Saturday, June 30, 2012

We Must Take a Stand...Not all peasants are poor and not all wealthy are rich.

I know much about living with the pain among the peasants. Not all peasants are poor and not all wealthy are rich. I have met some who live in poverty who are happier than I, and I have met the super elite with the world at their fingertips who are drowning in sorrow. I have wined and dined with the elite and been in the slums with the impoverished. I have educated myself in the streets and in the classroom. The divide between the wealthy elite and the rest of the world's people has been growing at alarming rates. It is hard to fathom that children die of thirst and starvation all the while there are those so-called leaders of the free world hoarding control of assets, property, and politics. There is enough wealth and means of production to sustain and feed us all, yet the so-called leaders greed for it all.

It can be overwhelming to think of the billions of people with individual personalities, feelings, and lives, yet forced to endure such deprivation and suffering. I continually wonder how I can embrace my pain and stay in touch with it in such a positive manner, how I can avoid succumbing to the abhorrence and outrage at what is being done to my fellow humans.

I do not want to demonize success and politics, many successful people and politicians went into leadership roles and government in order to work for the people and don't like what is going on any more than you or me. But something has happened and is continuing to happen to the way we treat other societies and our fellow brothers and sisters of the world. It is a disgrace to the human spirit and all humanity the ways in which we wage war over beliefs and resources, even in our own societies we tear each other down and try to impose our wills on others who are different whether it be race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, or ethnicity.

My problem is not with the people who are bombarded by propaganda and misinformation provided by a media controlled by six major conglomerates because these people are doing what they believe is best for themselves and their children.

My problem is with the system that has been corrupted by greed. The Corporatocracy makes it ever more difficult to discern what is in the best interest of the people as a whole, and not just of our country but of all humanity in the world.

It is painful to see that we are shattering humanity and drowning reality in our own ignorance. We are disillusioned by a capitalist democracy of free choices and speech. I ask you how much freedom do we realize we truly have? Have lost and continue to lose? We have so many gadgets, games, entertainment, chemicals, genetically engineered foods, tastes, sports, and misperceptions to blind us and unknowingly take our attention away from what truly matters.

We must be informed and take our heads out of the sand and fight for our rights, protect the lands and the environment and provide affordable adequate education for future generations of the world.

We can all do our part.

It is never to late too late to make a difference.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Politifact: Truth-Stretching About Arizona Immigration Law

Truth-stretching about Arizona immigration law

By Bill Adair
Published on Monday, June 25th, 2012 at 11:32 a.m.

The Arizona immigration law has kept the Truth-O-Meter busy.

The law, portions of which were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, required that state law enforcement officers try to determine someone's immigration status when officers had reasonable suspicion the person was an illegal immigrant.

The law had been widely characterized as the toughest state immigration law in the country. President Barack Obama’s administration challenged it, saying immigration regulations were a federal matter.

In the past few years, we've ruled on many claims about the Arizona law, which is often described by its bill number, SB 1070. A sampling:

Racial profiling? Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a champion of the law, claimed in late April 2010 that late changes to the law "lay to rest questions over the possibility of racial profiling." We interviewed legal experts who said there were still many unresolved questions. We rated the claim Mostly False.

Overgrown lawns and barking dogs. We checked a claim by Kyrsten Sinema, a Democratic state senator in Arizona, that investigations of minor crimes such as overgrown lawns or barking dogs could trigger immigration checks by police. Experts said she was probably correct, although there was no way of predicting whether police would use the full extent of their powers. We rated that claim Mostly True.

Did police need to suspect something illegal? John Huppenthal, a Republican state senator in Arizona, claimed that under the law, police can't stop someone to check their immigration status unless they think they see something illegal. We rated that claim Falsebecause the law leaves open several possibilities for police questioning individuals without seeing or suspecting a specific crime.

Support for the law. We found some accurate claims -- and some really inaccurate ones -- when people discussed public support for the law. Glenn Beck earned aMostly True rating for his claim that 64 percent of Americans support the law. But we found Brewer, the Arizona governor, was exaggerating when she claimed law enforcement agencies in the state back the law. We rated that claim Half True. Arizona state Sen. Russell Pearce was way off when he claimed that 60 percent of Hispanics support the law. Pants on Fire.

Impact of the boycott. The law prompted many groups to cancel plans for meetings in Arizona. As other states considered laws similar to Arizona's, the Anti-Defamation League said the law had cost Arizona $100 million in lost revenue for the hospitality industry. PolitiFact Georgia found some impact but not $100 million worth and rated the claim Half True.

