"Big Oil, as well as the Military-Industrial Complex, have aided and abetted this whole scheme and info blackout because the very future of the Oil & Gas Industry is at stake"...,

Amplify’d from phoenixrisingfromthegulf.wordpress.com

The Gulf of Mexico is Dying

A Special Report on the BP Gulf Oil Spill

By Dr. Tom Termotto

It is with deep regret that we publish this report.  We do not take this responsibility lightly, as the consequences of the following observations are of such great import and have such far-reaching ramifications for the entire planet.  Truly, the fate of the oceans of the world hangs in the balance, as does the future of humankind.

Especially that the BP narrative is nothing but a corporate-created illusion – a web of fabrication spun in collaboration with the US Federal Government and Mainstream Media.  Big Oil, as well as the Military-Industrial Complex, have aided and abetted this whole scheme and info blackout because the very future of the Oil & Gas Industry is at stake, as is the future of the US Empire which sprawls around the world and requires vast amounts of hydrocarbon fuel. Read more at phoenixrisingfromthegulf.wordpress.com

 

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Pat Robertson Wants to Legalize Pot

Pat Robertson might be the last person you would expect to find leading the calls for legalizing marijuana.

Amplify’d from www.aolnews.com

Pat Robertson Wants to Legalize Pot [VIDEO]

Pat Robertson might be the last person you would expect to find leading the calls for legalizing marijuana. Yet, during a conversation about faith-based rehabilitation on Wednesday's episode of Christian talk show "The 700 Club," the conservative evangelist and media personality did just that. "We have to take a look at what we are considering crimes," Robertson said. "I'm not exactly for the use of drugs, don't get me wrong, but I just believe that criminalizing marijuana, criminalizing possession of a few ounces of pot, that kind of thing is costing us a fortune and it's ruining young people." Check out Robertson's marijuana decriminalization argument here:

See more at www.aolnews.com

 

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'Show me the note'

They also hope their case will send a message to mortgage companies that they must obey rules, too.

Amplify’d from www.usatoday.com

Homeowners use 'show me the note' to fight foreclosure

Steven and Tamara Gewecke are three years behind on their mortgage payments, but they've fought off foreclosure.

The Minnesota couple refinanced in 2006 to start a business. It failed. Debts mounted. The Geweckes went bankrupt and failed to win a loan modification. But they bought time.

In 2009, the Geweckes filed a lawsuit to block their foreclosure. At the heart of their case is this question: Who owns their mortgage?

They allege the investor trust that claims to doesn't because there's no proper record of the mortgage's transfer to the trust. Their complaint also alleges that the mortgage didn't get to the trust until 18 months after the trust closed to new loans. If US Bank, the trustee, can't prove ownership, it can't foreclose, the Geweckes say.

Number of homes that banks have repossessed as the result of foreclosure or forfeiture: Year Homes 2006 268,532 2007 404,849 2008 861,664 2009 918,376 2010* 1 million 2011* 1 million * = estimate Source: RealtyTrac

Winslow said he's often seen cases in which lawyers pushing for foreclosure failed to produce the mortgage note — which proves ownership of the debt — or produced the wrong note. Companies failed to establish the legal chain of title proving their right to foreclose and submitted "questionable" affidavits attesting to ownership of notes and mortgages, the lien on the property, he said.

Homeowners' attorneys also allege that companies created documents if they didn't have the ones they needed, including lost-note affidavits signed by low-level employees who never read the affidavits yet attested to their accuracy. It was "cheaper to make the documents up than ... to dig them up," says Linda Tirelli, New York consumer bankruptcy attorney. Read more at www.usatoday.com

 

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Americans need to learn what Europeans know about taxes - they only matter to the rich.

Amplify’d from www.thomhartmann.com

The Great Tax Con Job

Republicans are using the T-word - taxes - to attack the Obama healthcare program. It's a strategy based in a lie.

A very small niche of America's uber-wealthy have pulled off what may well be the biggest con job in the history of our republic, and they did it in a startlingly brief 30 or so years. True, they spent over three billion dollars to make it happen, but the reward to them was in the hundreds of billions - and will continue to be.

