The Assault on Our Rights

Have you ever heard of the Oath of Office taken by every person who becomes a public servant in our government?  It varies from office to office, but  the overall Oath is the same.  It goes a little like this: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."  Take note: This Oath does not say anything about solemnly swearing to "keep the American people safe and secure" or to "pursue and eradicate terrorism."  It plainly says "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."  Also conspicuously omitted: "The parts of the Constitution which I deem relevant."

Here are just a few examples of how our "leaders" are completely ignoring this solemn Oath:

• Signing of the National Defense Authorization Act, which permits indefinite detention of American citizens on American soil (a direct violation of Habeus Corpus and the Sixth Amendment), twice
• Creation a Presidential Kill List that has included American citizens, authorizing (and executing) their termination without any sort of trial by jury
• Authorizing the use of drones in American airspace, directly violating Americans' Fourth Amendment right to be free from "unreasonable searches and seizures"
• Extending the Patriot Act, which permits limitless and warrantless wiretapping of any American citizen's phone, another direct violation of the Fourth Amendment
• Relentless attempts at limiting Americans' right to bear arms[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
• Allowing the continuation of the NSA's collection of all phone records in America, a massively pervasive violation of the Fourth Amendment
• Using the IRS to silence conservative groups who would educate the public about their rights and the Constitution, a direct violation of the First Amendment
• Setting up unconstitutional checkpoints across America, blatantly violating the Fourth Amendment as well as the right to travel freely

It is in the name of "safety and security" that these (and many more) violations of our rights are being committed.  And there's a very good reason most Americans simply accept it.  It was Winston Churchill who said "Never let a good crisis go to waste."  Particularly since September 11, 2001, our leaders have held those words near and dear.  They use terrorist threats and attacks to justify stripping our liberties just as readily as they use domestic mass shootings (i.e. Sandy Hook), and they have even used natural disasters to confiscate legally owned firearms.

You may have heard the term "False Flag Terrorism."  This term was solidified by our own government using the (now declassified) "Operation Northwoods."  The basic premise behind this idea is as follows: One entity (i.e. the FBI) allows or stages an attack and makes it appear as though another entity (i.e. Osama Bin Laden led Al Qaeda) carried out the attack.  Generally, the motivation behind a false flag attack is to whip a certain group (i.e. the American people) into the "right" state of mind so that they will not only be willing to go to war, but clamoring for it.

While a willingness to go to war may have been the original idea behind false flag attacks, there is a mountain of evidence suggesting a willingness to give up essential liberty is the new objective.  There are two very different schools of thought about what really happened on September 11, 2001.  One is the official narrative we all know because it has been blasted out by the mainstream media.  Take the time to watch this Youtube video outlining the other, then make up your own mind on the matter.

"Those who would give up essential liberty to obtain some temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security."  -Benjamin Franklin

Know Your Rights

There is a growing epidemic in this country of a general lack of knowledge, particularly when it comes to the Bill of Rights.  Our schools no longer teach the importance of the Constitution and the civil liberties afforded us by the first Ten Amendments.  It is always important to understand your rights, but it is absolutely critical for the times in which we now live.  It is the duty of We the People to stand up to tyrannical behavior wherever it may show itself, but we cannot do this if we do not understand and stand on our rights.

It is also worth understanding that your rights end where the rights of another begin.  For example, while we may have freedom of speech, you are not free to create and speak lies to defame the character of another person.  Speaking truths, on the other hand, is completely protected.  Just be sure you can prove it.

Amendment I:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."  This means we have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, and freedom to petition the government.  When the government uses the power of the IRS to prevent groups with a certain political ideology (conservatives or anyone with "Patriot" or "Tea Party" in their name) from being heard in a public theater, it is a direct violation of the right to free speech.  When the Department of Justice seizes the phone records of the entire Associated Press, thus intimidating those reporters into silence on certain stories, it is a direct violation of the freedom of the press.  When the President mandates that you purchase health insurance that pays for abortions, it is a direct violation of freedom of religion.

