El Conquistqdor Francisco de Orellana

El Conquistqdor Francisco de Orellana
The Conquistador who put the Amazaon baisn "on the map"....Francisco Orellana

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Keeping up with the news from the USA in Ecuador with Richard.....it does not sound good

rumors of wars…

Kerry promises $123 million to Syrian jihadists fighting Assad

In spite of Middle East experts and counterterrorism professionals advising government officials, including President Barack Obama, that many of the rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime are connected to terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and the Nusra Front, the U.S. State Department is preparing to fork over another $123 million in aid to those rebels, according to an official announcement on Saturday.
Edit.  On one hand government and media are tripping all over themselves to deny the reality of the Boston Terrorist Bombing of last week being related in any way to Islam or al-Qaeda, (who are officially classified by the State Department, DHS, and other government agencies as terrorists enemies of the US), yet on the other hand supporting this same group in the so-called Arab Spring of 2010 – 2013 and now in Syria.). Just like in these other uprisings, we are supporting our official enemies in overturning a sovereign government under Assad with financial and military aid to the terrorists. Why is that? Perhaps it serves the dual purpose of sculpting the world view to the new paradigm of an Israeli oriented Middle East, the Greater Israel, so to speak, not seen since the days of King Solomon; and also as a pretext to curtail our freedoms here at home and undermine the U.S. Constitution as just an outdated piece of paper.

Economics…

The Just-in-Time Consumer

"Consumers are saying, 'I'm going to buy what I need for a specific period of time,' rather than loading up and buying two or three extra units just because they can get a good price on it," says Richard Wolford, CEO of Del Monte Foods Co. He calls the phenomenon "need it now."
Edit.  Although this misleading article is rather old, (2010), I found it most interesting. Keep in mind that this was when the recession was but two years old. Most people who did not have firsthand, (or even second hand experience through their parents and grandparents), with the Great Depression of the 1930’s, were convinced, based on their own personal experience, that this was just the bottom of a cycle and that things would soon be normal again. Well, I’m here to tell ya’ that those days are over and done; and we now have a new normal of frugality. In fact, I would be so bold as to say that this Wall Street Journal article was a propaganda piece to get people to spend more. Remember back then the official party line was for consumers to once again jump on the merry-go-round of spend and consume, thereby jump starting the economy.
As proof that this was a propaganda piece look at the proliferation of wholesale stores / warehouse stores in the intervening years: Costco; Sam’s Club; and BJ’s for instance. Based on the article above one would think that these stores would go the way of the dodo, but such is not the case. Indeed, these stores are popping up like dandelions on a spring lawn all over the nation. Now one might say it is due to the large-family purchases, but the large American family has long since gone the way of the dodo so this could not account for the spread of the wholesale outlets. On the contrary, in the wake of disasters like hurricanes Katrina and most recently Sandy, most folks see the Achilles’s heel of the “just-in-time” distribution and inventory systems. Indeed, even the government is urging people to store and put-back basic goods for a minimum of three days need, (http://www.ready.gov/basic-disaster-supplies-kit). …and this was only a recent change because they used to urge a two week supply, while some State and local agencies still do.
One other aspect of the fallacious nature of this article is while the WSJ itself did not have any direct benefit of the “bailouts” of Wall Street, it directly serves the financial and investment communities which did receive the benefit so it behooved them to see the economic world through rose-colored, if not biased, glasses.
SO remember, folks, don’t always believe what you read in the media, even the mainstream media, as they are angling for the positions that serve them best. This also applies to the alternative media, that is, the Internet and shortwave radio contrarians, as they usually have a vested interest in selling you products to “offset the adversity” whether it be water filtration, gold, long term food stores, etc. Read, read, read, research, and prepare; that is the only way to ensure that you are temporally set for any adversity.

Health and Wellness: formerly called Emerging Illnesses (Pestilence)…

Psychiatry gone wild: One in five boys now being diagnosed with ADHD in America

It used to be that only a very small number of children, mostly boys, with severe behavioral problems were even considered as potential ADHD candidates. But today, even the slightest deviations from so-called normal behavior can land a child in the crosshairs of overzealous psychiatrists eager to dispense them the latest mind-numbing drugs.
Edit. Too easily our kids are being trapped in the lifetime pit of legal drug dependency in the earliest stages of life. Many parents still not being aware of the hyperactive effects of sugary cereals for breakfast, (as shocking as this may be), load their children up on highly refined sugar products for breakfast and send the kids off to school. Here the teacher either having a bad day or legitimately concerned by the hyperactivity as a direct result of the sugar recommends a psychological evaluation that most often results in prescribing dangerous psychotropic drugs to adjust mood and behavior. This oft misdiagnosis results in a lifespan dependency on risky drugs which not only harm the individual taking them but many times erupt into anti-social even dangerous behavior in public and private settings. This cycle is surprising since the class size today is not only limited but also the teachers today have the advantage of teacher’s assistants within the classrooms to maintain control of the students and classes.
Back in the day, Sister Timothy Mary, not only commanded the attention and respect of the student body, but also provided an atmosphere where real learning could take place. Sister Timothy Mary’s class size was usually between 45 to 60 students, which she handled alone, and within such classes you could hear a pin drop because the surroundings was so orderly. Obviously, something has changed for the worse. My instincts tell me that a large part of the misdiagnosis and overprescribing of drugs is a direct result of school systems receiving extra Federal dollars based on the number of students so diagnosed and incorporated into such special needs programs. A large part of the tragic Sandy Hook incident might possibly be attributed to this situation if investigated honestly without the agenda of “gun control” first and foremost in the thinking of both school and government administrations.

Let the men of wisdom speak…

The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways.   John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States of America
Edit.  Believe me I’m not in any way a fan of John Kennedy, (nor his decadent kin) because he publicly repudiated his Catholic Faith when running for President way back in 1960, but this quote does certainly ring true.
Unfortunately today the plight of the famer has been increasingly disparaged as many look down on those who work the land. Yet it is ironic that the food lifeline of the great cities and suburbs of our times are increasingly more reliant on fewer and fewer farmers for their sustenance. Obviously, consumers are completely oblivious to this dependency as they have been brought up on stereotypes of hillbilly, hayseed, gapped-tooth, and largely ignorant famers. Truth be told… farmers today are among the most educated and informed of professions.

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