All of this money was spent - invested, really, since it's been more than saved back in low income tax rates on millionaires and billionaires - to convince Americans that up is down and black is white when it comes to income taxes. Here's how it works:

Working Person's Tax Effect - version one

Most working people spend pretty much all of what they earn - their "disposable/discretionary" income is close to zero. Savings rates in the US among working people typically are small - one to five percent - and during the last few years of the W. Bush administration actually went negative. So the take-home pay that people have after taxes - regardless of what the taxes may be - is pretty much what they live on.

Then came Reaganomics.

Reagan cut top marginal rates on millionaires and billionaires from 74% down to 38% and there was an immediate surge in the markets - followed by the worst crash since the Great Depression and the failure of virtually the entire nation's savings and loan banking system.

Bush I cut taxes, and the nation fell into a severe recession while debt soared and wages for working people fell. Read more at www.thomhartmann.com

 

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Divine Composition With Fibonacci’s Ratio

Discovering the rule of thirds is a big milestone for any photographer.

Amplify’d from www.digital-photography-school.com

Divine Composition With Fibonacci’s Ratio (The Rule of Thirds on Steroids)

Are you a stickler for little details? Well, if you’re a photographer, you had better be. Discovering the rule of thirds is a big milestone for any photographer. Suddenly, you realize that all you ever did before was center your subject right smack dab in the middle of the frame, because that’s where the camera’s focus grid is located. Makes sense right? The rule of thirds took you to new heights in your photographic journey, moving your subject off to one side or another in your frame, or to the top or bottom. But don’t some of these photos look a bit crowded being so close to either side of the frame? Sure it works in some cases, but what if there was still another rule you could incorporate into your photographic repertoire?

Also known as the Golden Mean, Phi, or Divine Proportion, this law was made famous by Leonardo Fibonacci around 1200 A.D. He noticed that there was an absolute ratio that appears often throughout nature, a sort of design that is universally efficient in living things and pleasing to the human eye. Hence, the “divine proportion” nickname.

See more at www.digital-photography-school.com

 

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Pay No Attention to Those Veterans Chained to the White House Fence

News Black-Out in DC

Amplify’d from www.thiscantbehappening.net

News Black-Out in DC: Pay No Attention to Those Veterans Chained to the White House Fence

There was a black-out and a white-out Thursday and Friday as over a hundred US veterans opposed to US wars in Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world, and their civilian supporters, chained and tied themselves to the White House fence during an early snowstorm to say enough is enough.

Washington Police arrested 135 of the protesters, in what is being called the largest mass detention in recent years. Among those arrested were Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst who used to provide the president’s daily briefings, Daniel Ellsberg, who released the government’s Pentagon Papers during the Nixon administration, and Chris Hedges, former war correspondent for the New York Times.

No major US news media reported on the demonstration or the arrests. It was blacked out of the New York Times, blacked out of the Philadelphia Inquirer, blacked out in the Los Angeles Times, blacked out of the Wall Street Journal, and even blacked out of the capital’s local daily, the Washington Post, which apparently didn't even think it was a local story worth publishing.

See more at www.thiscantbehappening.net

 

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"In our behavior toward animals, most of us are Nazis. We see oppression vividly when we're the victims, otherwise we victimize blindly and without a thought." Isaac Bashevis Singer - Nobel Prize winner 1978

Amplify’d from news.yahoo.com

Undercover investigation of Smithfield Foods reveals factory farm horrors

If you enjoy eating pork occasionally, you might not want to read any further. But you probably should -- especially as America waits to learn the fate of the almost universally hailed food-safety bill, which suddenly faces hurdles in Congress.

Female breeding pigs were crammed inside "gestation crates" so small the animals could barely move for virtually their entire lives. The animals engaged in stereotypic behaviors such as biting the bars of crates, indicating poor well-being in the extreme confinement conditions. Some had bitten their bars so incessantly that blood from their mouths coated the fronts of their crates. The breeding pigs also suffered injuries from sharp crate protrusions and open pressure sores that developed from their unyielding confinement.

Animal-rights advocates have long protested the use of gestation crates in farms. According to the Humane Society, Burger King, Wendy's, Carl's Jr., Hardee's, Chipotle, Quizno's, Sonic, Wolfgang Puck, Safeway and Whole Foods have all "reduced or eliminated their use of pork from pigs bred using gestation crates." In 2007, Smithfield -- after catching much heat over the practice -- announced that it was phasing out gestation crates but reversed course two years later, citing "significant operating losses."

