Brian 'C3' Hamby

Obama: No Gitmo Closer Anytime Soon-Chicago Tribune

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:36:00 +0000

To close or not to close, that is the question....

Read all about it in this Chicago Tribune article

Ron Paul on Bernanke

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:46:00 +0000

Time Magazine called him Person of the Year, but more interesting is what Ron Paul thinks of him:">

Non Threatening ETs and PRG Press Release

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:14:00 +0000

James Cameron was the director of "The Abyss", which was about ETs coming to Earth and warning us about our warring and destructive ways. His new movie "Avatar" shows what would happen if humans in our current state were allowed to roam space freely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRdxXPV9GNQ

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paradigm Research Group

PRG Update - December 13, 2009

X-Conference 2010 Status
www.x-conference.com

PRG, while not a non-profit organization, is not a business and has never generated a profit. The X-Conference was launched primarily to bring the UFO/ET/Exopolitical issues to Washington, DC and park them under the collective nose of the politicians and the political media. If the X-Conference generated any revenues, that would have been useful. It hasn't

After the 2009 event PRG owed $26,000. That amount has been reduced to approximately $16,000, most of which is owed to the Hilton Hotel. The Hilton has now turned the matter over to attorneys and began making threats of further actions. PRG is of two minds on this. On the one hand the X-Conference has generated over $200,000 in revenue to the Hilton Hotel since 2004. On the other hand the hotel has been patient about the matter as it has been over seven months.

The issue is not about assets. PRG has none. What is important is the advocacy work, and that is now being impacted. X-Conference 2010 cannot go forward and other projects are slowed down by this distraction.

PRG needs someone who has the commitment to the truth process and the means to back it up to intervene and provide the funds to break this impasse - either as a contribution or a loan. There is no other option.

If this assistance comes before January 1, X-Conference 2010 can be promoted and PRG can get back to doing what it was created to do - ending the truth embargo as soon as possible.

Million Fax on Washington
www.faxonwashington.org

There has been some confusion about the MFW. Is it over? Not at all. The MFW will continue until Disclosure takes place. New publicity for this effort is being planned and will get underway strongly at the first of the new year. Thousands more letters, faxes and emails will be on their way to the White House press corps care of the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA).

Why the emphasis on the White House Correspondents Association? Two reasons: 1) a decision to ask the tough and appropriate questions by as few as two or three White House reporters could end the truth embargo in a matter of weeks, and 2) the White House itself gets a huge amount of correspondence. The WHCA gets a tiny fraction by comparison. Therefore, a WHCA focused campaign will stand out and be much more difficult to hide.

Why hasn't the White House or the WHCA acknowledged this correspondence? Simple. If they did, it would open the door for the press to ask to see the letters. The content of this correspondence would then set off a new round of questions - the very questions that need to be asked.

So they have to act as if nothing is happening and hope the MFW goes away. It isn't.

Recent Events of Note

Over a span of just a few days several matters manifested of some exopolitical significance. They are as follows:

Gary McKinnon - The indicted UK computer intruder has reached the very last days of his appeal process and now looks to be extradited to the United States to stand trial. PRG will be somewhat shocked if this happens, but, alas, these are interesting times and not much that governments do makes a great deal of sense anymore.

Whether or not it is in the best interest of McKinnon, if he is extradited it is going to create a huge media storm with considerable reference to the UFO/ET issues as well as the truth embargo. This will include numerous media spots for UFO/ET researchers and activists, lots of new YouTube videos and considerable print coverage, all of which PRG will assiduously archive.

In short, the extradition of Gary McKinnon will be one huge headache for the anti-Disclosure elements within the U.S. government.

Barack Obama - On December 1 at the United States Military Academy President Obama announced an escalation (surge) to the war in Afghanistan including the addition of 30,000 troops. As of this announcement the President took ownership of this war. Quite soon, if not already, the President will also have his name on the 62-year old UFO/ET truth embargo. Certainly this will be the case as of January 20 and the end of his first year in office. Consequently, PRG now sees a slightly greater likelihood that Disclosure will come initially from another first-world nation. With that in mind..........

British Ministry of Defence Closes Down the UK UFO Desk - the UK MOD made an almost casual but rather striking announcement it has closed down its UFO desk as of December 1, 2009. Significantly, the MOD indicated it would continue to release more government UFO files. The full statement can be read at: http://tinyurl.com/btezh3

He has made a new one called "Avatar", that is perfectly illustrating what we humans would do if we were let out into space at this stage of our evolution.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRdxXPV9GNQ

*Not an official message from Disclosure Project*

Shell Game: Shut Down Guantanamo, Send Them To Illinois

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:32:00 +0000

Yay. Good for Obama. He's shutting down Guantanamo!