Amendment II:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."  This right is important; it protects the rest.  The right to bear arms is in place not only as a defense against common criminals, but also as a last line of defense against a government that has been overrun by corruption.  If the People cannot peaceably petition the government and make or stop changes through the normal channels, a well armed population is the only thing that keeps a corrupt politician in check.  The recent gun grabbing hysteria that has been perpetrated by almost all levels of government has been nothing less than an all-out assault on this Amendment.  California Senator Dianne Feinstein is a prime example of an open oath-breaker: "If I could have gotten an outright ban - Mr. and Mrs. America, turn 'em all in - I would have done it."  Barack Obama has also broken every promise he has ever made about the Second Amendment and is pushing to strip as many gun rights as he can without crossing a dangerous line.

 Amendment III:

"No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law."  You rarely see this one violated, but there was recently a case in Nevada where a homeowner was arrested for not allowing police into his home so they could use it as a vantage point against his neighbor.  This was a clear violation of the Third Amendment.

Amendment IV:

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."  This comes down to one basic right: The right to privacy.  The Fourth Amendment means you are not required by law to consent to a random warrantless search of your backpack, car, or home.  You can politely decline: "I'm sorry officer, I don't consent to searches."  A figure of authority must have probable cause to search you for anything, and this includes information.  For example, if you come across an immigration or DUI checkpoint, you are literally not required by law to answer any questions or allow any agents to look through your vehicle.  Here's the magic question: "Am I being detained?"  If you are not - and you cannot be without probable cause - then by law, you are free to go.  Just be sure the checkpoint officers give you the go-ahead, or they will take your driving past as "fleeing the scene" and use it as probable cause.

Amendment V:

"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."  There are a few rights that come out of this: It must be a Grand Jury that indicts you for capital crimes, you cannot be charged twice for the same crime (double jeopardy), you are not required to incriminate yourself, and your rights cannot be arbitrarily revoked without a trial.  The IRS violates this amendment for every single tax paying American citizen every year: If you make even one mistake on your income tax return, you can be severely punished.  This is just one of the many reasons the Income Tax is illegal, as I covered in "1913: A Masterstroke Against Liberty."

Amendment VI:

"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence."  This Amendment grants the right to a trial by jury.  The trial by jury essentially ensures that one person in a position of power is not able to falsely convict you of a crime you may not have actually committed.  This is why it is the most sacred duty of a rank-and-file citizen to serve on a jury when called, and also why it is illegal for an employer to prevent you from serving jury duty.  Related to this: According to Article I, Section IX, Clause II of the Constitution, you cannot be detained indefinitely without being formally charged with a crime, even though Obama's NDAA says otherwise.

Amendment VII:

"In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law."  This allows civil cases (i.e. breach of contract, car accident) to be tried by a jury.

Amendment VIII:

"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."  When a man in California is sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for stealing merchandise worth a total of $153.54, the right to be protected against cruel and unusual punishment has been violated.

Amendment IX:

"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."  This means that the Bill of Rights is not an exhaustive list of rights afforded the individual, and other implicit rights are also protected.  For example, you have the right to the presumption of innocence as well as the right to travel freely.

Amendment X:

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."  This means that any power the Constitution does not explicitly grant to the federal government is reserved for the states or People to decide.  Examples include driver's licenses, marriage, voting, state taxes, worker's rights, and many more.  A Federal mandate that every American citizen must purchase health insurance without having put it to a vote by the People is a violation of the Tenth Amendment.

In America, we have seen a steady erosion of our rights.  The topic deserves its own article.  It is absolutely critical that you stand on your rights.  If you allow them to be violated, they will cease to hold their weight and eventually disappear.

The Dollar In Turmoil

In "1913: A Masterstroke Against Liberty," you learned about the fraud that is the federal income tax.  You learned that a private entity has the power to create unlimited money out of nothing.  You learned that, when compared to 1913, the dollar today is worth about 4 cents.  What you have not yet learned is the full extent of the damage the dollar has suffered and what is knocking on our front door as a result.

