MAY LOVE PREVAIL ON EARTH
December 29, 2007
The Perfect Storm Series #14: BIG Troubles Ahead
Hello everysoul!
I've been very busy lately and thus have barely skimmed through all the new emails I continuously receive. Yet amidst it all, a number of rather disquieting articles have caught my attention, each signaling major troubles ahead -- as if some of the stuff I've networked these past few years wasn't alarming enough...
So if you have a "couple" minutes to spare, you will find below some of what should be of concern to us all.
Of course, it is not all doom and gloom as there are always bright shining rays of hope and things we can individually do to mitigate the current global situation - to a certain extent - one of them being to keep a positive attitude and focus our spiritual "juice" onto the bright spots inwardly and outwardly so as to help us all make the breakthrough into the next level of existence.
For those of you regularly joining into our global communions of souls every Sunday, the current Meditation Focus #179: Standing Tall is good for another 2 weeks. If you feel so inclined during your meditations, you may want to help stabilize the emotional level of distraught people in Pakistan following the brutal death of Benazir Bhutto there a couple days ago (see the details on this below).
May Light, Love and Peace Prevail on Earth now and forever...
Jean Hudon
Earth Rainbow Network Coordinator
http://www.earthrainbownetwork.com
P.S. Your feedback is always welcomed and may be included in a coming compilation - unless you prefer it is not. Circulating this compilation (or any part of it) and personally inviting your correspondents to subscribe to this list would also help enlarge the circle of people who have access to this material. Please include the following note and the URL address for the archived copy below along with your forwards, so others may have the opportunity to explore the original copy, if they so choose.
Free subscription to a large weekly Earth Rainbow Network compilation by simply sending a blank email to earthrainbownetwork-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
This compilation is archived at http://www.earthrainbownetwork.com/Archives2007/PerfectStorm14.htm
STATS for this compilation: Over 29,700 words and 127 links included.
To unsubscribe from the Earth Rainbow Network automated listserver, or change your listing on it when you have a new email address, the simplest way is to do it yourself by sending a blank email at earthrainbownetwork-unsubscribe@lists.riseup.net -- IMPORTANT: You MUST do it from the email account you wish to unsubscribe otherwise the system won't recognize your request.
THE QUOTES
Thirty years ago when inflation grew and the economies sagged, we called it “stagflation.” This time the term may be too mild to encompass what seems about to happen. Within the next year our liquidity problems, unsatisfied demand for oil, growing food and water shortages, and other consequences of overindulgence appear likely to merge into an unprecedented economic storm. In the midst of this storm, which could continue for years, world oil production is likely to decline forever and the resources to mitigate the storm are likely to become very scarce. Someday the events we are all going to live through in the next decade may become known as the century’s most perfect storm.
- Tom Whipple -- Taken from The Peak Oil Crisis: Storm of the Century
"We’re saying that by the time the dust settles and the smoke is cleared, ‘the dollars is going to be worth the dime on the dollar’ will be the slogan of the future. The history books will remember 2008 as the ‘panic of 2008.’ (...) They (Feds) are going to balance it out by devaluing the dollar. That’s the way they are going to do it, and the impact is going to be tremendous. You can see what happened in Argentina when they did it and you can see what happened in other countries. The same thing is going to happen here. There will be massive unemployment. We’re going to see the worst economic conditions in the United States in the years ahead that anyone living has ever seen. "
- Gerald Celente, taken from Interview: Economic 9/11 below
Be the Peace you want to see in the world
You cannot change another's mind
You can only change your own
You cannot change another's ways
You can only change your own
You cannot change the world outside
You can only change your own
But if every one themselves did change
Then the world will have surely grown
So concentrate upon yourself
And tidy up your life
Sort out thoughts and feelings too
Get rid of all your strife
Eat pure food and think pure thoughts
And fill your life with Love
Count your Blessings day by day
That come from up above
And as you do your Spirit grows
And you will surely find
That joy abounds in all you do
And peace doth fill your mind
And if your mind with peace is filled
Your peace is felt by others
The peace you feel doth flow from you
Touching all sisters and brothers
For all we do and all we think
Affects all in our space
So if all on earth did master themselves
We'd soon heal the whole human race
- Mary Hession -- Taken from http://www.maryhession.clara.net/bethepeace.htm
CONTENTS
1. Greetings
2. New Moon Meditation for Peace
3. Message from Matthew - December 23, 2007
4. Rebirth
5. LaRouche Assails "British Empire" For Bhutto Assassination
6. The Peak Oil Crisis: Storm of the Century
7. Interview: Economic 9/11
8. Top 25 Censored News Stories of 2007
9. Dennis Kucinich Wins IndependentPrimary.Com
10. Help Rep. Wexler Create Cheney Impeachment Hearings in Congress
11. Discussion on global warming deniers
12. Major international study warns global warming is destroying coral reefs and calls for 'drastic actions'
13. Earth's Eighth Continent - It swirls. It grows. It's a massive, floating 'garbage patch.'
14. The Plastic Sea - Worse than oil spills?
15. Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger
16. High Tech Trash: Will your discarded TV end up in a ditch in Ghana?
WORTHY OF YOUR ATTENTION
The World Clock - Amazing!
http://www.peterrussell.com/Odds/WorldClock.php
This is a MUST see! Recommended by Larry Stell (lstell@glasgow-ky.com)
The Prez candidate U.S. voters are googling for (20 December 2007)
http://tinyurl.com/2f2jj4
This chart shows Google's 2007 search history for several 2008 presidential candidates. Can you guess the identify of the "light blue" candidate who's leaving everyone else in the dust? ANSWER: Ron Paul!
Ron Paul will win by a landslide (12/23/2007)
http://www.usadaily.com/article.cfm?articleID=207908
Analysis/Opinion-Republican presidential candidate and Texas Congressman, Ron Paul, can win the presidency. Contrary to the pundits and media propaganda, Ron Paul is best positioned to win the GOP nomination. Ron Paul has more money than his opponents and is just starting to gain momentum. As a result of massive popular support Paul’s donor base is huge and donors are not close to reaching contribution limits. Paul’s opponents are going broke and their donors are maxed out. Ron Paul may raise 20 million this quarter and chances are he’ll raise more the next quarter. (...) The point is it is already too late to stop Paul. He’s going to win the Republican nomination. As a general election candidate Ron Paul will win a 50 state landslide against any Democratic nominee. Ron Paul’s opposition to the war in Iraq, and defense of the Bill of Rights, and Civil Liberties, may actually dig deeply into the Democratic vote and overwhelmingly attract independents to his campaign. His support for secure borders as an integral part of national defense is also a very popular issue that transcends parties. CLIP - More on Ron Paul through http://www.libertycalling.com/
U.S. VETERAN REVEALS ATOMIC BOMBS DROPPED ON AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ by William Thomas http://www.willthomasonline.net/willthomasonline/US_Veteran_Reveals_Atomic_Bombs.html
GOING NUCLEAR - Despite a just-released U.S. national intelligence consensus that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons, apocalyptic fundamentalists George Bush and Dick Cheney remain intent on ordering an all-out attack against one of the world's oldest (and best armed) civilizations. As governments and citizenry protest this folly, an overriding question torments many minds: Will the architects of more than one-million civilian corpses in Iraq choose to “go nuclear” against Iran? Many believe they will not dare. If the inhibition against killing is one of the strongest human impulses (just ask a returning veteran), the ethical revulsion and international prohibitions against using nuclear weapons seem strong enough to rule out their first aggressive use since America's atomic attack on Nagasaki. But what if the post-WWII nuclear Rubicon has already been crossed? According to a U.S. Army veteran with extensive boots-on-the-ground connections, the United States Government has dropped five nuclear weapons on Afghanistan and Iraq. And gotten away with it. CLIP
Past Life Regression: I think I am Marilyn Monroe (August 2, 2006) (Fascinating!)
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/15486/i-think-i-am-marilyn-monroe
A Canadian singer contends she is the icon reincarnated. Although many will find the claim outlandish, she has a staunch supporter in Malibu psychiatrist Adrian Finkelstein.Her name is Sherrie Lea Laird. She is the lead singer of a Canadian rock band called Pandamonia and the divorced mother of a 21-year-old daughter. But throughout her life, the 43-year-old Laird contends, she has also been someone else: Marilyn Monroe. Laird’s assertion that she is the reincarnation of the late Hollywood icon is sure to be dismissed by skeptics. But it has found an ardent defender in a Malibu psychiatrist named Adrian Finkelstein, who said he uncovered Laird’s previous existence after placing her under hypnosis as part of a highly controversial therapy known as “past life regression,” in which patients recall their past lives as a way to deal with problems in their current lives. CLIP
Kennedy's speech a few days before his assassination
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yUbPMKRUeU
SOMEONE RECENTLY WENT TO THE KENNEDY LIBRARY AND ASKED FOR THE SPEECH JFK GAVE AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY JUST BEFORE HE WAS MURDERED. THAT PERSON WAS TOLD THAT THE SPEECH WAS A FICTION. IT DID NOT EXIST. THAT IS HOW FAR THE REAL REVISIONISTS HAVE DRIVEN US DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE. THE LINK ABOVE IS THE FULL FIVE AND HALF MINUTES. LISTEN TO IT, AND YOU BE THE JUDGE. FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT HEARD IT I STRONGLY RECOMMEND IT TO YOUR ATTENTION. AND YES, BOYS AND GIRLS, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES USES THE TERM "CONSPIRACY". CRIMINAL CONSPIRACIES ACTUALLY DO EXIST... Forwarded by Mark Graffis (mgraffis@gmail.com)
The Pentagon's Electronic Warfare Program: Maximum Control of the Entire Electro-Magnetic Spectrum (December 24, 2007)
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7681
The Appearance of the Blue Sun in our Solar System (November 22, 2007)
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_asteroids_comets06_04.htm
The comet that has exploded and now looks like a blue sun is a great sign of the return of Christ consciousness to the material plane of Man. This represents the reunification of the spiritual self with earthly existence. It represents an evolution in consciousness to which many will be exposed, yet only a very few will integrate quickly. CLIP recommended by Barbara Tomczyk (barbarat33@gmail.com)
If Michangelo's David Lived In the US Today
A picture is worth more than 1,000 words...
