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César Chávez biopic to debut at Berlin Festival

by the El Reportero’s news services

Michael Peña will interprete César Chávez.Michael Peña will interprete César Chávez.

Mexican actor and director Diego Luna’s biopic on Latino icon Cesar Chavez (1927-1993) will have its world premiere in February at the Berlin International Film Festival, the movie’s production company said.

“Cesar Chavez: An American Hero” will be entered into the festival’s official program in the Berlinale Special section, which presents recent works by contemporary directors, as well as cinematic portraits of renowned personalities, Canana Films, which Luna co-owns with fellow Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal, said in a statement.

The cast of the biopic is headed by Michael Peña, who plays the role of the late migrant farm workers’ leader and civil rights activist.

Golden Globe winning actress America Ferrera plays the part of Chavez’s wife, while Rosario Dawson portrays Dolores Huerta, Chavez’s partner in founding the National Farmworkers Association (later the United Farm Workers).

“Cesar Chavez represents the largest non-violent protest movement in U.S. history; his goal was to achieve basic human rights for the more than 50,000 farm workers in California,” Canana said.

“We think the film will send the message that change is in our hands. Chavez did something that everyone thought was impossible with courage that inspired an entire nation.”

“Cesar Chavez,” which will hit U.S. theaters on March 28 and arrive in Mexico on May 2, was filmed in the United States and the northern Mexican state of Sonora.

It marks Luna’s second foray into directing, after his hit 2010 comedy/drama “Abel.”

Mexico’s Alfonso Cuaron Wins Best Director at Critic’s Choice Awards

Mexico’s Alfonso Cuaron, who has three Oscar nominations, was honored as Best Director for “Gravity” at the 19th Critic’s Choice Movie Awards, where “12 Years a Slave,” one of the favorites to win a gold statuette, had another night of glory when it was named Best Picture.

The critics gave further backing Thursday to the trio of movies best positioned to win the most sought-after Oscar: “12 Years a Slave” that got three awards, the story of Arizonasurvival in space “Gravity” that picked up seven, and the comedy-drama “American Hustle” with four.

The Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, saw the same actors stepping up to collect their prizes that did the same at last week’s Golden Globes: Matthew McConaughty, Best Actor for “Dallas Buyers Club,” Cate Blanchett, Best Actress for “Blue Jasmine,” Sandra Bullock, Best Actress in an Action Film for “Gravity,” and Leonardo diCaprio, Best Actor in a Comedy for “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

This was also a great night for the Kenyan revelation Lupita Nyong’o, who was chosen Best Supporting Actress for “12 Years a Slave,” the same category that has made her the first to have a shot at an Oscar.

The anecdote of the night was provided by Sandra Bullock who let slip a profane “what the f—k?” when a technical glitch interrupted her speech of gratitude for being chosen Best Actress in an Action Movie.

“I’m an action hero, you do not do that to an action hero,” she continued immediately, getting more laughs from the audience.

Penelope Cruz set to play lead in New Julio Medem film ma ma

Penelope Cruz is set to play Magda, the leading character of “ma ma,” a movie written and directed by Julio Medem with two other Spaniards in the cast, Luis Tosar and Asier Etxeandia, and with the music of three-time Oscar nominee Alberto Iglesias Currently in preproduction, the film will be shot next spring entirely in Spain and in Spanish, and will be produced by Cruz and Medem in collaboration with Morena Films, the Dyp communications company told Efe.

“ma ma” (no capital letters) tells the story of Magda, a woman who “faced with tragedy, reacts by living the life she always had within her, from the imaginable to the unimaginable.

Don’t miss this PBS special: The State of Arizona

Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff

Inmigrantes piden reforma migratoria.Inmigrantes piden reforma migratoria.

Next Monday the 27th a new movie about the fight in Arizona will air on PBS.

“The State of Arizona” is a documentary filmed with deep access inside all sides of the immigration debate, including the movement to stop SB1070 and defend immigrant rights.

