighs Posibility of Public Trial for Colorado Masacre

2012-08-09T15:54:00.000-07:00

Reuters) - Accused Colorado shooter James Holmes, charged with murder over a shooting rampage last month at a movie theater in a Denver suburb, has a "mental illness" and tried to get help before the shooting, his defense attorney said in court on Thursday.
Holmes, who is accused of opening fire at a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" in the suburb of Aurora, was present in a hearing in which a judge weighed a request by 20 media organizations to unseal documents related to his case.
During the hearing, Holmes' public defender, Daniel King, repeatedly made references to his client's unspecified mental illness.
"He tried to get help with his mental illness," King said of his client, who appeared in court wearing maroon prison garb and shackled at his hands and ankles, with his dyed hair fading to pink in some places from its original reddish-orange.
Prosecutors charged Holmes, a 24-year-old former neuroscience graduate student at the University of Colorado, last week with 24 counts of first-degree murder and 116 counts of attempted murder over the rampage in which 12 people were killed and 58 others wounded.
Holmes, who appeared unshaven, seemed alert but disinterested in his third appearance in a Colorado courtroom since the July 20 mass shooting in the crowded theater. He mostly stared straight ahead and did not talk to his lawyers.
At one point during the hearing, a woman seated in the courtroom jumped up and said she had "information vital to the defense" of Holmes, and that defense attorneys would not speak with her. The judge had her escorted out of the hearing by deputies.
Judge William Sylvester said he would consider a request by news organizations to unseal documents detailing the murder case against Holmes, and would issue a written ruling later.
Lawyers representing some 20 news organizations went to court on Thursday seeking release of the court papers, saying in a written motion that sealing them "undermines our nation's firm commitment to the transparency and public accountability of the criminal justice system."
In the motion, lawyers for the media outlets, including The New York Times Co., The Associated Press, The Denver Post, and CBS News, argued that the U.S. Constitution and state case law requires a presumption of openness. Thomson Reuters is not a party to the motion.
"Absent disclosure of the factual basis for the issuance of a warrant, the public cannot properly assess the propriety of the government's conduct," the motion said.
Both prosecutors and defense lawyers objected, saying that it was too early to open the file because the investigation was still ongoing.
"The harm, judge, is very real with the release of the file at this point," defense attorney Daniel King said.
Media lawyer Steven Zansberg argued in court that the decision to close the bulk of the file made it difficult for the public to understand what happened during the shooting, and why.
Judge Sylvester said he would issue a written ruling later on the issue. Holmes is being held without bond and in solitary confinement at the Arapahoe County jail.

Chavis Carter Found Shot In The Head While In Patrol Car; Investigation Launched

2012-08-04T09:42:00.000-07:00

A 21-year-old man was shot in the head and killed while handcuffed in the back of a patrol car Saturday night. Now police have launched an investigation to determine what happened.
Chavis Carter was a passenger in a pickup truck that was stopped by police in Jonesboro, Ark., Saturday night, according to KAIT, an ABC-affiliated television station. An officer reportedly found some marijuana, and ran Carter's information. He was wanted on a warrant out of Mississippi, so officers placed him in a patrol car.
"As protocol, he was handcuffed behind his back, double-locked and searched," said Jonesboro Police Department Sgt. Lyle Waterworth in an interview with WREG-TV.
Just minutes later, police said they heard a thumping noise, turned around and found Carter shot in the head.
Waterworth said he thinks Carter pulled out a hidden gun and shot himself. “Any given officer has missed something on a search, you know, be it drugs, be it knives, be it razor blades," he said. "This instance, it happened to be a gun."
His mother, Teresa Carter, disagrees. "I think they killed him," she said. "My son wasn't suicidal."
Carter said she was also told her son was shot in the right temple, although he was left-handed. "I mean, I just want to know what really happened," she told WREG-TV. "That's all I want to know."
The two officers who were present when Carter was found shot were placed on administrative leave.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/01/chavis-carter-shot-jonesboro-police_n_1730997.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

Fake drugs leads to GSK recalls in South Africa

2012-07-29T13:33:00.002-07:00

Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline said on Thursday it is recalling some of its over-the-counter headache medicine in South Africa after police discovered counterfeit versions of the painkiller.
A spokeswoman for GSK said the counterfeit versions of Grand-Pa Powders were limited to two batches, but declined to say how much was believed to be in circulation.

