Mycoplasma, AIDS, Degenerative Diseases: What You Don't Know Can Kill You.

John D. Rockefeller  Sr.'s merger with pharmaceutical and chemical giant, I.G. Farben (Auschwitz was a 100% subsidiary of IG Farben) in 1928 "created the largest and most powerful cartel the world has ever known. Not only has that cartel survived through the years, it has grown and prospered. Today it plays a major role in both the science and politics of cancer therapy."

It's important to know Big Pharma's "crimes against humanity" history, because that history fostered the chemical-based drug treatment basis for our "orthodox" healthcare system today. The industry claims that their aim is finding medical truth, and that may be true; nevertheless, publicizing that truth, once found, if that truth entails inexpensive solutions or remedies, will not happen for obvious reasons. There is nothing Big Pharma likes more than chronic illness, for which they can produce chronic palliative costly treatments that make the patient chronically dependent on them.

Which brings me to the seldom, if ever, publicized human pathogen: mycoplasmas. They are the smallest free-living bacteria that can assume multiple shapes including round, pear shaped and even filamentous forms because they lack a cell wall. This makes it possible for them to pass through  filters used to remove bacteria; and hide inside the cell from our immune system, as well as from common antibiotics, all the while interfering with the cell machinery. Because mycoplasmas have lost most of their genetic material; a strict dependence on the host for nutrients and refuge determines its ability to survive and grow.

Mycoplasma is the co-factor that alters the human immune system and opens the door for the autoimmune degenerative diseases such as AIDS, malignant transformation, chromosomal aberrations, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Gulf War Syndrome (military vaccine), Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as Lou Gehrig\'s Disease (every single patient shows mycoplasmal infection), Alzheimer’s, Crohns Disease, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, Lupus, Lyme disease, Fibromyalgia, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, Type One Diabetes, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, and cancer.  Yet, these pathogenic organisms show up in vaccines.

“Because certain species of the mycoplasma have an absolute growth requirement for the up-take of pre-formed sterols, including cholesterol they can cause the ‘spontaneous degeneration’ of the cells that they invade. If they do not cause sufficient damage to kill the cell, they at least compromise its capacity to defend itself from other disease agents, such as those which present as Kaposi’s sarcoma, pneumoniae carinii pneumonia, lymphadenopathy, and so on.” Donald W. Scott and William L.C. Scott,

“From its inception, the biowarfare program was characterized by continuing in-depth review and participation by the most eminent scientists, medical consultants, industrial experts and government officials, and it was classified Top Secret. The US Public Health Service also closely followed the progress of biological warfare research and development from the very start of the program, and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States were working with the military in weaponising these diseases. These are diseases that have existed for thousands of years, but they have been weaponized—which means they’ve been made more contagious and more effective. And they are spreading.” Donald W. Scott

Currently, Dr. Alan Cantwell is one of the most well-known popular proponents of the link between cancer and bacteria. He has written numerous articles and books on the subject after he isolated and reported cell wall deficient bacteria in breast cancer, Kaposi’s sarcoma and Hodgkin’s disease. He states,

”If a disease like cancer is indeed caused by microscopic bacteria, it would indicate physicians have been unable to see what was quite plain for some nineteenth and twentieth century scientists to observe using simple light microscopy."

Eventually, constantly under intense criticism, Cantwell was ostracized by many in the medical profession.

Females are four times more likely to be infected with Mycoplasmas than males. The same ratio of males to females applies to Rheumatoid Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue and other related auto-immune disorders. Men, pound for pound, have 25% more blood; hence, hemoglobin - the protein molecule in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to the body's tissues - than females.

AIDS and Mycoplasma: The Crime Beyond Belief

Donald W. Scott, editor of The Journal of Degenerative Diseases (pictured above) and co-founder of the Common Cause Medical Research Foundation, reveals the true and hidden story of weaponized mycoplasma and the protracted creation of AIDS by governments and private corporations. part 1 of a series drawn from the 90 min. talk given at the 9th annual conference, Sudbury, Ontario (Aug 29-31, 2008).  JODD (Journal of Degenerative Disease); Box 133 Station B; Sudbury Ontario; Canada P3E4N5  $25/year





Links:

Fluid Mosaic Model Membrane

The Linking Pathogen in Neurosystemic Diseases

Mycoplasmas Stealth Pathogens

Campaign for Truth in Medicine

Mycoplasma Protocol

Institute for Molecular Medicine

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Security for 2012 London Olympics Designed to Fail?

Undercover reporter, Lee Hazledean, a filmmaker and TV journalist, infiltrated the private security firm, G4S to train as a security guard for the 2012 London Olympics that start in 4 weeks. Of course, the reason for private security contractors is to reap enormous profits because it's certainly not to ensure the safety of athletes, employees, and spectators, as you will see if read on, or listen to the video below.

Hazledean reports (video below) that training is woefully inadequate; that it's easy to get knives, guns, IEDs, through the security screening; uniforms are going missing or being stolen from the uniform distribution centre/training facility; cheap equipment does not work, such as metal detectors; people are taking photos on their mobile phones in the training facility; 200,00 casket linings (hold 4-5 bodies each) delivered...

Also there are plans for the evacuation of London, G4S are going to be at the forefront, as well as 100,000 troops coming in via Woolwich barracks made up of regular British Forces, American regular army and European troops. Lee was not told why there would be any need for an evacuation of the whole of London, they just said it was to be a “defining moment in the history of London”. This could just be a precaution but the public should be made aware of the foreign invasion which is taking place right now. The troops are being held across London in various barracks once they’ve been through Woolwich. Lee also had this information confirmed by an army doctor who was shocked at all the foreign troops coming into London. There is also a shipment of what are being described as casket linings, each casket can hold four or five people and 200,000 casket linings have been delivered we believe from America. This could all be precautionary in the event of a major terrorist attack. Also we were shown videos of drones attacking targets in Afghanistan and were told that drones will be patrolling the sky’s over London during the Olympics carrying out surveillance and search and destroy missions if necessary. Lee believes there is something fundamentally wrong with how the security for the Olympics is being implemented by G4S. With exactly 4 weeks to go until the games Lee feels he needs to expose the inadequate security in place in the hope that it can be improved so that the London 2012 Olympics can be a safe environment for spectators and Athletes alike, and not a cause for national and international embarrassment for Great Britain.