It’s a dramatic and inside look at the anti-immigrant atmosphere, what happens to communities when police become tangled in immigration, and what happens when families fight back.

You can watch it on your local PBS station, Thursday, January, 27 2014.

El ganador de los Premios Internacionales del Chocolate 2013 participará en Winter Fancy Food Show en SF

El latinoamericano, Santiago Peralta, nombrado como “Mejor chocolatero del mundo”, por la Asociación de Industrias de Chocolate Fino (Londres, 2013 – 2015) participará en Winter Fancy Food Show, donde se podrán conocer mejor las características de los galardonados chocolates Pacari, elaborados con cacao 100 por ciento orgánico proveniente de la región y que rescata sabores de América Latina como la Hierba Luisa (limonaria), el Merkén, la sal de Cusco, la uvilla (uchuva), la maca, el mortiño (agraz); entre otros.

Pacari Chocolate, principal ganador de la última edición de los Premios Internacionales del Chocolate (Otoño 2013, Londres) y su fundador, Santiago Peralta, considerado como el chocolatero latinoamericano “sensación”; participarán en el Winter Fancy Food Show que tendrá lugar en SF.

En total, la compañía ecuatoriana Pacari Chocolate obtuvo seis medallas de oro y plata, en este

Celebrating the life of Carlos Pérez Macías

by Marvin Ramírez

Carlos Pérez Macías (q.e.p.d.)Carlos Pérez Macías (q.e.p.d.)

It was on this day January 24 that Carlos went to the Kingdom of the Lord, but left us with his love, kindness and compassion.

Carlos, painter, poet and lawyer, was one of the great talents that Nicaragua bore thee, and like all of us, we’re destined toward the same destination – some day. And that cause pain and tears. All farewells of a good thing cause sadness. But let us not forget that things do not end there. Both the ones gone and those who remain here, must maintain a permanent and spiritual bond, and the ones from here should not perpetuate the pain and sadness, but turn them into joy – celebrating life. Celebrating the life of Carlos is the way to happiness because we cannot be happy being sad, and in addition, sadness spreads like a disease. It is our part to remember him living among us in his best moments: when he litigated a cause that he believed in, when he wrote a poem and let out what his soul felt, when he made a painting and described what he could not show from his inside but brought it out with the brush, or when he made us laugh.

It is time to party, as when someone gets married or goes away to a long journey to create positive energy and maintain that remembrance so alive as when he lived. Each annual reunion on his name should be – not a melancholy event, but a celebration of his life. Then, come’n, let’s replace immediately the sadness and tears with joy, because, it is so that Carlos lived, with much glee! With much affection for his sisters Indiana Pérez Macías and Bianca Jagger (former and first wife of Rolling Stones’ singer Mick Jagger), – Marvin Ramírez.

Boxing

The Sport of Gentlemen

Boxing” de Molina

Saturday, January 25 – Washington, District of Columbia (SHOWTIME) –

Light welterweights: Lamont Peterson (31-2-1, 16 KOs) vs. Dierry Jean (25-0, 17 KOs).

Saturday, February 1 – Monte Carlo, Monaco –

Middleweights: Gennady Golovkin (28-0, 25 KOs) vs. Osumanu Adama (22-3, 16 KOs)

Saturday, February 15 – Los Angeles, California –

Featherweights: Jhonny Gonzalez (55-8, 47 KOs) vs. Abner Mares (26-1-1, 14 KOs).

Criminalization of social protest and militarization of Honduras

Honduran indian líder Berta Cáceres speak to El Reportero. (PHOTO BY ORSETTA BELLANI)

by Orsetta Bellini

Interview with the indigenous leader Bertha Cáceres in Honduras, where 80 percent of the crimes go unpunished, the social movements are criminalized and prosecuted. Bellani Orsetta, a collaborator of the reporter, found and interviewed Bertha Cáceres, general coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), one of the largest human rights organizations in the central American country. In the framework of the struggle of the Lenca indigenous people against the hydroelectric water companies of Zarca company Sino-hydro and Desa, Caceres and two other members of COPINH – Tomas Gomez Membreńo and Aureliano Molina – have been accused of serious crimes.

