Monday, February 27, 2012

What you didn't see on TV during the Oscars (AP)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]AP - Even the hundreds of photographers, TV cameras and webcams around the Hollywood & Highland Center can't capture every starry moment of Sunday's 84th annual Academy Awards.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120227/ap_on_en_mo/us_oscars_chatter

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Except for housing, Buffett is a bull among bulls

Anyone looking for more evidence of a strengthening U.S. economic recovery need only consider conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, where businesses ranging from railroads and electric utilities to furniture and candy stores are racking up record profits.

Even though Berkshire's Warren Buffett says with emphasis that the housing market is still in a depression, he was as upbeat as ever this weekend on the rest of the dozens of businesses he owns.

"Though housing-related businesses remain in the emergency room, most other businesses have left the hospital with their health fully restored," Buffett said on Saturday in his closely watched annual letter to shareholders.

Berkshire's five largest non-insurance businesses, all of them industrial in some way, posted record profits last year and should do the same this year, he said, surpassing $10 billion in combined earnings.

That being the case, Berkshire broke its own records for capital spending in 2011 by a wide margin and expects to do so again in 2012 - almost all of it domestically, even with the company's global footprint.

"About 95 percent of these outlays were made in the U.S., a fact that may surprise those who believe our country lacks investment opportunities. We welcome projects abroad, but expect the overwhelming majority of Berkshire's future capital commitments to be in America."

There are other big investments on tap, too. Buffett said his home-furnishings retailer, Nebraska Furniture Mart, bought a 433-acre parcel north of Dallas and will construct what it expects to be the highest volume store of its kind anywhere. He also forecast billions of dollars in spending on solar and wind energy projects.

Investors who have been with Buffett over the long term expected his optimism.

"That's not surprising," said Michael Yoshikami, CEO of Destination Wealth Management, in California, noting in particular Buffett's sense that the banking business is back in shape. "He's obviously a believer in the financial sector being a key to the overall economy."

Buffett sounded a similar tone in 2011.

"I don't see how anybody can be other than enthused about this country," Buffett told Berkshire shareholders last year at the company's annual meeting, even as the country was in the middle of a crisis over its debt ceiling and credit ratings.

Nonetheless, at this delicate stage in the U.S. economic recovery, his words carry weight, partly because of his successes over the years and partly from the sheer size and scope of Berkshire, which employees more than 270,000 people in nearly 80 businesses.

That gives him a view into many of the same factors policymakers consider when they try to figure out what to do next with the sluggish economy.

Federal Reserve officials have noted lately that while the economic recovery is tepid, there is sufficient evidence that things are picking up to warrant holding off on further stimulus measures.

Buffett's optimism is not confined to industry. He said that "the banking industry is back on its feet" and singled out two of his favorite investments, Wells Fargo and Bank of America.

Story: Newsflash: Sometimes even Buffett blows it

He also took a fair bit of space in the letter to call into question the value of bonds and commodities as investments, and to praise his own favorite category, "productive assets" like businesses and real estate.

"Ideally, these assets should have the ability in inflationary times to deliver output that will retain its purchasing-power value while requiring a minimum of new capital investment. Farms, real estate, and many businesses such as Coca-Cola, IBM and our own See's Candy meet that double-barreled test," he said.

If there is one sore spot, it is the housing market. A year ago, Buffett said he expected the housing sector to recover within a year or so. He acknowledged that call turned out "dead wrong."

Story: Berkshire IDs Buffett successor, not by name

Berkshire's five housing-related businesses were profitable the past two years, but at a level two-thirds less than they were in 2006. They have shed 26 percent of their staff over that time, more than 15,000 people in total.

As he has in the past, Buffett said the problem was an excess of supply and no one to soak it up. On Saturday, he proposed that lust, of all things, would solve the problem eventually.

"Every day we are creating more households than housing units. People may postpone hitching up during uncertain times, but eventually hormones take over. And while 'doubling-up' may be the initial reaction of some during a recession, living with in-laws can quickly lose its allure."

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46531282/ns/business-us_business/

day 26

Products In Criminal Defense Attorneys ? Insights : Kaleidos ...

An overview with regards to global criminal law and criminal defense lawyers is offered in this post. With regards to the law is involved, all particulars written within this write-up is imprecise in which visitors will be reminded this isn?t a legit legal document. In order to obtain precise as well as comprehensive data our recommendation is that you privately discuss with your lawyer in order to fix your difficulties.

Criminal Law Information

The association of the region and its members is being handled by criminal law. A criminal offense therefore is really a violation of the rules produced by the sovereign government. Criminal law codes or penal codes are set of rules and regulations put together by the us senate as well as the congress in order to govern the measures of its constituents. Criminal law codes or penal codes are laws and regulations being strictly enforced all over the world.

The superior expertise of the criminal attorney surrounds the innocence of the suspect. The presumption regarding innocence is definitely the principal purpose of criminal Defense attorneys. The end result of a criminal litigation is greatly determined by the expertise of a criminal Defense attorney at law. Criminal Defense legal professionals are the type of legal professionals which have been commonly labeled as ?immoral? since they have a obligation to defend the legal rights of the suspected criminal.

Criminal Attorney Information

If the law is breached, it is imperative that you consult with a California criminal law attorney for your complaint, particularly for your Defensive strategy. It?s easy to locate one using an California attorney search. Never tell all the details to the police directly. Lawyers have a wide array of specialization but in the presence of the court they are only seen as the criminal Defense and the prosecutor lawyer. Make sure you simply select the attorney at law who is an authority in your current situation because they will serve as a major element in pinpointing if justice that is being done or not.

Dont be ignorant about your rights. Dont let other people manipulate you just because you are the suspect. A proper trial will decide whether you are guilty or not and nothing else. Always call Defense lawyers immediately if such needs arise.

Trimming down so as removing completely criminal charges against a person is the specialization of Arizona criminal law attorney. They meet and address questions to anyone that may be related to your case including the police and other witnesses. Eliciting the positive response of witnesses to testify for the suspect is also a work related duty of a criminal Defense lawyer. Justice and equality of rights such as the right to fair trial are the principles that these lawyers are fighting for. Preparing the suspect in the court of law is one of the numerous objectives of a Defense lawyer.

Criminal Law Attorneys operating in the U.S.A.

An instance of a violation of international code is when a person does tremendous harm to other countries just like what Adolf Hitler, Osama bin Laden and other international criminals. All forms of terrorism that may enlarge to a war is the main objective to be prevented by international law codes. A few of the special agreements being done within intercontinental law are the safety of international personnel from one nation to a different one and also the prevention of other infractions regarding intercontinental laws.

