A Message for the American Church

19. November 2008 by Michael Carl.

Anyone who’s been following the news and who’s also been watching Christian television or regularly visiting Christian ministry web sites has likely heard that our experts say we’re entering a period of turmoil.

 

Bankruptcies and bailouts in the financial sector, a rescue passage for America’s “big three” auto-makers, bankruptcies in the insurance and retail sectors coupled with an increased threat of terrorism have prompted an unprecedented number of experts, preachers and prophets to forecast the coming downturn.

 

The politicians are forecasting at minimum a recession.  Some political leaders say a depression bigger and longer than the Great Depression is on the way. 

 

Forecasters and economists even say the nation will see food riots.  Some political leaders upset at the turn of events forecast a second shooting war for America’s independence.

 

Preachers a ministers from evangelical and Catholic circles say that the United States and the rest of the West is entering a time of judgment—an upheaval the likes no one alive has ever seen.

 

Regardless of the forecasts, the United States may be entering a time of judgment.  If we are, it’s not because we’ve elected Barack Obama.  If we’re entering a time of judgment, it’s not because we elected George W. Bush for two terms, nor is it because we elected Clinton twice.

 

In fact, the coming judgment isn’t because of which party holds a majority of seats in Congress or occupies the White House.

 

We’re not entering a time of judgment because we don’t allocate enough money for child daycare.  We’re not falling under the Lord’s decrees because we don’t spend enough on agricultural subsidies or because of the war in Iraq.   

 

If the nation is entering a time of judgment, it’s because we’ve slaughtered about 50-million of our babies since 1973.  If we’re entering a time of judgment, it’s because of the filth and the perversion that fills our nation’s airwaves, satellite transmissions and flows through our internet lines in cyberspace. 

 

The Lord will send judgment because of profane-laden diatribes in our movies, music and literature.  The Lord will send judgment because we permit the exploitation of our poor through games of chance.  It’s because nationally we’ve failed to take a stand for righteousness.

 

If we’re entering a time of judgment, it’s because one hundred years ago our seminaries began to turn out graduates who no longer believed the Bible as the Word of God. 

 

It’s because the seminaries began denying the bodily resurrection of Christ.  It’s because our pulpits grew cold and indifferent to the truth and began preaching a Gospel of accommodation.

 

Our pulpits have preached a Gospel of self-fulfillment and self-exploration.  Our pulpits began to preach a “me-first” Gospel and denied the way of the cross.

 

If we’re entering a time of judgment it’s because the church in America has grown lethargic, fat, happy and satisfied with the status quo.

 

If we’re entering a time of judgment, it’s because our pulpits and pews no longer have a heart to win the lost or to “go into all the world.”  If we’re entering a time of judgment, it’s because the church stopped being concerned about righteousness and began being concerned with what the world thinks of us.

 

It’s nothing short of denying the Words of Christ and living lie if the church ever believed, or still believes, that the church can make peace with the world.

 

The church’s marching order from Christ Himself is to “make disciples”, not to make watered down converts who know nothing of the power of the cross and Christ’s death-defying gift of self sacrifice.  The church wasn’t to be about the business of trying to find its place in the world, the church’s purpose was and is to transform the world through the Holy Spirit’s power and through the cleansing tide of the pure, spotless blood that flowed from Christ’s outstretched arms.

 

The church’s mission is to preach repentance, death to self and a resurrected life, not a life of ease and self-actualisation.

 

The answer to the warnings of coming destruction isn’t to join a commune or a political party.  The answer is for the true body of Christ—His holy remnant—to come out and live an in-your-face level of discipleship and holiness.  The answer is to be on our knees pleading before the throne of grace for the power to live a holy life before the world.

 

Two weeks ago, I had a dream in which I was to do a joint worship service with one of the former pastors of the church where I am pastor.  I was puzzled by this dream because the other pastor in the dream is dead. 

 

When I arrived for the service, I walked to the platform and stood among the choir members for this service. 

 

Yet, for the duration of the dream, the inclination in my heart was to walk away from the crowd and the service.  I felt led to leave the room in which the service was to be held. 

 

I was following a sense of direction to come out from among them.

 

After puzzling on it and praying about it, the message was clear.  I was being called to come out from the dead.  I was being called to come away from the dead institutional church of American Protestantism.  I was called to come out of dead works and the watered down, weak church as usual.

 

I was called to come out and be separate from the compromised, weak, and ineffective American “social club” religiosity. 

 

The message is also clear for the rest of America’s true, born again believers.  We’re called to come out and be separate from those who play church.  We’re called to live as the church triumphant, but also the church militant.  We’re called to live under the shadow of Christ’s cross and to truly learn what it means to drink from His cup. 

 

We’re called to proclaim and live the Gospel before the world in an uncompromising way.  We’re called to no longer play games and to tolerate weak teaching that advocates a version of Christianity that calls for a watered down Gospel.

 

We’re called to call sin, sin.  We’re called to tell people that if they don’t repent of their evil deeds they will perish and go to a Christ-less eternity.  We’re called to warn people about hell and to powerfully and uncompromisingly tell them about the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

We’re called to unapologetically teach Christ and Him crucified, dead, and risen. 

 

We’re called to a life of death to self and a life of taking up our cross and following Him without apology.

 

This is the only answer for a nation that is on the brink of judgment.  

 

 

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17. November 2008 by admin.

Link to latest newscope show:
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Newscope transcrript- 11-17-08

17. November 2008 by admin.

American Freedomist Network presents Newscope with your host, and accomplished uno card player, Paul Collier. Today, Paulson’s about face has officials concerned, the handover of our sovereignty to the G20, Obama continues to recruit Clinton drones, the Africa problem for Obama, Medvedev welcomes fellow Fascist into the white house, financial news, world news, and political news.

We start off with a look at world news:

The Africa Problem

Now that Obama really is the man, what’s he going to do with all that military stuff? He isn’t going to keep that stuff overseas, according to his own words and those of his disciples. Or is he? You see, Africa is becoming a major epicenter of violence, violence that could spread to other parts of the world.
This violence is largely born on tribal territorial battles, battles that use religion as a means of calling its thugs to the streets. The primary religion on the attack is Islam. Conflicts in the Congo, the Sudan, Somalia, and more all surround the belligerent, genocidal practices of Obama’s own people, Islamo-Fascists. How can an American President who is really a fascist interloper find the moral compass to protect Christians from Obama’s murdering brothers and sisters (in Kenya, a murderous cousin, a fellow Islamo-Fascist)?
How can he pull all the troops home if so many agents are set to destroy us, overseas or at home. To stop the killings, you need professionals, professionals that only a select few nations can provide, professionals like the American military. The willingness of Obama to pull back may come from his not-so-secret desire to see a weakened America that will allow Fascism to spread.

Comrade Medvedev happy to have Comrade Obama as President of the US
In a tone that bordered on fantastical, the new President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev seemed to suggest that Obama will heal the rift between the US and Russia.
Here is what Russia has done:
1. Siezed pipelines in Georgia in an effort to control the flow of oil to Europe, raising the price of oil if they can.
2. Illegally, and with no action on our part, pumped billions of dollars to buy….rubles. Flooded its currency market to raise the value of its ruble, while devaluing the American dollar
3. Sold high tech military equipment to Saddam Hussein, while we were fighting him.
4. Sold high tech military equipment to Iran, Syria, North Korea, etc, in an effort to undermine worldwide security, knowing it would be an overburdened American military that would have to quell the unrest
Nothing the Russians have been done have been anything but clearcut efforts to attack out nation, through diplomacy, through economics, and through funding terrorist nations and groups. If Comrade Obama makes nice with Russia, it will just be further evidence of his love for anyone and anything not American. The interloper will surrender our greatest technologies to his Russian and Chinese brothers and sisters.
Wall Street Journal

Yemen’s Gunantanamo Problem
Barack Obama has promised to close Guantanamo Bay, sending all the detainees and their orange jump suits back to their home countries. There’s only on problem with that, Yemen. The small middle eastern country at the base of the great Arabian boot has a nasty little habit of releasing any terrorist we send to them, or that they themselves capture. There are about 100 such cases in Guantanamo right now, 100 organge jumpsuits who, when they weren’t wearing jumpsuits, were plotting and carrying out muders, kidnappings, etc, all designed to kill American citizens, whether they be soldiers or not.
No comment from the Obamarx about the unique problem connected to closing Guantanam; What do you do with 100 Yemenis dying, literally, to kill more Americans, knowing they will be set free if you turn them over to Yemen.
Perhaps the Obamarx will react differently now that he is no longer one of the leaders of a far left fringe. Now that the Obamarx IS the establishment, will he allow assassins of American boys and girls fighting for our nation to simply be set free? Only time will tell.
Miami Herald

That has been the world news….Now
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Now, back to the news.

