Save Democracy at the local level meeting - June 11, 2011 - 10am to Noon

SAVE DEMOCRACY AT THE LOCAL LEVEL IN HICKORY, NC

All interested groups and citizens are invited to a citywide coalition meeting of 

 

 

CITIZENS FOR EQUITY IN GOVERNMENT

Saturday, June 11, 2011

10:00 am to Noon

Patrick Beaver Memorial Library Meeting Room, 375 3rd Street NE, Hickory, NC 28602

Contact: Billy Sudderth, 828 308 4669

The Hound: Last week my associates and I held a meeting with representatives of the Citizens for Equity in Government. I would love to spill the beans about the dots that were connected in that meeting, but I don't think that time has arrived. The one thing that I can express is that the folks involved with the Citizens for Equity in Government want to broaden and build upon their coalition and they are open and invite anyone who wants to broaden participation in governance to join them in this cause.

We agreed to the meeting above so that more people can participate. I am going to be there and I hope bring along others so that we can cement this mission, define goals, and discuss the challenges that the common folks in this community face. My mission is not to step on toes or impose my will. My personal mission is to say my piece and participate, but my main goal is to listen to others and broaden my understanding of the issues that others face in the whole of our community. I honestly believe that if more people in our community begin to take one another's interest to heart, then we will have a better community and thus a better quality of life in our community.

You have to participate to make this world work. Politics has its place, but those who focus on political games over building relationships are doomed to fail. Participation means communication, which includes listening and expressing yourself, but understanding does not come from expression. It comes from listening and sharing. We need to do that on a more dynamic level. We need to share information. That goes against the grain in this community and in our society. If we open the dialogue and develop better lines of communication, then we will be able to progress our community. I hope that you will join us in this effort, because I honestly believe this is a worthy cause.

Viewing the last flight of Endeavor - The Space Shuttle Program

I almost forgot about this. I am a product of the Space Shuttle Generation. My Grandfather bought me the model of the Space Shuttle when I was 12 years old and it always piqued my interest. . I always wanted to be a astronaut when I was little, because it was one of my first memories watching man walk on the moon. When the teacher in kindergarten asked what I wanted to be growing up, I told her an astronaut. My birthday is July 15, 1966 and the launch date of Apollo 11 was the day after my 3rd birthday. I remember the missions of the men walking on the moon almost vividly.  Watching these pioneers/explorers/scientists participate in these mentions is something that I always felt was one of humanity's upper most interests. Space Exploration is the modern day concept of what Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan set out to accomplish. To expand man's unlimited horizons. To me this is God's work.

The Space Shuttle fleet is winding down its series of missions. For over 10 years I have been watching the International Space Station and other Satellites pass overhead. I have shown some of my closest friends these flights and in this article I will expose to you how I view these earth orbiting object flying hundreds of miles over our head.

I do this by visiting the site Heavens Above. Once you visit you can sign up and put in your locations coordinates and from there you will be able to see times and aerial directions that these objects fly overhead. It even has a link to show you planetary and star coordinates. There is nothing better than to view all of this with someone you care about. So surprise someone you care about and take them out and show them this.

One of the best sightings I remember was about 4 years ago when the Shuttle had undocked from the ISS
earlier in the day and it was a clear night and it looked like they were chasing one another in the sky. Maybe this is corny to some, but these kinds of things are what I find important. To me, they show our humanity and connect us to the earth. To see something like this does not happen every day. It is like those Total Lunar eclipses or when a great sighting of a comet passes by. These are events that don't happen every day. So figure out North, South, East, and West where you live, pray for good weather, and get outside and enjoy life.

If you get up early in the morning there will be several great sightings of the Space Shuttle Endeavor / International Space Station this week:

What has happened? -- and where we are headed!!!

I have seen so many videos on Youtube to let me know that what I have seen in my own life has become the new norm. We, as humans in the modern world, are supposed to conform to a herd mentality related to the Socialist paradigm that we have seen formed in this nation. In classes, when I was younger we were told that at some point we would see a melding of the Capitalist and Communist models. Folks we are there. I am finished asking people to wake up. You can live in denial. I choose not to. (Watch this W.E. Pollock video caution the expressive explicit language - Bocce Court - In the video he has to argue with a recreational park worker just because he is making a video at the park.)

A quote has been attributed to Abraham Lincoln, "You can please some of the people some of the time, all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can never please all of the people all of the time."

I completely understand this and anyone who has a public profile and an opinion understands this. Anyone who takes a stand on issues understands this. That is the reason why people don't ever want to take a stand on issues or express an opinion. If you express that you believe in liberty, then you are looked at as being an oddball. If you express an opinion contrary to the government line, then you are looked at as an enemy. And I guess I supposedly am not spending my time in a governmentally endorsed fashion, because I do not toe their line.