But the problem was never the location.

Move 'em to Illinois, New Mexico, Texas, Alaska, do what you will.

They are still 'detainees', in prison, never having had the opportunity of trial by jury, no matter where you put them.

Obama says he's going to make sure they get their day in court. That's the change that matters.

Otherwise these surface changes are not Hope and Change, it's still hope for change.

Wanted: Gary McKinnon Supporters. Must Live in London

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:32:00 +0000

Can any UK based people please forward these details or post them on sites and blogs.

Thanks, david, Exopolitics uk
http://www.exopolitics.org.uk/mckinnondemolondon/

--

Greetings all,

This is a last minute plea for support for an end of year, last chance show of support for Gary McKinnon. Recently Alan 'Where's My Backbone?' Johnson claimed he could not intervene in the unfair extradition process now in its final stages. Gary could literally be in the USA by the start of 2010.

The demonstration was set to include meeting up outside Buckingham Palace but this has been stopped in the last few hours by the Met Police. The original demo is however set for Tuesday 15th December 2009 - 12 noon to 2pm at the Home Office, Marsham Street, London. Details below.

Home Office

Time: Tuesday 15th December 2009 from 12 noon until 2pm

Location:
Home Office main entrance, Peel Building (between the defensive / ornamental moats ponds) , Marsham Street, Westminster, London - see this location map

Nearest Tube stations:
Westminster or St. James Park - see the Transport for London website for journey planning details.

Buses:
London Bus Route 88 Clapham Common - Vauxhall - Westminster - Oxford Circus - Camden Town, stops directly outside the Home Office main entrance in Marsham Street, supposedly every 7 or 8 minutes.

Obama-The UFO Disclosure President-Not

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 03:21:00 +0000

Recently, an anonymous left reader left a comment very critical of my article Obama-The Dislosure President.

Written a year ago, that article reflected the possibilites of Hope and Change that Obama promised during his election and how it might relate to the Disclosure Movement.

Of course, Obama never made any promises to disclose anything about ETs.

But it seemed that Obama was promising something other than business as usual, and after the dark Bush/Cheney years, that was most welcome. That promise could've had important implications for the Disclosure Movement. In fact, within the first week of taking office, Obama signed a Presidential Order requiring agencies to disclose information that they no longer needed to keep secret.

Unfortunately for Anonymous, he/she seems to have reacted with much emotion to my article and failed to read my most recent posts. In a way I can't blame him/her, and that's why I elected to keep the original comments, profane as they are.

Obama's recent announcement to expand the war in Afghanistan has ruffled my feathers quite a bit. I don't see any change to business as usual, and from reading the comments, Anonymous doesn't seem to either. People that are paying attention are upset-those that aren't seem to be just following Obama's charisma and eloquence. That must be what it is because that appears to be the only change I see at present. That, and in these hard times people need Hope and Change. People don't aren't ready to let go of that positive possibility.

With the announcement that Britain is shutting down their UFO Disclosure Department, the final nail seems to have been driven in the coffin of the Disclosure Movement for the moment. With countries like France, Britain, Mexico and others releasing what they know, and The Vatican making some very curious ET statements the past couple of years, this has served to put pressure on the United States to disclose.

The only reason I can see that Britain has decided to backpedal must be from some US pressure to the contrary.

Which is unusual because many within the ET research community have reported that there is a movement from within to disclose, and these sources expected an announcement just anyday now.

The other discouraging signal that disclosure is not imminent is the continued harassment of Gary McKinnon, who easily hacked into government databases in the US and found information that the US has on present knowledge of ETs. The US is bloodthirsty for McKinnon, attempting to get him extradited to the US for trial. The US claims millions of dollars of damage done by McKinnon.

If disclosure is on the books, then McKinnon would be a non-issue.

This is a curious claim indeed as the Air Force in the 1960s has already claimed that in their Project Bluebook that the ETs pose no security threat to the United States....

I try not to get to disappointed or excited either way. The Disclosure Movement is a slow process that has had numerous starts and stops in the last sixty years. It may be stalled for the moment, but there is always another day.

New Face, Same War-No More War

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:34:00 +0000

I've been holding off on any criticisms against Obama, taking a wait and see approach to see how he does. I was under the spell of Obama's promised Hope and Change rhetoric, and the day he was elected I felt a huge weight being lifted off this country and possibilities for this promised Hope and Change. I have seen both Alex Jones' 'The Obama Deception' and 'The Fall of the Republic'. Not offering comment, I still was holding out for Hope and Change.