Source: http://xn--kalidos-dya.com/?p=2584

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Sunday, February 26, 2012

Down to the wire in 2-man GOP race in Michigan

By KASIE HUNT and THOMAS BEAUMONT
Associated Press

FLINT, Mich. (AP) - Republican Mitt Romney fought Saturday to prove he is the strongest challenger to President Barack Obama, an increasingly difficult task given the tight race in his native state of Michigan against surging conservative Rick Santorum.

In the final weekend of campaigning before Tuesday's Michigan and Arizona primaries, Romney focused on central and southeast Michigan's urban and industrial centers in hopes of pulling ahead of Santorum.

With a Michigan victory, Santorum could solidify his place as a real threat to Romney heading into Super Tuesday, the 10-state sweepstakes on March 6. Santorum's victories so far have come in lower-turnout party caucuses.

While Romney kept most of his attention on the Democratic incumbent, he also worked to lay doubt about the core principles of his lightly funded main GOP rival.

Romney is the one facing stubborn doubts from some conservatives for his changed positions on social issues, but he tried to portray Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, as a Washington insider with cracks in his own conservative credentials. Santorum called such criticism "laughable" and said Michigan, where Romney was born and raised and his father was governor, was winnable.

A crowd in Lansing heard Romney accuse Santorum of caving to party leaders on issues he opposed, including financing Planned Parenthood.

"This is not time for lifelong pols who explain why they voted for this or that based on what they were asked to do by their fellow colleagues," Romney told about 300 activists gathered for breakfast at a country club. "I will be a president of principle."

Later in Flint, he declared himself a Washington, D.C., outsider and implied Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, is an insider: "I don't have any political payoffs I have to make."

Romney tried to undermine Santorum's profile as an abortion opponent by noting Santorum's backing in 1996 of fellow Pennsylvanian Arlen Specter in the GOP presidential race. "He supported the pro-choice candidate," Romney told more than 2,000 at a forum in Troy put on by a tea party umbrella group. Santorum spoke to the group, Americans for Prosperity, earlier Saturday.

Santorum, who has portrayed himself as a loyal conservative and is popular among evangelical conservatives, ridiculed Romney's claims.

"It is absolutely laughable to have a liberal governor of Massachusetts suggest that I am not a conservative," Santorum said to cheers to the same group. "He repeatedly gets up and says all these things that he didn't do that he did do. Folks, this is an issue of trust."

The volleys over principle and loyalty punctuate the all-out two-man race in Michigan, leaving behind the two others in the field. Both candidates are spending heavily on television advertising, although the better-funded Romney was laying out more.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul is hardly a factor in Michigan but is airing advertisements criticizing Santorum, which aids Romney. Paul was campaigning in Oklahoma earlier Saturday before making a stop at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was nowhere to be found in the state and has spent scant time in Arizona, which also holds its primary Tuesday.

Gingrich has acknowledged that he has no shot in Michigan or Arizona and has predicted Romney will win. Gingrich aides argue he stands to gain by Santorum or Romney coming out of Tuesday weaker.

Gingrich is betting heavily on Georgia, the state he represented in Congress, and a strong showing in Tennessee on March 6.

On Saturday Gingrich was in California for the state GOP convention. He forecast a drawn-out campaign that would give late-voting states a voice.

"There will not be any lockdown before we get to California," which holds its primary June 5, Gingrich said.

Romney campaigned across southern central and southeast Michigan, where his family name is familiar, and he reminded audiences of his ties to the state. Romney won the GOP primary here during his unsuccessful 2008 bid for the nomination.

In Lansing, the capital, Romney recalled his father's chilly winter inaugurals. Romney's wife, Ann, also born in Michigan, reminisced in introducing the candidate in Troy about growing up a Tigers baseball fan and working for her father's business in the Detroit suburb.

Polls show a dead heat between Romney and Santorum, who is playing up his family's blue-collar background as the grandson of a Pennsylvania coal-miner. "This race is close. This race is winnable. But you've got to want it," Santorum told tea party members in St. Clair Shores.

Romney's attacks are a potential problem for Santorum because he's based his candidacy on presenting himself as an uncompromising conservative, contrasting himself with Romney. The former Massachusetts governor has struggled at times to explain why he's changed his position on abortion and other issues.

Santorum compared the health care bill Romney signed in Massachusetts in 2006 with the one Obama signed in 2010. The federal program is wildly unpopular with conservatives.

"Are you going to vote for someone that says one thing one day anything else the next day that's necessary to win? Or are you going to vote for someone you trust?" Santorum asked the crowd in Troy.

Santorum later made a quick detour to Tennessee, a Super Tuesday state that's gotten much less attention, to speak at a tea party rally in a large church in Chattanooga.

In Tennessee, Santorum rebuked Romney for backing the Wall Street bailout. He acknowledged that he and Romney opposed the auto industry bailout, and said Romney was inconsistent.

"I didn't pick and choose based on who my friends are," Santorum said to loud applause. "These are the biggest issues of this race. And we need a candidate who isn't compromised on every single one of them."

Santorum called Obama "a snob" for saying every American child should be able to go to college.

"Why does Obama want everybody to go to college? So his liberal college professors can be indoctrinating people like he has," Santorum said, drawing a long ovation.

___

Associated Press writer Brian Bakst in Burlingame, Calif., Charles Babington in Chattanooga, Tenn., and Tim Martin in Mount Pleasant, Mich., contributed to this report.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.myfoxal.com/story/17017746/down-to-the-wire-in-2-man-gop-race-in-michigan

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Roles of Elder Law Attorneys | Immigration lawyer

How can elder-law-attorney help you?
The senior citizen of the US must have a support system they can rely upon when they are no longer part of active work force. The post retirement phase is particularly important as various legal works related to insurance coverage, pension plans, property, or personal matters has to be taken care of. Elder law attorneys can do a great deal of service when it comes to elderly people who generally suffer from one or the other form of age related ailments. Someone who wishes to hire an elder law attorney must do thorough research regarding the field of expertise of the attorney, someone thorough with the elder law can only help senior citizens resolve their issues.
How to choose elder-law-attorney?
? You should choose those elder law attorneys who have relevant knowledge and work experience in this field.
? Apart from legal practice the lawyer also should have passed qualifying examination that would certify him/her as elder lawyer.
Elder law attorney
? are certified by the Florida Bar, it signifies that he/she has required qualification and work experience in this field.
? Another organization, which certifies elder attorney, is the National Elder Law Foundation, the letter CELA would suggest that the attorney practices in the area of elder law and is competent to perform in this field. So, try to choose those attorneys who have credulity to prove their credentials.
Elder law- simplified
Elder law is a term that covers a particular area of legal practice, which specifically deals with the elderly people. It is a rapidly growing field with the population of elderly people steadily rises. Every society must have social network groups, which primarily focus on the needs and aspirations of the senior citizens. The elder law broadly deals in the following areas:
? Medicare claims and appeals.
? Transfer of assets
? Social security and disability claims
? Administration and management of trust and estates.
? Mortgage ,real estate deals
? Tax issues and landlord tenant issues.
? Elder abuse, fraud and discrimination.
In the civil society, the elders are often those who are not in active service, their needs and requirements are different from the rest. Those who work as elder law attorneys should be aware of it. Anyone who is practicing law can specialize in this area of law and must keep in mind the complication associated with the growing age of the clients. Health related issues are always there, such as nursing home, medical assistance.
The elder law mostly looks into the matters concerning the elder and their specific needs. Health and personal planning are part of it. It broadly includes the following aspects:
? Health and personal planning
? Life time planning and family matters
? Financial planning, and representation, housing opportunities, and tax matters
? Legal arrangements, in case, the client requires specific medical service
? Arrangements for nursing homes and insurance claims
Someone dealing with the elder law must be aware of the needs of the clients in wake of an age related illness or incapacitation.

