In the 2012 election is going to be particularly important that you discern the truth from fantasy, and the best way to do that is to look at an independent source that verifies facts. Check out www.politifact.com.

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Oppression is much more than a particular form of government. It is, rather, the systematic destruction of hope and self expression of a population in order to line the money and power pockets of a few. The interesting thing according to Gene Sharp is that that works because the people that are being oppressed tacitly play the games that are established by the few. In essence, the people prop up the very thing that is causing them to suffer.

I have often wondered what bit of magic caused people in the USA to constantly act and vote against their own self interests. Why would a retiree vote for a Congressman whose stated objective is to diminish or abolish Social Security or Medicare. It makes no sense. In the final analysis it’s because the buy into carefully woven rhetoric that appeals to them on emotional levels. Perhaps in the short run perception is reality, but in the long run reality will always end up biting you in the butt.

The 99% movement may take a bit of a different direction with the approach of winter. Now is a good time for some self reflection. How do you buy into the games of the 1%. Do you bank at Bank America or Chase? Are you a compulsive accumulator of stuff? Do you max your credit cards? If you want the world to change and remove the oppression of economics that has replaced political oppression, then the first step is to change yourself… and you can do that by learning more about Gene Sharp.

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In theory it sounds good, but in practice it didn’t work so well. The reality was that taxes for the wealthy were reduced tremendously, but taxes for everyone else were only marginally reduced. In fact, the highest bracket income tax rate was reduced from 70% to 28% during the Reagan presidency. During the Clinton years that rate went up to 39.6% then under George W. Bush fell back to 35%. So the wealthiest people saw their taxes cut in half. Remember, though, capital gains are far lower, so the wealthiest who earn money from investments have an effective tax rate below 20%.

If you look at charts about the accumulation of wealth and increase in income, you see that during the same time period the incomes of the wealthiest increased dramatically while the incomes of the labor force essentially stagnated.

Now here comes the real Voodoo. In order to distract average Americans from the fact that the wealthiest were running away with all the candy, conservative strategists, mainly in the Republican party had to come up with an economic mythology that would convince people who were getting the shaft that it was really in their best interest. Here are the key points of that theory.

1. Trickle Down Economics… if you give the candy to the rich guys they will give candy to everyone else. Today that means give the candy to the “job creators”.

2. Deficit Spending is Bad and the Democrats are really bad because they are the ones that do it.

3. Entitlements are why there is deficit spending.

4. The economy is most prosperous under Republican leadership.

Unfortuately, if you look at the actual data since 1980, none of that is true.

1. During the last few years the rich have had more candy than ever, but we have the highest unemployment. In fact, the employment is really much higher than the reported percent because the way it is computed minimizes the long term unemployed.

2. If you look at a chart of deficit spending by president, you will discover that the Republicans are really the deficit spenders. The champion was George W. Bush who was the king of deficit spending. The charts jump off the wall during his presidency.

3. There is deficit spending and a huge national debt because we did three things… fought a war in Iraq and in Afghanistan, had an unfunded tax cut (the Bush tax cuts), had an unfunded Medicare prescription program. All that happened during the Bush administration. Yes, we have definitely had deficits during the Obama administration, but most of that was aftershock from Bush.

4. The GNP has not done significantly better under Republicans. In fact, Bush tanked the economy. Yes, Reagan did see economic improvement, but many economists chalk that up to recovery from the immediately preceding recession.

All these facts are readily available by Google. Check them out for yourself.

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I want to share some research I’ve been doing on a fascinating South American fruit called Camu Camu. A picture is at the left. I found out about this little fruit from a friend of mine who was in a massive motorcycle accident. In fact, the doctors thought he would die. Well, he didn’t, but during the recovery he experienced massive pain from inflammation. Drugs didn’t really help much. Then he discovered Camu Camu and the pain an inflammation went away.

If you’re like me, you’ve heard about one miracle substance after another, and most of them are from one network marketing company or another. I really have a lot a skepticism about the next super-food to come along. But when you know someone that almost dies and is helped by a little round fruit, it tends to catch your attention.In face, take a look at the photo at the right and you’ll get some idea of the seriousness of the accident. I am not publishing some other pictures because, frankly, they are pretty graphic. Yet, in 5 weeks my friend was recovered. Unbelievable!

So, I decided to do some research on this Camu Camu stuff and discovered that it is the richest source of vitamin C on the planet… but it doesn’t stop there because it’s jam packed with all kinds of nutrients and anti-oxidants. Plus, there’s some solid research about Camu Camu.

read more about Camu Camu

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When I was a boy I was taught that policemen were your friends?

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OK… Get Ready To Connect Some Dots!

So What Gives With The Giant Jellyfish?

