Daily posts on the military industrial complex, the financial system, corporate power, the environment, criminal justice, health care, and the media. Articles, interviews and speeches from the most important thinkers of our age.
The intent of this Blog is to bring those voices together, provide vital information and change the narrative.
The mass media would rather polarize each side of the political spectrum by encouraging arguments between both 'sides' rather than pointing out where they agree. Militarism, corporatism, criminal justice reform, bank and Wall Street bailouts, financial polices including debt financing and many others.
In the two interviews below Libertarian Ron Paul and Progressive Ralph Nader discuss those very issues. Issues that are both important to these two men but also to our nation.
MLK Jr. said (and I am paraphrasing) - "Truth and Justice will not be found in neo-liberalism nor neo-conservatism, but rather through a vision for society that reconciles the truths in both."
"The Central bank is an institution of the most deadly hostility existing against the Principles and form of our Constitution. I am an enemy to all banks discounting bills or notes for anything but Coin. If the American People allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the People of all their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered."
- Thomas Jefferson
"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies."
- Thomas Jefferson
After signing the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, President Woodrow Wilson said this..
"I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men."
And a man very familiar with credit and the banking system, the founder of Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford said, "it is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning."
Below, listen to G. Edward Griffin, author of The Creature from Jekyll Island, explain the Federal Reserve system, how it works, and how a small group of private banks dictate global economic policy.
For additional information about the Federal Reserve, continue to follow this blog or I have provided a few links below..
During the last years of his life, Martin Luther King Jr. became more outspoken against US foreign policy, especially as it related to the war in Vietnam. This speech, given at Riverside Church in New York City on April 30, 1967 was his most passionate attempt to speak about the war.
"I preach to you today on the war in Vietnam because my conscience leaves me with no other choice. The time has come for America to hear the truth about this tragic war... Rationalizations and the incessant search for scapegoats are the psychological cataracts that blind us to our sins... [and] the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crisis maintain their neutrality. There comes a time when silence becomes betrayal."
What I have found most powerful about this speech is how easily it can be applied to current American foreign and financial policy. The three evils, Martin was speaking out against, were Militarism, Economic Exploitation, and Racism.
"There will be no meaningful solution until some attempt is made to know these people and hear their broken cries."
It makes me think of the contemporary War, the War on Terrorism. Although this speech is less famous than others, I feel strongly that this is his most powerful and greatest speech. As you listen, think about how these words still resonate today. Have we learned? Or do we continue to commit the most haunting mistakes from our past?
Provoking, witty, stylish and sweepingly informative, THE CORPORATION explores the nature and spectacular rise of the dominant institution of our time. Part film and part movement, The Corporation is transforming audiences and dazzling critics with its insightful and compelling analysis. Taking its status as a legal "person" to the logical conclusion, the film puts the corporation on the psychiatrist's couch to ask "What kind of person is it?" The Corporation includes interviews with 40 corporate insiders and critics - including Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Milton Friedman, Howard Zinn, Vandana Shiva and Michael Moore - plus true confessions, case studies and strategies for change.
Visit the website for more information about this Documentary.
The film has won a variety of awards including:
Insight Award for Excellence - National Association of Film and Digital Media Artists
Best Documentary (2005) - Genie Awards
Genesis Award for Outstanding Documentary Film - United States Humane Society
Reel Room Audience Award for Best Documentary - Sydney Film Festival
Top Ten Films of the Year - Toronto International Film Festival Group
Audience Award, World Cinema, Documentary - Sundance Film Festival
and many others
"The Corporation is just brilliant - visually, intellectually, and morally. This film has redefined the documentary genre." - Barbara Ehrenreich, Author of Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
8 Facts That Explain What's Wrong With American Health Care
by Sarah Kliff - Physicians for a National Health Program
This article, written by Physicians for a National Health Program, presents 8 facts to explain what is wrong with the American Health Care system. These facts seem to present a more symptomatic explanation of a deeper, more systemic problem.
I will list out the 8 facts below but you can read the full article with analysis and additional information (here).
Americans pay way, way, way more for health care than anyone else.
We pay doctors when they provide lots of health care, not when they provide good health care.
Half of all healthcare spending goes towards 5 percent of the population.
Our health insurance system is the product of random WWII-era tax provisions.
Insurance companies have small profit margins.
Getting health care in the United States is dangerous.
One third of health care spending isn't helping.
Obamacare is not universal care.
Of course there are other issues related to the pharmaceutical industry, research and development, and (the big one) diet contributing to the problems listed above. Please continue to follow and I will post content that delves into every aspect of health in the United States from the drugs we prescribe to the foods that we eat.