ALSO RECOMMENDED
Pakistan erupts in violence as election is thrown into doubt (29 December 2007)
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article3291604.ece
Violence raged across Pakistan yesterday in the angry aftermath of Benazir Bhutto's assassination, sending the country into even deeper turmoil and pushing it closer towards possible breakdown.As Ms Bhutto was buried in her ancestral home in Sindh province, more than 30 people died in incidents across the country as trains, banks and other buildings were set alight and troops were deployed to help restore order. With smoke billowing from countless fires in the southern port city of Karachi, troops there and elsewhere were given orders to shoot violent protesters on sight. A mob of 2,000 people set alight a police station and in Hyderabad at least 25 banks and 100 vehicles were aflame."Since last night, a lot of damage has been caused. Shops, cars and government buildings are being burnt," said a senior Karachi police official, Azhar Ali Farooqi. But large parts of the city were deserted as people stayed inside, and with most, if not all, petrol stations closed there were few cars on the streets. All public buildings were closed and many flights in and out of the city's airport were cancelled.In the central city of Multan, about 7,000 people ransacked seven banks and a fuel station and engaged with police who responded to their stone-throwing with tear gas. In Islamabad, about 100 protesters burnt tyres in one of the city's business areas.Reports from Ms Bhutto's home district of Larkana said hundreds of shops and vehicles were still smouldering. Many of the countless thousands of protesters were shouting anti-government slogans and blaming Mr Musharraf for Ms Bhutto's death.In the city of Peshawar, about 4,000 supporters of Ms Bhutto rallied and several hundred ransacked offices, shouting, "Musharraf dog" and "Bhutto was alive yesterday, Bhutto is alive today".A spokesman for the Interior Ministry, Javed Iqbal Cheema, told reporters in Islamabad that "vested groups" and criminals were taking advantage of the situation to loot and rob, particularly banks.But it was equally clear that Ms Bhutto's death and the government's alleged failure to protect her from the assassin had ignited an anger that will not quickly dissipate. CLIP - Many more related news through http://news.google.com/news?ned=ca&ncl=1125497951&hl=en&topic=w
Police abandoned security posts before Bhutto assassination (December 28, 2007)
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Police_abandoned_security_posts_before_Bhutto_1228.html
Police abandoned their security posts shortly before Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto's assassination Thursday, according to a journalist present at the time, and unanswerable questions remain about the cause of her death, because an autopsy was never performed. (...) Perhaps more shockingly, an attendee at the rally where Bhutto was killed says police charged with protecting her "abandoned their posts," leaving just a handful of Bhutto's own bodyguards protecting her."Police officers had frisked the 3,000 to 4,000 people attending Thursday's rally when they entered the park, but as the speakers from Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party droned on, the police abandoned many of their posts," wrote Saeed Shah in an essay published by McClatchy News Service. "As she drove out through the gate, her main protection appeared to be her own bodyguards, who wore their usual white T-shirts inscribed: 'Willing to die for Benazir.'"While some intelligence officials, especially within the US, were quick to finger al Qaeda militants as responsible for Bhutto's death, it remains unclear precisely who was responsible and some speculation has centered on Pakistan's intelligence service, the ISI, its military or even forces loyal to the current president Pervez Musharraf. Rawalpindi, where Bhutto was killed, is the garrison city that houses the Pakistani military's headquarters."GHQ (general headquarters of the army) killed her," Sardar Saleem, a former member of parliament, told Shah at the hospital.Whatever the case, Bhutto's precise cause of death may never be known because of the failure to administer an autopsy. CLIP More on this below in LaRouche Assails "British Empire" For Bhutto Assassination
India watches with bated breath (29 Dec 2007)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/India_watches_with_bated_breath/articleshow/2659584.cms
NEW DELHI: As Pakistan burnt in the aftermath of Benazir's assassination, India was keeping its fingers crossed in the hope that Pakistan — often described as the "most dangerous" place on earth, with jehadis virtually having a free run of the nuclear-armed nation — did not implode. On Friday, it suspended road and rail links with the neighbour, but that scarcely brought out the concern staring it. The Indian establishment may have for decades known its neighbour as an adversary with well-crafted nefarious designs against it, but it is now faced with a different threat altogether, having to contend with a real danger of Pakistan tipping into anarchy. "We won't be able to insulate ourselves in that eventuality," said a top government functionary, after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by PM Manmohan Singh on Friday. "There is no room for us to sit back and enjoy them going down the tube. The chaos and the ever-rising clout of ultra-radical extremist fundamentalism in Pakistan will have very grave consequences for us," he grimly added. The almost-stalled bilateral composite dialogue process is not a cause for worry for India at this stage but the fact that the "backlash of the rise of extremism in Pakistan will certainly be felt in India" is leading to some anxious moments here. After directing a high alert on the borders as well as in vulnerable areas in the hinterland, the government on Friday suspended the cross-border bus and train services with Pakistan. The one-hour CCS took stock of the entire security situation in the region, discussing various scenarios which could emerge in Pakistan, reeling as it is under waves of suicide bombings, with its demoralised Army seeming to be incapable of stemming the terror attacks even in the cities far away from the frontier tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. CLIP
Vatican Bank Top 10 Money Laundering Destination (November 23, 2001)
http://www.vaticanbankclaims.com/vatpr.html
According to one global source, the Vatican is the main destination for over $55 billion in illegal Italian money laundering and the number 8 destination worldwide for laundered money, ranked well ahead of such offshore havens as the Bahamas, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. In a recent report by the London Telegraph and the Inside Fraud Bulletin, the Vatican was named as a top "cut out" country along with the offshore banking centers of Nauru, Macao, and Mauritius. A "cut out" country is one whose banking secrecy makes it is all but impossible to trace laundered funds back to their source.The Vatican Bank is desperately resisting a legal action for an accounting of stolen World War II assets in a San Francisco Federal court (Alperin v. Vatican Bank) filed by Serb and Jewish Holocaust survivors. Contrary to the above reports, a declaration filed under penalty of perjury by the Vatican Bank's attorney, Franzo Grande Stevens, states in part that the Vatican Bank's "fundamental purpose is to promote pious acts" and that its depositors "are essentially limited to Vatican state employees, members of the Holy See, religious orders, and persons who deposit money destined, at least in part, for works of piety." Stevens also declared to the court that the Pope controls the Vatican Bank and that bank records are not retained after ten years. It seems that the Vatican Bank, a major illegal money laundering operation, is hiding behind the benign image of John Paul II. Given the Vatican Bank's alleged involvement with Nazi loot and current links to organized crime, a reckoning cannot be far off. The accumulating evidence points to a more piratical than pietical Vatican Bank.
Much more on this claim at http://www.vaticanbankclaims.com/faqs.html where one can read: UPDATED OCTOBER 2007 - What is this lawsuit all about?In 1998 the US State Department issued a report implicating the Vatican in the 1945 disappearance of the Treasury of the Nazi Puppet State of Croatia. The purpose of this lawsuit is to obtain legal accounting of the missing funds from the Vatican Bank and Franciscan Order, recover assets and distribute them to survivors and their descendants.How much money is involved? Nobody knows for sure except perhaps the defendants but estimates have run from several hundred million dollars to sums as high as two billion dollars. CLIP
VIDEO: Naomi Klein on the Shock Doctrine
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122807J.shtml
In a wide-ranging interview with Truthout's Geoffrey Millard, bestselling author and investigative journalist Naomi Klein discusses the catastrophic failures that have ensued from the free-market reforms that has spread throughout the world over the past few decades. Klein explains that the rise in "disaster capitalism" is also leading to an increase in worldwide violence that will only get worse. She refers to the issue as "The Shock Doctrine," which is also the title of her groundbreaking new book.
Donors pledge $420 million for UN emergency fund for global crises (13 December 2007)
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=25059&Cr=central&Cr1=fund
The top United Nations humanitarian official today welcomed the $420 million pledged by donors for a landmark fund which has significantly reduced the time in which aid is delivered to those most in need. (...) Speaking at this morning’s donors’ meeting, Assembly President Srgjan Kerim highlighted the threat posed by climate change, which will increase the frequency and severity of natural disasters.“‘Climate shocks’ such as droughts, floods and storms are already among the strongest factors driving poverty,” he said. “They will become more frequent as the planet warms.”Mr. Kerim stressed that it is the world’s poor who will suffer the most as a result.Since its launch last March, CERF has committed nearly $600 million to more than 700 humanitarian projects in 59 countries impacted by natural disasters and armed conflicts. Since January 2007, it has disbursed over $212 million to rapid response grants in 48 countries and $124 to underfunded emergencies in almost two dozen nations. CLIP
Global Warming Isn't Heating Up Campaign Trail
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/122807EA.shtml
Ellen Goodman, The Seattle Times: "The inconvenient truth of the 2008 election year is that climate change is still way down the dance card of most-talked-about topics. It's ranked No. 12 among Democratic candidates, and No. 15 among Republicans."
Remember This: 350 Parts Per Million (28 December 2007)
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/122807EB.shtml
This month may have been the most important yet in the two-decade history of the fight against global warming. Al Gore got his Nobel in Stockholm; international negotiators made real progress on a treaty in Bali; and in Washington, Congress actually worked up the nerve to raise gas mileage standards for cars. But what may turn out to be the most crucial development went largely unnoticed. It happened at an academic conclave in San Francisco. A NASA scientist named James Hansen offered a simple, straightforward and mind-blowing bottom line for the planet: 350, as in parts per million carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It's a number that may make what happened in Washington and Bali seem quaint and nearly irrelevant. It's the number that may define our future. To understand what it means, you need a little background. (...) In the past five years, though, scientists began to worry that the planet was reacting more quickly than they had expected to the relatively small temperature increases we've already seen. The rapid melt of most glacial systems, for instance, convinced many that 450 parts per million was a more prudent target. That's what the European Union and many of the big environmental groups have been proposing in recent years, and the economic modeling makes clear that achieving it is still possible, though the chances diminish with every new coal-fired power plant. But the data just keep getting worse. The news this fall that Arctic sea ice was melting at an off-the-charts pace and data from Greenland suggesting that its giant ice sheet was starting to slide into the ocean make even 450 look too high. Consider: We're already at 383 parts per million, and it's knocking the planet off kilter in substantial ways. So, what does that mean? It means, Hansen says, that we've gone too far. "The evidence indicates we've aimed too high - that the safe upper limit for atmospheric CO2is no more than 350 ppm," he said after his presentation. Hansen has reams of paleo-climatic data to support his statements (as do other scientists who presented papers at the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco this month). The last time the Earth warmed two or three degrees Celsius - which is what 450 parts per million implies - sea levels rose by tens of meters, something that would shake the foundations of the human enterprise should it happen again. And we're already past 350. Does that mean we're doomed? Not quite. Not any more than your doctor telling you that your cholesterol is way too high means the game is over. Much like the way your body will thin its blood if you give up cheese fries, so the Earth naturally gets rid of some of its CO2each year. We just need to stop putting more in and, over time, the number will fall, perhaps fast enough to avert the worst damage. That "just," of course, hides the biggest political and economic task we've ever faced: weaning ourselves from coal, gas and oil. The difference between 550 and 350 is that the weaning has to happen now, and everywhere. No more passing the buck. The gentle measures bandied about at Bali, themselves way too much for the Bush administration, don't come close. Hansen called for an immediate ban on new coal-fired power plants that don't capture carbon, the phaseout of old coal-fired generators, and a tax on carbon high enough to make sure that we leave tar sands and oil shale in the ground. To use the medical analogy, we're not talking statins to drop your cholesterol; we're talking huge changes in every aspect of your daily life. CLIP
Japan defers humpback killings (Dec 21)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/21/2125804.htm
Japan has announced it will defer plans to kill up to 50 humpback whales in the Southern Ocean this summer. The country's government is set to detail plans to put off "for the time being" the killing of up to 50 of the animals as part of its whaling program. The move comes after Australia said on Wednesday it would send a send a fisheries patrol ship to shadow Tokyo's whaling fleet near Antarctica. The ship was to gather evidence for a possible international court challenge to halt Japan's yearly slaughter. Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura defended Tokyo's whaling program, saying it was in line with international treaties and he saw no problem with it. Japanese broadcaster NHK says the decision has been made out of respect for Japan's relationship with Australia and the expectation that there will be continued public concern in Australia over the issue. But Japan will continue its other whaling programs, including plans to kill up to 900 minke whales this season. CLIP
EMF-Omega-News 22. December 2007
http://omega.twoday.net/20071222/
1.
From: Jeremy Burnham (jeremy@pes.org.za)
Subject: Greetings, brother J!
Date: 25 Dec 2007
Over a cup of tea on this poignant Christmas day:
I enter 2008 on the cusp of two critical tipping points. One appears to be coming at me, the other flows from me.
The one we call Earth Changes - the environmental and social consequences of my actions and inactions over past decades - ultimately of my separation and fear and consequent greed, insensitivity and laziness. Each new meeting of eminent scientists tells me that the changes are coming yet sooner. What to do? Be the change . . . If I want to see people more committed and outspoken - let me be so, fully, without attachment to results.
The other tipping point is that of consciousness - the environmental and social consequences of my thoughts and feelings over past decades - of my growing willingness to be and to show gratitude and love no matter what. How near are we to the critical mass that will allow the morphogenetic field of gratitude and love to make the quantum leap to envelope all? - I don't know, never can. But let that not deter me from continuing to contribute to its growth right now.