Source: http://www.ukraine-consultant.com/roles-of-elder-law-attorneys.html

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Friday, February 24, 2012

Stylist Refuses to Cut New Mexico Governor's Hair Over Gay-Marriage Stance (Time.com)

It isn?t glitter-bombing, but it may be just as effective at getting attention for gay rights.

New Mexico Gov.?Susana Martinez, once reportedly shortlisted by Mitt Romney?s campaign as a possible veep (she says she wasn?t interested), fielded questions this week about a hair salon she hasn?t visited in months. The reason? Her former hairdresser,?Antonio Darden, said he refused to take an appointment by Martinez until she changed her stance on allowing gay couples to get married.

(PHOTOS:?A Visual History of the Gay Rights Movement)

?The governor?s aides called not too long ago, wanting another appointment to come in,? Darden, who is gay, said to local station KOB TV. ?Because of her stances and her views on this I told her aides no.??In a since-released voicemail that Darden made to Martinez?s office, he wondered why she wouldn?t?support a group that ?generates gross receipts taxes, owns businesses, homes and actually was a supporter of hers.?

The governor had a retort ready. ?I hadn?t gone back in ten months, so I guess that decision was made by me long ago,? Martinez said about making a hair appointment with Darden to?KOAT TV. Her office also told the local station that she didn?t know why the stylist called attention to the issue at this particular moment.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/time_rss/rss_time_us/httpnewsfeedtimecom20120223stylistrefusestocutnewmexicogovernorshairovergaymarriagestancexidrssnationyahoo/44635475/SIG=145st9lno/*http%3A//newsfeed.time.com/2012/02/23/stylist-refuses-to-cut-new-mexico-governors-hair-over-gay-marriage-stance/?xid=rss-nation-yahoo

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Ex-McAfee execs start security firm, CrowdStrike (Reuters)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Reuters - Two executives who left security software maker McAfee after Intel Corp bought the company last year have started a firm that is developing technology to help corporations and government agencies track down elusive hackers.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/software/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120223/wr_nm/us_security_startup

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Thursday, February 23, 2012

UN climate chief turns to CEOs for action (AP)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

FILE- U.N. climate official Christiana Figueres speaks during the climate conference in Durban, South Africa, in this file photo dated Monday, Nov 28, 2011. As governments bicker over who should do what to slow the pace of global warming, the U.N.'s climate chief Christiana Figueres told The Associated Press on Tuesday Feb. 21, 2012, that she is increasingly looking to worldwide business leaders to show the way forward and to turn the world towards a low-carbon future. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam, file)AP - As governments bicker over who should do what to slow the pace of global warming, the U.N.'s climate chief is increasingly looking to business leaders to show the way forward to a low-carbon future.


Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/environment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120222/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_un_climate_chief

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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

WriteAndCorrect.com ? Personalized Advancement: Your Guide To ...

Admitting that you desire some assistance in your daily life can often be difficult, whilst finding an excellent self-aid guide that can perform can be even tougher. There are plenty of possibilities on the market, how can you know which one?s are worthy of attempting? This short article will aid help you on the way to a self-support source of information that is right for you.

Make your work environment much better seeking. Build photographs of points and folks you cherish, bring plants and generally cheer up your quick work place. Finding the folks you love will motivate you, and beautifying your work place will make you feel better about operating to enable you to do your best.

Improve your production when you are a type individual inside the workplace. Each time a worker spends their time becoming mean with their co-workers and causing tension it inhibits the cabability to get work carried out. But getting positive in becoming sort and nice to types co-staff aids stay away from conflicts that waste time.

Get the right amount of snooze in order to prevent slowing downwards your own improvement system. All of us have a certain amount of sleep that is perfect for recharging and offering them every one of the vitality they need. Resting a lot less ? or more ? than this quantity can spoil the waking hrs. Try things out to get your perfect rest cycle.

You ought to have self confidence, even though an excessive amount of can be a difficulty! Your self-confidence within your potential, knowledge and value can motivate you to pay time establishing your greatest ally ? you! Your self confidence levels are absolutely essential to individual improvement achievement, so try sitting lower and composing out what attributes you are very pleased to have got.

Jot down your goals and post them somewhere visible. Using a composed record provide you with some thing to pay attention to when concentrating on your goals. It also may help you prioritize your targets to obtain them composed lower, as you can then focus on the most essential items on your checklist.

For those who have both a doctor plus a therapist, make certain that they may be on a single webpage. Your doctor along with your therapist do not necessarily must communicate with one another. You might however, want to always keep one abreast of the items another is performing together with you. It could stay away from later misunderstandings and problem.

As was mentioned at the start of this article, making use of self-support techniques and methods will help you to boost your identiity being an individual, improve levels of joy in your life and allow you to stay the life span that you have always imagined. Apply the self-assist advice included in this article and you will definitely be moving toward being a better particular person.

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Source: http://writeandcorrect.com/personalized-advancement-your-guide-to-staying-the-most-effective-you-will-be/

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'Angry Birds Space' Game to Blast Off with NASA Aboard (SPACE.com)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]SPACE.com - Heads up, universe: A flock of furious feathered fighters is coming your way.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20120221/sc_space/angrybirdsspacegametoblastoffwithnasaaboard

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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Are Patent Wars Good for America? | IPWatchdog.com | Patents ...


To hear some critics tell it, the explosion of patent suits in the smartphone industry is evidence of a patent system that is fundamentally ?broken,? at great cost to U.S. innovation.

Such histrionics, however, ignore one crucial but little known fact: throughout American history, the buying, selling, and litigating of patents has always been essential to U.S. economic success. Not only that, the truth is that today?s patent litigation rate is less than half what it was in the mid-19th century, a period widely-recognized as the ?golden age? of American innovation.

