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The Reality Of ‘Finding Nemo’s’ Marine Life

December 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By , Tuesday, December 13, 12:36 AM

The underwater world on display in Disney’s “Finding Nemo” is teeming with a dizzying array of cheery creatures, from sea turtles to seahorses and mackerel to sharks. So a team of Canadian and U.S. scientists decided to assess the mythical ecosystem inhabited by the small clownfish and his friends to see how their real-world counterparts were faring.

It turns out that when it comes to surviving in a non-Pixar sea, being adorable isn’t enough.

Sixteen percent of the species associated with characters in “Finding Nemo” that have been evaluated face the threat of extinction, according to the study, which was conducted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Canada’s Simon Fraser University. The analysis of 1,568 species is not just a whimsical look at American popular culture and its cartoon characters. It reveals how humans treat some of the ocean’s most charismatic inhabitants.

“These are species that should be doing better because they are the ones we care about,” said Loren McClenachan, a post-doctoral fellow at Simon Fraser University. She said that highly migratory species such as turtles, sharks and rays are particularly vulnerable to fisheries and other human pressures. “They’ve got life histories that cause them to interact with people wherever they go,” McClenachan said.

The Oscar-winning 2003 Disney/Pixar movie, which details how the clownfish Marlin defies all odds to save his son from the aquarium trade, has a conservation message. But the film actually inspired a booming aquarium trade in the bright orange fish with white stripes, significantly reducing native clownfish populations on coral reefs in Australia and elsewhere.

While the IUCN classifies clownfish as a “species of least concern,” meaning it does not face an imminent extinction risk, 18 percent of the evaluated species that are related to Nemo — those of the scientific family Pomacentridae — are at risk of extinction. There have been few formal scientific assessments of coral reef fish populations that are sought by the aquarium trade, McClenachan said, so “it’s very hard to know the true extent of the aquarium, live reef and curio trade.”

Disney officials could not be reached for comment.

Boris Worm, a marine biologist at Canada’s Dalhousie University who has reviewed the study, which is being published Tuesday in the journal Conservation Letters, said the clownfish boomlet underscores the complex relationship humans have with marine species.

“When people see a beautiful film about tigers, they don’t go out and shoot a tiger. They don’t go out and purchase a tiger,” Worm said in an interview. “In the case of things in the ocean, they think, ‘I care about them, so I’d like to have them,’ or, ‘I care about them, that’s why I’d like to fish them.’ ”

Direct exploitation is the key driver of many of the species’ decline. Many sharks are being targeted to make the Asian delicacy shark fin soup; seahorses are coveted as curios. Other species, such as sea turtles, are vulnerable because they can easily get entangled in commercial fishing gear and because their nesting areas have been trampled or hampered by development.

A survey of the animals with speaking parts in “Finding Nemo” gives a decent sense of how these species are doing. More than half of all hammerhead sharks (personified by “Anchor” in the movie) face a threat of extinction, according to the IUCN, along with all species of marine turtles (“Squirt” and “Crush”).

Those species, McClenachan said, “are more threatened than the most threatened vertebrates on land.”

Neil Hammerschlag, a research assistant professor at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science who studies sharks, said many people are unaware that sharks are under such pressure.

“They are truly the celebrities of the ocean,” Hammerschlag wrote in an e-mail. “Despite their legendary status, most people are unaware that sharks are literally being fished to extinction.”

Nicholas K. Dulvy, who co-authored the study and serves as the Canadian Research Chair in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, said the group of species he and his colleagues analyzed is not representative of the ocean as a whole. It is “a biased sample, but it’s biased in interesting ways,” he said. Because the movie focuses on coral reefs and areas in the Indo-Pacific, he said, it captures key regions of “the world’s biodiversity.”

In some cases, these populations are beginning to rebound. Nesting populations of marine turtles in Costa Rica increased by more than fivefold between 1971 and 2003, for example, after authorities began protecting nesting females there. And the Convention on Migratory Species’ 116 member parties will ban fishing for giant manta rays and impose measures to safeguard their habitat after the group voted to protect the species.

Dulvy, who also chairs the IUCN Shark Specialist Group, said the paper aims to highlight the “conservation bottleneck” many species face even after researchers have documented their steep population declines. Fewer than 10 percent of the threatened shark and ray species surveyed by the study are protected under the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

CITES Director-General John E. Scanlon said in a recent interview that his group is working to build political support to protect additional marine species, as well as to raise funds from member nations to support legal enforcement of wildlife trade bans. While many focus on the prospect of how climate change may drive some species out of existence, he said, “All the time we’re planning, we’re losing biodiversity through illegal trade and unsustainable trade of species. Why don’t we deal with the here and now?”

For the four authors of the Nemo paper, focusing on the here and now meant watching the movie four or five times. But Dulvy said he came away with a better impression of the film than when he first saw it eight years ago, especially after watching Bruce the Shark struggle with his pledge to stop eating fish.

“They tried to portray sharks in a way more positive way than is usually done. But they showed them to be fallible, which makes them closer to reality,” he said. “I really enjoyed it.”

 

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/the-reality-of-finding-nemos-marine-life/2011/12/12/gIQAw0QYqO_story_1.html

 

Filed Under: Media Tagged With: ,

Ready For Life ‘Off The Grid’?: GBTV Launches Reality Show ‘Independence USA’

December 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By

The show follows Frank Belcastro and his family as they try and become completely independent and prepare for life “off the grid.”