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Does Technological Advancement Lead to Advancement of Human Civilization?

It's really no wonder that we consider ourselves evolved. What with the amazing technological advancements and the unprecedented material progress of Western civilization; how could one think otherwise?

But before the modern era, technological advancement was slow and new discoveries were rare. Cultures changed so slowly that it was barely noticeable. Without having witnessed any significant change or even being able to imagine how change might happen, people formed the impression that the world would remain more or less the same.

Rarely, when change did occur, especially if that change included advances in comfort, knowledge, beauty, or involved profit, people began to think civilization was was evolving. But is it really?

Take the use of radioactive materials in cosmetics that dates back to the 1920-30s.  It is a good example of the what can go wrong when any industry jumps on the bandwagon of a scientific advance too soon. Despite this, and other technological "advances" that proved detrimental to life, the role of science in industry exponentially increased. 

Zapped with radioactive dust that was supposed to have been 100% safe.



Moreover, during this same time period - the twentieth century - we murdered more human beings than during the nineteen centuries that led up to this age.  Could it be the more technologically advanced we become, the more deadly we become?

"We are close to dead. There are faces and bodies like gorged maggots on the dance floor, on the highway, in the city, in the stadium; they are a host of chemical machines who swallow the product of chemical factories, aspirin, preservatives, stimulant, relaxant, and breathe out their chemical wastes into a polluted air. The sense of a long last night over civilization is back again".- Norman Mailer

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Treasonous Oil Spikes

It's hard to rile up the Snooki-obsessed American public. Three wars, the continued plundering of the US economy by the ruling class, growing unemployment, and the emerging "security-industrial complex," aren't enough to wake up the Snooki-watchers. But, do you know what will? The skyrocketing cost at the pumps. And, whether they know it or not, with good reason.

As the "humanitarian" war in Libya pushes oil - the lifeblood of the US economy - above $112 barrel, with no immediate prospect of relief, gasoline prices, will most likely hit $5 a gallon, shortly. Here is the thing. It's even worse than most Americans realize. You see, thanks to globalization, rather than those oil/gasoline profits returning to the stream of purchasing power, investment, and/or capital-building, therefore, possibly adding redemptive value to the much loathed price increase -  insofar as those profits might serve to create jobs, and increase consumption -   a good portion of those profits have left/will leave the country, thus, fleecing the US taxpayers once more.

Therefore, not only does this price surge - especially when you add in the rising costs of food, and other petroleum products - make it even tougher for average Americans to make ends meet in this "more fragile than reported" economy, the rising cost of petroleum will suck approximately $300 billion out of the US economy, according to economist Bob Chapman.

Locals gathered in front of the hotel that will host the meeting between a delegation of African leaders and Libyan rebels on today to broker a ceasefire between Qadhafi and the opposition, but rebel leadership rejected the plan because it did not stipulate the Libyan leader would step down.

The crowd in this photo looks like it could be CGI.  But, of course, it isn't. 

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Libyan Rebels Super-Heros?

They must be.  This "ragtag bunch of rebels," enveloped in obscurity, have already established a new national oil company and a new central bank of Libya! They are truly magical.  So, why on earth do they need our help?

Well, could it be that the previous Central Bank of Libya (CBL), was 100% state owned? One of only a very few state-owned central banks in the entire world that owns and issues its own money. This means the international bankers  actually had to go through the state-owned bank, and its national currency. How humiliating to be stripped of your power like that!!

Then, of course, there is Libya's vast reservoirs of water, and their top-quality crude...in fact, so top quality, that it takes three barrels of Saudi Arabian crude to equal one barrel of Libyan crude.

So, these super-hero rebels are not super-heros at all. They more than likely work for the super parasitic predator class, and the latest invasion is simply one more take down in order to substitute a neo-liberal capitalist ruling class that will transfer everything over to multi-nationals.

Link:

Libyan Rebels Forced to Retreat as Nations Seek Qaddafi’s Fall

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Farm to Fridge

Mercy For Animals takes viewers on an eye-opening exploration behind the closed doors of the nation's largest industrial farms, hatcheries, and slaughter plants -- revealing the often-unseen journey that animals make from Farm to Fridge.



It's important that those of us who eat meat educate ourselves on the often-painful process the animals go through from farm to fridge.

Links:

Choose Veg

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The Overwhelming Foreclosure Swindle.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the top 35 financial institutions are set to pay a record $144 billion in compensation and benefits in 2010.

Meanwhile,  one in seven Americans exist in poverty; one in five American "homeowners" are in serious trouble, and 14 million Americans remain unemployed.  Not to mention, the foreclosure horror show that spans all 50 states, and includes almost every single lender, in particular, the largest banks and servicers. Flawed and lost paperwork, mishandled mortgages, foreclosure documents, and failure to follow proper procedure resulted in hundreds of thousands of improperly foreclosed on homes. Yet, as these large institutions claim, we're supposed to believe this is merely the result of  a bad case of "overwhelm"?

If this is true, why not take all that cash (thanks to we the taxpayers) they're sitting on and hire the overwhelming number of unemployed? People need jobs! Or haven't they heard? JPMorgan Chase third-quarter profit rose 23%! Yep, Wall Street swims in the money while we the people drown in debt.  At the same time that JPMorgan reported their windfall profits, they said that "it expanded its initial review from 23 states to 41, and to about 115,000 homes."

Here's the thing.  "Overwhelmed" does not lead to  fabricated and forged documents, thousands of cases of lost paperwork that would have revealed to investors that they had been scammed, several reports of a single employee signing off on 8-10,000 foreclosure papers a month without checking the information, signing off on two documents that stated conflicting amounts of mortgage, misrepresentations of fact (such as who actually owns the mortgage) ...all of this from Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and GMAC Mortgage, and more.