What are the charges against you and how is the judicial process developing?

The legal persecution is only an expression of the whole political persecution against COPINH and is a defined strategy at the presidential level. We are aware that with our struggle, it is peaceful but energetic, we are confronting great and influential powers. In one of the two cases to which I was accused of carrying illegal arms to the detriment of the internal security of the State of Honduras, -The Prosecutor and the Attorney General have outlined a conciliation settlement for me. First they proposed to end the persecution against me in exchange for my indemnifying the State and apologize, assuming the gun was of my property, which of course I will not do , I did not commit any offense and I have no reason to reconcile these things. [For this case she was arrested on May 24 and for not finding sufficient evidence to prove the crime was released 21 days later with alternative measures to going to prison.]

Then, under pressure from the defense of the social movements of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, of Amnesty International and thousands of expressions of solidarity that have denounced this injustice worldwide, I was offered pay to the State all what it had spent on this process, it being my victim. At this time it is most likely that in the next hearing the trial will continue regardless of conciliation.

In the other case of which the company accuses us, that is, of continuing damage, coercion and usurpation in September issued preventive prison against me, and have set the next preliminary hearing for February 11, 2014. [In this case a warrant for her arrest hanging over Cáceres and she has declared herself politically persecuted]. Also this year they approved an amendment which provides that a person benefit from alternative measures to going to prison – as it has been in the first case in which a ban on leaving the country was imposed on me and the obligation to present myself to the court every 15 days –may not be benefited a second time in another case. When I was charged with possession of the gun in May 2013, this law was not in force, but they made retroactive and this is illegal, there is no retroactive law in Honduras.

These charges are given in the context of opposition to COPINH the hydroelectric project Water Zarca in the community of Rio Blanco, department of Intibucá. Why is the struggle of this community so important to the Honduran government?

Years ago the communities of Rio Blanco COPINH waged a struggle for the defense of the territory and of the Gualcarque River, which is a sacred river for the Lenca people. In April of 2013 we were able to remove Sinohydro / Desa, which is the largest builder of dams in the world, ours is an exercise of autonomy and territorial control. The company obtained the concession illegally in 2010 and by its links with the army pressured communities hard, not only harassed but also offering bribes and trying to manipulate the population. This indicates that the transnational do not need political intermediaries, but go directly to repress communities. Where there are intentions to build mining or hydroelectric projects there are militarization plans. The struggle of White River is a bad example for big business, because it has proved that it is possible to roll back a project of domination and privatization, it shows that it is possible to get rid of an invasive transnational and this is part of the legitimate struggle of the Lenca people.

The persecution against you seems to insert itself in a climate of criminalization of social protest that covers the whole country

The state has built repressive structures that have funding including from the Interamerican Bank of Development, under the Regional Security Plan for Central America. This is very worrying for social activists as it will deepen repression. Today it is a crime to defend human rights. Congress and the oligarchic sectors have driven the creation of the Military Police, who is working as a paramilitary structure directed against social movements. Not only do the police and intelligence apparatus work, undercover bodies and private security agencies are also operating, which are nothing more than another army looking after the interests of big business. They work together with the police and army, and double their number.

 

Peru wins maritime dispute, but some relief for Chile

by the El Reportero’s wire services

Sebastian PiñeraSebastian Piñera

Peru registered a significant maritime victory over Chile on 27 January; a victory which proved elusive on the high seas during the War of the Pacific (1879-1883) but was achieved on terra firma in a courtroom at The Hague.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) finally brought down the curtain on six years of legal conflict when it announced its verdict on the bilateral maritime dispute brought by Peru in 2008.