I am close to deciding to get rid of my television media subscription, because what is presented on the television isn't worth what I am paying for it and basically I don't watch it anymore, because of the propaganda. You watch television news and they are obviously expressing an agenda. You watch a television program and the messages are constantly about conditioning and the acceptance of politically motivated social agendas. You can't even watch sports anymore without some kind of political message being expressed by the network. That is the reason why they call it television programming, because you are being programmed.

You can't get most people to think critically. Very few people ask questions. They always compartmentalize the issues of the day and have very short term memories. They can't look to the long term context or historical realities of today's issues and they refuse to look at current events, the trends, and see where today's events and trends are taking us in the future. That is dangerous, because if we are heading in the wrong direction and we don't question of our leaders, then we are going to end up with some tumultuous consequences.

Look at what has been happening over the last several months. People have pushed the Fukushima nuclear disaster to the background. It is never talked about in the media and the problem is still not solved. Fuel prices have settled in at this below $4 level and now people are accepting this level and they don't seem to be questioning the long term trend. We have these hot wars in Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan and people think this situation is under some kind of control. Put all of this together people. We are out of control!!! We are headed towards a World society breakdown and possibly World War III!!!

We're not going to have the numbers. I am sorry if my anxieties are offending some of you on specific issues. That is not my purpose. My purpose is to inform those who will listen. I just don't understand the acceptance of less freedom and the explanations of those that many of you look to as "Authorities." Authorities authorize. Do you want to have to ask permission to live life? This is an imposition against the human will and free spirit. This is the definition of tyranny.

It is a complex maze that we must weave through if we are to get any of our foundations of governance back on solid footing and we aren't going to get there if people aren't willing to look into the issues with more than a superfluous gaze. The stories aren't in the headlines. The stories are in the body of the article. Read stories and when you don't understand a position, then ask questions. Inform people on a deeper level and when you don't agree then explain yourself. Be open minded and tolerant, but this does not mean that you must be diplomatic by capitulating on disagreements. Communication and understanding is not a sanitized or simple process. It is awkward and can be dirty. That is just the reality. Liberty is not peaceful, loving and kind in the face of tyranny. We have to fight for our freedom or it will be taken away.

Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- May 22, 2011

America's Student Loan Racket: Soaring Default Rates - SteveLendmanBlog - May 19, 2011 - An earlier article discussed Permanent Debt Bondage from America's Student Loan Racket," accessed through the following link: http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2011/01/permanent-debt-bondage-from-americas.html

It explained government/corporate complicity to rip off students for profit, a racket continuing under Obama. His July 2010 Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act perpetuated the scam. It enriches providers, entrapping millions of students permanently in debt, because rising tuition and fee amounts plus interest, service charges, and late payment or collection agency penalties are too onerous to repay...  It's part of the grand scheme, of course, to transfer maximum public wealth to America's super-rich already with too much. Ongoing for over three decades, it accelerated under Obama, a corrupted Wall Street/war profiteer tool, destroying America for power and profit...  Millions of Students Permanently Entrapped in Debt


In Rust Belt, manufacturers add jobs, but factory pay isn’t what it used to be - Washington Post - Michael A. Fletcher - May 17, 2011 - The nation’s factories have added 250,000 jobs since the beginning of last year — about 13 percent of what was lost during the recent recession — marking the first sustained increase in manufacturing employment since 1997... But the new hiring also reflects another emerging reality of U.S. manufacturing: Many of the jobs don’t pay anything close to what they used to. Assembly-line workers who will be making the EdenPure products under the auspices of Suarez Corp. Industries will start at $7.50 an hour... That’s a far cry from the $20 an hour that most workers made with Hoover, which shifted its century-old production lines to Mexico and El Paso in 2007 after concluding that it was too expensive to make its products in the industrial Midwest.


Middle-Class Americans More Productive, But Earning Less: Report - The Huffington Post - Janell Ross - 05/20/11 - American workers' productivity has soared over the last 30 years, but that extra output hasn't translating into higher earnings for the American middle class, according to a report released this week.... A 40-year-old male high school graduate earned less in real terms in 2009 than he would have in 1980, according to the report by the Employment Policy Research Network, a collective of labor, management, economics, employment and sociology researchers from 50 universities brought together by the nonpartisan nonprofit Labor and Employment Relations Association.... As middle-class Americans have lost out economically over that 30 year period, productivity, corporate profits and the incomes of America's rich have all soared, the report said. By 2009, 1 percent of the population lived on 21 percent of the nation’s total annual earnings.  