“In foreclosure controversy, problems run deeper than flawed paperwork...Millions of US mortgages have been shuttled around the global financial system – sold and resold by firms – without the documents (to) prove who legally owns” them. With millions now in default and homes seized, “judges around the country have increasingly ruled that lenders had no right to foreclose, because they lacked clear title.”

Once again, another "crisis" that punishes the "little" guy while lining the pockets of the banksters and the wealthy. Federal officials are not forcing the banks to clean up the paperwork. Instead, President Obama is backing state investigations while rejecting a nationwide freeze on such seizures because of potential “unintended consequences.”

What about cram-downs? Banks have no excuse but to agree to principal writedowns.

Over 20% of households are upside down on their loans. likely to require some sort of federal response.

“From the beginning, mass modifications would have been better and I still think they’d be cost-saving. Doing new paperwork and doing it right is still a better choice.” - Harvard Law School Professor, Katherine Porter, whose 2007 research examined practices of mortgage lenders and servicers foreclosing on bankrupt borrowers.

Links:

Confusion Roils HARP Program for Refinancing

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A Drop in the Bucket Could've Prevented Oil Spill?

The BP oil well "accident" that has evolved into one of the largest oil spills ever in US water continues to spew crude into the Gulf of Mexico. 11 lives have already been lost, and countless other lives, shattered. 

Here's the thing. This "accident" could've been avoided if BP Oil  had shelled out $500,000 (pocket change)  for a remote-control shut-off valve, called an acoustic switch - an underwater valve that shuts down the well even if the oil rig itself is damaged or evacuated - that is normally used as a last-resort protection against underwater spills.  However, unlike most of the  oil producing countries of the world,  "U.S. regulators don't mandate use of the remote-control device on offshore rigs, and the Deepwater Horizon, hired by oil giant BP PLC, didn't have one."

Several years ago, the U.S. considered requiring a remote-controlled shut-off mechanism, but drilling companies questioned its cost and effectiveness, and the Minerals Management Service (MMS), part of the Interior Department responsible for regulating both offshore wind development and oil and gas drilling, decided the remote device wasn't needed because rigs had other back-up plans to cut off a well.

Really?

Well, I guess, amidst “a culture of substance abuse and promiscuity” MMS officials had better things to do than regulate oil drilling. After all, when you're "responsible" for collecting approximately $10 billion in royalties annually and you're one of the government’s largest sources of  income, it's easy to understand how hubris and greed could've created the "free-for-all" atmosphere that developed and prevailed for much of the Bush administration’s watch and how that might obscure one's thinking. Thus,  making it probable that the first priority became maintaining that coke-sniffing, porn surfing, golf playing, orgasmic kind of climate. And how do you ensure its continuance? Profit, profit, and more profit.

Now, after this horrific event, BP says it is spending $6 million a day to battle the oil spill. Clearly, the sense of power and greed that inspired these officials to shun the vagaries of self-control and instead fully embrace monumental hedonistic debauchery, complete with the senseless and random act of taking "tickets to a Toby Keith concert", did, in fact, render these "officials" dumb as...well, dumb as a BP oil executive.

Granted, much is still unknown about what caused the problems in Deepwater Horizon's well, however, because of the greedy oil executives and the immoral, compliant, greedy MMS officials, who seem to predominate today, in this culture of deregulation that was so heavily advocated for during the Bush Administration - or really, since the inception of Reaganomics - we'll never know if the decision to make the infinitesimally small purchase, relatively speaking, of a football-sized acoustic remote-control may have been able to stop the oil well disaster.

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Ain't it Obvious? We Can't Trust BP to Do the Job.

BP's only interest is the bottom line. From no plans in case of a disaster, to its audacious short-cuts throughout the entire process, judge shopping, and the outright lies BP has told since the beginning, this company is useless and good for nothing, except maybe for its lobbying talents. 

Greed is the essential component in the formula for disaster. Why? Because ultimately, greed leads to negligence, incompetence and most of all bold faced lies, which, thanks to Rachel Maddow, is eloquently demonstrated in a segment of "The Rachel Maddow Show"(video below).

So, it follows that when the only incentive given to each player is individual profit,  (huge windfall profits) the incentives of the company will never align with the needs of public safety...or the public good.

It's very clear. Mad dashes for profit and perverse incentive structures = disaster.

BP is one of the biggest spenders on lobbying in the oil and gas industry to represent its interests in Washington.

During the first quarter of 2010, it spent $3.5 million on lobbying, second only to ConocoPhillips, according to figures compiled by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Yet despite the far from resolved Gulf Oil disaster and as plenty of evidence suggests, BP's responsibility, they want to avoid curbs on new drilling, according to  its lobbyists.

BP officials, who put profits above all else, including safety, wanted to proceed quickly as possible in order to save money on the current well's cost, and  so they could begin on another well, which was behind schedule.

Lies and more lies.

BP, Government Risk Larger Spill to Stem Leak

BP CEO disputes claims of underwater oil plumes.

BP Lowballing Oil Flow

BP is vastly understating the amount of oil flowing into the Gulf in order to decrease fines, which are based on the number of barrels leaked per day. Host Scott Simon talks with Markey about his criticism of the oil company and its efforts to contain the oil spreading in the Gulf of Mexico.

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Ensuring Change Takes Place This Time Around.

31-years ago, on June 13, 1979, while the Trans-Alaskan oil pipeline (right) -  technically 800 miles of pipleline with a diameter of 48 inches that crosses three mountain ranges and over 800 rivers and streams, that connects oil fields in northern Alaska to a sea port where the oil can be shipped to the lower 48 states for refining - was in a state of "repair" (continuous)  from the previous oil leak(s) that allowed 1500 barrels of crude oil to escape, the Gulf of Mexico was trying to handle a much larger oil spil(June 3, 1979) that dumped 30,000 barrels of crude per day into the Gulf.