Both Chile’s President Sebastián Piñera and his Peruvian peer Ollanta Humala expressed their satisfaction with the ruling but the visual contrast between them was stark enough to conclude that Humala’s assessment that Peru had got 70 percent of what it had sought was accurate: it was a grave looking Piñera who read a public declaration from the La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago; a jubilant Humala who cavorted around with First Lady Nadine Heredia, cabinet ministers and congressional deputies, all smiles and hands aloft, in Lima. By Latin News.

CIA & DEA covert actions in Colombia and Mexico revealed

Two major reports published by newspapers in the US and Mexico have revealed details of covert U.S. operations in Colombia and Mexico — run by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the former and by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in the latter. In Colombia the CIA acted with the full knowledge of the government; in Mexico, apparently not. In the case of Colombia it has confirmed Ecuador’s suspicions about US involvement in the 2008 strike against a Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) camp in its territory; in that of Mexico it has added substance to repeated claims that the Sinaloa drug trafficking organisation (DTO) has enjoyed special treatment. Security & Strategic Review – January 2014 (ISSN 1741-4202). By Latin News.

Hague ruling leaves Humala without unity card

On 27 January, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague issued a ruling largely in favour of Peru in a maritime dispute with Chile, filed by Peru in January 2008. The Lima government led by President Ollanta Humala hailed the ruling, claiming that it awarded “more than 70 percent of Peru’s demands”, giving it “some 50,000km2 of [additional territorial] waters”.

In the run-up to the ICJ decision President Humala had called for unity among the political establishment and there was widespread public enthusiasm for the ruling. The political gains for the unpopular president and his administration, however, may turn out to be quite meagre. By Latin News.

Central American Fair For Thoroughbred Horses concludes in Nicaragua

The Fifth Annual Central American Fair of Spanish Thoroughbred Horses has ended in the Nicaraguan city of Granada, 46 kilometers of the capital, after four days in which about 200 horses were shown off.

Delegations such as Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua, participated in the event held at the Cocibolca Jockey Club, and were satisfied at its conclusion by the performance of their horses, which won awards during the event.

According to various media, the award for the best show example was given to a Nicaraguan horse, while Costa Rica was awarded for young champion with best moves and Central American sub champion.

The award for the adult champion with best moves was given to a horse from Guatemala, along with the gold medal for the grand champion.

Nicaragua also won awards for champion colt, young champion and champion in functionality, reported the press’s citing sources of the Nicaraguan Association of Breeders of Spanish Thoroughbred Horses.

In recent statements, the general coordinator of the fair, Alberto Gallegos, said that the event would be attended by more than 43 horse breeders from Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, the U.S. and Spain. By Prensa Latina.

Chief of Police harrassed by feds, placed on leave after signing pledge to the Constitution

Sino Sheriff orders Shane Harger to disband entire police department due to “political affiliations”

by Paul Joseph Watson

A police chief was detained and harassed by federal agents while traveling to a constitutional convention before returning home to be told he was being placed on administrative leave and ordered to disband his police department after signing a pledge to uphold the bill of rights.

Police Chief Shane Harger of the Jemez Springs, NM Police Department was flying out of Albuquerque Airport last week on his way to a Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) convention taking place in Las Vegas. CSPOA is an organization headed up by Sheriff Richard Mack under which law enforcement officers gather to re-affirm their commitment to uphold and defend the Constitution.

Before passing security, Harger was approached by a TSA agent who asked the police chief to show his credentials. Moments later, a man claiming to be a “federal agent” also asked to see Harger’s credentials before telling him he was a “person of interest.” The federal agent then demanded to know where Harger was traveling to and why.

When Harger told the federal agent he was attending the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association Convention in Las Vegas, he was detained for 35 minutes before finally being allowed to board the airplane.

On Tuesday January 28, a day after his return, Harger was placed on administrative leave and ordered by Sandoval County, NM, Sheriff Douglas C. Wood to disband his entire police department due to his “political affiliations”.

What were his political affiliations? While attending the convention, Harger, along with 38 other police officers, signed a declaration affirming their pledge to “obey and observe” the U.S. Constitution, in addition to refusing to carry out unconstitutional orders such as gun confiscation without constitutionally compliant warrants, violations of the 4th amendment without probable cause, detainment or incarceration of citizens without probable cause, or working with the military for domestic law enforcement.