The world markets are still experiencing downward trends intermingled with profiteering. Here is a look at what’s going on behind the numbers.

Financial News

Before we look at today’s financial news, we want to play this clip of ron paul giving Bernanke a thorough schooling. Too bad he didn’t listen”

First 3:00

The Big Three plead for help…a cnn Youtube clip

G20 set to muddle up Auto Bailout

World Leaders at the G20 meeting have a problem with a U.S. automaker buyout. They say it amounts to nothing more than protectionism, with the French leading the way, as usual.

The smaller nations,the so-called emerging ecomomies, are part of a growing camp calling on a moratorium on “protectionist measures”

The French favor global regulations, while nations such as Canada argue that any such moves will be seen as a violation of national sovereignty.

Also, America is now being monitored by the IMF, will submit the Federal reserve to the authority of a college of supervisors, and is, in essence, now a part of the European Union, without a vote. The actions of this G20 summit may have already violated our basic Constitutional Rights and national sovereignty, done so under a supposed Republican, George Bush, a name that will go down in the annals of history as being a traitor to his party, his people, and his nation, a man who handed away the United States, willingly, for the sake of a few dollars for his well-to-do family and friends.
From the Washington Post: “Here you had everyone at the table trying to come together, and Sarkozy was out there trying to write the world according to Sarkozy,” said a senior diplomat present at the summit. “It was not helpful.”
The tone of the meeting is that the emerging nations, such as China and India, see this crisis as an opportunity for their nations to become major players in the world economy. No talk of the Chinese/Russian efforts that led so greatly to the crisis in the first place, through subsidizing their own currency to drive the dollar down, enabling them to buy cheap raw materials in America, build products with poorly paid and treated workers, then resell to the American market at highly profitable levels.
It is the inclusion of corrupt markets, such as China and Russia, into America’s marketplace that have contributed significantly to the accelerated process of that same corruption reaching American soil
Yet as this meeting has developed, it has become clear that some of the very nations who conducted economic war against the west, now seek rewards for their illicit efforts.

Wash. times

Chrysler finds $30 million for its executives
Imagine if you will that you walk into your parents’ home, waving tons of cash around, living the good life with a new Benz and a new home, then, and only then, you ask your parents to bail you out of your bankruptcy problem.
Outside of the occasional mad parent who gives their child everything they want, no sane parent would offer to help such a person. Yet the Obamarx and his fearful sheeple congressfolks plan on doing that with Detroit’s automakers.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Chrysler offered $30 million in “incentives” to keep their “top talent” in place, the same talent that brought Chrysler to the brink of death. In light of Chrysler now asking for billions in bailout money from Uncle Same, the incentive packages are controversial, to say the least.
Chrysler’s response has been, through a human resources VP (not named in the Detroit Free Press article) that the bonuses were agreed to a year ago, before talks of a bailout surfaced. In point of fact, even a year ago, under this same valuable talentm Chrysler was hemorrhaging money, which is why they sought Daimler’s partnership, i.e. much needed capital.
“We all would be smarter if we knew what we know now back in February of ‘07,” she tells the Free Press, insisting that the bonuses, which range from $200,000 to $1.89 million, “were very conservatively constructed”. We here at Newscope are so awfully proud of her and her company for showing such restraint.
Obama says: “If we don’t have a focused program for homeowners by the time I take office, we will after I take office.” He also said the federal government must help the struggling auto industry. “For the industry to collapse would be a disaster. But it can’t be a blank check,” he said, adding that aid should be a “bridge loan” to create a “sustainable” industry.`
Detroit Free Press

Paulson’s flip gaining resistance on both sides of the aisle
When Hank Paulson unilaterally decided to shift the funds congress was bullied into giving him (using scare tactics), he did more than lose credibility. He lost billions of dollars in the markets, thanks to his unspecified, unregulated plan to rescue poor millionaires and billionaires.
Democrats and Republicans alike slammed the poster boy for this bailout, Neel Kashkari, at a recent Congressional hearing, accusing him of “bait and switch” tactics. Dareel Issa pointed out that Paulson pitched them with an idea to sell of bad debts in auctions which the government would buy, reverse auctions, as they’re called.
Yet, as soon as he got the $700 billion (in addition to to $500 billion he illegally created), he switched tactics, deciding to give millionaires and billionaires handouts, create a climate in which the haves can easily purchase the have-nots, AND get Americans who see NO benefits to pay for it for years to come.
There is a growing mood amongst Congress members that this is becoming more about Paulson’s attempt to claim powers that were not constitutionally given to him. Yet, not one mention of the illegality of the legislation, a spending bill initiated by the Senate, which is unconstitutional.
Washington Times

Let’s take a break here for some levity
This is Newsbusted from 11/14/08

The next shoe to fall in the credit freeze of 2008

Did you know that the charge-off rate has doubled in the last year? From 5% to 10%, that’s $96 billion out there- money they don’t even think they’ll get. You see, we’ve overspent, overextended, and even lost our home equity. So, while credit cards do well in typical recessions, they won’t this time because no one has any credit left to spend. Experts expect the charge-off rate will continue to climb, with no ceiling in mind.
As more and more Americans stop paying their debts, that rate will rise. As the rate rises, the cost will increase, which will be passed to the consumer, further accelerating the process until the whole credit industry is shattered, which is just fine by the AFN.

Time Magazine

Japan gives up the ghost
Japan has officially joined the ranks of nations that have fallen into a recession. Japan’s GDP fell .1% in the third quarter of this year. One of the major reasons? No more exports to America. As Americans convert from being the consumer of the world, the rest of the world markets, while they held up Americans as being the excess of the world, are learning just how important that American commercialism was to the foundations their own economies were built upon; Build cheap using workers you don’t have to pay or give benefits to, then ship your products to a country, such as the U.S. that DOES pay its workers, pays them enough to buy your cheap goods.
Now that Japan has joined the ranks, expect most of the Pacific-Asian region to suffer the same fate.

Reuters

And now, a word from our sponsor- the AFR
American Freedomist Radio is announcing the unveiling of its new blog home, afr50.com, on December 1st, 2008. That’s right folks, our Christmas present is a new blogsite for our AFradio shows, including Newscope, Midnight in America, and the 57th state.

These blogs will feature the latest shows, the archived shows, transcripts, notes, AND you will be able to create your own blogs, free of charge (available on a first-come, first-serve basis).

If you go to our current home, blog.freedomist,info, you can get more information on this project, as well as sneak peaks at the work in progress.

AFN

Now we finish Newscope with a look at our political reality,

Political News

Alaska still too close to call

The count continues, with Democrat challeneger Mark Beglich now over 1,000 votes ahead of Republican incumbent, and convicted felon, Ted Stevens, for the Senate seat of Alaska. The troubling point of this recount is that the Stevens strongholds have already been counted. Despite this lead, both sides concede a December recount will be conducted.

Most experts, while still acknowledging that the race is not over, believe that, after the recount efforts of Friday in Stevens’ areas, it seems apparent that the Dems will win another seat.

