by Mike Adams
Natural News

Don’t say we didn’t warn ya, but now the long-anticipated plan for armed TSA agents to patrol U.S. cities has been invoked by none other than Jesse Jackson. Today he called on President Obama to unleash “Homeland Security” on the streets of Chicago, a city racked by murders and violence even though it has the strictest gun laws in the country. The only group within DHS that has the manpower to “occupy” a U.S. city is the TSA, a widely-hated government agency which has already begun running roadside checkpoints across the country.

Jackson’s call is essentially a demand that DHS send in armed agents (TSA with guns) because the situation is so bad in Chicago that “something must be done.”

But how did the situation in Chicago get so bad in the first place? The city’s leaders disarmed all law-abiding citizens by passing outrageous gun control laws that gave criminals the upper hand. By definition, criminals don’t follow gun laws, so they remain armed and more confident than ever. Police are outgunned and citizens are outgunned, and the result is that Chicago has the highest murder rate of any city in the world. (This is called cause and effect.)

As even the mainstream media now admits, the murder rate in Chicago today is far worse than during the Al Capone “gangland” days. “The surprising stats show the city is worse off now in the category of murder than at the height of the era that has driven Chicago’s reputation for almost a century, Capone’s ‘gangland’ Chicago,” reports ABC News.

In 2012 alone, there were over 500 murders in the city of Chicago, making it the murder capitol of the modern world.

The real solution to all this, of course, would be to arm the citizens.

Imagine 500,000 concealed carry permit holders packing heat all across the city. The violent shootings would all but cease, and criminals would run for the shadows. But instead of allowing citizens to defend themselves and help protect their own communities, Jesse Jackson — whose words are right on cue for the nationwide rollout of armed TSA agents — wants the government to bring in a new domestic security force that sounds an awful lot like Hitler’s Brownshirts.

Obama even talked about this “civilian national security force” in 2008, when he explained that it needed to be as well-armed and well-funded as the military! His exact words, as WND.com reminds us, were:

We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.
For the record, the TSA is Obama’s so-called “civilian national security force.” They are the new non-military, non-sworn “army” that’s slated to occupy U.S. cities.

This was the plan all along, of course: Disarm the citizens then wait for violence to get so bad that the public screams for the government to intervene. The TSA is ready to step in with its army of perverts, child molesters, drug dealers, thieves and child porn distributors — yes, these are precisely the kind of people who work for the TSA. Now Jesse Jackson apparently wants to put guns in their hands and give them “authority” over the disarmed citizens.

Jackson, by the way, calls people who don’t trust government “domestic terrorists” and claims that firearms provide them with the weapons they need to attack the government.

Armed TSA on our city streets?

Here’s why all this is a big deal. For starters, TSA agents do not swear any oath to the Constitution. They have loyalty only to their paycheck, not to any principles. In fact, if you actually try to talk with a TSA goon, you will quickly discover they have absolutely no historical knowledge of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, or U.S. history. They are the most idiotic, ignorant workers in the federal force today — the laughing stock of the feds. FBI agents, in contrast, are highly trained professionals who must pass rigorous exams to become gun-carrying agents. TSA goons are recruited with ads placed on pizza boxes.

Secondly, TSA agents are not “officers” of any kind, and they receive no law enforcement training. They are, in effect, government employees wearing costumes. They have no actual authority whatsoever and exist only as a charade of false authority.

Thirdly, everybody hates the TSA. The hatred toward the TSA is so bad that the evening news will typically interview 20 people at the airport just to find 2-3 that say something nice about the TSA. And then, of course, they will run only the positive statements and ignore the huge outrage against the TSA to try to create the impression that people are fine with the TSA. In reality, nobody likes to be molested by a government goon. No parent likes having her children taken away from her and felt up by a pedophile wearing a government uniform at the airport. People hate the TSA! (And for good reason.)

Fourth, local law enforcement hates the TSA, too. Local sheriffs won’t put up with the TSA trying to move in and run their city. Local police departments would also hugely resent the TSA trying to run their city streets. The TSA is a bunch of buffoons and everybody in law enforcement knows it.

