PURE COMMUNISM AND PURE FREE ENTERPRISE

WHICH IS WORSE? I DON’T KNOW, IN THEIR PURE FORM ONE IS JUST AS BAD AS THE OTHER

My grandfather who was illiterate until his thirties when my grandmother who was a Columbia University graduate taught him how to read and write used to say that “Communism is very attractive when you see it written down on paper; but when put into practice it is an utter failure…why? Because it kills man’s incentive”

And a very wise man he was good old grandpa. When I think of the free enterprise system I think that it is ten times more desirable than communism. But when I see it at work in its purest form I can’t help but conclude that it is also an utter failure.

We have warned everyone about this time and time again and people don’t seem to listen. So I am going to repeat it time and time again until I am blue in the face: “THE FREE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM IS THE BEST ECONOMIC SYSTEM THERE IS BUT IT HAS TO HAVE REGULATIONS” Why? Because greed has no conscience and the whole system will collapse under its own devices when given free reign.

I like to know if the Koch brothers for example in their exclusive private schools were taught ECONOMICS 101. Or if Murdoch even went to college. We know people like Sarah Palin had very little formal education; neither did Christine O’Donnell and Rand Paul, well he studied the human eye…so how could we possibly trust any of these people to govern our country? How could we possibly have given a man like Ronald Reagan the reigns of power when the premise he held dearest was that “GOVERNMENT IS THE PROBLEM” How can you govern when you start with that premise?

We have seen but a sample, a small sample of what can happen when you eliminate regulations and permit the system to operate freely without any government intervention. We had a taste of it…a very bitter taste of it during the Great Depression America suffered. We had but a small reminder; a “sampler” if you will of what can happen when the Free Enterprise System runs unchecked in the 2008 Economic Crisis.

Yet, there are those TEA BAG-REPUBLICANS who are trying to convince us and sell us a bill of goods. “LESS GOVERNMENT, LESS REGULATIONS, TAX INCENTIVES FOR THE RICH AND CORPORATIONS and sadly, a tired, old, debunked economic concept: “TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS”.

I have but one observation for the very rich and the corporations: You keep this shit up and your wealth will disappear. Why? Because when a rigid oligarchy is well established there will be no economic activity and thus no profits. So you might as well pack it up and take whatever millions you have left after the next Wall Street crash and the following economic crisis and go to another country because America is not going to be a very pleasant place to live…not even for you in your isolated mansions and secured gated communities.

My favourite village in the Western Himalaya - Sidhbari

Sidhbari, Himachal Pradesh looking at the Dhaula Dhar mountains. Photo: Bob McKerrow

Over the years I have visited Sidhbari at many times and I am planning to go back in mid-November.
My first visit in July 2003 left a huge imprssion on me, so much that I have been back eight times. Here is what I wrote in my diary:

I got back Tuesday night from Sidhbari in Himachal Pradesh where one of my friends, Anuj Bahri, (bookseller and publisher) has a house overlooking the Dhaula Dhar mountains, Norbulinka Tibetan Institute, Gyuto Monastery and only 30 minutes from Dharamsala and 50 minutes from McLeod Ganj. A very famous Hindu temple is nearby on a river bank and not far away is the Chinmaya Mission Trust where Swami Chinmayananda, a very enlightened Swami, lived until his death.

Anuj's house also overlooks a spread-eagled slate-roofed village surrounded by beautifully sculptured rice fields on sickle-shaped terraces. Women in bright coloured clothing often or not yellow and red, work in the fields.


Anuj's house in Sidhbari. Fresh snow has just fallen on the Dhaula Dar mountains. Photo: Bob McKerrow

It was fun to travel and live with Anuj for a few days in an Indian village where you have the 'real local village people' living side by side with 'the pretenders' - artists, writers and other interesting people who have left big city life behind to come to the tranquillity of this green, fertile mountain region to write, paint and find the 'truth,' or to get screwed up in thought and mind by not finding it.

But like every house in India, you need a Bamri: cook, watchman and bottle washer, who brings a character of Baldrick proportions into the household. A Sad Sack figure with sallow cheeks and missing teeth, looking as if he is in the advanced stages of TB. However Anuj assures me he is not ill, but has made a skeleton of himself through his regular encounters with local village women who cheat him of his hard-earned money, with the promise of marriage. His first wife deserted him and the proposed second, ran away with his money. Now he is on the prowl for a third.

Bamri; bumbling, clumsy and likeable, brought a sense of humour that only a hill village man can do.

The day after I arrived I met Rikhy Ram who worked 26 years in the Indian army intelligence service as a photographer on border patrols and spent most of his time in the mountain region of Bhutan, Sikkim, North Eastern Indian border areas and these local mountains.