Here’s the news release:

GBTV LAUNCHES ITS FIRST REALITY SHOW- INDEPENDENCE U.S.A.

This January 2012, Join the Belcastro Family as They Prepare for an Independent Life Off the Grid. The show will debut on January 18th 2012 and will air weekly on Wednesdays.

Concerned that the economy could collapse? Or that a natural disaster could wipe out our infrastructure? So is Frank, and he is doing something about it!

Believing that America has become too reliant on a crumbling foundation, Frank is preparing his family for life “off the grid,” admiring the way people lived in the 19th century. Like them, he longs to become completely independent. So he is embarking on one project at a time hoping to prepare his family for the worst, such as building a car that runs on wood in case gasoline supplies are interrupted, becoming expert hunters when grocery stores are no longer in existence, and making his own alcohol for barter when the dollar collapses.

Frank does it all with determination, intelligence, and good humor. He’ll need all that and more, as he attempts to motivate a family that neither shares his fervor nor wishes to sacrifice the comforts and conveniences of 21st century life. In the series premiere- “A Hunting We Will Go”- we meet the Belcastro’s as they set out on a journey to be a self-sufficient family. Frank wants the family to be able to hunt and kill their own food but not every one is on board. Starting with making their own weapons Frank and his son Adam really learn an appreciation for the hunt but wonder if they will succeed.

 

Source: https://www.theblaze.com/stories/ready-for-life-off-the-grid-gbtv-launches-reality-show-independence-u-s-a/

Filed Under: Media, Self-Sustainability, USA

Britain’s Press Are Fighting A Class War, Defending The Elite They Belong To

December 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By

It’s not just Rupert Murdoch and his crooks. All the corporate barons who corrupted our political system must be unmasked. Have we ever been so badly served by the press? We face multiple crises – economic, environmental, democratic – but most newspapers represent them neither clearly nor fairly. The industry that should reveal and expose instead tries to contain and baffle, to foil questions and shut down dissent.

The men who own the corporate press are fighting a class war, seeking, even now, to defend the 1% to which they belong against its challengers. But because they control much of the conversation, we seldom see it in these terms. Our press re-frames major issues so effectively, it often recruits its readers to mobilise against their own interests.

Crime and antisocial behaviour are represented as the predations of the poor on each other, or on the middle and upper classes. “Blonde millionaire’s wife raped in luxury home by asylum-seeking benefits cheat” is the transcendental form of a thousand tabloid headlines, alongside “Pippa Middleton’s bottom gets £1m makeover from top designer”. Though benefit fraud deprives the exchequer of £1.1bn a year while tax avoidance and evasion deprive it of between £40bn and £120bn, the tabloids relentlessly pursue the petty crooks, while leaving the capos alone.

On Monday the rightwing papers applauded government plans to cut benefits for people in social housing who have more rooms than they need. The “growing scandal of under-occupation”, the Mail observed, contributes to the housing crisis, depriving larger families of the homes they need. The Express told us that “it is only right that decisions such as this must be taken”. But what about the private sector, where there’s a much higher rate of under-occupation, especially among the wealthy? When this column suggested that these under-used homes should be taxed, the corporate press went berserk. Only the poorest should carry the cost of resolving our housing crisis.

Not a day passes in which rightwing papers fail to call for stiffer regulation of protesters, problem families, petty criminals or antisocial teenagers. And every day they call for laxer regulation of business: cutting the “red tape” that prevents companies and banks from using the planet as their dustbin, killing workers or tanking the economy.

The newspapers’ own criminal behaviour, more of which is being exposed before the Leveson inquiry as I write, looks to me like the almost inevitable result of a culture that appears to believe that the law, like taxes and regulation, is for little people. While portraying the underclass as a threat to “our” way of life, the corporate papers ask us to celebrate the lives of the economic elite. Saturday’s Telegraph devoted most of a page to a puff piece flogging the charming jumpers being sold by a Santa Sebag-Montefiore (nee Palmer-Tomkinson) from her “white stucco Kensington House”. She works – if that’s the right word for it – with someone she met at Klosters, where she and her family “ski with the Prince of Wales and Princes William and Harry”. So far they have managed to sell 40 of these jumpers, which somehow justifies an enormous photo and 1,400 breathless words.

I mention this sycophantic drivel not because it is exceptional but because it is typical. A friend who used to work as a freelance photographer for the Telegraph stopped when he discovered that most of those he was sent to photograph were the well-heeled friends and relatives of people on the paper. Journalism is embedded in the world it should be challenging and confronting.

These papers recognise the existence of an oppressive elite, but they frame it purely in political terms. The political elite becomes oppressive when it tries to curb the powers and freedoms of the economic elite. Take this revealing conjunction in the Daily Mail’s leading article on Saturday: “David Cameron yesterday finally said no to the European elite – vetoing plans for a treaty that included an EU-wide tax on financial transactions.” In other words, Cameron said yes to the British elite. But it cannot be explained in those terms without exposing where power really lies, which is the antithesis of what the rightwing papers seek to achieve.

