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Latin America strengthens offensive for the Falkland at UN

by the El Reportero’s wire services

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The support to Argentina, regarding its sovereignty claim over the Falklands, summons since today ministries from several countries, representing key Latin American mechanisms of integration and Caribbean.

The new regional offensive that confronts the British most recent maneuvers which tries to consolidate that southern archipelago occupation, is led by Argentinian Minister of Foreign Relations, Hector Timerman.

With that objective, the Foreign Minister from Cuba, Bruno Rodriguez and from Uruguay, Luis Almagro, traveled to New York, together with the Peruvian Foreign vice-Minister, Jose Beraun Aranibar.

The three of them represent, in the same order, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).

The group will be received tomorrow by the General Secretary of United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, who has repeatedly expressed his will to mediate the negotiations between Argentina and United Kingdom about the Falklands.

El Salvador marks anniversary of killing of Monsignor Romero

People’s and religious organizations in El Salvador mark today the 33th anniversary of the assassination of Bishop and martyr Oscar Arnulfo Romero, who always protected the poor and persecuted.

He was shot by a hired gunman while celebrating holy mass at the chapel of the Divine Providence Cancer Hospital of San Salvador. His killer has never been found.

The UN Truth Commission that investigated human rights violations during armed conflict (1980-1992) concluded in 1993 that the crime was planned by founder of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (Arena), Maj. Roberto d Aubisson.

In a ceremony to pay tribute to Romero yesterday, President Mauricio Funes said that “we are still waiting justice to get to the bottom of the case and reveal the truth, not only owed to Monsignior’s relatives, but also to the Catholic Church and all the Salvadorian people.”

Russia Is Launching Mexico’s Communication Satellite

A Proton-M rocket is scheduled to put Mexico’s Satmex-8 communications satellite into orbit on Tuesday, Russia’s Roscosmos space agency said.

The rocket is to lift off at 11:07 p.m. Moscow time from the Baikonur space complex in Kazakhstan, the Interfax news agency reported.

This will be the first launch of a Proton-M since one of the rockets failed to put a Russian Yamal series satellite into orbit in December.

Roscosmos experts determined that the rocket’s failure was caused by a problem with a turbopump.

Satmex-8 was originally scheduled to be put into orbit on Dec. 27, but its launch was postponed until the cause of the Proton-M’s failure was determined.

The satellite, which was manufactured by U.S.-based Space Systems/Loral, belongs to Satelites Mexicanos, or Satmex.

Venezuelan violence is key campaign issue

Venezuela’s interior and justice minister, Néstor Reverol, admitted this week that homicides increased by 14 percent in 2012 to 16,072 compared with a year earlier.

The murder rate has increased from 48 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2011, Reverol said, to 54. This is more than twice the murder rate in Peru where the government, under heavy public and media pressure, this week announced the creation of an elite police intelligence team to crack down on criminal gangs to try and combat.

Venezuela’s acting president, Nicolás Maduro, said that ending violence in the country required “an integral and Socialist vision”, and appealed to artists and sportsmen to assist in developing a plan to tackle it.

Ecuador rejects preventive measures imposed by IACHR

Ecuadorian President, Rafael Correa, announced that Ecuador will not accept the preventive measures imposed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) since that organization does not have authority for such an action.

We will not accept those measures because they are illegal, he said.

(LatinNews and Prensa Latina contributed to this report).

The great Cyprus bank robbery shows that there is no bank account that is safe – Part 2

by Marvin J. Ramirez

Marvin J. Ramirez

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: (Last week’s editorial we missed pointing out that it was Part 1 – this is Part 2 and last).

Most of you might think that the US government would never touch your bank savings, that the dollar would never collapse, or that the US would never let the economic system to breakdown.

Well, as many might have seen just this week, the small nation, Cyprus, has become the latest experiment of nationalization of its own people bank accounts, the beginning of a domino reaction that could come anytime – after rolling over the European Union – to America. The famous bailout just recently in the US was just a small show of what it can be done without the people’s consent, and which is expected to hit home in a near future.

The guest article below for this week is Michael Snyder’s, The great Cyprus Bank robber shows that no bank account is safe,” explains in very much detail, what we, as Americans, should expect and be ready for when this same medicine is applied in home.

The great Cyprus Bank robbery shows that no bank account is safe – Part 2 and last

by Michael Snyder
Economic Collapse

It would be hard to over-emphasize how significant the Cyprus situation is. The EU demonstrated under no uncertain circumstances that they will destroy the rule of law to maintain their own power. It was a recognition of tyranny that many of us have always assumed was the case but yesterday became reality.

The damage done here is not related to the size of the haircut – currently discussed between 3 and 13 percent – but rather that the legal language which each and every investor on the planet must rely on in order to maintain confidence in the system has been subordinated to the needs of the powerful elite. To the power elite making the major decisions in DC, London, Berlin, France, Brussels, et. al., laws are like ice cream, easily melted.

