And this guy is the second most-read author on politics: http://www.examiner.com/x-19823-PostPartisan-Examiner~y2009m9d4-Dont-mes...

http://www.examiner.com/x-5738-Political-Buzz-Examiner~y2009m9d5-Video--...

Ryan Witt is Examiner's most-read writer of politics. Examiner gets a million hits every day.

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Only two states are currently solvent; North Dakota is one. What makes them different is that they have a state-owned bank. The advantage of a state-owned bank is to return profits to the public and/or minimize borrowing costs for the state and whatever portion of the public the state chooses as borrowers (North Dakota provides credit at the lowest costs for student loans and to farmers, for example).

hyperlinks and video at source: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner~y2009m9d3...

The best teaching tool I've come across in my 25 years of teaching is the following 10-minute video: The US Constitution was born from war against tyranny - the word of choice for unconstrained government that acted harmfully toward the public's political and economic interests. The Founding Fathers had much to say in defense of citizen vigilence for liberty, for only we can protect our freedom:

“A mere demarcation on parchment of the constitutional limits (of government) is not a sufficient guard against those encroachments which lead to a tyrannical concentration of all the powers of government in the same hands.” - James Madison, Federalist Paper #48, 1788.

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Pingu was a wildly-popular stop-animation cartoon that ran from 1986-2005. The following 5-minute cartoon has almost five million Youtube views. Media receives attention when it communicates strong human truths.

In the cartoon, consider our human condition of recognizing corruption when it is not readily apparent, appropriate outrage, intelligent action to isolate the criminal, and the ideal outcome of Truth and Reconciliation. I suggest humanity’s biggest unrecognized corruption is our banking system, which you can fully understand here.

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“Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds, are added to those of subduing the force, of the people. The same malignant aspect in republicanism may be traced in the inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war, and in the degeneracy of manners and of morals engendered by both. No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.”

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Abraham Lincoln is considered among the top writers in world history for eloquent and powerful precision. He is revered as the father of the Republican Party. His commitment to the nation “of the people, by the people, for the people” is revered by all.

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Oligarchs and plutocrats remove government policy from the public good to the greatest extent possible without causing revolution. David Swanson paints the Obama Administration as Bush’s Third Term with accuracy. His new book, Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union, is number 1 in three categories on Amazon’s bestselling lists as I just looked. David makes many of the same points as I do about Wars of Aggression and related policies (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here). He was also kind enough to endorse my brief on current wars on his site.

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The US Interagency Council on Homelessness has found that all cost-benefit analyses show that paying for the homeless to have minimal housing, food, health care, and job counseling costs less than public costs of their street life. The greatest savings come from decreased emergency room visits, police calls, and court time. What isn't counted, and significant, is the increase of business in areas where the homeless are vagrants. In addition, these studies show most of these participants find jobs and leave these programs.

As always, please share this with all who say they want to be responsible citizens.

Philip Mangano, former Director of the US Interagency Council on Homelessness, provides an overview of the US and local government's experience of the costs and benefits:

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AP reported that federal funding ran out before thousands of highly flammable brush from Los Angeles mountains was cleared to prevent catastrophic fire. Monetary reform would have fully funded all needed public services and programs and prevented this disaster.

"Monetary reform" is the most-used title to take the power of creating money away from banks and return it back to government, as authorized in the US Constitution under Article 1 Section 8 to "coin money and regulate the value thereof." With this monetary system, government can respond to market failure employment and be the employer of last resort. Those who are unemployed can work on government projects, such as brush clearance, with money created directly by the government. The cost-benefit analysis in this example of fire prevention is clearly positive for the public good.

hyperlinks and video at source: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner~y2009m9d2...

The following 7-minute video is one of the best I've ever seen in economics. It begins with Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke threatening an economic crash if Congress audits the Fed, moves to revelaing headlines of financial corporate profits after taxpayers socialized their gambling losses, then closes with Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner telling Congress that TARP is really a pertetual line of $700 billion credit for him to do with as he pleases as long as Bernanke agrees. That means, if Treasury can sell the troubled assets, that money returns to Geithner's private reserve to buy more assets. As you may know, Harvard's Elizabeth Warren, the chair for the Oversight Panel, reported to the Senate that Treasury is over-paying corporations by about 50%. That's a gift from us, the taxpayers, to the gambling-addicted plutocrats of $82 BILLION.