Sound familiar?  Well, that's not all. The techniques used to contain the 1979 spill are all too familiar to us today, and on August 7, 1979, reports of oil containment workers were still dominating the news. Then, on n August 8, 1979, reports of that all too familiar loop current, that we hear so much about today. On September 25, 1979, it was reported that "Operation Sombrero" that tried to put a 300 ton steel cone over the mouth of the runaway well, that once in place will collect over 90% of the crude oil, gushing from the well for over 3.5 months. BP's "Top Hat", anyone?  Yes, they even tried their own brand of "Top Kill", and pretty much every other technique we see trying and... failing today.

And the best part? All of these failed techniques used over thirty years ago, failed in 200 feet of water! What in the hell has possessed the minds of these over-the-top, highly paid, oil-drilling "experts" that makes them think these failed techniques will work at a depth of 5,000 feet?  Could it be "royalty breaks of $1 billion over five years" that is drying up the brains of these high-paid executives? Royalty Tweaks Target Deep Reserves?

Well, as we've seen in the banking industry, "royalty increases" greed can drain the capacity for all forms of high level cognitive activity in even the most brilliant of minds.  And therein lies the problem. It's all well and good to develop oil and gas resources, even when they are the most costly to develop and access, if they will more than likely pay off to line the pockets of those in charge.

Anyway, the 1979 "historical" oil spill continued for nine months, until relief wells were created to relieve pressure on the blown-out well, so that eventually it could be capped.




In the end, the only way to ensure change takes place is if we are willing to raise our standards of what we deem acceptable. If we contiue to allow personal gain to trump all else, things will never change...ever.

Thanks to Rachel Maddow's fabulous report on how much oil disasters and oil disaster response has not changed one iota in over 30 years.

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Cash for Clunkers

Cash for Clunkers starts today.

Almost 16,000 U.S. auto dealers have applied to participate in the “cash-for-clunkers” vehicle trade-in program, or about 80 percent of the nation’s new- vehicle retailers, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said.

The government is trying to help jump-start slumping auto sales through the program, giving consumers new-vehicle credits of as much as $4,500 for turning in older cars.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will be administering the program. Car dealers, not consumers, will need to register for the program on www.cars.gov; the only official Federal website. If you have a car that qualifies, you can contact any local car dealer to help you with the program. Dealer registration for the CARS program started on 7/24/2009.

Cash for Clunkers Facts.

Cash for Clunkers Twitter.

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The High Cost of Maintaining American Arse.

15 million trees are sacrificed each year so that we the people can wipe! That's a hell of a lot of trees.

Honestly, I've never given the subject of anal cleansing much thought. But, after hearing about the number of trees that must be pulped on a loggers segment on NPR's Here and Now, I thought I'd look into it.

In addition to the 15 million trees, it takes 473,587,500,000 gallons of water, 253,000 tons of chlorine (for bleaching purposes) to manufacture that which we cannot live without, toilet paper . And that's only the production cost. The entire process, which includes the energy and materials for packaging and transporting the toilet paper uses about 17.3 terrawatts of electricity annually. That's what it takes to produce, package, ship and sell 36.5 billions rolls of toilet paper in the U.S. each year.

And what about after the deed is done? City sewer systems, water treatment plants, septic tanks, clogged pipes, etc. increase the cost even more.

Is there a solution? I don't know, but I do know that not talking about it will prevent a solution for sure.

I don't know what you do with those stones in the picture below, but obviously alternatives to paper exist. Although it doesn't exactly offer the squeezable comfort of Charmain, maybe it's time we look into the possibility of toilet stones. We can resurrect Mr. Whipple. I'm sure he could sell America on whatever those stones do and make it sound squeezably soft.

At the very least, let's try maximize the use we get from this extraordinarily costly product. Suduko, crossword puzzles, tic tac toe, ect. are some ideas. Here's an idea... we could eliminate newspapers all together, something that might happen anyway, and print out newspaper articles on toilet paper rolls. Merge the toilet paper industry with the newspaper industry...

If you are so inclined you can click here for more information regarding the alternatives shown in the picture.

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Politics of Our Predatory Student Loan Shark System

What if every American high school student - no matter how intelligent, and/or talented and who couldn't afford to pay the astronomical cost of higher education - decides that the intractable, insurmountable and ever increasing debt that the student loan industry, by law, can impose upon them, is not worth the aggravation and risk? What would our society look like in ten years? Twenty years? One hundred years?

According to Alan Michael Collinge, author of The Student Loan Scam: The Most Oppressive Debt in U.S. History - and How We Can Fight Back.” and creator of the website Student Loan Justice, in the 1970’s, all the consumer protections were on the table for student loans. Then, gradually, stories about numerous individuals borrowing large amounts of money to finance their education, subsequently, declaring bankruptcy, started spreading.

Congress used these stories as an excuse, to first restrict, and then remove all bankruptcy protection, statute of limitations, and the right of students to refinance their debt at better terms for the life of the loan. Student lenders are exempt from Truth in Lending Laws and most Fair Debt Collection Practices. After all was said and done, it turned out that less than 1% of federally guaranteed loans were discharged through bankruptcy at the time these stories started to spread. The “student loan” crisis was "only in the imagination of the student loan industry."

Debt is extremely lucrative for this industry. It is reported that the default rate for student loans is approximately 5%, when in actuality, it is closer to 20-30%. What they don’t tell you is that the 5% rate of default is only calculated on the first two years after a student graduates. It’s far more profitable for some of the bigger lenders for students to default on their loans because (Sallie Mae, Nelnet) not only do these large entities own lending companies but they own collection companies in addition to serving as the guarantor function as well.

For example, in the case of Sallie Mae, they can default a loan and be paid near book value from the board of education and then come back for a much bigger chunk, considering the inflated amount after penalties, fees and outrageous default rates are applied. Some of these "sharks" are defaulting loans without even trying to collect on the debt. Even the federal government makes money from delinquent debt, recovering about $1.20 for every dollar it pays out in default claims.