In other words, Harger was targeted for federal harassment and subsequently suspended for re-affirming his belief in the very Constitution he took an oath to uphold and protect in order to become a police officer in the first place.

“Despite having received a meritorious commendation from the Mayor of Jemez Springs on January 22, 2014, it seems that no one in the village government is willing to come to the assistance of Harger. It appears that Harger’s stance to defend and uphold the Constitution has put him and his entire department of ten part-time and volunteers out of business,” writes Vincent Finelli.

“I was at the convention and I never saw nor heard anyone say nor do anything that was a violation of any law. The CSPOA convention was an assembly of peace-loving Americans who just wanted to uphold their oath of office, that being to support and defend the US Constitution and Bill of Rights for all of us, We The People,” adds Finelli.

Harger’s treatment is yet another disturbing indication that the federal government, in addition to law enforcement authorities, view Americans who support the bill of rights as domestic extremists. Harger’s position as Chief of Police also shows that they are desperate to prevent citizens who identify as constitutionalists, tea partiers or libertarians from holding any position of influence within law enforcement or society in general.

Harger’s potential dismissal for his patriotic and constitutional “political affiliations” is a chilling reminder that such positions are not only not welcomed but actively discriminated against by the federal government.

Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Infowars.com and PrisonPlanet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a host for Infowars Nightly News.

In other news:

NFL: Microcosm of the Corporate Class Billions stolen from tax payers

by Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com

Alexis García has produced a video for Reason.tv showing how an NFL franchise is not a good idea, especially for cash-strapped cities.

“The NFL is good at fleecing taxpayers,” ESPN columnist Gregg Easterbrook and the author of The King of Sports: Football’s Impact on America told Garcia. “It’s about a billion dollars a year I’ve calculated in public subsidies to NFL owners and this is a group that consists almost entirely of billionaires and yet receiving significant public subsidies every year.”

The organization closely resembles the corporate class sucking the life-blood out of America. Like banksters and transnational companies, it depends of corporate socialism. It buys politicians who agree to use tax dollars to subsidize operations and build lavish stadiums. It is owned by billionaires. (See an interactive Muckety map here.)

“Judith Grant Long, a Harvard University professor of urban planning, calculates that league-wide, 70 percent of the capital cost of NFL stadiums has been provided by taxpayers, not NFL owners. Many cities, counties, and states also pay the stadiums’ ongoing costs, by providing power, sewer services, other infrastructure, and stadium improvements,” Easterbook writes.

The NFL does not pay a dime in taxes. The IRS says it is a 501(c)(6) tax-exempt organization. Like the Rockefellers and the elite, the NFL exploits the tax code to avoid paying taxes the rest of us pay at gunpoint.

But the NFL is hardly run like a charity on a shoestring with a volunteer staff.

“Goodell’s taking some $30 million from an enterprise made more profitable because it hides behind its tax-exempt status does not seem materially different from, say, the Fannie Mae CEO’s taking a gigantic bonus while taxpayers were bailing out his company,” writes Easterbrook.

In September, Oklahoma Republican Senator Tom Coburn introduced legislation to put an end to the NFL’s tax exemption.

Coburn’s bill, however, is not a sure deal.

Studies show that spirulina can help prevent cancer, boost brain

by Michael Ravensthorpe

Spirulina is a type of green algae that grows in fresh water bodies. It is a survivor plant which, unlike most flora, is able to withstand considerable temperature variations and still thrive. It is cultivated worldwide and has been harvested as a food source for thousands of years.

According to David Wolfe, author of the book, Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future, spirulina is one of the most nutritious foods in the world. In fact, it has become synonymous with the “superfood” label. This article contains an overview of spirulina’s health benefits and the studies that confirm them.