Which begs the question, who is next? Will it be Portugal? Greece? Spain? Italy? France???

Will they impose a “one-time” tax on your bank account? Your house? Your stocks and bonds? Retirement accounts?

The global elite have declared open season on all large piles of money, and now many people all over the world will consider taking money out of the bank to be the rational thing to do. This will especially be true in countries in southern Europe since they would probably be the next to have wealth confiscated.

This is so abundantly clear that even Paul Krugman of the New York Times understands this…

It’s as if the Europeans are holding up a neon sign, written in Greek and Italian, saying “time to stage a run on your banks!”

Tomorrow and the days immediately following should be very interesting.

The global elite have truly “crossed the Rubicon” by going after private bank accounts. It is almost as if they purposely chose the most damaging solution possible to the financial crisis in Cyprus.

Many in the financial world are absolutely stunned by all of this. For example, David Zervos is describing this move as a “nuclear war on savings and wealth“…

All of us should really take a moment to consider what the governments of Europe have done. To be clear, they initiated a surprise assault on the precautionary savings of their own people.

Such a move should send shock waves across the entire population of the developed world. This was not a Bernanke style slow moving financial repression against risk free savings that is meant to stir up animal spirits and force risk taking.

This is a nuclear war on savings and wealth – something that will likely crush animal spirits. This is a policy move you expect from a dictatorial regime in Sub-Saharan Africa, not in an EMU member state. If the European governments can clandestinely expropriate 7 to 10 percent of their hard working citizen’s precautionary savings after the close of business on a Friday night, what else are they capable of doing? Why even hold money in a bank account? Are they trying to start a bank run?

So what motivated the global elite to do this?

According to CNBC, one of the motivations was to go after the Russians that had been using the banking system of Cyprus to launder money…

Indeed, the IMF is reported to have been keen on the levy as a way to stem the flood of Russian money into the island over the last few years which has promptedconcerns over money laundering.

Russian money accounts for about 25 percent of all money in the banking system of Cyprus, and obviously the Russians are quite upsetby what the IMF and the EU have decided to do. Even Vladimir Putin is loudly denouncing this move…

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the tax “unfair, unprofessional and dangerous,” according to a statement posted on the Kremlin website. Russian companies and individuals have $31 billion of deposits in Cyprus, according to Moody’s.

And you haven’t heard a lot about this in the western media, but the Russians have actually stepped forward and have offered to help Cyprus out of this jam. For example, there are reports that Russian investorsare interested in buying the two banks that were the primary cause of this bailout…

Officials have also said Russian investors are interested in buying a majority stake in Cyprus Popular Bank and increasing their holdings in Bank of Cyprus – the two biggest banks on the Mediterranean island.

And according to Sky News, Gazprom has offered Cyprus a very large sum of money for the right to explore their offshore gas reserves that have not been developed yet…

The uncertainty comes as Russia’s finance minister said his country would consider restructuring its loans to Cyprus.

Russian energy giant Gazprom has also reportedly offered financial assistance to Cyprus in exchange for access to the island’s gas reserves.

So far the government of Cyprus has rejected the help of the Russians, but could they change their mind at some point? Apparently the Russians are offering enough money to completely fund the bank bailout…

According Greek Reporter, Gazprom made an offer over the weekend to the Cypriot government to fund the bank restructuring planned under the Cypriot bailout (which is set to cost up to €10bn) in exchange for exclusive exploration rights for Cypriot territorial waters. How reliable this story is remains to be seen, but it does hint at the geopolitical tension which we have been warning about.

Gazprom is known to be very close to the Russian government and despite Russian President Vladimir 3Putin overtly slamming the deposit tax – calling it “unfair, unprofessional and dangerous” – it is unlikely that they would let this opportunity pass untouched. Fortunately, the Cypriot government is said to have rejected the deal off the bat, but if displeasure towards the eurozone and the EU grows, the Russian option may become increasingly appealing.

It will be very interesting to see what happens.

Meanwhile, some European officials are already suggesting that other nations in southern Europe should have a “wealth tax” imposed upon them. The following comes from an article by Paul Joseph Watson…

Joerg Kraemer, chief economist of the German Commerzbank, has called for private savings accounts in Italy to be similarly plundered. “A tax rate of 15 percent on financial assets would probably be enough to push the Italian government debt to below the critical level of 100 percent of gross domestic product,” he told Handelsblatt.

A “tax” of 15 percent on all financial assets?

Could you imagine if you woke up one morning and the government had decided to suddenly steal 15 percent of all the money that you had in bank accounts, retirement funds and stock portfolios?

If I had a bank account in Italy I would be very nervous right about now.

Under normal circumstances these kinds of things don’t happen, but governments will use an “emergency” to justify all kinds of things. I recently came across an article that included a great quote by Herbert Hoover that put this beautifully…

“Every collectivist revolution rides in on a Trojan horse of ‘emergency’. It was the tactic of Lenin, Hitler, and Mussolini. In the collectivist sweep over a dozen minor countries of Europe, it was the cry of men striving to get on horseback. And ‘emergency’ became the justification of the subsequent steps. This technique of creating emergency is the greatest achievement that demagoguery attains.”