The choices our policy makers have made over the last several decades have taken us from a prosperous productive nation (circa WWII) to a poverty-ridden, crime-filled, government-dependent wasteland:

• Since January of 2009, America's manufacturing industry has laid off an average of 129,855 workers per month
• Last year, Detroit began proceedings to file for the largest municipal bankruptcy in history for debts totaling about $18 billion
• In California alone, 3 cities have successfully declared bankruptcy, and another 10 are on the verge
• Because they cannot afford to build more prisons, California is currently pushing criminals back onto the streets before they have served their full sentence under the Prisoner Realignment Program
• In 2001, there were just over 17 million people on food stamps - about 5.4% of the population.  Today, there are almost 47 million people on food stamps - about 15% of the population (or more than 1 in 6 people).  This is an increase of almost 300%
• Today, 4 out of every 5 Americans struggle with near-poverty, joblessness, or reliance on wellfare for at least part of their life

There are many more examples of the results of poor decision making by our leadership, and there is one common undercurrent running through all of these issues: The dollar is sick.

While the situation is bad for individual cities and states, it is far worse at the federal level.  At the time of this writing, our national debt is in excess of $17.5 trillion.  It is difficult to comprehend this number, so lets put it into perspective.  If you stacked 17 trillion one dollar bills on top of each other (not end-to-end), they would extend for 1,153,722 miles.  Yes, that is over one million miles.  Put another way, the US national debt could  make 2.4 round trips to the moon.  This must not be enough insanity: our leaders are - once again - working on raising the debt limit so they can borrow even more.  At this point, it has become a mathematical impossibility to repay the US national debt.

Currently, the US dollar is used as the worlds Reserve Currency.  This means that most other countries trade in dollars: If Japan wants to make an exchange of goods with Australia, Japan will first buy dollars, which they will then exchange for Australia's goods.  It has been this way since World War II.  However, because of the irresponsible treatment of the dollar by US leadership, many other countries are quickly moving away from the dollar as a medium of exchange, opting instead to trade in their own currencies.

This may not sound like such a big deal, but what will happen when the world no longer trades in dollars?  What will happen when other countries do not want our dollars, so they no longer buy our debt?  What will happen when the only source of additional dollars to fund our government is the money created by the Federal Reserve?  In short, the 2% per year inflation rates we have seen will become a bittersweet memory.  America will experience something that can only be described as Hyperstagflation.  We will wake up one day and find that a gallon of gas costs $50, a loaf of bread $75.  While our leaders could stop this by declaring bankruptcy and guiding the ensuing crash, they will not.

What will this mean?  Unfortunately, we live in a nation full of people who are struggling so hard to keep food on the table, they cannot pull their attention out of the endless cycle of bills.  They suffer from a perceived normalcy bias and vehemently refuse to accept that a collapse of this scale could happen.  Case in point: You can blast on the news, 24x7 for a week straight that we are going to have the worst storm in recorded history strike the East coast, and you still have people digging through dumpsters for food and physically assaulting each other over gasoline.  When the dollar collapses, it will be far worse than the aftermath of Katrina, and it will be on a national scale.  During the Great Depression, 80% of the population had access to a family farm, so very few people had to go hungry.  Today, only 2% of the population has this access.  If We the People do not adequately prepare, this will mean nothing less than the death of America as we know it.

We can get through this.  And when we do, the world can be a much better place to live.  But right now, it's time to prepare.  Get to know your neighbors and build a solid community.  Stock up on food with a long shelf life.  A year supply for you and your family is a great start.  Stocking up on heirloom seeds so you can grow more food is also a great idea.  The best deal I have found on these (and other survival) items is from www.mypatriotsupply.com.  It's also time to stock up on clean drinking water - at least 50 gallons - and a way to filter more.  Medical supplies are also needed.  Most importantly, it's time to stock up on protection.  There will be hundreds of millions of people who are trying to feed themselves and their children, and your survival will mean little to them.

