Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Real-Time Death Counter -- Ultimate "Reality Check"

Amidst the big numbers we hear every day, we find pause to consider deaths one at a time. I know, it’s morbid and tasteless, but it’s fascinating and it sure puts some perspective on things. Based on statistics from the World Health Organization, this is the ultimate reality check a worldwide death counter!




Script Author: Peter Gehrig - Script Source

Double Standards, Confusion: What Subjects are "OK"? Homosexuality? NOT!

It is confusing enough to be either a student or teacher in todays politically charged environment, but one would think that it would be okay to maturely discuss tolerance toward gays and lesbians in high school. If you are from some communities in America, you would would be mistaken as freedom of the press apparently does not extend to some subjects that offend the religious sensibilities of a public high school.

That's right. In Woodburn, IN a teacher was suspended for failure to ask for specific approval of a student column promoting such tolerance.

It was the usual practice Woodlan Junior-Senior High School to submit "anything controversial" for prior censorship to the principal. School newspaper teacher Amy Sorrell figured the articles on teen pregnancy, teen motherhood and sexually transmitted diseases would be controversial, so she submitted them to her principal before publishing. No problem there. But she didn't submit an article she considered less controversial promoting tolerance of homosexuals.

It never occurred to her that attention from state and national news would cause her principal to suspend her.

"If we can talk about herpes and gonorrhea on one page, we should be able to talk about tolerance on the next page," says Sorrell, who doesn't believe she did anything wrong.

Commentary: If teachers and students are put in a position of prior restraint in the first place, it should be a hint that their independent decisions are subject to arbitrary moralization. In this society where children can watch hundreds of people being killed in a graphic fashion in a horror movie or one that glorifies war, but can't be trusted to process 1 second images of Janet Jackson's nipple, I guess it should be no surprise that tolerance of homosexuals would be preposterous.

What is a teacher to do? The safest answer, nothing and that's how we got where we are. Teachers are under such scrutiny that they either choose not to enter the profession or if they do, they choose to water down the curriculum so much that it has no parallel to the larger society for which they pretend to prepare students.

It is no wonder the teachers who get the best report cards are those who make things unchallenging, uncontroversial, and often uninformed.

More details in the Indy Star

Monday, March 26, 2007

Military Misreports Head Injury As "Personality Disorder"

A 107 mm rocket hit two feet from Specialist Jon Town's head in Ramadi, Iraq. His injuries included rocket shrapnel deep in his neck and head, leaving him partially deaf and with memory loss. Town was declared unfit for combat.

But instead of sending Town to a medical board, doctors at Fort Carson, Colorado declared Town's injuries the result of a "personality disorder". As a result, he will not receive disability or medical benefits.

Recent investigations have shown that Army doctors have often ruled injured soldiers to have "pre-existing conditions" that therefore disqualify them for benefits - even for injuries clearly sustained in combat.

The recent wave of intentional misreporting of statistics that the Bush administration and the war machine find embarrassing, expensive or "unpatriotic" has created an environment of legitimate mistrust of the entire military apparatus. Veterans are being deliberately misdiagnosed to cut off all benefits and thus save money. More importantly, if this practice undermines the legitimacy of recruitment efforts or the deserved loyalty of soldiers, the US could suffer irreparable harm to the essential spirit and of our defense structure.

Much like the boy who cried, "wolf", our failure to re-establish integrity and honor may result in a generation of cynical citizens, and deservingly so, but detrimental nonetheless.

More on the subject at www.thenation.com

Park Illegally and Lose Your House

Brooksville, a small town near Central Florida, is working on passing an ordinance that would allow the city to either seize your home or confiscate your car if you fail to pay your parking ticket.

If the person that received the ticket wants to appeal it, they are required to pay a $250 "appeal fee". Furthermore, the city is leaving it up to a city employee to determine whether or not the person is guilty.

If the ticket is not paid after 90 days, the city has the right, according to the ordinance, to foreclose on the ticket holders house. If the ticket holder does not own a house, they will seize their car instead.

