7.25.2013

Activists Being Framed With Child Porn

A disturbing trend is unfolding where some entity is attempting to frame prominent anti-establishment activists and alternative media organizations with child pornography.

These activists are being sent emails with malicious attachments containing images of child porn in a seeming attempt to discredit them or set them up for arrest.

Read more and see vids at: Activist Post


7.24.2013

Profanity Police

There was a bit of an uproar when Chief Mark Kessler from Gilberton, Pennsylvania made a YouTube video laced with profanity. He then responded with the following video.

Now, before we watch it, let me just make a few points of opinion here. First, cops are indeed human beings and I am not overly offended to hear a cop drop an f-bomb or somesuch. On the other hand, I do believe that a police officer, particularly the chief of an agency, should be setting an example of decency. It's one thing to use foul language in a conversation but it's a little bit different when you make a public video for the world to see, representing your entire community, and you start cussing up a storm. As I said, I am not personally offended by such behavior, but it does seem rather unprofessional.


I do admire his tenacity. But his response was rather ignorant and juvenile. He is portraying police as foul-mouthed thick-headed half-stupid gun nuts. Firing machine guns to make his point feels like more of a threat than a display of his marksmanship and hardware.

Don't get me wrong here either, I am a big advocate of the Second Amendment and the right of every American to keep and bear arms. So I actually don't disagree with his sentiment in the original video that started this "scandal."



So I do agree with his stand on the Second Amendment, and I even chuckled a little when he apologized with a fuck you. All in all though, I do think he is another example of the low IQ lunk-heads we trust to protect us, and trust to do the right thing even under the most intense situations. Clearly, his judgement is not very professional.

If this is how he acts in front of the world, it really calls into question how professional he will act toward a suspect, or in an actual gun fight, or just toward someone he doesn't like. I get the impression that he will do whatever he wants, regardless of what is expected of him, and regardless of the law. This is the impression I get from most police today. That they will do as they please. That they will twist the law and bend the entire legal system to justify what they do.

If you had some dealings with Chief Kessler, and he pegged you as a "libtard" he just might want to shoot you. Don't expect to get fair and impartial treatment.

And speaking of equality, let's take a second look at his hardware there. I am betting that if he stopped you and found any one of those weapons in your trunk, you would wind up doing some serious prison time. Maybe he would agree with me here, maybe not, but I don't believe you should have to be a police officer to have access to high power fully automatic machine guns with high capacity magazines. And whether or not he would agree with me there, you can bet he would still toss you in the slammer, unless of course you were a friend of his or maybe showed him that you were not a "libtard."

Anyway, that's my rant for today.






7.23.2013

McDonald's and Visa Team Up to Budget Slave-Wage

This article courtesy Minimum Wage Workers Union of America


McDonald's and Visa have come together in a new initiative which purports to show low-wage workers how to survive, and even thrive financially on their meager earnings.

At their new Practical Money Skills for Life™ website you can find a pdf file sample budget, ostensibly designed to be a framework for workers to use in order to successfully manage their income while working at McDonald's.


It is certainly a good idea to have a budget, to practice good financial techniques, to minimize spending and the like, but no budget will solve the problem of not having enough money to meet the most basic living expenses. This core truth is completely overlooked by McDonald's and their collaborator. This then sets the stage for victim-blaming, rather than making a factual presentation. The premise they present here, is that if a worker is having financial troubles it is the worker's own fault.

The introductory video is immediately condescending to the viewer/worker and assumes that you lack the elementary concepts of basic addition and subtraction arithmetic, or even common sense. While some workers may be woefully uneducated and lacking in life experience, it appears that the true ignorance here rests with the creators of the fast-food giant's presentation.

As an example, almost any worker knows full well that taking a pay-day loan is financially unsound, being both risky and costly. What the creators of the video ignore is that a worker does not need to be taught this point as a lesson, as if it were some great revelation bestowed by a benevolent corporation out of sheer good will. The worker who does take such a costly risk by taking out a pay-day loan does it out of necessity, not stupidity. The payday loan industry thrives on the desperation of the poor, not on people who ant some extra spending money.

