UK or US: Who is More Civilized?

The following info-graph/poll can be found at the Justice Gap, a magazine about law and justice. And the difference between the two

See which side of the pond of justice you stand.

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The Atocha and the Plundering State

Let’s first define the term, "State." In Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary it is defined in numerous ways. Essentially, it is how a particular group of people deems it when they want it to be applied by statute. In other words, it is impossible to answer the question without knowing how the law makers have defined it. But the true meaning of the word State from its very origin means, "To Stand." Webster’s 1828 Dict. states; "n. L. status, from sto, to stand, to be fixed. State is fixedness or standing." State in one sense means government, while State in another sense mean people for tax purposes. It also says, "Estate; possession. Now obsolete."   In America, the term can be applied to the United States or to the individual States of this Union. It's important to note that in the United States, the state is interchangeable with the term, “Estate”.

There is no better, and more fascinating example of the state’s power to plunder than the journey of one very hard-working man. You may have never heard of him, but after Jimmy Buffet, this man, Mel Fisher--a deep-sea explorer who pioneered the development of Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA)--was Key West’s most celebrated figure.

Why is he so celebrated? He is the man who dedicated his life to finding—and who eventually found—the world’s most magnificent treasure, that of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha, the richest Spanish Galleon ever to have sunk in the western hemisphere, in the Florida Keys in 1622, setting in motion the Spanish Kingdom’s downfall as a world economic power.  The Atocha's manifest listed over 47 tons of registered silver and gold, but estimates of the smuggled emeralds still being found on this ship are expected to exceed even the registered cargo, an estimated $2 billion.

In 1969, 347 years after the Atocha sank, Mel Fisher began his hunt for the holy grail of treasures locked inside the doomed ship at the bottom of the sea. At first Fisher and his crew were searching in the wrong place, the Keys of Metacumbe, currently Florida’s central keys, because that’s the location stated in the first reports—72 original documents—of the disaster. However, until 1969, no one had taken into consideration  the nomenclature at the time the ship sunk. It wasn’t until Dr. Eugene Lyon, Shipwreck Historian, went to Seville Spain, and after pouring through thousands of documents at the Archive of the Indies, he discovered the Spanish word, "metacumbe", referred to all of the Florida Keys, not just the modern day middle islands.  Lyons made another discovery that further narrowed down the precise location of the shipwreck:  the salvage papers from the Atocha’s sister ship, the Santa Margarita, drafted in 1626.

Upon learning this new information, Fisher moved his boats to the new spot and began to search anew. In May, 1971, after several months, 125,000 linear miles, thousands of dollars, and countless hours at sea, Fisher and his divers found a 17th century galleon anchor,  but it wasn’t until 1973 that Fisher started finding precious metals. This is when the state reared its ugly head, and started manufacturing claims and accusations against Fisher, starting an endless legal nightmare.

Despite the state's interference, with the aid of experts and scholars, Fisher and his divers, including his two sons and daughter-in-law, continued the quest. Sadly, in 1975, after finding the bronze cannons of the Atocha, proving to all that what they were finding was indeed, authentic (the state was asserting Fisher's discoveries were planted), Mel Fisher’s son Dirk, and daughter-in-law, Angel, and one other diver, Rick Gage, drowned due to the malfunction of one of the pumps on the tugboat they inhabited. Still, Mel Fisher, despite this tragedy, insisted they go on, and it was ten years to the day of  Dirk’s death that Fisher’s other son, Kane, found the mother lode, July 20, 1985.

Unfortunately, Dirk, Angel, and Rick Gage were not the only casualties. Two others died during their journey bringing the total to five. An eerie coincidence: 260 people died when the Atocha sank, leaving five survivors.

Between 1975 and 1980, Fisher and his divers found numerous artifacts and treasure but no bonanza. Up until this time, Fisher held a contract to share 25% of what he recovered from the Atocha with the State of Florida. But after he found gold, all deals were off. The state—both state and federal—sued Fisher for the entire wealth of the Atocha.

The Supreme Court

Who earned the right to salvage the Atocha?  Fisher fought “the state” all the way up to the Supreme Court, which, in 1982, decided in his favor.  The high court ruled that he alone owned the wreck. But that didn’t stop his legal troubles. The state, both local and federal, continued to pursue him and his treasure.