Could it be that these two tipping points are calling ever more insistently for each other? - that they are complementary? Let me this year be an exemplary steward of my own back yard; let me challenge my neighbours to do the same; let me demand of my elected representatives that they do what I elected them to do; AND let me forgive myself for my past shortcomings, and look for ways to express gratitude and love to my neighbours and representatives (yes, even him) for doing the best they knew how.
With love - Jeremy
Jeremy Burnham
The Natural Step
30 Gill St, Observatory, Jo'burg
+2711 274 6807 / 072 424 0147
http://www.naturalstep.org/
2.
MOST INSPIRING LETTER AND SUGGESTED MONTHLY MEDITATION!
From: Sharon Rose (spirit@aloha.com)
Subject: New Moon Meditation for Peace
Date: 25 Dec 2007
Aloha Jean,
At this sacred holiday season and the start of a new year, my heart overflows with gratitude for all of life’s wondrous blessings, and for the gift of your presence in my life this past year.
In the busyness of the holidays, it is often easy to lose our gratitude and perspective. Recently, when occupied with the busyness of my day, I received a message from a stranger that allowed me to stop and re-evaluate where I was focusing my energy. It was such an immediate wake-up call that I want to pass his message on to you.
As I placed my items on the check-out counter at the local health food store, the beautiful young man behind the counter asked me how I was. I replied with a rushed response still distracted by the events of the day. He said, “Don’t conform to the pattern of this world, but instead be transformed in the image of Christ.”
His words stopped me cold in my tracks, as I felt the truth of his statement. As I reflected further upon this simple wisdom, I realized that making this choice would not only bring about inner peace, but peace in all our relationships and endeavors, and of course, peace on Earth. No longer would we be involved in conflicts or wars, recognizing everyone as a brother or sister of our one human family. Instead of amassing armies against those that look or think different than us, our energy would be focused on loving, forgiving, and being kind to one another, and celebrating our inherent unity. Imagine. . . just imagine the kind of world we could create.
When enough of us make this choice, it will be out-pictured in the world around us, including our government. Quantum physics has proven that whatever we focus upon with our thoughts and feelings and visualize in our mind’s eye comes into manifestation.
I invite you to gather your family and friends together once a month at the time of new beginnings, the new moon, to participate in a visualization to co-create this peaceful world. This monthly event was initiated 16 years ago, and now hundreds of thousands of people all over the world are joining together to create this new world. A suggested meditation follows. Please join us.
With love and blessings for a New Year of peace and joy,
Sharon Rose
December 24, 2007
---
A Meditation to Create A Peaceful World
Purpose: To join together in heart, mind & spirit to create a world of peace.
When: Each new moon in 2008: Jan. 8, Feb. 6, March 7, April 5, May 5, June 3, July 2, Aug. 1, Aug. 30, Sept. 29, Oct. 28, Nov. 27, Dec. 27
How: By yourself or with a group of family and friends, offer a prayer or meditation for the creation of a more loving, peaceful, abundant world.
The following is offered as a suggestion. Add your own vision of heaven on earth.
Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and breathe in the love deep at the center of your heart. Breathe love into every cell of your body.
Send love out from your heart to everyone you know and to the places in the world that need healing, until your loves reaches around the world.
Hold our precious Earth in your hands and send love and gratitude to this beloved planet that is our home.
Create in your mind’s eye the paradise this planet was always meant to be.
Envision clean air and pure water, rivers, lakes and oceans... lush green forests and farmlands... people living in dignity and abundance in harmony with each other and the Earth.
Hear the sounds of forgiveness as old enemies become friends... the sounds of joy and laughter as communities formerly divided by hate become whole again.
Feel the warmth of acceptance and the safety of our homes and neighborhoods as our world becomes united with brotherly and sisterly love.
Envision peace beginning in the heart of every individual and spreading heart to heart across the land, finally encircling the globe.
See clearly this new world that honors everyone as well as the Earth, and feel how good it feels to live in this peaceful world. See it clearly and feel it intensely.
Release it to the angels with joy and gratitude and begin today to live it. And so it is!
Adapted from Passport to Paradise copyrighted by Sharon Rose
Note from Jean: See also a previous related contribution last year (December 28, 2006) from Sharon Rose archived in the item #1 at http://www.aei.ca/~cep/MeditationFocus163.htm where the summary part is worth reading again...
As a new year begins, let us pause for a moment to ponder about the progress made so far and acknowledge all that has been learned in these past 12 months. As we gradually enter in a state of deep meditation, joining in thoughts and feelings into the celestial harmonies created by the chorus of loving souls communing together, both on Earth and beyond this realm of existence, let us open ourselves to the magnificent beauty of the vast, holy assembly we form. Let us feel out the streams of loving kindness emanating from all participating souls, rejoicing in this NOW moment to the effulgence of Light pouring through our hearts and radiating around this living sphere to form a pulsating cocoon of dazzling brilliance. Let us feel Who we collectively are as we become One with all Life on Earth, One with Gaia, this perfect Being of Love, this global quintessence in which we all partake as cells in a greater body of Life.
As our thoughts float towards the center of this gigantic being, let us express our infinite gratitude for all that she continuously gives us, for the air we breathe, for the water we drink, for the food sustaining us and for the grace of Life with which we are each imbued and through which our very existence is made possible. Let us sense the rivers of Love streaming within us from within Her and connecting us all as One. Looking around into the infinitely vast universe from the vantage point of our common Earth post, let us experience the unfathomable sense of Bliss springing forth as we contemplate the Miracle of Life gracing this infinitely small speck of dust in the boundless cosmos around us, and let us feel how precious each and every single Life form truly is, each intricately connected to all others to form a perfectly functioning and self-regenerating living entity: Gaia
As we join in this globally synchronized communion of souls, at the appointed time or at any other NOW moment in the next 2 weeks, let us consciously remember what brought us here, what mission we vowed to accomplish and what infinite resources of creativity and power we each have at our disposal, if we only believe in us as One, to BE the change we are here to manifest in this physical realm of joyful existence. As we do so, let us renew our sacred vow to uphold the sanctity of Life, to protect, cherish and Love every single expression of the Creator around us, and let us brazenly, without the slightest shyness, express the embodied perfection that We each Are... for the Highest Good of All.
3.
From: Suzanne Ward (suzy@matthewbooks.com)
Subject: Message from Matthew
Date: 23 Dec 2007
From: http://www.matthewbooks.com/mm/anmviewer.asp?a=82&z=2
December 23, 2007
MATTHEW: I bring you loving greetings from the heavenly hosts! How we wish you could hear the music of the spheres as you celebrate the holiday season— if everyone on Earth could hear these tones of celestial magnificence, your world would be instantly transformed into a planet of love and peace. Hark—that is coming! We are rejoicing as we view the vestiges of negativity on Earth being transmuted into light and the buds of long-awaited changes beginning to blossom in fullness.
For ages the tap root of deeply entrenched darkness on Earth was hidden. When that core of the system was shaken loose in recent decades, its far flung roots tried to hold firm its secret mooring. Then those roots started shaking too and became a possible threat to the viability of the whole system. Over the years, the threat grew into a probability, then the actuality, and now the once titanic tap root with its flourishing widespread network is flailing in death throes, its withering tendrils futilely trying to escape the light's brilliance. This is an allegorical depiction of the changing nature and lot of Earth humankind, changes that are being observed with growing excitement throughout the universe.
Down to Earth, the mixture of emotions during this season always is heightened. Whether celebrating religions‚ holy days or secular festivities, the collective spirit of people with family and friends glows like billions of candles burning brightly. On a level that is not obvious to you, but is a great part of the light intensity generated, is the radiance we see in your sharing, caring and compassion for the masses of souls who are alone, homeless, grieving, in combat zones or hospitals, or enduring near intolerable hardships, and for whom this season is but a sorrowful reminder of better times. More so than ever before in your history, the outpouring of loving energy for these ones is in such abundance that our hearts are singing in exaltation!
Now for an overview of what you will see during your calendar year 2008 as undeniable evidence that the patterns of behavior and systems of the old ways are tumbling to make way for the new. Disclosures in mainstream media—where truth still is sparse in the plethora of omissions and misleading information—are only the tip of exposures so plentiful that when they come out, it will seem more like an eruption than an emergence as peoples demand an end to pervasive corruption and oppression. Yet, be mindful that what is transpiring is reformation, not revolution, and although changes ultimately will be profound, they will come within the just laws and orderliness of a civilized society and not the untenable disarray of anarchical upheaval.
All happenings are due to the frequencies Earth has reached in her ascension. The raising of consciousness and spiritual clarity enabled by these higher vibrations is reason to leap with joy, but in the short term, some effects may be unsettling. Physical anomalies, depression, fatigue and confusion may be due to bodies adjusting, but please do not assume that is the cause of discomfort. Proper treatment may be necessary, so consulting trusted health care specialists and using natural remedies is sensible, but chemicals prescribed to calm you down or cheer you up will only create more havoc with your systems‚ electromagnetic currents, which are incompatible with those chemicals. Assist your bodies by drinking a lot of pure water.
Another noticeable effect of the frequencies is changing attitudes and behavior as all characteristics and emotions are being magnified—in easiest terms, "good" is getting better and "bad" is getting worse. Positive outlooks and characteristics are blooming beautifully, enhancing relationships in families, workplaces and communities. Conversely, the veneers of acquired traits like diplomacy and feigned philanthropy are wearing thin and the less admirable basic nature is showing, just as will all instances of falsity and self-service.
In a similar vein but from a different source, hearts and minds are stirring with sensations that changes are needed in personal relationships, type of work or living environment, or perhaps a complete change of lifestyle. These usually derive from strong soul level nudgings to get on with other choices in the pre-birth agreements that require different circumstances from those already experienced.
Planetary cleansing via earthquakes and storms will continue until Earth is rid of the negativity amassed over the ages of brutality and bloodshed, thus it is wise to be prepared with sufficient typical emergency supplies to weather these kinds of events. Please remember that soul contracts are what govern physical safety and survival—do not let fear be the motivator for moving to a "safer" location. Do not let fear into your lives at all! This is a good place to mention that "global warming" is Earth's return to the predominantly moderate climate that once prevailed worldwide.
From a variety of obvious causes, many, many souls will continue to transition from Earth to spirit life, and with each one's departure, grief and missing the physical presence will befall family and friends. One day not too distant, when telepathic communication again will be commonplace on Earth, everyone will know that the leave-taking is by the soul's choice in agreement with all primary persons in that lifetime and LIFE is an unending cycle of incarnations, then residence in a spirit world, within eternal love bonds.
Despite the highly publicized war-mongering rhetoric that is meant more to arouse fear than to undertake action, armed conflicts will ease, then cease as bellicose national leaders are ousted and lighted souls step in to govern in peace. Peoples will start enjoying the liberties and better living standards so long denied them, and a cooperative spirit of working in harmony for the good of all will replace current conflict, anger, jealousy and ruthlessness. This too will be a transition, not godliness blanketing the planet in one fell swoop, and patience a bit longer will serve you well.
The unconscionable inequality between rich and poor is coming to an end as the global foundation for financial dealings that has caused this disparity is coming apart at the seams. The largely unrecognized bankruptcy of the United States unavoidably will have domino effects, and the economies of many other nations already are in tatters. When all of this stabilizes, you will have a sound basis for commerce and banking, the lives of billions now in bare subsistence level countries will be greatly improved, and the vast coffers of those who earned their fortunes dishonestly will be fairly distributed to end impoverishment wherever it exists.
Contrary to reports that benevolent members of our universal family will make mass landings to evacuate peoples of Earth, that will not occur because there will be no need. However, their ongoing massive assistance in a variety of ways will continue, and when it is safe for those living among you to introduce themselves and those surrounding you in spacecraft to land, they will. Not only will that be a time of unequaled celebration on Earth, but all lighted civilizations in the universe will be cheering when that monumental day arrives!