Research into spirulina –

Rich in nutrients – Spirulina’s biggest attraction is its incomparable levels of nutrients. According to spectral analysis provided by Self’s “NutritionData,” a 28 gram (1 ounce) serving of dried spirulina contains 44 percent of our RDI of iron, 32 percent of our RDI of protein, 60 percent of our RDI of riboflavin, 44 percent of our RDI of thiamin and a whopping 85 percent of our RDI of copper. The same serving size also contains smaller amounts of vitamins A, C, E and K, numerous other B-vitamins and trace minerals, and essential fatty acids. This astonishing nutritional profile makes spirulina a near-perfect food, lacking only in vitamin D.

Cancer prevention –

According to a 2004 study published in Biochemical Pharmacology, spirulina contains a protein, C-phycocyanin, that can significantly reduce the proliferation of cultured leukemia cells by causing the cells to undergo apoptosis (“cell death”). A later 2009 study published in the Cancer Science journal found that mice that were fed a spirulina extract had increased activity of natural killer cells (immune cells that kill cancer cells) than those fed the placebo. The researchers concluded that “NK activation by spirulina has some advantage in combinational use with BCG-cell wall skeleton for developing adjuvant-based antitumor immunotherapy.”

Antiviral properties –

A 2005 study published in Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology has shown that spirulina’s “high concentration of natural nutrients” can improve white blood cell activity and stimulate antibodies. These properties make spirulina an excellent guard against many serious viruses. “[Spirulina preparations] have been found to be active against several enveloped viruses including herpes virus, cytomegalovirus, influenza virus and HIV,” claim the researchers. “They […] inhibit carcinogenesis due to anti-oxidant properties that protect tissues and also reduce toxicity of liver, kidney and testes.”

Liver protection –

Though consuming spirulina can boost the health of all our organs, research has shown that it is especially beneficial for our livers. An Indian-Malaysian study published in the December 2008 issue of International Journal of Integrative Biology, for instance, found that mice that were fed spirulina extracts experienced elevated liver enzymes, protecting them from liver damage. The researchers noted that spirulina’s antioxidant concentrations were responsible for this benefit.

Boosts brain function –

A 2005 study published in the Journal of Experimental Neurology has demonstrated that a spirulina dose of 180 milligrams per kilogram of weight had the ability to reduce brain damage and aid the recovery of neurons in rats who had suffered strokes. The researchers acknowledged a connection between improved brain function and a “diet enriched in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory phytochemicals.”

Surveillance net: “beyond anything that has ever existed previously

by Marvin Ramirez

Marvin J. RamirezMarvin Ramirez

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: I found this article among an archive of stories that I have kept for the purpose of publishing it when the time was right. It was sent to El Reportero in May 2012, but it is so relevant to the present, that I decided to print it now.

by Eric Peters

After a certain point, it’s not paranoia

The latest brick in the wall is the predictably named “Moving Ahead For Progress in the 21st Century Act,” also known as Senate Bill 1813. (See here for the full text of the bill itself; the relevant section is 31406.) This legislation – already passed by the Senate and likely to be passed by the House – will impose a legal requirement that all new cars made beginning with the 2015 models be fitted with so-called Event Data Recorders (EDRs). These are the “black boxes” you may have read about that store data about how you drive – including whether you wear a seat belt and how fast you drive – ostensibly for purposes of post-accident investigation.

These EDRs are not new. GM and other automakers have been installing them in new cars for years – in GM’s case, since the late 1990s. What’s new is the proposed federal mandate, which would make it illegal to not have one – or (in all likelihood) to remove or disable one in a car required to have the device.

The question arises: why?

Several possibilities come to mind:

First, the EDRs could – and almost certainly will be – tied into your vehicle’s GPS. (Most new and late model cars, conveniently, already have this, too.) Then data about your driving can be transmitted – as well as recorded. To whom? Your insurance company, of course. Progressive Insurance already has such a system in place – voluntary, for the moment. (See here for more on that.)

When EDRs are mandated, you will no longer have a choice.