You can watch a video summary of the Humane Society's investigation below:

See more at news.yahoo.com

 

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Cops Kill an innocent man...

this story makes me sick

Amplify’d from slog.thestranger.com

Crime The Video: The Shooting of John T. Williams

Here's the just-released, 17-minute video taken from the dashboard camera of Seattle Police Officer Ian Birk's patrol car before, during, and after he fatally shot John T. Williams:

Read more at slog.thestranger.com

 

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Racy Photo of Corker's Daughter in Memphis Newspaper

Nobody really cares who your daughter kisses unless you are a holy family values candidate for the U.S. Senate who uses homophobia as campaign strategy.

Amplify’d from guerillawomentn.blogspot.com

Racy Photo of Corker's Daughter in Memphis Newspaper

See Bob Corker's Lesbian - or Bi - Daughter Making Out in Memphis Commercial Appeal

See more at guerillawomentn.blogspot.com

 

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TSA Scanners Shred Human DNA

Boian Alexandrov at the Center for Nonlinear Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico recently published an abstract with colleagues, "DNA Breathing Dynamics in the Presence of a Terahertz Field " that reveals very disturbing—even shocking—evidence that the THz waves generated by TSA scanners is significantly damaging the DNA of the people being directed through the machines, and the TSA workers that are in close proximity to the scanners throughout their workday.

Amplify’d from macedoniaonline.eu

Los Alamos Scientist: TSA Scanners Shred Human DNA

While the application of scientific knowledge creates technology, sometimes the technology is later redefined by science. Such is the case with terahertz (THz) radiation, the energy waves that drive the technology of the TSA: back scatter airport scanners. Emerging THz technological applications THz waves are found between microwaves and infrared on the electromagnetic spectrum. This type of radiation was chosen for security devices because it can penetrate matter such as clothing, wood, paper and other porous material that's non-conducting. This type of radiation seems less threatening because it doesn't penetrate deeply into the body and is believed to be harmless to both people and animals. THz waves may have applications beyond security devices. Research has been done to determine the feasibility of using the radiation to detect tumors underneath the skin and for analyzing the chemical properties of various materials and compounds. The potential marketplace for THz driven technological applications may generate many billions of dollars in revenue. Read more at macedoniaonline.eu

 

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Killer Shark Killed by Souced Serb!

Amazing!

Amplify’d from macedoniaonline.eu

Sharks Wary of Drunk Serbs

Dragan Stevic of Serbia is the new Egyptian hero who killed a large shark which had previously terrorized numerous tourists (injured 4 and killed 1) at the famous Egyptian resort Sarm El Sheikh.

The Serbian hero was too drunk to remember what had happened, though one of his friends who witnessed the incident explained it all for the Belgrade based media. Dragan Stevic was portrayed in Egyptian media as Shark El Sheikh and thanked him for saving their tourist season.

Milovan Ubirapa, one of Stevic’s friend who witnessed the incident explained that Dragan had decided to go to the beach for a swim after a long night of drinking. As Dragan and his friends approached the beach, he saw a fairly high positioned jumping board utilized earlier in the day by good divers.

“Dragan climbed on the jumping board, told me to hold his beer and simply ran to jump. There was no time for me to react or to try to stop him, he just went for it” says Milovan. “Dragan jumped high and plunged down to the sea, but didn’t make as much splash as we thought he would”, explained Milovan.

The reason could be because Dragan Stevic ended up jumping straight on the shark which was lurking near the beach, probably looking for its next victim. Dragan had nailed it right in the head, killing it instantly. The Egyptian police found the shark washed out on the beach that morning (pictured above).

Dragan was able to swim to the shore and told his friends he had twisted his ankle, telling them the water was not that soft. The water is soft buddy, you just landed on a shark. Currently Dragan Stevic is in a hospital recovering from alcohol poisoning. After he recovers, he will get a chance to have some more drinks as the resort had awarded Dragan with a free vacation for his heroic deed. // Pero Stamatovski Read more at macedoniaonline.eu

 

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Biggest Scam In World History Exposed:

That’s not what happened here. The Fed doled out $12.3 trillion in near-zero interest loans, using the American people as collateral, demanding nothing in return, other than a bunch of toxic assets in some cases. They only gave this money to a select group of insiders, at a time when very few had any money because all these same insiders and speculators crashed the system.