Under President Reagan, grants were transformed into loans, which allowed banks to enter the mix in order to profit. This lending system enables universities and colleges to raise tuition at double the consumer index rather than plow through the laborious task of appealing to the state and federal government. This system not only shifts the burden of cost from the state to the students, but enables banks to profit enormously at the student’s expense. In addition our taxpayer dollars go toward paying subsidies to private lenders like Sallie Mae, public enemy #1, who started out as a government sponsored entity and then privatized in 1995, forming one of the most powerful lobbies on Capital Hill.

As federal grant aid has decreased over the last eight years, federal aid to providers of costlier and riskier private student loans increased. Fast forward to November 2008, and a "shark" bailout is on the table. The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) expressed their "gratitude and support" for the proposed bailout to "aid banks and organizations that issue federal student loans," encouraging an extension of the financial backing to non-federal loans, as well.

Fortunately, President Obama, who experienced, first hand, the stranglehold of student loan debt, created the Access and Completion Incentive Fund, which will help low-income students graduate from college, and is part of a larger package of reforms including the elimination of the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFEL)--that is, the program in which the federal government guarantees and subsidizes student loans made by banks and other for-profit companies.

Thomas Jefferson recognized the importance of an educated citizenry in a working democracy. He believed in a "natural aristocracy" of virtue, ability and talent over the "tinsel aristocracy" of inherited wealth and privilege. He believed the state should fund education in order to foster, encourage and stimulate the talent and intelligence across all socioeconomic lines. Jefferson would be appalled at the idea of our government allowing banks to exploit our young people - our nation's future - for profit.

“Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." -- Thomas Jefferson

If our usurious student loan shark system, and the massive wealth it generates at the expense of American students is exposed, the "tinsel aristocracy" will prevail at our colleges and universities, while much greater minds and talents abandon ideas of furthering their education, which in turn, will guarantee the fall of the American "empire".

A few victims tell their story:

My student loan was originally with Sallie Mae. In 2007 I supposedly went into default. Sallie Mae presented me with paperwork to sign and said my loand was in default. They garnished my wages for $340 a month about a year ago. It was not until I got my 1098 this year showing how much interest I paid and I began to dig deeply into my student loan that I saw that Sallie Mae turned the loan over to General Revenue Corp which is a collection agency OWNED BY SALLIE MAE. This is wrong.
Secondly, I determined they are charging me 26% interest!

I have written to the US dept of education and they tell me the loan must stay at the original interest rate unless a court changes the rate. There was never any court involved. They are also charging me close to $5,000 in collection fees! I understand from the Dept of Education they can charge fees BUT how can they justify that amount of fees when there was not attorney involved - nothing.

Basically Sallie Mae dumped me to General Credit (again Sallie mae owns them) and now I am paying HUGE interest AND my loans will never be paid off. When they tossed me into default my credit was DESTROYED. I also read you can rehabilitate but you have to pay 9 consecutive payments and you CANNOT include the wage attachment - how can I afford that? I am sending documentation to Sallie Mae, General Credit, my former senator (VP Joseph Biden, my Congressman Mike Castle and Senator Carper) What they have done to me is illegal.

John t
Bear, Delaware
U.S.A.

As a co-signer on a loan for my nephew, I believe that Sallie Mae has violated the terms of the loan by repeatedly issuing forebearances on the loan (which causes significant increases on the balance due to the additional interest) without seeking my consent, and without providing me with any proper notification at all.

[...]

Sallie Mae has boldly stated that they do not need my consent to alter the terms of the loan, and they keep trying to insist that they sent me notification of the forebearances, even though they have the correct address for me, and I have not moved since the loan has been in repayment.

They have managed to send me threating letters when my nephew has failed to make payments on the loan, but somehow the forebearance notices never did come.

Larry
Sherman Oaks, California
U.S.A.

[...] Now i'm being sued by sallie mae for not making my payments. i faxed a forbearance paper to stop my loans going into colllections but the collections company told me it was a third party loan sent out by sallie mae and that i couldn;t put it in forbearance.

i need help with advice before i go to court. i wish everyone else who has problems with both sallie mae and itt get together and get a class action law suit against them. or if anyone can help me i would greatly appreciate it. thanks

kristen
brightin, Michigan
U.S.A.

[...] It has been two years since I left Brooks. My loans are now deffered and already up to $41,000 because of interest. I feel that I was very misled and deceived by Brooks College and their sales staff. Now I have learned that the school is shut down because of all the lawsuits against it. I have many friends that I met through brooks that are suffering from the same situation with their student loans. We need justice with this non-accredited college!

Noel
Encinitas, California
U.S.A.

It has been two years since I left Brooks. My loans are now deffered and already up to $41,000 because of interest. I feel that I was very misled and deceived by Brooks College and their sales staff. Now I have learned that the school is shut down because of all the lawsuits against it. I have many friends that I met through brooks that are suffering from the same situation with their student loans. We need justice with this non-accredited college!

Noel
Encinitas, California
U.S.A.

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Michael Moore on the Auto Industry

I've had nothing but trouble with two American made cars in the last five years - Ford - the transmission went in the first, and the drivetrain in the second. I had extended warranties on both, neither warranty was honored. However, despite my personal feelings toward these "miserably inept crapmobile makers" as Michael Moore puts it, I feel the same way he does. Since he has much better ideas than I do (I don't have any) and since he is the master articulator...

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008
Saving the Big 3 for You and Me ...a message from Michael Moore

Friends,

I drive an American car. It's a Chrysler. That's not an endorsement. It's more like a cry for pity.
And now for a decades-old story, retold ad infinitum by tens of millions of Americans, a third of whom have had to desert their country to simply find a damn way to get to work in something that won't break down:

My Chrysler is four years old. I bought it because of its smooth and comfortable ride.

Daimler-Benz owned the company then and had the good grace to place the Chrysler chassis on a Mercedes axle and, man, was that a sweet ride!

