Rep. Jones: ‘No Hope for America’s Future’ Withou…: http://youtu.be/GT_DC3SmdAI

 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKLv1mItrZY
 

via Activist Post: Syrian Kurds, Not U.S. Military, Rescued Trapped Yazidis In Iraq.

Friday, August 15, 2014

Syrian Kurds, Not U.S. Military, Rescued Trapped Yazidis In Iraq

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
In a perfect example of how world events can be misconstrued in mainstream media outlets for propaganda purposes, recent reports regarding trapped Yazidis on Mt. Sinjar have been used as cover for the justification of an American bombing campaign in Iraq.
This tragedy, which is very real, has been presented to the American public as the reason that the U.S. military is engaging in “targeted airstrikes” in Iraq, despite the fact that the area where the airstrikes initially took place was Erbil, a “hub” for major international oil companies which is not “in the vicinity” of Mt. Sinjar.
Although some airstrikes did eventually take place near Mt. Sinjar, the truth is that the trapped Yazidis were used as an excuse for the American military to act as protection for oil fields and international oil interests.
Now, after reports have trickled in suggesting that conditions on the ground on Mt. Sinjar are “better than expected” and that many Yazidis have actually been able to escape the mountain to safer areas, the “rescue mission” that was in the works while oil interests were being secured is now being called off.
Of course, the mainstream Western press is attempting to paint the improved conditions on Mt. Sinjar as a success of the American military, U.S. Marines, and other related personnel. However, the fact is that the U.S. military personnel only ever engaged in air relief drops and“reconnaissance.”
The real heroes for the Mt. Sinjar Yazidis are not NATO military personnel, but Syrian Kurds. This is because groups of Syrian Kurdish fighters, upon learning of the fate of the people trapped on Mt. Sinjar, organized and battled through IS forces, militarily digging out a safe corridor by which to remove them from the mountain and give them safe passage into Syria or some other area.

In other words, while humanitarian air drops were in the process of being bungled by the West, Syrian Kurds entered Iraq in order to battle IS militants and carve out an escape route into safer territory.
As the Associated Press reported on August 12, “For the past few days, fighters have been rescuing Yazidis from the mountain, transporting them into Syrian territory to give them first aid, food and water, and returning some to Iraq via a pontoon bridge.”
Ismail Rashu, a Yazidi who had escaped to Kurdish Syria, stated “The (Kurdish fighters) opened a path for us. If they had not, we would still be stranded on the mountain.”
According to the United Nations, about 50,000 Yazidis had fled to Mt. Sinjar. By Sunday, however, around 45,000 of them had been rescued by the Syrian Kurdish forces. While thousands are still stranded on the mountain, it appears that help is indeed on the way – just not in the form of the American military and the U.S. Marine Corp.
In fact, the United States and its fellow NATO members are now abandoning a plan to “rescue” the trapped Yazidis as the majority have already been evacuated from the Mountain. The remaining people appear to be well on their way to relative safety.
According to the AP report,

Syrian Kurdish officials said soon after Yazidis fled their villages, they began fighting to create a safe passage. They clashed with Islamic State fighters upon entering Iraq, losing at least 9 fighters, but by Aug. 7 had secured a safe valley passage, cramming Yazidis into jeeps, trucks and cars to bring them some 25 miles (40 kilometers) away. Some of the ill were even rushed to hospital.

“We answered their cries for help. They were in danger and we opened a safe passage for them into safety,” said military official Omar Ali. “We saw that we had to help them and protect them; they are Kurds and part of our nation.”

While the vast majority of Americans who were casually paying attention to media reports regarding the trapped Yazidis will conclude that the victims were saved by the United States Marines and Western heroism, the fact is that the Syrian Kurdish forces, who are also locked in battle with Western-backed death squads in Syria, were the true heroes of this whole ordeal.
Without a doubt, it is important to remember that, if it were not for NATO and the United States, ISIS would never have been in Iraq to begin with and, thus, the Yazidis would never have suffered through this horrible affair.
Recently from Brandon Turbeville:

• U.S. Knew About 9/11 Warning, Staged Egypt Revolution: Ex Interior Minister
• NY State Candidate for Governor Arrested For Filming Police
• The Real Reason The US Is Bombing Iraq

Brandon Turbeville is an author out of Florence, South Carolina. He has a Bachelor’s Degree from Francis Marion University and is the author of six books, Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, Five Sense Solutions and Dispatches From a Dissident, volume 1and volume 2, and The Road to Damascus: The Anglo-American Assault on Syria. Turbeville has published over 300 articles dealing on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville’s podcast Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST at UCYTV.  He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com. 

