Nestle Faces $94.6 Million Law Suit For Food Terrorism In India.

(NaturalNews) If you were asked to make a list of the most evil corporations in existence, which names would first come to mind?
Monsanto? Philip Morris? Union Carbide? Those are all great examples, but if you neglected to include Nestle, the list would remain incomplete.
Nestle has a long history of dirty dealings and putting profits before people’s health. Their sordid past and current misdeeds make them one of the top contenders for the scummiest corporation prize.

Right now, the company is faced with a Rs 640 crore ($94.6 million) class action lawsuit filed by the Indian government for Nestle’s “unfair trade practices, false labelling and misleading advertisements,” as reported by Reuters and cited by Legally India.
This followed a ban in August against the company’s Maggi instant noodle products, after they were found to contain high levels of lead and mono sodium glutamate.
The ban has since been overturned, but the lawsuit over what some are calling a case of “food terrorism,” is still being pursued by India’s Department of Consumer Affairs.
The lawsuit in India is just one of the latest examples of Nestle’s standard operating procedure – ignoring public health and safety in pursuit of obscene profits.

Billy Gates

• Billy Gates To Face Trial In India: Millions Of Children Poisoned By Vaccine!

As reported by ZME Science:
“Child labor, unethical promotion, manipulating uneducated mothers, pollution, price fixing and mislabeling – those are not words you want to see associated with your company. Nestle is the world’s largest foodstuff company, and it has a history that would make even hardcore industrialists shiver.”
The article details Nestle’s sordid past and present greed-driven business practices – starting with their baby formula marketing scheme (launched in the early 20th century), that sickened untold numbers of infants in third-world countries:

“Most of the groups they were targeting (especially in Africa) didn’t have access to clean water (many don’t to this day), so it was necessary for them to boil the water. But due to low literacy rates, many mothers were not aware of this, so they mixed the formula with polluted water which put the children at great risks. Nestle seems to have knowingly ignored this, and encouraged mothers to use the formula even when they knew the risks.”

• The Reset: Exorcism Of The New World Order ~ The Laudato Si.

The Nestle baby formula scam continues to this day, with the company still arguing that their formula is somehow better than breast milk. Several countries have joined an international movement to ban Nestle products.

Nestle’s sins are too numerous to cover in one article, but the conclusion of the above-quoted ZME Science piece sums it up pretty well:

“Nestle has shown, time and time again, that they have little ethics and little interest in a real social responsibility. From promoting their formula to uneducated African mothers to lying about production dates, from using water without a permit to dealing with ruthless dictators, they have often went the extra mile to make an extra profit – even as the extra mile meant hurting people, directly or indirectly.”

• Nestle’ Water Hoarding By Fascism: Nestle’ CEO, ” Access To Water Should Not Be A Public Right” Sales Annum $100.30 Billion

Meanwhile, back at the ranch …
It’s not just poor people in underdeveloped countries who are affected by Nestle. Here in the United States, the company is engaged in draining aquifers without any regulation or oversight – and in regions which are suffering from historic drought.
Nestle is the world’s biggest seller of bottled water. One of the places they get that water from is the San Bernardino National Forest in California. And not only have they been sourcing that water without a permit since 1988, they are not even legally obliged to reveal how much water they are draining from a state which is currently under mandatory water use restrictions due to a severe and unprecedented drought.

• California Water Crisis: Farmers Skip Planting ~ Instead Sell Water To Desperate Cities ~ Holodomor
• 130 Members Of Congress Tell Obama & Clinton To Back Off On The U.N. Arms Trade Treaty ~ Water More Deadly Than Guns!
• Obama To Send $1 Billion Of U.S. Taxpayer’s Money To Kiev In Violation Of The Foreign Assistance Act, While Detroit, Michigan Plans Mass Water Shutoffs For $260 Million!