Amplify’d from pubrecord.org

The Wall Street Pentagon Papers: Biggest Scam In World History Exposed: Are The Federal Reserve’s Crimes Too Big To Comprehend?

What if the greatest scam ever perpetrated was blatantly exposed, and the US media didn’t cover it? Does that mean the scam could keep going? That’s what we are about to find out.

I understand the importance of the new WikiLeaks documents. However, we must not let them distract us from the new information the Federal Reserve was forced to release. Even if WikiLeaks reveals documents from inside a large American bank, as huge as that could be, it will most likely pale in comparison to what we just found out from the one-time peek we got into the inner-workings of the Federal Reserve. This is the Wall Street equivalent of the Pentagon Papers.

We were finally granted the honor and privilege of finding out the specifics, a limited one-time Federal Reserve view, of a secret taxpayer funded “backdoor bailout” by a small group of unelected bankers. This data release reveals “emergency lending programs” that doled out $12.3 TRILLION in taxpayer money – $3.3 trillion in liquidity, $9 trillion in “other financial arrangements.” Read more at pubrecord.org

 

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And Justice for Few

According to the report, "Slamming the Courthouse Doors", the "actions of the executive, federal legislative, and judicial branches of the United States government have seriously restricted access to justice for victims of civil liberties and human rights violations, and have limited the availability of effective (or, in some cases, any) remedies for these violations."

Amplify’d from ipsnews.net

NEW YORK, Dec 14, 2010 (IPS) - Poor defendants on death row, immigrants in unfair deportation proceedings, torture victims, domestic violence survivors and victims of racial discrimination - all these groups are consistently being denied access to justice while those responsible for the abuses are protected, according to a new report by the American Civil Liberties Union.

And Justice for Few Read more at ipsnews.net

 

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Who’s apathetic now?

"There are those who say I shouldn’t be on the frontline of a protest, but I believe every single one of us has a duty to fight against those oppressing us".

Amplify’d from blogs.independent.co.uk

Jody McIntyre : Who’s apathetic now?

By Jody McIntyre

My name is Jody McIntyre and I didn’t begin fighting for equality on the 9th December, the night that I was thrown from my wheelchair and dragged across the road by a riot police officer. I’ve spoken out against injustice, in all contexts, for as long as I can remember. As someone who was told by doctors I probably wouldn’t walk or talk, it has been my objective since the start of my journey to inspire people with disabilities to demand equality. It saddens me to highlight that on my travels I’ve found it easier to travel in a wheelchair in Gaza city than in the City of London.

See more at blogs.independent.co.uk

 

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Stewart then implored the GOP to never again exploit the attacks for political gain. Watch inside.

Amplify’d from tv.gawker.com

Jon Stewart to Republicans: You Can't Exploit 9/11 Anymore

Tonight, Jon Stewart opened with an impassioned rant against Republicans for blocking a Congressional bill that would've provided health care for 9/11 first responders. Stewart then implored the GOP to never again exploit the attacks for political gain. Watch inside.

See more at tv.gawker.com

 

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From the day he arrived, Boehner made it clear that out lobbyists wouldn’t get past his receptionists until we wrote out checks for the maximum amounts allowed and that if we wanted consideration for our legisaltive initiatives, those checks had better keep coming.

Amplify’d from www.capitolhillblue.com

John Boehner: Just another slimeball crook

The election, you see, is over. The rhetoric faded away like an old fart. The posturing ended and now it is back to business as usual.

John Boehner will be the new Speaker of the House. Boehner is a corrupt, votes for sale, old-school politician. He doesn’t give a damn about the people who elected him to office. All he cares about are the fat-cat lobbyists who deliver the big Political Action Committee Checks.

From the day he arrived, Boehner made it clear that out lobbyists wouldn’t get past his receptionists until we wrote out checks for the maximum amounts allowed and that if we wanted consideration for our legisaltive initiatives, those checks had better keep coming. Read more at www.capitolhillblue.com

 

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Regulators exist to ‘serve the banks,’

Declares Alabama Republican Spencer Bachus, the incoming chairman of the House banking committee!,

Amplify’d from www.rawstory.com

Regulators exist to ‘serve the banks,’ next House finance chairman declares

Alabama Republican Spencer Bachus, the incoming chairman of the House banking committee, suggested Congress and federal regulators should play a subservient role with banks.