Activist Post: Forbes Calls Consumer Reports Anti-Science in a Pro-GMO Rant That…Lacks Science.

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Forbes Calls Consumer Reports Anti-Science in a Pro-GMO Rant That…Lacks Science

Daisy Luther
Activist Post
Forbes Magazine is known for its lists of the wealthiest people and companies.  Frequently they use their influence to slyly support their big dollar buddies in the biotech industry.
Forbes successfully plumbed a new depth with an attack on Consumer Reports magazine last week.
Consumer Reports did an article ranking different milk substitutes for its readers.  In that report, they (gasp) referred to the inclusion of GMOs as a “con” in their review on soy milk.

This caused Forbes Magazine to release the hounds in defense of genetically modified foods everywhere.

The hound in this case was Jon Entine.  Entine, a pro-GMO activist, was very distressed by this report.  I know this because he said so, repeatedly, ranting his way through an entire article about how CR has let him down with their complete ignorance about science.

Which makes it all the more distressing that this once venerable institution-in-a-magazine has driven off the science cliff in obeisance to the current hysteria—yes, we are listening Neil deGrasse Tyson—over genetically modified foods…

But the most egregious CR development is its unexplained dissing of GMO soy milk. Upwards of 94% of the US soy crop is GMO so it’s no surprise that your favorite edamame or your morning glass of soy milk is made from soy beans designed to be grown with fewer insecticides (Bt soy) or less toxic herbicides (herbicide resistant soy). In its “Cons” section, CR encourages consumers to “Look for brands with the USDA organic seal or the non-GMO verified label.”

But why? It never explains, and based on CR’s stated intention to rely on evidence to form its judgments, it’s violating its own guidance. After all, there is not one published study that suggests that GM soy products are any less nutritious than alternatives; nor are they, or any approved GMO food, harmful in any way. In fact, it’s well established that organic products, including soy milk, are more likely to have a higher risk of pathogen contamination.

Just to recap here: Entine is upset that CR is letting consumers know that the ingredients in soy milk are most likely GMO. He seems to disregard the fact that if consumers are concerned about GMOs in their diets, this is legitimately, a “con” and is important information for those of us who wish to identify and avoid GMO. If the consumer doesn’t care about GMOs, he or she is unlikely to take this warning to heart and will blithely guzzle down the negatively-reviewed product.
Entine wants you to know that GMO soy is actually better for you, also – you know, because they use less insecticide and herbicide when growing it. (I must have missed the “science” that says that these plants are sprayed less – and also that if they are, that less chemicals are better than no chemicals – I hope someone can send me a link to those reports.  Please and thank you.)  As well, Entine takes a moment to point out the organic products are worse for you than GMOs (he must have forgotten to put in the evidence of this “well-established fact” because that link goes no where.)  It’s important to note that all of Entine’s “science” links back to his own site, pompously called the Genetic Literacy Project. Because the rest of us are…you know…illiterate. His theories are remarkably similar to the propaganda and the lies that the biotech industry espouses.
But Entine doesn’t stop with praising the health benefits of GMOs and the likelihood of a horrid death-by-pathogens from that nasty organic food.
Oh no.
His ire takes on a  target  completely unrelated to Consumer Reports, the Organic Consumers Association.  The “radical Organic Consumers Association.” (Because we all know those organic food hippies are just crazy.) While he’s on the topic of how awesome GMO soymilk is, he took this opportunity to criticize both the OCA and a company that responded to activists by removing GMOs from their soy milk, all in one condescending fell swoop.

This is not the first time that activists have brandished their anti-science club to quash empirical based thinking on the issue of soy milk. In 2009, Dean FoodsDF +0.88%, owner of the Silk Soymilk brand, faced a barrage of criticism from food activists when it switched from organic to conventional soybeans, calling it their “natural” line—which was correct. The move was actually done for the best of reasons. Most certified organic soybeans are sourced from countries with low or non-existent labor standards; the switch to conventional soy means that workers would not being exploited to satisfy Silk Soymilk customers.

