HUD Secretary Jackson: P.O.S.

Long live the Yes Men! Read this slap in the face to the American people and learn well from it...

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"In the wake of Katrina, HUD has collaborated with large private developers in tearing down public housing, despite a dire need for it."

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HUD Secretary Jackson Announces New Direction for Agency
HUD Retraction

01:00 AM CDT
TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2006

FRAUDSTERS DUPE NAGIN, BLANCO, EXECUTIVES, CNN;
GROSSLY MISREPRESENT HUD, DoE, WAL-MART, EXXON POSITIONS;
SPAWN FALSE HOPES AMONG BLACKS

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/08/28/hud.hoax/
False announcement in full: http://www.hano.us/falsehopes.html
Video of false announcement: http://www.hano.us/hudsmall.mpg

An irresponsible, unemployed, middle-class huckster posed as an assistant to HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson and insinuated himself into a Gulf Coast Reconstruction Conference yesterday.

Speaking alongside New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, the poorly-coiffed scofflaw announced that HUD was reopening all public housing in New Orleans to former residents.

"It is terribly sad that someone would perpetrate such a cruel hoax and play on the fears and anxieties of families who are desperate to return to their homes," said HUD spokesperson Donna White. (http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr06-neworleansph.cfm)

"We are destroying those homes for good reason," White continued. "It is terribly sad that some people can't understand that. That lack of understanding speaks for the low level of government education in this country."

HUD would like to make the following points perfectly clear once and for all:

* HUD will NOT refrain from demolishing 5000 units of undamaged public housing simply because they are undamaged.


* HUD will NOT let people come home simply because they want to, are part of the city, and constitute a much-needed workforce.


* HUD is NOT encouraging Wal-Mart to withdraw from low-income neighborhoods in order to "stanch" the flow of money out of these neighborhoods, nor does it prefer "local" businesses.


* There is NO partnership between HUD, health departments and the CDC to provide adequate health care to low-income residents.


* A national tax base for public schools is NOT on the horizon of HUD or the Department of Education. U.S. public schools will continue to be funded from local taxes, which will continue to mean commensurate and proportionate levels of funding for schools in rich and poor neighborhoods. HUD does NOT believe equality of opportunity must begin in grade one, but believes it is a far more flexible concept.


* Also, Exxon has asked HUD to make clear that it will NOT pay \$8.6 billion from its \$35 billion in profits this year to close down the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet and otherwise repair the damage caused by the oil industry to the natural protections surrounding New Orleans.

These are all lies, monstrously cruel, generative of oceans of false hopes and sadness.

The cruelty of fostering false hopes among a population long victimized by U.S. government policies is unfathomable. Virginia L., a would-be resident of the St. Bernard housing project, expressed her disappointment succinctly. "George W. Bush lives in public housing," she said. "Why don't they evict him?"

A contractor was equally critical. "I'm not angry at them for pulling this joke, I'm angry that it's not for real." (See video.)

May God afflict the perpetrators of this cruel hoax with all the varieties of damage they so amply deserve.

Media Contacts:

Donna M. White
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
451 7th Street S.W., Washington, DC 20410
202-708-0980

Rene Oswin
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
451 7th Street S.W., Washington, DC 20410
r_oswin@hano.us

Weather Report - Birdland

One of my all-time favorite examples of human manipulation of the movement of atmospheric molecules...

here is the fabuluously fabulous old band Weather Report playing Birdland, featuring the amazing Jaco Pastorius and Joe Zawinul.

48 Year-Old Blogger Has Gone 9 Years Without Spending Money

Wow, this dude's got cojones grandes!

As it states in the article below, not many people at all would have either the conviction or the courage to give up everything our technological and consumption-based society has given us, as we've known nothing else, it's ingrained into us from birth, but it is a wonderful story of personal commitment.

It is possible, you know, if you've been paying attention, that the future just may necessitate such a life for us... that's probably well down the road, though, I'm reasonably certain.

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48 Year-Old Blogger Has Gone 9 Years Without Spending Money
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 10.5.09
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/10/48-year-old-blogger-gone-9-years-without-money.php - click for 100+ comments!!!

Daniel Suelo wasn't poor, a victim of bad luck, mentally ill, or even uneducated. He just decided that he wanted to have nothing to do with money. So he gave up consumer culture altogether, and for the last 9 years, he's survived by living in a cave in Utah, and dumpster diving, foraging, fishing, and occasionally hunting for food. He spends his time in the great outdoors--and in the public library, where he blogs about it all.