To appreciate the role played by patent trading and litigation in U.S. economic growth, remember that our patent system was the first in the world to unleash the innovative potential of ordinary citizens. To create this democratized patent system, the Founding Fathers deliberately designed it to facilitate the growth of patent trading markets. As economists Naomi Lamoreaux and Kenneth Sokoloff, two of most respected experts on early American invention, have noted,?the first U.S. patent law in 1790 was unique in the world for containing ?an explicit provision for the sale of patent rights [that] both the courts and the U.S. Patent Office acted to facilitate.?

Why facilitate the buying and selling of patents? Because doing so made it economically feasible for ordinary worker- or farmer-inventors without the capital to commercialize their own ?discoveries to still participate in invention, earning income instead by licensing or selling their patents to enterprises that could. This ability to license patent rights ? along with application fees that were less than 5 percent those in Britain ?turned inventing into a new career path for technically-creative citizens and sparked a huge surge of invention among the U.S. citizenry.

By 1865, the per capita patenting rate in the U.S. was triple that of Britain?s, and the vast majority of those citizen-inventors were what we now call ?non-practicing entities,? or NPEs, who licensed their patents to others to commercialize into new products. Indeed, patent and legal records from the 19th century indicate that more than two-thirds of the 160 so-called ?great inventors? of the Industrial Revolution ? including Thomas Edison ? were NPEs.

Their licensing activities were critical to U.S. industrial development. In the 1894 annual report of the American Bell Telephone Company, for example, the company reported that it had licensed 73 patents from outside inventors while developing only 12 inventions internally.

?The growth of market trade in patents raised the returns to invention and encouraged a division of labor whereby technologically-creative individuals increasingly specialized in their comparative advantage ? invention,? observed Lamoreaux and Sokoloff. ?It was the expanded opportunities to trade in patented technologies that enabled the independent inventors of this golden age to flourish ? and that stimulated the growth of inventive activity more generally.?

Just as with other property rights, of course, patents rights would be meaningless without the ability to enforce them in court. And throughout U.S. history, patent litigation has served to settle the disputed ownership of rights to critical new technologies ? the litigation between telephone inventors Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray being the most famous case in point ? and provide certainty regarding the value of such rights to entrepreneurs and investors alike.

But with the recent explosion of patent suits in the smartphone industry, where the lineup of litigants resembles a circular firing squad,?isn?t patent litigation now out of control?

Actually, the facts show otherwise. According to Lex Machina?s authoritative ?Database of U.S. Patent Litigation 2011,? the number of patent suits filed between 2001 and 2010 has held steady at less than 3,000 per year. Only about a hundred of these cases actually went to trial each year ? the exact same number that went to trial ten, 20, and even 30 years ago.

The evidence hardly suggests, therefore, that patent litigation is ?out of control? today. In fact, according to retired chief judge Paul Michel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the main court for patent appeals, ?It?s rather modest for a nation with two million active patents and hundreds of thousands of firms competing against each other.?

To put it in even broader historical context, the estimated 100 patent suits currently filed in the smartphone industry is actually less than one-fifth the number of suits filed during the first ?Telephone Wars? of Alexander Graham Bell?s time. Back then, the American Bell Telephone Company and its successor, AT&T, litigated a whopping 587 patent cases alone.

According to economist Zorina Khan, the recipient of the Alice Hanson Jones prize for outstanding work in North American economic history, the patent litigation rate in the mid-19th century ? defined as the number of patent suits filed during a decade divided by the number of patents issued in that decade ? reached 3.6 percent. In contrast, the litigation rate during the most recent decade of the 2000s was less than half that ? only 1.5 percent.

(Although the number of patent suits rose to 3,474 in 2011, a similar increase in patents issued last year leaves the litigation rate unchanged and still very modest by historical standards.)

But what about those patent litigants who file frivolous cases against deep-pocketed businesses in an effort to extort settlements? It?s true that the patent industry has a few actors who take advantage of the legal system to drive settlements, just as the personal injury field has its ambulance chasers and corporate law has its ?shareholder rights trolls.? But these few outliers are hardly the norm in the $500 billion annual global patent licensing trade. That?s the price we pay for a democratized legal system that allows everyone unfettered access to the courts.

In short, today?s smartphone patent wars are simply ?back to the future? when it comes to how disruptive new industries are developed. Every major technological and industrial breakthrough in U.S. history ? from the Industrial Revolution to the birth of the automobile and aircraft industries on up to today?s Internet and mobile communications revolutions ? has been accompanied by exactly the same surge in patenting, patent trading, and patent litigation that we see today in the smartphone business. This is how the rights to breakthrough new technologies have always been distributed to those best positioned to commercialize them ? to the benefit of the whole nation in terms of new jobs, new medical advances, and new products and services.

The secret of America?s success wasn?t simply due to some ?Yankee ingenuity? gene in our hereditary stock. It was also due to our unique patent system ? the first in the world to facilitate patent trading markets and provide unfettered access to the courts where patent disputes could be resolved for the benefit of inventors, entrepreneurs, and investors alike. This patent system helped the U.S. build the most successful economy in the history of the world.

[Editorial Note: This article was originally published by Forbes Magazine under the titled No, the Patent System is Not Broken, and is re-published here with the permission of Mr. Lustig.]

Source: http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2012/02/20/are-patent-wars-good-for-america/id=22341/

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This Is the First Solely Nvidia-Powered Smartphone [Phones]

While Nvidia is no stranger to the mobile computing game, until now it's only really been providing scraps of technology required to build mobile phones. ZTE, however, is about to launch the first entirely Nvidia-driven smartphone, and this is it. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/vGSb8-Fxs6U/this-is-the-first-solely-nvidia+powered-smartphone

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Monday, February 20, 2012

Why You Need Individual Vision Insurance - Collection Tips And Tricks

Where would we be today without our gift of sight? Of all the senses, sight is perhaps the most valuable, and the feeling that depend mostly. Binocular vision is one of the reasons for the rapid evolution and eventual domination of the human species on the planet. In other words, we owe much to our vision.

However, you can remember the last time you did before your eyes? Unlike bedtime, your eyes are in constant operation, and information. Few people even bother to consult an ophthalmologist regularly with eyes or adjust the controls did. Add to that the large amount of time that most of us spend in front of the television and computer, and you can easily understand why most people in the Western world are beginning to suffer from eye problems that reach its 20 years overdue.

One of the main reasons why people like me who do not have their eyes checked regularly is not financially. A visit to an eye specialist can be very expensive and getting glasses or contact lenses even further. In the current economic climate, it is not surprising that most people tend to ignore the health of your eyes.

Fortunately, there are many solutions to the cost of eye exams and eyeglasses or contact lenses to reduce. It is the best individual vision insurance.