On July 20, 1985, Fisher and his team finally found the mother lode of the Atocha, 47 tons of solid silver, worth hundreds of millions of dollars that they, all by themselves, brought to the surface using shopping carts and milk crates.. Ten years, to the day, that marked the death of his son, daughter-in-law, and friend.

Six months later, the crew found nearly three pounds of rare Columbian emeralds, but the bulk of the gems are still out there. One beautiful emerald ring (left) was appraised at $114,000, another at $600,000.

"The plunderers have historically organized themselves into States and have tried to make their activities an exception to the universal moral principles by introducing laws that “sanction” plunder and a moral code that “glorifies” it. The plunderers also deceive their victims by means of “la Ruse” (trickery, deception, fraud) and the use of “sophisms” (fallacies) to justify and disguise what they are doing. It is the task of political economists like Bastiat to expose the trickery, fraud, and fallacies used by the plunderers to hide what they do from their “dupes” (the ordinary people) and to eliminate organized plunder from society for good." -- Frédéric Bastiat

Aside from the millions of dollars Mel Fisher spent to find the sunken treasure, he paid an additional $4 million in attorney fees fighting the state. The bottom line is that most people do not possess the wherewithal to endure the brutality of the state in matters such as these. The Mel Fisher story is extraordinarily rare because he actually won.

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Poverty in the US is Trending Upwards

Poverty in the United States: 2008

Under the official poverty definition, an average family of four was considered poor in 2008 if its pre-tax cash income for the year was below $22,025. It's hard to imagine a family of four existing on twice that amount today.

In 2008, 39.8 million people were counted as poor in the United States—an increase of 2.6 million persons from 2007, and nearly the largest number of persons counted as poor since 1960. The poverty rate, or percent of the population considered poor under the official definition, was reported at 13.2%; up from 12.5% in 2007, and the highest rate since 1997. The recent increase in poverty reflects the worsened economic conditions since the onset of the economic recession in December 2007. Many expect poverty to rise further next year, and it will likely remain comparatively high even after the economy begins to recover. The incidence of poverty varies widely across the population according to age, education, labor force attachment, family living arrangements, and area of residence, among other factors.

Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008

Data presented in this report indicate the following:

• Real median household income fell between 2007 and 2008, and the decline was widespread. Median income fell for family and nonfamily households, native-and
foreign-born households, households in 3 of the 4 regions, and households of each race categoryand those of Hispanic origin. These declines in income coincide

• The poverty rate increased between 2007 and 2008.

• The percentage of uninsured in 2008 was not statistically different from 2007, while the number.

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What Does "Thinking Positive" Really Mean?

It's impossible to totally separate our sense of reality from that of illusion. Our thoughts, underlying assumptions and feelings that make us who we are, often times obscure actual reality.

Thus, navigating through life becomes a balancing act that requires us to mediate the demands of the real world with a "software system" that may contain many false and/or outdated presuppositions. Because of the innate blinders all of us wear, it's crucial that we maintain a keen awareness of what these underlying assumptions are as we use them to understand and interpret our reality, because ultimately that will determine our state of equilibrium in the long run.

Adopting the "Pollyanna principle" - everything will work out right in the end — or positive thinking without critical thought as your chief way to maneuver through what can sometimes be rough terrain is the surest way to negative consequences.

Don't think you can if you can't. That's what people tripping on LSD do. Yet, it seems, Americans, in particular, believe in a form of positive thinking that borders on delusional optimism, if not outright delusional optimism. Maybe it's because we can...because we're fortunate enough to live in a country that up until now has been (geographically) insulated from the rest of the world. However, as the world continues to shrink, so does that advantage.

Positive thinking isn't about pretending everything is hunky dory. It's not about burying your head in the sand and telling everyone life's a bowl of cherries. It's not about asking for big houses, big cars, and making your own life comfortable at the exclusion of knowing what's going on around you.

It's about paying attention, so you are not caught off guard by the powers that be. It's about doing your homework to find out what you need to do to take positive action. It's about hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst. And ultimately, it's about accepting the resulting reality in lieu or despite your best efforts.

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History of U.S. Government Bailouts.