"We have no reason to suspect that other batches are affected," Liezl Sabbagh, marketing director for GSK's South African unit, adding the company was alerted to the drugs after police raided a drug counterfeiting operation.

State broadcaster SABC reported that police arrested a 45-year-old for allegedly manufacturing fake Grand-Pa powders in Oranjeville, a town in the Free State province about 100 km south of Johannesburg.

Grand-Pa is one of South Africa's top over-the-counter painkillers.

Monsanto/Industrial Aggricultural Take Over

2012-07-20T12:58:00.000-07:00

I think it’s safe to say that our national agricultural system is failing. Despite having the potential to produce 2,500 calories per person, more than 925 million people go hungry every day. And this record-breaking heat wave sure isn’t helping. A recent New York Times article points out the obvious and disturbing effects heat and drought have on our crop system. What was recently thought to be a record-breaking corn harvest is looking scarce, driving up corn prices and giving the farmers throughout the Midwest a scare.
The issue begins with industrial farming. Large-scale farms dominate the market these days, crowding out smaller farms. A common argument for industrial farming is that it is the only way to feed our ever-growing population. Going on the premise that this is true (don’t worry, I’ll explain why it isn’t in a minute), there are still a bunch of problems with industrial farming. First off, look at the management practices. Herbicides and pesticides are thrown around their fields, which their genetically modified crops are resistant to. This practice is creating super-weeds, which have also developed a resistance to all the ‘cides. To expedite growing, farmers use nutrients (primarily phosphates/nitrates) en masse. The plants, then, leech the ground dry. Without proper crop rotation and land management, the topsoil just can’t keep up. So, lets add some more nutrients. Simply speaking, it isn’t sustainable.
But if it’s the only way to feed our kids, why not do it? Well, it isn’t the only way. Genetic engineering’s history is incredibly short. They only started planting GMOs in modest about 25 years ago. This whole industrial farming deal was really put into effect post-Dust Bowl, when the government sought to bring together agriculture and science through land grant universities. What we’ve found however is that large scale agriculture, while producing tons upon tons of food, is extremely wasteful. When looking at production per acre, small-scale farms are exceedingly more productive, more sustainable, and employ more workers.
Sounds like a win-win, right? So why not stop dead in our tracks and revert? Well, obviously, we can’t. And while there are a lot of reasons why we can’t, I blame Monsanto. Farming has become a multi-billion-dollar industry, with Monsanto leading the charge. Monsanto, a multi-billion-dollar company, has the agricultural market in virtual choke hold. A former Monsanto exec named Michael Taylor now heads off food safety for the FDA, and Justice Clarence Thomas also used to work for Monsanto. Their practices include monopolizing the seed market and genetically engineering food like corn, soy, and alfalfa. It’s safe, they say, because they’ve been doing it for 14 years. Right. Anyway, Monsanto has been known to aggressively protect all of their product, going at lengths to keep farmers from reproducing seeds on their own (to be fair, the SCOTUS did give them the right to. It pays off to have a judge). Monsanto essentially takes jobs out of the hands of farmers; a few farmers on a large farm using GMOs is much more profitable than having a bunch of farmers on a small farm.
Now, while we’d all like to believe that returning the land to the farmers and farming sustainably would fix all of our woes, we can’t ignore the economic implications. Industrial farming is much cheaper. Oh wait, that’s because industrial agriculture has the government pumping subsidies into it like a flat tire. Don’t believe me? Our government has given out over 240 billion in subsidies in the past 10 years, but only to the big guys. This effectively masks the true cost of industrial agriculture. Take away the subsidies, add the cost of long-term health care for the workers exposed to carcinogens, plus land and water restoration for all the pollutants left behind, and suddenly the price tag looks a little less like a Wal Mart sweater and a bit more like a Louis Vuitton belt. No one should bear the price of a Louis Vuitton belt.
I don’t expect a full reversal. I don’t even think that is necessarily the way to go. I think what needs to happen is that we examine our farm system with a critical eye, see what science can do for sustainable farming, and where all that subsidy money would be better located. Don’t tell Justice Thomas or Michael Taylor though.
http://www.policymic.com/articles/10775/monsanto-needs-to-get-its-paws-off-our-crops-industrial-agriculture-is-not-the-answer