This is what the elite love to do.

They love to create order out of chaos.

And this is just the beginning. The Great Cyprus Bank Robbery was just a beta test for what is coming next.

As the global financial system crumbles, the global elite are going to target our bank accounts, our retirement funds and our stock portfolios. You might want to start thinking about how you will protect yourself.

So what are your thoughts on all of this? Please feel free to post a comment with your thoughts below…

Debate on gun control should ask whether Congress has power to regulate

President Obama called for more gun control in his State of the Union address. The effectiveness of his proposals have been the subject of heated debate. But both sides are missing the larger question: Does Congress even have the right to regulate or ban guns?

by William J. Watkins

Gun control has become one of the preeminent battles of 2013. During a press conference last month, in which he was surrounded by children, President Obama urged Congress to ban “assault” (semiautomatic) weapons, limit magazines to 10 bullets, and introduce universal background checks for all firearm buyers. And last night, Mr. Obama again called for this regulation in his State of the Union address. Naming those affected by gun violence, he asserted to a cheering, standing crowd: “They deserve a vote.”

Across the country, Americans are debating the effectiveness of Obama’s gun-control proposals. Commentators on the left argue that semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity magazines aren’t necessary for home defense or hunting. On the right, the president’s critics say limiting guns won’t end violence and point out that no matter what laws Congress passes, criminals will still find ways to be well armed. The proposed legislation, they contend, simply would put law-abiding citizens at a disadvantage.

Both sides are missing the larger question in this debate: Does Congress even have the right to regulate or ban guns? Where does Congress derive the power to prohibit ownership or manufacture of certain weapons or magazines? It seems that many gun-rights advocates and opponents have forgotten their basic civics in assuming that Congress can act as long as 51 percent of the members agree.

The Second Amendment of the Constitution clearly states: “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” And as James Madison wrote in Federalist Paper No. 45, “The powers delegated…to the Federal Government are few and defined.” Those essays were written to promote ratification of the Constitution and assure states of its limits on federal power.

Madison further explained that these powers would “be exercised principally on external objects such as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign comregularmerce.” The states, he assured his readers, retained “numerous and indefinite” powers extending to “the lives, liberties, and properties of the people,” including “internal order.” The Supreme Court has consistently upheld the individual’s right to bear arms over several decades and court cases.

Such history lessons are usually dismissed by modern politicians.

Of course, Congress has passed laws that ban guns in the past, and many experts feel the courts have upheld the legality of some regulation and restriction of gun ownership. The 1994 “assault weapon ban,” which expired in 2004, is a prime example. But the fact that the federal government has taken an action in the past does not itself answer the question about the authority for, or legitimacy of, the action. In 1942, more than 100,000 Japanese Americans were placed in internment camps. Few would argue that this was constitutional or sets a valid precedent for a similar measure today.

In the landmark case District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Supreme Court recognized an individual right to bear arms, but also opined in dicta that certain “longstanding prohibitions” and regulations remained good law. The Court specifically mentioned laws prohibiting felons or the mentally ill from carrying weapons.

The Heller majority, however, failed to explain the fount of federal authority for these prohibitions. Undoubtedly, the common law as received from Britain at the time of the ratification of the US Constitution recognized and permitted such reasonable restrictions on the right to bear arms. Such a historical understanding could support some modern circumscribing of the right to bear arms as constitutionally valid.

But nothing in the common law of the time supports an outright ban on certain weapons possessed by sane, law-abiding citizens as urged by Obama.

If anyone were asking, Congress and the president would likely point to the Commerce Clause as the source of constitutional authority for the current gun-control proposals. But the original purpose of the Commerce Clause is far removed from the sale and purchase of guns – and has little to do with today’s debate over gun control.

Under the Constitution, Congress may “regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States.” Dictionaries in use during the Founding period defined commerce as “intercourse, exchange of one thing for another, interchange of anything; trade; traffick.”

From the ratification debates on the Constitution, we further glean that the Founders wanted the states to be united in the face of European protectionism. Britain, France, and other countries placed many restrictions on American trade, depriving the newly independent United States of America of lucrative markets. Because Congress did not have a commerce power under the Articles of Confederation, it could not effectively negotiate trade pacts or retaliate when European countries restricted American trade.

Moreover, states without deep-water ports were forced to import through states that had such ports. New York, for instance, placed high duties on items that consumers elsewhere ultimately would be forced to pay. This caused tension between the states. The Framers believed that a uniform system of commercial regulation would create a national free trade zone and remove the ability for certain states to exploit their neighbors.

With the Commerce Clause, Congress was given the power to make trade (i.e., trafficking) regular among the states and with foreign powers.

It’s hard to find anything in the record that indicates anyone ever contemplated that the Commerce Clause would encompass national laws that regulate manufacturing or ownership of guns – or anything else.