Pro Publica cleverly composed an interactive (the colored circles, if clicked at the originating site will take you to the corresponding date) display chronicling the history of U.S. government bailouts. The circles below, arranged in chronological order represent the size of each U.S. government bailout.

	Industry/Corporation	Year	What Happened	Cost in 2008 U.S. $
●	Penn Central Railroad	1970	In May 1970, Penn Central Railroad, then on the verge of bankruptcy, appealed to the Federal Reserve for aid on the grounds that it provided crucial national defense transportation services. The Nixon administration and the Federal Reserve supported providing financial assistance to Penn Central, but Congress refused to adopt the measure. Penn Central declared bankruptcy on June 21, 1970, which freed the corporation from its commercial paper obligations. To counteract the devastating ripple effects to the money market, the Federal Reserve Board told commercial banks it would provide the reserves needed to allow them to meet the credit needs of their customers.	$3.2 billion
●	Lockheed	1971	In August 1971, Congress passed the Emergency Loan Guarantee Act, which could provide funds to any major business enterprise in crisis. Lockheed was the first recipient. Its failure would have meant significant job loss in California, a loss to the GNP and an impact on national defense.	$1.4 billion
●	Franklin National Bank	1974	In the first five months of 1974 the bank lost $63.6 million. The Federal Reserve stepped in with a loan of $1.75 billion.	$7.8 billion
●	New York City	1975	During the 1970s, New York City became over-extended and entered a period of financial crisis. In 1975 President Ford signed the New York City Seasonal Financing Act, which released $2.3 billion in loans to the city.	$9.4 billion
●	Chrysler	1980	In 1979 Chrysler suffered a loss of $1.1 billion. That year the corporation requested aid from the government. In 1980 the Chrysler Loan Guarantee Act was passed, which provided $1.5 billion in loans to rescue Chrysler from insolvency. In addition, the government's aid was to be matched by U.S. and foreign banks.	$4.0 billion
●	Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company	1984	Then the nation's eighth largest bank, Continental Illinois had suffered significant losses after purchasing $1 billion in energy loans from the failed Penn Square Bank of Oklahoma. The FDIC and Federal Reserve devised a plan to rescue the bank that included replacing the bank's top executives.	$9.5 billion
●	Savings & Loan	1989	After the widespread failure of savings and loan institutions, President George H. W. Bush signed and Congress enacted the Financial Institutions Reform Recovery and Enforcement Act in 1989.	$293.3 billion
●	Airline Industry	2001	The terrorist attacks of September 11 crippled an already financially troubled industry. To bail out the airlines, President Bush signed into law the Air Transportation Safety and Stabilization Act, which compensated airlines for the mandatory grounding of aircraft after the attacks. The act released $5 billion in compensation and an additional $10 billion in loan guarantees or other federal credit instruments.	$18.6 billion
●	Bear Stearns	2008	JP Morgan Chase and the federal government bailed out Bear Stearns when the financial giant neared collapse. JP Morgan purchased Bear Stearns for $236 million; the Federal Reserve provided a $30 billion credit line to ensure the sale could move forward.	$30 billion
●	Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac	2008	The near collapse of two of the nation's largest housing finance entities was yet another symptom of the subprime mortgage and housing market crisis. In an effort to prevent further turmoil within the financial market, the U.S. government seized control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and guaranteed up to $100 billion for each company to ensure they would not fall into bankruptcy.	$200 billion
●	American International Group (A.I.G.)	2008	When AIG was unable to secure a private-sector loan, the federal government intervened by seizing control of the insurance giant. Less than one month after the initial bailout and just days after AIG announced it had already drawn down $61 billion of its loan, the Fed stepped in with an additional $37.8 billion to bolster AIG's securities lending business. In November, with the insurance giant continuing to report heavy losses, the Feds revised the terms of the bailout and purchased $40 billion in AIG preferred shares.	$150 billion
●	Auto Industry	2008	In late September 2008, Congress approved a more than $630 billion spending bill, which included a measure for $25 billion in loans to the auto industry. These low-interest loans are intended to aid the industry in its push to build more fuel-efficient, environmentally-friendly vehicles. The Detroit 3 -- General Motors, Ford and Chrysler -- will be the primary beneficiaries.	$25 billion
●	Troubled Asset Relief Program	2008	The Bush administration has proposed a rescue plan to ease the current crisis on Wall Street. If approved by Congress, the Treasury Department will be authorized to purchase up to $700 billion of distressed mortgage-backed securities and other assets and then resell the mortgages to investors.	$700 billion
●	Citigroup	2008	After Citigroup lost half its value in the stock market last week, the government decided to throw a hefty life ring to the drowning bank. The government will back roughly $306 billion in loans and securities and will inject about $20 billion in capital. This is in addition to the $25 billion the bank received not too long ago. As part of the agreement, Citigroup will freeze dividend payments at one penny per share per quarter for three years, restrict executive compensation and absorb the first $29 billion in losses and 10% of subsequent losses. The government could absorb up to $247.5 billion of Citigroup’s losses.	$247.5 billion
●	Chrysler/G.M.	2008	Chrysler, General Motors and the Treasury Department have agreed upon terms for a bailout package to rescue the drowning automakers. The package consists of $13.4 billion in emergency loans; another $4 billion will be made available if needed. But it comes with strings. The auto giants must reduce their debt by two-thirds, and restore profitability, possibly by lowering wages and benefits. Limits on executive pay and a ban on the use of executive jets have also been imposed. Should the Obama administration determine that the two automakers have not reached the agreed upon goals, they will be required to repay the loans and face bankruptcy.