The full text of the ordinance is available in a 605k PDF file at the source link below.

PDF File Ordinance No. 743 (Brooksville, Florida City Council, 3/19/2007)
Sources: www.thenewspaper.com & shortnews.com

Saturday, March 24, 2007

British Man Commits Suicide Live On Webcam -- Encouraged by Audience


Chatroom users witness hanging-Duly Consider chose
NOT to post any more gruesome shots

By Chris Williams - The Register
Published Friday 23rd March 2007 16:23 GMT

Police are investigating the unexplained death of a man who appeared to commit suicide in front of an audience of webcam chatroom users.

Kevin Neil Whitrick, 42, from Wellington in Shropshire, was found at about 11.15pm on Wednesday by officers who went to his home following a report from a fellow chatroom user.

Resuscitation attempts failed, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. A post mortem was carried out on Friday morning, which confirmed the cause of death as hanging. A Coroner's inquest will open on Monday.
Click here to find out more!

Mr Whitrick was father to 12-year old twins. His ex-wife said he suffered a very serious car accident in July 2006, and had never fully recovered.

Lead investigator Detective Chief Inspector Jon Groves said: "Our enquiries to date have revealed that Mr Whitrick was using a chatroom with a number of other people at the time of his death.

MORE

Daily Mail - Report

Duly Consider encourages its readers to reflect on the social commentary of such an event in this context.

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Monday, March 19, 2007

How to make trillions of dollars without actually doing anything in 14 easy steps (No Investment Necessary)

by Duly Consider Contributor, Chinko Vergudo, PhD
Economics Fellow of Life University

Chinko is a Japanese- Spanish-African American
who has committed his life's work to finding a way
to becoming the world's first Trillionaire.





  1. Get the US government to charter your privately owned bank that controls and prints all the money with nothing to back up its real value. Just get your friends to make up a number.
  2. Get the government to spend more money than it has by borrowing money from your bank.
  3. Get the government to create and fund a debt collection agency that can take everything from someone or imprison them for failing to pay.
  4. Create the perception by Presidential appointment, that the head of this bank is a financial wizard or guru without whom we would plunge into depression.
  5. Charge the government just enough interest that it appears to be a good deal to the American people (because their personal loans are connected to your artificial government rate and unlimited) Hmm... 9 percent loans sound cheap.
  6. Kill any President who wants to decommission this bank.
  7. Get the government to outsource the manufacturing and customer service jobs to cheap foreign labor.
  8. Get the government to fail to enforce its borders and rights of citizenship and to replace the few remaining American domestic labor positions with illegal workers. (Let’s say 20-million or more if you can)
  9. Get the government to let you loan these workers as much money as they need to establish permanent roots in America. Hell, why not make it easier for them to borrow money than it is for Americans by guaranteeing their loans with government money and requiring all banks to give preference to them over the existing majority.
  10. Get the government to allow the illegal workers to easily send all their money to their countries. Let’s say $100-Billion or more per year.
  11. Provide free social services to these workers, which are paid for by Americans.
  12. Move your entire bank’s money outside the US, so you don’t have to pay any taxes on your profits and then continue to lend the government money from those foreign banks creating interdependence with Europe and Asia.
  13. Get the government to start long, expensive wars using false pretense, forcing them to borrow more from your bank. It will look like the government has a good excuse to be in debt.
  14. Finally, back to the government agency that enforces your private debt: Get them to loan Americans (their own money) just enough to pay for the spiraling national debt, therefore making it a permanent condition.

Now imagine this on a massive scale and you just touch the tip of the iceberg, (I mean, your bank’s profit) so to speak.

The current proof of this method is that it has been done since 1913 by the establishment of the Federal Reserve, a private corporation in Delaware owned by mostly foreign entities that are not publicly known (well, actually a little known secret) Shhh, just between you and me and a study of Standard & Poor's.