In the vision of individual insurance is exactly what it sounds like - an insurance plan tailored to ensure that their eyes. A typical plan includes everything from regular visits to the eye doctor (ophthalmologist), glasses and contact lenses, and even major surgery such as LASIK or cataract.

On this day, when most of us have to spend long hours on the computer screen as part of our work, it is imperative that we take precautions to ensure that your eyes are healthy and at the same time, the cost of such. An insurance policy vision is closely related to a must-have, even if you have vision problems at the moment.

If more than one person in your family had eye problems, you can also buy an insurance plan of the view that the cost of government would reduce even further, providing adequate coverage for the whole family.

Source: http://koleksihack.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-you-need-individual-vision.html

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NYPD monitored Muslim students all over Northeast (AP)

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This Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012 photo shows a University at Buffalo sign on the campus in Buffalo, N.Y. The New York Police Department monitored Muslim college students far more broadly than previously known, at schools far beyond the city limits, including the University at Buffalo, the Ivy League colleges of Yale and the University of Pennsylvania, The Associated Press has learned. (AP Photo/David Duprey)AP - The New York Police Department monitored Muslim college students far more broadly than previously known, at schools far beyond the city limits, including the Ivy League colleges of Yale and the University of Pennsylvania, The Associated Press has learned.


Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120219/ap_on_re_us/us_nypd_intelligence

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Chakra meditation for you

There are numbers of people all around the world who are aware of meditation though they are unable to get appropriate results from meditation because of lower focus level. There should be a perfect level of focus or concentration of a person in order to get superb benefits from meditation. However, meditation can be improvised for several major aspects. It can be performed to get relaxation in life and one will be able to get reduction of stress as well with. There are many other benefits which can also be attained with unique kinds of meditation. The Holistic health of a person can also be balanced with ease if you are going to improvise chakra meditation.

This is a special kind of meditation in which you will be able to get a proper level of mental and emotional stability in your life. You will be able to get superb results in your life with it and it will be much easier for you to get rid of most of your major problems with the assistance of chakra meditation.

If you are aware of meditation and its various techniques then you can surely improvise chakra meditation with ease and there will be superb results for you in no time due to this special kind of meditation. One of the most important aspects regarding meditation for chakras is finding proper level of focus. This really is important to improvise a perfect level of concentration and to get desired results with ease.

If you are unable to get good focus in meditation for chakras then it is a possibility that you would not be able to get perfect results. You really have to make sure that you are going to get yourself in such situation which will allow you to improvise a perfect life with ease and it can be done with meditation for chakras.

There are several other benefits as well which are linked with it and you can surely get these benefits to stabilize your life with excellence and according to your expectations. Emotions play a vital role in the life of a person and one need to ensure that his emotions are well in control and there is a proper stability of emotions.

There should be good mental stability as well along with emotional stability of a person as this can be really helpful for a person in his life. Psychological aspects and physical aspects are also included in it and it has been highly recommended that one must look to balance all of them instead going for a single aspect. Meditation for chakras can surely help an individual to balance all of them with ease so that life can go on in a proper way. You will be able to feel a massive change in your life and you will come to know that most of your problems are diminishing with ease even without doing something really extraordinary.

Source: http://health.ezinemark.com/chakra-meditation-for-you-7d34177803d5.html

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Empire's Double-Edged Sword: Global Military + NGOs ...

In the mid-1800s, Thailand (then the Kingdom of Siam) was surrounded on all sides by colonized nations, and, in turn, was made to concede to

. See how many of these "gunboat policy" imposed concessions sound like today's "economic liberalization:"

1. Siam granted extraterritoriality to British subjects.
2. British could trade freely in all seaports and reside permanently in Bangkok.
3. British could buy and rent property in Bangkok.
4. British subjects could travel freely in the interior with passes provided by the consul.
5. Import and export duties were capped at 3%, except the duty-free opium and bullion.
6. British merchants were to be allowed to buy and sell directly with individual Siamese.


A more contemporary example would be the outright military conquest of Iraq and Paul Bremer's (CFR) economic reformation of the broken state. The Economist enumerates the neo-colonial "economic liberalization" of Iraq in a piece entitled, "Let's all go to the yard sale: If it all works out, Iraq will be a capitalist's dream:"

1. 100% ownership of Iraqi assets.
2. Full repatriation of profits.
3. Equal legal standing with local firms.
4. Foreign banks allowed to operate or buy into local banks.
5. Income and corporate taxes capped at 15%.
6. Universal tariffs slashed to 5%.

Nomenclatures aside, nothing has changed since 1855 as far as imperialist "wish-lists" go. The Economist argued, as would any 18-19th century imperialist, that Iraq needed foreign expertise to catch up, justifying the evisceration of their national sovereignty and the foreign stewardship (theft) of their resources. Unlike Siam, Iraq refused to concede to the "gunboats" of modern-day Wall Street & London.? Subsequently, as the British often did during the "glory days" of the empire, they made good on their threats.


Image: The Anglo-Zulu War. Causus belli -- diamonds & imperial expansion.

And just as the British did when they found diamonds beneath Zululand during the late-1800s, spurring them to invent a causus belli to justify the destruction of the Zulu Kingdom, the schemers of modern-day global imperialism likewise invented a dubious pretext to invade Iraq before commencing its plundering.


Image: Anglo-Zulu War. Mission accomplished. The city of Ulandi burns and the British go about dividing Zululand into 14 chiefdoms led by compliant, obedient proxies. The British took great care to cultivate rivalries between the 14 chiefdoms to ensure they would never again unite and challenge British hegemonic ambitions throughout the region.
At the conclusion of the Anglo-Zulu War, the British despoiled Zululand, divided it into 14 separate cheifdoms, each led by a proxy obedient to the British Empire. The British ensured that these 14 cheifdoms harbored animosities toward one another by fostering petty infighting between them to ensure that British interests would never again be challenged by a unified Zulu threat. Today we see what seems to be the "accidental" consequences of military interventions leading to vicious, protracted fighting, and, in some cases, civil wars in Iraq, now in Libya (which also had a direct proxy installed as PM), Pakistan where plans exist to literally carve up the nation Zululand-style, and Syria. These are not accidental but intentional. Divide and conquer is a classic military stratagem that has not escaped the interests and attention of Wall Street & London.

Video: Dwight D. Eisenhower exit speech on January 17, 1961, warning us of the military industrial complex.


Video: Iraq For Sale. Remember that military industrial complex President Dwight Eisenhower warned America about? The ultimate bottom line with the Iraq War was that it should never have been fought in the first place.
If people can study history and see today's events as simply the relabeled repeating of what empire has been doing for centuries, the public as a whole will be less likely to go along with what is in reality an exploitative, murderous crime spree of global proportions -- merely sold to us as justified intervention. One need only look at how Iraq has been despoiled and the profits that have been garnered by Fortune 500 corporations, while soldiers and Iraqis alike pay the price with their minds, bodies, blood, futile destinies, and lives.?