Suelo must have the lowest carbon footprint of any blogger in the United States. And he's never taken food stamps or other government assistance, and despite what his lifestyle may lead you to believe, he's certainly not crazy. He's just got an aversion to money.

According to MatadorChange, he was working in South America when he was first moved to consider a money-free, zero impact lifestyle:

While in Ecuador on a Peace Corps mission, he witnessed a rural community acquire increased monetary wealth through farming and shift their traditional lifestyle towards a diet of unhealthy, processed food and a newfound addiction to television ... He made the conscious decision to return home, quit his job, and carve out a life without money.

Suelo himself writes "I've been living without a cent to my name since the autumn of 2000 (with a month's exception during my first year)" on the front page of the website he runs from the public library.

It's interesting to look at Suelo's nearly decade-long dedication to anti-consumerism in contrast to the recent 'eco-stunts' that essentially promote similar ideals: sure, No Impact Man learned how hard it is to walk up six flights of stairs to get to his apartment for a year, but he he got a film and book deal out of it. Suelo's got no cameras following him around, and he mostly just uses his blog to wax poetic about his living philosophy.

Of course, few would be willing to take such a plunge into a moneyless, ultra-low impact life. But simply knowing that Suelo has should be enough to make us think a long hard minute about all the stuff we heedlessly buy. Reverend Billy may be the head of the Church of Stop Shopping, but Daniel Suelo is its patron saint.

Greenwich police respond to 'UFO' sighting

Naturally I missed this event that took place right in my hometown... less than a handful of miles away... typical. But then again, my fate is to miss out on everything life has to offer, so... I guess it's just a status quo situation.

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Greenwich police respond to 'UFO' sighting
By Debra Friedman
STAFF WRITER - Greenwich Time
Posted: 09/28/2009 08:52:45 PM EDT

GREENWICH -- It wasn't a bird, a plane or Superman, but residents of downtown Greenwich thought a myriad of lights in the sky just may have been an unidentified flying object passing overhead Saturday night.

The bright, moving lights in the sky caused several people to call police to report a possible UFO sighting. Some reports indicated there had been 30 to 40 individual lights glowing in the night sky.

The questions prompted police to send two marine officers to investigate the sighting.

However, it didn't take long for police to determine the possible extraterrestrial sighting was actually a bunch of "genuine oriental sky lanterns" being set off at a birthday party taking place on Steamboat Road.

Officer Dennis O'Donnell said it didn't take much work to figure out what was going on.

"We got our binoculars and looked down," said O'Donnell. "We went down and spoke to the homeowner. We didn't want to ruin their fun."

O'Donnell said while the lanterns were legal, the amount of distress caused by the sightings caused them to ask the homeowner to keep the lanterns, which are like mini hot-air balloons, to a minimum.

Lt. Daniel Allen said several calls had been received about the lights.
The bizarre sighting sparked discussion on town blogs where bystanders at the town's teen center had sent in anonymous pictures.

Walter Urda, a town resident, said he saw the lights and while he didn't think it was a UFO, he said it was hard to believe they were lanterns because of how fast they were moving. "These were being propelled," said Urda. "If it was an air current, the balloons would have been very lethargically moving along."

Urda said the "intense" orange lights were traveling in pairs, and sometimes threesomes. Urda estimates he saw 30 to 40 go by.

"They kind of disappeared into the clouds all at the same spot," said Urda. "I was standing there in total amazement."

Urda said he thought the lights may have been the exhaust of fighter jets moving at a slow pace, or perhaps a strange sort of natural phenomenon.

However, police said they were confident the sightings were from the Chinese lanterns. "The wind was due out of the south, which caused them to have some velocity," said O'Donnell. "They are perfectly legal and biodegradable."

Allen said while it is rare to have calls for UFO sightings in town, it does happen.
"Obviously this particular accident was alarming to a number of people so they called to determine exactly what was going on," said Allen.

Vital "Health"care Information - Must See - Soonest

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Watch this informative video. It will help you in your decision-making.

Well, for all our sakes, and this means you, it better!

No lies presented herein.

Harrass your local boot-licking lackey, er, I mean, "Representative."

Thanks.

Peace. Out.

[Hat tip to Mick Farren for the lead]

The State of the Peace Process on World Peace Day

I learned that today is, apparently, World Peace Day, so I thought I'd post this picture of life in Gaza for a little kid, who looked at the Nazi-emulating IDF occupation forces the wrong way. Now, I'll bet you, he's off to have some organs removed for the lucrative and illegal market that these occupiers have mastered.