 Rikhy Ram right, me on the left, studying maps of the region Photo: Anuj Bahri

On 8 and 9 March 1959 Rikhy was in Tawang Gompa when the 14th Dalai Lama crossed from Tibet into Arunchal Pradesh via Bhimla. He was part of the group that ensured the team crossed safely. I later found out that the 6th Dalai Lama was born in Tawang Gompa which is now inside India and not far from the border of Bhutan.

He later spent 3 years on the Tibetan border between 1973 and 75. He climbed 3 peaks in Bhutan, Chomolasari, 23,997 feet, not far from Phari Dzong, which is across the border in Tibet, He also did the first ascent of two other smaller peaks, Kungphu 22,300 ft, Chachiphula 20,702 ft(formerly called Yala) and Wagyala (20, 163 ft).

It seems his work was intelligence of a sort, or as I would say in my parlance the 'modern great gamer'; checking the borders between the Tibet/China and Bhutan and India, getting good photographic information. In later life he worked in Himachal Pradesh in the Pir Panjal and Dhuala Dhar, mapping mountains on foot and through aerial surveys. Interestingly enough, he was in the Congo from 61 to 63 and was a member of the search and rescue mission which helped bring the body of Dag Hammarskjöld, the then Secretary of the UN, from Angola back to Leopoldville. He also spent four month in New York and I am sure he wasn't working for McDonald's although Kohli in his book 'Spies in the Himalayas' would believe this suggestion.

Anuj and I had lunch with Rikhy in his home where he lovingly brought out old and worn maps of all the areas he had worked in and the maps were neatly, and lovingly, made into a book, and all carefully arranged and numbered. The maps on Bhutan were particularly interesting with all the places he stayed and visited, the peaks he climbed and the routes he took, all neatly marked in red dotted lines.

As he unfolded the maps, he unfolded his past locked in his heart and mind for years. Sharing journey's with a fellow mountain wayfarer over a map doesn't need a common verbal language because maps and markings tell a story visually. Remnants of curries and dahl had in mountain camps were evident by the stains on the map which only added to the inuendo behind the intrigue. I am sure no one will ever know precisely what Riky did. Maybe he didn't know exactly the nature of his missions, planned in Lurgan Sahib's house in Shimla.



The Dhaula Dhar mountains dominate

Not far from Anuj's house lives Khosa and his wife Lakshmi, a famous Indian artist, A Kashmiri pandit, whose painting represent the journey and transition from this life to the metaphysical and he gets a lot of his inspiration from the Upanishards,(sp) early Hindu literature and Rumi the famous Islamic Sufi poet. Anuj's immediate neighbour is a Gorkha, Onkar, whose grandparents moved from Nepal to Himachal Pradesh. On the first night we arrived an impromptu party started as Onkar arrived, then Khosa. At first Onkar turned up at his nose at the wine I had brought, saying "that's a woman's drink, we drink whiskey or rum here."

But as the night wore on, there were lots of empty bottles of the "women's drink" I had brought from my local wine shop in Delhi as Khosa drifted into a spirit-inspired trance where in front of our eyes, he made a transition journey to the metavinacal, a journey even Bachhus would have envied. In his trance, we couldn't communicate with him and Anuj had to escort him home to ensure night-flying Nun's from the nearby Tibetan Monastery, didn't capture his Hindu spirit.

We spent one day going to Dharamsala and onto McLeod Ganj where the Dalai Lama lives. Dharamsala is a typical dirty hill town but once you leave the town, and climb up towards McLeod Ganj, the landscape becomes quite spectacular when looking down to the lowland rice fields shrouded in morning mists, and then upwards, nestled on a tree-clad ridge at over 7,000 feet, is McLeod Ganj, the residence of the 14 th Dali Lama. We spent time at the Tsuglagkhung complex where the Dalai lama lives, visited the temple, watched the monks in their daily debating contests and generally imbibed the ambiance. For a head of state, a people who are exiled in a foreign country, the Tibetan's have established a powerful cultural and economic presence in this area.

However, I made the mistake of visiting the Norbulinka Monastry the day before which is a superb piece of Tibetan architecture, with a Japanese Buddhist influence which gives an air of tranquillity stemming from a combination of elements, the gardens and its trees, waterfalls, streams and the sky and recent rain puddles, and, at the end of a shady walk, is a wonderful temple with a huge golden Buddha. A photo of the Dalai Lama is placed over a covered pulpit from where he delivers sermons when he visits. The elevated situation of McLeod Ganj was impressive, but I found little of inspiration. Norbulinka radiated more of the aura I had expected.