There's a storm coming, and it's time to lay out the sand bags and board the windows before it hits.

1913: A Masterstroke Against Liberty

Today, it is generally understood that we have a Federal Reserve bank which creates much of the money our society uses.  It is also commonly known that we pay taxes to the IRS, mostly through direct wage garnishment and sometimes through a lump sum in April of each year.  A third tidbit of commonly accepted fact is that our money steadily loses a little bit of its value every year through inflation, and prices (and sometimes wages) rise to accommodate.  These things seem as normal to us as breathing, so most of us never stop to ask "Why?"  What if you found out that none of this is "normal?"  What if you learned the truth about the Federal Reserve, the income tax, and the abuses the dollar has seen?  What if you discovered that our money has been purposefully perverted to keep you always struggling to keep food on the table?  Would it stir you to action?  Lets find out.

It all started in 1913.  Up until that time, it was the Constitutionally enumerated power of our Congress "to coin money and regulate the value thereof" (US Constitution, Article I, Section VIII, Clause V).  Actually, since this was never amended, it is technically still the duty of Congress to do this, but they do not.  If I had to give one short opinion as to why that is, I would say "money."  Virtually everybody has a price tag, and the ones who control the money can always offer it.  Also up until that time, the American people did not have to pay a direct tax to the government.  Enough taxes were collected on import tariffs alone to fund the entire Federal government in their limited societal role.  But in 1913, everything was quietly changed.

There is nothing "federal" about the "Federal Reserve."

Despite what the name suggests, the Federal Reserve Bank is not a part of the Federal government.  They are a privately owned corporation who provides no open access to a full list of stakeholders.  The Federal Reserve Act was passed on December 23rd, 1913.  That's right: This history-changing piece of legislation was brought to a vote just before Christmas Eve, when 27 senators did not even get a vote because they were already home with their families.  It passed 43-25.  Because America abandoned the gold-backed standard to fund the Civil War in 1862, a private institution now has the limitless power to create new "Federal Reserve Notes" out of thin air.

The Income Tax is a lie.

If you were to ask an IRS official, they would tell you the IRS and income tax were authorized by the Sixteenth Amendment, which was enacted into law in February of 1913.  This amendment allowed the government to get around the part of the constitution that said "Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states..." (US Constitution, Article I, Section II, Clause III).  Apportioned means that everyone pays the exact same tax, which is not how the income tax works.  There are a few things they don't want you to know:

• The Sixteenth Amendment was never properly ratified by the States
• There is not a law in existence that requires you or I to pay a direct tax on our wages to the government; no IRS official will be able to produce one for you, but they will point to the Internal Revenue Code.  However, the very text of the code states that the tax is collected through "voluntary compliance"
• Even if the Sixteenth Amendment had been properly ratified, the Supreme Court has ruled that the Amendment "...conferred no new power of taxation" (Stanton v. Baltic Mining, 1916): In other words, if you weren't taxable before the Sixteenth, you aren't taxable after it
• The definition of "Income," was given by several Supreme Court cases to mean profits or gains, not the exchange of labor for wages (Oliver v. Halstead - 1955, Lucas v. Earl - 1930, Conner v. U.S. - 1969, Edwards v. Keith - 1916, Lauderdale Cemetary Assoc v. Matthews - 1946).  For example, if you bought a stock at $20 and sold it later for $50, your taxable income would be $30
• Requiring you to file your income tax returns violates your Fifth Amendment Right not to incriminate yourself: If you make even one mistake on that form, you can be severely punished

In short: The IRS has been illegally enforcing an unconstitutional tax from the get-go.  The only reason people pay  this tax and don't ask questions is because if they don't, there's a risk of the IRS showing up at your door with a squad of heavily armed soldiers and attack dogs, then taking everything you have.  This is tyranny at its worst.  As if this wasn't bad enough, there was an independent audit launched on the IRS formally known as The Grace Commission.  The final result?  "...100 percent of what is collected is absorbed solely by interest on the federal debt and by federal government contributions to transfer payments. In other words, all individual income tax revenues are gone before one nickel is spent on the services [that] taxpayers expect from their government."  This audit was performed in 1982, and not one of the recommendations that came out of it was acted on.