I remember walking on the Texas beaches and seeing jellyfish washed up on the shore. Less pleasant are memories of being stung by a Portuguese Man of War.  Both of these little 6 inch in diameter critters are no match for their 6 foot in diameter cousins that are invading the coast of Japan… and when I say invading, I mean that the fishing industry, particularly in small Japanese villages is collapsing. People who make their livings catching fish are now literally putting their fishing boats into dry dock because there are no fish to be fished. It’s so bad that some Japanese researchers are trying to figure out how to get people in Japan to start eating jellyfish. Yuk!

So what’s causing these jellyfish to thrive?

It turns out that the jellyfish really like warmer waters and even waters that have a bit of toxic acidity. Fish don’t. I don’t either. But those big giant bubbly masses of protoplasm think that warm acidic waters are like going on a vacation in the Bahamas. They love it. Hmmm….

So where do the acidic warm waters come from. The best theory is that the acidity comes from industrial pollution and the warm waters come from (you guessed it) global warming. The fantasy that is being perpetuated is that pollution and global warming is no big deal. The cold scientific facts just don’t support that fantasy.

But What’s That Got To Do With OWS?

Check out this video

The message here is the increasing gap in the United States between the rich and everyone else. The fantasies being perpetuated here are that giving money to the wealthy will make everyone else wealthy and that you can be wealthy too if only you work hard enough. The cold economic facts just don’t support those fantasies.

… but there is a common thread here that tell us we’ve got to turn around our thinking if we want a better world

Find out the common thread by clicking here

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So, when we were kids we all stood up in elementary school and ended the Pledge of Allegiance with the words, “with truth and justice for all.” That’s our heritage.

Unfortunately, that is not the reality we find in America. Instead, we have developed the idea of “too big to jail”… and that means that we have developed the idea that the powerful elite should not be held accountable for their actions for the good of the country, even if they have out and out committed clear crimes. Want a few examples?

• Gerald Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon for crimes committed in the Watergate scandal.
• Failure to investigate and prosecute the Iran-Contra scandal of the Reagan administration.
• Failure to investigate the torture, illegal wiretapping, and other crimes of the Bush administration.
• Failure to investigate and prosecute the illegal activities of Wall Street that led to the current administration.

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Some of my metaphysically oriented friends may not be happy with the notion that the Law of Attraction is a cop out for real social responsibility.  Yet, I see it more and more as the economy seems to get worse and worse.

The Law of Attraction that was popularized by Napoleon Hill in his book Think and Grow Rich was originally taught in a 24 week correspondence course taught by Charles Haanel. In fact, you can get this course free by registering with this site, http://www.enjoyabetterworld.com.  So, I am a big proponent of the Law of Attraction.

The essential Law of Attraction is that important stuff in our lives actually happens at a non-conscious level… that you have quintessential connections to the world around you and the universe at a non-conscious level and that is where the real action is. The conscious mind is what you use to “program” the non-conscious mind, and the main programming tool is visualization. So get the picture here (no pun intended). If you want to build a 40 story building you visualize the creation of the building on a number of levels. You use the conscious mind to create the blueprints… that’s the ultimate visualization for the form of the building. You make 3D models of what the building will look like. You even work out the budgets and financing on paper before they become reality. This conscious activity is what programs the non-conscious mind and ultimately turns the building from an idea into reality. See the metaphysics of the Law of Attraction in the following video.

Unfortunately, the teachings of Charles Haanel have been morphed into an idea that “like attracts like” and that “if you just think right you will be successful”. So, if you say “I am wealthy” in a mantra like fashion of daily affirmations you will be rich.

Click here to read more.

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OK, if you use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Linkedin or other social media it’s time to stand up and be counted.

In case you haven’t noticed, there is a concerted effort in the Congress to inhibit Americans from the free expression of their first amendment rights. Here’s the deal. If your ability to communicate with your fellow citizens through the internet is curtailed, then all the information you receive will be  controlled by a few media giants like Rupert Murdoch. And fundamentally that means that a small group of greedy people can keep you uninformed and pacified while they set things up to take everything you have.

Remember, it was through social media like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook that the spring Islamic revolution was able to take place in Egypt, Tunisia, and, now, Libya.

What’s happening…

The House appears to be poised to introduce a bill that would make sites like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook legally responsible for the content that people post to their sites. This is like holding AT&T and Sprint legally responsible for the content of conversations that are carried out over their phone lines. It’s nuts!

No site will be willing to take the risk of liability that such a law would impose, and the fat cats would once again squash your ability to communicate and coordinate with your friends and neighbors. So, if this law passes, expect these sites to simply shut down. It a pure power grab to keep you under the thumbs of the masters.

Here’s what you can do…

CLICK HERE and fill out the simple form that will let your Congressman know you don’t want them to sponsor or support this bill. DO IT NOW!

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