59 seats is what the Dems will most likely have. However, a run-off election in Georgia may decide whether the Dems get their 60 filibuster-proof votes in the Senate.

Another Clinton Croney to the Rescue

Gregory Craig was one of Bill Clinton’s lawyers during the impeachment process. He is now the white house counsel to Barack Obama. More than ¾ of Obama’s team, so far, are members of the Clinton team from the 90s. That’s a lot of change…wait….it’s more of the same. Craig was one of the early Clinton members to join in supporting Obama. Aftger Ted Kennedy’s endorsement opened the floodgates to Obama, the sycophant, Craig, followed. His boss, Ted, had spoken, and he followed suit.

Now that paradigm of original thought, the man who actually defended Clinton’s sleazy ways, is the new White House Council. Welcome the new boss…..same as the old boss.

Pawletny’s Rino call
Minnesota Governor, on Fox News Sunday, called in the Republican party to adapt to the changing nation. According to Pawlenty, “We have to be a conservative party. But we have to apply those principles in the context of a changing country.”
Pawlenty may be positioning himself for a 2012 run, trying to stake an early claim to the ‘moderate’ moniker. However, the mood amongst rank and file GOP, those still left, is decidedly different than that

Thank you for listening to Newscope. Please join us tomorrow at 11am for the latest news delivered in the only we know how, with extreme irreverence and skepticism.
This has been Paul Collier, the state uno playing champion 3 years in a row (it would have been four but I lost to Obamarx- he was holding secret clone cards but I couldn’t prove it).
Good day from the AFN and the staff at newscope. Bill Collier is next with the 57th State. Let’s give it up for Bill MMA-style….
Billlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Colliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiier
Play 57th state theme

For the 57th state…….the cult of Obama revealed- the Oprah factor
Start at 30 seconds

The Oprah sell out. Great montage video
This presentation may be used in whole or part if you credit Paul Collier and the American Freedomist Network (http://blog.freedomist.info)

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Hurray! It’s the Weekend of Capitalism!

15. November 2008 by CassandraTroy.

Hurray! The Weekend of Capitalism!

Say what you will, call him names! A lame duck, yes mistakes have been made, the rules of laissez-faire capitalism were violated, but right now it is he who stands between prosperity through free market principles, and the forces of Statism, who wish to reduce the financial sector to a tragic shadow of its former self, a mere government utility!

While experts in the US are still trying to figure out what happened, some Europeans already knew before the event: it’s capitalism, stupid! Isn’t the cause of crime, the law? Now is the time for the coup of state, let the ax fall on the evil system!

- Caption: “Sunriser II”, by Bobbie Carlyle -

 

Here are two opinions: one by the most underestimated US President in history, George W. Bush - and an article by Objectivists Yaron Brook and Don Watkins on the Op-Ed page of the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights: a urgent plea for the separation of Economy and State. Europeans are urged to take note of a field virtually unknown to them. But first, the news:

CNN: “Bush ready to defend free-market principles during summit”

(…) President Bush signaled that he’s ready to defend Western-style capitalism and free-market principles during what will be one of his last appearances on the world stage. (…) As leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies, dubbed the G-20, gather in Washington, some European leaders are pushing for global financial regulation. (…) >>>

Wall Street Journal: “The Surest Path Back to Prosperity - ‘If you seek economic growth, social justice and human dignity, the free-market system is the way to go’,” by George W. Bush

As we have seen in recent months, financial turmoil anywhere in the world affects economies everywhere in the world. And so this weekend I’m going to host a Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy with leaders from developed and developing nations that account for nearly 90% of the world economy. The leaders attending this weekend’s meeting agree on a clear purpose — to address the current crisis, and to lay the foundation for reforms that will help prevent a similar crisis in the future. (…) the actions taken by the U.S. and other nations are having an impact. Credit markets are beginning to thaw. Businesses are gaining access to essential short-term financing. A measure of stability is returning to financial systems.

- Caption: “Refuge” by Perrin Sparks -
(…) we must recognize that government intervention is not a cure-all. For example, some blame the crisis on insufficient regulation of the American mortgage market. But many European countries had much more extensive regulations, and still experienced problems almost identical to our own. History has shown that the greater threat to economic prosperity is not too little government involvement in the market, it is too much government involvement in the market.

We saw this in the case of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Because these firms were chartered by the U.S. Congress, many believed they were backed by the full faith and credit of the U. S. government. Investors put huge amounts of money into Fannie and Freddie, which they used to build up irresponsibly large portfolios of mortgage-backed securities. When the housing market declined, these securities, of course, plummeted in value. It took a taxpayer-funded rescue to keep Fannie and Freddie from collapsing in a way that would have devastated the global financial system.

- Caption: “We the Living”, by Nick Gaetano -

There is a clear lesson: Our aim should not be more government — it should be smarter government. All this leads to the most important principle that should guide our work: While reforms in the financial sector are essential, the long-term solution to today’s problems is sustained economic growth. And the surest path to that growth is free markets and free people.

In the wake of the financial crisis, voices from the left and right equate the free-enterprise system with greed and exploitation and failure. It’s true this crisis included failures — by lenders and borrowers and financial firms, and by governments and independent regulators. But the crisis was not a failure of the free-market system. And the answer is not to try to reinvent that system. It is to fix the problems, make reforms, and move forward with the free-market principles that have delivered prosperity and hope to people all across the globe. (…)

Nations that pursued other models have experienced devastating results. Soviet communism starved millions, bankrupted an empire, and collapsed as decisively as the Berlin Wall. Cuba, once known for its vast fields of cane, is now forced to ration sugar. While Iran sits atop giant oil reserves, its people cannot put enough gasoline in their cars.

The record is unmistakable: If you seek economic growth, social justice and human dignity, the free-market system is the way to go. It would be a terrible mistake to allow a few months of crisis to undermine 60 years of success. (…) >>>

Give Bush a buzz z

- Caption: “The Anchorage” by Bryan Larsen -

Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights: “Stop Blaming Capitalism for Government Failures”, by Yaron Brook and Don Watkins

Speaking of the financial crisis, French president Nicolas Sarkozy recently said, “Laissez-faire is finished. The all-powerful market that always knows best is finished.” Sarkozy was echoing the views of many, including president-elect Obama, who assume that the financial crisis was caused by free markets–by “unbridled greed” unleashed by decades of deregulation and a “hands off” approach to the economy. And given this premise, the solution, they say, is obvious. To solve this crisis and prevent another one, we need a heavy dose of Uncle Sam’s elixir: government intervention. (…)

But while capitalism may be a convenient scapegoat, it did not cause any of these problems. Indeed, whatever one wishes to call the unruly mixture of freedom and government controls that made up our economic and political system during the last three decades, one cannot call it capitalism. (…) Take a step back.

- Caption: “Lunch Break” by Quent Cordair -

In the lead up to the “Reagan Revolution,” the explosive growth of government during the ’60s and ’70s had left the American economy in disarray. A crushing tax burden, runaway inflation, brutal unemployment, and economic stagnation had Americans looking for an alternative. That’s what Reagan offered, denouncing big government and promising a new “morning in America.” (…) Bush Jr., often laughably called a champion of free markets, presided over massive new governmental controls like Sarbanes-Oxley and massive new welfare programs like the prescription drug benefit.

None of this is consistent with capitalism. (…) The government’s job under capitalism is single but crucial: to protect individual rights from violation by force or fraud. America came closest to this system in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The result was an unprecedented explosion of wealth creation and consequent rise in the standard of living. Even now, when the fading remnants of capitalism are badly crippled by endless controls, we see that the freest countries–those which retain the most capitalist elements–have the highest standard of living.