The video also encourages the viewer to get direct-deposit for their paycheck, and to have a bank account, in order to save on check-cashing fees. But again we see that the creators have ignored the reality of the situation for many of their workers. Some financial institutions will not let a person with poor credit have an account. Low-wage workers are, of course, more likely than most to have a poor credit rating. In other instances, a bank or credit union may not be easily accessible in their neighborhood or along their travel routes. Banks often require a large minimum balance, leaving substantial funds inaccessible to the depositor.
But most important of all perhaps, is that bank accounts are riddled with costly pitfalls. Visa check-cards exacerbate those dangers to workers who are subject to an array of hidden maintenance, access, and penalty fees.

For many people it is not only easier, but actually wiser to just spend a few dollars to cash their paycheck at a local supermarket, or check-cashing store. In this instance, a former McDonald's worker has been forced to sue for her right to be paid in legal tender, after her employer refused to pay her in any form other than a fee-laden debit card like those issued by Visa.



Even with the best financial practices, no human mistakes, and no unforeseen emergencies, a person still needs enough money to meet basic expenses. A sound budget will never work without enough money to put into that budget in the first place. So let's have a look at what McDonald's sees as a reasonable budget for a worker to, as they put it, "have almost anything you want as long as you plan ahead and save for it."


Right at the start, McDonald's is admitting that a full-time worker at one of their restaurants does not earn enough to support themselves. Their budget demands from you that you get a second job, if you are lucky enough to find one at all, much less one that is compatible with your full-time and often irregular hours at one of their establishments. If you can't get a second job, for whatever reason, the full-time low-wage worker will be forced to go on welfare, or get at least some sort of public assistance.

What this means is that taxpayers are subsidizing the labor expenses of major corporations like McDonald's. We the taxpayers are now forced to pay a contribution in order to make sure that McDonald's workers actually show up for work in the first place, and that the worker is fed, clothed and healthy enough to perform their task. While these corporations reap billion dollar profits, and the CEO of McDonald's makes about $5,000 an hour, the taxpayers are forced to pay a share of their business expenses. In 2012, Wal-Mart workers were forced to rely on $2.6 billion in taxpayer relief. That directly translates into $2.6B in additional profits for the Walton family, who are more wealthy then the bottom 40% of all Americans combined.

Now let's go ahead and take a look at the person who winds up actually being lucky enough to have two jobs, and is in turn forced to pay taxes to help support the worker standing next to them who works only one full-time job. This budget projects a net monthly income of $2,060. Based on the 2012 IRS tax liability tables, a minimum wage worker earning $7.25 an hour would have to work 76 hours per week in order to have a net monthly income of $2,060. So much for the notion that poor people are lazy. This is essentially two full-time jobs, especially since employers won't usually let a worker hit the 40 hour mark in a week, for fear of having to pay an overtime wage.

This obviously leaves no time for continuing education, and precious few hours to spend with family or trying to raise your children. Contrary to the popular notion, teens do not make up the majority of minimum-wage workers. Roughly 90% are over the age of 20, and about 30% of minimum wage workers are trying to raise a family on that budget. 

But surely a person working two full time jobs, nearly 80 hours a week, must be living fairly well, right? Well, let's have a look at budgeted expenses.

The first line item in that section is savings. Anyone who can afford to save, must actually have an income that exceeds the rest of their expenses. Saving for the future is not only good advice, but absolutely necessary in order to build any sort of future It is even necessary to simply offset an array of inflationary factors which have undermined the American worker since our heydey in the 1950's.

90% of Americans Earn Less Than 1950 Minimum Wage Standard

Unfortunately, this budget is actually completely impractical and that $100 figure is completely unrealistic.

Looking at the next item we see how unrealistic it actually is. $600 for rent is unheard of in most parts of the country. The average rent last year in the US was $1,048 monthly. In New York, it is over $3,000 a month. One might suggest getting a roommate to split the rent, but then again we might also assume that this budget is actually written out for two people working at McDonald's full time, and who decided to move in together to share the bills because they couldn't find a second full-time job for themselves. So even with a roomate or spouse also working full time, this budget is still not practical, as we shall further see. 

