Javier Jiménez Espriú told the newspaper El Financiero that the transportation plan also includes building a new railroad between Cancún and Palenque, modernizing the existing line between Coatzacoalcos and Salina Cruz and starting the construction of Guadalajara-Tijuana and Querétaro-Nuevo Laredo routes.

The current federal administration awarded a US $3.75-billion contract to a Chinese-led consortium in 2014 to build a high-speed rail line between Mexico City and Querétaro but the project was later postponed as part of budget cuts announced in January 2015 and it hasn’t been revived since.

But following Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s landslide victory in the July 1 presidential election, it would appear that the project is back on the agenda.

“Our idea is to establish a national railroad network; the network has different important sections and within those we will determine which sections [deserve] the most urgent attention based on the impact they will have at both a social and economic level, because the [different] sections will trigger regional development projects,” Jiménez said.

In a separate interview with the newspaper Milenio, Jiménez said that the next federal government will continue practically all the infrastructure projects that have already been started but added that the development of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region in Oaxaca and the Maya area of Calakmul in Campeche would be priorities.

In the former region, the future cabinet secretary said, in addition to modernizing the train line between Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, and Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, work will also be undertaken to improve the highway network.

In addition, the ports in the respective cities and the airport at Ixtepec, Oaxaca, will be modernized, Jiménez said.

There are also plans to establish an extensive fiber optic network in the Isthmus region and López Obrador said yesterday that the possibility of establishing a free zone with a lower value-added tax rate is also being analyzed.

The projects planned for the region, which took the brunt of the powerful September 7 earthquake, will complement the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Coatzacoalcos and Salina Cruz that were established by the current government.

“The other big project is the passenger train from Cancún to Bacalar and Palenque to develop the Maya area, mainly Calakmul…” Jiménez said.

He added that during its six-year term, the López Obrador-led administration would prioritize the construction of paved roads in 250 municipalities that currently only have dirt-road access to their main towns.

The projects will create employment in rural areas and prevent communities from being cut off due to heavy rains that can make the dirt roads impassable, Jiménez said.

He also said that by the end of the next government’s term, the aim is for all Mexicans to have access to broadband internet services.

With regard to the new Mexico City International Airport project, the future communications and transportation secretary said the López Obrador transition team would first analyze its technical aspects — such as the suitability of the ground it is being built on — as well as environmental considerations to determine whether it is feasible in an operational sense.

The president-elect has previously threatened to scrap the project, charging that it is too expensive, corrupt, not needed and unfeasible due to its construction on an ancient lakebed.

Jiménez said that if it is determined that the project is technically feasible, the incoming administration would turn its attention to analyzing whether the contracts are in order and if it adds up financially.

If it doesn’t, “there is the solution of the other airport,” he added, referring to the proposal to adapt an existing air force base in México state for commercial use.

He also said the public consultation process that López Obrador floated at a rally in Texcoco, México state — the municipality where the new airport is being built — would take place after the incoming government has completed its analysis.

Whether the new government decides to continue with the current project or instead develop the Santa Lucía air base — located about 50 kilometers northeast of the capital — Jiménez said that a new airport must be ready by 2023 to alleviate pressure on the existing facility.

Source: El Financiero (sp), Milenio (sp)

Nicaragua: State repression has reached deplorable levels

July 30, 2018

by Amnesty International reports

July 9, 2018 – The repressive actions of the Nicaraguan government have reached deplorable levels, Amnesty International said today, after one of the bloodiest weekends since the repression of protests began almost three months ago.

“Heavily armed pro-government groups remain at large, accompanied by police forces, committing joint attacks against the civilian population,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.

“The message sent by the highest ranking Nicaraguan authorities is that they are willing to do anything to silence the voices of those who demonstrate against this violent repression. This situation is extremely serious and deserves strong condemnation from the international community.”

At least 17 people were killed in Matagalpa, Jinotepe and Diriamba during the weekend, most of them by police and pro-government armed groups. In addition, the arbitrary detention of dozens of people was reported.