Why then should capitalism take the blame today–when capitalism doesn’t even exist? (…) Consider the current crisis (…) the driving force is clearly government intervention: the Fed keeping interest rates below the rate of inflation, thus encouraging people to borrow and providing the impetus for a housing bubble; the Community Reinvestment Act, which forces banks to lend money to low-income and poor-credit households; the creation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with government-guaranteed debt leading to artificially low mortgage rates and the illusion that the financial instruments created by bundling them are low risk; government-licensed rating agencies, which gave AAA ratings to mortgage-backed securities, creating a false sense of confidence; deposit insurance and the “too big to fail” doctrine, whose bailout promises have created huge distortions in incentives and risk-taking throughout the financial system; and so on. In the face of this long list, who can say with a straight face that the housing and financial markets were frontiers of “cowboy capitalism”? (…)

- Caption: “Cityscape Texture Study II”, by Bryan Larsen -

This is just the latest example of a pattern that has been going on since the rise of capitalism: capitalism is blamed for the ills of government intervention–and then even more government intervention is proposed as the cure. The Great Depression? Despite massive evidence that the Federal Reserve’s and other government policies were responsible for the crash and the inability of the economy to recover, it was laissez-faire that was blamed. Consequently, in the aftermath, the government’s power over the economy was not curtailed but dramatically expanded. Or what about the energy crisis of the 1970s? (…)It’s time to stop blaming capitalism for the sins of government intervention, and give true laissez-faire a chance. Now that would be a change we could believe in. >>>

Wall Street Journal have a touching short documentary on the Great Depression up on their video archive …

Art in this post by the Quent Cordair Fine Art Gallery for Romantic Realism

- Filed in “The Ethics of Capitalism” and “The Economics and Monetary Dossier” -

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Is Obama Above the Law?

14. November 2008 by CassandraTroy.

Is Obama above the law?

A small business owner, a grocery store proprietor, or a Republican takes millions of illegal credit card donations and he’s going to jail.

Barack Obama does it and he’s going to the White House.

Take a stand now for equal justice for all Americans.

Make everyone you know—Democrat, Republican, or independent—aware of this failure of justice.

Send this link via email. Post it on your site.

Download the printable flier here.

Hand out copies wherever you can.

Post them where people will see them.

Draw a line in the sand and say NO MORE.

by AnyStreet

Related:

NewsMax: “Audit of Obama Fundraising Unlikely”

The Federal Election Commission is not likely to conduct a potentially embarrassing audit of Barack Obama’s record-breaking fundraising campaign despite allegations of questionable donations and accounting.

That’s the disclosure from Politico.com, which reports that Obama will probably escape scrutiny in large part because unlike John McCain, he declined to accept $84 million in public financing.Accepting that money automatically triggers an audit, meaning that the FEC is obligated to thoroughly audit the McCain campaign’s coffers, which will take months and cost McCain millions to defend.

Another factor that will discourage an Obama audit by the FEC is the sheer size of his fundraising haul — more than $650 million — which minimizes the significance of any errors.

“If a House campaign makes a $100,000 error, that’s huge and they’re likely to get audited,” David Mason, a former GOP appointee to the FEC, told Politico.

“If a campaign the size of the Obama campaign has a $100,000 error, then maybe not.” -  Filed on Articles in “Conservative Activism” -

Posted in Election 08 Command, The Obama Report, Election | Print | No Comments »

News of 11-14-08

14. November 2008 by admin.

Paul COllier’s News around the world for the American Freedomist Network:
Palin’s Africa guffaw a fake?

While MSNBC ran with its exclusive “investigation” of Sarah Palin’s inability to recognize Africa as a continent, it may have wanted to read the fine print of the source, Martin Eisenstadt, who, it turns out, is a fictional person created by a group of blog-pranksters.
If they had simply pulled of the hoax, with msnbc, la times, ny times going along for the ride, the news organizations that carried the stories would have been free of any direct responsibility for perpetuating outright lies.

It turns out in their zest to sling mud, the news organizations couldn’t take the time to read the disclaimers on the website from where the stories came, the disclaimer that says this is not a real person, that this is a parody site.

New York Times

Iraq Insurgents get sticky

So-called “sticky IEDs (Improvised explosive device) have become the feared weapon of choice by the remaining insurgency in Iraq. These bombs, about the size of an adult hand, are easy to stick on vehicles, and hard to detect.

The shift in tactics comes as the insurgency is no longer able to orchestrate larger operations. Sticky bombs are a lot smaller and easier to get to your target. Recent underground bomb-making factories have been uncovered, suggesting the insurgency is about to launch a wave of these new types of attacks

From
New York Times

Blackwater in hotwater

Blackwater USA, the security company that has been in the news for alleged violations of Iraqi citizen rights, is under the gun again, this time for shipping guns to Iraq that are not authorized. The State Department is conducting an investigation which, so far, has yielded evidence that some weapons may have been improperly shipped, and may even have ended up on the black market.
A fine measured in millions is promised from the Iraaqi government.
From
McClatchy Newspapers

Bin Laden commands his survival only

According to CIA director, Michael Hayden, Osama Bin Laden “….appears to be largely isolated from the day-to-day operations of the organization he nominally heads.” Hayden said bin Laden spends much of his time moving from place to place to save his life, and remains isolated from all but a few trusted aides. “
Hayden added that ‘’He is putting a lot of energy into his own survival, a lot of energy into his own security,”
Bin Laden does not have the time to coordinate with any other member beyond coordinating his own constant motion to avoid having a predator drone plant munitions on his lap. Some question whether Bin Laden has any effective leadership powers left to claim, beyond symbolism, given his lack of any real ability to affect operations around the world.
According to Hayden, “This is an organization that has never been through a change at the top. For 20 years, bin Laden has been the visionary, the inspiration or harmonizing force behind al-Qaeda.”
From
CNN

Don’t cry over spilled milk, unless it’s chinese

Melarnine is a toxin found in bad milk that has, so far, made over 50,000 chinese children sick. This toxin is the reason that any dairy product shipped to the US by China will not be allowed entry unless they pass more stringent US testing. Some of the products include, candy, pet food, snacks, and more.
From

Bloomberg

The Witches of Africa……..Children
The Congo, Angola, and the Congo republic are currently being swept by a specter not seen in America since the heady early days of Salem, witch hunts. In this version, the targets are not women but children. The underlying cause of this epidemic stems from families’ lack of ability to take care of all the children they have. Witch accusations are a socially acceptable way to purge the family of mouths they cannot feed. The fighting that occurs regularly in Angola and Congo also add to the easy acceptance of death-penalty accusations of witchcraft.
From
New York Times

Franken’s Folly
In the race for the Minnesota Senate seat currently being held by Norm Coleman, Al Franken won’t give up his fight so easy, even as it becomes apparent Coleman will win the run-off.

AL Franken is putting on a full-on press to intimidate local election officials into counting bad voter registration cards in the recount, despite the fact that it is specifically against Minnesota law to do so.

So far, two county election offices have rejected Franken’s attempts, citing the Minnesota law, and accusing Franken of frivolous, desperate tactics.
Norm Coleman’s lead has appeared to stabilize at over 200 votes..
http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/senate/34409514.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUnciaec8O7EyUsr

Clinton back in the White House?

If the rumors are true, Hillary Clinton could be serving the White House soon, as Secretary of State. Numerous papers and news outlets have cited unverified sources within the Obama camp as saying that Obama is not satisfied with the reactions for this position he’s gotten after floating names like John Kerry, 2004 Dem Presidential Candidate, Chuck Hagel, the Republican who votes with Democrats most of the time, and Governor Bill Richardson, the so-called “Hispanic President” of the future.

Hillary’s Foreign Policy reputation (born mostly from her years as first lady, where she developed relations with many world leaders) is what Obama wants most from her possible choice, though Obama’s discomfort with a past rival is the one sticking point that may kill the deal.
From
Washington Post

Citbank received over $25 billion in bailout money, is known for being one of the most aggressive and unethical collectors, and is now making more moves that may further damage its once stellar reputation.