The radical Organic Consumers Association went on a rampage, calling for a boycott—and it was effective. Rather than stand by its ideals and its fair labor commitment, Dean caved, throwing its worker protection pledge under the bus to embrace the anti-GMO scare campaign. It now positions itself as a driver of the fear bus. “GMOs? No thanks,” Silk.com writes on its web page. “We think the less you mess with Mother Nature, the better.”

Kevin Folta, the head of the University of Florida plant technology program, who is clearly unbiased *snort* in his support of GMOs, pointed out unhappily that Consumer Reports, by criticizing GMOs, gave ”a backdoor endorsement of organic and non-GMO verified brands.”  Isn’t it interesting how suggesting one thing is bad, Consumer Reports is accused of endorsing something else?
Entine summed up his disappointment with Consumer Reports’ anti-GMO stance with his own unsubstantiated pronouncement:

The only difference between soy milk made with GM soy and alternatives is that the substituttes (sic) would almost certainly cost a heckuva a lot more because of the price premium extracted by organic producers. In other words consumers would be paying more for no benefits.

Is that the kind of advice that you want from Consumer Reports? How to spend more for new (sic) real benefits?

Forbes Magazine has a history of promoting the interests of Big Business. If you google “Forbes and GMOs” you’ll find a long list of pro-Biotech propaganda, including 2000+ Reasons GMOs Are Safe to Eat (also penned by Entine, who must get a heck of a Christmas present each year from the folks who sell GMO seeds.) Meanwhile, Forbes mocks organic consumers as “agricultural narcissists.”
The creators of the famous Forbes 500 lists have a dubious interest in educating the public if it might lower the net worth of companies with questionable ethics like Monsanto and Dow. In fact, articles like these could potentially manipulate markets by using their influence to attempt to sway public opinion. By setting themselves up as well-educated experts and condescending to the rest of us ignorant fools with ad hominem cries of “anti-science”, they promote the money makers: low quality, dirt cheap ingredients that can be highly processed and marked up with an enormous profit margin.
But honestly. Forbes really just wants you to have the scoop about genetic modification. Forbes Magazine wants you to know that GMOs are good for you, and that organics contain deadly pathogens. Forbes cares about you.

Further reading

• Techniques of Propaganda and Persuasion
• GMO Free Diet: How to stay healthy by identifying and avoiding dangerous foods
• We’re Monsanto: Feeding the World, Lie After Lie
• Organic: A Journalist’s Quest to Discover the Truth behind Food Labeling

Daisy Luther is a freelance writer and editor who lives in a small village in the Pacific Northwestern area of the United States.  She is the author of The Pantry Primer: How to Build a One Year Food Supply in Three Months. On her website, The Organic Prepper, Daisy writes about healthy prepping, homesteading adventures, and the pursuit of liberty and food freedom.  Daisy is a co-founder of the website Nutritional Anarchy, where this first appeared, which focuses on resistance through food self-sufficiency. Daisy’s articles are widely republished throughout alternative media. You can follow her on Facebook, Pinterest,  and Twitter, and you can email her at daisy@theorganicprepper.ca

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via Watch “Travis County District Attorney Lehmberg’s Booking” Video at Ben Swann Truth In Media Videos.

Art is not made to decorate rooms. It is an offensive weapon in the defense against the enemy – Picasso

Artist Michael D’Antuono

Activist Post
Deemed “one of the world’s most controversial artists” by more than one foreign publication, Michael D’Antuono is known for making art that challenges people to think more deeply about sociopolitical issues. His work has received high praise from fellow artists Shepard Fairey and Banksy.
In 2009 D’Antuono created a firestorm with his painting “The Truth” as seen above. The artist’s intent was to the to let the diverse interpretations of the piece expose how badly people’s political prejudice distort subjectivity and how dangerously divided we are as a nation. The piece worked too well, igniting such great protest that D’Antuono had to cancel his planned installation in New York’s Union Square Park on President Obama’s 100th day in office. The painting became an international news story with much-received hate mail. D’Antuono finally had the opportunity to exercise his first amendment right to exhibit the painting at an art exhibition in Boston in 2012. Once again the painting created a firestorm. Former Presidential candidate Herman Caine denounced the piece, and the president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights called for its removal from exhibition. Surprisingly, Glenn Beck defended the artist’s right to exhibit his art by devoting a show to it and another one with Michael as his guest.
D’Antuono’s provocative takes on racism, class warfare, the environment, corporate influence and other hot-button issues have made him the object of censorship and derision by those who want to protect the status-quo. Yet he continues to make art that speaks truth to power, perpetuating the historic role of the artist to spark social change.
Activist Post is happy to have been given the opportunity by Michael to present his paintings in our articles. Please see Michael D’Antuono at work in the video below, and visit his site at Art and Response.