Today, bishops of the Catholic Church, including Monsignor Silvio Báez, who has played a central role in the national dialogue process, were attacked by pro-government armed groups at the Basilica of San Sebastián in Diriamba. Several journalists also reported assaults and the theft and destruction of their equipment in the same location.

“The direct attack on figures who publicly denounce the attacks of agents of the government of President Ortega is without a doubt a form of retaliation and an attempt to silence those dissident voices,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas.

“The serious human rights violations committed or permitted by the authorities are turning the country into a pressure cooker about to explode. Nicaragua’s tragic history must not be repeated.”

Nicaragua: Shoot to kill: Nicaragua’s strategy to repress protest

In response to social protests since April 18, the Nicaraguan government has adopted a strategy of violent repression not seen in the country for years.
More than 300 people have been killed by the state and thousands injured, and this has been continuing to take place in the country as of today.

Nicaragua: Government’s shameful denial of human rights violations is part of its strategy of repression

In response to the government of President Daniel Ortega’s outright rejection of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ report on grave human rights violations committed in the context of the recent protests in Nicaragua, Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International, said:

“It’s shameful that the government of President Ortega is denying the undeniable. There is a wealth of evidence, including thousands of testimonies, to show that the Nicaraguan state has committed terrible human rights violations and continues to do so on a daily basis. This has to stop before more lives are lost.”

US government exposed: for 30 years, it broke the law on vaccine safety

July 20, 2018

by Jon Rappoport

For 30 years, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) broke the law regarding vaccine safety, and no one noticed or cared.

Then two men came along and discovered the scandal: Robert F Kennedy, Jr. (twitter), head of the World Mercury Project, and Del Bigtree (twitter 1, twitter 2, FB, web), the producer of the film Vaxxed. They filed papers in court, and they won their case.

Here is the issue in a nutshell: In 1986, a law, the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, was passed. It insanely excused vaccine makers from legal liability stemming from unsafe vaccines and the injuries they cause. Buried in the law was a provision ordering the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to update Congress, every two years, on its efforts to improve vaccine safety.

Kennedy and Bigtree thought it would be very interesting to read these HHS reports—all 16 of them. So they filed a Freedom of Information Act request, and then…nothing. No replies.

Kennedy and Bigtree then went to court to obtain the information—and after wrangling and stonewalling, HHS admitted it has NO such reports in its archives.

In other words, since 1988, HHS has failed to update Congress on its efforts to improve vaccine safety.

And the further implication is: there are no reports, because HHS has done nothing to improve vaccine safety in all these years.

The original 1986 law removed all liability from vaccine makers because there was a problem, and that problem was vaccine safety.

Congress protected billions of dollars that could never be sought in court from vaccine manufacturers. Those law suits, filed by parents of vaccine-injured children, would henceforth be illegal. That was the substance of the law.

So, did Congress recognize there was a serious vaccine safety problem? You bet your life they did, and to make it seem they cared, they charged HHS with doing something about it, and reporting to them (Congress) every two years.

Which never happened.

And thanks to the efforts of Kennedy and Bigtree, all this is now exposed.

Again…

In 1986, vaccine makers went to the federal government and said they were going to get out of the vaccine business, because juries were awarding too much money in court, to parents of vaccine-injured children. The feds basically said, “We’ll ram through a law eliminating those law suits,” and they did. Everybody and his brother knew vaccine safety was a major problem…

Including the US Department of Health and Human Services, which was tasked with doing something about it. Back in 1986.

And now it’s discovered there is no evidence they lifted a finger these last 32 years.

Instead, they’ve lurched forward, introducing more and more vaccines into the childhood schedule—and never running studies to gauge the toxic effects of the increased load.

To any person with open eyes, these are the actions of criminals pretending to be scientists.

If you want to glimpse the level of profound criminality, talk to the mother of a bright, happy, open child who incurred brain damage after a vaccination and checked out of this world.

(Jon Rappoport is the author of three explosive collections, The Matrix Revealed, Exit From The Matrix, and Power Outside The Matrix).