(It could also be noted here that forced cohabitation can set someone up for all sorts of costly and life-damaging problems. Roomates can be an annoyance when they interfere with necessary sleep, but you are also vulnerable to thievery, fraud, and even being named as a criminal conspirator if they use the residence as part of an illicit enterprise. This socioeconomic dynamic has also pushed unwed couples to cohabitate prematurely, leaving them trying to force a frustrating and volatile relationship work out of simple economic necessity. This of course, is at the root of so many instances of domestic violence. Problems like these can wind up costing a worker for court fees, time missed from work, and more.)

Their budget does account for a car payment, but that figure is unrealistically low for the actual cost of operating a car. Insurance alone would easily double that figure, not to mention gasoline, maintenance, and repairs. Our own research has shown that the expense for basic auto transportation is roughly $500 a month. Public transportation may not give a significant reduction in transportation costs, and is not often available in many areas.

The next item combines home and car insurance into one item. Renters insurance is an excellent idea, and protects against all sorts of mishaps, like losing everything you own in a fire, or to a break in, but it is not really something that most low-wage workers can actually afford. Insurance for a homeowner is far more expensive than their figure, but we can assume that most people who work at McDonald's do not, and probably never will own their own home. They should not have even included car insurance there, but even for liability only that figure is very low, especially for younger drivers, or someone who may have had an accident. If you are making payments though, you need full coverage, which would be many time more per month than what they have calculated for.

For health insurance they have posted an absolutely absurd figure of $20 per month. Over-the-counter medicine to treat the flu would cost you more than that. McDonald's own basic plan for a single person with no children is $61 a month, with a maximum annual payout of $2000. (See: pdf) The plan also requires you pay a deductible and a single co-pay is $20. That $20 is, as you see, all they have budget for here, but not the actual cost of the insurance. Hardly sound financial advice from these supposed experts who worked on this project with them.

They must also assume that you live in Hawaii where it is practically 75-degrees year-round, because this budget allot for $0 in heating (or air-conditioning) expenses.

Cable and phone at $100 a month. This is possible, but you would not be able to afford a cellphone which is a nice convenience that can actually save you money and is indispensable in an emergency. Someone who is working 76 hours a week would probably choose to have a cellphone and eliminate television entertainment for the few hours that they are actually at home. They can just sit and stare at a wall until they fall asleep.

Their calculation for electric is not entirely unreasonable, but will vary widely from region to region and in different rental units. If there is electric heating for example, that figure could easily be two or three times as much per month. That would obviously wipe out their "other" category instantly. 

At the end of the McDonald's budget we see they have allotted for $27 a day in spending money. Perhaps they expect workers to take all of their meals where they work, as the budget has not accounted for any food or grocery expenses. The health consequences alone would be devastating for a worker who made fast-food the staple of their diet, but $27 a day is not really enough for that anyway. The average cost in the US for a Big Mac value meal is $6.64, though it is often several dollars more in metro areas like NY. This would leave you with about $7 for gas, and nothing to feed your family. You also wouldn't have money for garbage bags, light bulbs, toothpaste, aspirin, haircuts, deodorant. You also wouldn't have money to do laundry, but you don't have a budget to buy clothes anyway, so go ahead an just wear that stinky McDonald's uniform without any underwear on, every single day.

For a much more practical and realistic budget, please see:

Analyzing a Practical Minimum Wage

You can sign a petition at:

Low Pay Is Not Okay









7.21.2013

Drug Companies Can't Be Sued Says Supreme Court

Supreme Court rules Drug Companies exempt from Lawsuits

July 7, 2013. Washington. In case readers missed it with all the coverage of the Trayvon Martin murder trial and the Supreme Court’s rulings on gay marriage and the Voting Rights Act, the US Supreme Court also made a ruling on lawsuits against drug companies for fraud, mislabeling, side effects and accidental death. From now on, 80 percent of all drugs are exempt from legal liability.

In a 5-4 vote, the US Supreme Court struck down a lower court’s ruling and award for the victim of a pharmaceutical drug’s adverse reaction. According to the victim and the state courts, the drug caused a flesh-eating side effect that left the patient permanently disfigured over most of her body. The adverse reaction was hidden by the drug maker and later forced to be included on all warning labels. But the highest court in the land ruled that the victim had no legal grounds to sue the corporation because its drugs are exempt from lawsuits.