How the commerce power has been transformed is a long story. But in essence, Congress now claims the power to regulate any matter that affects the national economy. Such a reading of the Commerce Clause swallows up the Framers’ careful enumeration of powers, making the federal government omnipotent.

OPINION: Curbing gun violence after Newtown: Let’s arm teachers.

Unfortunately, many lawmakers are now bent on enacting national guncontrol laws, and too many of their opponents are debating the merits of these laws when they should be questioning their constitutionality.

They will continue to do so unless the American public asks them the fundamental questions about the source of their authority and demand a reasoned response

William J. Watkins, Jr. is a research fellow with The Independent Institute and author of the book, “Reclaiming the American Revolution.”

ALSO BY THIS WRITER: Obamacare, the Constitution, and the original meaning of the Commerce Clause

[Editor’s Note: The original version of this piece misidentified the kind of firearm covered in the 1994 “assault weapons ban” and in current proposals to reinstate it.]

Silvio Rodríguez to perform in Costa Rica, Bolivia and Perú

by the El Reportero’s news services

Silvio RodríguezSilvio Rodríguez

Cuban singer Silvio Rodríguez will begin on April 12 in Costa Rica a tour that will also include Bolivia and Peru, the website www.zurrondelaprendiz.com reported.

The singer of popular songs such a El necio, Te doy una canción, Unicornio and La era esta pariendo un corazón, among others, will be accompanied by Trovarroco Trío, clarinetist and flutist Niurka González, and drummer and percussionist Oliver Valdés.

Rodríguez will perform on April 15 at the Central Urban Park of Santa Cruz, in Bolivia, and on April 19 in the southern esplanade of the Monumental stadium in Lima, Peru.

Colombian’s Vallenato Festival

Mexican Juan Gabriel and Guatemalan Ricardo Arjona are in the Schedule Guest of Honor List of the Colombian Festival of Vallenato Legend, that in its 46 Edition is dedicated to the late poet and composer Gustavo Gutierrez.

The event, from 27 to 30 April next, will bring together the cream of this musical gender, which will dance to the infectious beat of the accordion in Valledupar, capital of the northern province of El César.

Juan Gabriel with its classic theams encourage the gala of the 28th, while Arjona will be playing close to the Feast scammers some of his most well-known ballads.

Also joining them will be two of the exponents of the vallenato veterans in the Andean country, Egidio Cuadrado and Carlos Vives, who opened the first of the conference, which will be for free.

Special moment will be the gala tribute to Gustavo Gutiérrez, dubbed by critics as the poet skinny vellenato, creator of pieces like Without Measure Distances, Como and Confidences.

Uruguayan International Festival with 250 films

With 153 feature and 97 short films from 50 countries, the 31st International Film Festival, organized by the Uruguayan film making, will exhibit at seven movie theaters in Montevideo, which was named Culture Capital of Latin America.

The opening is planned for this Saturday with the showing of Javier Rebollo’s “El muerto y ser feliz” (The dead and being happy) played by Jose Sacristan and the Uruguayan actress Roxana Blanco.

The festival, that will end on April 6th, includes nine works in Latin American section: from Argentina Ulises Rosell’s El etnografo (The ethnographer) and Gustavo Fernandez’ “De martes a martes” (From Tuesday to Tuesday); from Brazil Bruno Safadi’s “Eden” and Cesar Oiticica Filho’s “Helio Oiticica”; from Venezuela Luis and Andres Rodriguez’ “Brecha en el silencio” (Breach in the silence), from Chile Dominga Sotomayor’s “ De jueves a domingo” (From Thursday to Sunday); from Mexico Mercedes Moncada’s Palabras magicas (Magic words); from Colombia Colbert Garcia’s “Silencio en el Paraiso” (Silence in Paradise) and from Spain Eterio Ortega Santillana’s “Al final del tunel”, (At the end of the tunnel).

During the festival, films from Germany, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Spain, France, Greece, Portugal and Russia will compete.

In the section of international film making, the most recent films of Ken Loach, Terrence Davies, David Cronenberg, Raoul Ruiz, Marcelo Gomes, Hong Sansoo, Carlos Reygadas and a season of Pedro Costa, Manoel de Oliveira, Victor Erice and Aki Kaurismaki will be screened.

The festival will award nine films of “new film makers” from Argentina, Austria, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Uruguay that deal with human rights.

Reggae, Hip-Hop, Cumbia, Rock, Reggaeton at Casa Sánchez

Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff

La Gente La Gente

After out sold-out shows @ Elbo Room, Boom Boom Room and Cell Space, La Gente & Nikki Barodi return to the heart of La Mission for an underground dance party at the one and only San Francisco institution: Casa Sánchez.

Casa Sánchez was recently christened as a MAPP venue with amazing performances by Rupa & The April Fishes, La Gente and Sol Tevél. Also be sure to get some authentic Mexican food by Ayutla Restaurant.