A high level of cardiovascular fitness reduces your risk of dementia by 90%

July 20, 2018

by Michelle Simmons

Being physically active does not only make you physically fit, but also makes you mentally healthy. In a Swedish study of women and fitness, it was revealed that people who have a high level of cardiovascular fitness are 90 percent less likely to develop dementia later in life.

The study, published in the medical journal American Academy of Neurology, evaluated the cardiovascular fitness of women based on an exercise test. The test required 191 women, with an average age of 50, to ride a stationary bike to exhaustion to measure their peak cardiovascular capacity. The workload for a high fitness level was at least 103 watts, while the workload for a low fitness level was 80 watts or less. In total, 40 women met the criteria for a high fitness level, 92 women were in the medium fitness category, and 59 women were in the low fitness category or stopped the exercise test because of chest pain, high blood pressure, or other cardiovascular problems.

Throughout the next 44 years, the participants came back for dementia testing six times. During that time, a total of 44 women developed dementia. Only five percent of highly fit women developed dementia, in comparison to 32 percent of women with low fitness level and 25 percent of moderately fit women. In addition, 45 percent of those who stopped the exercise test developed dementia. Moreover, highly fit women who did develop dementia had the disease an average of 11 years later compared to moderately fit women, or at 90 years old instead of 79.

The findings of the study indicated that having a high level of cardiovascular fitness reduces the risk of developing dementia by 90 percent. The study emphasized the importance of being physically fit, especially in midlife, in preventing various health diseases.

It is important to make According to research, high-intensity exercise performed in intervals or for short bursts of time can improve cardiovascular fitness. There are five everyday exercises that can help you enhance your heart rate and your fitness level:

– Walking – Instead of a slow-paced walking, walk briskly. The average person weighing 155 pounds (lbs) who walks at a brisk pace of 3.5 miles per hour for 30 minutes can burn about 150 calories. This can also improve your heart rate. If that is too fast for you, try to increase your speed at intervals. Increase your pace for a minute and then go back to a more leisurely walk for the next minute.

– Running – When running, try to change your speed and intensity at slightly random intervals. This will allow your heart rate to increase without breaking your energy bank. Try to run hard for 30 seconds with a minute of walking in between.

– Strength-training – To keep your heart rate elevated, perform circuits that involve different muscle groups. Alternating exercises that involve various muscles lets you rest the ones you recently worked on, at the same time, continuing to move.

– Yoga – To improve your cardiovascular fitness with yoga, try a Vinsaya, power, or flow class. In this type of yoga, you will continuously move with your breath, keeping your heart rate elevated.

– Cycling – Whether cycling indoors or outdoors, pedal for 40 seconds with a cadence of 80 and as much resistance as you can endure. Then, pedal for 20 seconds with a 100-stroke cadence but without resistance. Do this 10 times. The spike in resistance when pedaling will make you work harder.

Celebrating Colombian filmmakers creativity

July 20, 2018

Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff

PANORAMA COLOMBIA showcases Aug. 17-19, 2018 some of the most stimulating works made by a new generation filmmakers in Colombia.

Four feature films and a program of shorts make up a series that celebrates not only the talent and the creativity of the Colombian directors, but also a cultural expression through its cinematography and story-telling. Images, screening links and interviews with select directors available upon request.

Among the films is Amazona – In this skillfully constructed personal film, director Clare Weiskopf explores motherhood and its lace of the spectrum between persona freedom and parental responsibility.

While expecting her own first child, Clare visits her mother Val in the Amazon region of Colombia in order to heal the wounds of the past and make sense of the elder woman’s decision to leave her children behind to live in the jungle after a family tragedy. In the process, she opens a fascinating dialogue about sacrifice, guilt and self-determination.

A Q&A via Skype with director Clare Weskopf will follow the screening! Sunday, Aug. 19, 3:30 p.m., at Roxie Theater, 3117 16^th Street, San Francisco.

35 job positions need to be filled up

Grocery Outlet Bargain Market will open its first store in Alameda in September. Store operators will be hiring 35 positions, focusing on local hiring and are excited to meet interested candidates at the next job fair.
On Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018, at 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., at The Alameda Chamber of Commerce, 2215 S. Shore Center, Alameda.