(go to above source for video)

What to do about this? Here's Gandhi's take early in his work, in 1903 working for equal rights in South Africa at age 34:

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This is an extraordinary 26-minute video documenting criminal conspiracy between Goldman Sachs and the US Treasury with information in front of all of us to see:

(go to source to see the video of Matt Taibbi interviewed by BreakRoom)

If you're not sure about this criminal conspiracy absolutely against the public good and at the heart of our still-crashing economy severely affecting at least 100 million Americans (1/3rd of the nation is probably a conservative estimate), think for yourself:

1. Insurance companies, like AIG, were allowed unregulated gambling with credit default swaps (CDS) with people's conservatively invested premiums. Banks were allowed to gamble with CDS also. Why would this be allowed?

hyperlinks for references and documentation are live at the source: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner~y2009m9d1...

The recognition of facts, even when in plain sight, is challenging. Res ipsa loquitur, the facts do speak for themselves, but getting people to notice may not be easy.

Joshua Bell, one of the world’s elite violinists whose CDs Romance of the Violin sold over 5 million copies, played for 45 minutes at an entrance to a Washington, D.C. subway during rush hour. Hardly anyone stopped. The reporting of this phenomenon by Washington Post writer Gene Weingarten won a Pulitzer. People didn’t recognize the brilliance of Bell’s music due to competing and distracting facts:

1.They’re busy; it’s difficult to compete with peoples’ immediate concerns even with brilliance.
2.People pay attention to “platforms,” an office title, stage, or previous history.

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Let's take a moment to look at our last war against an ideology and compare with our current ideological war with particular focus on how much of our funding is vanishing, even according to our own Department of Defense records.

The following is conservatively accepted history of the Vietnam War; that is, information in agreement with admissions from our own government reports and unchallenged (as far as I know) by any professional historian. The understanding of this history by those of us who study it does not guarantee that many Americans will recognize the poignant facts. Please feel free to verify these high/low lights. In one paragraph:

documention hyperlinks are live at the source: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner~y2009m8d2...

Torture apologists prefer that Americans surrender their powerful voices on this issue. Torture addicts propagandize that the legal issue is somehow too complicated for your little intellect to understand. Torture sadists use false rhetoric for you to submit to American torture under your flag and your tax dollars by telling you “torture keeps America safe;” a Rovian spin as reprehensible as “torturing your children makes them love you” or “torture promotes American values.” The trick is to take a universal virtue and link it to whatever you want to do. It’s the “big lie” that Hitler wrote is so outrageous that the stupid common people will believe it because of its outrageousness. Recent scientific data also posit the human tendency to justify evil just because you'd rather not embrace its implications.

But you’re smarter than Nazi dupes. You're committed to intellectual prowess and moral courage. You're ready to confront and end this repulsive episode of sanctioned cruelty.

from: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner with links to documentation of the below information.

Torture apologists prefer that Americans surrender their powerful voices on this issue. Torture addicts propagandize that the legal issue is somehow too complicated for your little intellect to understand. Torture sadists use false rhetoric for you to submit to American torture under your flag and your tax dollars by telling you “torture keeps America safe;” a Rovian spin as reprehensible as “torturing your children makes them love you” or “torture promotes American values.” The trick is to take a universal virtue and link it to whatever you want to do. It’s the “big lie” that Hitler wrote is so outrageous that the stupid common people will believe it because of its outrageousness. Recent scientific data also posit the human tendency to justify evil just because you'd rather not embrace its implications.

But you’re smarter than Nazi dupes. You're committed to intellectual prowess and moral courage. You're ready to confront and end this repulsive episode of sanctioned cruelty.

from: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner

My previous article discusses money and credit creation and the trillion dollars/year benefit of monetary reform. Here is the discussion of this topic from sourced historical quotes from many of our brightest minds, part 2 of 2, beginning with New York City mayor John Hylan and ending with Congresspersons Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul.