Hospira Drug Re-Call Due to Glass Particles

2012-07-20T12:49:00.002-07:00

Hospira Inc said it has issued a nationwide recall of four of its injectable cancer drugs because of particles embedded in the glass at the neck of the vial.

The drugs recalled are carboplatin, cytarabine, paclitaxel, methotrexate and were distributed nationwide to wholesalers and direct customers.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said there may be potential for the drugs to come into contact with the embedded particles and the particles may become dislodged into the solutions.

Injury could result if the solution were injected into a patient, the FDA said. Signs and symptoms might include bleeding, bruising, inflammation, itching, rash, chest pain and respiratory symptoms.

Hospira attributed the root cause to a supplier glass defect and said it was arranging for return and replacement of all recalled products, according to the FDA notice.

Formal recall letters have been distributed within the U.S. along with notification to safety organizations. (Reporting By Debra Sherman; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/16/cancer-drug-recall-glass-particles-hospira_n_1676389.html

Nano Insect Drones Used for Espionage

2012-07-20T12:47:00.000-07:00

Insect drones known as micro air vehicles (MAVs) are being developed as the newest source of reconnaissance and spying, all at a miniature level. Currently, smaller drones have been researched by a variety of sources, from the U.S. Air Force to the Netherlands.

Insect drones were first publicly discussed in 2007, when small flying objects were reported above protestors, who thought they were being spied upon. Eventually, Tom Ehrhard, a retired Air Force colonel, came out and told the Daily Telegraph that "America can be pretty sneaky"- not a full admission, but rumors were brewing.
The next year, the U.S. Air Force unveiled "lethal mini-drones" insect spies "as tiny as bumblebees," according to Daily Mail. They were used to "photograph, record, and even attack insurgents and terrorists."
That was in 2008, however, and not much of the program has been heard from since. Insect drones have not been known to be tested in actual combat or reconnaissance situations- a step propelled forward by researchers recently.
The University of Pennsylvania's GRASP Lab recently unveiled their insect-like drones, which function with "little or no direct human supervision" in "dynamic, resource-constrained, adversial environments." Their drones, though, operate in groups called SWARMS and include 20 nano quadrotors flying simultaneously.
The U.S. is far from the only country interested in technology that mimics nature in order to remain undetected. The Netherlands has a project called BioMAV- Biologically Inspired A.I. for Micro Aerial Vehicles- which managed to get drones down to a parrot's size.

http://global.christianpost.com/news/insect-drones-will-completely-blend-into-their-surroundings-says-researcher-77019/
Read more at http://global.christianpost.com/news/insect-drones-will-completely-blend-into-their-surroundings-says-researcher-77019/#qreTsAdEYA4cMR11.99

Syria's Fallen Ministers

2012-07-20T10:54:00.000-07:00

General Daoud Rajha, the Syrian defence minister, deputy general commander for the Syrian army and deputy prime minister, was killed on July 18 2012 when the National Security building in central Damascus was targeted by a suicide bomber during a meeting of high-level officials on Wednesday. The blast also fatally injured deputy defence minister Assef Shawkat, while others reportedly sustained serious injuries.
Rajha, who previously served as army chief of staff since 2004, succeeded his predecessor Ali Habib Mahmud as defence minister in August 2011, reportedly for his loyalty to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Washington imposed sanctions on Rajha in March, including a freeze of any assets held in US jurisdiction and a ban on conducting any business with Americans.
Born in 1967, Rajha was a Greek Orthodox Christian, a rarity for the Alawite-dominated Syrian military and government.
After being trained as an artillery specialist in the military academy, he reached the rank of lieutenant general in 1998 and general in 2005.
In May of this year, the Free Syrian Army claimed that it had killed six high-ranking officials - one of which was allegedly Rajha - within Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The original claim was that a bodyguard of a senior official had poisoned the officials, but rumours of his death were dispersed when he was re-appointed for the same post in June.