This will be a great night to support local music as well as supporting local Latino entrepreneurs!

This Friday March 29, 7:30 to 10 p.m. Live @ Casa Sánchez, 2778 24th St. San Francisco. Only $6!

A Happy Spring art exhibition at Arc Gallery

Come and join Soad’s exhibition, and see her newest paintings explore repeating patterns, colors in nature and culture – a reminder of the power and beauty of our interconnected lives, and to celebrate Spring and the new Arc Studios Artists exhibit, Memento. Friday, March 29, 6-10 p.m. Arc Gallery, 1246 Folsom Street, San Francisco.

Richard Bean & Sapo – Celebrating 40 years of Suavecito

Continuing on with the 40-year anniversary, SAPO rolls bringing along Special guest from Santana and former Sapo member Raul Rekow with his fiery brand of conga playing which has graced the stage with Carlos Santana for over 35 years.

Also on the bill and back by popular demand after their appearance with Tierra will be Tortilla Soup, led by leader and trumpet player Robert Payne. This group out of San Jose is starting to spread its wings and get out across California.

With Raul Rekow, Special Guest from Santana & former Sapo member, plus Tortilla Soup.

On Saturday, April 6, 2013, 8 p.m., at Fulton 55, 875 Divisadero Street, Fresno, California. www.fulton55.com.

Tickets $12 adv. / $15 door at 559-412-7400 or visit: http://www.fulton55.com/event/235931-richard-bean-sapo-tortilla-fresno.

Afro-Peruvian Dance at the Library

Celebrate National Dance Month at the Berkeley Public Library with a free dance performance by Cunamacue, Local dance troupe Cunamacue combines Afro-Peruvian movement vocabulary, dances of the African diaspora and modern dance aesthetics. Their work communicates themes universal to the human experience.

On Saturday, April 6, at 3 p.m. The program takes place at the Central Berkeley Public Library, 5th Floor, 2090 Kittredge Street. Wheelchair accessible.

This free event is sponsored by the Friends of the Library (www.berkeleylibraryfriends.org). For more information, call 510-981-6139 or visit: www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org.

Music for the soul and body

It will be a new repertoire in bossa, boleros, samba, cha cha and rumba flamenca. Guest artist Moises Goldszmidt will bring his sax and we’ll celebrate with mixed prosecco cocktails, pianist Francisco Rosales-piano percussionist Ami Molinelli and singer Rennea Couttenye.

At La Casa Rosada, 681 Victoria St. SF 94127, on Sunday April 7, from 3 to 6 p.m.

Boxing

The Sport of Gentlemen

boxing

Saturday, April 27, 2013 Argentina

Sergio Martínez (C, No. 4 P4P) vs. Martin Murray (No. 8) 12 rounds – Middleweight division (for Martínez’s RING, WBC titles).

Saturday, May 4, 2013 Las Vegas

Floyd Mayweather Jr. (No. 1, No. 1 P4P) vs. TBA 12 rounds – Welterweight division (for Mayweather’s WBC title).

Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013 Las Vegas

Floyd Mayweather Jr. (No. 1, No. 1 P4P) vs. TBA 12 rounds – Welterweight division (for Mayweather’s WBC title).

There WAS a recount of the Prop 37, and it was stopped cold

Los Angeles community went out to support Prop. 37.

by Jon Rappoport
Infowars.com

The relentless Brad Friedman of TheBradBlog ran this story down and broke it. There was, indeed, a recount of the Prop 37 vote.

Prop 37, the ballot measure that would have mandated labeling of all GMO food sold in California, went down to defeat last November, under suspicious circumstances.

So a small group, headed by Tom Courbat, former senior budget analyst for LA County, The group decided Fresno County should be next. That’s when trouble came and whole thing blew up. The county clerk in Fresno, in charge of all voting processes, is Brandi Orth.

As The Brad Blog reveals, Orth came up with a staggering price for a vote recount. Here are a few of the details:

Orth stated there would be an up-front fee, due before the recount even started, of $18,000.

The cost per DAY of doing the recount? $4,000. This included five vote counters who would each be paid $46 an hour—to sit and count. Then there would be a three-person executive staff, each of whom would be paid an astonishing $92 an hour.

Note: In Orange County, the Prop 37 recount didn’t cost $4,000 a day. The fee? Only $600 a day!

But here is the best part. As Tom Courbat, the leader of the Prop 37 recount group, spoke with Fresno County Clerk, Brandi Orth, he suddenly learned he was being charged for the phone conversation—and also for Orth’s staff “getting ready” for a recount!

Understand this. No recount had begun. Courbat hadn’t given the green light for a recount. But, he was informed, he was already $4000 in the hole.

Courbat estimated a vote recount in Fresno County was going to cost his group $78,000 by the end of three weeks worth of work. They didn’t have the money.

The Fresno County recount was toast. And with it went any chance (even if one assumes a recount would be honest) that Prop 37 could be fairly reviewed in California.