When it would start.

More than a dozen times in these years, the car has simply died. Batteries have been replaced, but that wasn't the problem. My dad drives the same model. His car has died many times, too. Just won't start, for no reason at all.

A few weeks ago, I took my Chrysler in to the Chrysler dealer here in northern Michigan -- and the latest fixes cost me $1,400. The next day, the vehicle wouldn't start. When I got it going, the brake warning light came on. And on and on.

You might assume from this that I couldn't give a rat's ass about these miserably inept crapmobile makers down the road in Detroit city. But I do care. I care about the millions whose lives and livelihoods depend on these car companies. I care about the security and defense of this country because the world is running out of oil -- and when it runs out, the calamity and collapse that will take place will make the current recession/depression look like a Tommy Tune musical.

And I care about what happens with the Big 3 because they are more responsible than almost anyone for the destruction of our fragile atmosphere and the daily melting of our polar ice caps.

Congress must save the industrial infrastructure that these companies control and the jobs they create. And it must save the world from the internal combustion engine. This great, vast manufacturing network can redeem itself by building mass transit and electric/hybrid cars, and the kind of transportation we need for the 21st century.

And Congress must do all this by NOT giving GM, Ford and Chrysler the $34 billion they are asking for in "loans" (a few days ago they only wanted $25 billion; that's how stupid they are -- they don't even know how much they really need to make this month's payroll. If you or I tried to get a loan from the bank this way, not only would we be thrown out on our ear, the bank would place us on some sort of credit rating blacklist).

Two weeks ago, the CEOs of the Big 3 were tarred and feathered before a Congressional committee who sneered at them in a way far different than when the heads of the financial industry showed up two months earlier. At that time, the politicians tripped over each other in their swoon for Wall Street and its Ponzi schemers who had concocted Byzantine ways to bet other people's money on unregulated credit default swaps, known in the common vernacular as unicorns and fairies.

But the Detroit boys were from the Midwest, the Rust (yuk!) Belt, where they made real things that consumers needed and could touch and buy, and that continually recycled money into the economy (shocking!), produced unions that created the middle class, and fixed my teeth for free when I was ten.

For all of that, the auto heads had to sit there in November and be ridiculed about how they traveled to D.C. Yes, they flew on their corporate jets, just like the bankers and Wall Street thieves did in October. But, hey, THAT was OK! They're the Masters of the Universe! Nothing but the best chariots for Big Finance as they set about to loot our nation's treasury.

Of course, the auto magnates used be the Masters who ruled the world. They were the pulsating hub that all other industries -- steel, oil, cement contractors -- served. Fifty-five years ago, the president of GM sat on that same Capitol Hill and bluntly told Congress, what's good for General Motors is good for the country. Because, you see, in their minds, GM WAS the country.

What a long, sad fall from grace we witnessed on November 19th when the three blind mice had their knuckles slapped and then were sent back home to write an essay called, "Why You Should Give Me Billions of Dollars of Free Cash." They were also asked if they would work for a dollar a year. Take that! What a big, brave Congress they are! Requesting indentured servitude from (still) three of the most powerful men in the world. This from a spineless body that won't dare stand up to a disgraced president nor turn down a single funding request for a war that neither they nor the American public support. Amazing.

Let me just state the obvious: Every single dollar Congress gives these three companies will be flushed right down the toilet. There is nothing the management teams of the Big 3 are going to do to convince people to go out during a recession and buy their big, gas-guzzling, inferior products. Just forget it. And, as sure as I am that the Ford family-owned Detroit Lions are not going to the Super Bowl -- ever -- I can guarantee you, after they burn through this $34 billion, they'll be back for another $34 billion next summer.

So what to do? Members of Congress, here's what I propose:

1. Transporting Americans is and should be one of the most important functions our government must address. And because we are facing a massive economic, energy and environmental crisis, the new president and Congress must do what Franklin Roosevelt did when he was faced with a crisis (and ordered the auto industry to stop building cars and instead build tanks and planes): The Big 3 are, from this point forward, to build only cars that are not primarily dependent on oil and, more importantly to build trains, buses, subways and light rail (a corresponding public works project across the country will build the rail lines and tracks). This will not only save jobs, but create millions of new ones.

2. You could buy ALL the common shares of stock in General Motors for less than $3 billion. Why should we give GM $18 billion or $25 billion or anything? Take the money and buy the company! (You're going to demand collateral anyway if you give them the "loan," and because we know they will default on that loan, you're going to own the company in the end as it is. So why wait? Just buy them out now.

3. None of us want government officials running a car company, but there are some very smart transportation geniuses who could be hired to do this. We need a Marshall Plan to switch us off oil-dependent vehicles and get us into the 21st century.

This proposal is not radical or rocket science. It just takes one of the smartest people ever to run for the presidency to pull it off. What I'm proposing has worked before. The national rail system was in shambles in the '70s. The government took it over. A decade later it was turning a profit, so the government returned it to private/public hands, and got a couple billion dollars put back in the treasury.

This proposal will save our industrial infrastructure -- and millions of jobs. More importantly, it will create millions more. It literally could pull us out of this recession.

In contrast, yesterday General Motors presented its restructuring proposal to Congress. They promised, if Congress gave them $18 billion now, they would, in turn, eliminate around 20,000 jobs. You read that right. We give them billions so they can throw more Americans out of work. That's been their Big Idea for the last 30 years -- layoff thousands in order to protect profits.
But no one ever stopped to ask this question: If you throw everyone out of work, who's going to have the money to go out and buy a car?

These idiots don't deserve a dime. Fire all of them, and take over the industry for the good of the workers, the country and the planet.

What's good for General Motors IS good for the country. Once the country is calling the shots.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore. com

P.S. I will be on Keith Olbermann tonight (8pm/10pm/midnight ET) to discuss this further on MSNBC.

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Gay Marriage on the Spectrum of Moral Hazard.

First, let's define Moral Hazard .