We’ll be told it’s all for the sake of (groan) “safety” – just like the old 55 MPH highway speed limit and every radar trap in the country. Of course, it’s really for the sake of revenue – the government’s and the insurance company’s. Your rates will be “adjusted” in real time, for every incident of “speeding” or not buckling up.

It’ll be so much more efficient than using cops to issue tickets. After all, so many fishes escape!

With an EDR in every car, no one will escape. Your “adjusted” premium will be waiting for you when you get home.

You’ve got mail!

And naturally, they – the government, insurance companies – will be able to track your every move, noting (and recording) where you’ve been and when. This will create a surveillance net beyond anything that ever existed previously. Some will not sweat this:

After all, if you’ve got nothing to hide, why worry? Except for the fact that, courtesy of almost everything we do being either “illegal” or at least “suspicious” we all have a great deal to hide. The naivety of the Don’t Worry, it’s No Big Deal crowd is breathtaking. Did the average Soviet citizen also “not have anything to hide,” and hence why worry?

But the last possibility is probably the creepiest possibility: EDRs tied into your car’s GPS will give them – the government and its corporate fuck buddies – literal physical control over (hack) “your” vehicle. This is not conspiracy theorizing. It is technological fact. Current GM vehicles equipped with the same technology about to be mandated for every vehicle can be disabled remotely. Just turned off. All the OnStar operator has to do is send the appropriate command over the GPS to your car’s computer, which controls the engine. It is one of the features touted by OnStar – of course, as a “safety” feature.

In the future, it will be used to limit your driving – for the sake of “energy conservation” or perhaps, “the environment.” It will be the perfect, er, vehicle, for implementing U.N. Agenda 21 – the plan to herd all of us formerly free-range tax cattle into urban feedlots. So much easier to control us this way. No more bailing out to the country or living off the grid – unless you get there (and to your work) by walking.

The pieces are all coming together.

First, computer-controlled cars. Next, widespread adoption of GPS in cars. Then, EDRs tied into them.

Viola. “Your” car is suddenly under the control of others. Just as “your” other (cough, hack) property – “your” home, for example – is under the control of others. It does not matter that you paid for it. Or even that you have the legal fiction of ownership. You do not control “your” property – hence it is really the property of others. You are merely allowed to use said property – under certain conditions, by the leave of the true owners – the government and its cronies in the corporatocracy.

And once SB 1813 is passed and signed into law, there will no longer be an opt-out. In fact, sure as the rooster crows in the morning, you can bet the next step will a law requiring older cars not originally fitted with the technology be fitted with it – or else decommissioned. (I wrote about that previously.) It is inconceivable that they – the government and its insurance company cronies – will allow anyone to drive a vehicle not subject to this monitoring and control.

They will insist it’s not “safe” – and of course, “unfair” that owners of older cars not equipped with EDRs are able to “get away” with “speeding” and not wearing their seat belts.

Our cars were once a tangible expression of the freedom ideal. They are fast becoming mobile cages. And the really devilish thing is they’re making us pay the costs of our own imprisonment, too.

Throw it in the Woods?

This article has been contributed by Eric Peters. Visit his web site at Eric Peters Autos and follow his regular commentary on politics, world events, and alternative news. http://ericpetersautos.com/category/politics/.

How will the economy improve in 2014 if aalmost everyone has less money to spend

by Michael Snyder
Economic Collapse Blog

Is the U.S. consumer tapped out? If so, how in the world will the U.S. economy possibly improve in 2014? Most Americans know that the U.S. economy is heavily dependent on consumer spending. If average Americans are not out there spending money, the economy tends not to do very well.

Unfortunately, retail sales during the holiday season appeared to be quite disappointing and the middle class continued to deeply struggle. And for a whole bunch of reasons things are likely going to be even tougher in 2014. Families are going to have less money in their pockets to spend thanks to much higher health insurance premiums under Obamacare, a wide variety of tax increases, higher interest rates on debt, and cuts in government welfare programs. The short-lived bubble of false prosperity that we have been enjoying for the last couple of years is rapidly coming to an end, and 2014 certainly promises to be a very “interesting year”.

