The movement will next take on foreclosures

­por Sally Khon

The American Prospect

Occupy activists march during a tour of foreclosed homes in N.Y. (PHOTO BY MARY ALTAFFER)

As winter fades, the Occupy Wall Street movement is heating up again. But don’t expect the same focus on physical encampments and rowdy protests. While the blood of the 99 percent is still boiling at the injustice of growing inequality, in organizing meetings and workgroups, cooler heads are prevailing. This is Occupy 2.0—the mainstreaming of momentum.

From my conversations with Occupy organizers and supporters, my sense is that the main thrust of organizing energy and attention will go toward Occupy Our Homes— a coalition of Occupy activists joining with existing grassroots groups to support families that are facing foreclosure or have been evicted by big banks. Prioritizing Occupy Our Homes is great choice for two reasons.

First, the foreclosure crisis is immense and growing. Despite the recent mortgage settlement with state attorneys general that will grant 750,000 foreclosed-upon families a whopping $2,000 each (!), 4.2 million families have already been foreclosed upon during the economic crisis. The industry site RealtyTrac estimates that number will skyrocket to 10 million in 2012. Besides literally pulling the rug out of millions of American families at the worst possible moment, according to the Federal Reserve, high rates of foreclosed properties drive down home prices and values, hurting all homeowners and the economy as a whole. There may be no more powerful illustration of the abuses of the 1 percent than the taxpayer-bailedout big banks foreclosing on struggling families and driving down the economy for the entire 99 percent. But organizing around Occupy Our Homes is a strategic second phase choice for Occupy for another reason, one best summed up by my own mother. She sent money to Zuccotti Park and her own local Occupy site in Allentown, Pennsylvania but, at age 64 (sorry mom!), told me there was no way she was sleeping on the ground outside in the cold.

The great thing about Occupy Our Homes as a tactic is that there’s still a tangible way for the tents and sleeping bags set to be involved (as when Occupy supporters camped out on the lawn of the home of an Iraq War veteran near Atlanta, ultimately saving her home from foreclosure) but foreclosure prevention also creates avenues for other types of engagement, whether bringing a casserole, writing a letter to a bank, or joining a prayer vigil. Such actions put a broader face on the 99 percent movement, not just punk kids in bandanas but middle class families threatened with homelessness standing with block association presidents and pastors and grandmothers (i.e., my mom).

Say what you will about mainstreaming, that’s how movements evolve being a fringe concern to a force for change. I don’t mean to disregard the role of the vanguard, those at the leading edge of a movement’s origins who take the first, bold steps and, often, risks. But vanguard leaders should be self-aware and situate themselves in a larger context, seeing the prospect of mainstream appeal as a sign of their success not a threat to undermine it. It’s absurd to pave a road and then get angry when other people follow it. Instead, the next step is to pave a new one.

Unfortunately, I predict that a crowd of die-hard Occupiers will stubbornly cling to the tactic of public Occupy encampments and mass, edgy protests, confusing these tactics for the entirety of the movement and overlooking the possibility that these tactics may have outlived their symbolic power. Related debates about the political utility of black bloc tactics have been springing up and hopefully, these important debates will continue, knitting together various philosophies  within Occupy into a diverse whole. But as with many movements, it looks like this next phase will divide the movement into factions, with the radical anarchist wing splitting off from the rest. Perhaps the best outcome of this will be that even though the anarchists will continue their “day of rage” type actions and police aggression, they ­will make the Occupy Our Homes wing seem more reasonable and rational. At best, the more radical wing will continue to pave new, innovative roads for future momentum. That would be the vanguard-y thing to do.

Lastly, look in the spring for another wing to emerge—existing grassroots organizations driving sets of actions tied to the mission of Occupy Our Homes but with a more radical, confrontational edge. This will include perhaps the most visible, systematic disruption of corporate shareholder meetings ever seen in our country as well as other targeted direct actions on big banks in particular.