But after last night's speech by Obama, not only expressing his decision for expanding Bush's war, but lying to the American people about issues regarding exploiting other country's resources and being 'misunderstood' by the international community, it is time to speak out and draw a line in the sand, if only as an expression of concern from a spiritual perspective regarding the continuation of war across the globe.

"For unlike the great powers of old, we have not sought world domination. Our union was founded in resistance to oppression. We do not seek to occupy other nations. We will not claim another nation's resources or target other peoples because their faith or ethnicity is different from ours."

"We do not seek to occupy other nations."-if not us, then who is using our military to occupy other nations??

"We will not claim another nation's resources or target other peoples because their faith or ethnicity is different from ours." He's right there, claiming resources regardless of faith or ethnicity. We are an equal opportunity agressor. If there were White Christians in the Middle East, the oil would still be good.

Did we trade in George W. for Obama simply because we didn't respect the opportunistic son of a former President? Did we not like him because he was a less than dynamic speaker? Did the Republican Party fail because it was connected the George W. whom we just didn't like? Was this the depth of the public's overwhelming dissatisfaction with George W?

Or was it the policies. Was it the 8 year war that we opposed? Was it the illegal wiretapping? Was it the signing statements? Was it the continual shredding of our Constitution, which has not stopped since Obama has taken office? We have swallowed the red pill of Hope and Change and we have fallen asleep because we are under the illusion that the same policies with a more attractive face and a more appealing demeanor makes it ok.

It is not ok. Illegal wars against countries that did not provoke us are still illegal. Just this week it was revealed that 8 months before England entered the war, former Prime Minister Tony Blair received an email from Lord Goldsmith that the Iraq war was illegal and that deposing Sadaam would breach international law.

Regardless, I have great concern that President Obama's decision is the final straw for this country's future. If there is only one thing that comes out of this great failure, my hope it would be this-that the world will finally be deeply convinced that war can never again be an option towards settling our differnces.

Read more here, Cindy Sheehan's concerns about the peace movement.

Webster Tarpley-Protest Upcoming Troop Surge

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:06:00 +0000

Webster Tarpley, on his radio show 'World Crisis Radio' is urging Americans to protest Obama's upcoming announcement to send an additional 35,000 troops to Afghanistan. Obama is also anticipated to request another 10,000 troops from NATO. Levels will be then be over 100,000, nearly equal to that which Russia had in their campaign.

I voted for Obama because of his promises of Hope and Change. He said during his campaign that there never was a military solution in the Middle East. He has broken mostly all of his campaign promises, but this one-calling for an expanded war was one my biggest attractions to Obama, and one of his biggest calling cards.

My purpose for following up this on this blog is two-fold.

Our country is in a race to the bottom as we continue to be the world's largest exporter of war. It is about the only thing the US still builds and exports. Remember that it has been said that WWII helped keep the US out of another Depression. The US has continued this War Economy at the expense of millions of lives.

The other issue that concerns me is that there has been much talk of a US disclosure of extraterrestrial life in the next few weeks. There are great powers in the world that do not want this to happen. A surge in the war again takes the ET issue back off the radar, as did the economic issue which Obama inherited, consuming so much of his time that that was all he could deal with getting into office.

While this is partly conjecture, it is not without precedent. The Disclosure Project witness testimony, one of the largest National Press Club Events and at the time was the largest downloaded presentation, happened just months before the events of 9/11.

While some have dismissed the claim that 9/11 was a false flag event, Dr. Carol Rosin gave testimony at that event that powers in the government were planning such an event as early as the 1970s.

Tarpley announced a large war protest in DC at 11:00 AM across from the White House on December 12, 2009. There was a large decrease in protest activity at the beginning of Obama's term. Obama has proved himself a warmonger in the tradition of those who preceded him, it is time we re-awaken from the foggy haze of the Obama personality cult and use our citizen powers to stop further worldwide violence.

Amegy Bank Redux

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:42:00 +0000

My articles regarding dead peasant's policies created no small stir recently.

It turns out I'm not the only member of my family giving Amegy Bank grief.

Following is an article that appeared in The Baytown Sun several years ago when Amegy Bank first changed their name. Here it is reprinted from my sister's blog deanaland.blogspot.com
-----------------

Bank Didn't Need Another Name Change
By Deana Nall
Baytown Sun

Published February 02, 2005

To: Scott McLean, president, Southwest Bank of Texas

Dear Mr. McLean,

I’ve only lived in Baytown for four-and-a-half years, and I’ve already banked at Citizens Bank and Trust, Southwest Bank of Texas and, beginning March 7, I understand that I’ll be banking at Amegy Bank.