"In Washington, the view is that the banks are to be regulated, and my view is that Washington and the regulators are there to serve the banks," Bachus told The Birmingham News in an interview.

The Republican leadership last week designated Bachus the next chairman of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, which is tasked with overseeing banks, financial markets, housing and consumer credit. Read more at www.rawstory.com

 

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Day 3 of Historic Prison Strike in Georgia

Blacked out By Media

Amplify’d from hiphopandpolitics.wordpress.com

Day 3 of Historic Prison Strike in Georgia-Blacked out By Media-Guards committing Violence

On Thursday morning, December 9, 2010, thousands of Georgia prisoners refused to work, stopped all other activities and locked down in their cells in a peaceful protest for their human rights. The December 9 Strike became the biggest prisoner protest in the history of the United States. Thousands of men, from Augusta, Baldwin, Hancock, Hays, Macon, Smith and Telfair State Prisons, among others, initiated this strike to press the Georgia Department of Corrections (“DOC”) to stop treating them like animals and slaves and institute programs that address their basic human rights.  Read more at hiphopandpolitics.wordpress.com

 

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Wall Street’s Pentagon Papers: Biggest Financial Scam In World History – $12.3 TRILLION in taxpayers’ money by David DeGraw (must-read) « Dandelion Salad

Wall Street’s Pentagon Papers: Biggest Financial Scam In World History – $12.3 TRILLION in taxpayers’ money by David DeGraw (must-read) « Dandelion Salad

While aspirin’s ability to lower colon cancer risk was known, esophageal, gastrointestinal, lung, brain, and pancreatic cancers dropped in the population of patients studied who were taking daily aspirin said researchers.

Amplify’d from blogs.alternet.org

Now Praised, Aspirin Was Vilified by Vioxx Marketing

It has only been six years since the COX-2 specific inhibitor Vioxx was billed as a super aspirin that didn’t have aspirin’s “risks” by Merck. Widely advertised and pitched by Olympians Dorothy Hamill and Bruce Jenner, Vioxx turned out to double the risk of heart attack and was withdrawn from the market in 2004.

27,785 patients suffered heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths on Vioxx, according to the FDA. Merck was also accused of concealing “critical data on an array of adverse cardiovascular events,” by the New England Journal of Medicine.

Bextra, a COX-2 specific inhibitor similar to Vioxx, was also withdrawn for similar reasons in 2005. In fact, patients taking Bextra after heart surgery were 2.19 times more likely to suffer a stroke or heart attack according to American Heart Association information. And last year Pfizer agreed to pay $2.3 billion for fraudulent marketing of Bextra and three other drugs. Not million, billion.

This week a meta-analysis in Lancet, the British medical weekly, reveals that common aspirin may reduce the chances of dying of several cancers. People who took a daily aspirin for more than four years reduced their chances of dying of cancer by 21 percent according to the data published this week. And, the longer they took the aspirin — up to twenty years — the greater their cancer risk reduction, said researchers.

Many Americans over 45 already take a daily, low-dose aspirin to protect against cardiovascular events and stroke. Read more at blogs.alternet.org

 

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Alcohol More Harmful than Heroin

British experts evaluated substances including alcohol, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and marijuana, ranking them based on how destructive they are to the individual who takes them and to society as a whole.

Amplify’d from www.cbsnews.com

Alcohol More Harmful than Heroin: U.K. Study

Experts Rank Drugs According to How Much Damage they do to Users, Society - and Booze is Worst of the Bunch

P)  Alcohol is more dangerous than illegal drugs like heroin and crack cocaine, according to a new study. Read more at www.cbsnews.com

 

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College Suvival Guide Part I: 50 Amazing Ramen Noodle Recipes

College Suvival Guide Part I: 50 Amazing Ramen Noodle Recipes

Written by Anita Dualeh on August 1, 2009

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Going to college requires a lot of your time, which doesn't allow you to cook your common four-course meal. Using the age-old college fallback, ramen noodles, you can cook yourself a tasty treat in a short amount of time without breaking the bank.

WikiLeaks Exposes Rumsfeld's Lies

WikiLeaks Exposes Rumsfeld's Lies