No doubt there will be some missteps but, to be clear, the difference with this cluster of organizers  and actions is that it will explicitly seek to bolster the same message and goals as Occupy Our Homes and implicitly create political pressure and space through edgier tactics that legitimize other arms of the movement. I was recently trying to explain hibernation to my three-year-old. I told her that animals like bears store food in the fall, dig in and gather strength in the winter and then come out ready for spring. The 99 percent movement gathered tremendous public will and political momentum in the fall of 2011.

Now, the movement is quietly planning and gathering strategic strength. In the spring, populist activism will bloom across America with a density and diversity unheard of for decades. It’s going to be a very hot spring indeed.

by unknown author

Nature’s wonder drug is a cheap way to beat obesity, cancer, arthritis and more.

Top doctors have revealed that the combination of garlic, vinegar and honey is a wonder drug that can cure everything from cancer to arthritis. Amazing studies from respected universities around the world prove the miracle home remedy that costs just pennies a day to make, is a super way to fight just about any affliction.

Experts have verified that this health-restoring trio of garlic, vinegar and honey can wipe out both common and uncommon aliments.

Successes include ache ,Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, asthma, high blood pressure, haemorrhoids, infertility and impotence, toothaches, obesity, ulcers and many other diseases and conditions. In a study of arthritis victims, Dr. Angus Peters of the University of Edinburgh’s Arthrit is Research Institute found a daily dose of vinegar and honey reduced pains by 90 percent.

A daily dose of garlic and vinegar has proved to be a powerful fat destroyer and weight reducer, according to Dr. Raymond Fish of London’s famous Obesity Research Center.

The prestigious British medical journal Lancel reported that cholesterol levels plunged on average from 237.4 to 221.4 after volunteers consumed 50 grams of garlic and four ounces of butter. The study proved the dangers associated with high fat foods can be neutralized by adding garlic  to your diet.

A study of 261 adult patients by the German Association of General Practitioners indicated that serum cholesterol and triglyceride level factors associated with the risk of heart disease, are significantly reduced by regular use of garlic in the diet. Studies at Houston’s MD Anderson Cancer Institute in Houston, the Pennsylvania State University and GCLA support earlier evidence that certain ingredients in garlic block agents the cancer of the breast, colon, oesophagus and skin.

The National Cancer Institute found in a study of 1,000 people that eating a lot of garlic is linked to a reduced risk of stomach cancer. Dr. Etik Block of the State University of New York at Albany has discovered garlic unleashes at least 100 sulphur producing components, all of which are powerful medicines. There appears to be little doubt that this astounding remedy of garlic, vinegar and honey can extend life by protecting the user from many proven killers.

Dr. Hen Lee Tsno writes in China’s respected Journal of Natural Medicines.

Patients given this miracle drink before breakfast showed a remarkable reduction in high blood pressure and cholesterol in less than a week. Ralim nutritionist Emlio Stelfani adds. Years of scientific investigation by experts around the world have proven beyond a doubt that garlic, vinegar and honey are natures magic potion. The three powerful ingredients are available everywhere and they cost only pennies a day. Considering all that these natural substances can do for human health, it’s amazing they are not more widely used. Dr. Jack Soltanoff a nutritional expert from New York, praises the benefits of apple cider vinegar.

­He’s recorded remarkable success stories involving arthritis sufferers, I have seen many arthritis patients start to loosen up at once, says Dr. Soltanoff Some even call it (apple cider vinegar) a natural arthritis tonic that free them from stiffness, pain and throbbing aches. Within just a few weeks, most pain wrecked arthritis patients can perform normal activities because of this simple tonic. Boxing legend Mohammed Ali reportedly takes a daily dose of garlic, vinegar and honey to light the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and many other athletes use it to gain a competitive edge. Dr. Tsao is sweet on the powers of honey. Honey has been described as the perfect food notes the respected researcher.

It contains at least 31 nutrients, 13 minerals the c o m p o n e n t s p a r t o f nine vitamins, six acids and four key enzymes. Patients who took the additional vinegar and honey drink daily, were more vigorous, had fewer colds or infectious diseases and in general were healthier than those who didn’t. There’s no question that this astounding elixir can extend life by protecting you from many proved killers. Honey not only makes your daily dose taste better.