As the theologian Walter Wink shows, challenging a dominant system requires a three-part process: naming the powers, unmasking the powers, engaging the powers. Their white noise of distraction and obfuscation is the means by which the newspapers prevent this process from beginning. They mislead us about the sources of our oppression, misrepresent our democratic choices, demonise those who try to challenge the 1%.

Compare the Daily Mail’s treatment of the Occupy London protesters, confronting the banks, to its coverage of the camp set up by people of the charming village of Meriden, confronting some gypsies. “Desecration, defecation and class A drugs” was the headline on the Mail’s feature article about Occupy London. Published on the day on which the City of London began its attempts to evict the protesters, it deployed every conceivable means of vilifying them and justifying their expulsion.

The Mail’s Meriden story, on the other hand, was headlined: “Adding insult to injury: now villagers who have protested against an illegal travellers’ camp for 586 days are told: YOU are facing eviction.” The story emphasised the villagers’ calm fortitude and the justice of their cause. Presumably they don’t defecate either.

Press barons have been waging this class war for almost a century, and it has hobbled progressive politics throughout that time. But the closed circle of embedded journalism is now so tight that it has almost created an alternative reality.

Ten days ago, for example, the Spectator ran a cover story that could not have been crazier had it been headlined: “Yes, Father Christmas does exist, but he’s been kidnapped by lizards”. A serial promoter of mumbo-jumbo called Nils-Axel Morner, who claims he has paranormal dowsing abilities and that an iron-age cemetery in Sweden is in fact the Hong Kong of the ancient Greeks, was given 1,800 words to show that sea levels are not rising. Citing “evidence” that was anecdotal, irrelevant or simply wrong, explaining that it was all a massive conspiracy, Morner ignored or dismissed a vast wealth of solid data from satellites and tide gauges.

The Spectator kindly gave me space to write a response last week, but it strikes me that a story like this could not have been published five years ago. It first required a long process of normalisation, in which evident falsehoods are repeated until they are widely believed to be true. The climate talks in Durban were slotted by the papers into the same narrative, in which climate scientists and the BBC conspire to shut down the economy and send us back to the stone age. (And they have the blazing cheek to call us scaremongers.)

It’s not just Murdoch and his network of sleazy crooks: our political system has been corrupted by the entire corporate media. Defending ourselves from the economic elite means naming and unmasking the power of the press.

 

Source: https://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/12/britain-press-fighting-class-war

Filed Under: Corruption, Media, Propaganda, United Kingdom

14 Conspiracy Theories That The Media Now Admits Are Conspiracy Facts

December 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By Michael Snyder – BLN Contributing Writer

How many times have you heard the mainstream media dismiss certain points of view as“conspiracy theories”? It seems as though one of the easiest ways to brush something off is to label it as something that only “conspiracy theorists” would believe. Well, you know what? A whole lot of the time the “conspiracy theorists” are right and the mainstream media is wrong.

In fact, we owe a great debt to “conspiracy theorists” because they will go places and investigate things that the mainstream media would never even touch. The reality is that the mainstream media only tells us what the government and the big corporations want us to hear, and much of the time it is those in the alternative media that are left with the task of trying to figure out what the real truth is. So don’t look down on conspiracy theories or conspiracy theorists. In a world where almost everything we are told is a lie, the truth can be very difficult to find.

The following are 14 conspiracy theories that the media now admits are conspiracy facts:

#1 Fukushima uninhabitable

Back in April, I published an article entitled “Much Of Northern Japan Uninhabitable Due To Nuclear Radiation?” At the time, almost everyone in the mainstream media was insisting that Fukushima was nothing like Chernobyl and that those that lived near Fukushima would be able to return to their homes fairly soon.

From Hiroshima to Fukushima: Finishing the Job.

Well, it turns out that those of us that feared the worst were right after all. Just consider the following quote from the New York Times….

Broad areas around the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant could soon be declared uninhabitable, perhaps for decades, after a government survey found radioactive contamination that far exceeded safe levels, several major media outlets said Monday.

european conspiracy theories hitler 14 Conspiracy Theories That The Media Now Admits Are Conspiracy Facts
Proof Hitler is STILL alive………and likes pretzels

#2 U.S. MilitaryAttack on Libya

At the beginning of this year, nobody would have dreamed that the U.S. military would have attacked Libya this year.

But it happened. At first those that tried to warn about an upcoming conflict with Libya were called kooks, and even up until recently many in the media were still trying to deny that NATO was arming and training the rebels.

Well, the truth is that NATO had special forces on the ground even before the conflict began.

The “rebel groups” (which include large numbers of al-Qaeda fighters) would have been soundly defeated by Gaddafi if not for relentless air strikes by the U.S. military and NATO.

Instead of a straightforward invasion like we saw in Afghanistan and Iraq, the U.S. military and NATO systematically developed, trained and equipped “rebel groups” within the country and have used them as the ground forces for this campaign.

That way the goals of the U.S. and EU could still be achieved, but in the end they would have less blood on their hands.

As the conflict winds down, now even the New York Times is admitting that we have trained and equipped the rebels….

“We always knew there would be a point where the effectiveness of the government forces would decline to the point where they could not effectively command and control their forces,” said the diplomat, who was granted anonymity to discuss confidential details of the battle inside Tripoli.