Activist Artist Michael D’Antuono Upends the Establishment
Activist
Sat, 16 Aug 2014 13:25:00 GMT

Anthony Freda Art

Michael Snyder
Activist Post
Is the Obama administration looking to stir up more trouble in Ferguson?  “Protest marshals” from the same Department of Justice division that organized protests against George Zimmerman in the aftermath of the shooting of Trayvon Martin have been deployed to the troubled city.  It is being reported that these DOJ agents will be “conducting training” for Ferguson protesters that will focus on “best practices for participating in protests”.
Local officials in Missouri hope that this will help defuse the situation, but if history is any guide it may end up doing just the opposite. According to the head of Judicial Watch, the Community Relations Service of the Department of Justice “has a record of racially inflammatory rhetoric that is extreme in ideology and cynical in its politics”.  Could these Ferguson protests ultimately be used to take us to the next level in the inflammation of racial tensions in America?
What we have seen play out in Ferguson over the past few days demonstrates so much of what is wrong in this country.
The initial rioting and looting in the city was a prime example of the extreme social decay that is eating away at the foundations of our nation.  And it showed how rapidly the streets of our major cities could potentially descend into chaos.
And then the absolutely brutal response by the police was a perfect example of how our society is rapidly being transformed into a heavily militarized police state.
Now that the Obama administration is getting involved, who knows what is going to happen next.

According to the Daily Caller, two “protest marshals” have already been deployed to Ferguson so far…

Two Department of Justice “protest marshals” are in Ferguson, Mo., to help train people taking part in demonstrations over the fatal police shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

That’s according to Ferguson mayor James Knowles, who spoke with The Daily Caller Wednesday evening.

We are being told that they will be “conducting training for the groups on best practices for participating in protests”.
That sounds good, but as Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch has pointed out, this particular Department of Justice division has a troubled history…

Responding to news that the Justice Department has dispatched its Community Relations Service to the scene of racially charged unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, the head of the Washington watchdog group Judicial Watch says it’s time for a civil rights investigation of Attorney General Eric Holder’s agency.

“Eric Holder’s Justice Department is unfortunately not to be trusted on racial matters,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton in an interview with WND.

Under Holder’s leadership, he said, the department “has a record of racially inflammatory rhetoric that is extreme in ideology and cynical in its politics.”

“The idea that this Justice Department could be trusted to mediate is highly suspect,” he said.

So precisely what kind of “coaching” and “training” will these protesters be receiving?
In a previous article, I discussed how Judicial Watch has documented the fact that the Community Relations Service helped “organize and manage rallies and protests against George Zimmerman” back in 2012.  This assistance also included spending quite a bit of money, arranging meetings between the NAACP and local leaders, and even providing police escorts for protesters.
Let us certainly hope that the DOJ does not choose to inflame the situation, because Ferguson is already essentially a war zone at this point.
On Wednesday night, police used smoke bombs, tear gas, flash bang grenades, rubber bullets and LRAD sound cannons against protesters.  You can see footage of some of the police brutality in the video posted below…

And it isn’t just “young punks” that are being brutalized. In an Instagram photo that you can view right here, you can see the gruesome wound that was created when a white female pastor was shot while she was peacefully praying.
There is no excuse for that.  The whole world is watching what is going on, and they are absolutely disgusted with us.
Thankfully, the Governor of Missouri is taking charge of the situation. Governor Nixon has put the Missouri State Highway Patrol in charge, and he is promising a change in “tone”.  The following comes from a CNN report…

Gov. Jay Nixon said he decided to put the Missouri State Highway Patrol in charge of security because “at this particular point, the attitudes weren’t improving, and the blocks towards expression appeared to be a flashpoint.”

