Stuart Jeanne Bramhall's Blog: The Most Revolutionary Act , page 1221

The Zapatistas Are Building The World We Ask For

*

*

The Zapatista experiment in resisting without bullets and instead building the world we ask for – an experiment conducted under erasure, in conditions no university laboratory would authorise, is working, and invites the curiosity, wonder and knowledge-making of all who struggle for justice in a dark world.

Journal of People

by Ann Deslandes



telesur | 31 December, 2016




Zapatista women arrive at an information session. | Photo: Ann Deslandes

“If we had spent those 23 years exchanging gunshots,” says Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation in an evening address to the many gathered for “The Zapatistas and ConSciences for Humanity” encounter currently taking place in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, “would we have been able to build this?”

View original post 1,330 more words

Founding Declaration of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Libya

Editorial Comment:

We received the English translation of the founding declaration/communique today along with a copy of the original document.  Saif Al Islam Qaddafi is indeed leading the movement.

Jamahiriya News Agency

In the name of Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate

“And hold fast by the covenant of Allah all together and be not disunited”

Feeling our historical and national responsibility to maintain the homeland and the dignity of its people and to work on passing it to the future generations free, dignified and prestigious as we inherited it from our parents and grandparents who had sacrificed themselves and their wealth in heroic, immortal epics for its sake;

Aware of the conspiracy and the perils that inflicted the country and brought about the collapse of its institutions, leading to the domination of terrorism on the joints of the State and its spread all over the country undermining its security and social peace turning it into a yard of regional and international conflict that damaged its unity, fortune and safety; produced a failed state and a feuding society; uprooted its people into dislodged and displaced persons; looted its wealth and savings; laid the foundations for sowing the seeds of discord among its towns and tribes and; disseminated the discourse of hatred that hit the social fabric in a mortal spot;

And keen to cross with the homeland to safety, growth, and construction, away from the language of infighting, marginalization, and exclusion;

We announce the launch of the organized popular work, at home and abroad, of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Libya, a national framework of struggle that combines all Libyan activists to liberate the country from the control of terrorist organizations that use religion as a cover and are bonded by being agents for the foreigner, and the tampering of criminal militias; and to work on building a national sovereign state and maintaining its independence, security, and prestige by means of legitimate institutions. It is a state whose citizens are linked with the bond of citizenship, respects differences and diversity and, maintains rights and duties. It is the state of the judiciary and the rule of law where the Libyan people alone has the right to choose its political system freely and to build a modern advanced economy that depends on its latent potential through developing its natural, material and human resources per a comprehensive development plan that bypasses the miserable reality to open prospects and hopes for a prosperous economy that achieves happiness and prosperity to our great people. . .

Source: Founding Declaration of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Libya

The Amish, who don’t get vaccinated, rarely get autism, cancer, or heart disease – coincidence?

*

*

If statistics matched our national average, there would be about 200 in the Amish community, but to date, there are only three, one of which was adopted and brought over from China. Go figure. Another one actually did get vaccinated and developed autism shortly afterwards. Go figure again.

1EarthUnited

(NaturalNews) Do not talk about whether vaccines work or not, or whether or not they cause autism, unless you’re ready for a very heated debate. Although the link between vaccines and autism is nothing new, to even speak of it can get you labeled as an “anti-vaxxer” or a health fanatic of sorts by the sheeple (brainwashed masses) that believe every vaccine the CDC recommends not only works, but is 100% safe and 100% effective 100% of the time. Even if some vaccines work some of the time, are they worth the health risk? That is the ultimate question, because one statistic you may not know is that children who receive mercury-containing vaccinations (listed as thimerosal usually) are 27 times more likely to develop autism than those who don’t get those jabs. That comes from a recent study based on the CDC’s own data. Still want to keep it a…

View original post 647 more words

Here’s How Goldman Sachs Became the Overlord of the Trump Administration

Source: Wall Street On Parade

During his political campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly railed against Wall Street with a specific focus on Goldman Sachs. In the final days of his campaign, Trump released an advertisement (see video below) that featured his opponent, Hillary Clinton, shaking hands with Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein. As the image flickers on the screen, Trump does a voice over, stating: “”It’s a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth, and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities.” As the ad ends, Trump bares his soul: “I’m doing this for the people and for the movement and we will take back this country for you and we will make America great again.”