This has not gone unnoticed.  More and more court cases are being won by people who stand up for their rights.  If you ever find yourself sitting on a jury in a tax case, keep these things in mind while the judge is trying to get you to break out your pitchfork and torch.
 
Inflation: The hidden tax.

In its original form, the Federal Reserve had power to do little more than was already done by the free market system of money (let the demand for new dollars be met with a supply by decentralized banks).  This is because the original Federal Reserve Act placed strict limits on the amount of United States Treasury bonds it could buy: No more than $25 million per year.  In 1994, this limit was declared obsolete and has not been adhered to since.  Mind you, the Federal Reserve Act was never officially amended to correct this; the limit is simply ignored, much like the ever-moving "debt ceiling."  Today, the Federal Reserve is printing $85 billion per month and using it to purchase Treasury bonds.  This runaway printing of money has had disastrous consequences on the purchasing power of the dollar.  For every new dollar that is injected into the economy, the dollars you already have become just a little bit less valuable.  The Fed has a target rate of 2% inflation.  For some reason, Ben Bernanke deems anything less as bad for the economy.

This inflation effectively steals money from you.  In fact, inflation has stolen so much of our money that if you had $100 in 1913, today you would have only $4.  Why anybody thinks this is a good thing is beyond my comprehension, especially considering wages rarely rise to compensate for this theft.

The solution to cure this sick money is very simple, yet it will probably not be acted on: We need to return to a gold and silver-backed currency.  Until we do, all we hold in our accounts are little pieces of paper that only hold value because someone with power says they do.  Of course, you can also always opt out of the fiat money system by bartering with people to get the things you need.  This can be difficult, but not impossible if you know the right people.

Unfortunately, the damage our money has suffered cannot be overstated.  It requires its own article.

"Wake up, you idiots! Whatever made you think paper was so valuable?" -Kurt Vonnegut

To Those Who Disagree...

Good!  While I want to share what I know with you, and I do want you to take action on that knowledge, the last thing I want is for you to accept what I say as fact without a single question.  I try to be as accurate as possible in the information I give you, but you should still "trust but verify."    And if you have compelling evidence that contradicts what I say, I would absolutely love to hear about it.  If you disagree, start a dialogue. That is really my ultimate goal - to start a dialogue.  I've never learned anything from someone who agrees with everything I say, and I never will.

Of course, the second-to-last thing I want is for you to read what I say, put a label on it, and walk away without thinking on it further.  My objective in writing these articles is to get the gears in your head turning.  Again, the best thing that could come of you reading what I write is the beginning of a dialogue.  Lets talk about it.  If you vehemently disagree, that's even better: Odds are, there's a good reason for it and I could learn something from you!

If you know me personally and are worried you might offend me - don't.  The only thing that offends me is the willful choice to remain ignorant; a reasonless dismissal of valid facts that are in plain view.  I am not stuck in my ways.  My opinions change with new information. If you have good information that challenges one of my views, there is a very good chance my opinion on the matter will change.  That being said: I do easily recognize propaganda and misinformation; be prepared for me to come back at you with another source - and the dialogue will have begun!  In the end, if we can't come to an agreement, I am perfectly capable of agreeing to disagree and remaining friends.

This, I feel, is one of the major problems our society now faces: People don't engage in meaningful dialogue anymore.  I understand the reason for it, but this reason is completely invalid in the light of day.  Most people think that the thoughts and beliefs they hold represent who or what they are at their core.  As such, anything that threatens those beliefs is immediately dismissed or violently attacked for fear that who they are will be somehow diminished by the new information.  This is the ego talking, and it couldn't be further from the truth.  Who and what you are is infinitely more than the level of thought, but that is a whole other article.

The bottom line is this: If you disagree with me, lets talk about it!