Lately, the community of Ferguson, which has been the scene of clashes in the wake of a weekend police shooting that left teenager Michael Brown dead, has looked “more like a war zone, and it’s not acceptable,” Nixon said.

Now, authorities — who’ve faced accusations that they’ve used excessive force in response to demonstrations — will be taking a different tack in an effort to calm tensions, officials said Thursday.

“We’re all about making sure that we allow peaceful and appropriate protests, that we use force only when necessary, that we step back a little bit and let some of the energy be felt in this region, appropriately,” Nixon said.

That sounds good, but what is going to happen if protesters start foolishly throwing Molotov cocktails once again?
Will the police be able to show restraint at that point?
And how will the Department of Justice “protest marshals” change the equation?
Will they calm things down, or will they end up inflaming the situation?
Please feel free to share what you think by posting a comment below…
Related:
The Truth About the Ferguson Riots & Martial Law
This article first appeared here at the American Dream. Michael Snyder is a writer, speaker and activist who writes and edits his own blogs The American Dream and Economic Collapse Blog. Follow him on Twitter here.

Stirring The Pot: DOJ Sends ‘Marshals’ To ‘Coach’ The Protesters In Ferguson
Activist
Fri, 15 Aug 2014 13:19:00 GMT

NH Governor Declares State Of Emergency Over “Spice” Overdoses | Ben Swann Truth In Media.

Concord, NH- Governor Maggie Hassan (D-Exeter) declared a state of emergency last Thursday in response to dozens of reported overdoses related to synthetic marijuana, often called “spice”.

The state of emergency will be in effect for 21 days unless an order is made to end the declaration early or to extend it. About 44 people have been reported to experience adverse reactions to the product; around half of those overdoses required hospitalization.

Spice is generally marketed as potpourri or incense on their packaging and often labeled “not for consumption”, but product users commonly smoke it, ingest it or brew it into tea because the products are sprayed with synthetic cannabinoids. The synthetic compounds have been claimed to mimic the effects of marijuana, but with more dangerous and intense reactions.

According to the press release, “The declaration of a State of Emergency triggers the Department of Health and Human Services public health powers under RSA 21-P:53 or any other applicable statute to investigate, isolate or quarantine and require the destruction of the commodity in question.”  The overdoses have mainly been reported in the Manchester area, and a few have been documented in Concord.

“These spice products can be treated with a variety of things, some of them are showing up with controlled substances that make them illegal, but we don’t know that that’s true for all of them,”said Hassan.

Although spice has been legal to sell, police and health officials are now searching for the “Smacked” brand of spice in bubblegum flavor. The state of emergency declaration allows for the bubblegum “Smacked” spice to be pulled from store shelves. There are several other brands and flavors of spice, but “Smacked” is the brand that officials are claiming caused the overdoses.

Manchester Police Sgt. Brian O’Keefe said that Chief David Mara is discussing with city officials the possibility of a spice ban within Manchester.

Matt Simon, New England Political Director of  Marijuana Policy Project, said “It’s very important for people to understand that these drugs are not ‘synthetic marijuana.’ That’s about as accurate as calling methamphetamine ‘synthetic coffee.’ If adults could legally choose to use marijuana, it’s hard to imagine that there would be much demand for these dangerous substitutes.”

“This is just another reason to end marijuana prohibition,” said Simon.

Police in New Hampshire cities including Nashua and Manchester are checking convenience stores and gas stations for the product. A store owner in Pelham was arrested on Friday and charged with two counts of felony drug sales for selling the substance. Three stores in Manchester have been shut down after police said those stores were selling the product.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTvNt_5-Bkg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJHdUEv0Mnk

 

Judge Jeanine’s EPIC RANT ➡ In Favor Of Gov. Rick Perry! ➡ Indictment HOGWASH! – YouTube.

» Feds React to Militarized Cops in Ferguson Alex Jones’ Infowars: There’s a war on for your mind!.

by KURT NIMMO | INFOWARS.COM | AUGUST 17, 2014

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» Report: Police Told to Stand Down During Looting in Ferguson Alex Jones’ Infowars: There’s a war on for your mind!.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIr6F7beG3U]

D23.com | Remembering Robin Williams: We’ve Never Had A Friend Like Him | **Homepage Features, In Memoriam.