“At the same time,” the diplomat said, “the learning curve for the rebels, with training and equipping, was increasing. What we’ve seen in the past two or three weeks is these two curves have crossed.”

Sadly, there is still a very good chance that U.S. troops could end up on the ground in Libya.

Many prominent officials are already calling for the U.S. and the EU to provide occupation forces. Richard Haas, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, has authored an opinion piece for the Financial Times entitled “Libya Now Needs Boots on the Ground”.

From Wounded Knee to Libya: A History of US Military Interventionism.

If that happens, it will likely end up being a situation very similar to what we have today in Iraq.

#3 Widespread Use Of RFID chips in Humans

The doubters said it would never happen. They said we would never see the day when RFID chips were implanted in humans on a widespread basis..

Well, today there are examples of this all over the world. One of the most stunning examples recently has come out of Mexico. According to the Washington Post, “thousands of worried Mexicans” have been having “satellite and radio-frequency tracking products” implanted in their skin in order to protect themselves against abduction.

space conspiracy theory 2 14 Conspiracy Theories That The Media Now Admits Are Conspiracy Facts
Truman reviewing prosthetic genitals to create the “Super Fly Soldier”

#4 $2000 Gold

It was only a matter of months ago that we were told that gold was “in a bubble” at $1400 or $1500 an ounce.

Gold, Silver, Food – 3 ways to survive the coming economic collapse.

Well, gold recently crossed the $1900 an ounce barrier, and appears poised to go much higher as global financial instability intensifies. In Fiscal trouble, States are reaffirming the 10th Amendment and moving towards a Gold Standard. A Crisis is not being helped by Venezuelas’ recent actions to repatriate their Gold reserves.

#5 Obama Wants To Impose Backdoor Amnesty

Those that warned that Barack Obama was going to impose amnesty for illegal immigrants by executive fiat were called “nuts” and “conspiracy theorists”.

Well, it has happened. The Obama administration has now instituted “backdoor amnesty” for illegal immigrants and even plans to provide them with work permits. Few realize the high cost of illegal immigration.

#6 U.S. Government provide weapons to the Mexican drug cartel

For a long time there were those that claimed that the U.S. government was providing guns to Mexican drug cartels, but nobody wanted to listen.

Well, it is all now a matter of public record. It turns out that the U.S. government facilitated the transfer of thousands of guns into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

The following is a brief excerpt from a CBS News report that discusses the fierce opposition that many ATF agents expressed to allowing thousands of guns to be given into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels….

On the phone, one Project Gunrunner source (who didn’t want to be identified) told us just how many guns flooded the black market under ATF’s watchful eye. “The numbers are over 2,500 on that case by the way. That’s how many guns were sold – including some 50-calibers they let walk.”

50-caliber weapons are fearsome. For months, ATF agents followed 50-caliber Barrett rifles and other guns believed headed for the Mexican border, but were ordered to let them go. One distraught agent was often overheard on ATF radios begging and pleading to be allowed to intercept transports. The answer: “Negative. Stand down.”

CBS News has been told at least 11 ATF agents and senior managers voiced fierce opposition to the strategy. “It got ugly…” said one. There was “screaming and yelling” says another. A third warned: “this is crazy, somebody is gonna to get killed.”

Amazingly, three of the key ATF officials involved in putting thousands of guns into the hands of Mexican drug cartels were recently promoted.

strangest conspiracy theories e1307649479891 14 Conspiracy Theories That The Media Now Admits Are Conspiracy Facts

#7 Fluoride is harmful

Incredibly, the federal government is finally admitting that high levels of fluoride in our drinking water can be harmful. In fact, the feds have reduced the “recommended amount” of fluoride in our drinking water for the first time in 50 years.

We probably won’t see them ban fluoride any time soon, but for them to even acknowledge a problem with fluoride is a major step. In a recent article on CNN, it was reported that the federal government is now saying that high levels of fluoride in the water have now officially been linked with fluorosis….check out FLUORIDE, TEETH, and the ATOMIC BOMB.

The Department of Health and Human Services and Environmental Protection Agency are proposing the change because of an increase in fluorosis — a condition that causes spotting and streaking on children’s teeth.

#8 The Federal Reserve Favours The Big Banks

We were always told by the media that the Federal Reserve was “above politics” and that it did not show favoritism.

Well, we all know now that the Fed is deeply corrupt and about the only people that they actually help are their friends. Here are 19 Reasons Why The Federal Reserve Is At The Heart Of Our Economic Problems. When you think about it. Just How Is The Central Economic Planning That The Federal Reserve Does Different From The Central Economic Planning That Communist China Does?

It turns out that the Federal Reserve very quietly showered the big banks and their friends with hundreds of billions of dollars in loans at rates that were substantially below market during the financial crisis. While Wall Street was being flooded with easy loans, none of the small banks that were deeply suffering and no average Americans got any money.

#9 Cell Phones linked to cancer

For years, “conspiracy theorists” have been claiming that cell phone use can cause cancer.

Well, the mainstream media is starting to catch up. Some very startling scientific studies have come out recently that are hard to ignore.

The following is an excerpt from a recent CNN article about one of these studies….

At the highest exposure levels — using a mobile phone half an hour a day over a 10-year period — the study found a 40 percent increased risk of glioma brain tumors.