I’ve never changed banks. The bank keeps changing names.

The first name change resulted from a merger that ended the 80-year Baytown tradition of Citizens Bank. The most recent name change came about for several reasons, not the least of which is because someone in your company decided the bank’s name should reflect the company’s “dynamism.”

I had a few reactions when I learned about this. First, I had to look up “dynamism” in the dictionary to make sure it is an actual word. It sounds like an intestinal disorder. But Webster says it means “a theory that all phenomena can be explained as manifestations of force.” It’s also a “dynamic or expansionist quality.”

Next, I tried looking up “Amegy.” I didn’t find it. I did, however, find “amebic dysentery,” which, interestingly enough, is an intestinal disorder. Here’s what you had to say about the origins of the new bank name: “Amegy is a coined word that reflects the ‘energy’ of the people of ‘America.’”

I didn’t need to look up the word “coined.” I know it means “made up.”

I also understand that Amegy will be launching a series of high-energy (there’s that word again) radio and television commercials to help with the transition.

Since when did “energy” become such a crucial element in banking? I’ve never heard anyone say, “I switched banks because my old one just didn’t have enough energy.” The only energy I need, as far as my banking is concerned, is enough to get me out of bed and into the bank drive-through with my husband’s paycheck every Monday morning.

English is a fine language. Was there really no existing word suitable for your financial institution? Personally, I’m not looking for energy in a bank. You know what I like in a bank? I like the free popcorn on Fridays in the lobby. So why not “Free Popcorn Bank?” I’d also like a bank that doesn’t send back little pieces of paper at the drive-through trying to get me to sign up a friend for a checking account. Isn’t that your bank’s job? How about “The We-Won’t-Trash-Up-Your-Car-With-Little-Pieces-of-Paper Bank?”

If I seem a little cranky, the news of your bank’s name change came out the same day I read the results of a Swedish study on kissing. It seems that during a typical French kiss, more than 40,000 parasites and 250 types of bacteria are exchanged. I figure that in 11 years of marriage, my husband and I have exchanged close to 200 million parasites. I’m in a deep state of gross-out right now, and it’s made me a little testy.

The good news is that your bank’s new name has inspired me. I’d like to change my own name to reflect qualities for which I’d like to be known.

From now on, I’d like to be known as “Smute.”

“Smute” is a coined word that reflects how smart and cute I am. Please address all correspondence accordingly.

Sincerely,

Smute

Texas Gubernatorial Race, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:47:00 +0000

That 90.1 radio in Austin operates below the radar is not a clever statement. The station, which broadcasts shows within the Genesis Communications Network, operates below the levels required by the FCC for non-licensed stations. The station is strongest in Central Austin. It moved to 100.1 for a short time, but is now back on 90.1.

Last night I was listening to a radio show ‘Rule of Law’. The host was speaking about the upcoming Texas Governor race and how Ron Paul has really changed the political environment.

He stated that Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchinson are both known Bilderberg attendees, the regular secret meetings of the power elite.
The only 2 current independent governor candidates are Debra Medina and Kinky Friedman.

According to Medina’s Wikipedia entry under Texas gubernatorial election, 2010

"Among Medina's stances are private property rights, gun ownership, individual responsibility and adherence to the Constitution. She has actively opposed big government, taxes, bailouts, mandatory vaccinations, the Trans-Texas Corridor and abortion."

We should be careful in having too many gubernatorial candidates. Last year out of six candidates, Perry won, but with only 39% of the total votes.

Congratulations Obama!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:18:00 +0000

Now take the award away from Henry Kissinger the war criminal so the integrity of the prize will be restored....

Dept of Homeland Security: 8 Signs of a Terrorist

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:37:00 +0000

For several years Alex Jones and others have been warning against a citizens reporting situtation to where we would look out for neighbors doing suspicious things. And they labeled him a Conspiracy Theorist.

This is theory no longer. The following video is directly from the Dept of Homeland Security, detailing the 8 signs of a terrorist.

I have made a quick survey you can take:

Do you buy or handle gold bullion?
Do you use a watch, binoculars or donate to charity?
Do you use email or the telephone to get information about things?
Do you monitor police radio? My grandma used to do this, she must have been the best chocolate chip cookie terrorist in the world.
Do you notice surveillance cameras or try to watch big brother back?
Do you steal or trespass?
Do you take pictures?

If you answered yes to any one of these questions, you are a terrorist. You should report yourself right away and quit taking airplanes.

