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Dr. Thomas Naylor, co-founder of the Vermont Second Republic and the secession movement of Vermont, has written an extremely coherent/cogent account of a new book, Occupy World Street: A Global Roadmap for Radical Economic and Political Reform by Ross Jackson.

The article alone is priceless, the book is recommended.  I have reviewed books by Thomas Naylor, and met him while participating in one of the annual conferences about secession impulses in the USA as sponsored by Kirkpatrick Sale, himself author of Human Scale and founder of the Middlebury Institute for the study of separatism, secession, and self-determination.

Note:  There are 27 actual secessionist movements  in the USA, some at the city or island (Long Island) level, and at least three are very real: Vermont, Hawaii, and Alaska.  There are 5,000 secessionist movements world-wide, most a long-simmering brew created by the artificial boundaries and subsequent corruption (loss of legitimacy) attendant to the imperial order.

Thomas Naylor is in my view the closest embodiment living today of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.  His ethics and his understanding of the roots of a great nation — the integrity that comes with absolute respect for the sovereign individual and the integrity of the smallest political-economic unit within the whole – is exemplary.  Below the line is the entirety of his superb CounterPuncharticle, “An Ideology to End Ideologies: Occupy World Street!”

Book Description

Ordinary citizens the world over have long paid the price for the swashbuckling behavior of the corporate and political elite. We've seen the reigning establishment widen the gap between rich and poor, champion endless growth on a finite planet, wreak havoc on developing nations, and ravage ecosystems in a mad race for natural resources.Now, as demonstrators worldwide demand change, Occupy World Street offers a sweeping vision of how to reform our global economic and political structures, break away from empire, and build a world of self-determining sovereign states that respect the need for ecological sustainability and uphold human rights.In this refreshingly detailed plan, Ross Jackson shows how a handful of small nations could take on a leadership role; create new alliances, new governance, and new global institutions; and, in cooperation with grassroots activists, pave the way for other nations to follow suit.

Below the line: full article and additional links.

Continue reading “Robert Steele: Occupy World Street – Summary Article and Book”

Feeding The Homeless BANNED In Major Cities All Over America

The Economic Collapse, 23 March 2012

What would you do if you came across someone on the street that had not had anything to eat for several days?  Would you give that person some food?  Well, the next time you get that impulse you might want to check if it is still legal to feed the homeless where you live.  Sadly, feeding the homeless has been banned in major cities all over America.  Other cities that have not banned it outright have put so many requirements on those that want to feed the homeless (acquiring expensive permits, taking food preparation courses, etc.) that feeding the homeless has become “out of reach” for most average people.  Some cities are doing these things because they are concerned about the “health risks” of the food being distributed by ordinary “do-gooders”.  Other cities are passing these laws because they do not want homeless people congregating in city centers where they know that they will be fed.  But at a time when poverty and government dependence are soaring to unprecedented levels, is it really a good idea to ban people from helping those that are hurting?

This is just another example that shows that our country is being taken over by control freaks.  There seems to be this idea out there that it is the job of the government to take care of everyone and that nobody else should even try.

But do we really want to have a nation where you have to get the permission of the government before you do good to your fellow man?

It isn't as if the government has “rescued” these homeless people.  Homeless shelters all over the nation are turning people away each night because they have no more room.  There are many homeless people that are lucky just to make it through each night alive during the winter.

Sometimes a well-timed sandwich or a cup of warm soup can make a world of difference for a homeless person.  But many U.S. cities have decided that feeding the homeless is such a threat that they had better devote law enforcement resources to making sure that it doesn't happen.

This is so twisted.  In America today, you need a “permit” to do almost anything.  We are supposed to be a land of liberty and freedom, but these days government bureaucrats have turned our rights into “privileges” that they can revoke at any time.

The following are some of the major U.S. cities that have attempted to ban feeding the homeless….

Read full article.

Phi Beta Iota:  Below is the preamble to the US Constitution.  One wonders how many F-35's it would take to feed everybody in the USA who goes to bed hungry.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Independent Voter Network (IVN)

Steele on Electoral Reform: Introduction of a New Series

I have been invited to post a series of short commentaries on the Electoral Reform Act of 2012, a crowd-sourced outline that started in 2000 and was first developed over time by myself with Jim Turner (former #2 to Ralph Nader), Michael Cudahey (former top aid to Barry Goldwater), and Jock Gill (former communications specialist for Bill Clinton).

When Occupy came to my attention on 17 September 2012, I immediately took notice and quickly noticed that Electoral Reform was a key element of the US Day of Rage web page [neither about rage, nor lasting a day].  I spoke about this to Russia Today TV, that got me a call from a US Day of Rage person, and that led to my briefing the Occupy NYC Electoral Reform Working Group in October, driving my trusty 1964 MGB with Soccer Mom letters (photo below, parked in front of the 60 Wall Street atrium used for meetings).

A video was made of me by someone else, speaking for six minutes, and then posted a couple of weeks later to YouTube.  It made the front page of Reddit, and went small viral (30,000 main votes, at least a dozen copies).

That in turn — and this is the important part — caused a number of stakeholders in electoral reform to get in touch with me, and led to the crowd-sourcing of the Electoral Reform Act of 2012.  Now at version 4.4, it started as 2.0.  Below are the existing links at We the People Reform Coalition, where I have tried to create a “package” that could be used to mobilize a third-wave campaign–trans-partisan in nature–to trash the two-party tyranny in 2012.