Now then, the lapse in my messages was intended to coincide with my mother's move. Although that has been delayed, she has been spending this time in other spiritual information avenues, and we thank all readers who refrained from writing emails and letters. To those who did write their hope that messages would soon resume and included good wishes for her move, we appreciate your thoughtfulness. But more significant to the point I need to make is the large number of individuals who wrote such as "I know he says we need to ask within, but I'm not getting answers and I really need his helpful messages" and "Please! We count on Matthew's information to get us through these chaotic times."
The absence of my messages had a purpose aside from my mother's anticipated need for time, and that purpose is most evident in the sentiments expressed in those verbatim examples. Despite our urging to the contrary, some of you still are relying on external sources to tell you what to think or feel or do. By no means am I the only source of enlightening and encouraging information, but a difference is that not all other messages from light beings address readers' questions, and I recognize the merit in this.
Please remember that in previous messages I have told you that my intention is to inspire you to develop your innate ability to discern truth from falsehood and learn to trust your intuition, and I offered suggestions to assist you to achieve this essential aspect of spiritual evolvement. Those words are in bold italics to stress how crucial it is that you not delay in developing these key aspects of self—you have the capacity to do this and all you need is the will to use it.
I also have said that by continuing to provide the answers that are within you, I was diminishing instead of stimulating your incentive to grow as you must; yet continue I did because you kept asking. I think my responses to some kinds of questions totally missed the mark—to show that cluttering your thoughts with trivial issues or succumbing to fear with each dire prediction forms a barrier to raising your consciousness and attaining spiritual clarity. And I could have been more emphatic about this too: Earth's journey to her destination is assured but yours isn't; it's your responsibility get on that same track.
By making every effort I could think of to impart what you need to know, I don't feel that I have failed, but neither do I feel that I have fully succeeded. So I have been pondering what I can do to ignite the spark of your self-discovery of the powerful gods and goddesses you are, and the recurring thought is "tough love." Because it is not my nature to be harsh or abrupt, but rather as helpful as can be within universal laws—this is true of all souls in lighted spirit worlds—I knew that applying tough love would not come naturally. But in practicing on my mother, I've seen that it can be effective. Ever since we started talking nearly 14 years ago, I have been telling her that she needs to drink more water—she becomes engrossed in the task at hand, thinks "as soon as I finish this," and simply keeps forgetting. Not long ago she became much more diligent without my prodding, after I told her once again about water. I knew her thought, of course, and I said, "No, I don't get tired of reminding you, I get tired of your ignoring me."
I think God must feel like that when his children repeatedly ignore The Word he sent by souls who then spread it throughout the land. Lamentably, down through the ages The Word has been distorted by those with influence, who cast out the truths and inserted information that served their purposes of greed and control. Now God-appointed messengers from the lighted realms are transmitting The Word to his receivers on Earth to waken his sleeping children in this unprecedented era on your homeland planet. A message of timeless importance in God's own words is well worth your reading and rereading. [http://www.matthewbooks.com/mm/anmviewer.asp?a=79&z=2]
Now I will tell you something that is not in that message, an alert he gave my mother about a month ago. It was not to scare her, but to inform her that tentacles with dark attachments are lashing out more ferociously than ever before in energy alignment with the thoughts and deeds of the recalcitrant souls, the darkly-inclined ones whose behavior is increasingly irrational and desperate as they are acting out their fear. Since the low frequencies being emitted cannot penetrate strong psyches and spirits, they are attacking through anyone and anything that can affect those who are holding their light steady—as beacons for others, they also are major targets for the darkness. God said this accounted for several recent unlikely occurrences in my mother's home that caused inconvenience and expense—everything is energy, and tentacles with either light or dark attachments can and do affect inanimate things.
But most important, God told her, is that she must be keenly aware of her surroundings and take utmost care in all her undertakings. Because I am ever present, I know she felt that she always is cautious; however, she was not prepared for the new force of attack, and two days later her finger was severely slashed. She was using it as she usually did to hold open a special door for dogs so the little blind fellow could enter, and suddenly the largest dog flung herself at the door, which nearly severed part of that finger. Later I told my mother that a dark tentacle had "spooked" Jessie and why: How better to silence a voice that speaks through a computer keyboard?
My mother, like all other dedicated lightworkers, is protected by the Christed light, and although God's countless emissaries are ever vigilant over all of you, none may prevent something that would interfere with your choices. You must not only wisely take precautions in major endeavors, but also be alert to potential harmful effects of minor ones. Because of that injury, my mother is more safely helping the little dog exit and enter, and although she could have used this way all along, she didn't think it was necessary to do anything differently. God's message to her applies "across the board," so extrapolate here and let her experience stir you to expand your awareness and thus your safe being.
When I spoke of "tough love," I wasn't referring to a sensible suggestion like that, which comes from the tender caring of the unconditional love that all souls at this station feel for all of you. Tough love means that no longer will I answer questions that are basically curiosity: Will so-and-so be the next US president, will President Bush be impeached, which world leaders are dark and which are light, will Iran be invaded, where is the economy heading, when will the war in Iraq end, how far will the new virus spread, what will stop the chemtrails, what if? Please understand that I am NOT saying these matters are not important—they are!—and it would be a most exceptional soul who could ask within and get accurate answers.
There are two important issues here. First, in a sense, you have been given answers to those questions and many others—the descriptions of the promised Golden Age that other evolved souls and I have given you clearly show that any momentary concerns about such matters are unnecessary. Second, Earth's energy field of potential is rife with countless zigzagging streamers, and although the finale—the Golden Age—is known, all free will choices with their positive or negative charges shooting out into that field every nanosecond preclude our knowing the absolute outcome of each energetic expression. Energy is in constant motion so situations are ever in flux, and what in this moment appears likely, tomorrow may have lost its punch, or vice versa.
But the primary point I need to make is, a forecast of specific matters that in time you shall see for yourselves as they unfold is not what needs to be paramount in your thoughts—knowing and BEing the souls you are, IS! You could say that "introducing you to yourselves" is and always has been my purpose. Going on more about this would merely be repeating what I have said in many messages.
Again, they are not the only source of enlightenment, encouragement and guidance, but reviewing them could be helpful as refresher courses generally are. However, I know that with linear time racing right out of the picture and the same myriad responsibilities must be accomplished, most of you may not be able to do that. Furthermore, I would be remiss if I did not stress here one more time the "other side of the coin" from dependence on external sources to carry you along on Earth's journey, and I state with brevity that belies the inestimable honor we pay you: You are brilliant souls who, simply by radiating your light, are inspiring others to let their own light come to the fore!
It is important to repeat as well something else I often have said, that each of you is a manifesting powerhouse and what you manifest not only is your very life, but affects Earth and the universe. In line with this is the "2012" chapter in And then God said - then I said - then He said, a book of extraordinary messages received by my mother and by Celestial Bluestar of the Pleiades and David of Arcturus, powerful light warriors with vital missions during this unique time in your world. As God instructed, "2012" is pertinent excerpts from my messages, and I asked my mother to separately post that chapter as space limitations preclude adding it here. (http://www.matthewbooks.com/mm/anmviewer.asp?a=83&z=2) You "live in the now," as your expression goes, where in each moment you are co-creating your "future." This is precisely why you chose this Earth lifetime and this is what needs to be foremost in your thoughts, your feelings, your actions! I believe that reading "2012" not only will be exciting as you visualize your co-creation, but it will remind you that you are eminently prepared for this transitional phase at hand.
Now, by request, I speak for all souls in spirit and in body at this station of spiritual evolvement: Our abiding love for every one of you shines like all the stars in the heavens—let our love lighten, guide and uplift your pathway, knowing that you and we are eternally ONE.
Suzanne Ward
___
Note from Suzy: You may have received this as a forward. The former Yahoo group was disbanded—if your address was in that group and you would like to receive future messages directly, you will need to sign up on the new free distribution list that will be formed soon. When that is ready, a note and the sign-up link will be posted on "Matthew's Messages" page on http://www.matthewbooks.com. Please do not send your address to me—I can't add any more to my list.
Because Matthew wanted to send out a message at this time and my injured finger precludes typing for any length of time, he transmitted this in numerous short stages during the past week. Even slowly typing with that finger "aloft" is counterproductive to its healing to the extent possible. With all other projects completed prior to the "accident," I intended to start answering emails that go back as far as March. I don't know when I can do this, so please continue to stretch your understanding and patience. Also, no new emails, please. Thank you!
The new comprehensive index of the messages and books and the search feature in "Matthew's Messages" makes it easy to access topics of special interest.
Guests on the January 23, 2008 "Matthew and Friends" BBS Internet Radio/Station 1, will be Celestial Bluestar and David, the other receivers of messages in And then God said - then I said - then He said. The book will be available early in the Spring. A description of content is at http://www.awakenedhearts.com/books2.htm and you can preorder a copy at creation@godumentary.com
4.
Forwarded by Carl Landsness (iam@weneedadream.org) who wrote: "The message below poured through Mariah this morning... after a major catharsis. It was extremely profound for both of us... and we're still reverberating with aftershocks and wooziness. It brought to light an image that touches my core like no other: http://www.earthecho.com/heal/light51.html
This movie takes me even deeper: http://weneedadream.org/JourneyofSpirit.htm
May Divine Light shine upon you in you around you and from you. Blessed Be Our Birth Day."
From: Mariah (info@ariesrisingproductions.com)
Subject: Rebirth
Date: 24 Dec 2007
Blessings this Christmas Eve!
The attached message came through me this morning in response to a spontaneous, cathartic clearing that moved through me rather suddenly. It was far beyond the discussion Carl & I were having at the time and so I decided to write about it and see what was happening.
Attached is the message that I was gifted with. I will say that it is probably the most powerful energetic download I've ever received. This appears to be an amazing day for us all... regardless of religion, ideology, or any of the other standards by which we classify ourselves.
May you be gifted with Light & Love this day and always,
Mariah
12-24-07 RE-BIRTH
This is indeed time for a choice. You are not the only ones facing the proverbial "fork in the road"! We say to you that all of humanity is at this crossroads and the choices are being made, whether they are realized or not. You are some of the fortunate ones who are realizing you are making a choice. This is a gift and a blessing — rather than the curse it may seem to be.
The time for darkness is ending. There is indeed a rebirth of the Light both for the collective and the individual. This is the good news! Rejoicing is called for — and yet there are those who simply refuse to believe that this is the case. There are those who will choose darkness and fear when even the brightest of lights are shone upon them. Again, we say to you this is a choice. You are free to choose the path that calls to you each is free to choose.
The Earth has entered its rebirth — indeed this has been happening for quite some time, and at this very moment we say to you the light at the end of the tunnel (the birth canal) is visible to you all. It is not only visible, it is all around you. You are surrounded by Light! We say again you are SURROUNDED BY LIGHT. There is no darkness unless you choose to enter it. There is no darkness unless you forget your light. All darkness can be illuminated by light.
While it may seem apparent to you that darkness can engulf light, or snuff out light, this is not true. As you have witnessed this morning, in the purging of the darkness, light is what remains. The light is always there. When the darkness is illuminated the light is still there. Always. Unquestionably. Light remains steadfast and unchanging. For the Light is All That Is. The Light is within all things and remains all ways and always.
Ask yourself this Christmas Eve This Eve of Rebirth what is it I choose? What path calls me forth? Do I choose to be a warrior/ess of Light? Do I choose to walk the path of Love? Do I choose to walk with Hope, Faith and Peace? Do I choose to believe that, in spite of the seeming darkness around me, the Light remains? Do I choose to know that all is well in spite of appearances, and do I choose to look for the Light in all beings and situations?
The birth of the Christ is the Birth of the Light. The light, the star, the guidance, are within at all times. You may look outside yourself and see light. You may look outside yourself for guidance and direction and this may be helpful if you are indeed, looking to the light. The brightest light however, shines within and illuminates all that it touches.
In the face of darkness please choose the light. Please choose to look for that which is positive, is caring, is hopeful and is blessed. It is there.