Gun Control

 In this day and age, comparatively few law abiding  citizens choose to carry (or even own) a firearm.  It's easy to understand why: Having a weapon is a huge responsibility that could have disastrous and tragic consequences.  It also seems likely that a constant anti-gun agenda that has been blasted out by the mainstream media has played a part: Because of what they see on a regular basis, many people believe at their core that "guns are bad."

If someone bombs a building, do we blame the bomber or the bomb?  If someone stabs a person to death, do we blame the stabber or the knife?  If a motorist runs over a pedestrian on the sidewalk, do we blame the driver or the car?  Why is it that when someone loses their mind and shoots innocent people, we blame the gun?  Something tells me that if you were to load a gun and set it out, it would not get up and start killing people of its own volition.

People do not need guns to kill other people.  If you were to look at the crime statistics on fbi.gov, you would see that more people are killed every year by hands and feet than are killed by the dreaded "assault rifle."  Far more people are stabbed to death.  In fact, if you rule out the leading diseases (many of which can be attributed to genetically modified foods and chemicals) and unintentional injuries, the number one cause of unnatural death in the country - which kills twenty to forty times as many people each year as all firearms combined - is medical malpractice.  The bottom line is this: Guns do not kill people.  People kill people.

In 2011, there were about 11,500 total deaths attributed to guns in America.  Of those, about 325 were caused by an "assault" rifle (which, incidentally, is a misused and misleading term).  This means that an "assault" weapons ban would address less than 3% of the problem.  Every single year, it is estimated that anywhere from 800,000 to 2.5 million violent crimes are prevented by the legal use of firearms.  In other words, on the lowest end of the scale, nearly one hundred times more crime is prevented every single year by law abiding citizens than the total deaths caused by guns.  The argument for an assault weapons ban is disingenuous at best.

Lets say you don't agree with any of that and you still want guns to be banned and confiscated.  Getting all the guns off the streets would clearly curb violent crime, right?  You're forgetting one self-evident fact: by their very nature, criminals do not obey laws.  If every single law abiding person were to willingly disarm themselves, we would not see a reduction in violent crime.  History and current events prove that we would see the exact opposite.  Citing the fbi.gov statistics: Over the last 20 years in America, there has been a steady increase in gun ownership and a corresponding decrease in all crime.  The United Kingdom and Australia recently banned guns and they have seen increases of up to 40% in violent crime.

If you saw a gazelle being chased down by a cheetah in the Sahara desert, you would not argue that the gazelle should have to lay down and be eaten.  The argument that the gazelle should not use its horns and hooves to fight for its life simply cannot be made.  Gun control is akin to removing the gazelle's horns and expecting the cheetah to be less likely to attack it because it is now less able to defend itself.  It is a nonsensical argument that does not stand up to even the slightest bit of logic.

Gun Free zones are another example of how laws do not deter criminals.  On the day 26 innocent people were killed in Sandy Hook Elementary School, the shooter broke 41 different laws.  How would passing another law prevent this type of thing from happening?  Obviously, the shooter had no regard for the laws already on the books; what would breaking one more be to him?  What do you think would have happened that day if every single teacher in the school had been carrying a concealed weapon?  All mass shootings in recent history have happened in these "Criminal-Safe" zones.  Instituting a gun free zone is like advertising to a psychopath that there are fish in a barrel inside, just waiting to be terrorized.

Lets say that you still don't buy any of it.  Guns are still bad and you don't like them.  Okay, that's fine - don't own one.  But don't try to tell me that just because you don't want a gun, I can't have one either.  I don't tell you you're not allowed to have that Obama-Biden sticker on your car, do I?

Another issue to consider is the intent behind the Second Amendment.  This law was created at a time when severe government oppression from England prevented the colonists from so much as defending themselves against said oppression.  The Framers of the Constitution created this law so that a corrupt government would never again have a monopoly of power.  The Second Amendment exists as a last line of defense against an out-of-control government, which is exactly what we have today [1][2][3].