Romney's comments. The Arizona law has been an issue in the presidential race. U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-Texas, claimed that Mitt Romney has said SB 1070 should be a model for a national law. PolitiFact Texas found that Gonzalez was misquoting Romney and rated the claim False.

John Perkins Rio+20

Rio+20 and You

By John Perkins

An event that could be world-changing is currently taking place in Rio de Janeiro: the Rio+20, a United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. The gathering will include at least 100 heads of state (President Obama declined to attend), government officials, leaders from the private sector, NGOs and other stakeholders. Their mandate is to lay out feasible and timely solutions for reducing poverty, advancing social equity and ensuring sustainable development around the globe.

But let's not expect too much. NGOs that were given the opportunity to review a draft text of the probable conclusions have criticized it for failing to address global carrying capacities, tipping points, the problems associated with nuclear energy and fossil fuels, and the socio-economic bases for measuring true development (as opposed to GDP growth). A report recently released by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon states: "the international community should measure development beyond GDP and develop a new sustainable development index or set of indicators."

That, in my opinion, is the key to human survival on this planet – at least as we know it. We must come up with new definitions for "develop" and "progress." These must take into account that the current system is a total failure. Half the world is starving or on the verge of starvation, while 5% of us who live in the US consume nearly 30% of global resources (and. as we know, 1% of that 5% consumes the vast majority of these).

More hopeful is the People's Summit that kicked off in Rio on June 15, 2012. This conference brought together people from global movements and it did address the need to create new ways to measure social and economic progress, as well as environmental degradation, social inequity, and the rejection of green speculation, nuclear energy, and fossil fuel subsidies.

In reference to Rio+20 UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon emphatically requested that world leaders not squander this once-in-a-generation opportunity. It has been Ban's starkest warning to date, implying the utmost importance of global cooperation when it comes to addressing environmental destruction and the eradication of poverty. This is a chance to move away from business as usual and to build a bridge to a brighter future.

The message for you and me is very clear: do not expect these world leaders to lead us away from the precipice. Do not be disappointed. Instead, recognize that We the People are the only solution. And we are coming together. Our voices are being heard in the Occupy Movement, the demonstrations in Europe, the outcry against Putin in Russia, the Arab Spring, the drive to true democracies throughout Latin America, and places like the Peoples Summit in Rio.

You and I must keep up the pressure. Speak out, write letters, send emails, sign petitions. Watch the way you shop!

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Our current economic paradigm is one in which the continuous acquisition of monetary wealth and material resources is both demanded and valued. In many of the wealthier nations economic growth has come at great cost to indigenous populations who were invaded and usurped, and to other nations who suffered the looting of their resources as they were colonized. In some cases populations suffered by literally being enslaved for the sake of generating further wealth for the already powerful owners of capital. -http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com/
We are increasingly falling victim to the Corporatocracy which has corrupted and controls the majority of world markets. OPEN YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS & SEE REALITY AMERICA !!! DO NOT FALL INTO THE EVERY DAY CYCLE OF CONSUMERISM & FALSE DEMOCRACY IN WHICH YOU LIVE !!!

The Conscious Truth News

Saturday, June 30, 2012

We Must Take a Stand...Not all peasants are poor and not all wealthy are rich.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Politifact: Truth-Stretching About Arizona Immigration Law

Truth-stretching about Arizona immigration law

Related rulings:

Says that Mitt Romney, while he was in Arizona, said he believes the state’s SB 1070 immigration law should be the model for national immigration laws.

It is estimated that Arizona "has lost more than $100 million in hospitality industry revenues since passage of the Arizona immigration laws."

"Sixty percent of the Hispanics" support the Arizona immigration law

"Law enforcement in the state of Arizona supports" the state's new immigration law.

"Sixty-four percent of Americans support the Arizona immigration law.''

Under the Arizona immigration law, police are required to check immigration status if someone's "lawn is overgrown" or if a dog is "barking too loudly."

Late changes to the Arizona immigration law "lay to rest questions over the possibility of racial profiling."

The new Arizona immigration law "says that any police officer can stop anyone who appears to them to be reasonably suspicious of being an undocumented person."

Under the new Arizona immigration law, police can't sto p someone to check their immigration status unless they think they see something illegal.

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John Perkins Rio+20