Even in the darkest of hours, the most ominous of situations, the most dire of circumstances — there is Light. And when you see it, when you acknowledge it — no matter how fleeting it may seem — it has no choice but to grow. As you focus upon the tiniest ray of hope, the tiniest sparkle of joy, the tiniest flicker of compassion, of peace, of love, of faith — it WILL grow. It has no choice; there is no option, for this is the Law of Light. When it is focused upon it expands and it illuminates the darkness.
Allow the Light within you to grow today. Allow yourself to follow your gaze until it alights upon something hopeful — and let yourself focus upon that — expand it until it fills your entire being with a Light so luminous that no darkness can penetrate it. Allow yourself to expand into Joy. Allow yourself to expand into Love. Allow yourself to expand into the luminous being that you are. And hold this place. Hold this light. Hold this love. Hold this peace. It is from this place that you are REBORN. That the Christ is BORN again. That Love is born again. And that your Life is born again.
You are born again. Earth is born again.
It is a Birthday. It is your birthday.
Celebrate it like no other for it is the birth of the Light!
Note from Jean: To find out who Mariah is, check her short bio at http://ariesrisingproductions.com/about.php
5.
Forwarded by Larry Stell (lstell@glasgow-ky.com
From: http://www.larouchepac.com/news/2007/12/27/larouche-assails-british-empire-bhutto-assassination.html
LaRouche Assails "British Empire" For Bhutto Assassination
December 27, 2007 (LPAC)--Lyndon LaRouche today offered the following initial assessment of the assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Mrs. Bhutto was killed by a suicide assassin at the conclusion of a campaign rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
LaRouche characterized the assassination as a "chaos operation." LaRouche explained that he sees the British hand all over it, referring to recent revelations of MI6 operators negotiating with Taliban leaders in Afghanistan. The British, LaRouche elaborated, are operating with many groups--in all factions, on all sides of the conflict. They work towards both parallel and contradictory objectives.
LaRouche argued that the motives behind the Bhutto assassination are global, not regional. There are factions of the British oligarchy who are out to make the entire global situation into an unwholesome mess. This has more to do with the global financial crash than anything internal to the politics of Southwest or South Asia, he continued. There are factions in the City of London and allied financial oligarchy, who understand that the present financial system is doomed--is already collapsing at an accelerating rate. They see this as end game, and are committed to determining who survives, and who goes down. They are using terrorism as a weapon of chaos, to secure their survival out of the collapse.
LaRouche explained that he is not referring to the House of Windsor. The issue is the London-centered Anglo-Dutch financial oligarchy, which is out to consolidate their imperial control over the world, under conditions of a total breakdown crisis. The issue is: Who will come out of the crash intact?
To pursue the precise British assets behind the Bhutto assassination, the appropriate question is: Which British assets in the South Asia region totally hate the prospect of any rational outcome to the situation? That is the starting point.
---
Related articles:
U.S. Physical Economy Shows More Signs of Collapse (December 28, 2007)
http://www.larouchepac.com/news/2007/12/28/u-s-physical-economy-shows-more-signs-collapse.html
(LPAC)--The impact of the global financial crash on the American economy, its remaining physical production, is becoming more and more severe because of the lack of any Congressional acknowledgment of that crash, or action to create "firewalls" to protect the real economy from it.At least 16 U.S. states have suddenly found themselves in budget crises due to drops in tax revenues, and in two of them, California and Kentucky, the governors have announced they will call "fiscal emergencies." The reasons are spiking unemployment, Medicaid costs, as well as the rapid vaporization of housing-related taxes and fees due to the mortgage meltdown.As 2007 ended Ford and Chrysler had placed 26,000 production employees on "temporary layoffs" in during December, set to last at least through January, and potentially to become permanent. General Motors, which in 2007 "bought out" 46,000 GM and Delphi workers from the industry, announced it's getting rid of 5,000 more by the buyout route. All three automakers have cut their production for the first quarter of 2008 by another 10% or so as sales fall. Employment in the auto industry fell by 75,000 during 2007. New unemployment claims have been running at 345,000 per week in December, 15% higher than earlier in 2007. Today's announcement of November new home sales by the Census Bureau was disastrous; sales fell to a 647,000 annual rate, when only on September 18, the Homebuilders Association {warned} gloomily that they might fall to 800,000 by the end of the year! So many "pending sales" have been falling through, that previous months' figures have been revised down, to where the sales were already well below the 800,000 rate even in September, when the Homebuilders were making their "forecast." The November sales figure is the lowest for any month in 12 years. And durable goods orders for the U.S. economy, also announced today by the Commerce Department, are at $207 billion for November, a full 10% lower than November 2006. This drop is not adjusted for inflation, or for the falling dollar. It's purely and simply the falling economy. CLIP
Next Year Could Foreclose the Nation (December 26, 2007)
http://www.larouchepac.com/news/2007/12/26/next-year-could-foreclose-nation.html
(LPAC) -- The implosion of the housing bubble guarantees that 2008 will be more horrific than 2007. The worsening will come from an upsurge in the number of Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) reset to higher interest rates during the January to June period, the inaction-to-date by Congress, and the hyperinflationary effects of the money-pumping by private central banks.Leading inflection points of the ongoing housing crash in 2007, and projections for 2008:** Prices of existing U.S. single-family homes tumbled 6.7% during October of 2007, compared to October of 2006, the tenth straight month of decline, according to data released today by Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller Home Price Composite Index for 10 of America's largest cities. The October price index fall exceeded even the previous record 6.3% decline recorded in April 1991. As well, Case-Shiller publishes a composite home price index for 20 American cities. Eleven of the cited cities experienced during October, the biggest monthly price decline since the 1929-32 depression, spearheaded by Miami, - 12.4%; Tampa, -11.8%; Detroit, -11.2%; San Diego, -11.1%.** Fannie Mae, one of the two U.S. secondary mortgage market giants, which had pumped out optimistic predictions earlier this year, now predicts over the course of 2008, that prices for existing homes, will fall an additional 4.5%, and sales for existing homes will plummet an additional 12%. That would be in addition to the plunge in home sales this year, which have been down 20.7%, comparing October of this year, to October of last year.** Lehman Brothers investment bank analysts project that approximately 1 million home mortgage loans will be thrust into default in 2008, compared to 300,000 this year. However, all this must be put in perspective: reality will outstrip even the most dire projections being made now.
Indebted Consumers Defaulting in Record Numbers (December 24, 2007)
http://www.larouchepac.com/news/2007/12/24/indebted-consumers-defaulting-record-numbers.html
(LPAC)-- In an article which is receiving wide play in the nation's media, Associated Press examined the records of 17 of the national credit lenders, and determined that credit card defaults have taken a big jump, rising to what the Washington Times called a "crisis level." For the month of October, accounts 30 days past due were up 26% to $17.3 billion (year-on-year figures), amounting to 4% of the nation's $920 billion credit indebtedness. "Serious" delinquencies (90 or more days overdue) were up 50% for some lenders, and defaults (where lenders have given up on collection efforts) were up 18%, to over $960 million. The three companies hardest hit were Avanta, GE Capital, and British HSBC.AP's coverage tied this directly to the ongoing mortgage crisis, where collapsing prices were wiping out borrowers home equity, on which they had built the illusion of prosperity. They a note that the areas hardest hit were Florida and California. And, like the mortgage crisis, the experts quoted all indicated that the problem would only get worse after the holidays
Schwarzenegger To Declare State Of Emergency, Massive Budget Cuts Coming (December 22, 2007)
http://www.larouchepac.com/news/2007/12/22/schwarzenegger-declare-state-emergency-massive-budget-cuts-c.html
(LPAC)--California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger dumped a huge lump of coal into the Christmas stockings of Californians yesterday, when he announced that he would declare a "fiscal emergency" on January 10, and that his administration is preparing "deep cuts" in the state budget. The unfolding of this crisis has forced Schwarzenegger to drop his usual optimistic persona, as he told reporters that the situation is "very bleak." With the estimated budget deficit now at $14.5 billion for fiscal year 2008-09, and a shortfall for the remainder of 2007-08 now at over $3.3 billion, department heads of all state agencies are putting together a plan which starts with at least 10% across-the-board cuts.Those areas bracing for the worst cuts include education, health care, social services, and the penal system. Leaks have been made to prepare people for these cuts, with a figure being floated of $1.4 billion taken out of the education budget, and a proposal to release 22,000 nonviolent prisoners with less than 20 months remaining to their sentence, drawing fire from Republicans.The most obvious problem in the discussions thus far is that there is no one addressing the real problem, which is the accelerating disintegration of the global financial system. The dramatic collapse of revenue to the state has resulted from this disintegration, as the once-powerful agricultural-industrial economy of California has been dismantled, with hundreds of thousand of jobs lost in manufacturing in the last twenty years, replaced by low-wage jobs in services, tourism, and entertainment. With legislators caught up in the phony debate of more cuts versus more taxes, there is little prospect for a solution emerging, unless the courage is found to break the control, by George Shultz and Felix Rohatyn, over the political debate.
A MUST READ!
6.
From: http://www.fcnp.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2290&Itemid=35
The Peak Oil Crisis: Storm of the Century
Written by Tom Whipple
27 December 2007
A “Perfect storm” refers to the simultaneous occurrence of events which, taken individually, would be far less powerful than the result of their chance combination. Such occurrences are rare by their very nature.
-- Wikipedia
In recent weeks we have been bombarded with reports of perturbations in the mortgage/liquidity crisis that is creating havoc in the financial world.
The travails of the “financial industry”, as it is called these days, are affecting oil prices at least as much as the normal forces of supply and demand.
Commentary on what is about to befall us is becoming scarier with each passing day. Learned professors are writing in the New York Times that our financial system is in danger of coming unglued. The general thesis is that America’s financial institutions are only capitalized at $1.1 trillion yet they are supporting $11 trillion worth of mortgages. Home prices are going to have to fall by 30-50 percent before most people can afford to buy homes again. When this drop in housing value is over, some 20 million homes will be mortgaged for far more than they are worth and a fair portion is likely to be abandoned. Some think the banking system is in for some very hard times. Others have dubbed the burgeoning financial crisis “peak money.”
But there is more: global warming seems to be causing unprecedented droughts and glacial melting which in turn are leading to lower food production and empty reservoirs and a substantial drop in hydro-electric production around the world.
Welcome to “peak climate,” “peak food,” “peak water,” “peak electricity,” or as some people are putting it, “peak everything.”
Some parts of the world are pumping so much fossil fuel emissions into the air that they can barely breathe. Perhaps they are reaching “peak air?” Then there are worries about the world’s carrying capacity –- “peak people?”
There is no question that a lot of bad things are about to happen –- more or less simultaneously. If some “peaks” we can see looming ahead occur at the same time, they will reinforce each other leading to a far more serious situation than if they occurred decades apart where they could be dealt with separately. Simultaneous shortages of fuel and water in the same area would have serious consequences as large resources would have to be devoted to providing life-sustaining water supplies, putting additional pressure on oil supplies and prices. If the drought in the Southeastern U.S. continues much longer, Atlanta may be the first large city in the U.S. to experience this phenomenon.
Other peak situations cut both ways and may have unforeseen and unintended consequences. Food grain-based biofuels (peak oil vs. peak food) should in theory help to mitigate the peak oil situation but is contributing significantly to peak food and higher food prices. The amount of corn-based ethanol being produced today is making a minimal contribution to keeping down oil prices while resulting in much higher food prices. Increases in fuel and food prices are starting to result in significant inflation which in turn is complicating efforts to deal with peak money.
The timing of the various peaks will have a lot do with how they interact with each other. Serious consequences from global warming (peak climate) is usually thought of as being many years ahead, but if the Georgia drought turns out to be a consequence of global warming then massive economic damage from global warming may be closer than many imagine.