"The risk that a party to a transaction has not entered into the contract in good faith, has provided misleading information about its assets, liabilities or credit capacity, or has an incentive to take unusual risks in a desperate attempt to earn a profit before the contract settles."

Entering into marriage, gay or straight, is morally hazardous, as heterosexuals have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, considering the 50% divorce rate among other things. Yes, marriage is a very slippery slope, with more than a 50% chance of sliding straight into hell. Keep in mind that divorce is not a necessary prerequisite for slippage..there are many people who never divorce, yet can tell you they "slipped" long ago.

The term "moral hazard" is normally applied in the context of financial investment. However, marriage is an investment, a contract and an agreement. As far as defining marriage by assets, liabilities, credit capacity or incentive to take unusual risks in a desperate attempt to earn a profit before the contract is settled or the disintegration of the contract is final, goes...just ask anyone going through or who has gone through a divorce, and undoubtedly they will define marriage exactly that way.

Now, let's take a look at "moral hazard" the way it was intended to be applied. Currently, with the rash of corporate disasters, it would seem "moral hazard" underlies, and is the foundation of our economy.

Consider last month when we found out that home prices fell in April at the fastest rate since the Case-Schiller Index -- a comprehensive measure of all home sales, including auction sales, that calculates appreciation and depreciation in the housing market using the collected data from 20 metropolitan areas -- began more than two-decades ago. This market collapse is not solely the result of market correction, but the consequence of "haphazard" greed, and in some cases, even worse, methodical greed.

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, on the other hand, may stimulate and reverse the devastating effects to this industry. But at what cost? What are the long vs. short term effects? What about tax considerations? And the ultimate question, who will pay the price? Someone must, hopefully it will be the segment of our population who can most afford it this time around. That is about as likely as Pope Benedict announcing his impending nuptials to Monsignor Georg Gänswein (purely hypothetical, of course).

The Pope and the Monsignor tying the knot would set the world ablaze. People would be taking up arms, wailing, crying, screaming, fighting, rioting, pushing people out windows...OK, maybe that may be an exaggeration, but not much of one.

IF that were to occur, how many of us will ask, why is this earth-shattering news? Will anyone try to take a rational approach and ask themselves, why is the love between two men worse than the hundreds of thousands injured and dying over in Iraq? Why is this worse than the 50 million currently uninsured? Why is this worse than the pending oil crisis?

What about the housing industry?

The Case-Schiller Index calculated the appreciation/depreciation percentage +/- from the market peak, two years ago, dividing the housing sector into three categories:

Glut states:
Miami FL - 26%
Phoenix, AZ -29%
Las Vegas NV - 29%

Boom bust:
San Francisco CA -24.6%
San Diego, CA -27.9%

Industrial heartland:
Detroit, MI – 26.2%
Boston MA -13%
Denver CO – 8.3%
Seattle WA -6.6%
Charlotte -3%

Another report, from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) offers a look at the more "modest" sector of the housing industry. It collects data from all 50 states, however, their calculations are based only on homes sales with conforming home mortgages on loans less than $417,000. The OFHEO indicated U.S. home prices fell 4.6% in April from the same month last year, when that index peaked. That marked the biggest decline ever in the agency's monthly index.

We can't forget about bailing out the fallout from the moral hazards Bear Stearns and more recently, the Federal Financial Assistance for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which estimates the cost to be approx. $25 billion over fiscal years 2009 and 2010.

1. CBO estimates the expected federal budgetary cost (that is, taking into account the probability of various possible outcomes) from enacting this proposal would be $25 billion over fiscal years 2009 and 2010.

2. Using historical and industry estimates of the expected losses on the different types of credit risk that the GSEs face in their current portfolios, CBO estimated the firms’ possible credit losses under thousands of possible future market conditions for housing prices. That analysis suggested that there was more than a 50 percent chance that the GSEs’ future losses would not exceed those already recognized, but there was almost a 5 percent chance that the added losses will total more than $100 billion. Given that distribution of possible future losses, CBO then evaluated how much assistance might need to be provided to the GSEs to allow them to continue operating in the capital markets.

3. In particular, CBO assumed that the Secretary would want the GSEs to continue to have the ability to tap the capital markets after the temporary authority expired and that financial markets would provide such capital to the GSEs only if market participants perceived the GSEs to be sufficiently capitalized in terms of the value of their assets relative to their liabilities. Evaluating what financial markets would view as “sufficiently capitalized” requires judgment; CBO’s approach is described in more detail in the letter. In other words, if the value of the GSEs’ assets was perceived to be insufficient relative to their liabilities, the Secretary would have to provide equity capital or subsidized debt to the GSEs before the temporary authority expired. CBO’s estimate of $25 billion in costs over the 2009–2010 period reflects a probability-weighted average of how large those injections might need to be, including zero as a potential outcome.

What's the bail out cost when the gays marry? What will the consequences be? Who will get hurt? Why is gay marriage an issue at all?

At most, gay marriage will "cost" no more to society than straight marriage. More than likely, it will "cost" less. Why? Because gay people, overall, will be less inclined to insist upon having their own biological children and more inclined to adopt the children who otherwise would be dependent on state subsidies. In addition, gay divorce would not be nearly as costly to society, once again, due to lack of dependents.

So, never mind the upshot of the aforementioned "trivial" events resulting in loss of: lives, life savings, health benefits, health itself, freedom, justice and everything else our Constitution guarantees. The gays are getting married!

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Borrow Safely

SafeBorrowing.com

Consumer credit can be complicated. From the unusual legal terms to the complex mathematical formulas, understanding how credit works can be a big task. The Committee on Consumer Financial Services of the Section on Business Law of the American Bar Association has created this website to provide you with the tools to help you on your way to financial success. This website covers the four basic types of consumer credit: financing your home, financing your car, financing your education, and credit cards. At some point in your life you will be faced with decisions about most, if not all, of these types of credit. By reading through this website and others that we point you to, you will be able to get a grasp on understanding these types of credit and how to use them safely and wisely.