Here you can review a list of the 10 highest and 10 lowest radiation emitting cell phone models.

#10 The Credit Rating Agencies Are Corrupt

We have all been taught that the credit rating agencies are supposed to be objective.

But in the real world things are not that simple.

For example, just a short time after long-term U.S. government debt was downgraded, the head of Standard & Poor’s is resigning, and is being replaced by Douglas Peterson, the former COO of Citigroup.

Do you think the former COO of Citigroup is going to come down hard on his former comrades over at the big Wall Street banks?

Also, a whistleblower has come forward with some stunning revelations about Moody’s. The following is what former analyst William Harrington says was going on over at that credit agency during the financial crisis….

“The track record of management influence in committees speaks for itself — it produced hollowed-out (collateralized debt obligation) opinions that were at great odds with the private opinions of committees and which were not durable for even a short period after publication”

#11 Prescription Drugs Kill A Lot Of Americans

Growing up, I never even imagined that prescription drugs could be dangerous. I had complete faith in the medical community and the government to only allow drugs on the market that were fully tested and proven to be 100% safe.

Well, I was dead wrong. The truth is that adverse reactions to prescription drugs kill a huge number of Americans every year. A recent Vanity Fair article entitled “Deadly Medicine” began with the following statement….

Prescription drugs kill some 200,000 Americans every year. Will that number go up, now that most clinical trials are conducted overseas–on sick Russians, homeless Poles, and slum-dwelling Chinese–in places where regulation is virtually nonexistent, the F.D.A. doesn’t reach, and “mistakes” can end up in pauper’s graves?

Apparently our nations futile War on Drugs only applies to drugs that do not directly line the pockets of politicians.

#12 Bisphenol-A Is Linked To Infertility

A very common chemical known as bisphenol-A is found in thousands upon thousands of our plastic products. It also turns out that it has some really nasty effects on the human body.

Fortunately, some in the mainstream media are beginning to acknowledge this. Back in October, one of the largest UK newspapers published an article entitled “Bisphenol-A now linked to male infertility” which made the following unequivocal statement about the dangers of BPA….

Bisphenol-A (BPA), known as the “gender bending” chemical because of its connection to male impotence, has now been shown to decrease sperm mobility and quality.

Take a moment to check out this article on 6……..did you really want 7? Examples of Food Terrorism!

#13 The “Super Congress” Is In The Pocket Of Wall Street Interests

The amount of money that has been donated to the campaigns of those on the “Super Congress” is absolutely astounding.

Just check out what a recent CNBC article had to say about the matter….

Overall, according to the center’s research, the dozen super committee members have raised more than $50 million from the finance, insurance and real estate sector since the 1990 election cycle.

How much influence do you think 50 million dollars is going to buy?

#14 The Targeting Of Christian Groups

We are increasingly hearing from the Obama administration and some members of Congress that we need to be really concerned about “homegrown terrorists” and “Christian extremists“.

For example, during a recent Congressional hearing U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee warned that “Christian militants” might try to “bring down the country” and that such groups need to be investigated.

You can find out everything you need to know by reading the Government’s own report. The Project Megiddo Report

In addition, according to a shocking document obtained by Oath Keepers, the FBI is now instructing store owners to report many new forms of “suspicious activity” to them. According to the document, “suspicious activity” now includes making “extreme religious statements” and believing in “radical theology”.

Not only that, a Department of Homeland Security report on “right wing extremism” from April 2009 lists the following people as potential terrorists:

-those that believe in “end times” prophecies

-those that believe abortion is wrong

-those that stockpile food, ammunition or weapons

-those that are against same-sex marriage

-those that believe in “New World Order” conspiracy theories

I don’t know about you, but when the federal government starts targeting people based on their religious beliefs, that makes me very nervous.

This world is officially going crazy. So don’t blame “conspiracy theorists” for wanting to dig around and get the facts. The mainstream media sure doesn’t give us much of the truth.

If you want to learn more about American Conspiracies we have plenty of information to browse.

As the world continues to fall apart and as the propaganda from the mainstream media gets even more blatant, the hunger for the truth is only going to grow.

Who knows? Perhaps before it is all over you will be a “conspiracy theorist”, too.

 

Source: https://fightthelaw.org/uncategorized/14-conspiracy-theories-that-the-media-now-admits-are-conspiracy-facts/

Filed Under: Media Tagged With: ,

Lowe’s Pulls Ads From TV Show About US Muslims

December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A decision by retail giant Lowe’s Home Improvement to pull ads from a reality show about American Muslims following protests from an evangelical Christian group has sparked criticism and calls for a boycott against the chain.

The retailer stopped advertising on TLC’s “All-American Muslim” after a conservative group known as the Florida Family Association complained, saying the program was “propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values.”

The show premiered last month and chronicles the lives of five families from Dearborn, Mich., a Detroit suburb with a large Muslim and Arab-American population.

A state senator from Southern California said he was considering calling for a boycott.

Calling the Lowe’s decision “un-American” and “naked religious bigotry,” Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, told The Associated Press on Sunday that he would also consider legislative action if Lowe’s doesn’t apologize to Muslims and reinstate its ads. The senator sent a letter outlining his complaints to Lowe’s Chief Executive Officer Robert A. Niblock.