Keeping in mind that as yet unimagined interactions and consequences of the various peaks may arise, at the minute it seems that a major financial crisis and peak oil will set in during the next few years. The interaction of these phenomena will be complicated. At times they will mitigate each other and at times will reinforce the troubles. Currently the consensus of the global market is that as prospects for a recession improve, oil prices deserve to go down based on an eventual drop in demand. In recent weeks, we have seen nearly every governmental attempt to deal with the liquidity crisis in the U.S. and Europe resulting in surges in oil prices in hopes they will be successful.
The interaction of declining oil supplies and a world monetary situation out of control would seem to have the most potential for serious trouble in the immediate future. Newspapers, magazines and the cybersphere are filling with stories by credentialed and knowledgeable people saying that a financial meltdown has already started and that the situation will get much worse in the next year.
Current evidence suggests that at least in the U.S., Europe and China the demand for oil will continue to remain high until completely overwhelmed by economic difficulties. With the world’s population increasing by 76 million each year, the demand for food is unlikely to subside and prices are likely to increase – food-based biofuels production or not.
Thirty years ago when inflation grew and the economies sagged, we called it “stagflation.” This time the term may be too mild to encompass what seems about to happen. Within the next year our liquidity problems, unsatisfied demand for oil, growing food and water shortages, and other consequences of overindulgence appear likely to merge into an unprecedented economic storm. In the midst of this storm, which could continue for years, world oil production is likely to decline forever and the resources to mitigate the storm are likely to become very scarce.
Someday the events we are all going to live through in the next decade may become known as the century’s most perfect storm.
---
Related articles:
Global Food Shortage Looms (December 18th, 2007)
http://www.livescience.com/blogs/2007/12/18/global-food-shortage-looms/
While the media has been focusing on looming potential global crises — a peak in oil production, shortages of potable water, threat of escalating war(s), and myriad effects of global warming — a more urgent problem has been simmering: a global food shortage.The alarm bell has now been sounded by Jacques Diouf, head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, who said there is a “very serious risk that fewer people will be able to get food” as prices soar and supplies dwindle.From the International Herald Tribune:“World wheat stores declined 11 percent this year, to the lowest level since 1980. That corresponds to 12 weeks of the world’s total consumption - much less than the average of 18 weeks consumption in storage during the period 2000-2005. There are only 8 weeks of corn left, down from 11 weeks in the earlier period.”Global inflation is accelerating, meantime, and that has spurred investors to buy grains and other commodities as a store of value, reports Bloomberg news. Wheat for March delivery reached a record $10.095 a bushel yesterday. The problems are all interrelated. Higher oil prices add to food distribution costs, for example. Climate change has already contributed to crop declines. Behind it all is the growing global population, which puts more demands on the planet for all these resources. One odd pressure, according to the Herald Tribune article: More grain is being diverted “to feed cattle as the population of upwardly mobile meat-eaters grows.”Don’t expect the oil part of the equation to get any better. As demand in China and India soars, one study suggest production could peak as early as 2008.
World economic crisis 2008: Russia will outstay
http://www.russia-ic.com/business_law/in_depth/653/
Most people, irrespectively of their religion and nationality, tend to celebrate New Year and hope for the best. The Russians are the same, moreover, the New Year is our main and most beloved holiday celebrated almost in every family. We wish happiness in the upcoming year; raise the goblets for a better future. However, experts who annually release economic forecasts don’t see the future so enthusiastically: they promise $175 for barrel of oil and a serious meltdown in Chinese and U.S. financial markets.The Saxo Bank’s specialists from Denmark have prepared a regular economic forecast for the next year, though it is stated that some predictions make no pretence to be precise, but give us a chance to think of the future of the financial markets.According the analysts, in the upcoming year the world oil prices will reach $175 for barrel, the prices on corn will double and we will have to face a 40% collapse of the Chinese market in August, while American stock indexes will lose 25%. Every third largest American construction company may turn bankrupt, while the British economy will sag.The question is how often the forecasts issued by the analysts come true. Saxo Bank assures that all their forecasts made for 2007 were right. CLIP
7.
From: "Ricardo" (ricardos@auroville.org.in)
Subject: Interview: Economic 9/11 - WHAT CONDITIONS SET UP THIS ECONOMIC BOMB?
Date: 24 Dec 2007
From: http://www.earthfiles.com/news.php?ID=1364
Trends in 2008
by Linda Moulton Howe
“In 2008, we’re going to see some major, giant financial firms fall as they get hit by an economic 9/11.” - Gerald Celente, The Trends Journal
The Trends Research Institute, Rhinebeck, New York.
December 21, 2007 Rhinebeck, New York -
On December 19, 2007, the Federal Reserve announced it was lending another $20 billion to American banks in the first of four special “auctions” designed to help alleviate the credit crunch on Wall Street caused by the subprime loan collapse in real estate. That $20 billion brings the total money pumped into the United States financial sector since June 2007, to about half a trillion dollars. In its announcement, the Federal Reserve said it was responding to requests for $61.6 billion in loans from 93 bidders – illustrating strong demand by banks that need short-term funds. Some market experts doubt this latest infusion of cash will help much. Barry Ritholtz, Director of Equity Research for Fusion IQ, told CNN:
“This is a crisis of confidence, not of liquidity or rates. The problem is that people made bad loans. There’s nothing the Fed can do to fix this. All they can do is try and reduce anxiety.”
And in the December 24, 2007, issue of Newsweek, financial columnist Robert Samuelson wrote about “A Sequel to the Subprime Mess? The obvious danger is another wave of large losses and a chain reaction of fear that paralyzes and cripples investors, particularly banks.” This is exactly the subject that leads off the 2008 Trends list in The Trends Journal written and published by Gerald Celente in Rhinebeck, New York. Mr. Celente has been interviewed by network newscasters for years and his trend predictions are generally correct. This week I talked to him about trends he sees for 2008, beginning with the top of his list: “Economic 9/11.”
---
Interview: Economic 9/11
Gerald Celente
Gerald Celente, Editor and Publisher, The Trends Journal, Rhinebeck, New York: “Economic 9/11, we believe is going to hit the United States in 2008. And just as the World Trade Centers toppled from the top down, we’re going to see the crash happen from the top down as well. This talk about the sub-prime market. Yes, that’s a problem, but nothing compared to when the big firms start failing, when banks go bust, brokerages go out of business. In 2008, we’re going to see some major, giant firms fall and get hit by an economic 9/11. We don’t know what the fuse will look like, but we know that the bomb is set already. And when it’s lit, we believe it’s going to happen before June of 2008.
WHAT CONDITIONS SET UP THIS ECONOMIC BOMB?
Well, in 2007, we saw the first cracks. But it really needs to be understood that this has been underway for a long time. They (Feds) have been fueling the economy with low interest rates. That’s what got us out of the 2001 recession following the dot com bubble burst. They (Feds) lowered interest rates to 46-year-historic lows. They flooded the world marketplace with cheap dollars. No one wants them anymore, not even lenders in Third World countries. So, what happened in 2007, the cracks became apparent to everyone. Wall Street is in a problem.
And what do we have to save the Ship of State from sinking? Well, look ahead – that’s what we do as trend forecasters. We have a know-nothing President and a do-nothing Congress and want-to-be people in waiting that lack the intelligence, integrity, the competence, credentials, character and courage to do what a wise leader would do in times when the ship is sinking. So, we’re saying, it is going down! There is nothing to save it.
WHAT WAS IT THAT PROVOKED SO MANY FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS TO MOVE SO HEAVILY INTO THE SUBPRIME REAL ESTATE MARKET IN THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS THAT HAS LED TO SUCH A CRISIS?
It’s called greed and gambling and it goes well beyond the subprime market. There’s a company in New York, according to The New York Times, that controls about $7 billion worth of real estate. The NYT headline read how brilliant they were that the company did that with only $30 million down. And that’s what all these deals have been. They have been doing these deals with no money down. All of a sudden, Carlisle Real Estate and Blackstone – groups we never heard of before - only those who study these things – and all of a sudden, they are buying major corporations that are worth billions and billions of dollars. They are doing this with fake money. This is why people go to Princeton, Yale, Harvard and Ivy League schools so they can get together and do the big deals. And what they do when things start falling out, they point to the little people. ‘Oh, look at them! They went over their head. They should have read the fine print.’ Subprime is just the crack in the big thing that’s going to happen and the really dirty deals that have been done are on the top – all the leveraged buyouts: Chrysler Corp. being bought out by Cerberus Corp. Who ever heard of Cerberus? Look who is on the Board of Directors: Jack Snow, the former Treasury Secretary. And remember Dan Quayle? They found a job for him – he’s on the Board, too.
[ Editor’s Note: On May 14, 2007, Daimler-Chrysler and the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management announced that Cerberus would buy a controlling stake in Chrysler, ending the troubled eight-year merger of the two automakers. Cerberus Corp., established in 1995, is a technology, video, audio and rich media consulting and design firm based in New York City. Cerberus clients include major Wall Street firms, private equity firms TV networks and national retailers. Cerberus President is Greg Harper.]
So, this is what is going on, Linda. It’s bigger than them getting into the greed market and fleecing the little people. They are bringing down the whole system and it’s out of control. The Swiss Bank announced they are going to be selling 250 tons of gold between now and September 2009, so they can buy more money to keep this thing afloat.
International Herald Tribune and Associated Press, June 14, 2007.
Panic of 2008
THIS IS ALL LEADING TO THE SECOND TREND ON THE PANIC OF 2008 – WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO HAPPEN?
Just as when panic struck when 9/11 hit, panic is going to hit the streets again following the economic 9/11. They are not going to know what to do. They are going to be frozen. You know, I just got an email from a publication up where I am – up in the Hudson Valley – from Dutchess Magazine, Hillsdale, NY - It’s a very affluent area – Millbrook and Rhinebeck. We’re in Rhinebeck. And every year, they used to do a cover story of my Trends Journal for the New Year. This year they are not running them because, according to the letter that they sent me, some of their readers and advertisers found the new trends ‘unpalatable.’ They don’t like to hear the truth.
http://www.earthfiles.com/Images/news/T/Trends2008FedBankNewspaperLo.jpg
CNNMoney.com, December 19, 2007.
The central banks have already pumped in more than half a trillion dollars already! They have been pumping money in ... actually, if you go back to our Trends Journal, the Summer 2007 edition’s mid-year report – we said two weeks before the Dow hit 14000, and the Chinese markets hit their highest level ever – to get ready because we saw a financial crisis hitting. The financial crisis hit exactly on July 24, 2007, when the Dow lost well over 200 points. That was the beginning of the crack. And they (Feds) have been pumping money into the banking system since that time. They’ve had bigger bailouts than even happened after 9/11. It’s out of control! All of the currencies are going to be worth dimes on the dollars in the future, and the first one to go is going to be the American dollar.
That’s why one of our big trends for 2008 is ‘Bye, Bye Bucks!’
THAT’S WHERE YOU SAY, ‘AMERICA IS GOING BROKE AND THE WHOLE WORLD KNOWS IT’?
Except the Americans! The government says, ‘It’s so good for business. It allows us to export. So all you low-paid workers out there ... Our currency is worth so little that others can now buy our products cheaper.’ So, no longer is ‘Made in America’ a standard of high quality. It means, ‘Buy it cheap.’ That does not build a strong economy.
For example, right now the biggest rage in the New York area is foreigners coming over and going to the high-end shopping malls, where they have Versace and that kind of stuff – and going on these wild spending sprees. America has gone from 1st Class to 3rd rate in a blink of an eye! We no longer shop the world for bargains. The dollar is so cheap; they are coming here in droves. And forget the retail. Before you know it, Linda, they (foreigners) are going to buy up this country.