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More Tolerance for Mistakes Can Only Increase the Learning Curve

Ten years ago, Congress challenged the airline industry to reduce the number of crashes. The industry not only met the test of their abilities and resources, they exceeded expectations. Better technology assisted those involved but it was their decision to tolerate pilot mistakes that dramatically impacted the statistics which lowered the risk of an airplane crash to a fifth of what it was in the 1990s and increased airline safety.

The industry and regulators are not waiting for crashes to occur. They are taking a proactive approach and encouraging pilots to report their mistakes, and instead of penalizing the pilots as they have done in the past, they are collecting, pooling and analyzing the mistakes reported and are learning what needs to be done to prevent pilots from making those same mistakes again.

This approach of "learning from mistakes" makes more sense than creating an environment of shame for anyone that unintentionally errs resulting from defective judgment, deficient knowledge, or carelessness.

Punishing mistakes only ensures that those same mistakes will be made again and again, whereas realizing that mistakes are unavoidable and it's better to shed light on them and use them as learning tools can literally mean the difference between life and death.

Given my fear of flying, I found this to be excellent news. The Airlines can lose my bags, delay my flights and strip search me all they want as long as their airplanes deliver me to my destination able to walk, talk and most importantly breathe on my own.

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Bottled Water is More Wasteful Than You Think.

I am totally guilty of contributing to the enormous profits bottled water companies make and the carbon footprint they leave behind, but no more. It is utterly ridiculous to spend the kind of money we spend on bottled water when the same water comes out of our tap for the most part.

The economics of the bottled water industry in America are astounding, and there is little to suggest that the "just say no" pleadings of Mr Bloomberg or anyone else will have any impact. In 2006, wholesale revenue for the purveyors of bottled water, including beverage giants Pepsi and Coca-Cola, topped $11bn (£5.4bn). That's more than Americans pay to go to the movies every year. And the industry is set to grow at the rate of about 10 per cent annually.

One exception is Fiji water; the water they bottle does come from the remote island of Fiji, but here is still a higher price to be paid that goes beyond the price on the bottle when purchasing Fiji water, the carbon footprint.

First the bottles have to be shipped there. They are filled, trucked to port and then brought by ship across the Pacific before distribution across the US. The best way to expand your carbon footprint? Drink Fiji.

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Rhetoric

As the LA Times points out there have been more than 245,000 deaths due to traffic accidents in the United States alone since 9/11, yet there are no alarms, no wars...no response of any kind.

"A few days ago, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that 42,642 Americans died in traffic in 2006. Did you hear this reported anywhere?"

"Road Kill" is a not just problem we face in this country but a global one as well. This is the first time in history that statistics show death by traffic accident surpasses death by mortal combat. It's nice to know that our world is becoming more "civilized" but the opposite appears to be true because of the attention the media gives "mortal combat" and the "rhetoric" our politicians continue to use such as "war on terror".

Three simple words, "war on terror" have caused more terror, globally, than they have prevented since 9/11. People focus in on these simple words because it feels much better to combat a force that we feel we are not responsible than rhetoric that may be less black and white, more complex; words that focuses our attention on ourselves; words that force us to take some responsibility for the problem at hand such as the way we choose to transport ourselves.

Politicians carefully choose their words making sure they divert our attention away from issues such as the automobile industry's relationship with their advertisers which may, in turn, cause the media to avoid reporting on how lethal our highways have become and toward focusing on an issue that may or may not exist, but does not have the impact of the one they're directing our attention away.

"This political language has created a frame that is not accurate and that Bush and his gang have used to justify anything they want to do," Edwards said in a phone interview from Everett, Wash. "It's been used to justify a whole series of things that are not justifiable, ranging from the war in Iraq, to torture, to violation of the civil liberties of Americans, to illegal spying on Americans. Anyone who speaks out against these things is treated as unpatriotic. I also think it suggests that there's a fixed enemy that we can defeat with just a military campaign. I just don't think that's true."-- John Edwards

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Have We Become Dependent on the Military-Industrial Complex?

With 737 military bases in over 130 countries, it's hard to argue that the United States has not become dependent on "The Military-Industrial Complex" Dwight D. Eisenhower spoke of in his farewell address to the nation, January 17, 1961.

The weapons industry survives only if the creation of local, regional, and global conflicts continues. Therefore, the United States, being the largest manufacturer and exporter of weapons in the world, has a huge stake in making sure there is always great demand for this industry's products.

From a very practical point of view, it only makes sense that the planning and plotting of present and future wars is ongoing. This may also answer the question why America consistently contributes toward the creation of dictatorships that prove afterwards to be so brutal, and why we augment the weaponry of both our ally and foe at the same time as we are currently doing in Iraq.

Chalmers Johnson, in a trilogy of books, tells us that history has shown there is no more unstable combination than that of a domestic democracy and a foreign empire. In his first book, Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire, published the year before 9/11, he explained why we are hated around the world and why our long history of secret operations overseas would surely lead to retaliation at home.

In a follow up called The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic , Chalmers Johnson described a global network of military bases he says creates a modern version of colonialization.

Johnson's final book, Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic demonstrates why he believes the maintenance of the American empire will inevitably undercut our domestic democracy and lead to either military dictatorship or to its civilian equivalent.

In addition to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, other great leaders have warned us about the military-industrial complex:

"Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty."

- George Washington 1796.

"Our country is now geared to an arms economy bred in an artificially induced psychosis of war hysteria and an incessant propaganda of fear."

-- General Douglas MacArthur

"As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war.God grant that my suspicions may prove groundless."

-- U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864

There is still time to take back our country on the principles of which it was founded if "We the People" start paying attention to the actions of those we elect to lead us with the same fervor we have when watching our favorite team play. With that kind of scrutiny, our government could never get away with the atrocities it is capable of creating.

"We have the greatest opportunity the world has ever seen, as long as we remain honest which will be as long as we can keep the attention of our people alive. If they once become inattentive to public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, judges and governors would all become wolves."

-- Thomas Jefferson

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