At this point, I ran down a few facts about Fresno County. It’s the number-one county in the US for agricultural production; in 2007, $5.3 billion. Major employers? Kraft Foods, Del Monte Foods, Foster Farms, Zacky Farms, Sun-Maid. A local outfit, David Sunflower Seeds, is owned by the giant ConAgra.

Beginning to form a picture? Fresno is Big Agriculture, and the last time I looked, Big Ag isn’t rushing to support GMO labeling. They love Monsanto, crime boss of the GMO world.

Brandi Orth, who blocked the recount, was installed as Fresno county clerk a mere 10 months before Prop 37 went up before California voters. This happened, as The Brad Blog points out, because the previous county clerk, Victor Salazar, suddenly announced his retirement with three years left on his contract.

Who picked Orth as the new county clerk? The five members of the Fresno board of supervisors. I noticed that two of them, Phil Larson and Debbie Poochigian, were members of the Fresno County Farm Bureau.

That’s quite interesting, because in the run-up to the November Prop 37 vote, the Farm Bureau was one of the organizations that signed on to a large NO on 37 print ad.

Let’s recap. The recount on the Prop 37 vote is stopped cold in Fresno County (a major center of Big Ag), because the county clerk, Brandi Orth put up absurd, incredible, and arbitrary obstacles. Orth was selected for her job, in the first place, by a board of supervisors on which, at the very least, two of the five members were opponents of Prop 37.

Does the California state government and, in particular, the state attorney general’s office give this foul-smelling situation even a sniff? No.

Does the California Secretary of State, Debra Bowen, who is in charge of all voting in the State, budge from her office and investigate, or better yet, go down to Fresno and personally install a fair and equitable and affordable recount of Prop 37? Of course not. She moves right along to other matters.
What does that tell you?

The stink from the blocked vote-recount goes all the way from Fresno up to the capital city of Sacramento and back down again.

Naturally, the major media give this story no play. They remain silent.

As I’ve detailed in other articles (under the ~/category/yeson37/ section of my blog), there are many reasons to reject the truth of the original Prop 37 vote in California, as well as any election in the State. But after these revelations, if you accept California vote-counts as real, you should check your sanity.

Source: The Brad Blog, “Forget About Fresno: How One CA County Clerk Stopped Prop 37s Oversight ‘Recount’” Jon Rappoport

The author of an explosive collection, THE MATRIX REVEALED, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free emails at www.nomorefakenews.com. By Infowars.com.

U.N. welcomes trial for genocide in Guatemala

by the El Reportero’s news services

Efraín Ríos Montt Efraín Ríos Montt

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations extolled today the opening tomorrow of a trial for genocide in Guatemala against ex president Efraín Ríos Montt and ex intelligence chief José Rodríguez, both ex generals.

In this regard, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, urged Guatemalan authorities to protect from intimidation and reprisal the judges, attorneys, lawyers and others involved in the trial.

In a statement from Geneva, Pillay considered this is a historic trial for genocide and crimes against humanity that must bring the “long awaited justice for thousands of victims” of the 36 year-long armed conflict in Guatemala.

She also welcomed the decision by the Constitutional Court of Guatemala to deny an appeal on the grounds of unconstitutionality filed by the defendants’ defense team because genocide and crimes against humanity “must never be covered by amnesties.”

This is the first time ever in the world that a former head of State is tried for genocide by a national court, said Pillay as she highlighted the importance that the trial is in Guatemala and 30 years after the events happened.

The principles of independence of justice imply that the judges must be protected from wrongful influences, incentives, threats or interferences to secure full impartiality, transparency and due process, she insisted. The two defendants are considered as the alleged masterminds of the killing of 1,771 native people from the Mayan Ixil ethnic group, mostly elderly people and children, in 1982-1983.

Argentina asks Pope Francis to m,editate on Falk lands

ROME – The president of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez on Monday called to meditation of the Pope Francis to open a dialogue between his country and the United Kingdom on the conflict over the Falkland Islands.

I have asked his intervention to achieve a dialogue between the parties, told the president toreporters after holding a private audience with the new Pope, who until last week was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires. At a press conference, Fernandez recalled a similar conflict between Chile and Argentina over the Beagle channel, for which the parties had the intervention of Pope John Paul II.

Mexico and Brazil agree visa exemption

MEXICO- The governments of Mexico and Brazil will mutually suspend short duration visas in ordinary passports for their citizens, reported the Foreign Ministry (SRE).

This decision is a result of agreements reached in a meeting between Presidents Enrique Pena Nieto and Dilma Rousseff during the Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

The Mexican president expressed his government’s interest in giving priority to links with Latin America, and steps in that direction included meetings held with counterparts during the CELAC summit held in Santiago de Chile on January.

Panama and Costa Rica Approve Relaxed Border Crossing

The Governments of Panama and Costa Rica have signed an agreement allowing free crossing of their borders by citizens from both countries, the national Executive confirmed today in a press release published at its official website.