Part II: British Imperial Administration (proto-NGOs)

A book of invaluable use in understanding British imperial administration is Colonial Georgia: A Study in British Imperial Policy in the Eighteenth Century. Published by the University of Georgia Press and written by Trevor Reese, it successfully endeavored to illustrate "practically every facet of British colonial policy" using Georgia as a case study.

The colony of Georgia, in what is now the southern United States, was founded by what is essentially a proto-NGO -- and in this case an organization dedicated to "prison reform." What it really did, was assess suitable prisoners in London who could be sent to Georgia to fulfill the needs of the Crown. Beginning as the "Associates of Dr. Bray" and later becoming the "Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America," or simply the Georgia Trustees, it encapsulates perfectly the use of noble-intentioned networkers to exploit human tragedy for the benefit of the elite.


Image: One face of the Georgia Trustee's seal. It featured the Latin motto, "Non Sibi Sed Aliis" which means, "Not for self, but for others." Truly a proto-NGO, a "system administrator." The significance of the mulberry leaf, the silkworm, and the cocoon? The silk that Britain's new colony of Georgia was going to export to London to enrich the empire. "For others" indeed.

While many may argue that prisoners in London were better off being shipped to Georgia, the underlying point is the dictation of one's destiny for the benefit of another, regardless of whether or not such exploitation were to result in a thriving new life in Georgia, or death defending British expansion in the New World. The same cost/benefit analysis could also be made for slavery, but done so in spite of its essential immorality.

Protestantism for England was also a precursor to modern day NGOs. Religious denominations were divided directly along political lines in 18th-century Europe, and when shiploads of Protestants were sent to Georgia, so followed the political networks they represented. Again, noble-intentions were, and to this day are in the forefront of many devoted to these political functionaries, and much good has been done in their names. Ultimately, however, the purpose of each empire's church was to establish a bottom-up network of people who believed they were fulfilling noble, higher intentions, when in reality they were simply serving the elite of their respective empires. Unfortunately, despite the noble intentions and great works of many of these people, when the time came for the Crown to use these networks for less than noble causes, organizational indoctrination was used to marshal men to it. And just like modern NGOs today, Protestant organizations interfaced with and supported directly the primary regional administrators -- in Georgia's case, the Georgia Trustees.

In Reese's book, he even notes on page 21, "in sanctioning the Georgia project the British Government was not motivated by any such charitable intentions as inspired the Trustees. The Ministry was not much interested in the plight of insolvent and unemployed debtors, but it was concerned about the defense of the empire." Similarly today, NGOs have truly dedicated people "inspired" as the "Trustees" were, but ultimately they are carrying water for their sponsors, who almost always end up being George Soros, the OCED, the US State Department's National Endowment for Democracy, and other purveyors of global corporate-fascist imperialism. The British Empire's interests in Georgia were economic, while the ruse used to fill and administer the colony was altruistic.

Another key characteristic to imperialism is keeping subjects dependent. Reese offers on page 27, "the danger of these [private or charter provinces] lay in the scope they provided for the construction of independent authorities, and this was contradictory to the whole principle of colonization." This, within the context of mercantilism -- essentially the exportation of raw materials from the colonies, which would be refined in Europe, and then imported back into the colonies as manufactured goods -- meant servile dependency, both politically and economically; despite the fact that even then, many features of "democracy" could be found throughout the colonies. Today's concept of "free-trade" agreements ensure that resources, manufacturing, refinement, and consumption are equally interdependent on a global scale; despite the fact that technology now exists to make any state or province, let alone nation, fully independent economically.


Image: Despite the good intentions, the religious causes, and loyalty to the crown, the ultimate destination of all these good intentions wrought was the "Board of Trade" which managed the unending flow of wealth out of Britain's colonies and into London.

Like NGOs of today, the administrative networks that made up the British Empire were in many cases entirely dependent on grants from London, as local contributions were almost never adequate. Reese notes on page 39, "constant need of money made the Trustees permanently dependent on Parliament, without whose support their colony could not be maintained." The British Empire maintained a careful balancing act to ensure that its networks received enough resources to fulfill their purpose, but never enough to become independent. Financial policy conformed to imperial standards; and while local policy was set by local administrators, it interlocked with the Board of Trade back in London -- just as local NGOs now interlock with international organizations in accordance to rule and norms defined by international institutions.

Reese quotes Vincent Harlow in his epilogue, who said of Georgia's eventual independence from Great Britain: "men's minds indeed conceive new thoughts and plan new projects, but out of ancient thinking and under potent influence of long-established characteristics."

Part III: Re-imagining Imperialism for the 21st Century

We already have seen some examples of how imperialism is very much alive and well. We also saw how imperialism was implemented by the British, but how exactly is it being implemented today? And why are people willingly going along with it?

Video: Thomas Barnett describes the building of an army of "system administrators" (aka civil society) to expand into "peace spaces" while US global military conquers "battle spaces." Soros' Revenue Watch along with the National Endowment for Democracy have created just such an army of NGOs. And just as soldiers witlessly promote imperialism believing they are fighting for "freedom," these NGOs expand Wall Street and London's global hegemony, believing they are promoting "human rights."

The term "system administrators" was used by US military strategist Thomas Barnett before a cackling audience at a 2008 TED Talk titled, "The Pentagon's New Map for War & Peace." At about 18 minutes into his talk he begins explaining a concept of reforming the military into two separate forces, the "US enabled Leviathan force" and the "system administrators."

One takes down the existing networks of targeted nations through air campaigns, special operations, or invasions, and consists of military assets including armor, fighters and bombers. The other consists of system administrators who then build upon the ashes left by the "Leviathan force" or the chaos sown by a foreign-backed destabilization. The system administrators consist of everything from NGOs, international organizations, and contractors, to civil affairs officers (psychological warfare), and when necessary, soldiers and Marines.

Barnett warns that if anyone attempts to interfere with the construction of the West's "system administrator" networks, the "Marines are going to come over and kill you." This perhaps resembles what British garrisons did to tamp down dissatisfaction amongst their colonies.


Image: The Boston Massacre. Resistors to the "system administrators" beware; try to stop them and "the Marines are going to come over and kill you."

The talk was given in 2008, and already we see solid steps being taken to expand and utilize just such a force. Barnett said of the special operations "trigger pullers" that he wanted the rules to be "as loose as possible." Just recently, the Corbett Report and Media Monarchy reported the expanded role proposed for "elite" military forces. Admiral William McRaven of Special Operations Command was said to be seeking "more autonomy to position his forces and their war-fighting equipment where intelligence and global events indicate they are most needed."