1. Rothschild Banks of London and Berlin.

2. Lazard Brothers Banks of Paris.

3. Israel Moses Seif Banks of Italy.

4. Warburg Bank of Hamburg and Amsterdam.

5. Lehman Brothers Bank of New York.

6. Kuhn, Loeb Bank of New York.

7. Chase Manhattan Bank of New York, which controls all of the other 11 Federal Reserve Banks.

8. Goldman, Sachs Bank of New York.

We as a nation owe more money by 4 times (probably closer to 5 times at this writing) than all the money that has ever been printed into existence.

In 1797, John Adams wrote to Thomas Jefferson, "All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise, not from defects of the Constitution or Confederation; not from any want of honor or virtue, as much as downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation."

In simple terms, the United States Government borrows money from the Federal Reserve Bank with interest.

Here is how it works: The Government wants $1 billion. The Federal Reserve prints $1 billion - based upon no hard asset - and lends it to the Government at a high interest rate. The bank did not have the original money, it created it and made a bookkeeping entry - like you writing yourself a check without funds and cashing it. The Federal Reserve controls the flow of money, making it tight and creating unemployment or printing more than actually exists and creates inflation. It is, in essence, a paper corporation, which controls the entire economic well-being of the nation.

In 1963, President John Kennedy wanted an end to the Federal Reserve System, which had a strangle-hold on the United States and virtually the world. By a simple stroke of the pen, President Kennedy dismissed the Federal Reserve System and ordered the U.S. government to restore its Constitutional-mandate of controlling the money. President Kennedy was dead three weeks later. When President Lyndon Johnson took office, he immediately rescinded Kennedy's order and the Federal Reserve won another round.

Representative Charles A. Lindberg, Sr., the father of the famous aviator, was a member of the Banking and Currency Committee. He opposed the Federal Reserve Act and gave a speech on January 20, 1915. "The system is private, conducted for the sole purpose of obtaining the greatest possible profits from the use of other people's money, and in the interest of the stockholders and those allied with them." Coincidentally, Lindberg’s grandkid was kidnapped in March, 1932 about the same time as rumors were floating around congress again to re-regulate our money. Of course, FDR’s solution to our depression at that time was to run up a national debt and to eventually get us into a world war. Oh, the horror.

Back to1932, Representative Louis T. McFadden, chairman of the Housing Banking and Currency Committee, stated on June 10, 1932, "Some people think the Federal Reserve Banks are United States Government institutions. They are not Government institutions. They are private credit monopolies that prey upon the people of the United States for the benefit of themselves and their foreign and domestic swindlers; and rich and predatory money lenders."

"Because of the unsound practice of relying on the private manufacturing of monetary credits by private groups, you are preparing to lay heavier taxes on the shrunken income of the people, without hope of balancing the Budget perhaps for years to come," was the testimony of Allen B. Brown, chairman of the New Economic Group. This testimony was in 1936 in support of a bill reversing the damage done by the establishment of the Fed.

"In order to meet the Budget deficits, this administration and the preceding one committed themselves to a program of borrowing, so that now the national debt has doubled with every prospect of further increase. More than half of this great sum of added debt represents merely book figure which the banks have lent the Government. To pay for their service of writing figures on their books and canceling the Government checks in their clearing system, the Government has engaged to tax the American people. They must pay back the billions of book figures with sweat and labor, with goods and services to which they are now denied access of purchasing power for their families, and they must pay enormous debt charges." Brown said that the bill before Congress would "put a stop to this process of privately manufacturing monetary credit for the use of business out of added government debt."

"The banks manufacture, without borrowing it, the monetary credit which they loan to the Government. For every dollar they themselves contribute to the loaning process, they manufacture 10 credit dollars, and call them their own, although they base the credit dollars on human sweat and labor and productive genus that is not their own."

The comments by Brown were a direct slap at the Federal Reserve System - that was only 23 years old, at the time.

"The crying fault of our prevailing money system is its impermanence. It fluctuates wildly in volume, because it is debt-money, loans, and subject alternately to the fears and the sanguine expectations and speculative propensities of its private owners who have become the debt-masters of all business." He added, "We need to be delivered of the curse of a money system that is not owned, as a cash-credit system, by the American people. We want no longer a system that can at any time be cancelled out of existence with the dumping of pledged securities and, simultaneously, with the depression and deflation of all the physical and intangible assets of the American people."