Al-Assad's 62-year-old brother-in-law, Assef Shawkat, also reported to have been killed in the suicide attack, was one of the pillars of Assad family rule.

Back left: General Assef Shawkat [AP]

Widely seen as a member of the president's inner circle, Shawkat was appointed deputy head in 1994 and then chief of military intelligence in 2005. He became deputy defence minister in September 2011.
US diplomatic cables published by Wikileaks described him as both a clever, well-read officer and as part of Syria's "killing problem".
Born in 1950 to a middle-class Alawite family in Tartous, Shawkat joined the army in the late 1970s, working his way up through the ranks.
His big break came when he divorced his first wife and married Bushra, Bashar's older sister, despite the fact that late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and his eldest son Basil initially disapproved of the match.
However, Shawkat's relationship with the new generation of Assads appears to have remained tempestuous. Diplomats say Maher, Bashar's younger brother and head of the elite Republican Guard, once shot him in the stomach, and that Bashar himself was wary of his brother-in-law.
The US and EU imposed sanctions on Shawkat in 2011, accusing him of playing a key role in suppressing demonstrations. He was also sanctioned in 2006 by the US for the suspicion that he orchestrated the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri and other officials seen as threats to Syrian influence.
In March he was listed by opposition leaders as one of the six officials to have been poisoned along with Rajha. Syrian state TV confirmed that he was in fact killed alongside Rajha in a suicide attack on July 18, 2012.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/07/2012718132147531114.html

Halle Berry Falls off Stage

2012-07-20T10:49:00.001-07:00

According to E!online, Halle Berry was hospitalized in Los Angeles last night following an accident on the set of her latest film. Berry's rep confirmed the news and shared that the actress suffered minor head injuries while filming an action sequence. She is reportedly "doing all right" after being taken to the hospital.
"Halle Berry suffered a minor head injury while shooting a fight sequence on the set of her film, The Hive," her rep told USA Today. "She was taken to the hospital as a precaution, but she checked out healthy and was released. She'll continue production as planned."
Sources report that the actress was injured at approximately 10:00 pm and was taken by ambulance to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. She was injured on the set of her new film which co-stars Abigail Beslin and is due out in theaters some time next year.

Earlier in the year, the actresss suffered a broken foot while on location in Spain for the film Cloud Atlas.

Read more: http://movies.broadwayworld.com/article/Halle-Berry-Injured-During-Film-Shoot-20120718#ixzz21Bbbrsk1