The sweet stuff also aids in your body’s ability to absorb the medical properties of the powerful ingredients. Garlic provides a storehouse of vitamins and minerals, but what excites researches most is growing evidence that allicin an enzyme present in large amount in garlic stimulates the immune system .

Basic elixir recipe: Here’s how to make your own miracle medicine: In a bowl, mix together one cup of cider vinegar – use only cider  vinegar – one cup of honey and eight cloves of chopped garlic. Place the combination in a blender. And mix on high speed for 60 seconds. Pour the mixture into Another jar of glass (container). Seal and leave in the refrigerator for five days. Normal dosage is two teaspoons in a glass of water or fruit juice, grape or orange juice are best, before breakfast. A second dose, if desired, can be taken in the evening.

­by the El Reportero’s news services

Hugo Chávez

According to an intelligence report revealed by Wikileaks, the health ­of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is far worse than is being shared with the public.

The report, which includes testimony from Russian and Cuban doctors who were involved with his operations in Cuba, states that due to possible carcinogenic tumors in both his prostate and colon, as well as a potential metastasis to lymph nodes and bone marrow, President Chávez could have as little as one to two years left to live.

Chávez recently traveled to Cuba for another operation, as doctors found a lesion in his pelvic area. Though he had previously claimed that he was cured of cancer, the 57-year-old president’s government has reportedly begun preparing for a post-Chávez Venezuela. Regarding the recent release of reports from an intelligence company called Stratfor, Wikileaks writes: On Monday, Feb. 27, WikiLeaks began publishing The Global Intelligence Files, over five million e-mails from the Texas headquartered “global intelligence” company Stratfor.

The e-mails date between July 2004 and late December 2011. They reveal the inner workings of a company that fronts as an intelligence publisher, but provides confidential intelligence services to large corporations, such as Bhopal’s Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and government agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Marines and the U.S. Defense [sic] Intelligence Agency. The emails show Stratfor’s web of informers, pay-off structure, payment laundering techniques and psychological methods.

Statfor President George Friedman told Univision the leaks were just “another attempt to silence and intimidate the company. Friedman claimed that “some of the emails may be forged or altered to include inaccuracies,” though added that “some may be authentic.” He did not state which were accurate and which were not.

IN OTHER HUGO CHÁVEZ NEWS:

The Venezuelan government said Tuesday President Hugo Chávez is in “good physical condition” after an operation in Cuba for a lesion in the same part of his body where Cuban surgeons removed a cancerous tumor last June.

Vice President Elias Jaua provided the medical update at the beginning of a speech to the National Assembly.

New Conservation Area in Peru Protects Rare Cat, Birds, and Disappearing Cloud Forests

A new conservation area established in central Peru will help protect the area’s shrinking cloud forest, as well as a rich biodiversity of wildlife that includes numerous endemic bird species and the endangered Andean cat.

The new, 1,977-acre Monte Potrero Municipal Conservation Area is located in the department of Huánuco, in the municipality of Umari in central Peru. The area is characterized by steep topography and moist cloud forests. The designation caps years of effort by Asociación Ecosistemas Andinos (ECOAN), American Bird Conservancy’s partner in Peru.

Endemic Peruvian bird species present in the area include the Fire-throated Metaltail, Baron’s Spinetail, and Tschudi’s Tapaculo.

Other notable species include the Powerful Woodpecker, White-chinned Thistletail, White-browed Spinetail, Three-striped Hemispingus, and White-browed Conebill. There are also small pockets of appropriate habitat at Monte Potrero for the Bay-vented Cotinga and Rufous-browed Hemispingus, which are listed as globally vulnerable.

by Jurriaan Maessen
Infowars.com

In its 2009 Guideluines for Engaging Faith-based Organizations (FBO’s) as agents of change, the UNFPA put out specific tricks to reach congregations unwilling to go along with the U.N.’s population control programs: “UNFPA has found that leaders of faith and interfaith-based organizations are open to discussing reproductive health, if issues are addressed with care and sensitivity.”