Citibank announced yesterday it will lay off at least 100,ooo employees, and will also raise its interest rates on select “customers”. Coming on the heels of $902 billion third quarter loss, the moves are seen as coming more from desperation than any kind of coherent plan to lift the credit giant out of the credit crisis.
The rate increase will be 3%, and will affect 20% of Citibank’s customers.

From
Wall Street Journal

The spread- UBS enveloped in corporate scandal

The Swiss Bank, UBS, has recently seen the head of its global wealth management division, Raoul Weil, indicted by the US Department of Justice for tax evasion.

While the indictment only named Well, according to the Financial Times, the indictment mentions “unindicted co-conspirators”, other high-ranking board members, who may face charges in the future, and may indicate a systematic abuse of US Banking laws by UBS..
From
Financial Times (UK)

No jobs, no stocks
Coming off jobless claims from last month that reached 7-year highs, the erratic markets finished more or less where they started, with the s&P and Nasdaq seeing modest gains of less than 1 percent each. The Dow gained 66 points on the day.

IN world markets, the Nikkei continues its downward slide, losing another 5.3%, as does the UK FTSE, falling close to 2%.

The new waffle-head- Hank Paulson

Do you remember when hank first asked us for our life savings? If we don’t buy up this bad debt, our nation will be in ruins. It turns out he may have been wrong. Apparently, instead of buying the bad debt and helping debtors, as he initially promised (Leverage he wielded mightily to win support for this illegal bailout), the money is going to the creditors, the ones who created this credit freeze in the first place.

His moves have rendered him irrelevant to the world markets, who have now lost all faith that Paulson will say what he does and do what he says. His dramatic flip-flop triggered worldwide losses two days ago, with most markets losing 5-10% of their total value in one day.
From
Bloomberg

Paul Collier, American Freedomist
You can use this article so long as you credit Paul Collier and americanfreedomistnetwork.com

Posted in Headline News | Print | 1 Comment »

Communitarianism, Another Great Equalizer

13. November 2008 by CassandraTroy.

We have received word from “Stop Common Purpose“ that they have identified Barack Obama, not as a Socialist or as a Communist, but as a Communitarian. This statement may require further explanation.

First of all, let’s jog our memory what is Common Purpose. In case of a total blank on the reader’s part we can best refer you to our dossier on the subject. This nefarious, Sorosian fifth column - CP, for short - has its tentacles all over Britain where it is quietly subverting all walks of life without so much as a by your leave. It is rapidly expanding globally.

CP, rooted in the early history of mass psychology and in the British Labour Party, stands for a new, post-democratic, borderless world order, also known as Transnational Progressivism. Stop CP’s home page and their page on CP’s philosophy explain the matter in detail. This organization is beyond the Marxist/Fascist, Left/Right dichotomy. They are far worse: CP is Pragmatically collectivist and the collective is … the world.

Those who assure themselves that all is well and that the New World Order is just a conspiracy theory pursued by unhinged paranoids can disabuse themselves of the illusion here and now by reading Glenn Beck’s transcript of UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s recent statements on the international financial crisis, which gives world leaders in his opinion an unique opportunity to establish the global society.

Oh, and before leaving the wonderful world of CP to ‘act beyond authority’, hi, Sarah Lambert, have a nice day!

Communitarianism is yet another amoral, Pragmatism driven hybrid of collectism that Europeans love to love. It may also be seen as a version of Tony Blair’s and Bill Clinton’s Third Way politics, but they’re moderates in comparison to some highly ‘ethical’ interpretations (enjoy this tract, if your physique allows). Americans may also know it as radical centrism as advocated by the Responsive Communitarian movement of Amitai Etzioni.

I’m not altogether sure, but I believe his ideas might have been partly triggered by the Neocon push for a democratic Middle East as an antidote to Islamic radicalism. Since then, we see memes entering the blood stream of “democracy, sooo overrated!” It would appear Etzioni is the man responsible for making enlightened dictatorships acceptable to polite society.

He counsels parley with Muslim ‘Illiberal Moderates‘ (moderate, as in coercion of political correctness, rather than the violence of the bomb), appeasement at the expense of social liberties. Ladies, get your niqab out of the moth balls, because that’s the Communitarian price to be left in peace!

- Caption: bronze, by Michael Wilkinson -

Barack Obama may be specifically attracted to the hybrid, because of its infestation with positive rights, the reliance on overgrown superstates, and its contempt of individualism. Whereas Stop CP may find the ideology hard to pin down, followers of Ayn Rand can make short shrift. Such hybrid ideologies are just a matter of evil in degrees, all variations on a single collectivist theme.

The core of this philosophy is, that individuals have a duty to subordinate to a society that, in this case, caters to racial and cultural factions (also known as multiculturalism). In case of dereliction of duty, society/ the state/ the collective may enforce the moral obligation. So the key question is, what form will this evil take, and to what degree will it be implemented? This of course, depends on the whim of the ones wielding the stick of power (asigned reading: News Busters: “Obama Spokesman Says ‘Obama Ready to RULE on Day 1′”).

Whatever name we want to give them, One Worlders, progressives, Socialists, Communitarians, neotots, they find creation - as it stands - a vile, imperfect place replete with social injustice, inequality and insustainability.

One of the most entrenched misunderstandings about Socialists is the equality principle. Most observers take their zeal for an egalitarian society as a signal of their holy belief in human equality. But the contrary is the case. No, to them all men aren’t equal, but they ought to be. Hence the vigorous pursuit.

Confusing ‘is’ with ‘ought’ (Hume’s Law) they’ll never stop experimenting with people’s lives, social engineering and cajoling human behavior until they’ve reshaped reality into an egalitarian Hobbotshire in which every hobbot voluntarily sacrifices to the organic, moral Whole.

The allegory of Plato’s Cave is useful in more ways than one. You can see the mechanism explained in this home video. Plato and Kant are the originators of the Subjectivist fallacy that thought creates reality. They teach that the physiological world isn’t real at all, but a product of our own projections. Their actual world is situated in some parallel universe. Knowledge of this true world is out of reach for us mere mortals, as Plato explains in his allegory of The Cave.

- Caption: Plato’s Cave by Ken Stout, 2007, oil on panel -

But the story is not just useful in explaining Subjectivist philosophy. It is also indicative how they think they can pull the wool over people’s eyes: not by debate on the basis of verifiable, objective information, but through shadows, smoke and mirrors: passions, constructed perceptions and vacuous projections of ‘hope’ and ‘change’. Here’s an exquisite animated version of The Cave.

- Files on Articles in “The Dystopia of Paradise” -

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

AFN Newscope transcript 11-13-08

13. November 2008 by admin.

The American Freedomist Network presents:
Newscope at 10 am
With your host, and paid consultant to forgotten stars of 70s Television, Pauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuul Collier

Today on Newscope- The Minnesota recountValerie Jarret, co-chair of the transition team, is investigated, Hank Paulson bails out, world news, financial news.

Following up the angoloa-congo story of yesterday,
Oil discovery in shared Angola-Congo zone
afrol News, 12 October - A new “significant discovery” of oil in the shared deepwater zone between Congo Brazzaville and Angola’s Cabinda exclave was announced today. The deepwater block in the Gulf of Guinea is operated by the oil multinational ChevronTexaco and smaller Angolan and Congolese companies.
ChevronTexaco today announced what the company called “a significant discovery at the Lianzi-1 exploration well in the deepwater area between the republics of Angola and Congo.”
ChevronTexaco, through its affiliate companies, holds a total interest in the discovery of 30.5 percent and Chevron Overseas Congo is the operator of the unit. Other participants in the two blocks include Angola’s Sonangol (10.0 percent), Congo’s SNPC (7.5 percent), Total (35.5 percent), ENI (10.0 percent), GALP Exploracão (4.5 percent) and Energy Africa (2.0 percent).
This connection now makes it apparent why Angola would be so ready to come to Congo’s aid, and how, once again, the use of oil as an incentive, or as a blackmail, is causing worldwide upheavals.