29th Annual San Jose Jazz Summer Fest

San Jose Jazz Summer Fest returns for its 29th festival season from Friday, Aug. 10 – Sunday, August 12 in and around Plaza de César Chávez Park in downtown San Jose.

A showcase for jazz, blues, funk, R&B, salsa, world and related genres, SJZ Summer Fest is nationally recognized as one of the biggest Latin festivals in the country and a magnet for international artists, who have marquee performance opportunities in Northern California. Above and beyond any other year, SJZ Summer Fest 2018 illuminates the depths of electrifying global jazz happening around the world by supporting new Summer Fest artists hailing from Cuba, Australia, Switzerland, Argentina, Spain, Ghana, Japan and Luxembourg.

A standout summer destination for music lovers and families alike, the three-day event includes 120+ performances on 12 stages, attracting tens of thousands of visitors to downtown throughout the weekend.

The 29th Annual San Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2018 features an acclaimed lineup, and today San Jose Jazz announces its initial round of confirmed artists including Sobrato Organization Main Stage headliners: Kool & the Gang; Herb Alpert and Lani Hall; Lalah Hathaway; Booker T.’s Stax Revue: A Journey Through Soul, Blues and R&B; Goapele; Yissy & Bandancha; Nachito Herrera Trio; and Vincent Herring’s Story of Jazz: 100 Years.

Friday, Aug. 10 – Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018, Plaza de César Chavez Park, Downtown San Jose. Event Info: summerfest.sanjosejazz.org.

Musician Carlos Santana’s mural vandalized – police looking for the vandals

July 20, 2018

by the El Reportero’s news services

The mural of Latin Rock Star CARLOS SANTANA in the Mission District San Francisco on 19th & Mission Street was vandalized on July 17, with white paint! The muralist later restored the mural.

Painted in 2014 by muralist Mel Waters who was raised in the Mission who is racially mix with rich Black, Latino & Filipino roots titled the mural, Para La Mision, “to give hope to people in the Mission due to the massive gentrification of Latinos and to honor Santana who was raised in the Mission District.”

Police are looking for the vandal who threw a container of white paint at a celebrated Mission District mural.

Roberto Y. Hernandez, Artist, Organizer and Leader has communicated to the San Francisco Police Department that they immediately review all camera footage in the area to investigate, what he considers a hate crime.

“At a time where Latinos are under attacked in the United States by Trump and his administration with the amount of hate increased in our country, Latinos in San Francisco will not tolerate racism in any shape way or form,” said Hernández in a communicate.

San Francisco has been known for love around the world and this type of Hate Crime and we will continue to promote the power of love, he said.

If anyone has any information on the individuals that committed this crime they are asked to immediately contact the San Francisco Police Department!

LATINAFest: Mind, Body & Soul, a spectacular celebration of Latinas!

The most anticipated summer event of the year, comes on August 25, 2018, when LatinHeat Media and LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes partner to present the inaugural LATINAFest: Mind, Body & Soul hosted by Emmy Award-winning TV host and actress Fernanda Kelly. The festivities will be held at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes (Downtown) Los Angeles.

Mexican Singer Armando Manzanero Records Songs in Cuba

Mexican singer-songwriter Armando Manzanero today recorded for the first time in Cuba three songs with the renowned singer Haila Maria Mompie, which will be included in the artist”s next production.

‘With all due respect, Haila sings Armando Manzanero’ is the new work’s title, which will be a tribute to the legend of Mexican romantic music and will contain songs from his extensive repertoire brought to the salsa genre, said Mompie.

The studios 18 of the Company of Recordings and Musical Editions (EGREM) today welcomed the duo that gave voice to the titles ‘You Drives me Crazy’, ‘There Are No Limits’ and ‘Nothing Personal.’

According to the Mexican musician, it was a privilege to record with Haila, a singer who admires and whose work he respects a lot.