These “agents of change” should also be recruited to protect and promote the overall agenda “through countering misinformation campaigns and building social support within the governments for the ICPD (International Conference on Population and Development).”

The ultimate goal of these engagement efforts is clearly described: “Create a conducive sociocultural environment (impacting on behaviour, attitudes and practices) to ultimately promote and mobilize key communities towards achieving the goals of the ICPD PoA (International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action) and the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals).”

In the 2003 World Bank publication Faith in Conservation: New Approaches to Religions and the Environment, the reason for this broad set-up is explained in more detail: “We see, do, and are what we think, and what we think is shaped by our cultures, faiths, and beliefs. This is why one of the more extraordinary movements of the past few decades began to take shape. For if the information of the environmentalists needed a framework of values and beliefs to make it useful, then where better to turn for allies than to the original multinationals, the largest international groupings and networks of people?

Why not turn to the major religions of the world?”

It was Prince Philip (yes, the same prince who proclaimed he would like to see himself reincarnated as a killer virus in order to snuff out the lion share of humans if he could) who in 1995 launched “The Alliance of Religions and Conservation”. We may not be surprised at the fact  that we find yet another branch of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha clan at the forefront of promoting the infiltration of the world’s religions. To illustrate exactly how widespread this move toward a global unified religion is, the announcement goes on:

“The National Religious Partnership on the Environment is an alliance of the US Catholic Conference, Coalition on Environment and Jewish Life, National Council of Churches, and the Evangelical Environmental Network that serves more than 100 million Americans.”

This official launch was preceded by the emergence of Interfaith Partnership for the Environment”, which was founded in the mid 1980s in order to, as the UNEP website teaches, “… inform North American congregations about the serious environmental problems facing life on earth.”

We should here insert the observation that, yes, there is something detrimental facing all life on our planet and it isn’t carbon oxide. It is called the scientific dictatorship, which has already infiltrated almost all forms of human organization, including political, cultural, economic and religious organizations.

The “Earth Charter” is another example. An initiative by Steven Rockefeller (a fourth-generation member of the family) as well as man-hater Maurice Strong, the Charter outlines somewhat of an earth worship cult- for the brain-dead observer in order to attain world peace, but when you take a closer look you’ll find traces of eugenics all over the place. Here’s a man so keen on promoting the religion of death (which lies at the very core of this proposed world religion) that he couldn’t help himself on several occasions shooting his mouth off about the true objectives that are enshrined within its pillars: http://www.you-tube.com/watch?v=1YCatox0Lxo&feature=player_embedded#!.

The other tentacle of this global system of control calls itself the World Bank and also joins in on the effort. UNEP explains: “In Mongolia, for example, the World Bank and other international organizations are sponsoring a project to translate and publish Buddhist sutras about sacred mountains into modern Mongolian. The plan is to use the texts to reconsecrate the mountains and thus remind the local people of their traditional responsibilities not to log or hunt in certain areas.” Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director of UNEP, went around on many occasions, spreading this religion of death.

On one such occasion the Executive Director called for the creation of a new global religion: “We have to develop the ecological, holistic wold view which connects us with the rest of Nature both materially and spiritually. Religious traditions emphasize this connection. Our task should be to retrieve these basic symbols and doctrines within each tradition and translate them into clear prescription for public policy and behavior.”

In an address to the World Council of Churches, Töpfer first quotes the Bible: “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have domination over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth…”.

Then Töpfer adds: “Did God intend that we would multiply at the rate of nearly 80 million additional people a year, and be rapidly approaching a global population of ten billion in the next century….” Spoken like a true eugenicist.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)­, as the enforcement arm of the overall infrastructure, joined with their brotherand sister-agencies in the UN to encircle the world’s religions reminiscent of a pack of hungry wolves: “Since 2002, UNFPA has emphasized the integration of culturally sensitive approaches into programming efforts.Toward this end, it has worked closely within communities and with local agents of change, including religious leaders.”

There’s something to remember when you see preachers on television or radio, emphasizing the need for smaller families and birth control. Big chance you’re dealing with yet another “agent of change” employed by the UN to gently lead you into the its desired death cult.