From the BBC
North Korea has made moves contradictory to the seeming cooperation by the South in assisting North Korea’s denial of the fallen Kim Jong Il. ON December 1st, according to North Korean authorities, the North will “cut access to South Korea”, by “closing the border and severing the remaining…phone link between the nations”
President Lee Myung-bak, who made his political reputation by espousing to “get tough” with Pyongyang, is thought to be the one behind the ratcheted-up rhetoric that comes just days after South Korea appeared to be falling in North Korea’s party line. The almost schizophrenic behavior of the North further fuels rumors that there has not been a complete consolidation of power in the wake of the IL illness.
.”It is really appalling that the puppet regime is taking a leading role in the racket of a so-called UN resolution on human rights in the North,” said a statement from the North Korean government. “The South Korean puppet authorities should never forget that the present inter-Korean relations are at the crucial crossroads of existence and total severance.”
Some analysts report that this is all blustering in an attempt to strengthen North Korea’s position a the bargaining table when South Korea’s families in power divide up the pie amongst themselves and their North Korean, and Chinese counterparts.

From the Times UK
« Back to the grid | Next story »
Iran Claims to Test New Missile
From the Times UK- The Iranian Government has claimed to have successfully test-fired a missile with the range to strike Israel and US bases in the region. Tehran’s evidence was a photo of a Sejil missile, with a claimed range of 1,200 miles. The State Department has not verified this test.
ALSO FROM THE UK TIMES

The port city of Somalia, Merka, was captured bThe port city of Somalia, Merka, was captured b Islamo-Fascists yesterday. The transistional government in Somalia has not shown the strength needed to put down the Islamo-Fascist led tumult.
Led by Al-Shababa, Islamic-styled Sharia law has been imposed wherever the group seizes control. The UK times article details the case of a 13-year old girl who was stoned to death for adultery. She had claimed she had been raped, which, according to Sharia law, is grounds for death. The rape victim is the real criminal, giving in to her weak nature of surrendering her body.
The untold story of Africa is a story of Islamo-Fascists killing Christians, Chinese interests propping up the Islamo-killers to guarantee cheap and easy access to new African oil discoveries (especially in the Sudan), and, if you haven’t gotten the theme, Islamo-thugs causing untold deaths across the continent of Africa.
In Election 08 news…yes….it’s not over yet:
Four senate seats are still in the balance, giving the Democrats a chance to get to as many as 60 seats- sitting on 56
In Georgia, GOP Sen. Saxby Chambliss was well ahead of former Democratic state Sen. Jim Martin. But with a third-party candidate pulling some votes, Chambliss was trying to hold on to his thin majority to avoid a run-off next month- December 7th.
in Oregon, Republican Sen. Gordon Smith was ahead of Democratic House Speaker Jeff Merkley, but the race was still too close to call.
Democrat Mark Begich has taken the slimmest of leads—3 votes—over Ted Stevens in the race for the Senate in Alaska, reports FiveThirtyEight.com. With about 50,000 absentee votes still to be counted, Begich leads 125,019 to 125,016. When the day began, Begich trailed by more than 3,000 votes. “Given where we expect the remaining votes are located, this looks very good for Begich,” writes Sean Quinn of FiveThirtyEight.
With less than 300 votes separating Republican Incumbent US Sentator Norm Coleman and his Democratic challenger, Al Franken, a recount is set to begin starting November 19th.
The results, however, according to a report on Foxnews.com, will not be revealed for at least one month after the process begins. There are numerous legal issues, including how a 725 vote lead for Coleman went to just 206 a week later, off of “questionable” ballots (like the 32 “absentee” ballots that simply showed up in a Franken supporter’s car.
The Secretary of State, Democrat Mark Ritchie, early Obama supporter, and active member of his campaign, told foxnews.com that anybody trying to cast a “cloud” over the election process is doing so for political reasons.
75 percent of Minnesota’s new registration were conducted by Obama’s brownshirts, the Acornmarx
From Detroit News
The Detroit city council, according to the Detroit News, is going to seek $10 billion in bailout money from the Federal Government. They want to use the money to build up infrastructure and stop the massive Detroit foreclosure bleed. This comes on the heels of the $47 million Detroit received earlier this year that was assigned to meet these same needs.
“No city needs a bailout more than Detroit,” said the councilwoman who sponsored the resolution. “The best economic stimulus we need in the city of Detroit is people working. Detroit has got to be leading the way on this.”

From the Politico
In the spirit of change that has marked to Obamarx, Biden has selected…..Al Gore’s former chief of staff, Ron Klain. As of right now, it appears that over 75% of Obama’s most important team members have all had major roles in the Clinton administration, which ran the country from 93’-2000.

And now, the unveiling of a feature that will be a part of the Tuesday lineup for Midnight in America at noon, starting Monday November 17th. Our protest song of the week. This protest song will be sung by your host, and consultant to lost 70s tv stars, paul collier
Obama’s Yo Mamma
Well I hit thumb with a big old hammer- ouch, that must really hirt
What can I do
Obama’s yo mamma
It’s beating red and black and blue- that’s disgusting, you should call Obama
What can I do
OBama’s yo mamma- call your momma- obama

Well my child wont listen to me anytime- boy, you need to get that kid some ridlin
What can I do
Obama’s yo mamma
When I tell him to stop he just tells me no- I am SERIOUS about the ridlin, don’t bring that boy home without it!
What can I do
Obama’s yo mamma-
Call your mamma- Obama
Now, the ongoing series, the Obama Report, continues with an investigation into Valerie Jarret, called by many the “Karl Rove” of Obamarx.
Brief facts:
Former City Hall aide to Mayor Richard Daley.
Major “bundler”, has raised over $200,000 for Obama
“Practically a sister,” Barack Obama has said
Born in Iran.
At age 7, moved to Hyde Park where the Obamas currently live.
CEO of Habitat Co- another one of a series of GSEs (government subsidized entities). This company transfers government money through it’s court-appointed role as “receiever” for the Chicago Housing Authority.
Her company managed Grove Parc Plaza from 2001 until this winter and co-managed an even larger subsidized complex in Chicago that was seized by the federal government in 2006, after city inspectors found widespread problems.
Valerie Jarret on an Obama ad: just the first minute

Valerie Jarret on Obama’s Ayers connection

Note that she promised Ayers will NOT have a place in the Obamarx administration. We will track that promise, as well as look for the indirect benefits, such as funding, that Ayers and the Hyde Park thugs can secretly grab for themselves.
From Presidential race.net
Valerie Jarrett is one of Barack Obama’s closest advisers.(CNN) — A prominent Democratic
source close to Barack Obama confirmed Sunday that Valerie Jarrett is Obama’s choice to replace him in the Senate.Jarrett is a Chicago lawyer and one of Obama’s closest advisers.

From an article in Faultline
Obama’s Earmarks: Valerie Jarrett - The “Other Connection”
Senator Barack Obama’s congressional “earmarks” are getting little press notice, but Faultline USA has the important details. Read them at The Release of Barack Obama’s 2005-06 Earmark Requests Brings up Questions.

There are two issues in question:
(1) $1 Million to the University of Chicago Hospitals, where Michelle Obama is employed as Vice President for Community and External Affairs. Mrs. Obama’s employment is not the only connection to this earmark.

This from Maggie [not FaultlineUSA]: Valerie Jarrett, a top Obama campaign advisor is the Chair of the University of Chicago Medical Center Board, as well as Chair of the Executive Committee of that Board, and Vice-Chair of the University’s Board of Trustees.

From the Chicago Reporter
The Habitat Company: Private Firm Keeps Tight Grip on Public Housing
By: Brian Rogal

In 1966, Dorothy Gautreaux and other (chicago housing authority) residents sued the agency in federal court.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development agreed to redistribute “blacks” in white-dominated areas.