Finally, if the TSA tries its little airport sexual molestation tactics on the streets of U.S. cities, the person they molest is going to go home and tell their friends, and the TSA goons who pulled off their little “feel up” stunt are going to be targeted for retaliation by the outraged citizenry. Once the abuses begin, no TSA “official” will be safe in a U.S. city. Even if they have guns, they won’t be able to fight back against an armed, outraged citizenry that’s fed up with being treated like cattle in their own cities. And no, the government’s stockpiling of 1.6 billion bullets won’t matter as much as you think since the TSA has no gun skills whatsoever and probably couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with a 12 gauge, as the saying goes.

Government occupation of our cities?

Bottom line? What Jesse Jackson is calling for is the rise of an armed domestic security force like Hitler’s Brownshirts. This is a blatant attempt to try to exploit the sky-high murder rate in Chicago to justify an armed government occupation of U.S. cities.

This is, in essence, a call for a militant dictatorship enforced at the end of a gun. And it’s doomed to fail. Jackson apparently has no clue that Americans don’t want to be slaves no matter what their skin color. Don’t you find it odd that Jackson, a man of dark skin color, wants his own brothers and sisters in the inner cities to be enslaved by armed government goons?

That’s the one thing I don’t get about democrats and gun control: Do they not realize it is precisely their people who have historically been enslaved due to a lack of self defense ability? If anybody has the justification for carrying a concealed weapon in Chicago for the purposes of self defense, it’s a black man! And I say that in full support of people of every color and religion to carry tools of personal defense, as is described by the Second Amendment of our sacred Bill of Rights.

by the El Reportero’s news services

Ernesto Cardenal

More than 130 poets from 60 countries have confirmed attendance so far, at the Ninth International Poetry Festival to be held from Feb, 17 to 24 in the southwestern city of Granada.

This is the largest festival of this kind in the world, with 91 poets from five continents and the rest coming from Nicaragua to participate, said Francisco de Asís Fernández, president of the event.

According to Asis, everything is ready for the event that will be held under the slogan of “La poesía es el cántico del cosmos” (Poetry is the song of the cosmos) and will pay tribute to the poet and former priest, Ernesto Cardenal.

In that week, he added, we will learn what France, Germany, Japan, China, Bangladesh, Spain, United States, United Kingdom, Mexico, Cuba, Belize, Haiti, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Nicaragua are doing in poetry.

This is one of the most important festivals in the world and it marks a milestone in the cultural history of Nicaragua, the Spanish ambassador to Nicaragua, Leon de la Torre declared in Managua.

The also honorary president of the event announced that the annual poetry celebration will be devoted, in its tenth edition, to poet Rubén Darío, one of the greatest modernist artists in Latin America.

For his part, the director of the Nicaraguan Cultural Institute, Luis Morales, explained that due to the significance of this event, the San Francisco Convent Cultural Center founded by Fray Benavente in 1529 has been dedicated to the festival.

There will be readings, recitals, book launches, and a dialogue on the life and work of Cardenal, said Bayardo Martínez, one of the festival’s founders, in remarks to the press.

According to the member of the organizing committee, another panel will be held in that patrimonial building, about Central American  poetry as a source of regionalidentity, sponsored by the European Union.

The Ninth Festival will try to consolidate new ways towards regional integration in culture, so it will share space with the 17th International Book Fair in Central America (Filcen) and with the Craft Fair, said official spokesman Arnulfo Aguero.

FAO Extols Reduction of Hunger in Nicaragua Nicaragua is one of the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean with more advances in the reduction of hunger, assured the United Nations Organization for Food and Agriculture (FAO).

According to the report on the Panorama of the Feeding and Nutritional Security in Latin America and the Caribbean, Nicaragua reduced the prevalence of hunger that affected 55 percent of the population in 1990-92 to 20 percent in 2010-12.

Except for the increase of chronic malnutrition in 1998, as much the extreme poverty as hunger diminished visibly in the country, said the report.

“Nicaragua has achieved a tremendous progress, two decades ago half of its inhabitants suffered alimentary insecurity, said the general director of the FAO, José Graziano da Silva, by means of the official message.

The progress shows the possibility to eradicate the lash of hunger, “if there is a resolved action on behalf of the countries,” the official commented.

The FAO representative of the FAO had a meeting with President Ortega during the summit of the Latin American and Caribbean Community of States in Chile and he invited the Nicaraguan leader to participate in the Council of April 26, in which Nicaragua will receive the distinction.