Video: Special Operations Command is looking for more "autonomy" in deploying where "intelligence and global events indicate they are most needed." This "loosening of rules" was part of building the double edged sword of neo-imperial conquest, the global army & system administrators.

Additionally, between 2008 and 2011 before the outbreak of the Arab Spring, the US State Department and its network of global facilitators embarked on a campaign to raise a literal army of NGOs and opposition groups to begin overthrowing governments and building the very global administration network Barnett presented at TED. It was just recently reported in, "Soros Big-Business Accountability Project Funded by Big-Business" that a similar army of NGOs is being mobilized to erect system administrators focused on managing the resources of targeted nations. Called Revenue Watch, and focused primarily on Africa and Southeast Asia it represents the "system administration" approach complimenting aggressive moves made by AFRICOM in Africa, and the declaration of America's "Pacific Century" in Asia.

It is quite clear that Barnett's proposal doesn't necessarily need the "US-enabled Leviathan force" to tear down targeted networks as seen in the US-funded Arab Spring. Fomenting unrest, up to and including armed insurrection, falls short of overt military intervention and utilizes assets Barnett described in the Leviathan force such as "trigger pulling" special operations, as well as civil affairs units, NGOs, and contractors from the system administration side.

In Libya, for example, NGOs and civil affairs advisers began the unrest in February of 2011 while weapons were covertly moved in to arm fighters to overthrow the Qaddafi government. International organizations like the ICC were used to poison public opinion against the Libyan government using information supplied to them from NGOs, while NATO began preparing for a full-scale air campaign. Once the bombing began, it was only a matter of incrementally increasing the torrent of special operations forces, arms, and other facilitators to fill in the void left by NATO's relentless air campaign. Thus the forces of Leviathan and the system administrators worked in tandem: one clearing a path through the old; the other building new networks to facilitate the installment of long-time US resident and Petroleum Institute chairman, Abdurrahim el-Keib, as PM.

In nations where military options like this are not an option and would be difficult if not impossible to ever justify, like Thailand for example, the full weight of Wall Street and London's support is thrown behind system administrators and suitable opposition movements that will make appropriate proxies if the targeted sovereign networks can be torn down.

In Thailand's case, that proxy is Thaksin Shinawatra, a former Carlyle Group adviser, and recipient of extensive US backing, including lobbying services from fellow Carlyle member James Baker and his firm Baker Botts, Bush's personal envoy to Iraq Robert Blackwill of Barbour Griffith & Rogers, and PNAC signatory Kenneth Adelman of Edelman. During Thaksin's term in office from 2001 until a coup ousted him in 2006, upon the eve of which he was literally reporting to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, he had committed Thai troops to the US invasion of Iraq and allowed the CIA to use Thailand for its abhorrent rendition program.

He now currently leads the forces of a "color revolution;" the stand-ins for Barnett's occupation force, since such a Western force is untenable. This included his documented use of armed militants in 2010 during an attempted insurrection. They are billed the "red shirts" or United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) and have met with Soros' Open Society-funded Human Rights Watch, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and the U.S.?ASEAN Business Council in an April 2011 Washington D.C. visit.

Image: It is clear that the NGOs and opposition movements which many believe are spontaneous, indigenous, and independent are in fact part of a larger network created for the sole purpose of imposing and maintaining global system administration. This is not a web of elaborate, vague associations. In each case there is a direct path of funding leading back to Western foundations and the think-tanks that devise policy for them; all funded and chaired by the Fortune 500 of Wall Street and London. (click image to enlarge)

There are also circles of academia being produced to support efforts to undermine and overthrow Thailand's sovereign indigenous networks, most notably "Nitirat" or the "Enlightened Jurists" whose audiences consist almost entirely of Thaksin's red shirts, and even included Thaksin's US-registered lobbyist, Robert Amsterdam sitting in the front row.

Finally there are the NGOs like propaganda outfit Prachatai, which receives hundreds of thousands of dollars per year from the US State Department via the National Endowment for Democracy, George Soros' Open Society, and USAID. NED also funds the Campaign Committee for Human Rights, the Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF), and the Environmental Litigation and Advocacy for the Wants. In addition to sharing the same foreign sponsors, each cross-posts the other's work; each signs petitions on the other's behalf; and each perpetuate identical agendas. While their mission statements claim to promote "freedom," "democracy," and "human rights," one cannot help but wonder how they reconcile the backgrounds of their sponsors and a web of interlocking "international" organizations, with the causes they allegedly promote and the work they actually carry out.


Image: Clearly there are "strings attached" to NGO Prachatai's funding from the National Endowment for Democracy and Freedom House who regularly contributes posts, support, and award nominations to the Thai "independent journalists." It is also clear how these same interests are involved in the support of Thaksin Shinawatra, the imperial proxy of choice for Thailand. (click image to enlarge)

The National Endowment for Democracy and its subsidiary Freedom House features boards of directors much resembling a revolving door, with current and former members of Congress, the US State Department, corporate lobbying firms, and corporate board members of some of the largest corporations on earth including Exxon, Boeing, Ford, and Goldman Sachs constantly shifting in and out of government, big-business, and NGO positions. They are, just as the British were, "not motivated by any such charitable intentions," such as those that inspire the well-intentioned people drawn into the cause of NGOs like Prachatai they fund.

Their hope is to eventually diminish the power and influence of Thailand's own indigenous networks by gradually building up the capacity of Wall Street & London's system administrators. Just like in the example of Georgia, ignorance and good intentions are used to swell the ranks of these networks; and, just like in Georgia, they are kept purposefully dependent on the constant and substantial support provided by Wall Street & London, as local contributions are almost never enough. And while many of these people may believe they are committed to a "higher cause," they are simply soldiers of another kind within an imperial system perfected over centuries of trial and error.

The activists on the ground may be of genuinely good-intentions, but surely there are some who realize the conflict between their stated mission and the insincere intentions of those funding them from abroad. Just like the army, this system of NGOs perpetuates itself on the ignorance of the general population -- of those drawn in by their good intentions to contribute to what they believe is a noble cause, and those throughout society who see these networks spreading across the planet with no idea of what their true purpose is.

Trevor Reese leaves us with one more relevant observation concerning the state of imperialism in the 18th century that still very much applies today:

In the Eighteenth century, colonial affairs were subsidiary issues in English political life; Sir John Seeley's dictum that the British people founded an empire in a fit of absence of mind is true in the sense that imperial expansion seldom commanded public attention. Although there were always a few critics in the country who expressed anti-imperialist sentiments and feared that the empire would ultimately escape from the control of the mother-country, they represented only a small minority. Generally, when people thought about the colonies, which was not often, they regard them with mild approval, and believe in the advantage of an empire even though they knew little about it.
In the same way, many people remain in the dark today about what Wall Street & London do overseas. While military interventions grab headlines and create a brief but confusing diversion for most, they are but mildly aware of the concept of NGOs, let alone how they work in tandem with the creeping war machine making its way from Tunisia to Thailand and everywhere in between.