Missouri Police State; Infowars Reporters Gassed, Shot and Blocked On Facebook – YouTube http://ow.ly/AniRL

Robin Williams was a natural fit for the USO, with a magical ability to connect with every service member he met – he shook every hand, signed every autograph and lifted every spirit.

For 12 years, Robin generously gave his time to create special moments for more than 89,000 servicemen and women. His humor helped ease their loneliness, fear and uncertainty while they served to protect our freedom in remote locations far from home.

Everyone who met Robin has a special memory, and we want to share some of the amazing photos and stories from his USO tours.

Click here to see the USO’s tribute to Robin Williams, “He Brought Them Light,” and learn more about more about his dedication to our men and women in uniform.

The USO holds Robin Williams and his family in our hearts, and we thank him for all he did for those that do so much for all of us – the men and women of our Armed Forces. He will always be a part of our USO family and will be sorely missed.

Thank you,

Brigadier General John I. Pray Jr., USAF (Ret.)
Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff, USO

USO NEWS

“He Brought Them Light’: How Robin Williams Turned his USO Tours into Personal Experiences for Troops

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

By Eric Brandner

Today, the audience gets to tell the story.

The photos of service members posing with Robin Williams flowing through social media feeds the past 24 hours say more than any condolence statement could. 

There is Williams with a pair of female service members in Djibouti in 2004. Posing with a soldier after a long flight at Camp Speicher, Iraq, in 2007. Signing autographs during a holiday tour of Afghanistan in late 2010.

Those were hard times for people in uniform. But for a moment, Williams managed to make almost everyone he met in those conflict zones smile.

“There were these guys behind a fence, across a berm [and] a field, and they waved at him,” said USO Vice President of Entertainment Rachel Tischler, recalling her time with Williams during the 2007 USO Chairman’s Holiday Tour. “And he jumped across the berm and went running over to them. Obviously, our security team completely freaked out. Again – height of the war here.  But he didn’t care. He just wanted to go over and shake their hands and thank them. And that is what he was like.”

A friend and entertainer to American service members around the globe, Williams was found dead in his Tiburon, California, home Monday afternoon in what the Marin County Sheriff’s Office characterized as a suspected suicide. He was 63.

Williams went on six USO tours from 2002 to 2013, including five overseas. He visited troops in 12 foreign countries, making three stops to both Iraq and Afghanistan.

See Album here: http://www.photosnack.com/FF9BC98F8D6/ptilwm9m

“There’s nothing I enjoy more than traveling with the USO and giving back to our troops in whatever way I can,” Williams said during his 2007 USO tour led by then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen. “They work hard, sacrifice a lot and deserve to be treated like the heroes they are. The very least I can do is bring a smile to their faces.”

The connections didn’t end when he left the stage. One of Williams’ legacies will be the photos with men and women in various shades of camo squinting and smiling at camera phones in the middle of the desert. He openly discussed his struggles with them, too.

“He talked to [troops] who had gone through [Alcoholics Anonymous] backstage,” said USO Senior Vice President John Hanson, who also went on the 2007 tour. “That was the most remarkable thing. It happened in Kuwait, it happened in Iraq, it happened in Afghanistan. People would seek him out and he would take the time to talk to them.”

According to Tischler, Williams was always cognizant of playing to the military audience’s shared experiences.

“What was great about him on tour was that he always took the time to sit down and talk to people about what they were going through, what life on the base was like, about personal experiences,” Tischler said. “And then he’d get on stage and he’d be telling a joke about Mexican Night in the [dining facility].

“He already put on a great show, but now it was just for the people who were there and no one else would have gotten the jokes. … It made the moment even more amazing for them because he’s talking about what they went through.

“We’d land and we had a show in five minutes and in the course of … walking to a stage, he somehow found someone and got that information and put it in a routine. It was absolutely mind-blowing.”

His fellow entertainers were impressed, too.

“His generosity of spirit was as boundless as his comedy,” comedian Lewis Black wrote on Twitter on Monday night. Black also performed on the 2007 USO Chairman’s Holiday Tour. “I will miss him terribly.”

The USO’s Entertainment team estimates Williams performed for or visited with more than 89,000 service members during his 12-plus years of volunteering.