Obamacare rate shock

Most middle class families are just scraping by from month to month these days.

Unfortunately for them, millions of those families are now being hit with massive health insurance rate increases.

In a previous article, I discussed how one study found that health insurance premiums for men are going to go up by an average of 99 percent under Obamacare and health insurance premiums for women are going to go up by an average of 62 percent under Obamacare.

Most middle class families simply cannot afford that.

Earlier today, I got an email from a reader that was paying $478 a month for health insurance for his family but has now received a letter informing him that his rate is going up to $1,150 a month.

Millions of families are receiving letters just like that. And to say that these rate increases are a “surprise” to most people would be a massive understatement.

Even people that work in the financial industry are shocked at how high these premiums are turning out to be…

“The real big surprise was how much out-of-pocket would be required for our family,” said David Winebrenner, 46, a financial adviser in Lebanon, Ky., whose deductible topped $12,000 for a family of six for a silver plan he was considering. The monthly premium: $1,400.

Since Americans are going to have to pay much more for health insurance, that is going to remove a huge amount of discretionary spending from the economy, and that will not be good news for retailers.

Get ready for higher taxes

When you raise taxes, you reduce the amount of money that people have in their pockets to spend.

Sadly, that is exactly what is happening.

Congress is allowing a whopping 55 tax breaks to expire at the end of this year, and when you add that to the 13 major tax increases that hit American families in 2013, it isn’t a pretty picture.

This tax season, millions of families are going to find out that they have much higher tax bills than they had anticipated.

And all of this comes at a time when incomes in America have been steadily declining. In fact, real median household income has declined by a total of 8 percent since 2008.

If you are a worker, you might want to check out the chart that I have posted below to see where you stack up. In America today, most workers are low-income workers. These numbers come from a recent Huffington Post article…

-If you make more than $10,000, you earn more than 24.2% of Americans, or 37 million people.

-If you make more than $15,000 (roughly the annual salary of a minimum-wage employee working 40 hours per week), you earn more than 32.2% of Americans.

-If you make more than $30,000, you earn more than 53.2% of Americans.

-If you make more than $50,000, you earn more than 73.4% of Americans.

-If you make more than $100,000, you earn more than 92.6% of Americans.

-You are officially in the top 1% of American wage earners if you earn more than $250,000.

-The 894 people that earn more than $20 million make more than 99.99989% of Americans, and are compensated a cumulative $37,009,979,568 per year.

It is important to keep in mind that those numbers are for the employment income of individuals not households. Most households have more than one member working, so overall household incomes are significantly higher than these numbers.

Higher interest rates mean larger debt payments

On Tuesday, the yield on 10 year U.S. Treasuries rose to 3.03 percent. I warned that this would happen once the taper started, and this is just the beginning. Interest rates are likely to steadily rise throughout 2014.

The reason why the yield on 10 year U.S. Treasuries is such a critical number is because mortgage rates and thousands of other interest rates throughout our economy are heavily influenced by that number.

So big changes are on the way. As a recent CNBC article declared, the era of low mortgage rates is officially over…

The days of the 3.5 percent 30-year fixed are over. Rates are already up well over a full percentage point from a year ago, and as the Federal Reserve begins its much anticipated exit from the bond-buying business, I believe rates will inevitably go higher.

Needless to say, this is going to deeply affect the real estate market. As Mac Slavo recently noted, numbers are already starting to drop precipitously…

Government benefit cuts

Well, if the middle class is going to have less money to spend, perhaps other Americans can pick up the slack.

Or maybe not.

You certainly can’t expect the poor to stimulate the economy. As I mentioned yesterday, it is being projected that up to 5 million unemployed Americans could lose their unemployment benefits by the end of 2014, and 47 million Americans recently had their food stamp benefits reduced.

So the poor will also have less money to spend in 2014.

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