Category: Government

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SchwartzReport: References to Civil Disobedience Being Censored Out of US History Classes

04 Education, Academia, Commerce, Corruption, Government, Idiocy
Stephan A. Schwartz
Stephan A. Schwartz

This is the latest on the Willful Ignorance Trend. American schools are under attack from the Theocratic Right, who literally want to rewrite history, and get it taught the way they want. This is some very good news about that trend. Real pushback. But how many schools do you think will do this? Still it's my favorite story of the week.

Colorado Students Walk Out to Protest Conservative ‘Censorship’ of AP History
DAVID FERGUSON – The Raw Story

In Tuesday, hundreds of high school students in Jefferson County, Colorado walked out of classes this week to protest conservative censorship of the national Advanced Placement U.S. history class curriculum.

According to the Denver Post, students and teachers are protesting the removal of all mentions of civil disobedience from texts and classroom materials intended for the teaching of AP U.S. history.

. . . . . . . .

Tensions have run high in Jefferson County schools since three conservative candidates were elected to the school board. These new board members have suggested an extensive rewrite of the way history is taught to the area’s students to a model they believe is more patriotic.

The right-leaning board-members said they believe history teachers should teach nationalism, respect for authority and reverence for free markets. They should avoid teaching any historical events or acts that promote ‘civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law.”

Read full article.

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Yoda: Uruguay in the Lead – Jose Mujica, the World’s Most Radically Well-Intentioned President?

Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Government
Got Crowd? BE the Force!
Got Crowd? BE the Force!

José Mujica: is this the world’s most radical president?

Uruguay’s José Mujica lives in a tiny house rather than the presidential palace, and gives away 90% of his salary. He’s legalised marijuana and gay marriage. But his greatest legacy is governing without giving up his revolutionary ideals

EXTRACT

A bust of Che Guevara peers down from a bookshelf in Mujica’s farmhouse. “He was unforgettable, a mould-breaker,” the president said. “He marked our entire youth.” Yet the man who, inspired by Guevara, once blew up factories owned by foreigners now offers them tax breaks. “I need capitalism to work, because I have to levy taxes to attend to the serious problems we have. Trying to overcome it all too abruptly condemns the people you are fighting for to suffering, so that instead of more bread, you have less bread,” he said. Not all Tupamaros have accompanied Mujica on his journey to soft, pragmatic socialism. “They left their ideals in their prison cells,” the former hostage Jorge Zabalza proclaimed recently. “Some old compañeros won’t understand,” Mujica said. “They don’t see our battle against people’s everyday problems, that life is not a utopia.”

Read full article.

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Jean Lievens: Michigan Outlaws Personal Gardens — Is Michigan Stupid? Or Just Corrupt? Localities Need to NULLIFY!

01 Agriculture, 03 Economy, 06 Family, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, Government
Jean Lievens
Jean Lievens

Personal Gardening and Farming Are Becoming Illegal

There once was a time when vegetable gardening and backyard farming were not endangered; these activities were a way of life. However, with booming big agriculture business comes the need for monetary and job security, which means that threatening the productivity of big agriculture will not be tolerated. With Michigan’s recent ban on backyard farming, along with many states regulating the amount of garden space individuals may have in their yard, the ability for Americans to grow their own food and feed themselves is becoming a thing of the past. The future of personal gardening and farming is in danger and may become illegal altogether.

Michigan recently announced that it has made changes to its Right to Farm Act, which allowed home owners to keep a small amount of livestock on their property without being considered a nuisance, as long as the rules of the Act were followed. Chickens, beehives and goats will officially no longer be tolerated on the properties of urban and suburban farmers, due to the protection of the Right to Farm Act being lifted from small home farmers. Some Michigan farmers believe this new ruling is in place because large producers do not want individuals to provide for themselves or their families; the believed goal is to ensure all are dependent on grocers and mass producers.

Continue reading “Jean Lievens: Michigan Outlaws Personal Gardens — Is Michigan Stupid? Or Just Corrupt? Localities Need to NULLIFY!”

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SchwartzReport: Localism Accelerating — Virtual Secession

Civil Society, Commerce, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Government
Stephan A. Schwartz
Stephan A. Schwartz

Here is some excellent news about the Localism Trend. I am beginning to see in many trends a meta-trend emerging. The shift of power to the local level. It is, I think, a response to the perceived corruption of all branches of the Federal government to the service of the uber-rich. Power then began moving to the states but, even there this same corruption is at work, and so it ! steps down to the local level.