“When our service members had the opportunity to see him in person, they knew they were seeing an icon of comedy, but it was more than that,” said John Pray, the USO’s executive vice president and chief of staff. “It was someone who actually understood their own trials and tribulations and struggles as they dealt with loneliness, fear, uncertainty and a variety of negative emotions.

“He brought them light and took them away for a period of time from those challenges and gave them a chance to recharge.”

** Read about more moments from Robin Williams’ 2007 USO tour including a touching exchange with a service member on the USO blog.  **

– See more at: http://www.uso.org/robin-williams-uso-tours/?utm_source=WM14RBNE01&utm_campaign=1408_RBN&sc=WM14RBNE01&utm_medium=email&ta=0#sthash.2D8c7OXE.dpuf

A potential showdown this fall over the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank (or, Ex-Im Bank) could be a bellwether of just how much Ron Paul and the Liberty Movement have changed the discussion in Washington, D.C. over the past six years.
In a post titled “Welcome to Dave Brat’s America: Majority Leader-elect Kevin McCarthy says Kill the Export-Import Bank,” columnist Tim Carney, and long-time advocate for killing the Ex-Im Bank, writes:

[McCarthy’s] announcement today shows a clear shift within the Republican Party against corporate welfare.
If McCarthy refuses to bring an Ex-Im renewal to the floor, the agency would expire, regardless of the actions of the Senate and the White House, both controlled by Democrats.

But the fight to take down the Ex-Im Bank, a longstanding symbol of all that is wrong with crony capitalism and corporate welfare, predates Brat’s historic win over Eric Cantor, who successfully attacked the Majority Leader on those grounds.
Back in 2002, Dr. Ron Paul encouraged his colleagues to reject the Ex-Im Bank on economic, moral, and constitutional grounds.

Eximbank distorts the market by allowing government bureaucrats to make economic decisions in place of individual consumers. Eximbank also violates basic principals of morality, by forcing working Americans to subsidize the trade of wealthy companies that could easily afford to subsidize their own trade, as well as subsidizing brutal governments like Red China and the Sudan. Eximbank also violates the limitations on congressional power to take the property of individual TRcitizens and use them to benefit powerful special interests.

As always, Washington, D.C. is a little slow to catch up. By late 2008, in the throws of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the American people were starting to realize the effects of crony capitalism, and began to look for answers. Many found them by reading books like Meltdown and Obamanomics, or by watching old Ron Paul floor speeches on YouTube or in CSPAN’s archives.
In 2012, Senator Rand Paul urged his colleagues to reject the Ex-Im Bank. It passed the Senate that year 78-20, and the House passed it 330-93.
If Carney’s prediction holds, it would be a huge blow to the crony capitalists and a major victory for free markets. And a sign that as Bob Dylan sang,  ”For the times they are a-changin’!”
Take a moment today to contact your representative and urge them to oppose any attempt to reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank in 2014.
The post Ron Paul and the Liberty Movement have changed the discussion in Washington, D.C. appeared first on Campaign for Liberty.

Ron Paul and the Liberty Movement have changed the discussion in Washington, D.C.
Tim Shoemaker
Mon, 23 Jun 2014 17:30:19 GMT

Activist Post: Elites Gather at Google Camp to Discuss Calico Life Extension Tech http://ow.ly/Ajf0a

Elites Gather at Google Camp to Discuss Calico Life Extension Tech

James Hall
Activist PostWhen the billionaire tech jet-set decides to let down their hair, what do they talk about around the campfire? According to the New Your Times, “Google is sponsoring an elite conference this week at a golf resort in Sicily, with a guest list of chief executives, investors and celebrities, all of whom were invited to bring their families. On the agenda are high-minded discussions of global issues — along with relaxation by the Mediterranean Sea.” How quaint! . . . For the real scoop, Here’s What Went On At Google’s Exclusive Conference For The Rich And Famous In Sicily.

Sicilian blogger Tony Siino talked to an attendee about what went on, and told Business Insider via email that the conference, dubbed “The Camp,” was three-days of intellectual discussions, relaxation, and sight-seeing. According to Siino’s source, morning discussions included a wide range of topics, including how to extend human life and the design of cities of the future.