“The show is about what it’s like to be a Muslim in America, and it touches on the discrimination they sometimes face. And that kind of discrimination is exactly what’s happening here with Lowe’s,” Lieu said.

The Florida group sent three emails to its members, asking them to petition Lowe’s to pull its advertising. Its website was updated to say that “supporters’ emails to advertisers make a difference.”

Suehaila Amen, whose family is featured on “All-American Muslim,” said she was disappointed by the Lowe’s decision.

“I’m saddened that any place of business would succumb to bigots and people trying to perpetuate their negative views on an entire community,” Amen, 32, told The Detroit News on Sunday.

Lowe’s issued a statement Sunday apologizing for having “managed to make some people very unhappy.”

“Individuals and groups have strong political and societal views on this topic, and this program became a lightning rod for many of those views,” the statement said. “As a result we did pull our advertising on this program. We believe it is best to respectfully defer to communities, individuals and groups to discuss and consider such issues of importance.”

The North Carolina-based company did not say whether it would reinstate advertising on the show.

The apology doesn’t go far enough, Lieu said. The senator vowed to look into whether Lowe’s violated any California laws and said he would also consider drafting a senate resolution condemning the company’s actions.

“We want to raise awareness so that consumers will know during this holiday shopping season that Lowe’s is engaging in religious discrimination,” Lieu said.

Besides an apology and reinstatement of the ads, Lieu said he hoped Lowe’s would make an outreach to the community about bias and bigotry.

Lieu’s office said a decision was expected Wednesday or Thursday on whether to proceed with the boycott.

Lowe’s issued another statement later Sunday, saying company officials are seeking to talk to Lieu about his concerns and clarify the company’s position.

“We are aware of the senator’s comments and have reached out to his office to arrange an opportunity for us to speak with him directly to hear his thoughts,” the statement read.

Dawud Walid, Michigan director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said his group felt “extreme disappointment” at Lowe’s “capitulation to bigotry.”

Walid said he has heard expressions of anger and calls for a boycott by Muslims but said a key to resolving the Lowe’s advertising controversy will be how non-Muslim religious leaders and others react to Lowe’s decision.

“I will be picking up the phone tomorrow to some of our friends and allies to explain the situation to them,” Walid said Sunday.

Source: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/lowes-pulls-ads-tv-show-us-muslims-011436509.html

Filed Under: Media, Politicians, Religion, Rights, USA Tagged With: , , ,

The Inmates Don’t Know It’s An Asylum

December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

There is a line from Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead which we have always enjoyed. It is stated by the main villain of the story – Ellsworth Toohey – in a one-sided conversation in which he is explaining that he was always after political power and never hid his ambitions but nobody wanted to “believe it”. The quote goes like this: “Never bother to examine a folly. Ask yourself only what it accomplishes.”

Lenin had a different take on the same problem faced by all would be power mongers. He knew he had to be reasonably obvious in what he told the people about his plans and goals. But not too obvious. He knew he had to tailor his pitch so that it would have the maximum amount of resonance with the maximum number of unthinking people. He doted on such people. He called them “useful idiots”.

Today, the “movers and shakers” of the financial world abound in such useful idiots. It has been a long road from the 1930s Keynesian mantra that “we owe it to ourselves” to today’s masters of the universe with their incomprehensible computer “algorithms” fuelled by the ability of modern computers to crunch almost unlimited sequences of “1s” and “0s”. The entire road has been paved with one goal in mind. To convince the “people” that the only road to financial “safety” is to give up their thinking processes and “delegate” them to those who claim to know what they are doing.

The problem today is that the results of this delegation are so obvious that the methods of those who produced them are beginning to be questioned. It has been a long time coming.

When we reach a market situation where nobody wants to play unless the game is terminally rigged, then the whole idea of “markets” has gone by the boards.

Nobody wants to “punt” unless their bets are guaranteed in advance. That’s no way to run a horse race – or a global financial system.

 

Source: https://beforeitsnews.com/story/1493/350/The_Inmates_Don_t_Know_It_s_An_Asylum.html

Filed Under: Politics, Population, Propaganda, Psychology, Tyranny, Violence, War Tagged With: ,

Morocco: Seven People Were Burned In Protests Against Oppression In 2011.

December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Friday 09/12/2011, the Moroccan authorities reported the death of Muhammed Suleiman street vendor Rushd hospital in Casablanca, having burned his own body to protest the heavy police oppression.

The Arab world has been at the limit of endurance, with respect to heavy repression that you receive from your government. Execute arbitrary laws and almost no convictions that the accused has the right to defense.

The example of Tunisia in January a street vendor had their goods taken by the security forces have seen no alternative to support her four children and wife. burned his body in front of the courthouse to protest the abuse of power and lack of government investment in economic leveling of the population.

Yesterday, the Moroccan authorities reported the death of Muhammed Suleiman street vendor Rushd hospital in Casablanca, having burned his own body to protest the heavy police oppression.

According to the “February 20 Movement“, which represents the popular revolution of Morocco, the boy was selling smuggled gasoline (a common activity in the country), and he was pressured by police who threatened to take his goods if they pay a small “rate”.

Another reference is the website ”lakome“ who said the boy found himself depressed and angry, threw gasoline on his body while arguing with police who threatened to confiscate petrol prohibited until fired. According to sources, the young man died on Friday 09 December because of injuries, despite receiving medical attention.