The bill would have ended immediately the private monetary credit inflation. The Federal Reserve can create money out of nothing, simply printing it, lending it and printing more. You could have guessed that this bill never became law in 1936 - the banking interest was too powerful.

Let’s face it. Banks provide no expertise, ideas or invention worthy of profit. They just handle the money and count it as they laugh, claiming it as their own. They don’t work harder than anyone else. They simply embezzle, steal, avoid taxes, and kill if necessary, by war and assassination.

I say, let’s simply declare bankruptcy now. Tell the private banks to eat the loss. Start printing our own money. Pay lower taxes. Stop the wars. Prevent the banks from charging any more interest than banks in Japan and China charge their people (2 %, a little more than their administrative costs). OK, 4 % for credit cards. Let them cover their real risk from no collateral.

Meanwhile, I will get the government to re-establish steps 1-14 with MY bank and I will run the US and most of the world.


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Saturday, March 17, 2007

"Terrorist Sympathizers" - The New Traitors?


Photo-NPR/AFP/Getty Images - Nicholas Kamm

Yesterday in Washington, thousands of Christians marched against the war in front of the Whitehouse. More than 200 were arrested and fined, not for violence, but for standing instead of walking on the sidewalk.

If anyone thinks there is a liberal bias in American news reporting, take a second look, and a third... First of all, as Stephen Colbert likes to say, "Truth has a liberal bias". The big problem is, who is telling the real truth? Nobody on your cable dial.

Since it has become apparent that Fox "News" is winning the profits war and has for years with their conscious punditry for the right wing. In the documentary, "Outfoxed" ex-producers, writers and even some possibly still at work in the organization, outline a clear effort to play cheerleader for the Republican party, and to attack Dems, no matter what they do. Led by Britt Hume, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity, they make no pretense of offering equal time to liberals while claiming in every other sentence, to be "fair and balanced."

Though nothing at CNN comes close to their blatant ignorance of the objectivity standards taught in every journalism school and heralded throughout US history, Fox is not the only one now as MSNBC tries to outfox fox by hiring Tucker Carlson (yes, the bowtie guy) and Chuck Scarborough to give them free reign to tell "terrorist sympathizers" and "leftists" to "shut up!" It's in this pervasive and accepted usage of the previous terms, "terrorist sympathizers" and "leftists" to describe anyone who disagrees with the war, that we find Fox has won, no matter how up popular the war becomes. Bottom line: it's more profitable, as advertisers are among the super rich that benefit from war.

As a professor of Critical Thinking, I teach students to convert editorialized/emotional terms to what they really are. In this case, "anti-Iraq war advocates" and "Democrats and moderates" should objectively replace the value laden, pejorative labels that are consistently used in every major media source, including CNN. True, CNN still is heads above the rest for their professionalism after they cleaned house of Carlson and shows like "Crossfire" which never offered an objective voice; however, even CNN barrels ahead with sensational conformism in their vocabulary.

Some may say they are simply unaware they are doing it, but anyone who actually went to Journalism School knows otherwise, and writers/producers of conscience are shaking their heads at every turn while the promotion departments and accountants apparently call the shots on editorial content and official terminology.

Outfoxed-Interviews 49mins


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Friday, March 16, 2007

Duly Consider Chatrooms Now Open

Chat about those things you have Duly Considered!

Iraq War Results/Statistics as of March 2007

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketDeborah White,
Your Guide to Liberal Politics: U.S.


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For your quick reading, I've listed key statistics about the Iraq War, taken primarily from data analyzed by various think tanks, including The Brookings Institution's Iraq Index, and from mainstream media sources. Data is presented as of March 1, 2007, except as indicated.


US SPENDING IN IRAQ

Spent & Approved War-Spending - $505 billion of US taxpayers' funds. President Bush is expected to request another $100 billion in war-spending for 2007 and $140 billion for 2008, which would bring the cumulative total to over $700 billion.