The company’s attitude about the human right to have access to water was infamously summed up by Nestle chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, who said:
“There are two different opinions on the matter [of water]. The one opinion, which I think is extreme, is represented by the NGOs, who bang on about declaring water a public right. That means that as a human being you should have a right to water. That’s an extreme solution.”
Nestle has certainly deserved its place among Monsanto and the others vying for the ‘most evil corporation’ award. Please remember that the next time you go to the grocery store; support the boycott of Nestle products!
Natural News

Obama At Hoover Dam October 2, 2012

• Hoover Dam The Next 9/11? You Decide!
• Scientific Study Reveals Conspiracy Theorists The Most Sane Of All.
• 33 CONSPIRACY THEORIES THAT TURNED OUT TO BE TRUE, WHAT EVERY PERSON SHOULD KNOW.

http://politicalvelcraft.org/2016/02/11/nestle-faces-94-6-million-law-suit-for-food-terrorism-in-india/

U.S. Sheriffs Rise Up Against Federal Government: Sheriff Threatens Feds With SWAT Team ~ Grass Roots Take Charge!

http://politicalvelcraft.org/2011/11/14/u-s-sheriffs-rise-up-against-federal-government-sheriff-threatens-feds-with-swat-team/

Bombshell: Insider Leaks Koch Bros, Rubio Plan to Stop Trump

Insiders who were at a recent meeting between the Koch Bros. and Marco Rubio leaked intel on how exactly they’re going to try and steal the election from Donald Trump, GOP strategist Roger Stone revealed.
The Koch Bros. met with GOP millionaires and billionaires Thursday night to pool together over $75 million to stop Trump and are going to use Mitt Romney as ‘Plan B’ if Rubio fails to gain traction on Super Tuesday, according to moles who were inside the meeting.

“$75 million to stop Trump and $25 million to Marco Rubio, but they gave Rubio a condition: he’s got to win the Florida primary or he’s out and Mitt Romney’s in,” Stone revealed. “That’s the plan.”
“First they’ll ramp up an enormous, negative campaign on TV against Trump and they’re going to hit this phony Trump University issue,” he continued. “They claim to have personal dirt on Trump – I doubt that – and they are also going to try and delve into his business affairs, but if Rubio fails to grab the Florida primary, then Rubio’s out and Mitt Romney’s in.”
“The plan is for Romney to file for the New Jersey, New York and California primaries in an all-out ditch effort to stop Donald Trump and you heard it here on Infowars.com.”
Additionally, Marco Rubio’s wife called Ted Cruz’s wife, Heidi, to desperately beg Cruz to exit the race and aid Rubio, but Heidi said no, Stone said.
“The power structure’s desperate, the Rubio and Cruz teams are going back and forth but they can’t agree as to who will be the candidate,” he added. “I still believe Mitt Romney is totally dressed up, already made up, waiting in the wings… to step in as the last, best hope of the ‘stop Trump’ movement, and frankly I think Trump will bulldoze him as well.”
Watch the full interview with Roger Stone below:

NAZISM IN THE UNITED STATES - WHO WOULD'VE BELIEVED IT?

OKLAHOMA  DEMOCRATS  WANT  CHRISTIAN  BUSINESS  OWNERS  TO  WEAR  A  SCARLET  LETTER

REMINDERS  OF  WW 2,  THE  NAZIS  AND  THE  STAR  OF  DAVID  FORCED  UPON  THE  JEWS -  ONLY  NOW  IT  IS  THE  CHRISTIANS!   

BECAUSE WE DON'T LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES, HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

CLEAR EVIDENCE SUPPORTS THAT OBAMA'S HERO IS HITLER

THE NWO HAS BEEN FOLLOWING HITLER'S PLAN TO BRING FORTH THE WORLDWIDE NEW WORLD ORDER

THE BUSH FAMILY CLEAR BACK TO GRANDPA PRESCOTT BUSH AND BEFORE SUPPORTED THE HITLER REGIME, THE ROUNDUPS, THE DEATH CAMPS, AND THE FORCED SLAVE LABOR - THE EXACT SAME STEPS TODAY AS WERE BEING TAKEN THEN

THINK IT CAN'T AND WON'T HAPPEN IN THE UNITED STATES?  WE ARE ALREADY THERE UNLESS ALL AMERICA STOPS THIS.  READ AND LEARN................. 

By Onan Coca / 27 February 2016

Democrats legislators in Oklahoma are tired of all this religious liberty talk, and they’re ready to fight against the 1^st Amendment.

Democrat state Rep. Emily Virgin believes that Christian businesses should be forced to post a public notice that they will be discriminating against homosexuals, if those businesses are to be allowed to claim the right to refuse service based on religious beliefs.

That’s right, if you’re a Christian businessman in Oklahoma and you don’t believe that you should be forced to participate in a gay wedding, Democrats want to force your business to post a public scarlet letter detailing your “bigoted” beliefs!