National crisis

According to the February 20th Movement, a grassroots movement of opposition to the current Moroccan regime, even after the last elections, which were also considered “a success”, this is already the 7th incident in the country. All these desperate people, their bodies incinerated after not finding any more support in law or in society, or to consider that, through the police force, no one would care to hear their problems.

The average suicide has been between 20 and 32 years. Among these, there is a young, 20. While the population seeks to draw the attention of authorities for their needs, only the rich life and improve more and more people are living without rights. A crisis worsens and the apparent efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Moroccan people has not been sufficiently implemented, is what describes the “February 20 Movement.” According to testimony from members of the movement, most of the suicides came as a result of heavy police repression and abuse of authority. There are cases like Kamal Amri, who was killed by the system, so that seemed to suicide by fire.

The list of martyrs courtesy Ratoune Mourad political activist of Moroccan popular organization “Youth Movement February 20“:

Deaths by suicide

  • Judge Emad, 18
  • Bnkaddor horse, 25
  • Salmi beauty, 24
  • Samir Albuazawa, 17
  • Fadwa Laroui, 20
  • Shayeb Karim, 21
  • Kamal Al-Amari, 30
Killings by security forces.
  1. Alknona Hamid, 26
  2. Mohammed Bodroh
  3. Kamal al-Hassani, 28

Source: https://bloghumans.blogspot.com/2011/12/marrocos-7-pessoas-se-incendiaram-em.html?spref=fb

Filed Under: Censorship, Police, Politics, Poverty, Propaganda, Protests, Revolution, Rights, Social Unrest, Suicide, Tyranny Tagged With: , ,

‘Occupy Homes’ Figure: Bank Of America Is One Of The Biggest Criminals

December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

After being in the middle of the Occupy Our Homes day of action earlier in the week, Alfredo Carrasquillo spoke to Up with Chris Hayes Saturday morning.

Despite risking arrest for staying in a home owned by Bank of America, Corrasquillo was determined to keep his homeless family in the occupied house.

“Bank of America has basically been one of the biggest criminals in history,” he said. “They have been basically foreclosing on homes, forcing families that are working hard to try and provide for their children, forcing them to be homeless and out on the street. There’s more vacant homes than there are people out on the street.”

“Ultimately, these homes need to be filled with families that need them. There’s always technicalities involved in it, but the fact of the matter is, if there’s empty homes, they should be filled with families that need them.”

Despite many stories of possible foreclosure fraud, including attorney generals across the country investigating or lawsuits, Bank of America has yet to be federally convicted of any foreclosure crimes.

 

Source: https://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/11/occupy-homes-figure-bank-of-america-has-been-one-of-the-biggest-criminals/

Filed Under: Corruption, Crime, Housing, Law, Media, Occupy, Poverty, Protests, USA Tagged With: , , ,

Toronto Subway Riders Meet Factory Farm Animals (Video)

December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A piglet and a puppy appear side by side; next a chick and a kitten; finally a cow and a dog.

One thousand of these ads, asking “Why love one but eat the other?” have been running on subways in Toronto and asking Canadians to “be veg.” And riders are responding!

This provocative ad series launched by a grassroots group draws attention to the similarities between the animals we call “family” and the animals we call “dinner” and highlights the shocking cruelty faced by animals raised for food in Canada.

Check out the video below; it’ll get your attention, just like it’s getting the attention of those subway riders.

Toronto Subway Riders Come Face to Face with Farm Animals

One Thousand “Why love one but eat the other?” ads running on Toronto subways have been asking Canadians to “be veg” and riders are responding. “Be Veg” Toronto Subway Ad Campaign 2011

 
Source: https://www.care2.com/causes/toronto-subway-riders-meet-factory-farm-animals-video.html#ixzz1gJNg82ag

Filed Under: Animal Cruelty, Animal Rights, Media Tagged With: ,

How To Respond To The Awful Truth

December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

It’s a volatile, challenging time to be alive, no doubt. The world is a landscape thoroughly scattered with catastrophic nightmares like flaming lava pits on a giant festering orb. And this huge array of drastic, life-threatening problems we’re facing that are burning in the world’s collective subconscious are apparently careening towards some mad, apocalyptic finale.

The big question we’re all faced with is this. Once we’re aware of what’s going on, what do we do? And more importantly, for those not willing to face the truth, what will it take to wake them up?

And third: does that predominant attitude make it inevitable for the rest of us to share their fate?

What does one do as they observe the deliberately imploded economy, the corporate thuggery pillaging the world, a manipulated media bent on an ignorant, placated populace, the ramped up rape of the environment, the poisoning of our food, water and air supply, the drugging of our children, and wars without end appearing to be leading up to a horrific nuclear conflagration?

What is our role in what we discover to be a literally predatory environment in a hijacked world?

Here’s How: Identify The Problems Are Real and Deliberate

The first issue is to clearly identify the problems and admit their gravity. Second, we need to understand the objective of these apparent trends, however horrific these motives may appear to be.

But let me get one thing straight before we go on any further.