The two artists shared the stage this Sunday in the first concert offered by Manzanero on the island, where Omara Portuondo and Eliades Ochoa were also guests.

This Monday the musician returns to his country not without first confessing that he would like to come back, ‘because he loves Cuba and its people, an island that has given so many good musicians,’ he said.

The OAS condemns the killings and calls for advancing elections in Nicaragua

July 20, 2018

by the El Reportero‘s wire services

On Wednesday, the permanent council of the OAS held an extraordinary session in which, with 21 votes in favor, three against, seven abstentions and three absentees, the States condemned the Ortega regime and urged it to dismantle the paramilitary and police groups that created to dismantle the barricades and barricades that have been part of the protests. In three months, the repression has caused more than 350 deaths and thousands of injuries, according to human rights organizations.

According to political analysts, the resolution condemning the Organization of American States (OAS) to the government of Daniel Ortega, for the violation of human rights during the citizen protests since April, left the president “as an international pariah” and exposed to suffer external sanctions, if he refuses to apply the actions to which he was urged related to curbing the violence and accept the electoral calendar proposed by the organization.

Meanwhile, three months after the violent events that took place on April 18, 2018, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) verifies the increase in repression in Nicaragua.

In its third week of work, the Special Follow-up Mechanism for Nicaragua (MESENI) verified in the field the intensification of the repression and the operations deployed throughout the country by agents of the National Police and para-police groups with the objective of dismantling the dams located in different cities.

In Managua, on Thursday the FSLN celebrated on July 19 in the Plaza de la Fe John Paul II, with the presence of the Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodriguez and the Venezuelan Chancellor Jorge Arreaza.

Daniel Ortega, in his long speech, omitted to mention the hundreds of people killed by his irregular and masked paramilitary forces, accusing the opposition that he asks for his resignation, coup plotters and putting the victims of their state violence as the aggressors.

Ortega recounted the police who died in the Nicaraguan crisis during his attacks on the civilian population, but did not mention that the family of some dead policemen declared that the bullets that killed them came from the same police station, because of their same comrades in arms.

Trump sends two high emissaries to seek a cordial relationship with his administration

Recently four high level government representatives visited the virtual president of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to express that President Donald Trump looks for a cordial and understanding relationship with the next administration.
The high-level delegation of the United States, headed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, includes Treasury secretaries, Steven Nmuchin, and National Security, Kirstjen Nielsen, as well as Jared Kushner, son-in-law and adviser to the president Donald Trump, among other officials.

The delegation met with the presidential candidate-elect, at the headquarters of his campaign in Colonia Roma, south of the capital.
Obrador was accompanied by his future chancellor, Marcelo Ebrard, and the next Secretaries of Finance, Carlos Urzúa, and Public Security, Alfonso Durazo; and also to those responsible for the negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Jesús Sead, Graciela Márquez, nominated as Secretary of Economy, as well as Martha Bárcena, appointed Ambassador of Mexico in the United States of the Government incoming.

NAFTA, migration and security were some of the topics discussed at that meeting, in which the next Mexican president offered visitors a proposal to begin a new stage in the relations between the two countries, and that will be done public once the president of the United States knows it.

Strong tremors hit Oaxaca, Mexico City

A 5.9-magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale, a preliminary figure, took place today in Oaxaca, the National Seismological Service reported.

Considered as strong, the telluric movement was located about 13 kms southwest of Huajuapan De León, south of this capital, at a depth of 63 kms.

Before, the earth had rock in the Magdalena Contreras delegation of the federal district of Mexico City, with a magnitude of 2.8 on the Richter scale.
The earth trembled three times in that place in the last 24 hours.

This is the third earthquake that occurred in the last 24 hours in the Mexican capital.

Up to now there are no reports of people injured or great damages.

In social media there were complaints in relation that the anti sismic alarms malfunction and were not activated.

Film documental The Pushouts

July 16, 2018

Compiled by the El Reportero’s news services

People call them dropouts, they tell a different story.