Reported by NBC local TV channel in the Bay Area has “guests include Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd C. Blankfein, executives from German and Spanish banks, Uber chief Travis Kalanick, Tesla boss Elon Musk, Comcast CEO Brian L. Roberts and Snapchat boss Evan Spiegel. Also on hand is Ben Horowitz, venture capitalist with Marc Andreessen at make-or-break Silicon Valley fund Andreessen Horowitz.”
Spending quality time with the family between sessions in the next round of tech discoveries hardly seems to be the best use of time. Yet, time may well be the ultimate objective if you can uncover the mysteries of anti-aging research. Life Extension Magazine reports that Google Life Extension is investing in a venture called California Life Company, or Calico for short, and its goal is to extend human life by 20 to 100 years.
At this point, Google is being highly secretive about their plans for Calico. All Google would reveal is that Calico will focus “in particular on the challenge of aging and associated diseases.”

Calico could produce startlingly counterintuitive breakthroughs as a result of Google’s strengths in the following areas:

• Non-commercial dedication — rather than a focus on commercial marketing of mediocre drugs as pharmaceutical companies now do.
• Vast consumer access and core data-handling skills — with unprecedented data gathering, pattern-matching, and causal-relationship detection.
• Ability to attract the brightest minds — potentially preferring to work on life-and-death problems instead of cutesy apps and games.

Further speculation in an essay – How’s Google Dabbling in Health, Life, DNA, and Immortality? – cites areas of research has cutting-edge technology pushing the limits of the wheel of life itself.

A CNN article listed a few common subjects, like cryonics (a process where the body is preserved in liquid nitrogen), cryotherapy (which exposes injured patients to very low temperatures for short periods of time), cloning and body part replacement, nanotechnology (deploying small robots to overcome the problem of incorrect DNA replication, one cause of aging), and even research into telomeres, the ends of a chromosome that protect cells against degradation.

Hidden within a “feel good” sentiment behind the altruism to elevate the life span of the human race is an unconvincing skepticism. In an article like Google Wants You to Live 170 Years, just does not seem believable to a rational observer.

What Google brings to the table is data. “Not just one set of data, multiple forms,” says Harry Glorikian, founder of life sciences consulting firm Scientia Advisors. “Search data, GPS data, all sorts of other pieces, electronic breadcrumbs that you produce all out there to get a picture of you.”

This data could be paired with each person’s genome — a partial genome can be mapped today for $99 via 23andMe (another Google investment), but many are hoping a full genome will cost as much in the next few years.

Even if such ambitious projections that life extension might become commonplace for the masses, it does not guarantee that everyone will be a candidate for future “Camp” invitations. Google hardly needs to market the secrets of the gods in order to maintain or enhance their cashflow. The Globe and Mail describes the gathering, “Like the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland – an annual gathering of the elite at a snowy ski resort – the upstart conference from Google projects an aura of exclusivity. Its existence has not previously been disclosed.”
Following the example of other enigmatic elitist stratagems, “The Camp” shows no signs of a charitable motivation when the onion is peeled. Michael Downey in the account, Google Wants To Extend Your Life laments that not enough is being done to achieve the holy grail of Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth.

Tragically, while the government spends over $3 billion annually on “health concerns” of the elderly, it operates on the assumption that aging is not a disease. Corporations lack the longer-term view needed. And extremely few of the world’s 1,426 billionaires, with a total net worth of $5.4 trillion, have included anti-aging research in their charities.

Do you really believe that the beautiful people, much less, the corporatist return-on-assets crowd, or the great democracies of the planet are eager to share any medical, genetic or nanotech leaps forward with the chattel serfs? Attending boot camp for the peasants is quite different from rubbing elbows with these Nouveau riche Sicilian Dons in the global technocratic mafia. The blueblood patricians of the banksters’ families will enlighten their newly made men into the rules and ways of the global syndicate.
The Calico family franchise promises to be more alluring than the temporary ecstasy of a drug high. Most godless souls want to live forever, since rejecting an afterlife is automatic to such atheistic masters of the universe. Google has proven to be a “New Age” android. Hence, it is natural for apps, developed to manage the life cycle, to become part of the smart set. The key question is will the source code become available to the masses, or will the elites maintain the restricted knowledge only for their devil witch coven?
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