In light of the vastness of these incontrovertible assaults on humanity and the obvious connections to corporate, banking and government insanity, whoever does NOT think that there’s an underlying motive with definite objectives by those controlling these massive programs is a stark raving lunatic, voluntarily living in a straightjacket of self-preserving denial, staring in a zombified trance at the shadows on their cell walls.

Secondly and similarly, if anyone thinks it’s simply “greed gone wild” that’s causing these problems and an unfortunate cyclical downturn of some sort, they need to get their minds blown.

And I’m here to help.

Why Doesn’t Money Satisfy The Controllers If It’s Just Greed? Cuz It’s Power and Control

Tell me something. If everything was done just for money, why don’t they stop there? These elites know they couldn’t spend what they have in a thousand lifetimes. So why do they keep pushing?

Why do wealthy people run for office when their coffers are overflowing? Why do banksters keep loaning money they know they won’t get it back to nation after nation as they slowly take over their economies and politics? The infamous Rothschilds are estimated to be worth over 500 trillion dollars yet keep pushing for more international “programs” and intervention.

Why?

Do you see the world improving because of their efforts? Do the mega-rich dynasties, industrialists, royal families, or the uber-wealthy Vatican chip in a non self-serving dime to help the world?

Or has the plug been pulled deliberately and we’re now in free-fall towards worldwide disaster? And could someone possibly be positioning themselves to pick up the pieces and take control of the filet that’s left on the world’s butcher block once the scraps have been extricated and thrown to the dogs of war?

Is their plan actually written in stone? Look up “Georgia Guidestones” for a spine tingler.

Living A Conscious Life

The issue and point of this article isn’t to run once again through the litany of wrongs being deliberately perpetrated on humanity and its home. If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve caught on to some extent and hopefully are active in the awakening, or are on an accelerating path to the stage of awareness where you realize to not take action is impossible, if you have any semblance of awakened consciousness. That will come, believe me.

To be conscious means to act according to consciousness, not just think or realize in some ashram. I’m sure those folks have their place, but if you’re a somewhat normal operating human trying to exist in a world bent on abusing and even killing you off, there are some serious challenges involved as to what exactly to do.

This Is Where The Universe Comes In

You cannot…and there’s no exception to this..you cannot operate solely in the mental and physical realm and expect to understand what’s going on and where your place is in all this. You may be led there in spite of your blockage, but it’s absolutely essential to have a spiritual awakening in your life.

I’m in no way talking about religion. But I guarantee if you’re pursuing truth like I think you are, the spiritual, metaphysical, esoteric, whatever you want to call it, side of all this is becoming very, very apparent. And it’s vastly empowering. Right?

Our Refuge and Armament

The most important tool in our arsenal is the ability to listen to and act according to our hearts, our source, our spirit, our connection to consciousness. Call it God, the Universe or the underlying powers inherent in Chi, Ki, Prana or whatever. Learning to listen to a deeper influence and act in responsible, loving conscious awareness is the answer.

And we must grow in this area to meet the challenges of our time. Like the internet, our old modes of communication have been tampered with and will be used against us.

Spotting the Predators

Like the Hollywood ephemeral cloaked predator character, these mostly unseen forces we are up against can usually only be spotted by their effects, like leaves and branches moving in an organized pattern as the enemy approaches. Never mind the fact that the real government leaders and societal directors are not the ones we see in the news and that others are telling them what to do, the powers behind ALL of this we can safely assume are another level removed, and I would contend are ultimately spiritual, or other dimensional.

At the very least, call it evil people and you’ll be right. But the extent and source of this evil is quite revelatory when the next level of dots starts to connect for you. I don’t claim to know everything that’s going on, but the point is we’re up against a vastly interconnected conspiracy that, like seeing the leaves rustle when the transparent predator approaches, you can only identify by their effects.

And it’s important that we’re aware of this next level.

Any Way You Look At It It’s Nasty…But Make Some Conclusions

The point is, we don’t need to know every detail before drawing some very obvious conclusions.

1. A LOT of serious somethings are very wrong with the world.

2. World so-called “leadership” is out of touch, self serving and apparently working towards some other agenda.

3. This other agenda does not necessarily benefit you and me. They’re elitists with their own plans.

4. People are dying, being poisoned, starved and outright killed at a horrific rate, while food is withheld and medical care has become restricted and basically wealth-producing pharmaceutical in nature.

5. The extremely wealthy Powers That Be refuse to give any form of aid except to their own institutions and cohorts.

6. You are sitting at home wondering what the hell is going on while reading this article.

7. What are you going to DO with your life now that you realize this?

I hope you’ll follow your heart.

That’s my wish, prayer and affirmation. We need an energetic revolution, a call to real conscious action. That action is continuous open awareness and responding to the call of the Heart!

Wanna demonstrate, and mix with others who feel the call in whatever form? Go for it! Where will that take you? I don’t know!

Wanna participate in blogs and internet forums about your search, 9/11 truth, outrage about the world’s pollution, etc? Go for it!!

Point is, if you feel the call, respond! Respond! RESPOND!

And it will respond to you!

Happy trails, meet you in the awakening…

 

Source: https://beforeitsnews.com/story/1398/905/How_To_Respond_To_The_Awful_Truth.html?currentSplittedPage=0

Filed Under: Financial Crisis, Media, Mental Health, Military Industrial Complex, Money, Psychology, Violence, War Tagged With:
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