So begins the story of Dr. Víctor Ríos who, by 15, was a high school dropout and gang member with multiple felony convictions and a death wish. But when a teacher’s quiet persistence, a mentor’s moral conviction and his best friend’s murder converge, Rios’s path takes an unexpected turn.

Please join us for the bay area screening of The Pushouts, a powerful documentary by activist and award-winning filmmaker Katie Galloway that explores the devastating effects of our country’s broken school system on the children in the Black and Latino communities.

Through Rios’ personal lens and its interplay with stories of the young people of Watts, the Pushouts interrogates crucial questions of race, class and power – and the promise and perils of education – at a particularly urgent time.

Film & Discussion with:

Award winning filmmaker Katie Galloway, Award winning teacher Víctor Ríos. Award winning Juvenile Lawyer and Advocate Frankie Guzman.

Monday, July 9 at 7 p.m., at the Lark Theater, 549 Magnolia Ave, Larkspur; Tuesday, July 10, 6:45 p.m., at the New Parkway, 474 24th St. Oakland.

Pete Escovedo Orchestra

Legendary Percussionist Pete Escovedo is an artist who broke down the barriers between Smooth Jazz, Salsa, Latin Jazz and contemporary music. His name has been synonymous in the music industry for more than 50 years.

Pete’s versatility as a Percussionist has been featured in performances and recordings by a wide range of Artists such as Carlos Santana, Tito Puente, Herbie Hancock, Mongo Santamaria, Bobby McFerrin, Cal Tjader, Woody Herman, Stephen Stills, Billy Cobham, Anita Baker, George Duke, Boz Scaggs, Andy Narell, Al Jarreau, Ray Obiedo, Dionne Warwick, Marlena Shaw, Barry White, Angela Bofill, Arturo Sandoval, Poncho Sánchez, Chick Corea, Dave Valentine, Najee, Gerald Albright, Prince, and the list goes on.

On July 14th, 7pm – July 15th, 9 p.m., at Yoshi’s, Jack London Square in Oakland. Cover $29 and up.

29th Annual San Jose Jazz Summer Fest

San Jose Jazz Summer Fest returns for its 29th festival season from Friday, August 10 – Sunday, August 12 in and around Plaza de César Chavez Park in downtown San Jose, Calif.

Friday, August 10 – Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018, Plaza de César Chavez Park, Downtown San Jose. Event Info: summerfest.sanjosejazz.org.

Laura Pausini presents her second single “Nuevo”

July 16, 2018

by the El Reportero’s news services

The consecrated artist Laura Pausini premieres today, Thursday, July 5, Nuevo, the second single of her most recent album Hazte Sentir, on all digital platforms.
Nuevo, a reggaetón very much like Pausini, was composed by Laura along with Yoel Henríquez, with the music of Daniel Vuletic.

Nuevo is my way of dealing with an unusual style, which gives me the opportunity to give free rein to my Latin side, ‘a new feeling’ as the song says. It is a game of seduction that flows in a stream of sensations in which you can lose yourself and lose control. Subtexts do not work, superstructures do not work, who commands is the alchemy that emanates from a spark and everything happens “expressed Laura Pausini.

The premiere of Nuevo is accompanied by a very tropical video, recorded in the city of Miami under the direction of Nuno Gómez and whose premiere will take place today in the national program Al Rojo Vivo of the Telemundo network.

U.S. policy prevents National Ballet of Cuba’s performance

The National Ballet of Cuba (BNC) today clarified through a statement the facts about its frustrated performance in the United States with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

The Cuban company notified that the function conceived for next August with the symphony orchestra failed to consolidate due to the complex and expensive procedures to obtain the visas that could not be assumed by the Philharmonic.

‘This situation was widely evaluated by both parties since last April of this year,’ the text adds.

The clarification by the BNC is due to information circulated in several U.S. media about the refusal of visas to the group by the U.S. Department of State to act in that country.

The complex situation is the result of the visa policy established by U.S. President Donald Trump, which states that Cubans interested in traveling to the United States must process visas in a third country.

Despite these limitations, the prestigious group led by prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso has made several tours of American cities with great acceptance by the public and specialized critics.