Nuclear Plant Shutdowns Forcing Japan to Rethink Energy Mix

2012-07-11T16:51:00.002-07:00

On July 9, Japan’s Kansai Electric Power Company‘s (TSE:9503) 1180 MWe Ohi 3 unit reached full capacity, prompting the Japanese to announce a reduction of its energy savings targets. The unit was restarted following the suspension of Japan’s nuclear reactors for safety inspections after the Fukushima disaster in 2011. Ohi 3′s sister unit, Ohi 4, is also expected to be restarted later in July.
Authorization for restarting additional reactors is still pending; however, unit three of Shikoku Electric Power Company‘s (TSE:9507) Ikata plant is likely next to gain approval.
Japan is heavily dependent on nuclear power, with nuclear supplying a third of the country’s energy needs. When all 54 Japanese nuclear reactors were idled for safety checks and maintenance following the earthquake, however, Japan’s utility companies drastically cut back their use of oil and natural gas substitutes. With fears of blackouts looming, especially during the power-hungry summer months, Japan’s politicians urged citizens to reduce their power consumption and implemented targets for saving energy.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura announced that beginning July 10, energy-saving targets will be relaxed from 15 to 10 percent. Fujimara expects the targets to be further revised once Ohi 4 comes back online.
The disaster at Fukushima, recently characterized as “preventable” in a scathing official report, has forced Japan to rethink its allocation of energy resources.
Daniel Kammen, a professor with the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of California at Berkely, told Uranium Investing News, “in the medium to longer term, Japan has initiated a true reassessment of energy resources, with efficiency prioritized right away, and new solar, offshore wind, and geothermal seen as sectors that can and should grow very large, very fast.”
Fossil fuel dependency?
Jessica Lang, a nuclear energy policy associate with The Breakthrough Institute, pointed to data from last March, commenting, “since the earthquake, fossil fuels have provided about 80 percent of electricity, while nuclear has dropped to about 10 percent.” She believes it will be challenging for the country to meet costly demands and scale requirements. “As we’ve seen over the past year, Japan has greatly increased its burning of fossil fuels by about 35 percent, which means much more coal and LNG [liquefied natural gas] imports. [It has also] increased its hydro by about 40 percent, which involves running existing dams more of the time,” she stated.
Although relatively expensive, Lang indicated, “most analysts expect Japan to continue ramping up coal and natural gas electricity production. Renewables currently make up about 1 to 2 percent of Japan’s electricity, but most of that is waste and biomass burning, which is difficult to scale up.”
Joseph Dukert, senior fellow with the US Association for Energy Economics believes a solution will involve, “a gradual rebuilding of the Japanese nuclear stable. The only feasible supplement I can envision, however, is natural gas; and this will depend on a large increase in global gas production and a steady, costly development of delivery infrastructure, both by pipeline and LNG. I expect Japanese energy supply problems to continue for perhaps a decade.”
Pro-nuclear politics prevail
In the Kagoshima Prefecture, a supporter of the nuclear industry was re-elected for a third term. The incumbent governor, Yuichiro Ito, defeated anti-nuclear activisit Yoshitaka Mukohara, who focused his entire campaign on opposing the restart of the prefecture’s Sendai nuclear power plant. Using safety and public acceptance as cornerstones of the nuclear issue, Ito indicated that he will conditionally support the proposed restart of Kyushu’s two pressurized water reactors at Sendai, whose operations have been suspended since entering their respective scheduled outages in May and September 2011.
Uranium fundamentals still strong
As the energy crisis in Japan continues to unfold, the massive drawdown of nuclear power in Japan, along with Germany (last year Japan used 44 percent less nuclear power, Germany reduced nuclear by 23 percent and worldwide nuclear power use dropped by four percent) has certainly impacted the price of uranium, though not drastically. Spot prices have slipped to between $50 and $55 per pound, about $10 below pre-Fukushima levels, but are expected to rebound in 2013 according to a recent Scotiabank report.
Factors behind a rebound include the coming expiration of the “Megatons to Megawatts” program between the United States and Russia to convert highly-enriched uranium from nuclear warheads to low-enriched uranium for nuclear fuel, which is expected to remove 24 million pounds from the market. China’s plan to restart its nuclear program after conducting safety reviews is also likely to lend support for uranium prices longer term. The country proposes to build 100 reactors by 2030 and 197 by 2050.
Demand for uranium oxide is expected to grow by three percent per annum as the developed world clamors for electrification. The amount of mined uranium, however, is currently insufficient to keep up with demand, meaning prices are likely to continue moving up.

Read more: http://resourceinvestingnews.com/39508-fukushima-fallout-nuclear-plant-shutdowns-forcing-japan-to-rethink-energy-mix.html#ixzz20MSBK1GV

so called "God Particle"