Beyond the CSA: Four Ways Communities Support Everything From Books to Beer
DANA DRUGMAND – Yes!

Since the first community supported agriculture program was established in western Massachusetts in the 1980s, the concept of buying food directly from local farms has taken off. There are now thousands of CSAs across the country. It’s a simple enough model-consumers purchase a share of the season’s harvest upfront, and they get a box or bag of fresh, locally grown produce each week from the farm.

And this model is not restricted to farming. In recent years, people have applied the CSA idea to other types of goods and services such as dining out, microbrews, and even fish. It’s a system that works for both producers and consumers. Here are some of our favorite examples.

Read full article.

See Also:

Secession @ Phi Beta Iota

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Berto Jongman: Ebola Speculation – Martyrs in Venezuela, US Role in African Outbreak?

07 Health, Government, Ineptitude
Berto Jongman
Berto Jongman

“Ebola Martyrs” Have Now Reached South America, US Warned Is Next

The Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) is warning today that a “strong contingent” of Islamic State (IS) “Ebola Martyrs” they had previously described in their 15 August report, and who are preparing to target the United States, have now reached the South American nation of Venezuela where at least 10 people have died showing symptoms of this feared disease during the past week.

. . . . . . .

If this Ebola virus is not airborne then, SVR intelligence analysts in this report state, the only way to describe its unprecedented spread is by “manipulated human means”…meaning “someone” is deliberately spreading this disease.

Continue reading “Berto Jongman: Ebola Speculation – Martyrs in Venezuela, US Role in African Outbreak?”

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Berto Jongman: Clint Watts on Seven Flaws in US Strategy to Counter ISIS

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 05 Iran, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Terrorism, Government, Ineptitude, Military, Strategy
Berto Jongman
Berto Jongman

Seven Flaws In the U.S. Strategy to Counter ISIS

(Editor's Note: This blog post is derived from Clint Watts' Ginsburg Lecture delivered at the National Liberty Museum on September 16, 2014.)

The past week’s debate on how to counter ISIS has proven just how effective terrorism is as a tactic for extremist groups.  Two videos showing the beheading of American hostages have provoked the largest U.S. response since the attacks of 9/11, compelling President Obama to hastily gather up a strategy to counter ISIS. Aside from the general confusion over what to call the group, there is even greater disagreement over what to do.  Overall, I don’t disagree with most of the actions the U.S. is taking to counter ISIS, but I am baffled why ISIS, America’s third or fourth most pressing national security concern right now, requires such a reaction.  The lesson for other extremist groups scattered from Morocco to Malaysia is clear – fly a black flag, film an atrocity and post it on the Internet and you too can capture the American media cycle and provoke a U.S. response.

LIST ONLY

1. Syrian Civil War
2. Turkish Border
3. Double-Edged Sword of Saudi Arabia
4. Arab Partner Nations
5. Iran is a bigger adversary to the US than ISIS
6. Sunni partners in Iraq
7. Shi'a dominated Iraqi Government

Read full article.

See Also:

ISIS @ Phi Beta Iota

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Berto Jongman: US in 5-134 Wars (Right Now)

Government, Idiocy, Military, Peace Intelligence
Berto Jongman
Berto Jongman

The US is now involved in 134 wars or none, depending on your definition of ‘war'

The White House spent much of last week trying to figure out if the word “war” was the right one to describe its military actions against the Islamic State.

US Secretary of State John Kerry was at first reluctant:

“We're engaged in a major counterterrorism operation,” he told CBS News on Sept. 11. “I think war is the wrong terminology and analogy but the fact is that we are engaged in a very significant global effort to curb terrorist activity… I don't think people need to get into war fever on this. I think they have to view it as a heightened level of counter terrorist activity.”

Kerry said similarly hedgy things during interviews on CNN and ABC.

By the next day, the Obama administration appeared more comfortable with the word war, yet hardly offered any more clarity. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters, “The United States is at war with ISIL in the same way we are at war with Al Qaeda and its affiliates.”

The problem is that our traditional definition of “war” is outdated, and so is our imagination of what war means.

Read full article.

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