If the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates to make Wall Street happy, so they can continue to finance their mega-deals they’ve put together, that crashes the dollar because low interest rates means cheaper dollars. You buy them at less money. And foreigners, as they already are, they are bailing out of U. S. bucks. They are trying to do it in an orderly way so they don’t crash the market. So, the big guys are going to get out first. And you’re going to see them more and more try to prop up the dollar so there is an orderly retreat. We’re saying that by the time the dust settles and the smoke is cleared, ‘the dollars is going to be worth the dime on the dollar’ will be the slogan of the future. The history books will remember 2008 as the ‘panic of 2008.’
HOW DOES THAT LEAD TO THE 4TH ON YOUR LIST, ‘TAX REVOLTS.’ IT SEEMS THAT AT THIS POINT, THE AMERICAN PUBLIC IS INTIMIDATED, OVERWHELMED AND AFRAID OF THEIR GOVERNMENT. THEY ARE AFRAID OF THE IRS. HOW CAN THERE BE A TAX REVOLT IN A NATION THAT HAS BEEN MANAGING AND OPERATING BY FEAR?
We think it’s going to happen at the local level. People cannot afford to pay property taxes or school taxes. And when you look at the demographics in every major community, there are more people without children living in those homes – whether single or empty nesters – than people with children. So, they cannot afford the school tax and in most parts of the country, school taxes are based upon property taxes. So, it’s all on the homeowner’s shoulders. You’re going to see a revolt coming there and you’re also going to see revolts regarding property tax rises. As the value of the home becomes less – if you had to pay more when the value went up, then they are going to have to reassess downward now if they are going to be fair about this.
Recession and Large Bank Collapses
WHAT WOULD BE THE FIRST SIGNS YOU WOULD BE LOOKING FOR THAT THE UNITED STATES WAS IN A FULL BLOWN RECESSION?
Watch for when one of the big firms crashes – like a big bank, when that kind of thing happens. That’s going to be the first signal.
THAT’S WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN TO COUNTRYWIDE BANK THIS SUMMER, RIGHT?
Right, but even bigger than that. Much bigger – like a Bank of America, not that that is necessarily it, but of that caliber. Look for something big to break. We’re in a recession already. You don’t have to wait for the government’s official statistics. Look at what they do – it’s comparable to when I grew up during the Cold War and what the Soviet Union used to do. They put out this deceptive basket of statistics – they talk about inflation, but we’re not adding in food and fuel. Why not? Well, because according to the pointy-headed professor who says the mean of this line dissects with this line - ... Wait! What do you mean you’re not putting in food and fuel? Who are you talking to, folks?
THAT MAKES IT COMPLETELY ARTIFICIAL WHEN THEY TALK ABOUT INFLATION WITHOUT TWO OF THE BIGGEST EXPENSES, WHICH ARE FOOD AND FUEL.
It’s criminal. And they are doing the same thing with the unemployment numbers. Once you’re off the rolls, ‘Hey, you’re not looking for work anymore!’ We’re already in a recession! The people are feeling it. Every time that nozzle hits the gas tank, there is panic when people fill up their car. Who can afford this stuff? And these clowns on TV saying, ‘Oh, the consumer is resilient.’ (laughs) We’re warning that there are very rough times ahead and for people to take precaution now.
HOW CAN PEOPLE TAKE PRECAUTION WHEN THERE SEEMS TO BE ROCKY FINANCIAL TERRITORY AHEAD OF EVERYBODY, INCLUDING PERHAPS THE RICH AND CORPORATIONS IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS?
One thing is don’t buy anything you don’t need. This Christmas stupidity of going and knocking yourself out to buy a lot of things that people don’t want, that you can’t afford. This is not an intelligent way to make decisions.
Conservation Engineers
And that brings us into another trend, which is positive: Conservation Engineers. How to conserve? How to use what you have for a more efficient way and bring in new materials and processes so that we can conserve more. We don’t call this the Green Movement. It’s the Smart Movement. And that’s what we are going to see, so there is going to be great job opportunities, great entrepreneurial opportunities for people who become conservation engineers, conservation specialists, using products, services and intelligence that brings us out of the Dark Age of Over-Consumption that we’ve been in for so long.
OVER-CONSUMPTION HAS BEEN PROVOKED BY A GOVERNMENT THAT BASICALLY SAYS, ‘YOU – CONSUMERS – IT IS YOUR JOB TO GO OUT AND SPEND TO KEEP THE ECONOMY GOING.’
I know – what kind of craziness is this? You’re even hearing people like Warren Buffet – the 2nd richest man in the world – warning the nation that it’s turning into a plutocracy. I mean this is him and he’s intelligent enough to know!
[ Editor’s Note: Plutocracy refers to the rule or power through wealth or by the wealthy. In a plutocracy, the degree of economic inequality is high, while the level of social mobility is low. This can apply to a multitude of government systems, as the key elements of plutocracy transcend and often occur concurrently with the features of those systems. The word plutocracy is derived from the ancient Greek root ploutos, meaning wealth and kratein, meaning to rule or to govern.]
Aristotle is alleged to have said that the strength of a nation is built on its middle class. And dumb is dangerous. The more ignorant people are, the more desperate they are, the more it hurts all of us. It’s in everyone’s best interest to have an informed, intelligent society.
WE ARE IN A COUNTRY THAT HAS BEEN COWED BY A GOVERNMENT POLICY OF FEAR IN ALL DIRECTIONS. PEOPLE ARE AFRAID TO STAND UP FOR THEMSELVES AND THAT’S WHAT MAKES ME WONDER: HOW DO YOU GET TO BETTER STEPS ON YOUR TRENDS, LIKE ‘SMALL IS BIG’ AND ‘HEAL YOURSELF HEALTH CARE’ – HOW DO YOU GET THERE WHEN IT IS THE ENTRENCHED GREED CORPORATIONS THAT DON’T WANT US TO WAKE UP AND CHANGE?
The vacuum is so big right now – all of the institutions are failing. You name it – education, health care, military, economic, medical – they are all failing. When the vacuum is this big, it could be filled with anything. It could be filled with more Fascism, bigotry and hypocrisy – or it could be filled with beauty, art, love and understanding and dignity and passion and respect. It’s up to us to fill it. But people have to do it in their individual lives.
Devalue American Dollar?
The Trends Journal - Winter 2008, Trends Research, Rhinebeck, New York.
ANOTHER PARAGRAPH I UNDERLINED UNDER TAX REVOLT – QUOTING FROM YOU – ‘WITH THE DISPARITY BETWEEN RICH AND POOR TRENDING WIDER, 1% OF THE POPULATION TOOK IN 22.2% OF ALL INCOME IN 2005, WHILE THE BOTTOM 50% SALVAGED 12.8%.’ THE GULF BETWEEN THE RICH AND THE REST OF THE STRUGGLING COUNTRY, IS BECOMING SO HUGE IN THE UNITED STATES THAT IT MAKES ME WONDER HOW WILL WE EVER BALANCE OUT AGAIN?
They (Feds) are going to balance it out by devaluing the dollar. That’s the way they are going to do it, and the impact is going to be tremendous. You can see what happened in Argentina when they did it and you can see what happened in other countries. The same thing is going to happen here. There will be massive unemployment. We’re going to see the worst economic conditions in the United States in the years ahead that anyone living has ever seen.
PEOPLE CAN’T DO ANYTHING UNLESS THEY GO TO BANKS TO BORROW MONEY TO GET THINGS ACCOMPLISHED AND THEN YOU’RE RIGHT BACK DEALING WITH THE PEOPLE WHO PUT US IN THIS PROBLEM IN THE FIRST PLACE.
That’s only part of it. Nobody broke people’s arms to go take out home equity loans. They did it on their own free will. And people are spending way beyond their means. Nobody out there forced people to build McMansions or drive SUVs. They did it all on their own. The people have to become more intelligent. They’ve become lazy and information-ignorant. And until they change, nothing is going to change. I believe it is going to change because there are enough people that want it to change. Not everybody is a Paris Hilton fan.
Technoslaves
BUT THE FINAL TREND THAT YOU HAVE, TECHNOSLAVES.COM – WHEN I READ THAT, I THOUGHT THAT’S ABSOLUTELY TRUE. THE YOUNGER GENERATION ESPECIALLY IS BECOMING NUMBED BY I-PODS AND X-BOXES AND HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU EDUCATE A GENERATION THAT IS SO TECHNOSLAVED?
They are going to have a very difficult time because they have been built up with this false belief that somehow they are special because they can hit little buttons really fast and move their fingers nimbly over the little keys. It’s a worldwide epidemic. They are becoming technoslaves. Every time that phone rings, it has to be answered as if it is something ranging between life and death is going to be solved in the next few seconds. And it’s not like I haven’t been here and did not know when the whole cell phone thing happened. It’s a choice that I don’t have one. All my friends said, ‘Oh, I’m only going to use it in an emergency.’ But now you’re having a conversation between two people in the flesh and somebody from who knows where? They ring up and your conversation is broken up. The playing field, we believe, is going to be broken down to more and more local. More self-sustaining. You don’t have to get all these products coming from all these countries. So, we see a real breaking down. Actually, we also see a real renaissance. We think this is the end of the Dark Ages and that people are going to start going back to a higher quality. When we raise the quality bar, then everything goes up with it. That’s a strength that the United States has, if we get the kind of leadership that can push us in that kind of direction.”
---
Related articles:
Crisis may make 1929 look a 'walk in the park' (23/12/2007)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/12/23/cccrisis123.xml
As central banks continue to splash their cash over the system, so far to little effect, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard argues things are rapidly spiralling out of their control - Twenty billion dollars here, $20bn there, and a lush half-trillion from the European Central Bank at give-away rates for Christmas. Buckets of liquidity are being splashed over the North Atlantic banking system, so far with meagre or fleeting effects. As the credit paralysis stretches through its fifth month, a chorus of economists has begun to warn that the world's central banks are fighting the wrong war, and perhaps risk a policy error of epochal proportions. CLIP
Explosive Money Supply Fuels Global Inflation (Dec 20 2007)
http://www.kitco.com/ind/dorsch/dec202007.html
The worst is yet to come for the global banking system, which faces potential losses of more than half-trillion dollars from investments in toxic sub-prime US mortgage debt. “The problems in the financial sector remain with us,” said Bank of England chief Mervyn King on Nov 19th. “A painful adjustment faces the global banking sector over the next few months as losses are revealed and new capital is raised to repair bank balance sheets,” he said. To defuse the crisis, the Fed, the European Central Bank, and the Bank of England are pumping enormous sums of money into the banking system, at below market interest rates, to prevent a “credit crunch” from triggering a global stock market meltdown. “Central banks are working together to forestall any sharp tightening in credit conditions that might lead to a downturn around the world,” King declared.Big banks are reluctant to lend money to each other in the LIBOR market, because of suspicions that borrowers might be holding big undisclosed losses in toxic sub-prime mortgages. Global banks are also hoarding cash against future losses that must be written off their balance sheets in the year ahead. As a result, banks must borrow money at interest rates that are at multi-year highs. It also means that central bank rate cuts are not passed on to individuals and companies. (...) The massive injections of liquidity by the central banks, come at a time when inflation is rearing its ugly head across the globe, led by sharply higher food and energy prices. Central bankers are intellectually dishonest about food and energy prices, routinely subtracting the “essentials of life” from their inflation equations, and reckon that commodity price spikes are self-correcting, due to the laws of gravity. CLIP
"An Economic 9/11"
http://info.interactivist.net/article.pl?sid=04/12/06/0335208
When the chief economist at Morgan Stanley says we have a one-in-10 chance of avoiding economic Armageddon, one tends to take notice. When America's second-largest creditor tells us to get our economic house in order the same week, two points begin to determine a line. But the Bush administration has not so much as flinched.' Last week, America received two pieces of monstrously bad news. First, the chief economist of Morgan Stanley (along with Robert Reich, Larry Summers, Paul Krugman, China and the currency markets) warned us that the U.S. economy is about to collapse. Second, we learned that the Bush administration is willing to ignore the likelihood of collapse and will push ahead aggressively with tax and Social Security reform. Put these two pieces of information together and you get a nightmare scenario. CLIP
The Economic 9/11 (November 9, 2005)
http://www.motherjones.com/news/qa/2005/11/clyde_prestowitz.html
An interview with Clyde Prestowitz about the rise of Asia and the coming fall of the dollar.