The force, nor the country in general, for that matter, just doesn't seem to think that there's anything even remotely wrong with what is happening to this kid.

Can you say the same? Kid's what, 12?

Such a telling image of the "peace process."

Since they're so itchy to use their nukes against any nation next on their list, I think we ought to give them a nice taste of just what one feels like. A nice big one. These bastards make physically sick to my stomach.

Peace. Out.

It's Easy to Learn How to Make Solar Panels

Plenty of people have been looking into installing solar panels in an effort to combat rising energy costs. When most of these people see the prices of the professionally installed panels they realize it may not be a luxury they can afford. There is an easier, more cost efficient way to harness power from the sun and that is to learn how to make solar panels for your self.

Any motivated do-it-yourselfer can learn how to make solar panels for their home, workshop or business. When compared to the cost of purchasing and installing a pre-made solar energy system, learning how to make solar panels for your energy needs and the materials you need to execute the project are far less. By learning how to make solar panels for yourself, you have greater control over the size and design of your system as well.

Once you have a quality manual and you have learned how to make solar panels, the supplies are fairly simple to find. Most can be found at your local hardware store like, plywood, sheets of glass, and a roll of copper wire. It is also easy to locate inexpensive solar or photovoltaic cells to use in your project. Many are available over the Internet or you may have a retailer available locally. One you’ve learned how to make solar panels and you have your supplies, it usually takes about a day to assemble a 100-watt panel. This is the perfect amount of electricity to operate small appliances or a small workshop.

The most important step is finding a quality manual with detailed instructions for learning how to make solar panels. In many cases you get what you pay for, so don’t be afraid to spend a few extra dollars on a well-reviewed instruction manual. Overall, the cost of the making your own panels is so low, the price of the how to guide is minimal - you will still be paying way less learning how to make solar panels on your own than purchasing a professionally installed system.

With a little bit effort, you can be on your way to learning how to make solar panels to meet your energy needs. Then sit back and bask in the pride the next time the power goes out on your block. Your lights will still be on because you learned how to make solar panels and your energy supply is still in your battery bank.

The Obama Deception - Full length version

Excellent, this film is... best pay heed. Trust this swaggering holier-than-thou piece of c**p at your peril. Watch out for the mindless sheep that do just that...

The New America!! - Look Sharp - It's Here Now

This is important. Really seriously important. Number 5 has some encouraging news in it at the end.

http://prisonplanet.tv http://www.hd.net
http://infowars.com

Common Sense 2009: Larry Flynt's Call To Action

Fine fellow Larry Flynt says it well here and has an excellent call to action - if only we the people would take heed and actually do it. Sadly, most Americans, I fear, do not have the resources in their heads to see the need or imagine the outcome.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-flynt/common-sense-2009_b_264706.html

Common Sense 2009
by Larry Flynt
Publisher of Hustler magazine and free speech advocate
August 20, 2009

The American government -- which we once called our government -- has been taken over by Wall Street, the mega-corporations and the super-rich. They are the ones who decide our fate. It is this group of powerful elites, the people President Franklin D. Roosevelt called "economic royalists," who choose our elected officials -- indeed, our very form of government. Both Democrats and Republicans dance to the tune of their corporate masters. In America, corporations do not control the government. In America, corporations are the government.

This was never more obvious than with the Wall Street bailout, whereby the very corporations that caused the collapse of our economy were rewarded with taxpayer dollars. So arrogant, so smug were they that, without a moment's hesitation, they took our money -- yours and mine -- to pay their executives multimillion-dollar bonuses, something they continue doing to this very day. They have no shame. They don't care what you and I think about them. Henry Kissinger refers to us as "useless eaters."

But, you say, we have elected a candidate of change. To which I respond: Do these words of President Obama sound like change?

"A culture of irresponsibility took root, from Wall Street to Washington to Main Street."

There it is. Right there. We are Main Street. We must, according to our president, share the blame. He went on to say: "And a regulatory regime basically crafted in the wake of a 20th-century economic crisis -- the Great Depression -- was overwhelmed by the speed, scope and sophistication of a 21st-century global economy."

This is nonsense.

The reason Wall Street was able to game the system the way it did -- knowing that they would become rich at the expense of the American people (oh, yes, they most certainly knew that) -- was because the financial elite had bribed our legislators to roll back the protections enacted after the Stock Market Crash of 1929.