2012-07-10T15:46:00.002-07:00

Higgs boson -- aka the "God particle" -- is the stuff long theorized to give matter mass. The particle has been a scientific assumption for almost 50 years and the announcement last week is that, finally, it has been proved to exist. More than anything, it was confirmation that scientists for the past five decades haven't been smoking from the same bong as Pinto.
It's been described as the "Holy Grail" of science, so I get that the white-lab-coat community is exuberant. But what does it mean to the rest of us?
We of middling intelligence may not understand this God particle, but we've been quietly banking on it for a long time. I can't recall the last time I heard someone blurt out, "God, I hope this chair has mass!" Or, "If the Higgs boson doesn't check out, what is this thing I'm driving?" While the European Organization for Nuclear Research's Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland was spinning out evidence of what constitutes mass, 7 billion of us were, quite unthinkingly, putting our faith in the stuff to get up, go to work and feed our families -- just as we have been since our simian days.
In 1637, French philosopher René Descartes published his "Discourse on the Method," famously assuring the public that, at a minimum, "Je pense donc je suis" -- "I think therefore I am," or "Cogito ergo sum" as he later put it in Latin. It was Descartes' evidence, after doubting all that can be doubted, that we all in fact exist. Europe was embroiled in the Thirty Years' War at the time, a conflict that took an estimated 4 million souls. The John Q public of the day must have been relieved to know that the bloodshed was all very real -- at least the mental anguish derived therefrom.
I don't mean to be a party pooper. The instinct to take apart the light switch or question matter itself is a noble one. It has dramatically altered the human condition over the centuries, mostly for the good. Knowledge of the Higgs boson will one day yield some very neat things, we are told -- maybe even time travel. When that happens, some scientist from the future can explain the whole thing to the spear-chucking Cro-Magnon man preparing to fend off a saber-toothed tiger -- if the time traveler can relay the concept before being devoured.

http://www.newsday.com/opinion/oped/o-reilly-god-particle-god-schmarticle-1.3829491

FDA Bill Grants Power to Search Overseas Rx Plants

2012-06-29T14:55:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - A Food and Drug Administration bill designed to increase inspections of foreign drug factories, while also speeding approvals of new drugs at home, is headed to the president's desk after an overwhelming approval in the U.S. Senate.
The Senate approved the must-pass piece of the legislation by a vote of 92-4, and President Barack Obama is expected to sign it into law within days.
The core of the bill is critical to the FDA: It bolsters the agency's budget with billions of dollars in drug industry fees for scientists who review new medicines. For the first time, generic drugmakers will pay review fees to speed the approval of their products. Branded drugmakers have paid those fees for 20 years.
Lawmakers seized on the legislation to address recent concerns about the safety and quality of prescription medicines, especially those that are imported. The bill also gives the FDA new tools to fight counterfeiting and drug shortages, which have made headlines in the past year.
"This legislation will help bring critical drugs and medical devices to market faster, protect patients from drug shortages and manufacturing problems, and enhance the availability of low-cost generic drugs," said Sens. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Mike Enzi, R-Wyoming, who guided the bill through the Senate.
Public health experts say the most significant changes for consumers involve how FDA inspectors oversee foreign drug manufacturing facilities.
For more than 70 years, the agency has focused its inspections on U.S. factories. But most companies have moved their operations overseas to take advantage of cheaper labor and materials. Between 2001 and 2008 the number of U.S. drugs made outside of the country doubled, according FDA figures.
The bill passed by Congress would drop a requirement that FDA inspect all U.S. drug factories every two years and let it focus on foreign facilities, which it now typically inspects every nine years. The new bill requires that FDA inspectors target the most problematic manufacturing sites, regardless of whether they're in the U.S. or overseas.
"This legislation will, for the first time, enable the FDA to regularly inspect foreign drug manufacturing facilities, which supply 80 percent of the ingredients in our medications," said Allan Coukell, director of the Pew Charitable Trusts' medical programs
The risks of unchecked foreign drug manufacturing hit home in 2008, when hundreds of U.S. patients suffered allergic reactions — some fatal — to a blood thinner imported from China. An FDA investigation concluded the drug had been contaminated, to reduce costs, with an ingredient that mimics the blood thinner heparin.
The bill would raise the maximum prison sentence for drug counterfeiting to 20 years, or $4 million, from just three years or $10,000, under current law.
Despite months of negotiation, the bill does not include a national tracking system, which public health advocates say is critical to weeding out counterfeit pharmaceuticals from the U.S. supply chain. Lawmakers said they couldn't bridge longtime disagreements between the FDA and drugmakers over the scope and cost of the system, which would track shipments using electronic codes.
The legislation's underlying purpose is to renew, through 2017, a program under which drugmakers pay the FDA set fees for the review of new products. Since it first passed in 1992, the Prescription Drug User Fee Act has allowed the FDA to hire hundreds of additional scientists in return for meeting certain performance goals.
Under the new bill, the FDA would collect $6.4 billion in fees from companies over five years beginning in 2013. About $1.8 billion, or nearly 30 percent, would come from new fees, including the first to be paid by generic drugmakers.
Whereas most new drugs are reviewed in 10 months, the typical review for a generic drug takes over 30 months. The FDA has a backlog of more than 2,700 generic drug applications awaiting review, according to the Generic Pharmaceutical Association. The new fees will be used to hire more scientists to speed up clearance of generic drugs.
The legislation also renews a similar program covering medical devices.
Senators hailed the legislation as a rare example of cooperation between Republicans and Democrats, but the fee agreements at its heart had almost nothing to do with Congress.
Those arrangements were worked out during more than a year of closed-door negotiations between the FDA and industry groups. The portion of FDA's drug review budget that's underwritten by industry has steadily increased since 1992 and is now more than 60 percent.
Consumer advocates complain that the agency has become too dependent on the companies it regulates. They say they were shut out of the discussions.