Read more at: Whiteout Press



Supreme Court vs. The People: 5-to-4 Does It Again

...In other words, a drug company that kills or maims us by pushing drugs on us through the corrupt health care system and is beholden to profit only, stands protected in law. Yet, these same drug companies fund medical training and "made to order" research, as well as, exert extensive influence on FDA drug approval process. They wine and dine doctors and pay them consultant fees to ghost write on their behalf and become their front-line sales force. We the people take the risks with our lives...

See the full article at: HuffPost Politics


See additional coverage at: Natural News





Trayvon Martin Case Infotainment Hoax by Media?

It may sound ridiculous to even entertain such wild theories. But then again, the more crazy something sounds to most of us, the easier it is to get away with, if you are the one behind the conspiracy. This premise is what drives me to at least stop and listen, to consider ideas that you will never hear about in the mainstream media, even if I don't buy into the whole theory.

Unless you have been living under a rock somewhere, you should already know that the case we are talking about here is the shooting death of Trayvon Martin by a now exonerated George Zimmerman.

We have all seen for ourselves the profound impact the case has had on our society, particularly as it pertains to race relations. But why?

Zimmerman himself was not white, but Latino and black. He was also not obviously a racist, having had black business partners, had dated black women, had black foster-siblings whom he was raised with, and even attacked police defending a black homeless man. Nevertheless, this case has become a lightning-rod for racial hatred, even though it doesn't seem to make any sense, having nothing to do with the case.

We are also talking about a case that at any other time probably would have never even made it into the spotlight of major media networks. This is not to make light of a person being shot and killed, but all in all, this case was fairly mundane from a news standpoint. There were no especially outstanding facts in this case to garner the media attention it wound up getting. It's a sad fact of life in the world and in America, that people are killed everyday, often under circumstances more clearly heinous than anything we saw in this case. People get shot, killed, trials are held, people go to prison, others are found-not guilty, and the wheels of justice keep on clicking along the tracks.

So again we have to ask why, why has this case been made such a national spectacle, when we have much more important things to worry about?

Was the media itself to blame, for blowing this case entirely out of proportion? Were they responsible for whipping up racial hatred, of spinning the reporting in that direction even though there was no actual racist element to the case? Were there even bigger powers, bigger agendas behind the reporting? Was there an actual conspiracy to deliberately sow division among Americans, and distract us from the very real problems we are facing as a nation and as a society?

As we already see, it doesn't really make much sense for this case to have been given the attention it has. But just because it doesn't make sense to us, in the moment, when you really stop and think about it, you can bet that someone, somewhere has gone to a lot of trouble to make this case explode across the networks. It makes perfect sense to whatever cabal is behind the manipulation of our social consciousness.

A lot of people have pointed out the the family of Trayvon Martin themselves were behind the push to draw the media spotlight onto their son's death. But how were they so successful, when there are thousands of other families out there looking for justice for their loved ones too, on any given day?

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Tracy Martin, Trayvon's father, is a high ranking member in fraternal orders with ties to secret-societies. This is not a theory, this is true information, to make of it as you will.


So, perhaps this made him well-enough connected to those in power in order to open the spotlight of the national and even international media attention onto the shooting death of his son. Others have theorized that the entire case was a conspiracy from the start, to do exactly what it has done, to divide and distract the American people. The secret societies engineered the whole case right from the start, and that Tracy Martin himself might have actually been in charge of the whole plot. But would he actually sacrifice his own son in order to further the agenda of some elite seciet society he was a part of? It's possible. Heck, even in the mafia family have sacrificed family to further the goals of their nefarious organizations. But what if there never was a Trayvon Martin at all? That would make it much easier, to sacrifice a son you never had.


It might also explain why Trayvon's criminality doesn't actually appear in any official police reports. A point that was not raised in the videos above. He was caught vandalizing property, caught with drugs, and caught with a backpack full of stolen women's jewelry and burglar tools, but none of that ever made it onto an actual police report. The excuse was that his school covered it up, but maybe the cover up itself was actually fabricated to add depth the the identity of a false character who never existed in the first place, except on the stage of propaganda.

All in all, I can't say that I do or don't actually believe it. But it makes for a compelling theory anyway.

Supplemental:

(Thanks to Black H@t of LOP)

The creator of this video also believes the Trayvon Marticn case is a hoax, not to bring about race war, but to further the agenda of those seeking to undermine the 2nd Amendment.






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