Congress gutted the Glass-Steagall Act, which separated commercial lending banks from investment banks, and passed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which allowed for self-regulation with no oversight. The Securities and Exchange Commission subsequently revised its rules to allow for even less oversight -- and we've all seen how well that worked out. To date, no serious legislation has been offered by the Obama administration to correct these problems.

Instead, Obama wants to increase the oversight power of the Federal Reserve. Never mind that it already had significant oversight power before our most recent economic meltdown, yet failed to take action. Never mind that the Fed is not a government agency but a cartel of private bankers that cannot be held accountable by Washington. Whatever the Fed does with these supposed new oversight powers will be behind closed doors.

Obama's failure to act sends one message loud and clear: He cannot stand up to the powerful Wall Street interests that supplied the bulk of his campaign money for the 2008 election. Nor, for that matter, can Congress, for much the same reason.

Consider what multibillionaire banker David Rockefeller wrote in his 2002 memoirs:

"Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as 'internationalists' and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure -- one world, if you will. If that's the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it."

Read Rockefeller's words again. He actually admits to working against the "best interests of the United States."

Need more? Here's what Rockefeller said in 1994 at a U.N. dinner: "We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis, and the nations will accept the New World Order." They're gaming us. Our country has been stolen from us.

Journalist Matt Taibbi, writing in Rolling Stone, notes that esteemed economist John Kenneth Galbraith laid the 1929 crash at the feet of banking giant Goldman Sachs. Taibbi goes on to say that Goldman Sachs has been behind every other economic downturn as well, including the most recent one. As if that wasn't enough, Goldman Sachs even had a hand in pushing gas prices up to $4 a gallon.

The problem with bankers is longstanding. Here's what one of our Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, had to say about them:

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation, and then by deflation, the banks and the corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their father's conquered."

We all know that the first American Revolution officially began in 1776, with the Declaration of Independence. Less well known is that the single strongest motivating factor for revolution was the colonists' attempt to free themselves from the Bank of England. But how many of you know about the second revolution, referred to by historians as Shays' Rebellion? It took place in 1786-87, and once again the banks were the cause. This time they were putting the screws to America's farmers.

Daniel Shays was a farmer in western Massachusetts. Like many other farmers of the day, he was being driven into bankruptcy by the banks' predatory lending practices. (Sound familiar?) Rallying other farmers to his side, Shays led his rebels in an attack on the courts and the local armory. The rebellion itself failed, but a message had been sent: The bankers (and the politicians who supported them) ultimately backed off. As Thomas Jefferson famously quipped in regard to the insurrection: "A little rebellion now and then is a good thing. The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

Perhaps it's time to consider that option once again.

I'm calling for a national strike, one designed to close the country down for a day. The intent? Real campaign-finance reform and strong restrictions on lobbying. Because nothing will change until we take corporate money out of politics. Nothing will improve until our politicians are once again answerable to their constituents, not the rich and powerful.

Let's set a date. No one goes to work. No one buys anything. And if that isn't effective -- if the politicians ignore us -- we do it again. And again. And again.

The real war is not between the left and the right. It is between the average American and the ruling class. If we come together on this single issue, everything else will resolve itself. It's time we took back our government from those who would make us their slaves.

*****

Internet warfare team unveiled

Simply despicable... brought on by an incredibly intense fear that decent people will learn the truth... note the line below that I've made bold and partial italics.
.............

Internet warfare team unveiled
Twitterers paid to spread Israeli propaganda

by Jonathan Cook.

Global Research, July 21, 2009

Nazareth. The passionate support for Israel expressed on talkback sections of websites, internet chat forums, blogs, Twitters and Facebook may not be all that it seems.

Israel’s foreign ministry is reported to be establishing a special undercover team of paid workers whose job it will be to surf the internet 24 hours a day spreading positive news about Israel.

Internet-savvy Israeli youngsters, mainly recent graduates and demobilised soldiers with language skills, are being recruited to pose as ordinary surfers while they provide the government’s line on the Middle East conflict.

“To all intents and purposes the internet is a theatre in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and we must be active in that theatre, otherwise we will lose,” said Ilan Shturman, who is responsible for the project.

The existence of an “internet warfare team” came to light when it was included in this year’s foreign ministry budget. About $150,000 has been set aside for the first stage of development, with increased funding expected next year.

The team will fall under the authority of a large department already dealing with what Israelis term “hasbara”, officially translated as “public explanation” but more usually meaning propaganda. That includes not only government public relations work but more secretive dealings the ministry has with a battery of private organisations and initiatives that promote Israel’s image in print, on TV and online.