Lost & Unaccounted for in Iraq - $9 billion of US taxpayers' money and $549.7 milion in spare parts shipped in 2004 to US contractors

Mismanaged & Wasted in Iraq - $10 billion, per Feb 2007 Congressional hearings

Halliburton Overcharges Classified by the Pentagon as Unreasonable and Unsupported - $1.4 billion

US AND COALITION TROOPS IN IRAQ

Troops in Iraq - Total 149,100, including 135,000 from the US, 7,100 from the UK, and 7,000 from all other nations (other than Iraq).

US Troop Casualities - 3,168 US troops; 98% male.

90% non-officers; 78% active duty, 13% National Guard; 74% Caucasian, 10% African-American, 11% Latino. 19% killed by non-hostile causes. 54% of US casualties were under 25 years old. 68% were from the US Army

Non-US Troop Casualties - Total 257, with 133 from the UK

US Troops Wounded - 23,677, 20% of which are serious brain or spinal injuries (total excludes psychological injuries)

US Troops with Serious Mental Health Problems 30% of US troops develop serious mental health problems within 3 to 4 months of returning home

US Military Helicopters Downed in Iraq - 60 total, at least 29 by enemy fire


IRAQI TROOPS, CIVILIANS AND OTHERS IN IRAQ

Private Contractors in Iraq, Working in Support of US Army Troops - 84,105 (NOTE - The US has not updated this count since Oct 2005)

Journalists killed - 93, 57 by murder and 36 by acts of war

Journalists killed by US Forces - 14

Iraqi Military and Police Casualties - 6,177

Iraqi Civilians Killed, Estimated - A UN issued report dated Sept 20, 2006 stating that Iraqi civilian casualties have been significantly under-reported. Casualties are reported at 50,000 to over 100,000, but may be much higher. Some informed estimates place Iraqi civilian casualties at over 600,000.

Iraqi Insurgents Killed, Roughly Estimated - 55,000

Non-Iraqi Contractors and Civilian Workers Killed - 468

Non-Iraqi Kidnapped - 300, including 54 killed, 147 released, 4 escaped, 6 rescued and 89 status unknown.

Daily Insurgent Attacks, Feb 2004 - 14

Daily Insurgent Attacks, July 2005 - 70

Daily Insurgent Attacks, Nov 2006 - 180

Daily Insurgent Attacks, Dec 2006 - 185

Estimated Insurgency Strength, Nov 2003 - 15,000

Estimated Insurgency Strength, Oct 2006 - 20,000 - 30,000


QUALITY OF LIFE INDICATORS

Iraqi Unemployment Rate - 27 to 60%, where curfew not in effect

Consumer Price Inflation in 2005 - 20%

Iraqi Children Suffering from Chronic Malnutrition - 25% in May 2006

Iraqis Displaced by Iraq War, as of Nov 2006 - 650,000

Percent of professionals who have left Iraq since 2003 - 40%

Iraqi Physicians Before 2003 Invasion - 34,000

Iraqi Physicians Who Have Left Iraq Since 2005 Invasion - 12,000

Iraqi Physicians Murdered Since 2003 Invasion - 2,000

Average Daily Hours Iraqi Homes Have Electricity - 9.3

Average Daily Hours Baghdad Homes Have Electricity - 6.0

Pre-War Daily Hours Baghdad Homes Have Electricity - 16 to 24

Number of Iraqi Homes Connected to Sewer Systems - 37%

Percentage of Iraqi Homes with Access to Piped Water - 78%

Water Treatment Plants Rehabilitated - 22%


RESULTS OF POLL Taken in Iraq in August 2005 by the British Ministry of Defense (Source: Brookings Institute)

Iraqis "strongly opposed to presence of coalition troops - 82%

Iraqis who believe Coalition forces are responsible for any improvement in security - less than 1%

Iraqis who feel less secure because of the occupation - 67%

Iraqis who do not have confidence in multi-national forces - 72%

Monday, March 12, 2007

Free Energy - Not Very Profitable - History Corporate Prevention of Technology

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Recently, several film documentaries such as Who Killed the Electric Car? have covered the subjects of the energy sector's resistance if not, outright conspiracies against the development of alternate energies and efficient products Everything from the electric car to tidal turbines to simple wind energy has been "on their own" with no help from what would seem to be natural development partners. The fact is, such energies aren't profitable, while oil, coal and nuclear is. The energy market is a multi-trillion dollar drain on us. This is money and resources that could go toward other ways of improving our lives.