http://www.startribune.com/business/160442335.html

New Mexico Tightens Rx Drug System

2012-06-29T14:47:00.000-07:00

Seeking to combat a growing epidemic of prescription drug abuse in New Mexico, the state Board of Pharmacy voted Thursday to strengthen an existing monitoring program that tracks drug prescriptions, who dispenses them and under what circumstances.

Other rule changes adopted by the board, which will go into effect later this year, will require additional training for pharmacists on how to use that monitoring system, limit the supply of drugs prescribed in certain situations and tighten language regarding penalties for anyone lawfully allowed to dispense prescription drugs who withholds or falsifies information going into the tracking system.

"We're accomplishing great things by educating pharmacists," Danny Cross, a board member and pharmacist, said during a well-attended, two-hour hearing Thursday at the board's Albuquerque headquarters. "This is not punishing pharmacists. This is to educate pharmacists, practitioners and patients ... to help control this drug abuse problem."

Over the past decade, New Mexico has experienced a spike both in the number of pills being prescribed and the number of drug overdose deaths reported. From 2001 to 2010, the sales of opioid pain relievers rose by 131 percent in the state, from 489,809 grams to 1.13 million grams, according to the state Department of Health. Meanwhile, over roughly the same period, the state's drug overdose death rate increased by 79 percent -- from the 261 people who died in 2001 to the 468 who lost their lives in 2010.

The epidemic, of course, is not confined to New Mexico. Nationwide, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health estimated that in 2010, 7 million people used prescription drugs nonmedically.

But New Mexico's rate of drug overdose deaths is the highest in the nation.

Even some of the state's pharmacists don't understand the size of the problem, Dale Tinker told board members Thursday.

"It's a lot bigger issue than I think they thought," Tinker, a lobbyist for the New Mexico Pharmacists Association, said.

Tackling the prescription drug abuse problem is complex because it involves multiple challenges. Emergency rooms might see addicts looking for their next fix or dealers trying to corral a new supply, but they also come into contact with patients who want to get off the drugs and don't know where else to turn.

One of the challenges is to ensure that those who are handed a white bag with a bottle of pills inside are the people who truly need it. Another is ensuring that those who hand the prescribed drugs to individuals have access to up-to-date information that the prescription is appropriate.

The rules adopted Thursday represent an attempt to address those problems, mostly by ensuring pharmacists and pharmacist interns are better armed with information on how to prevent abuse and stop addiction before it starts, officials said.

One of the changes would give New Mexico's pharmacists the ability to request from the state's prescription monitoring system a report detailing the past year of a patient's history if he or she exhibits signs of potential abuse or misuse of opiate drugs or if the prescription order is from a dispenser with whom the pharmacist is unfamiliar.