Senate Bill Would Limit Use of 401(k)s as Rainy Day Funds - Bloomberg - By Margaret Collins - May 18, 2011 - Workers will be limited in tapping their 401(k) retirement plans for loans under legislation two senators introduced today that’s designed to counter the erosion of retirement assets...  “Because of the difficult economic times, more and more Americans are treating their retirement accounts as rainy day funds,” Senator Herb Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat, said in a statement today. “A 401(k) savings account should not be used as a piggy bank.”...  Kohl, 76, who’s chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, introduced the “SEAL 401(k) Savings Act” with Senator Mike Enzi, 67, a Wyoming Republican. The bill would reduce the number of loans workers may take from a 401(k) and give participants more time to repay after losing a job. It will allow savers to contribute to their plan after taking a hardship withdrawal and ban debit cards linked to the accounts, according to the legislation.

(The Hound: This is being done under the auspices that Big Daddy gubment is going to keep you from ruining your retirement because of the economy. They are saying that they don't want you to spend down these investments and not have anything left over when retirement comes, but the reality is that they want to keep people from taking money out of their 401-k or IRA, and thus out of the financial institutions, so that the feds can come in and raid those accounts as the Federal Reserve and United States Treasury Ponzi Scheme falls to pieces. You can see in the article below that the Treasury is already using Federal Worker's pension funds to as backing to issue Treasury notes, because the Federal Debt limit was reached last Monday, May 16, 2011. The Federal Reserve has been monetizing the debt. The Federal Reserve is the central bank of the United States and holds the direct interest of the Financial Institutions in our nation. When the dollar slides into the state of collapse that most see coming, then their will be a bank holiday and believe me, none of the people tied to the banking interests are going to give a wit about your retirement at that point. You need to carry a weary eye and start diversifying your retirement funds outside of the banking interests and Dollar-monetary investments.)


Treasury to tap pensions to help fund government - Washington Post - Zachary A. Goldfarb - May 15, 2011 - The Obama administration will begin to tap federal retiree programs to help fund operations after the government lost its ability Monday to borrow more money from the public, adding urgency to efforts in Washington to fashion a compromise over the debt.



10 Signs The U.S. is Becoming a Third World Country - Activist Post - August 16, 2010 - 1. Rising unemployment and poverty 2. Economic dependence 3. Declining civil rights 4. Increasing political corruption 5. Military patrolling the streets 6. Failing infrastructure 7. Disappearing middle class 8. Devalued currency 9. Controlling the media 10. Capital Controls

Key economic indicators point to a situation potentially worse than the Great Depression. The land of opportunity for so many is devolving into a system of government corruption, corporate looting, and military rule that threatens to sink the American Dream. The capital flight from America has left a dwindling middle class holding an empty bag. This style of underinvestment in the foundation of society is similar to what already has led to the exodus from the rural Midwest. Now, there are ominous signs of a silent exodus of young, intelligent professionals seeking opportunities to realize their dreams outside of America; they are becoming known as Generation Xpat. Lastly, many skilled immigrants have returned to their home countries to seek a better quality of life, which might be the scariest indicator of all.




The Hound: The Following Investigative videos are from television station WTVF out of Nashville, Tennessee. The questions ask are the police officials more interested in stopping Drug Traffic or making money. The Drug war in America has become big business and interdiction, in many cases, has not been the priority. This type of philosophy is what is harming our country. If law enforcement truly wants to stop the flow of drugs into the United States, then common sense tells you that they would be fighting tooth and nail to seal the borders and they would be stopping the flow of drugs as they head east and north on the interstates. Instead they are pulling over trucks and cars from out of state that are heading back south and west. Hmmm... follow the logic and follow the money.

Tennessee Law Enforcement Stealing Money from out of state innocent motorist




Video Shows Officer Offering Truckers Freedom For Cash




Questionable Traffic Stops Caught On Camera

College Conspiracy - Another point of view

I am introducing this documentary, not as a way of besmirching education, but to balance the opinion that Higher Education is a panacea that is going to solve the economic issues that we face in this nation. Look at the inflation in the Higher Education system. People are going into tens of thousands of dollars of debt with no guaranteed payoff. What kind of investment costs a mortgage worth of money with no guaranteed tangible benefit?

It isn't about College. It's about knowledge!!!



The average cost of a year of college is now $27,293 per year and government and the banking system is getting college students to go into this debt which is creating another credit bubble just as the Housing bubble did. These credit mechanisms are making the cost of college rise rapidly.

People take out these debts with a mindset that things will work out. How can people live that way? How can they live with such an unknown? My total loan debt when I graduated from UNC-Wilmington in 1989 was a little over $10,000 and I paid in back in less than 8 years. How are students going to pay back these $40,000 and $50,000 debts, when unemployment is so high (especially in the younger demographic) and income growth has been so anemic over the past two decades?

The focus needs to be on our Government helping to foster the nation's industrial capacity and helping people get back to work. We have to get back to focusing on technological advancement and we need to focus on primary education. We also need to get the government out of the business of college loans and into the business of cutting the cost of higher education.