Here’s what Oklahoma’s HB 1371 says:

“Any person not wanting to participate in any of the activities set forth in subsection A of this section based on sexual orientation, gender identity or race of either party to the marriage shall post notice of such refusal in a manner clearly visible to the public in all places of business, including websites. The notice may refer to the person’s religious beliefs, but shall state specifically which couples the business does not serve by referring to a refusal based upon sexual orientation, gender identity or race.”
  Virgin introduced the measure in response to a bill that Oklahoma Republicans have pushed that would allow Christian owned businesses, to deny services that ran contrary to their religious beliefs. Oklahoma state senator Joseph Silk argues that laws protecting religious liberty have become necessary due in large part to the tremendous pressure being applied by fascist LGBT groups who are actively destroying the 1^st Amendment. “The L.G.B.T. movement is the main thing, the primary thing that’s going to be challenging religious liberties and the freedom to live out religious convictions,” Silk told the New York Times.

Folks, this is a big deal.  The right to practice your faith as you see fit (as long as you aren’t infringing on the rights of others - like cutting off heads, raping, using machettes to hack off limbs, cutting out hearts and eating in front of cameras) is the cornerstone of our nation’s stability and health.

Along with that, the right to choose who we do business with and when we do business is the very foundation of free market capitalism. The moment we allow the government (or some fascist group of rabid socialists) to force us to act against our religious beliefs, or force us to work as indentured servants at the beck and call of others… that is the moment that we have LOST our nation.

Rep. Virgin tries to provide cover for her bigoted, anti-Christian bill by adding in that it protects against racism as well, but does anyone really believe that this is still a problem in Oklahoma? It’s not. If there were businesses openly discriminating against people due to racism… they’d go out of business and that is how these things should be handled, not by government coercion but by local consumers refusing to spend their dollars.

The point is this: it’s not the government’s job to create equality. It’s the government’s job to protect liberty and when the government stops doing this, as in the case with Oklahoma’s Democrats, it is the duty of the citizens to overthrow that government. 

Think I’m being extreme? Then you should read what Thomas Jefferson had to say on the subject.........

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." --Declaration of Independence as originally written by Thomas Jefferson, 1776

That about sums it up. The people of Oklahoma now have a duty to attend to, evicting any politician who supported Rep. Virgin’s ridiculous and tyrannical bill. 

Get to it.

http://eaglerising.com/30947/oklahoma-democrats-want-christian-business-owners-to-wear-a-scarlet-letter/ 

**********************************************************************************************

READ AND LEARN FROM HISTORY - NAZISM IS UPON THE UNITED STATES AND THE PLANS ARE MOVING FORWARD EXPODENTIALLY ..................

http://www.markswatson.com/wwiilies.htm

http://www.globalresearch.ca/secret-history-the-u-s-supported-and-inspired-the-nazis/5439236

http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/germanyandprussia/fl/Who-Supported-Hitler-and-Why.htm

http://www.projetaladin.org/holocaust/en/history-of-the-holocaust-shoah/the-nazi-regime.html 

http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-american-companies-that-aided-the-nazis.php

BEWARE OF BEING AN 'ANTI-SEMITE' - IT JUST MAY COME BACK TO BITE YOU ON YOUR A*SS;  WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND; OUR GOD IS NO RESPECTOR OF PERSONS - WHAT YOU THINK AND DO CAN COME BACK ON YOU

WE ARE ALL EQUAL IN HIS SIGHT - HE LOVES US ALL EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US - AND HE DOES NOT PUT THAT STAR OF DAVID OR CHRISTIAN CROSS ON ANY OF US - ONLY THE DEVIL AND NAZIS DO THAT - AND ANTI-SEMITES; SOMETHING MAY COME UP IN YOUR PAST AND YOU MAY SUDDENLY FIND YOURSELF IN A LOCATION THAT YOU NEVER THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE IN MEETING THE SAME FATE AS THOSE YOU CONDEMN - WHAT THEN?  JUST A LITTLE SABBATH TEACHING IN THE TRUE MEANING OF LOVE AND FORGIVENESS; HATE WINS ONLY FOR A TINY MOMENT OF ETERNITY

Oregon militia members plead 'NOT GUILTY'!