Gov. Brown renews film-tax program to help film/TV industries through 2025

Gov. Jerry Brown today signed legislation by Sen. Holly J. Mitchel extending a model program to keep and create mostly off-screen jobs in California’s renowned film and TV industries.

“In 2009, a steady stream of film and TV production was leaving California for states actively recruiting them, and taking with it millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of jobs,” Mitchell, of Los Angeles, said after the lawmakers voted in support of her measure by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote. “It is clear that this program is doubling and tripling investments in our communities and in California’s film and television legacy.”

Originally, part of Senate Bill 951, the legislation was approved as part of budget follow-up language and, now that it has been signed by Brown, extends the California Film and Television Production Act from June 30, 2020 to June 30, 2025.

Independence Day of the soul

July 16, 2018

by Jon Rappoport

Trumpets blare. In the night sky, spotlights roam. A great confusion of smoke and dust and fog, and emerging banners carry the single message:

WE.

The great meltdown of all consciousness into a glob of utopian simplicity…

There are denizens among us.

They present themselves as the Normals.

Beyond all political objectives, there is a simple fact: those group-mind addicts who have given up their souls will rage against the faintest appearance of one who tries to keep his. And in this rage, the soulless ones will try to pull the other down to where they live.

Are you with the family or not? Are you with the group, the collective, or not? Those are the blunt parameters.

“When you get right down to it, all you have is family.” “Our team is really a family.” “You’re deserting the family.” “Our department is like a family.” “Here at Corporation X, we’re a family.”

The committee, the group, the company, the sector, the planet.

The goal? Submerge the individual.

Individual achievement, imagination, creative power? Not on the agenda. Something for the dustbin of history.

Aldous Huxley, Brave New World: “‘Ninety-six identical twins working ninety-six identical machines’! The voice was almost tremulous with enthusiasm. ‘You really know where you are. For the first time in history.’”

George Orwell, 1984: “The two aims of the Party are to conquer the whole surface of the earth and to extinguish once and for all the possibility of independent thought.”

For some people, the collective “WE” has a fragrant scent—until they get down in the trenches with it. There they discover odd odors and postures and mutations. There they discover self-distorted creatures scurrying around celebrating their twistedness.

The night becomes long. The ideals melt. The level of intelligence required to inhabit this cave-like realm is lower than expected, much lower.

Hypnotic perceptions, which are the glue that holds the territory together, begin to crack and fall apart, and all that is left is a grim determination to see things through.

As the night moves into its latter stages, some participants come to know that all their activity is taking place in a chimerical universe.

It is as if reality has been constructed to yield up gibberish.

Whose idea was it to become deaf, dumb, and blind in the first place?

And then perhaps one person in the cave suddenly says: I EXIST.

That starts a cacophony of howling.

The history of human struggle on this planet is about the individual emerging FROM the group, from the tribe, from the clan. The history of struggle is not about the individual surrendering and going back INTO group identity.

As the trumpets blare in the night sky, as the fog-ridden spotlights roam, as the banners emerge carrying the single message, WE, as people below are magnetically drawn to this show, a unpredicted thing happens:

Someone shouts: WHAT IS WE?

Other pick up the shout.

And the banners begin to catch fire and melt. They drip wax and the false grinding of hypnotic dreams breaks its rhythm.

The whole sky-scene stutters like a great weapon losing its capacity to contain heat. The sky itself caves inward and collapses, and the trumpets tail off and there is a new fresh silence.

The delusion, in pieces, is drifting away…

The cover: gone.

Behind it is The Individual.

What will he do now?

Will he seek to find his inherent power, the power he cast aside in his eagerness to join the collective?

Will he?

Or will he search for another staged melodrama designed to absorb him in an all-embracing WE?

Will he understand he has the power to create a new far-reaching reality of his own choosing?

Will he declare his independence?

The independence of his creative soul?

(Jon Rappoport is the author of three explosive collections, The Matrix Revealed, Exit From The Matrix, And Power Outside The Matrix).

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