According to the source, the agreement was signed during the opening ceremony of the International David Fair, where in the presence of President Ricardo Martinelli, his Costa Rican counterpart Laura Chinchilla presented and passed on to the relevant Panamanian authorities the document that establishes the possibility of moving from one country to the other without use of a passport.

Martinelli and Chinchilla opened the 58th David Fair yesterday, where the president of Costa Rica spoke and gave the Governor of Chiquiri, Aixa Santamaria, the new document that Costa Rican and Panamanian citizens will be able to use.

This step shows that both nations enjoy a strong relationship based on mutual trust, in addition to a shared demilitarized border, said Chinchilla.
Martinelli said that the relations between both governments are solid and they would keep taking important steps in the interest of the two nations. He also said the establishment of an identity card to enter both countries is a significant step forward.

Cyprus government raids checking and savings acounts as citizens panic

by Mike Adams
ANALYSIS

The day is coming when the U.S. government will claim it “owns” a portion of all our bank accounts, and it will electronically drain our accounts of money in a grand theft scheme designed to pay off the banksters while decimating private savings.

Don’t believe it? That day has already arrived in the European nation of Cyprus, where the government made a secret deal with the IMF to loot private bank accounts of up to 10 percent of current deposits. Banks went along with the theft, sealing off the funds from account holders. The government now plans to initiate millions of funds transfers as early as Tuesday, draining private accounts of the money the government now claims it owns.

“Restrictions have been imposed to stop people emptying their accounts or moving their money out of the country following the deal with other eurozone finance ministers, under which ordinary citizens’ deposits will be directly raided for the first time,” reports the Daily Mail.

It continues: “But financial experts said the move — designed to stop Cyprus crashing out of the euro, potentially destroying the currency — would send shock waves through the eurozone. If savers in other troubled nations fear their accounts might be next, they could withdraw their money and spark a catastrophic run on the banks.”

Outright government theft of after-tax money

Just to be clear: even after you earn money by working your job and paying your taxes, any money you have in a bank account can be seized without notice as the government loots private savings to bail out wealthy bankers.

Not surprisingly, bank customers freaked out across Cyprus and began lining up in front of ATMs to withdraw as much cash as possible, causing fears of bank runs.

This seizing of private funds held in bank accounts is being called a “bailout” by eurozone cleptocrats. This is the model of theft that we are going to see replicated all across the EU as the global debt collapse takes hold. When wealthy bankers and investment houses make bad decisions on derivatives debt, they will be “bailed out” by a combination of governments creating fiat currency and / or looting the bank accounts of private citizens.

Now it’s clear why DHS needs 1.6 billion bullets and armored assault vehicles

If you’ve been wondering why DHS thinks it needs 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition, 7,000+ full-auto assault rifles, and 2,700+ armored assault vehicles, all for use on the streets of America, the answer is now clear:

The U.S. government is going to loot private bank accounts when the global debt collapse strikes, stealing everybody’s money and setting off nationwide riots that will be held in check using armored assault vehicles and automatic weapons fire.

This is what the government sees coming: A global collapse of the 1+ quadrillion dollars in derivatives debt, causing a runaway cascade of wealth destruction and bank failures. No nation on the planet carries more debt than the U.S. government, making it more vulnerable to a debt collapse than any other nation.

Once a global debt collapse spreads to America, the U.S. government will be unable to sell new debt, meaning it will have no choice but to print currency and start looting private bank accounts just to stay afloat. The value of the currency will be rapidly eroded, causing dollars that people have saved in bank accounts to plummet in value by the day. When the government loots private bank accounts, all hell will break loose in the streets, and a national state of Martial Law will be declared to try to stop the violent riots that will be unleashed in every major city.

The U.S. government, like every other government in the world, is like a cancer tumor in that it would rather kill the host than face death itself.

There is no limit to the actions the U.S. government will take in an attempt to keep itself afloat, including confiscating private bank accounts, confiscating gold, demanding all gun owners turn in their guns or be arrested, and even confiscating large sectors of the economy such as the technology sector. Don’t be surprised if the U.S. government seizes Google, for example, and then begins to censor the search results of all websites critical of the government.

All those in society who produce wealth will be told to hand over their wealth to the government. The billions of rounds of ammunition (and armored assault vehicles ordered by DHS) are to be used by the government to make sure the populace complies. Drones will also be used to kill any who resist by firing missiles at their homes or businesses. This is why Obama continues to claim the right to use drone strikes on U.S. soil to target “enemies” of America (meaning enemies of his regime).

How to protect yourself from government theft

As Cyprus clearly demonstrates, we are now entering the era of runaway government theft of private bank accounts. This is a warning sign of deep desperation, and it’s a sign of things to come across the globe. The global debt pyramid is a fictional construct built on a house of cards, and it’s going to come crashing down in a violent, desperate implosion that impacts every nation on the planet.