Other interesting places close to Anuj's house in Sidhbari is a place called YOL, which stands for 'Your Own Lines' and was the place where Italian prisoners of war were transported to during the second world war. You can still see they houses build out of stone. Another special place not far from McLeod Ganj is a small English-built church called ' St John of the Wilderness.' It was built in 1853 and many famous soldiers, explorers and surveyors are buried here. James Bruce, Earl of and Elgin and Kilcardine K.T.G.C.B.G.M.S.I. VICEROY AND GOVERNOR GENERAL OF INDIA was buried here and a memorial erected by his wife.




























Throughout Himachal Pradesh, the women are usually dressed in bright colours. Photo: Bob McKerrow

A number of other young British soldiers in once bloody, now romantic battles of a past long gone, have either commemoration tablets of graves. One that I recall was Lieutenant R.D.Angelo 'who died at Wano, Wazirstan 30 November 1894 of wounds he received in action against the Mahsuds.' (I am sure many of their descendants are still rabble-rousers)

It took me back to the lines from Kipling

'A scrimmage in a border station -

A canter down some dark defile -

Two thousand pounds of education

Drops to a ten-rupee jezail -

The Crammer's boast, the Squadron's pride,' Shot like a rabbit in a ride !


As I have worked, trekked and climbed in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India, I am fascinated by the mountain river systems. With partition, these mighty rivers had international boundaries pushed on them. Punjab - the land of five rivers were originally referred to as the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej and Beas, but with partition, the Beas flows only in India, so to keep the name Punjab correct, Pakistan added a fifth river to replace the Beas, the Indus. I have crossed the Indus, Jhelum, Chenab and the Ravi, so it was a thrill to travel for more than an hour alongside one of the main tributaries to the Beas River, and to cross it twice to and from my trip to Sidhbari.

NICKY GRAHAM ASKS "WILLIE NELSON, WHO IS HE"?

"Who IS he? Who IS this man? He was at Glastonbury this year. When he came on stage there was a huge cheer. Why?"
I asked a cheering girl standing next to me. "Who is he"?
She said she didn't know. I wondered if the adoration was contagious. Perhaps it's a viral thing?


We see him turn up on American chat shows, soap operas and reality shows. He always plays himself and they worship him. In the USA it seems he's more popular than God, he certainly seems old enough....but WHY?
"What DOES he do"?
OK, he's old, maybe that's why I don't know him. I asked my mum. "This man must have been around a long time, who IS he"?
She had no idea, neither did my nan.
"Is he a singer, a dancer, an actor, What"?
I showed his image around and nobody else seemed to know him. I did get a lead from a friend who is a film buff. He told me this guy had small parts in "The Dukes of Hazzard!" and "Wag the dog", where he sang a stupid song about a pair of old boots. That's hardly Oscar winning stuff though, is it.
I looked him up on Wikipedia. It says that he is a living legend, "Does that mean that it's his statue on the column in Trafalgar square"?
I was thoroughly confused and I asked my agent "Who IS he and what DOES he do?
I didn't understand his answer, he said "Nicky, he's just like you, but he's better at it than you, he's world famous"
"Why is he famous?"
"Because he's on TV".
"Why is he on TV".
"Because he's famous".
"Why is he famous"?.............................................

Jeremy Rifkin: Spooky Dude #3

If there were ever a man who was part of the Illuminati, Jeremy Rifkin surely is. I say that because I have been reading a couple of his books, one written in the late 1970s, the other in the early 80s. The ideas put forth in these books are now being implemented. Glenn Beck calls George Soros a "spooky dude," but Rifkin has to be a close third, with Henry Kissinger being #2.

I first learned about Rifkin from Constance Cumbey's book A Planned Deception: The Staging of a New Age 'Messiah.' She said that he was a New Ager who was interviewed by Pat Robertson on the 700 Club, and promoted Rifkin's book. Cumbey wrote that "Robertson praised Rifkin's Entropy unpublished manuscript," which was part of a Bantam New Age book series. It examined the concept of a Year of Jubilee which Rifkin's viewed as "fundamental redistribution of wealth."  Cumbey stated that "One way Rifkin says we will have the moral courage to make this changeover or voluntary redistribution of wealth is through a new metaphysical orientation - a new world view."

Rifkin's new worldview called for voluntary poverty, simplicity, communal sharing, a reduction in the world's population, etc. When this interview was originally broadcasted, she said it didn't appeal to the CBN or TBN crowd, being heavy into the wealth and prosperity doctrine. The fact is that he has a goal of changing the world's economic system to facilitate the coming paradigm shift.