Ammon Bundy and 15 other militia members in court over armed Oregon refuge takeover

 Plead 'not guilty'

 CBS/AP February 24, 2016, 4:25 PM

PORTLAND, Ore. — Ammon Bundy and another 15 defendants pleaded 'not guilty' Wednesday to 'federal conspiracy charges' related to the 41-day occupation of an Oregon wildlife refuge. Several of the accused, however, expressed doubt that they enjoy the presumption of innocence.

Bundy sat at the main defense table while most of his co-defendants sat in the jury box as they listened to a 'government prosecutor' read the indictment and 'U.S. District Judge' Anna Brown tell them 'their rights'.

Brown reminded the defendants they are considered innocent until proven guilty. One by one, she asked them if they understood. Bundy simply said “yes,” but four co-defendants took the opportunity to express skepticism.

“It’s difficult to understand presumption of innocence when I’ve spent the last month in a jail cell and been led around in shackles and chains,” Ryan Payne said.

Another, Jason Patrick, told the 'judge': “You’re the 'federal government'.  You’re going to do whatever you want."

The judge tackled several procedural issues during the nearly two-hour hearing which started with Bundy, sporting a fresh haircut, blowing a kiss toward Odalis Sharp and her children. The family gospel band traveled from Kansas in January to sing at the 'occupation'. One daughter, 18-year-old Victoria Sharp, was at the traffic stop in which authorities arrested Bundy and fatally shot Arizona rancher LaVoy Finicum.

The 'judge' said a trial date had been tentatively set for April 29, although court papers show an April 19 date.

'Assistant U.S. Attorney' Ethan Knight said he expects to file a superseding indictment with additional charges after investigators finish examining firearms, electronics, American Indian artifacts and other evidence.

Brown warned Knight to make it snappy, saying the accused deserve a right to a speedy trial — not one in 2017. She also pressed prosecutors to start turning over FBI reports and evidentiary material to defense attorneys and their clients.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ammon-bundy-15-others-plead-not-guilty-to-oregon-refuge-charges/

 

Hillary Clinton's email infractions - How serious is it?

HILLARY CLINTON'S EMAIL INFRACTIONS

HOW SERIOUS ARE THEY? 

PELLA, IOWA – Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) says he trusts Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director James Comey to conduct a thorough investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email scandal.

Why is reporting on this continuing critical investigation no longer in the forefront of the nation's attention? 

Has the press been instructed to place this investigation at the bottom of the last page? 

When will this investigation end, and when will the culprit(s) be arrested and appropriate charges filed?

Is the FBI controlled by the White House?? 

Interesting information.........I'm not at all surprised but tragically the U.S. and her people have been "sacrificed" for Clinton's corruption.

Read this to fully comprehend what Hillary Clinton has done. If you read nothing else read paragraph number 7.

There have been suggestions that all this kerfuffle over Hillary's security breech has been politically motivated. But it is a fact that what we know already is a punishable offense, and the seriousness of the breach may be even worse than originally reported, despite the desultory mutterings from the White House that there is 'nothing there to warrant an indictment'.

The attached tutorial from a retired U.S. Army officer on the federal government's classification system will be helpful in understanding the seriousness of Clinton's careless and blatant breaches of it and what it says about her competence, judgement and trustworthiness to be the Chief Executive of the Land.

**********************************************************************

HILLARY’S SECURITY BREACH

An opinion from a retired US Army Intelligence Officer 

  

WHAT ALL AMERICANS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HILLARY CLINTON'S ALLEGED SAP COMPROMISE:

My name is Ed Coet. I am a retired US Army Intelligence Officer. In my last job in the Army I was the Chief of the Human Intelligence Branch for the US European Command in Stuttgart, Germany. In that capacity I was also the Designated Program Manager for a Special Access Program (SAP) like the SAP that Hillary Clinton is alleged to have compromised in the most recent State Department Inspector General report to congress and which has been widely reported in the news. Here is what I personally know about SAP’s and what I can attest to in an unclassified forum:

1. The names of each SAP are themselves classified Top Secret because the information within the SAP are far and above Top Secret.

2. SAP’s are so sensitive that even people who have security clearances giving them access to Top Secret Sensitive Compartment Information (TS SCI), an enormously high security clearance level, cannot have accesses to a SAP’s unless they receive a special indoctrination into the SAP based on an operational must-know that exceeds all other  need to know  standards.