Among the facts appreciated here by the UN entity there is the establishment in October 2011 of the Parliamentary Front against Hunger, with the purpose of impelling legislative initiatives, programs and political policies in favor of feeding the poorest people. (Reported by Prensa Latina).

Previously publised at Personal Excellence

Do you drink soda drinks? How often do you drink it?

Here are 5 simple reasons why you should quit drinking Coca-Cola and soda drinks.

1. Counteractive to Weight Loss Efforts

One 330ml can of Coke contains around 160 calories. Assuming you drink one can of Coke every day: that’s 4800 extra calories every month or 1.4lbs. In a year, that adds up to 57,600 extra calories or 16.8 lbs. Granted, you will not be gaining an absolute 16.8lbs since our body metabolism adapts accordingly from consuming more/less calories, but you will clearly be gaining weight by drinking Coke/soda drinks over other healthier, lower calories options.

Contrary to popular belief, Diet Coke/soda is counteractive to weight loss efforts as well. I used to think Diet Coke should be a diet staple when I was trying to lose weight, which I later I found out wasn’t the case at all. Diet soda has been found to increase possibility of weight gain by 41%.

The most plausible explanation I found is artificial sugar in diet sodas confuses your body when it tastes something sweet that isn’t sugar. As a result, it makes your body crave for actual, sweet food.

2. Stains and corrodes your teeth

Coca-Cola and colored sodas stain your teeth. In addition, they have been shown to destroy 10 times more teeth material than fruit juices in just the first three minutes of drinking in a test.

3. Limited hydration

Coke and soft drinks contain caffeine, which is a diuretic. A diuretic is a drug that speeds up the rate of urine production – meaning it removes water from your body. While you can get your thirst quenched when drinking Coke, you do not get as hydrated as compared to if you just drink pure water.

4. Artificial stimulant

Caffeine is a psychoactive stimulant drug. It affects the central nervous system and alters brain function, resulting in temporary changes in perception, mood, consciousness and behavior. By increasing the levels of adrenaline (a stress hormone) in your body, you end off setting off feelings of anxiety and tension in your body. Instead of being able to operate as a fully conscious being, you end up having less control of your thoughts, emotions and behavior.

I noticed that whenever I do drink Coca-Cola or soda, my mental thinking is not as clear. It feels as though my thoughts become more rapid, jumbled and haphazard. Even though I’m supposedly more alert, I’m not fully in control of the higher faculties of my mind. It feels more like my mind is operating by itself and my conscious self is only allowed to observe in the background to give limited inputs. If this was in the past where I was drinking Coke every day, I would never have been able to make this observation. However, drinking Coke after being Coke/soda-free for many months made the contrast very stark to me.

5. Causes insomnia and sleeping disorders

The caffeine prevents drowsiness by (i) blocking the effects of hormones serotonin and melatonin and (ii) blocking adenosine receptors (sleep-inducers) from being binded. Apart from causing insomnia, it also prevents you from getting the full benefits of sleep, as the excerpt below from How Stuff Works shows: The most important long-term problem (of caffeine) is the effect (it) has on sleep. Adenosine reception (sleep inducers) is important to sleep, and especially to deep sleep. The half-life of caffeine in your body is about six hours. That means that if you consume a big cup of coffee with 200 mg of caffeine in it at 3:00 p.m., by 9:00 p.m. about 100 mg of that caffeine is still in your system. You may be able to fall asleep, but your body will probably miss out on the benefits of deep sleep.

The last time I drank (diet) coke, it kept me up all night until 6am, even though I tried turning in at 2am. My mind just went into overdrive mode and I could not sleep even though my body felt physically tired. If you drink coke/soda and you are finding it hard to manage your sleeping schedule, it might be the caffeine causing the problem. The problem is further aggravated if you are a naturally hyperactive person too (like me).

While you may appreciate caffeine for keeping you awake for a particular morning meeting or presentation, bear in mind that the boost is only temporary and at the expense of the natural functions of your mind (see point 5 above). While you may feel more alert after a dose of caffeine, it is just a stimulated feeling.

To make things worse, after the initial effects wear off, I am left with a state of fatigue worse than before since I was denying your body of the rest it deserved. To quote Jacob Teitelbaum, “Caffeine is an energy loan shark. What it lends you in the morning it takes back with heavy interest in the afternoon.”