While today's media is able to project images onto our perception of what an NGO is, with pictures of smiling Africans clutching bags of USAID rice, thriving wildlife, and sprouting, dew-covered seedlings, in reality it is a centralized operation built to tear down the old world, and replace it with a new one. It is a world that does not answer to its inhabitants for anything but the most superficial of levels; instead it answers to the people that rule over it -- the monied elite, ever present, with the most vicious among them feeding their competitors ruthlessly into their maw and gladly expanding into the place left at the table.?

Part IV: Empire's Weakness is Independence

Empires require subjects. Without subjects there is no empire. There is no fleet, there are no Marines, there are no imperial administrators. There are no laborers to gather and send resources back to be refined, no one to refine them in the factories and send them back, and surely no one to buy these manufactured goods when they arrive.

Empire prefers its subjects to be ignorant, easily manipulated, and indoctrinated in a manner that motivates them to reliably carry out their necessary function within the empire. Empire requires subjects who believe in the empire, and, most importantly, empire need subjects who are hopelessly dependent. It is no coincidence, then, that "independence" from England was declared in the? pursuit of freedom.


Image: By boycotting the British system, the Founding Fathers were already free and independent men by the time they signed the Declaration of Independence. The coming war would be to defend that freedom.

Before the great battles of the American Revolution took place, and the victory that followed, the Founding Fathers took it upon themselves to declare their independence not only by writ, but also by action. Our Founding Fathers ceased the import of British goods, they created their own monetary system, they assembled their own militias, and, most importantly, they formed their own government based upon their own values, not King George's self-interest.

This truly measurable independence turned out to be the key to their success; for independence is freedom, and freedom from tyranny is victory. The battle they fought was not one to free themselves; instead, it was fought to defend the freedom they had already achieved from the British system.

In "Naming Names: Your Real Government" a list of the most common, recurring corporate-financier interests, and the think-tanks they direct to create, promote, publish, and execute their policies was provided. The article concluded by stating:

These organizations represent the collective interests of the largest corporations on earth. They not only retain armies of policy wonks and researchers to articulate their agenda and form a consensus internally, but also use their massive accumulation of unwarranted influence in media, industry, [across a global network of NGOs,] and finance to manufacture a self-serving consensus internationally.
To believe that this corporate-financier oligarchy would subject their agenda and fate to the whims of the voting masses is naive at best. They have painstakingly ensured that no matter who gets into office -- in whichever country -- the guns, the oil, the wealth, and the power keep flowing perpetually into their own hands.

Video: Voting is not an option. Noam Chomsky in 1993 regarding NED: "It's about what you would expect from a bipartisan democracy campaign -- it's an attempt to impose what is called democracy, meaning rule by the rich and the powerful, without interference by the mob but within the framework of formal electoral procedures."

This is confirmed in a talk given by Noam Chomsky in 1993, where he stated about the National Endowment for Democracy's work, "it's an attempt to impose what is called democracy, meaning rule by the rich and the powerful, without interference by the mob but within the framework of formal electoral procedures." Quite clearly it is, along with Open Society, and the vast network of system administrators being built up across the planet working in witless tandem with NATO, building in the swath of destruction it leaves behind the homogeneous workings of a global corporate-financier-run empire.

If the world is indeed run by corporate-financier interests, and voting is not only futile but gives the population a false sense of security, what can we do instead to declare our independence from modern empire?

On a daily basis, across the planet, billions of people witlessly pay into this empire, buying their products, paying them their attention on diversions like TV, radio, and the movie theater.? And participating in systems, organizations, and causes that, like the "Georgia Trustees," may have started out working for prison reform, but ended up handing the empire another thriving colony to exploit. It is clear, then, that vast campaigning, elections, rallies, and protests are not necessary or even viable options in dismantling this system -- rather our daily decisions to boycott their corporations, pull the plug on our TVs, switch off the radio, leave the theaters empty -- refuse to recognize the legitimacy of corporate-backed institutions and organizations on both national and international levels.

Video: The Fab Lab. Turning consumers into producers with manufacturing technology, open source collaboration, and innovation. It also opens the doors for communities to work together and solve their own problems, rather than waiting for them to be solved by disingenuous elected representatives.

Instead, find local solutions, pursue self-sufficiency, self-reliance, and leverage technology to do for ourselves tomorrow what we depend on corporations to do for us today. We can start today, by simply "voting" local with our wallets, "voting" to read, watch, and listen to truly independent media instead of Hollywood -- or, better yet, by creating content ourselves.

The same could be said with the news. Stop humoring the professional liars on BBC who get caught in serial scams involving paid-for documentaries, biased reporting, and flat-out lying to their audience. There is a thriving alternative media that already proves the merits of doing more, doing better, and doing it all ourselves.

As was concluded in "The Real Revolution:"

They need us; we don?t need them. That?s the big secret. We get our freedom back as soon as we take back our responsibilities for food, water, security, the monetary system, power, and manufacturing; that is independence. Independence is freedom, freedom is independence. We?ll never be free as long as we depend on the Fortune 500 for our survival.

Fixing these problems unfolding overseas starts with fixing the problems in our own backyards. Boycott the globalists, cut off their support, undermine their system, and they lose their ability to commit these atrocities. That will be a real revolution, and it can start today. Not through burning cities and masked rebels waving flags, but through communities no longer dependent and fueling a corrupt system we all know must come to an end.


Source: http://www.blacklistednews.com/Empire's_Double-Edged_Sword%3A_Global_Military_+_NGOs/18018/0/38/38/Y/M.html

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Sunday, February 19, 2012

North Korea threatens retaliation over South's war games (Reuters)

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The art group members at the Mangyongdae Schoolchildren's Palace put up a performance to mark the birth anniversary of North Korea's late leader Kim Jong-Il in Pyongyang February 17, 2012 in this picture released by the North's KCNA on Friday. February 16, 2012 was the 70th birthday of the late leader Kim Jong-Il.          REUTERS/KCNA (NORTH KOREA - Tags: ANNIVERSARY SOCIETY) THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. NOT FOR USE BY REUTERS THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTORSReuters - North Korea warned South Korea on Sunday that it would shell islands close to their disputed sea border if the South violates its territorial waters during a military drill reported to begin in the Yellow Sea this week.


Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/nkorea/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120219/wl_nm/us_korea_north

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