As for what happens after a U.S. government bailout, you can judge for yourself.

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Why is it Still Acceptable to Scapegoat Gay Americans?

Triggered by the $7.7 billion pledged to "fix" the financial and credit crises, Michael Savage went on the following tirade,

"...We're probably 50 leagues below the degeneracy that brought about Hitler. We are the sickest, most disgusting country on the earth, and we are psycholo -- psychotically -- we are psychotic as a nation." - Michael Savage

Now, you would think a remark like the aforementioned would get the bumper-stickered, flag-waving, patriots in a tailspin. What is holding them back?

The answer is simple. Gay marriage. Because Savage blames what he calls the "degeneracy" of this country, not on the greedy bankers, not on corrupt government officials, not on an overly materialistic or indifferent culture, but on gay marriage - the same gay marriage, just defeated across the board, on November 4 - that justifies calling America,the most disgusting country on earth,, in the minds of those who would normally label anyone, who described the U.S. as the most disgusting country on earth, traitors.

Savage's show is unfortunately influential as it is supposedly heard on more than 350 radio stations, reaching over 8 million listeners each week, making it one of the most listened to talk shows in our nation, following closely behind Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

Focusing the blame, for all the problems this country is facing, on gay Americans, is like blaming the problems that faced Weimier Germany on Jewish people, and we all know where that lead. So, who is responsible for any resemblance this country has to Nazi, Germany? Who is imitating Hitler's tactics?

What if Michael Savage had blamed African Americans instead? Jewish Americans? Asian Americans? The disabled?

Historical accounting has taught us that scapegoating is a slippery slope. Offering up an individual or group of people, based on race, religion, ethnicity, sexuality, etc., to bear blame is the reason Hitler succeeded in creating the most evil regime in documented history.

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Born in the USA

After 9/11, I discovered how much I really love this country and at the same time, how much I hate it. Prior to September 11, I took America for granted, insulated from the oppression, suffering and paucity the majority of people around the globe are subject too every day, I focused on my infinitesimally small world as if every streak of lightening streaked, clap of thunder clapped and gust of wind gusted contingent upon the events in my minuscule microcosm.

Unwittingly, I relied on "American decadence" as a gauge to measure my standing on a narrowly defined quality-of-life spectrum, always falling short, no matter how hard I tried. Valuing prosperity and material advancement above all else, I completely overlooked the fact that I had already bounced off this spectrum. No wonder I felt as if I were spinning my wheels. I was trying to achieve something that was handed to me on a silver platter the day I became an American citizen, that is, the day I was born.

Can every American citizen, born in the USA, claim the same? Obviously not to the same extent; I cannot claim the same "good fortune" as someone like let's say, Paris Hilton, but overall, most would agree being born here offers more advantages than being born anywhere else in the world thanks to our Founding Fathers and the many others, often unacknowledged, who worked so hard to make this country great. Unfortunately, there are far too many tragic exceptions to this born-in the-USA rule, exceptions that should not exist, in a country with our massive wealth and power.