John F. Hylan was Mayor of New York City from 1918 to 1925. The following 12 revealing paragraphs were reported by the New York Times on Dec. 10, 1922. New York has long been the US banking and financial headquarters, with the mayor’s office about a half-mile from the New York Stock Exchange. HYLAN ADDS PINCHOT TO PRESIDENCY LIST; FORESEES A REVOLT. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F07EED6153AEF33A25753...

"What each party wants is a man whose sympathies are with the people and not with gold, a candidate with a proven progressive record. If the international bankers and the food profiteers control both parties, there undoubtedly will be a third party, but it strikes me that they won’t be able to.

from: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner

My previous article discusses money and credit creation and the trillion dollars/year benefit of monetary reform. Here is the discussion of this topic from sourced historical sources from many of our brightest minds, part 1 of 2 starting with Benjamin Franklin and ending with Thomas Edison (my personal favorite in his explanation to the New York Times in 1921).

Quotes on the history of creating and managing money:
“Experience, more prevalent than all the logic in the world, has fully convinced us all, that it (paper money issued directly by government) has been, and is now of the greatest advantages to the country.” – Benjamin Franklin, The American Weekly Mercury, March 27, 1729. http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf2/paper1.htm

from: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner

Without knowing how money is created and managed, all other topics concerning money are out of context. This is crucial: regarding trillions of dollars of economic power, you have no idea where money comes from. It’s time for you to learn. When people don’t know how money is created and managed, the only thing between them and tyranny is trust in ethical government. American democracy is founded upon cautious distrust of government. To compensate for temptations of power and personal profit in government, the US Constitution is designed with checks and balances. However, because checks and balances can be thwarted if politicians are unethical, the only real protection of liberty is citizen responsibility. American democracy is dependent upon our taking personal responsibility for understanding our most important economic and political issues. This is one of them.

from: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner

"Should any American soldier be so base and infamous as to injure any [prisoner]. . . I do most earnestly enjoin you to bring him to such severe and exemplary punishment as the enormity of the crime may require. Should it extend to death itself, it will not be disproportional to its guilt at such a time and in such a cause... for by such conduct they bring shame, disgrace and ruin to themselves and their country."
- General George Washington, letter to the Northern Expeditionary Force, Sept. 14, 1775

from: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner

Senator Lieberman, Secretary of State Clinton, and former UN Ambassador John Bolton have resumed rhetoric of a United States attack upon Iran. As my other articles have demonstrated, that rhetoric is false and intentional propaganda attempting to justify another US War of Aggression. Americans respectfully look to history in admiration of the founders of this nation. May I point out that they are patriots BECAUSE THEY ACTED FOR A NEW GOVERNMENT WHEN THAT GOVERNMENT BROKE THEIR COUNTRY’S CONSTITUTION, or more accurately, the rights expected from the governed. Let’s look at some 20th century statements pointing to what we really have with government propaganda and how we might respond. The following is from my brief, “War with Iraq and Afghanistan, rhetoric for war with Iran.” http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/41708

Please share this information in any way helpful to build a brighter future.

from: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner

The President of the US swears to “faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” The Supremacy Clause of the Constitution (article VI, paragraph 2) states: “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land.” One of the most important treaties is that governing when a nation may go to war. After 20th century wars that killed over 100 million human beings, the UN was formed to eliminate war as a foreign policy option The UN Charter is registered in the US State Department as a Treaty in Force.

Therefore, one of the most important Constitutional duties of any US President is to follow the law to not unleash the world’s most powerful destructive force and to defend innocent civilians from such onslaught and misery.

from: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner

Senator Lieberman, Secretary of State Clinton, and former UN Ambassador John Bolton have resumed rhetoric of a United States attack upon Iran. As my other articles have demonstrated, that rhetoric is false and intentional propaganda attempting to justify another US War of Aggression. Let’s consider the wisdom of Americans we all look to for guidance on American principles and courage: our founding fathers, Abraham Lincoln, and up to Teddy Roosevelt. If you respect their contributions to American ideals of freedom and Constitutional rights, please give each of them a few minutes of your attention to consider their reflections. Their lives deserve your thoughtful consideration. The following is from my brief, “War with Iraq and Afghanistan, rhetoric for war with Iran.” http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/41708

Please use this information in any way helpful to build a brighter future.

“Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
- Attributed to Benjamin Franklin, 1738, http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin .

from: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner

“The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know.” – Harry Truman, as quoted in Plain Speaking : An Oral Biography of Harry S Truman (1974) by Merle Miller, p. 26.

from: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner

“The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know.” – Harry Truman, as quoted in Plain Speaking : An Oral Biography of Harry S Truman (1974) by Merle Miller, p. 26.

Senator Lieberman, Secretary of State Clinton, and former UN Ambassador John Bolton have resumed rhetoric of a United States attack upon Iran. As my other articles have demonstrated, that rhetoric is false and intentional propaganda attempting to justify another US War of Aggression, and that the rhetoric for war with Iraq was also known to be false at the time it was told and we have been lied to continuously up to the present. The following is from my brief, “War with Iraq and Afghanistan, rhetoric for war with Iran:" http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/41708

Please use this information in any way helpful to build a brighter future.

from: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner

“The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know.” – Harry Truman, as quoted in Plain Speaking : An Oral Biography of Harry S Truman (1974) by Merle Miller, p. 26.

Senator Lieberman, Secretary of State Clinton, and former UN Ambassador John Bolton have resumed rhetoric of a United States attack upon Iran. As my other articles have demonstrated, that rhetoric is false and intentional propaganda attempting to justify another US War of Aggression. We should understand that the rhetoric for war with Iraq was also known to be false at the time it was told. The following is from my brief, “War with Iraq and Afghanistan, rhetoric for war with Iran.” http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/41708

Please use this information in any way helpful to build a brighter future.

from: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner

“The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know.” – Harry Truman, as quoted in Plain Speaking : An Oral Biography of Harry S Truman (1974) by Merle Miller, p. 26.

Senator Lieberman, Secretary of State Clinton, and former UN Ambassador John Bolton have resumed rhetoric of a United States attack upon Iran. As my other articles have demonstrated, that rhetoric is false and intentional propaganda attempting to justify another US War of Aggression. We should understand that the rhetoric for war with Iraq was also known to be false at the time it was told. The following is from my brief, “War with Iraq and Afghanistan, rhetoric for war with Iran": http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/41708

Please use this information in any way helpful to build a brighter future.

"Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities."
- Voltaire, Questions sur les miracles (1765)

Senator Lieberman, Secretary of State Clinton, and former UN Ambassador John Bolton have resumed rhetoric of a United States attack upon Iran. This article will define “War of Aggression” and explain when a war is justifiable under US and international law. Laws are meant to be understood and obeyed. Among the most important for governments and citizens to understand is when war is authorized, and when responses other than war are required. If we wish to call ourselves civilized, we MUST understand the rule of law before we threaten a nation for destruction, death, and cruel physical, emotional and mental agony.
It is edited from my brief, “War with Afghanistan and Iraq, rhetoric for war with Iran”; found here: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/41708.

from: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner

“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” – George Orwell, preface to Animal Farm

Senator Lieberman, Secretary of State Clinton, and former UN Ambassador John Bolton have resumed rhetoric of a United States attack upon Iran. There are two general justifications they speak of to justify war: Iran's "nuclear program" and their threat to Israel. The following is edited from my brief on the current US Wars of Aggression, found here: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/41708. Please use this information in any way helpful to build a brighter future.

from: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner

“This business of making people conscious of what is happening outside their own small circle is one of the major problems of our time, and a new literary technique will have to be evolved to meet it. Considering that the people of this country are not having a very comfortable time, you can't perhaps, blame them for being somewhat callous about suffering elsewhere, but the remarkable thing is the extent to which they manage to be unaware of it. Tales of starvation, ruined cities, concentration camps, mass deportations, homeless refugees, persecuted Jews — all this is received with a sort of incurious surprise, as though such things had never been heard of but at the same time were not particularly interesting. The now-familiar photographs of skeleton-like children make very little impression. As time goes on and the horrors pile up, the mind seems to secrete a sort of self-protecting ignorance which needs a harder and harder shock to pierce it, just as the body will become immunised to a drug and require bigger and bigger doses.”
- George Orwell, "As I Please," The Tribune (1947-01-17)