In 1987, U.S. District Court Judge Marvin E. Aspen declared the CHA “simply not up to the task.” He appointed Habitat and its chairman, Daniel E. Levin, as the agency’s receiver, with authority over all new construction of family public housing.

But today, the company is at loggerheads with the very tenants it was appointed to serve.

In July 1998, Habitat stepped in to block a redevelopment compromise struck between Cabrini residents, the city and the CHA. Among other provisions, the agreement would have made the residents co-developers, giving them a voice in key decisions.

“We always thought the residents should have a voice,” then (CEO) Levin said. “The residents, of course, think that they should have a veto, so that makes them a very powerful special interest group that has slowed down the process.”

For Habitat’s fees at other CHA developments, HUD has budgeted about 6.6 percent of the project’s total cost. Based on that figure, Habitat’s management of the Cabrini project—hiring developers, approving plans and overseeing construction, among other tasks—would earn the company at least $3.8 million.

Residents said Habitat wants control to boost its profits…
After Habitat intervened in the Cabrini case in July 1998, Aspen sent all the parties—the residents, the CHA, the city and Habitat—back to work out the dispute.

In March, Aspen appointed a mediator, but no deal was struck.

“We have been given no reason to approve a plan which the Receiver does not back, even though it may otherwise adhere to the letter of the Gautreaux decree and enjoys some localized support,” Aspen wrote.

On Nov. 3, Aspen ruled that Habitat could continue to develop plans for Cabrini, although the company is still limited by a 1997 court injunction blocking demolition until tenant concerns are addressed.

Giving the tenants co-developer status remains the “heart and soul” of any settlement, said Richard M. Wheelock, supervisory attorney for the Legal Assistance Foundation, representing the tenants

Whoever controls the project stands to profit. As CHA receiver, Habitat earns a 3 percent fee of the dollars spent on new family housing construction, plus overhead costs, according to Aspen’s 1987 order. Since then, HUD has budgeted about $21.9 million for Habitat’s services, and has paid out about $17.3 million, HUDdocuments show.

As development manager, Habitat will earn at least $1.4 million of the $40 million in federal funds currently earmarked for 303 new public housing units….

Habitat will also earn $4 million overseeing the construction of replacement….That is in addition to the $2.5 million it would make as receiver for those developments.

“The more control over Cabrini, the more money [Habitat] can generate as profit. That’s what they’re in business for,” said Peter M. Holsten, founder and president of the Holsten Real Estate Development Corp
Shoddy Work
Project delays and construction troubles threaten to eat away Habitat’s profits as development manager at Horner. Tenants there sued the CHA and HUD in 1991, accusing them of practicing “de facto” demolition by allowing the 21-building development to decline beyond repair….

The first phase was to be completed by July 1998, but Habitat is still struggling to finish 466 low-rise units
The project was delayed partly because Habitat had to get “the residents’ approval, their consultant’s approval, and their lawyers’ approval,” Levin said.

A survey conducted in August and September 1998 by East Lake Management and Development Corp., Horner’s private property manager, found that 10 of 18 new ground-floor apartments on the 2100 block of West Maypole Avenue had suffered major leaks. Three other units on adjacent streets also had sprung leaks.

U.S. District Judge David H. Coar said the residents’ lawsuit could go forward

In addition, they agreed that 30 percent of all housing built on city-owned land would be reserved for public housing. Residents would have a 51 percent interest in the joint venture that would build the replacement housing, with a say on issues like design and allocation of social services.

The developers, however, would probably retain financial control, Wheelock said.

Wary Developers
Then Habitat blocked the deal in court. In a Nov. 20, 1998, letter to Aspen, Habitat said banks and investors were reluctant to put money into a project where the residents have 51 percent control. And local developers worry that the Cabrini site will include too many public housing units, the letter states. The company declined to disclose the names of the developers.

“Ultimately, someone has to make the decisions,” Levin said. “If you just listen to the residents, you do not know if you are listening to the lawyers or a small group of advisors. It’s not clear if they know the issues.”

Cabrini residents would like to replace Habitat with Corcoran & Jennison, a for-profit, Boston-based developer of about 28,000 units of market-rate and affordable housing, mostly on the East Coast and in California. “We’ve had experience with [tenant owners], and they’ve worked out very well,” said Chairman Joseph Corcoran. “Ownership doesn’t mean management,” he said.

Residents “know what the community needs, and they should have that control,” he said. “Habitat felt that if tenants had ownership, you would not get the necessary investment. That is completely not true.”

From the Chicago tribune
Jarrett has pushed to integrate new developments by limiting the number of residents, mostly poor and black, who can live in the new communities. From the beginning, that stance clashed with efforts by residents and housing advocates to ensure the number of units set aside for the poor was as large as possible.

For Jarrett, the effort to integrate public housing continues a struggle her grandfather, Robert Taylor, started decades ago. Taylor was the Chicago Housing Authority’s first chairman.

“He believed in what we’re doing today, which is why I do this,” Jarrett said.
Since 1995, Jarrett has been a high ranking executive at Habitat Co

Habitat argues that to integrate public housing it must attract middle-class families, who will not buy into a development that includes too many poor people.
.

Under the Plan for Transformation, the city has lost more than 13,000 housing units for the poor at a time when low-income families face one of the worse housing crises in recent history. After years of neglect and abandonment, many residents doubt that Jarrett and CHA officials have their interests at heart.

Habitat has earned $6.8 million in fees and $10.8 million in administrative expenses since the plan started in 2000, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The company also earns millions as a property manager for the CHA.

Habitat and the CHA want to create a new development at Lathrop that would follow the same model as other mixed-income sites such as Stateway Gardens and the Robert Taylor Homes.

But community organizers say that the neighborhood needs more affordable and public housing—not more upscale homes.

And that Is who Valerie jarret is….more to follow, to be sure

And now, a look at economics, from the San Francisco Chronicle

Henry Paulson’s speech Wednesday made it pretty clear: The Treasury secretary has seized control of the financial system.
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“He is absolutely the most powerful person in the country. Maybe the world,” says Wall Street accounting expert Robert Willens.
This article focuses on a particular part of that speech, the section where Paulson unilaterally decided to change the use and definition of the bailout money. Now, instead of buying up bad debt and even helping home owners save their homes, or at least negotiate new, realistic terms, Paulson has declared the money will simply go towards equity investment in the banks.
“In consultation with the Federal Reserve, I determined that the most timely, effective step to improve credit market conditions was to strengthen bank balance sheets quickly through direct purchases of equity in banks,” he said.
The goal of this bailout is not to save the people buried in debt, but to keep the markets flowing for the people NOT buried in debt, to keep the machine running for those who have, not to assist those who have not, many of whom have been done in by questionable, if not illegal, debt collection practices, fees, compound interest, unexplained mortgage terms, etc.
, “With the Federal Reserve, we are exploring the development of a potential liquidity facility for highly rated AAA asset-backed securities. We are looking at ways to possibly use the TARP to encourage private investors to come back to this troubled market, by providing them access to federal financing while protecting the taxpayers’ investment.”
As the article points out, this liquidity fund is another term for “line of credit”, a line of credit only available, it would be presumed to the “healthy’ banks (meaning the “healthy” banks will get healthier, be able to buy up more of the ill banks, with tax dollars assisting the further monopolization of our financial markets.
. And now a word from the AFN:
Hi, my name is Paul Collier, and I’m not just the founder, but I’m also a client…that’s right, male-pattern baldness is a scar many of us have to endure, some of us that have a full head of hair but see signs of that retreat across the forehead in our nightmares everyday. That’s why I founded Paul Collier’s Hairclub for men who have not lost hair, but may fear that they will.

You may be second-guessing my business model, investing all this money in potential doom, the balding of my man-scalp, rather than giving it to the folks who are actually going bald. I say I have the backing of the world’s leading economists, from China to America, who all say the same thing……We gotta bail out the rich folks who might not possibly maybe be quite as rich in the future if we don’t prop them up…..the bankruptcy relief fund for the folks who have not lost real wealth, but may fear that they will.