(...) America's preeminence is precarious. We're running unsustainable trade deficits; the dollar is dangerously overvalued; increasingly invention and technological innovation are happening elsewhere; 2.5 billion people in India and China are set to enter the world’s skilled job market; technology permits many formerly localized jobs to be done anywhere in the world; our public education system is a mess; America is a massive consumption machine, financed by Asian central bankers who must be starting to wonder if we'll ever be able to pay them back. Prestowitz argues that without a major change of approach the United States—and indeed the dangerously unbalanced global economy—could be headed for an "economic 9/11." Unfortunately there's little sign that either government or corporate leaders are doing the necessary hard thinking that such a change requires. CLIP
8.
From: Larry Stell" (lstell@glasgow-ky.com)
Subject: Top 25 Censored News Stories of 2007
Date: 22 Dec 2007
Top 25 Censored news stories of 2007
#01 Future of Internet Debate Ignored by Media.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#1
#02 Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#2
#03 Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#3
#04 Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the US.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#4
#05 High-Tech Genocide in Congo.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#5
#06 Federal Whistleblower Protection in Jeopardy.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#6
# 07 US Operatives Torture Detainees to Death in Afghanistan and Iraq.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#7
#08 Pentagon Exempt from Freedom of Information Act.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#8
#09 The World Bank Funds Israel-Palestine Wall.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#9
#10 Expanded Air War in Iraq Kills More Civilians.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#10
#11 Dangers of Genetically Modified Food Confirmed.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#11
#12 Pentagon Plans to Build New Landmines.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#12
#13 New Evidence Establishes Dangers of Roundup.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#13
#14 Homeland Security Contracts KBR to Build Detention Centers in the US.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#14
#15 Chemical Industry is EPA's Primary Research Partner.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#15
#16 Ecuador and Mexico Defy US on International Criminal Court
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#16
#17 Iraq Invasion Promotes OPEC Agenda.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#17
#18 Physicist Challenges Official 9-11 Story.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#18
#19 Destruction of Rainforests Worst Ever.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#19
#20 Bottled Water: A Global Environmental Problem.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#20
#21 Gold Mining Threatens Ancient Andean Glaciers.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#21
#22 $Billions in Homeland Security Spending Undisclosed.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#22
#23 US Oil Targets Kyoto in Europe.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#23
#24 Cheney's Halliburton Stock Rose Over 3000 Percent Last Year.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#24
#25 US Military in Paraguay Threatens Region.
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2007/index.htm#25
9.
Date: 20 Dec 2007
From: Kosta Gus Makreas (gmakreas@sanbrunocable.com)
Subject: Dennis Kucinich Wins IndependentPrimary.Com
Hello Friends,
A landslide victory for Dennis among Independent voters! This is the 4th Internet poll he's won in recent weeks, this time by more than a 75% margin. If only more everyday Americans were as well-informed about him as those who surf the Net...
Please pass this good news along.
Thank you,
Kosta Gus
---
From: IndependentPrimary.Com (contact@independentvoice.org)
The results are in!
Congressman Dennis Kucinich is the clear favorite of independent-minded voters in the IndependentPrimary.Com internet poll.
Over 110,000 people voted in IndependentPrimary.Com.
Kucinich won over 75% of the votes cast on the Democratic side. (And Rep. Ron Paul won overwhelmingly on the Republican side).
As long-time independents we decided to do this poll because we were very concerned that Paul, Kucinich, and Gravel were excluded from some of the televised debates by the corporate media. We believe elections should be competitive and that the voters should decide at the polls! We want to give voters the authority to vote with their hearts.
Independents can swing the 2008 primary elections.
44% of voters in New Hampshire are registered independent. Since New Hampshire is an "open primary" state they can vote in the Democratic presidential primary.
Help us publicize the results of IndependentPrimary.Com in New Hampshire. And inform the state's independent voters that they can vote in the Democratic Primary.
This is an extraordinary election. All the pundits say independent-minded voters will determine the outcome. So let's make sure that the election is open and fair and voters are educated about their choices.
Please contribute. Your donation will help us buy radio spots and newspaper ads that publicize the results of this very important poll of independent-minded Americans.
A $100 contribution will pay for one 30-second radio ad. Give $25, $50, $100 or be a sponsor and give $250. Be a friend and give $500 and purchase five radio ads. Click here
IndependentPrimary.Com is conducting our elections as it should be - with the American people in charge! Isn't this what the founding fathers had in mind?
Click here to contribute towards a New Hampshire radio ad
Or go to http://donate.independentprimary.com
Thank you for voting with your hearts,
Jim Mangia & Linda Curtis
IndependentPrimary.Com
PS. Even if you can't give $100 or more, it all adds up. Please give what you can at donate. To help chip in, go to http://donate.independentprimary.com
Much more on this through...
Congressman Kucinich Announces Plan to Build Alliance with Independent Voters
http://www.independentvoice.org/blog_details.asp?id=91
Note from Jean: Check also http://youtube.com/denniskucinich and
A Special Message from Elizabeth Kucinich in New Hampshire http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT7Hw-FHx18
10.
Date: 27 Dec 2007
From: gmakreas@sanbrunocable.com
Subject: Help Rep. Wexler Create Cheney Impeachment Hearings in Congress
Hello Friends of the United States of America and its Constitution,
http://wexlerwantshearings.com/
Your signature is urgently needed to help Rep. Robert Wexler begin hearings in the House Judiciary Committee towards the impeachment of Vice President Cheney.
He needs 250,000 signatures before Congress reconvenes in January in order to prove to his fellow members on the House Judiciary Committee that the American people are solidly behind him in HUGE numbers as he calls for impeachment hearings.
Right now his web site has recorded 142,000+ signatures - in just 10 days' time.
His call supports Rep. Dennis Kucinich's bill H.R. 333 which has been sitting in this committee - without action - for far too long. That bill was introduced several months ago to call for impeachment.
If you are convinced that VP Cheney and the Bush administration should be held accountable for lying about the reasons to invade Iraq, for outing CIA agent Valerie Plame (a crime that was confirmed recently by the President's own former Press Secretary), for illegally spying on millions of Americans, for ordering torture, and so on, then please sign on and support Rep. Wexler at:
http://wexlerwantshearings.com/
Congressman Wexler has promised to personally lobby each and every Democrat on this committee to sign onto his call for hearings.
Remember, "hearings" are not the actual votes for impeachment. They are a sober, judicious, fair investigation into whether impeachment is warranted. They will uncover facts that we do not now know. Rep. Wexler has promised to follow the facts where they lead.
Hearings against Richard Nixon and the facts that came out from them led to his resignation due to the threat of impeachment.
For those of you who are citizens of other nations, please understand that the current U.S. government represents only 30% of the American people. 200 million of us are angry and dismayed at the actions of that government against other countries and against its own citizens.
And now we want to hold that government accountable. But, we need to act together to support politicians like Rep. Wexler and Rep. Kucinich when they are courageous enough to ask for impeachment hearings.
I implore you to contact your American friends with this appeal. The vast majority of Americans are united with you in attempting to right the wrongs that have been committed in our name since this current U.S. government illegally seized power in 2001.
Please forward this email to all of your networks as soon as possible.
http://wexlerwantshearings.com/
In the Spirit of Peace,
Kosta Makreas
San Bruno, CA
gmakreas@sanbrunocable.com
11.
Arthur Bond (abbr18390@blueyonder.co.uk) wrote on Dec 18:
I think you might find this of interest! http://www.rense.com/general79/d3m.htm
World's Top Scientists 'Manmade Warming' Is A Dangerous Lie (12-15-7)
http://www.rense.com/general79/d3m.htm
It is not possible to stop climate change, a natural phenomenon that has affected humanity through the ages. Geological, archaeological, oral and written histories all attest to the dramatic challenges posed to past societies from unanticipated changes in temperature, precipitation, winds and other climatic variables. We therefore need to equip nations to become resilient to the full range of these natural phenomena by promoting economic growth and wealth generation. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has issued increasingly alarming conclusions about the climatic influences of human-produced carbon dioxide (CO2), a non-polluting gas that is essential to plant photosynthesis. While we understand the evidence that has led them to view CO2 emissions as harmful, the IPCC's conclusions are quite inadequate as justification for implementing policies that will markedly diminish future prosperity. CLIP
Hi!
I'm utterly dumbfounded that anyone would still give any kind of credence to such abysmally stupid and shortsighted view that this current global warming is merely a natural phenomenon we should strive to adapt to. It is anything but natural!
CO2 level as parts-per-million are higher than anything that occurred in the recent geological history of Earth, based on data recovered from air trapped in ice from ice core drilling showing what CO2 concentrations were in the past 650,000 years...
"In a separate study published in the same issue, European researchers found that today's atmospheric carbon dioxide is at the highest level in 650,000 years. Levels of carbon dioxide, the principal gas that drives global warming, are now 27 percent higher than at any point in the last 650,000 years, according to research into Antarctic ice cores published on Thursday. The evidence comes from the world's deepest ice core, drilled at a site called Dome Concordia (Dome C) in East Antarctica by European scientists who battled blizzards and an average year-round temperature of minus 54 oC and made a 1,000km trek to bring up supplies. The core, extracted using a 10cm-wide drill bit in 3m sections, brought up ice that was deposited by snows up to 650,000 years ago, as determined by estimated layers of annual snowfall. Analysis of carbon dioxide trapped in tiny bubbles in the ancient ice showed that at no point during this time frame did levels get anywhere close to today's CO2 concentrations of around 380 parts per million. Today's rising CO2 concentrations are 27 percent higher than at the highest level seen over the 650,000-year time scale, according to the study, which also appears in Science. The Dome C core, extracted by the 10-country European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA), outstrips by 210,000 years the previous record-holder, drilled at an Antarctic site called Vostok. In the past five years, the average global temperature has risen by 0.2oC and this year is on course for being the hottest year on record."
- Taken from http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2005/11/26/2003281785
...What is happening is so unnatural that ocean acidification due to one third of atmospheric CO2 being absorbed by the oceans will soon destroy ALL life in the oceans... (see Acid Seas Huge Threat to Coral Reefs - Study below) and when you know that at least half of the oxygen we breathe comes from phytoplankton in the oceans...
"Life in the ocean consumes and releases large quantities of carbon dioxide. Across Earth's oceans, tiny marine plants called phytoplankton use chlorophyll to capture sunlight during photosynthesis and use the energy to produce sugars. Phytoplankton are the basis of the ocean food web, and they play a significant role in Earth's climate, since they draw down carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, at the same rate as land plants. About half of the oxygen we breathe arises from photosynthesis in the ocean."
- Taken from http://www.solcomhouse.com/oceans.htm
"A conservation group says the Pacific and Atlantic oceans are absorbing too much carbon from excessive greenhouse gas emissions. The organization wants California and other west coast states to use the federal Clean Water Act to protect the waters off their coasts. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has details. The Center for Biological Diversity says acidification is changing the chemistry of the world's oceans. The group says the oceans are absorbing excess carbon dioxide produced by humans, which makes sea water more acidic. Brendan Cummings is the center's oceans program director. He says the acidity hurts the growth of plankton -- a key player in the ocean food chain. Cummings: Without phytoplankton in the abundant numbers we have now, marine life which relies upon it, which is the building block of the oceanic food webs, starts to decline."
- Taken from Conservationists Say Plankton Growth Threatened By Ocean Acidity (Aug 20, 2007)
... it is easy to understand that unless CO2 emissions are drastically cut NOW and measures are soon taken to bring back CO2 levels to more normal levels, we will be in for a lot of trouble...
The signator