Even if you don't see where we are headed right now, you need only look at the history of gun control in the 20th century to understand why it's a bad idea to leave the monopoly of violence in the hands of a corruptible few:

Soviet Union: 1929 - 20 million dissidents exterminated
Turkey: 1915 - 1.5 million Armenians exterminated
Germany: 1938 - 13 million Jews (and others) exterminated
China: 1935 - 20 million dissidents exterminated
Uganda: 1970 - 300,000 Christians exterminated
Cambodia: 1956 - 1 million exterminated
20th Century Post-Gun Control deaths: 55,800,000

I'll leave you with this: Which sign would you rather a criminal see when considering entering your space?



















"Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." - Mao Zedong

Monsanto: A Corrupting Corporation at its Finest

Because of the phenomenally successful March Against Monsanto, almost all rank-and-file citizens in the country now at least know the term "GMO" and the name "Monsanto."  If you don't know what a GMO is and the risks they pose, check out my other article, You Are What You Eat.  What you may not be aware of is the lengths to which Monsanto has gone in order to seize control of both our democratic process and the global food supply.

Monsanto is an agricultural corporation that got its start by producing chemicals like the infamous and horrendous Agent Orange (which was used as a biological weapon in the Vietnam war and is still killing people today) and the pervasive Roundup weed killer.  As I had mentioned previously, Roundup itself has been directly linked to diabetes, autism, obesity, heart disease, cancer and more.

Monsanto is an organization that has proven, time and time again, that their corporate profits are far more important than trivial issues like the sanctity of human life and the health of the planet.  Here are a few quotes that demonstrate this in a nutshell:

"Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food...Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible.  Assuring its safety is the FDA's job."  -Phil Angell, Monsanto director of corporate communications

"Ultimately, it is the food producer who is responsible for assuring safety." -FDA

"The hope of the industry is that over time the market is so flooded [with GMOs] that there's nothing you can do about it.  You just sort of surrender." -Don Westfall, biotech industry consultant

"If you put a label on genetically engineered food you might as well put a skull and crossbones on it." - Norman Braksick, president of Asgrow Seed Co., a subsidiary of Monsanto

Look, we all want to make money.  I get it.  But genetically modified crops are largely untested for potential long-term consequences. Even the New York times is attacking Monsanto's "science" on GMO safety as a fraud.  More studies are regularly surfacing that prove GM foods cause cancer, massive organ failures, grotesque tumors, and early death.  Scientists who formerly spoke in favor of genetic modification have switched stances.  Thierry Vrain, a scientist whose job it was to reassure public groups that GM foods were safe now says "… I refute the claims of the biotechnology companies that their engineered crops yield more, that they require less pesticide applications, that they have no impact on the environment and of course that they are safe to eat."

Genetically modified foods can be summed up with one simple word: Poison.

With the legitimacy of GM foods up in the air, you would think that at the very least, there would be mandates in place that would require labeling of any food with genetically modified material in it.  Without labeling, the entire populace becomes unwitting lab rats in a massive GM experiment.  What you might be interested to learn is that not only is labeling not mandated anywhere in the United States, but also our own government officials have passed legislation critics call the Monsanto Protection Act.  In a nutshell, this legislation means that even if GM foods are found to be dangerously unsafe, production and distribution of the "food" cannot be halted by law.  This piece of legislation was quietly attached to the budget deal that was passed in March of this year.

Everything you have read so far demonstrates the symptoms of blatant systemic corruption in our government.  To the right is a list of 18 Monsanto personnel and their corresponding appointed positions in our government.  This is not acceptable.  This is something We the People must work to correct.

For the best advice on how to get involved, see my article "Fear nothing. Question everything. Stand up for your rights."  In this case, getting involved with or at least informed on the March Against Monsanto (linked above) is also a great start.  Beyond that: Talk to your friends and family.  Educate a complete stranger.  Attend and speak up at your local City Council meetings.  Write your representatives in government.  Make your voice heard.  You cannot count on your elected representatives to make this right on their own.  It's up to us.

“Control oil and you control nations; control food and you control the people.” -Henry Kissinger