How did a candidate who repeatedly demonized Goldman Sachs as the poster child for a corrupt establishment that owned Washington end up with Goldman Sachs’ progeny filling every post that even tangentially has the odor of money or global finance? One answer is family ties; another may be something darker.

Trump’s non-stop nominations and appointments of Goldman Sachs alumni have left his supporters stunned. Trump nominated Steven Mnuchin, a 17-year veteran of Goldman Sachs to be his Treasury Secretary. Stephen Bannon, another former Goldman Sachs banker, was named by Trump as his Chief Strategist in the White House. The sitting President of Goldman Sachs, Gary Cohn, has been named by Trump as Director of the National Economic Council, which, according to its website, coordinates “policy-making for domestic and international economic issues.” Last week, in a move that stunned even Wall Street, Trump nominated a Goldman Sachs outside lawyer, Jay Clayton of Sullivan & Cromwell, to serve as Wall Street’s top cop as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Adding to the slap in the face to Trump’s working class supporters, Clayton’s wife currently works as a Vice President at Goldman Sachs. . .

Source: Here’s How Goldman Sachs Became the Overlord of the Trump Administration

Futurist Predicted Collapse of American Empire By 2020, Before Trump

*

*

Galtang used the same analytic criteria to predict the demise of the Soviet Union. Definitely worth a read.

ThereAreNoSunglasses

US Power Will Decline Under Trump–Futurist Johan Galtung

Johan Galtung, a Nobel Peace Prize-nominated sociologist who predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union, warned that US global power will collapse under the Donald Trump administration.

The Norwegian professor at the University of Hawaii and Transcend Peace University is recognized as the ‘founding father’ of peace and conflict studies as a scientific discipline. He has made numerous accurate predictions of major world events, most notably the collapse of the Soviet Empire.

Written by Nafeez Ahmed Columnist

Back in 2000, Galtung first set out his prediction that the “US empire” would collapse within 25 years.

Galtung has also accurately predicted the 1978 Iranian revolution; the Tiananmen Square uprising of 1989 in China; the economic crises of 1987, 2008 and 2011; and even the 9/11 attacks—among other events, according to the late Dietrich Fischer, academic director of the European University Center for Peace…

View original post 1,522 more words

Reclaiming Our Cities from Corporate Rule

 

[image error]

The Official Guide to Tactical Urbanism

City Lab (2012)

Free PDF: Tactical Urbanism 2

Book Review

The Official Guide to Tactical Urbanism is an encyclopedia of tactics employed by community activists (worldwide) to reclaim city streets from cars and corporations. The goal: to create more public spaces to facilitate community engagement and interaction.

Young people in the US and other industrial countries have been abandoning cars for public and active transport. Yet city authorities (plagued by budget problems since the 2008 financial crash) have been extremely slow to undertake the infrastructure upgrades necessary to facilitate a transition to car free neighborhoods. Many activists, fed up with the futility of lobbying municipal authorities, are employing guerilla tactics to undertake these infrastructure upgrades themselves.

This publication offers a detailed history (dating back to the 1500s) of  “unsanctioned” uses of public space, most of which go on to be legitimatized by local authorities. Among many other tactics, The Official Guide to Tactical Urbanism describes the creation of

Play streets – in which neighborhoods make their own signs and designate streets car free to create play areas for kids (and parents)

[image error] A London play street

[image error]

Jackson Heights (NYC) car free play space

Guerilla gardening – in which activists garden on public or private land without permission

[image error]

Pop-up cafes – tactic to promote public seating in the parking lane and to promote local businesses

[image error] Trading parking space for outdoor seating improves the public realm

De-paving – removing pavement to reduce storm water pollution and increase the amount of land available for habitat restoration, urban farming, tree planting, native vegetation and social gathering.

[image error] Depaving in action

Chair bombing – creating impromptu public seating to improve the social well-being of

neighborhoods, both by salvaging waste and activating the public realm.

[image error] Chairs placed adjacent to Brooklyn’s Blue Bottle Cafe

Intersection repair – repurposing community intersections for community space rather than vehicle traffic.

[image error] An intersection repair project in Los Angeles

Reclaimed setbacks (aka lawn liberation) – creating a more engaging streetscape by activating the space between the street and structures.

[image error]

Older Men Father 39% of Babies Born to Underage Girls

*

*

An ugly secret known for decades by therapists and counselors who work with teenagers. Makes you wonder why these men are never prosecuted.