3. Being  read on  for a SAP is far more then acknowledging in writing that you have been briefed on the SAP. It is an in-depth indoctrination into the given SAP, and each SAP is itself compartmented separately from other SAPS. Having access to one SAP does not give you access to another SAP and, in fact, rarely does. Only a tiny handful of people have knowledge of all SAP’s. SAP’s are the most stringently compartmented and protected information in the entire US government.

4. Unlike Top Secret SCI, which is maintained in highly secure Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilitates (SCIF s) managed by specially trained Special Security Officers (SSO s) at various levels of command, every single SAP is managed by an individually designated Program Manager for each individual SAP covering an entire theater of operations. In other words, SAP Program Managers are far fewer in number than there is SSO s. SSO s are not cleared to even know about SAP s or to maintain information about them in their already enormously secure SCIF’s. How SAP’s are secured cannot be discussed because of the sensitive beyond Top Secret nature in which it is done.

5. Unlike individuals with the highest Top Secret SCI access security clearances who must undergo a special background information with periodic A 533, bring-up background investigation, those tiny few who have access to SAP’s must also endure periodic polygraph tests in addition to the most comprehensive of special background investigations. I used to have to schedule four-star generals and admirals to be polygraphed in order for them to maintain their access to my SAP. Many generals and admirals who obviously have the highest security clearances still did not rate being indoctrinated into my SAP. In fact, they didn’t even know the SAP existed.

6. Compromise of a SAP is the single most dangerous security violation that can ever happen to the USA. Even the enormously damaging revelations of the Edward Snowden's TOP Secret SCI security compromise does not reach the level of a SAP compromise.

7. To put SAP information in to an unsecure sever like Hillary Clinton’s unsecure server is a class one felony that could, in some cases, result in life in prison. That is because such a compromise is so dangerous that it could and likely will result in the death of people protected by and within the scope of the SAP.

As a former SAP Program Manager, I believe it is inconceivable that if it is verified that Hillary Clinton's server actually had SAP information on it that she could possibly escape indictment and criminal prosecution. As hard as it is to imagine, that would even be worse then electing to not prosecute a mass murdering serial killer because even they could not inflict as much damage on our country as the compromise of a SAP. Compromise of a SAP not only could -- but without doubt would -- cause serious damage to our national security.

If it is true that Hillary Clinton had SAP information on her unsecure server, whether it was marked or not, you can be sure that the FBI will strongly recommend that charges be brought against Hillary Clinton and continue in an exhaustive investigation to trace back to every single person that had even the tiniest role in this unbelievable security compromise.

If the Attorney General, through prosecutorial discretion, elected not to prosecute this crime, I believe congress would have no alternative but to impeach her, and the FBI would then have no choice but to conduct a criminal investigation of her for a deliberate cover up  - so grave is this security violation. If President Obama were to pardon Hillary Clinton for a compromise of this magnitude, he would render himself in the historical record as an  enemy of the state,  and could himself face criminal prosecution  - so grave is such a security compromise. 

Nobody, not even the POTUS, could get away with something like this in our system of government. If anyone could escape persecution for compromising a SAP, we are deep trouble as a nation. No president who loves this country and is true to his oath would ever allow anyone, not even his or her closest and most loved relative, to get away with a SAP compromise. It is simply unimaginable that this could ever happen. 

If the ongoing investigation finds that Hillary Clinton compromised a SAP, then we all should know with certainty, regardless of political persuasion, that she is entirely unfit to hold public office of any kind let alone President of the USA -- and ALL Americans should never tolerate it.

Compromising a SAP is an absolute disqualifier for public office and access to our nations most sensitive information - period.

ED COET 

Major, US Army (Retired)

P.S. It is my sincere hope that each of you will share this article, to help other Americans understand how grave Hillary Clinton’s alleged SAP compromise is. We can't allow anyone so careless with this level of information to have access to any classified information ever again for as long as she lives. This would surely render her unqualified and unfit to hold any public office let alone POTUS.

***************************

Now that we have read and understand the concerns expressed by this former US Army Intelligence Officer, WHY is Hillary Clinton not arrested and held for trial for treason and breaches of national security?  WHY is she being allowed to campaign for the presidency of the criminal U.S.A. corporation government? Understand that it is unlikely that 'president Obama' and the 'attorney general' would ever prosecute Clinton.  They are all three working together to take down this nation. Each one should be prosecuted for their traitorous actions against our nation. How much longer will Americans allow these traitors (and others) to continue using their positions of authority and power to destroy the nation and us?