Rifkin has become the principal architect of the Third Industrial Revolution. This is based on the premise that we are at the end of the Industrial Age, which has caused our earth to run out of natural resources. It is a long-term economic sustainability plan to address the challenge of the global economic crisis, energy security, and climate change. It will be a Green Industrial Revolution. Remember these books were written over 30 years ago.

As you may know, apocalyptic prophecies are a common theme in mind control cultism. His vision of an approaching collapse of civilization has been in the making for a while. He also spoke about a “transformation.”  The word was used to describe a planned, intentional “Second Reformation” (now called “New Apostolic Reformation”). An early proposal for a “Second Protestant Reformation” appeared in The Emerging Order. He wrote that it "could provide the kind of liberating force that could topple the prevailing ethos and provide a bridge to the next age of history."  It was as though it were a blueprint for the Evangelical movement.

I you are new to my blog, 

"The New Apostolic Reformation is a movement in Protestant Christianity largely associated with the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. The basic thesis asserts that God is restoring the lost offices of church governance, namely the offices of Prophet and Apostle. The New Apostolic Reformation has Pentecostal and Charismatic origins, with those traditions' interpretations of the nature of the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit within a believer. Unlike mainstream Protestant Christianity, these include the performance of miracles (such as healing), prophecy, and the direct revelation of Christ to each believer.

Although the movement regards the Church as the true body of saved believers, as most Evangelical Protestants do, it differs from the broader Protestant tradition in its view on the nature of church leadership, specifically the doctrine of Five-Fold Ministry, which is based upon a non-traditional interpretation of Ephesians 4:11."[1]

Who is Jeremy Rifkin?

Jeremy Rifkin is founder and president of the Foundation On Economic Trends, an American economist, writer, public speaker, political advisor and activist. Rifkin's work explores the impact of scientific and technological changes on the economy, the workforce, society, and the environment. He is an intellectual thinker and is a futurist.

He holds a degree in international affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Jeremy Rifkin is the founder and chairperson of the Third Industrial Revolution Global CEO Business Roundtable, comprising more than 100 of the world's leading renewable energy companies, construction companies, architectural firms, real estate companies, IT companies, power and utility companies, and transport and logistics companies.

Now, this is where the rubber meets the road. Rifkin has advised both the European Commission and the European Parliament. He has also advised Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of Spain during its presidency of the European Union. Rifkin also served as an adviser to Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, Prime Minister Jose Socrates of Portugal, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, and Prime Minister Janez Janša of Slovenia, during their respective European Council Presidencies, on issues related to the economy, climate change, and energy security. [2]

Rifkin and his ideas are not without controversy. He is the author of seventeen books on the impact of scientific and technological changes on the economy, the workforce, society and the environment. He advocates a new type of economic thinking. His books have been translated into more than thirty languages and are used in hundreds of universities, corporations and government agencies around the world. Rifkin is one of the highest rated speakers on the international lecture circuit on the topics of globalization, sustainability and shifting to a new energy era and low-carbon economy. [3]

The following is a series of unrelated videos in Rifkin's own words. 

(YouTube link)

"It will mean nothing unless there is a change in will." What will be used to change our will?


(YouTube link)

Change through fear and mind control.


(YouTube link)

The Third Industrial Revolution

Rifkin has been quoted saying:

“We are on the cusp of a new energy era and a new economic paradigm that will literally “empower” hundreds of millions of human beings to create their own energy and share their surpluses with neighbors across regions, nations and continents. The democratization of energy gives rise to a new Distributed Energy Vision in the 21st century that will change our economic, cultural and political institutions as dramatically as the Enlightenment vision that accompanied the first industrial revolution two centuries ago.

According to Rifkin, “the same design principles and smart technologies that made possible the internet and vast “distributed” global communication networks, are just beginning to be used to reconfigure the world’s power grids so that people can produce renewable energy and share it peer-to-peer, just like they now produce and share information, creating a new, decentralized form of energy use.”

He says, “We need to envision a future in which millions of individuals can collect and produce locally generated renewable energy in their homes, offices, factories, and vehicles, store that energy in the form of hydrogen, and share their power generation with each other across a continent-wide intelligent intergrid.” [4]

Why are they doing this? They would say it will save the people who live on this planet, but it's all about money, power, and control.

OH, THE TANGLED WEBS WE WEAVE

WHEN LYING AND USING DECEIT, THE REPUBLICANS TAKE THE CAKE

We are finding out more about their tangled interwoven web of “secret” campaign contributions, how all these ultra-right wing persons and outlets are all tied together.