Adventures and Musings of an Arch Druidess

View original post

Scientists Say That Starting Work Before 10am Is Similar To Torture

Dr. Paul Kelley, a leading researcher at Oxford University, has recently discovered that the most common form of modern day torture is actually having to wake up and start work before 10 o’clock in the morning, something that affects an enormous amount of us.

Our bodies run on biological timers, known as our Circadian Rhythm. This is our body clock if you like, and it is a genetically pre-programmed cycle which regulates our brain activity, energy levels, hormone production and perception of time. By starting work before 10 am every day, we are scientifically torturing ourselves through unnaturally interfering with our Circadian Rhythm, thus throwing many aspects of our health out of balance.

Kelley says:

 “We cannot change our 24-hour rhythms. You cannot learn to get up at a certain time…your liver and your heart have different patterns and you’re asking them to shift two or three hours.”

How Did This Happen?

Introduced in the early 20th century, the 8 hour working day was designed around the maximisation of 24/7 factory productivity, not taking into account the natural human body clock. However, our ancient bodies evolved around the daily cycle of sunlight, not these modern day strategies of business and commerce! Dr Paul Kelley, speaking at the British Science Festival says:

 “We’ve got a sleep deprived society” and “This is an international issue. Everybody is suffering and they don’t have to.”

His idea was to move the start time of a school in Britain from 8.30 am to 10.00 am. Upon testing this theory at a chosen school, after a certain amount of time and a further wave of exams, he wasn’t surprised to see that the attendance levels had improved along with the general productivity of the school – and most importantly the students’ grades were up drastically.

If we were to transfer this idea into other sectors of society just think of the improvements. Instead of overtired, overworked, coffee intoxicated zombies working in the hours of the day when they should be sleeping, we would have a naturally productive, fully fledged, focused society of useful, happy people. The companies who are forcing their workers to start before 10 am are contributing to serious emotional and physical stresses felt by their employees and encouraging longer term adverse health risks as a result of these strict, unhealthy working patterns. These patterns could be a huge reason as to why the average American consumers over 3 cups of coffee every single day to try and keep themselves as alert as they possibly can. To put that into perspective, that’s 40 billion dollars a year – on coffee!

Source: Scientists Say That Starting Work Before 10am Is Similar To Torture

Big Pharma suffers another major blow as study debunks high cholesterol myths, admitting statins are totally worthless

*

*

This supports nearly 50 years of research confirming that cholesterol levels are totally unrelated to the risk of heart attack or stroke. See Why the Low Fat Diet Makes You Fat (and Gives You Heart Disease, Cancer and Tooth Decay)

YOUR PERCEPTION IS NOT REALITY

(NaturalNews) It’s been a tough few weeks for Big Pharma, as three major studies have now completely disproved the effectiveness of its most profitable drugs. Last week, a huge study published in The Lancet admitted that the risks of antidepressants in children and teens far outweigh the benefits, as the drugs routinely increase suicidal behavior. Out of 14 antidepressants, only one was shown to improve depression better than the placebo.

Now, scientists are reporting that cholesterol drugs, which 15 million Americans are prescribed, are also completely worthless. A group of international researchers published a study in the BMJ Open journal that found no link between what’s known as “bad” cholesterol and death as a result of heart disease in individuals over 60 years of age.

In fact, the results found that 92 percent of people with high cholesterol actually lived longer. The best way to achieve and maintain good…

View original post 63 more words

The Revolution Will Not Be Funded

 

By Zig Zag

It’s time to liberate activists from the nonprofit industrial complex

Excerpts from the book The Revolution Will Not Be Funded

The nonprofit system has tamed a generation of activists. They’ve traded in grand visions of social change for salaries and stationery; given up recruiting people to the cause in favor of writing grant proposals and wooing foundations; and ceded control of their movements to business executives in boardrooms.

This argument—that reformers have morphed into cogs in the nonprofit industrial complex—is explained and explored in the fiery anthology The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex, edited by the INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence collective (South End, 2007).

One piece of the puzzle: “Foundations provide tax shelters for wealthy families and thereby take away tax income that could be used for social programs and entitlements,” Andrea J. Ritchie, an INCITE! member, told Make/shift. “And then [the foundations] dole out little bits of money for nonprofits to replace the services that the government no longer funds.”

The book brings together 21 experienced radical activists to explore the shortcomings of nonprofits as movement makers . . .

 

Source: The Revolution Will Not Be Funded