Non-muslim Students Assigned to Write Essay

Non-muslim Students Assigned to Write Essay on Why They Converted to Islam

11:30AM EST 2/25/2016 Todd Starnes

 

Students in a creative writing class were asked to pen a letter to loved ones explaining their conversion to islam. 

Gobsmacked!

British moms and dads were fuming after a school instructed students to write an essay explaining why they had converted to Islam.

Gemma Gough posted the assignment on Facebook and said her child would not be completing the assignment.

"This is not acceptable," she wrote. "Kids are too impressionable and imagine if these letters got in the wrong hands in years to come."

The 12- and 13-year-old kids at Beaucamps High School in Guernsey were told to consider what it would be like to become a muslim. They also had to write a letter to their loved ones explaining their decision to become a muslim.

Can you imagine when the students returned home? Mummy, Mummy! I converted to islam! Cheerio!"

The controversial lesson was part of a creative writing exercise as part of a religious education lesson, The Daily Mail reports. The school pointed out that it was a make-believe scenario—and no child was actually forced to convert to the islamic faith.

Local residents were not convinced.

"In this day and age when easily led youngsters are being radicalized, it is a dangerous road to be taking," wrote one observer on the Guernsey Press website.

"Teach pupils about religion by all means, but be very careful when you ask them to be muslim," another wrote.

The school said they plan to expose the students to other religions—like Christianity and Judaism. But let's be honest—do you really think they're going to have the kids write about how Jesus Christ changed their lives?

Brigette Gabriel, the founder of Act for America, told me what's happening in Great Britain is already happening in American public schools. She discusses that subject in my most recent podcast.

Todd Starnes is host of "Fox News & Commentary," heard on hundreds of radio stations. Sign up for his American Dispatch newsletter, 

http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/american-dispatch/55422-non-muslim-students-assigned-to-write-essay-on-why-they-converted-to-islam?utm_source=The%20Flaming%20Herald&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:1028941&utm_campaign=Blogger%20-%20Bert%20Farias%20-%202016-02-26

 

LIES!

Duct tape fixes every thing!!!!

Duct Tape 

(you have to read to the end)

 

 

During a private "fly-in" fishing excursion in the Alaskan wilderness, the chartered pilot and fishermen left a cooler with bait in the airplane. A bear smelled it. This is what he did to the plane................

 

 

Duct Tape . . . Never Leave Home Without It!
 
 Yes, duct tape is the best thing out there 

to fix leaks and stop crap from 

messing everything up!

WHY DIDN'T AMERICA THINK

ABOUT USING THIS ON 

HILLARY CLINTON YEARS AGO!

GREAT FOR STOPPING LYING!

The state of political leadership in America

THE STATE OF POLITICAL 'LEADERSHIP' IN AMERICA



Wednesday, 27 January 2016 11:00 
Mark Cook 

The race for the White House is well underway, and the upcoming Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire Primary are just the beginning of a long season of political jockeying leading up to the November general election. Our national attention in terms of leadership will be, until November, squarely on political leaders. It seems as if the most important quality that voters are seeking on either side of the spectrum is somebody who will simply "get things done". Voters are skeptical of those perceived as government insiders, so, naturally, both parties have witnessed the rise in popularity of perceived political outsiders.

But this overwhelming desire for pragmatic leaders, what does it say about the state of leadership in our country? Do we really want leaders, or simply officials who will push their agendas using any means necessary? James MacGregor Burns, in his seminal work Leadership, described the confusion we have regarding leadership:

"Many acts heralded or bemoaned as instances of leadership—acts of oratory, manipulation, sheer self-advancement, brute coercion—are not such. Much of what commonly passes as leadership—conspicuous position-taking without followers or follow-through, posturing on various public stages, manipulation without general purpose, authoritarianism—is no more leadership than the behavior of small boys marching in front of a parade, who continue to strut along Main Street after the procession has turned down a side street toward the fairgrounds."