They claim to be “independent” that is not tied to the Republican Party and yet they all have very close ties with the GOP and communicate with one another.

Peter Overby and Andrea Seabrook in an article put it this way: “As for their independence: It would be illegal for them to coordinate their attacks with the candidates they're helping, or with Republican Party committees. But among themselves, they're proud of the way they synchronize their efforts.

"If one group puts an ad on television in a certain congressional district, they let everyone else know that," says Jonathan Collegio with American Crossroads. "This way they don't double up on the advertising."

Rove is of course deep into this conspiracy to undermine democracy

They might be able to get away with it this time but rest assured that once the American public learns of the extent and pervasiveness of this intertwined apparatus of political fund raising they will be so repulsed that I wouldn’t be surprised if there is some very definite legislation on the matter. Perhaps enough to counterweigh the Citizen’s United Supreme Court repugnant decision.

In my opinion they are nothing more than MONEY WHORES, trying to buy the government and pushing their askew and immoral agenda.

SOURCE: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130836771

REFERENCE: http://www.dailykos.com/

BGH decides in "Hartplatzhelden.de" case

The first civil senate of the German Bundesgerichtshof, which is, inter alia, responsible for competition law matters, decided yesterday in the "Hartplatzhelden.de" case (28 October 2010, case reference I ZR 60/09) that a football association has to accept it when video film clips of amateur football games held by its member clubs are made publicly accessible via the Internet. While the full decision has not been published, the court has issued a press release which is summarised below and which can be accessed by clicking here (in German). In case you wondered: Hartplatzhelden is German for hart court heroes...

On the its website "www.hartplatzhelden.de" the defendant operates an Internet portal that is financed by advertising. Users of the website can upload their on clips of amateur football games showing excerpts from such games that are up to 1 and 1.30 minutes long. Other Internet users can access and watch these videos free of charge. The claimant, the Württembergischer Fußballverband e.V. (the football association of Württemberg), which organises the football games, is of the view that it should have the exclusive commercial exploitation rights in relation to the games. As such, it asked the defendant to cease publication of the video clips and based its claim on 'misappropriation' ("unzulässige Leistungsübernahme"), anti-competitive obstruction and an unlawful interference with its right to an established and operative business ("Recht am eingerichteten und ausgeübten Gewerbebetrieb"). The Regional Court of Stuttgart (Landgericht Stuttgart) decided in favour of the claimant. On appeal, the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht Stuttgart) agreed but allowed a further appeal to the Bundesgerichtshof, Germany's highest court in civil matters.

The Bundesgerichtshof in turn denied an exclusive exploitation right of the football association of Württemberg and dismissed the claimant's case. The Bundesgerichtshof disagreed with the Higher Regional Court in some points and held that the publication of the video clips could not be considered as an unfair imitation of someone else's protected work (geschütztes Leistungsergebnis) in the sense of § 4 No. 9 letter b UWG (German Act of Unfair Competition). The court stressed that the claimant's work in the form of organising and executing football games also did not require this type of protection. The judges took the view that claimant could adequately ascertain its commercial exploitation of the football games held by its member clubs through prohibiting under its house rules (Hausrecht) that visitors make video recording of such games. Finally, the court also did not accept the claimant's further arguments concerning a exclusive exploitation right of sport associations.

The claimant, the Württembergischer Fußballverband e.V., has issued a press release on its website stating that it will wait for the full decision and the court's detailed reasoning before deciding how to proceed in the future as a "football family". Well, the association clearly appears to be a good sport about it... for now. Hartplatzhelden.de has also commented about the decision stating that they are "happy and relieved" and that it has been a tough game for them. This Kat can't help but whether the Württembergischer Fußballverband e.V. should perhaps just regard the short 1 minute fan videos as free advertisement for its games? Or is this a little naive of me? Thanks go to follow blogger Mark Schweizer... why do I think you may have a comment or two to make here....?

THE IMPORTANCE OF REAL NEUTRALITY

95 Bold Democrats make Net Neutrality an Election Issue!

by Forrest Brown

Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 12:26:44 PM PDT

In a year where Democrats are running from their records, I'm excited to report that 95 Bold Democrats together with the PCCC went on offense today announcing they'll fight to protect Net Neutrality.

As PCCC senior online campaigns director Jason Rosenbaum said this morning, this announcement is " the first time ever that congressional candidates have joined together to make net neutrality an election issue."

The media are already reporting on this news today. The candidates involved are asking the public to make clear that Internet freedom is important to voters by being a "citizen signer" of our joint candidate statement on Net Neutrality? Click here to see it and sign. (Please also donate to help pro-Net Neutrality candidates win next week. Chip in $3 here.)