In an interview this month with the Calcalist, an Israeli business newspaper, Mr Shturman, the deputy director of the ministry’s hasbara department, admitted his team would be working undercover.

“Our people will not say: ‘Hello, I am from the hasbara department of the Israeli foreign ministry and I want to tell you the following.’ Nor will they necessarily identify themselves as Israelis,” he said. “They will speak as net-surfers and as citizens, and will write responses that will look personal but will be based on a prepared list of messages that the foreign ministry developed.”

Rona Kuperboim, a columnist for Ynet, Israel’s most popular news website, denounced the initiative, saying it indicated that Israel had become a “thought-police state”.

She added that “good PR cannot make the reality in the occupied territories prettier. Children are being killed, homes are being bombed, and families are starved.”

Her column was greeted by several talkbackers asking how they could apply for a job with the foreign ministry’s team.

The project is a formalisation of public relations practices the ministry developed specifically for Israel’s assault on Gaza in December and January.

“During Operation Cast Lead we appealed to Jewish communities abroad and with their help we recruited a few thousand volunteers, who were joined by Israeli volunteers,” Mr Shturman said.

“We gave them background material and hasbara material, and we sent them to represent the Israeli point of view on news websites and in polls on the internet.”

The Israeli army also had one of the most popular sites on the video-sharing site YouTube and regularly uploaded clips, although it was criticised by human rights groups for misleading viewers about what was shown in its footage.

Mr Shturman said that during the war the ministry had concentrated its activities on European websites where audiences were more hostile to Israeli policy. High on its list of target sites for the new project would be BBC Online and Arabic websites, he added.

Elon Gilad, who heads the internet team, told Calcalist that many people had contacted the ministry offering their services during the Gaza attack. “People just asked for information, and afterwards we saw that the information was distributed all over the internet.”

He suggested that there had been widespread government cooperation, with the ministry of absorption handing over contact details for hundreds of recent immigrants to Israel, who wrote pro-Israel material for websites in their native languages.

The new team is expected to increase the ministry’s close coordination with a private advocacy group, giyus.org (Give Israel Your United Support). About 50,000 activists are reported to have downloaded a programme called Megaphone that sends an alert to their computers when an article critical of Israel is published. They are then supposed to bombard the site with comments supporting Israel.

Nasser Rego of Ilam, a group based in Nazareth that monitors the Israeli media, said Arab organisations in Israel were among those regularly targeted by hasbara groups for “character assassination”. He was concerned the new team would try to make such work appear more professional and convincing.

“If these people are misrepresenting who they are, we can guess they won’t worry too much about misrepresenting the groups and individuals they write about. Their aim, it’s clear, will be to discredit those who stand for human rights and justice for the Palestinians.”

When The National called the foreign ministry, Yigal Palmor, a spokesman, denied the existence of the internet team, though he admitted officials were stepping up exploitation of new media.

He declined to say which comments by Mr Shturman or Mr Gilad had been misrepresented by the Hebrew-language media, and said the ministry would not be taking any action over the reports.

Israel has developed an increasingly sophisticated approach to new media since it launched a “Brand Israel” campaign in 2005.

Market research persuaded officials that Israel should play up good news about business success, and scientific and medical breakthroughs involving Israelis.

Mr Shturman said his staff would seek to use websites to improve “Israel’s image as a developed state that contributes to the quality of the environment and to humanity”.

David Saranga, head of public relations at Israel’s consulate-general in New York, which has been leading the push for more upbeat messages about Israel, argued last week that Israel was at a disadvantage against pro-Palestinian advocacy.

“Unlike the Muslim world, which has hundreds of millions of supporters who have adopted the Palestinian narrative in order to slam Israel, the Jewish world numbers only 13 million,” he wrote in Ynet.

Israel has become particularly concerned that support is ebbing among the younger generations in Europe and the United States.

In 2007 it emerged that the foreign ministry was behind a photo-shoot published in Maxim, a popular US men’s magazine, in which female Israeli soldiers posed in swimsuits.

Jonathan Cook is a writer and journalist based in Nazareth, Israel. His latest books are “Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East” (Pluto Press) and “Disappearing Palestine: Israel's Experiments in Human Despair” (Zed Books). His website is www.jkcook.net.

A version of this article originally appeared in The National (www.thenational.ae), published in Abu Dhabi.


Jonathan Cook is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by Jonathan Cook