In the blinding light of the present, it is difficult to remember that there are other ways to exhibit political leadership than manipulation and authoritarianism. We have largely lost the ability in contemporary times to value anything of the past, let alone study it and learn from both the strengths and failures we see. Caught in the swirling vortex of the present, where our attention is dominated by the 24-hour news cycle, we often become so mesmerized by all the channels of news and information presented to us that we lose the ability to step outside our current circumstances and reflect.

It certainly does not help that most of us are addicted to our phones. Studies are continuing to emerge that paint a disturbing picture of how we increasingly do not know how to handle our relationship with these ever-present devices. Consider the following: just the presence of a phone on the table has been proven to negatively impact conversation; there has been a 40% decrease in empathy amongst college students over the past 20 years; the overwhelming majority of smartphone owners repeatedly check their phones without being prompted by any message, alert, or call.

The fact is that we simply do not understand or think about the impact that our smartphones are having on us, especially when you combine its presence with the voracious 24-hours news cycle world we live in. But one of the most basic effects that we are seeing is that we as a collective have a difficult time engaging in self-reflection and critical thinking.

Self-reflection and critical thinking are vitally important for the political process, and our collective erosion in these abilities is showcasing itself in the bald rhetoric of our aspiring political leaders.

It can seem difficult to remember that there are other ways than manipulation and authoritarianism. But that's why we need to look back and study those exemplary leaders of the past to inoculate ourselves against what C.S. Lewis called "the great cataract of nonsense that pours from the press and the microphone" of the present.

We need to continue to study and reflect upon the leadership of exemplary political leaders such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill more than ever before.

One such book that is particularly helpful is Donald T. Phillips' work Lincoln on Leadership. In this brief exploration of the enduring leadership lessons of Abraham Lincoln, Phillips highlights Lincoln's habits of building strong alliances, forging deep interpersonal relationships, persuading rather than coercing, and spending regular time in self-reflection among other skills that Lincoln developed.

Where are those abilities and dispositions among the current crop of presidential candidates? Sadly, in our rush for pragmatic leaders, we have focused little attention on the actual character of the candidates. Public relations experts explain to us what their actions mean, but what we really need to know is who these candidates actually are.

Political leadership is deeply important because it involves the well-being of all citizens. As Christians, we are called to seek the welfare of our communities, while also living as witnesses to the larger reality that Christ is Lord of all. In these times, we need to pray even more devotedly for our current government officials, and seek how God would have us engage in the local and national political process. 

http://www.denisonforum.org/leadership/2252-the-state-of-political-leadership-in-america

DEFINING SOCIALISM

DEFINING SOCIALISM

An economics professor at Texas Tech said he had never failed a single student before but had, once, failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then said ok, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism.
All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.  After the first test the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.  But, as the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who  studied hard decided they wanted a free ride, too, so they studied little..
The second test average was a D.  No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around the average was an F.
The scores never increased as bickering, blame, name calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great; but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.
 

Could not be any simpler than that!

Obama LIES - Here's the TRUTH about America's economy

OBAMA LIES - HERE'S THE TRUTH ABOUT AMERICA'S ECONOMY

 

Economic Recovery? 13 Of The Biggest Retailers In America Are Closing Down Stores

26th February 2016 in Economy

Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,


Barack Obama recently stated that anyone that is claiming that America’s economy is in decline is “peddling fiction“.

Well, if the economy is in such great shape, why are major retailers shutting down hundreds of stores all over the country?

Last month, I wrote about the “retail apocalypse” that is sweeping the nation, but since then it has gotten even worse.  Closing stores has become the “hot new trend” in the retail world, and “space available” signs are going up in mall windows all over the United States.

Barack Obama can continue huffing and puffing about how well the middle class is doing all he wants, but the truth is that the cold, hard numbers that retailers are reporting tell an entirely different story.

Earlier today, Sears Chairman Eddie Lampert released a letter to shareholders that was filled with all kinds of bad news.  In this letter, he blamed the horrible results that Sears has been experiencing lately on “tectonic shifts” in consumer spending…

In a letter to shareholders on Thursday, Lampert said the impact of “tectonic shifts” in consumer spending has spread more broadly in the last year to retailers “that had previously proven to be relatively immune to such shifts."

“Walmart, Nordstrom, Macy’s, Staples, Whole Foods and many others have felt the impact of disruptive changes from online competition and new business models,” Lampert wrote.