However, I feel the same way about my family...as much as I love them, there are times when I "hate" them, just as I'm sure they hate me on occasion. I'd be suspicious of anyone who claims not to have felt the full spectrum of emotion regarding something about which they care deeply. Our capability to feel the entire range, from hate, anger, and sadness to joy, happiness, and love is what makes us human.

I would never give up on either my family, friends and/or humanity, nor my country, the world and/or the entire universe for they underpin and validate who and what I am, wealthy or poor, healthy or sick, for better or for worse, until death do us part.

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What are We Waiting For?

"Do not doubt for a moment that, at some point, during the next few years, one or the other of those weapons [chemical, biological, or nuclear] will almost certainly be used in an act of terrorism against the United States . . . in the United States. Then the time for discussing our civil liberties will be over. More than likely, the use of a chemical or biological weapon in a terrorist attack against the U.S. homeland would lead to the imposition of martial law. For how long and under what circumstances it would be lifted again has, to the best of my knowledge, never even been publicly addressed. But understand that the most implacable enemy of our civil liberties is fear. What we will do after the next terrorist attack is not a conversation that should be deferred."

-- Ted Koppel at the University of California-Berkeley commencement

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How Citizens Carry Loaded Handguns in 49 States

click to enlarge:

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US Hospitals Charge Uninsured Two-and-a-Half Times More

Tue May 8, 12:12 AM ET

U.S. hospitals are charging uninsured patients about two-and-a-half times more than those with health insurance, a mark-up that has been steadily rising despite pressure to level prices, a study released on Tuesday found.

In 2004, the most recent year for which data was available, hospital patients without health insurance and others who pay for medical care out of their own pockets were charged an average 2.57 times more than those with health insurance, according to the study published in the May-June issue of the journal Health Affairs.

That number has been rising steadily since 1984, but has jumped more quickly since 2000, the analysis of government data said.

Hospitals in the United States have come under fire from patient groups and lawmakers for marking up prices for those lacking the negotiating clout of a health insurer. But the price discrepancies are steadily worsening despite some reform efforts, the article said.

"The mark-up on hospital care for these individuals, especially for those who can afford it least, is unjustifiable," said Gerard Anderson, director of the center for hospital finance and management at Johns Hopkins University's school of public health, and study author.

The American Hospital Association (AHA), which represents most of the nation's 5,000 or so hospitals, said the report was out-of-date and methodologically flawed.

The group said it is misleading because the study predates U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid guidance, which hospitals say they needed before they could give discounts to uninsured patients.

"Before that, there was a lack of clarity as to whether hospitals could charge differentially," AHA policy analyst Carmela Coyle said.

Hospitals set rates based on a list called the chargemaster, which is generally believed to inflate prices substantially, in the belief that prices will come down during a negotiation process.

For-profit hospitals had the highest discrepancy between costs estimated by Medicare and prices charged, the study found.

UNINSURED WEIGH

But patients without health insurance, about 45 million people in the U.S., lack the ability to negotiate. As it stands, hospitals only collect about 10 cents on the dollar charged to uninsured patients, Anderson said.

"When a hospital presents a bill that has charges on it, those charges are the same for everyone. What is different is how much insurers may negotiate in terms of discounts with hospitals," Coyle said.

More than 60 class-action lawsuits have been filed against U.S. hospitals over the issue. Anderson has been an adviser on some of them. About a year ago, the American Hospital Association enacted a voluntary policy for poor and uninsured patients.

But that policy has yet to show an impact and it is unclear how many hospitals are abiding by the price suggestions, Anderson said.

Anderson recommends pursing the ongoing class-action lawsuits and having the government set a maximum amount that hospitals can charge as prescriptions to remedy the problem.

Several states are exploring the issue, including Illinois and Ohio, Anderson said.

There is one element in the debate in which Anderson and Coyle agree. Both say efforts to provide health insurance to greater numbers of people would ease the problem.

"The real problem of course, is that we live in a country where we don't guarantee coverage for everybody," Coyle said.

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