How can you protect yourself from this theft? Trade dollars for REAL things now, while you still can. Here’s my list of real assets that are far more valuable than dollars, Euros or any other currency:

• Farm land with good topsoil and multiple water supplies (more valuable than gold!)

• Heirloom seeds

• Physical gold and silver (not held in a bank, obviously)

• Farm equipment such as tractors and farm implements

• Firearms and ammunition

• Home food production systems (aquaponics) – see these websites: http://theaquaponicsource.com (has an awesome online course). http://www.backyardaquaponics.com. Mike Adams is the editor of Natural News.

Five ways to strengthen your immunity using simple food choices

by Jonathan Benson
Natural News

The best way to avoid developing colds, influenza, and other viral diseases this winter is not to go out and get more vaccines and over-the-counter drugs.

Your immune system is fully equipped to thwart these conditions naturally on its own, provided you feed it the nutrients it needs in order to maintain homeostasis. Here are five ways to strengthen your immune system naturally using simple food choices:

1) Garlic

This powerful member of the onion family comes up frequently in lists of food and herbs that promote health and prevent disease, and for good reason.

Garlic’s high allicin content is largely responsible for its disease-fighting effects, as this powerful antioxidant compound neutralizes free radicals and quells diseasecausing inflammation. As a whole, garlic has been used for thousands of years to prevent and treat respiratory, bacterial, fungal, viral, and parasitic infections as well. A 2009 study published in the international chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie found that allicin in particular is uniquely effective at targeting free radicals, far surpassing virtually all other natural antioxidants in terms of both its efficacy and efficiency.

According to Dr. Derek Pratt, a professor of chemistry and Canada Research Chair in Free Radical Chemistry, no other known compound, either natural or synthetic, works as effectively as an antioxidant as does allicin. (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090130154901.htm)

2) Homemade chicken soup

Arguably one of the most effective, and delicious, natural remedies for preventing and treating viral infections, homemade chicken soup made from whole, pasture-raised chickens is loaded with disease-fighting nutrients such as cysteine, an amino acid released during the cooking of chicken that, according to Prevention.com resembles the bronchitis drug acetylcysteine. Real chicken broth made from whole chickens, bones and all, also contains a host of beneficial fats, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that support vibrant immunity.

Gelatin, for instance, which is naturally formed in chicken broth, is a food substance composed of both essential and non-essential amino acids that is critical for regulating immunity, promoting healthy digestion, improving liver function, and strengthening bones. Dr. Kaayla T. Daniel, Ph.D., C.C.N., writing for the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF), explains in further detail how the gelatin found in natural chicken broth is essential for health. You can read her paper here: http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/why-broth-is-beautiful. You can also learn how to make your own immuneboosting stocks and soups at home by visiting the following recipe page put together by Healthy Home Economist and WAPF Chapter Leader Sarah Pope: http://www.westonaprice.org.

3) Sweet potatoes

A rich source of both vitamins A and C, sweet potatoes are another essential immune-boosting food. Sweet potatoes are particularly beneficial for your skin, which just so happens to be your body’s largest organ, and the first line of defense against harmful bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. But this starchy root vegetable also contains nutrients that improve cardiovascular and nervous system health, and also boost immunity.

Sweet potatoes are also one of the most effective foods for boosting glutathione levels in the body. Glutathione is often referred to as the “master antioxidant,” as it plays a primary role in detoxifying cells and fighting off free radicals. In general, high glutathione levels are absolutely vital for maintaining strong immunity, which in turn helps lengthen lifespan and improve overall quality of life. (http://drnevillewilson.com)

4) Mushrooms

Long revered in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for their incredible ability to stimulate the immune system, mushrooms of numerous sorts may hold the key to keeping you and your family healthy during the winter season. Copious research, including a 2009 study out of Arizona State University, has revealed that white button, reishi, maitake, shiitake and oyster mushrooms, to name just a few, all possess unique immune-boosting properties that make them a worthy addition to a healthy diet.
“[Mushrooms] are ‘functional foods’ and/or ‘dietary ingredients,’ which help support the immune system on a fundamental, multi-factorial level,” says acupuncturist and nutritionist Dr. Patricia Fitzgerald. “We need all the support we can get as our immune systems and health are under assault from pollution, stress, contaminated food and age-related diseases as our lifespans increase.” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com)

5) Brazil nuts

One of nature’s richest sources of selenium, Brazil nuts are distinctively beneficial in promoting a healthy immune system. Recognized for its ability to stimulate the production of antibodies, selenium is involved in most functions of cellular biochemistry, and is absolutely essential for proper immune function. Selenium also plays an important role in the production and function of glutathione which, as mentioned earlier, boosts adaptive immunity and promotes the production of white blood cells.

“Dietary selenium is essential for an optimum immune response (as it) influences both the innate, ‘non-adaptive’ and the acquired, ‘adaptive’ immune systems,” explains a 2003 study on selenium published in The Journal of Nutrition, which found that multiple aspects of immune function are dependent on selenium.

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