Also under the new rules, practitioners including doctors, dentists, veterinarians, pharmacists and certified nurse practitioners would have to register and train for the state's monitoring program when they complete their controlled-substance registration.

That electronic database gives doctors and pharmacists access to a patient's prescription-drug history. Providers update the information at least every seven days -- an improvement over the monthly updates that were previously all that was required.

"It's a message from the board," said Bill Harvey, the Board of Pharmacy's director. "It's about professional expectations."

The board also voted to require that any controlled-substance prescriptions that go directly to a patient could not be refilled before 75 percent of the days have passed since the prescription was filled, unless a doctor approves the refill. Similarly, prescriptions that go to a patient indirectly, such as through a mail-order service, couldn't be refilled until 66 percent of the days in a 90-day supply have gone by, or half of the days in a 30-day supply, unless a doctor authorizes the refill.

Another change would limit new over-the-phone prescriptions for some controlled substances to a 10-day supply that cannot be refilled. Currently, a phone prescription for those drugs can be refilled up to five times in six months.

Board members seemed intent on adopting the changes Thursday despite potential obstacles.

"We're trying to get things in place sooner rather than later," board member Buffy Saavedra said at one point when someone in the audience asked a question that appeared not to be answered in the proposed rules.

At another point, the board learned that a proposed change would bar the state from qualifying for future U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration funding for the state's prescription monitoring program.

The change under consideration would allow individual pharmacists to access and use the state's prescription monitoring program instead of circumscribing access only to pharmacies, which the DEA requires for a state to qualify for certain types of funding. Many pharmacies employ more than one pharmacist, officials pointed out Thursday. And by having individual pharmacists register to use the system, New Mexico officials believe the state can better track potential abuse.

"This is a big enough problem" that the board should go ahead with the change despite the potential loss of future federal funding, pharmacy board chairman Richard Mazzoni said.

http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/2012/6/22/new_mexico_tightens_prescription_drug_system.htm

Witness Describes Kins Addiction to Rx Drugs

2012-06-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

Elissa Ogle begged her brother-in-law to stop using prescription drugs. She took his pills and locked them in a box under her bed. She hid the knobs on the kitchen stove after he fell asleep while cooking, intoxicated by his narcotic pain medication. “Steven, stop, please, stop!” Ogle said she told her brother-in-law, Steven Ogle. She recalled him responding: “My doctor prescribed to me, my doctor prescribed to me.” Ogle testified Tuesday at a preliminary hearing to determine whether there was enough evidence for Dr. Hsiu-Ying “Lisa" Tseng to stand trial on second-degree murder charges in connection with the overdose deaths of Steven Ogle and two other men. Tseng has pleaded not guilty. In the 11th day of testimony in downtown Los Angeles, Ogle described visits to Tseng’s storefront clinic in Rowland Heights, where she drove Steven three times from Palm Desert before he died of an overdose in 2009 at age 24. The waiting room, she said, was filled with young patients who “looked drugged out or sedated…like they took a lot of medication or they smoked something.” During one visit, Ogle testified, she went into a restroom while waiting for Steven. She described the room as “smoky” and said there was a needle in the garbage can. She left the office and waited for her brother-in-law in her car because she was so disturbed, she said. Prosecution witnesses have said Tseng prescribed her patients addictive narcotics despite warning signs that they were abusing drugs. Prosecutors allege that Tseng knew her prescribing practices were harmful and that she knew patients were dying under her care. When Deputy Dist. Atty. John Niedermann showed Ogle a copy of one of Steven’s prescriptions from Tseng, Ogle broke down in tears. The last time she saw Steven alive –- after he had been fighting with family members over his addiction and his visits to doctors -- he had a pill bottle in his pocket, and she could hear his pills rattling, she said. Tseng also is charged with the overdose deaths of Vu Nguyen, 28, of Lake Forest, and Joey Rovero, 21, an Arizona State University student from San Ramon, Calif. Testimony is expected to continue Wednesday.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/06/witness-recalls-kins-addiction-to-drugs.html

Rachel Maddow covers New Michigan Policy

2012-06-24T12:48:00.001-07:00