So that is my model, my inspiration for the paul collier hair club for men who have not lost hair but may fear that they will.

And now for something completely different, a look at today’s world markets.

Asia Pacific & Australia
Index Change %Change Level Last Update *

Australia ASX 100 -193.70 -6.00% 3,036.80 11/13 5:07pm

Australia ASX All Ords -182.80 -4.71% 3,672.40 11/13 5:06pm

Australia ASX Mid-cap 50 -133.10 -3.69% 3,469.10 11/13 5:07pm

Hong Kong Hang Seng -717.74 -5.15% 13,221.35 11/13 6:14pm

Hong Kong HSCC Red Chip -135.03 -4.61% 2,793.79 11/13 4:50pm

Japan Nikkei 225 -456.87 -5.25% 8,238.64 11/13 4:30pm
Europe
Index Change %Change Level Last Update *

Belgium Bel 20 -11.85 -0.58% 2,045.61 11/13 1:58pm

Europe DJ Stoxx -24.86 -1.16% 2,113.10 11/13 1:58pm

Europe Euronext 100 -0.79 -0.14% 552.08 11/13 1:58pm

Europe Euronext 150 -12.69 -1.30% 965.54 11/13 1:58pm

France CAC +3.20 +0.10% 3,237.16 11/13 1:58pm

France SBF 80 -32.50 -0.92% 3,495.26 11/13 1:58pm

France SBF 120 -0.79 -0.03% 2,326.83 11/13 1:58pm

Germany DAX -15.52 -0.34% 4,605.28 11/13 1:58pm

Germany MDAX -26.71 -0.50% 5,318.51 11/13 1:58pm

Germany TECDAX +7.33 +1.49% 499.89 11/13 1:58pm

Netherlands AEX -2.55 -1.02% 246.70 11/13 1:58pm

Norway BRIX +0.74 +0.02% 3,954.43 10/31 12:00am

Norway OSE Industry -1.89 -0.11% 168.16 11/13 1:57pm

Sweden OMX -0.25 -0.04% 630.01 11/13 1:58pm

Sweden OMSX All Share -6.24 -3.06% 197.55 11/12 12:00am

UK FTSE 100 -55.29 -1.32% 4,126.73 11/13 12:58pm

UK FTSE All Shares -28.45 -1.36% 2,068.92 11/13 12:58pm

UK FTSE Eurotop -15.86 -0.86% 1,824.87 11/13 12:57pm

UK FTSE Techmark +5.11 +0.45% 1,153.38 11/13 12:58pm
Americas
Index Change %Change Level Last Update *

Canada TSE 300 -501.43 -5.32% 8,922.57 11/12 12:00am

Canada CDNX -49.83 -5.71% 822.50 11/12 12:00am

Canada S&P/TSX 60 -33.74 -5.90% 538.20 11/12 12:00am
Open Closed

Asia Pacific & Australia
Index Change %Change Level Last Update *

Australia ASX 100 -193.70 -6.00% 3,036.80 11/13 5:07pm

Australia ASX All Ords -182.80 -4.71% 3,672.40 11/13 5:06pm

Australia ASX Mid-cap 50 -133.10 -3.69% 3,469.10 11/13 5:07pm

Hong Kong Hang Seng -717.74 -5.15% 13,221.35 11/13 6:14pm

Hong Kong HSCC Red Chip -135.03 -4.61% 2,793.79 11/13 4:50pm

Japan Nikkei 225 -456.87 -5.25% 8,238.64 11/13 4:30pm
Europe
Index Change %Change Level Last Update *

Belgium Bel 20 -11.85 -0.58% 2,045.61 11/13 1:58pm

Europe DJ Stoxx -24.86 -1.16% 2,113.10 11/13 1:58pm

Europe Euronext 100 -0.79 -0.14% 552.08 11/13 1:58pm

Europe Euronext 150 -12.69 -1.30% 965.54 11/13 1:58pm

France CAC +3.20 +0.10% 3,237.16 11/13 1:58pm

France SBF 80 -32.50 -0.92% 3,495.26 11/13 1:58pm

France SBF 120 -0.79 -0.03% 2,326.83 11/13 1:58pm

Germany DAX -15.52 -0.34% 4,605.28 11/13 1:58pm

Germany MDAX -26.71 -0.50% 5,318.51 11/13 1:58pm

Germany TECDAX +7.33 +1.49% 499.89 11/13 1:58pm

Netherlands AEX -2.55 -1.02% 246.70 11/13 1:58pm

Norway BRIX +0.74 +0.02% 3,954.43 10/31 12:00am

Norway OSE Industry -1.89 -0.11% 168.16 11/13 1:57pm

Sweden OMX -0.25 -0.04% 630.01 11/13 1:58pm

Sweden OMSX All Share -6.24 -3.06% 197.55 11/12 12:00am

UK FTSE 100 -55.29 -1.32% 4,126.73 11/13 12:58pm

UK FTSE All Shares -28.45 -1.36% 2,068.92 11/13 12:58pm

UK FTSE Eurotop -15.86 -0.86% 1,824.87 11/13 12:57pm

UK FTSE Techmark +5.11 +0.45% 1,153.38 11/13 12:58pm
Americas
Index Change %Change Level Last Update *

Canada TSE 300 -501.43 -5.32% 8,922.57 11/12 12:00am

Canada CDNX -49.83 -5.71% 822.50 11/12 12:00am

Canada S&P/TSX 60 -33.74 -5.90% 538.20 11/12 12:00am
Open Closed

Paul’s Audio Vault

From Al Jazeera
Starting at the 7:30 mark, an interesting exchange about how the Iranians will react to Obama- end at 19:30

The T-Boone Pickens thang- Pickens tries to claim low gas costs were his doing.

Thank you for listening to American Freedomist radio’s newscope at 11am

Posted in Headline News | Print | 1 Comment »

Fed Up With The Feds? THEN SHADOW THEM!

12. November 2008 by admin.

Fed up with the Fed?
RESIST by “Shadowing Them”

JOIN The Virtual USA Shadow Government In Exile
(A Field of Dreams Community)

Joining Protocol

Here is the PROPER format for JOINING the Shadow Government…

Your Name (Real Name, we are REAL people)
Your State, County, and Congressional District (even if you are not “shadowing” anyone from there)
Your PRIMARY Shadow Position (Title, district if applicable, name of individual, and their Party)
Up to TWO Secondary Shadow Positions
Your Caucus

Then ANSWER the following:

Would you be interested in being an Administrator for the Capitol facility (these forums)?
a. researching information, for instance, regarding applicable Senate rules or Constitutional requirements
b. moderator and managing the forums
c. heading up a group or caucus
d. helping to PROMOTE VUSALIVE.com
e. creating a Shadow Media to track the media and write “news” from member posts
f. NOPE!

Here is MY POST:

Bill Collier
PA, Perry County, 9th District
Primary Shadow Post: PA Governor Ed Rendel (D)
Secondary Posts: PA 9th District Congressman Bill Schuster (R)
PA Senior Senator, Arlen Specter (R)

Caucus: Bull Moose GOP

Admin Function: items a-e

POST HERE by by STARTING NEW TOPIC http://vusalive.com/gov/posting.php?mode=post&f=2

Posted in 1 Freedom Project Action Center, Opinion, Marketplace | Print | No Comments »

AFN Newscope 11-12-08

12. November 2008 by admin.

Welcome to the American Freedomist network’sNewscope at 10amwith your host, Paul Collier. Immediately after this show, stay with us for the 57th state at 11am- with your host, Bill Collier.

Coming up today,the Obamarx marches on- news of his undocumented transistion team, the first bullets he will fire at our American rights, a look at the international economy, world news, and the debut of Paul’s audio news vault.

Up first, a look at the Obamarx march:

From AP

Obama ZZTurns to his goons, paid for by undisclosed donors, who may or may not actually