And it is very true – Sears is doing horribly, but they are far from alone.  The following are 13 major retailers that are closing down stores.....

#1 Sears lost 580 million dollars in the fourth quarter of 2015 alone, and they are scheduled to close at least 50 more “unprofitable stores” by the end of this year

#2 It is being reported that Sports Authority will file for bankruptcy in March.  Some news reports have indicated that around 200 stores may close, but at this point it is not known how many of their 450 stores will be able to stay open

#3 For decades, Kohl’s has been growing aggressively, but now it plans to shutter 18 stores in 2016

#4 Target has just finished closing 13 stores in the United States

#5 Best Buy closed 30 stores last year, and it says that more store closings are likely in the months to come

#6 Office Depot plans to close a total of 400 stores by the end of 2016

The next seven examples come from one of my previous articles

#7 Wal-Mart is closing 269 stores, including 154 inside the United States

#8 K-Mart is closing down more than two dozen stores over the next several months

#9 J.C. Penney will be permanently shutting down 47 more stores after closing a total of 40 stores in 2015

#10 Macy’s has decided that it needs to shutter 36 stores and lay off approximately 2,500 employees 

#11 The Gap is in the process of closing 175 stores in North America

#12 Aeropostale is in the process of closing 84 stores all across America

#13 Finish Line has announced that 150 stores will be shutting down over the next few years.

These store closings can be particularly cruel for small towns.  Just consider the impact that Wal-Mart has had on the little town of Oriental, North Carolina…

The Town’n Country grocery in Oriental, North Carolina, a local fixture for 44 years, closed its doors in October after a Wal-Mart store opened for business. Now, three months later — and less than two years after Wal-Mart arrived — the retail giant is pulling up stakes, leaving the community with no grocery store and no pharmacy.

Though mom-and-pop stores have steadily disappeared across the American landscape over the past three decades as the mega chain methodically expanded, there was at least always a Wal-Mart left behind to replace them. Now the Wal-Marts are disappearing, too.

Of course there are many factors involved in this ongoing retail apocalypse.  Competition from online retailers is becoming more intense, and consumer spending patterns are rapidly changing.

But in the end, the truth is that you can’t get blood out of a rock.  The middle class in America is shrinking, and there just isn’t as much discretionary spending going on as there used to be.

And now that we have entered a new economic downturn, many retailers are finding that there are some local communities that can no longer support their stores.  The following comes from CNBC…

Though the shift to online shopping is no doubt playing a role in lighter foot traffic at malls, there’s more to their changing economics than the rise of Amazon. Changing demographics in a town are another reason a shopping center could struggle or fail — for example, if massive layoffs in a particular industry cause people to move away to find employment.

“A lot of people want to try and tie it to the Internet or ‘that’s not cool,’ or teens don’t like it,” Jesse Tron, a spokesman for industry trade group International Council of Shopping Centers, told CNBC last year. “It’s hard to support large-format retail in those suburban areas when people are trying to just pay their mortgage.”

In order to have a thriving middle class, we need good paying middle class jobs.  Unfortunately, our economy has been bleeding those kinds of jobs quite rapidly.  For example, Halliburton just announced that it is eliminating 5,000 more jobs after getting rid of 4,000 workers at the end of last year.

During the Obama years, good paying middle class jobs have been getting replaced by low paying service jobs.  At this point, 51 percent of all American workers make less than $30,000 a year.

And there is no way that you can support a middle class family with children on $30,000 a year.

We have an economy that is in the process of failing.  We can see it in the explosion of subprime auto loans that are going bad, we can see it in the hundreds of retail stores that are shutting down, and we can see it in the tens of thousands of good paying energy jobs that are being lost.

During the Obama years, interest rates have been pushed to the floor, the 'Federal Reserve' has created trillions of dollars out of thin air, and the size of our national debt is getting close to doubling.  Despite all of those desperate measures, our economy continues to crumble.

We stole from the future to try to paper over our failures and it didn’t work.  Now an economic downturn that will ultimately turn out to be even worse than the “Great Recession” of 2008 and 2009 has begun, and our 'leaders' have absolutely no idea how to fix things.

I wish I had better news to report, but I don’t.  Get prepared now, because very rough times are ahead.

http://www.theburningplatform.com/2016/02/26/economic-recovery-13-of-the-biggest-retailers-in-america-are-closing-down-stores/