Here is a short report that brings you up to speed on the factors that prevent the essential research and bury the research that has existed for a long time. Once these are developed, the energy companies nothing left to sell, except machines for personal energy independence.

7min

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Disturbing Truth - Tourist Destination - Iraq (now that the mission is accomplished)

Since May 1, 2003 when we announced "Mission Accomplished", the war continues and some continue to think we are eventually going to be greeted as liberators, and that we will "win their hearts and minds." Though overwhelmed with the political commentary over this war, nothing speaks louder than the stark images of its horror

2mins of disturbing truth!
Click Picture For FLASH Movie--



Part 1 - Depleted Uranium Weapons - 4.5 Billion Years of Suffering

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Saturday, March 10, 2007

Libby More Guilty Than Some Say (Followup)


We have followed this story for a while now. It appears that Dem's highest hopes that the trial of Scooter Libby would lead to the downfall of the puppet masters at the top, Cheney and Rove. Even the testimony of Ari Fleisher, despite his immunity, yielded no elevation of the target.

What many people are saying now is that Libby is "only a scapegoat", as if somehow, he did not commit "a real crime". Well, of course, he did. If you or I lie under oath, we may be convicted of perjury. In this case, the reason for lying is particularly villainous. He participated in the outing of a CIA agent, even if it was already out as he says. He perpetuated what had previously been a deniable rumor. Now, she and her associates still in Iran are neutralized if not endangered by the intentional rumor mill of Libby and his masters. For anyone to claim that just because we didn't get the person who ordered such things, does not mean, Libby himself, is somehow innocent.

Scooter (such a seemingly innocuous name) is and has been one of the most dangerous and influential people in the world even without guidance. He has been openly a member of PNAC (The Project for the New American Century), the same organization that indeed, planned the Iraq war well before we had an excuse.

So far, Bush is content with letting Libby serve as a scapegoat, thinking it will make him appear less guilty. Clearly, from poll numbers, nothing can significantly redeem Bush or Cheney, but we may have to settle for getting "only" one bad guy in this investigation. If nothing else, it sends a message that further underground governance will not be so easily tolerated by either the citizens or the system of justice.

We await his sentencing and the testimony to Congress by his primary victim, Valerie Plame. We shall see if Libby will actually serve even a day in jail, as Bush may very well find him less dangerous outside of prison than inside resenting his burden.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

4.5 Billion Years - The Many, The Proud, The US Depleted Uranium Bombs We Have Used!

Think about this whether you like it or not. The US has used tons of depleted uranium weapons in three wars running including Iraq. And they say, "What problems can there be with 4.5 Billion years of damage to the people of these regions and our own soldiers?

2mins of disturbing truth!
Click Picture For FLASH Movie--


More Info/Sources

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Update on Earlier Reporting: Ethnic Cleansing of Blacks By Latino Gangs in LA

CNN has finally been reporting that "Latino Gangs Killing Blacks In L.A." which has been the case since well before the slaying of Lynwood, CA High School Principal Gary Beverly in a drive by shooting, more than 10 years ago.

It has been no secret among police and citizens in these areas and each incident is reported as if there is no connection between them. Putting the dots together finally, the mainstream is saying, "Oh yeah!"

Though I have been researching and writing about it as a first hand observer, a teacher and grant-writer for Gang Prevention, living in it, seeing the countless deaths of students and other innocents; I tell you it is calculated, planned, premeditated and encouraged by governments south of the US.

Here is the recent report by CNN:

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