ELECTORAL REFORM

A DOCUMENTS
….1 International Election Integrity Principles
….2 Occupy NYC Working Group on Electoral Reform
….3 Election Integrity Pledge
….4 Electoral Reform Statement of Demand
B STRATEGY, METHODS, ORGANIZATIONS
….1 Richard Winger on Electoral Reform Short-Cut
….2 Campaign Finance: Amendment or Law?
….3 Americans Elect: Manchurian Fraud or Redeemable Good Idea?
….4 General Strike
….5 Directory of Activist Individuals & Organizations (USA)

Learn More

My individual discussions of each of the eleven elements are not at the above links, they will be unique to Independent Voter Network (IVN), less one consolidated document posted at BigBatUSA after all of the pieces have been posted.

Robert Steele is a former spy, honorary hacker, #1 Amazon reviewer for non-fiction, a former small business CEO, and founder of Earth Intelligence Network, a 501c3 committed to creating public intelligence in the public interest. This is the first part in an ongoing multi-part series “Robert Steele on Electoral Reform”. The views expressed are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of IVN or IVN partners.

NOTE:  Comments are OPEN at IVN, use the links below.

Series:

Introduction of a New Series

Part 1: Process

Part 2: Ballot Access

Part 3: Voting for The People (Coming Soon)

Part 4: Voting for Issues (Coming Soon)

Part 5: Debates (Coming Soon)

Part 6: Cabinet (Coming Soon)

Part 7: Representation (Coming Soon)

Part 8: Districts (Coming Soon)

Part 9: Funding (Coming Soon)

Part 10: Legislation (Coming Soon)

Part 11: Constitutional Amendment (Coming Soon)

Part 12: The Stakeholders (Coming Soon)

Part 13: Overview of The Ethics (Coming Soon)

Part 14: Overview of The Action Plan (Coming Soon)

Part 15: The Pledge (Coming Soon)

Part 16: The Statement of Demand (Coming Soon)

As sent 16 March 2012

Dear Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich,

I urge you to put your respective strengths together on a firm foundation built by back-to-basics Austrian and Buddhist economics.  A casual reading of G. Bateson, E. F. Schumacher, John Ruskin, anyone who has thought long and hard about the profound evil embodied in “central banking,” war preparations and “Fed manipulations” everywhere, will give you the tools and bricks you need to build a Reform Party and/or an Americans Elect TEAM based on emergent truths and the oldest traditions.

At the Truth & Traditions party website (cranks and planks without a platform or an actual political party) you will find arguments, positions, reports, a Declaration of Interdependence, some of what you will need to create a balanced platform and a beyond-bi-partisan Sunshine Cabinet whose members and many surrogates can campaign with you this summer and fall.

Continue reading “Charles Keil: Open Letter to Ron Paul & Dennis Kucinich”

One of the great economic myths is that markets are rational. Not a day passes without this myth being disproved scores of times, but the myth persists.

For example, today (March 14) Bank of America/Merrill Lynch reported that “yesterday US markets started the day off with a strong rally after the solid retail sales report. . . . tailwinds are helping boost global equity markets today.”

The “solid retail sales report” for February consists of 1% nominal gain. That is, the increase is not deflated by the month’s inflation rate, which will be released on March 16. In other words, if very much of the 1%nominal gain in retail sales is due to higher prices, the inflation adjusted gain will not be statistically significant. The “rational market” took off without waiting to find out whether the gain was real.

Moreover, as statistician John Williams has established, the official Consumer Price Index (CPI) understates inflation. If an honest measure of inflation was used, retail sales could be in negative territory.

The “rational market” loves deception as long as it provides an excuse for equities to rise. The Federal Reserve’s focus on “core inflation,” which does not include rising food and energy prices, allows Federal Reserve officials to maintain that the inflation rate remains below target. By pretending that there is no inflation, the Federal Reserve continues to support banks with near zero interest rates while depriving savers and retirees of interest income. With no income from savings, people are forced to consume their capital. Thus, the Federal Reserve’s policy makes bankers richer and the country poorer.

Meanwhile, those whose old age security is based on pensions are confronting insecurity. Many with private pensions were harmed by the financial crisis. Those dependent on Social Security and Medicare are finding that these programs are being blamed for budget deficits caused by multi-trillion dollar wars of choice. Those expecting pensions from state and local governments are finding that governments are unable to make good on underfunded pension benefits.

State and local governments counted on a growing economy and rising consumer incomes to provide the tax base to make good on underfunded pensions. These governments did not foresee that US corporations would destroy their tax base by moving manufacturing, engineering, IT, research and design jobs overseas. The absence of growth in real incomes for the vast majority of the people and the capture of productivity gains by capital at the expense of labor have added to the budget woes of most state and local governments.

John Rauh at Northwestern University estimates that the unfunded obligations of state and local governments amounts to $4,400,000,000,000, an amount that is within the ballpark of Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes’ estimate of the cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Money that could have saved Americans’ pensions instead was allocated to profits for armament corporations and to advance Israel’s territorial hegemony.

When the Occupy Wall Street movement says that Washington rules for the benefit of the 1%, OWS is not far off the mark.

I cannot find the words, but certainly share the outrage of the veterans who objected. One has to wonder how such a travesty could make it all the way to being on display.

Vets angry over American flag featuring Obama

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. —

Tempers are flaring over a version of the American flag flying in Lake County. A veterans group says the flag is an outrage.

The flag, which features a picture of President Obama, was taken down Tuesday afternoon.

Read full article and watch video clip.