Dead Peasant Policy: Amegy's Response

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:59:00 +0000

I recently contact Amegy Bank, questioning them about their Dead Peasant Policy.
Below is their response:

I am forwarding this response to Mike Myers, the attorney interviewed in Moore's movie regarding the Dead Peasants Policy

Dear Brian,

Thank you for contacting Amegy Bank. Unfortunately, Michael Moore’s recent movie does not include all relevant facts and therefore we understand why you are concerned. While we do not comment on pending litigation out of fairness to both sides, let us explain more about our Bank Owned Life Insurance program (BOLI).

Amegy acted appropriately and fairly in offering and administering our BOLI plan and we are prepared to support our actions. Amegy, like nearly 85% of banks our size, offered bank owned life insurance to bank employees who were Vice President and above from 1998 to 2005. Participation in Amegy’s BOLI plan is completely voluntary. Amegy’s program enabled participating employees to name beneficiaries of a portion of the policy proceeds.

BOLI is recognized and permitted by all regulatory authorities, including the SEC, OCC and FDIC, and is authorized by Texas statute.

Some companies have been criticized for their BOLI plans because they did not receive consent from their employees and their employees do not share in the death benefits. Amegy’s plan is very different: our plan is voluntary; employees agreed to participate; and each currently-employed or vested participant’s beneficiary receives insurance benefits upon the death of the insured employee.

I hope this helps to clarify our BOLI program and answers your questions. If you have additional questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,
Alicia Blaszak

Alicia Blaszak

Senior Vice President

Human Resources Director

Amegy Bank of Texas

4400 Post Oak Parkway | 8th Floor | Houston Texas 77027

p: 713.232.1208 | f: 713.693.7504

Wal Mart: Thank you. Your Comments Have Been Forwarded to the Appropriate Department

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:45:00 +0000

After seeing Michael Moore's movie, I took it upon myself to inform Wal Mart personally regarding their involvement in the Dead Peasant Policies. My original email appears below. If I hear more I will post it.

Wasn't sure what to expect, but here is their response:

Thank you for your message.

Dear Brian,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us with your feedback. Each comment, concern and suggestion is very important to us because it gives us the opportunity to evaluate the various aspects of our business. Be assured that your message will be forwarded to the appropriate team where it will be reviewed and carefully considered.

Thank you again for your correspondence.

Sincerely,
Walmart Customer Care

I saw Michael Moore's movie, 'Capitalism: A Love
Story'. I learned about a young cake baker that you took out a Life
Insurance policy on, a Dead Peasant's Policy. She died and apparently
Wal Mart not only collected the insurance policy, but shared nothing
with the survivor. Moore stated you no longer engage in this practice,
for which I commend you.

Nevertheless, simply withdrawing the practice is hardly enough. You owe
to the survivors a sizable financial contribution for this horrible
practice. Let me know when you do and then I will not only quit feeling
nauseous when I am near your stores or see your ads, I will actually
begin shopping there again.

James Fox-"I Know What I Saw"

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:47:00 +0000

Update 10/6/2009
According to the History Channel Website, this movie will air again Monday October at 10PM EST,7 PST and on Tuesday October 21 at 2AM EST, 11PST.

At this History Channel website , go to the 'Search Schedule' box and type 'I Know What I Saw' for more updates.

Also visit the official website for 'I Know What I Saw' here.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This long awaited movie finally made its debut on The History Channel last night, it is a 2 hour special. I was hoping to see the whole thing, but only could watch an hour so far. It is a very explosive hard hitting documentary making it crystal clear that 'they are here'.

The show started out discussing The Phoenix Lights, with good eyewitness testimony. The show centers around the Fox disclosure event that occurred a couple of years ago at the National Press Club. The show also contrasted the change in Dr. Hynek's thinking on UFOs, along with continual military denial of the event. The show does a great job of showing that the government has continued to study UFOs even after they continue to say that they don't. The Rendelsham Event was also heavily discussed. The show was complete with lots of pictures.

I watched the show with my girlfriend who tolerates my interest in UFOs, and the show sparked some good conversation. Her frustration with the movie after the 1st hour was that she thought it was '...alright, already, I get it, something is going on that is being covered up!'

This sums up the weight of the evidence presented. I only hope that The History Channel will air this again

Review- Capitalism: A Love Story

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:39:00 +0000

I was going to post this yesterday, but I wanted to get the word out on the Dead Peasant Policy first.

Go see this movie. But keep in mind that Michael Moore's new movie should not be considered entertainment. The mock warning at the beginning lifted from a 1960s movies is a valid warning. I was completely sick to my stomach during the whole movie, and this not due to any lack of film making on Moore's part. His style of course makes the movie completely engrossing.

Rather, I was sick of seeing how big business and banking has not served the America nor the world well, only serving themselves and the almighty dollar at the expense of everyone else.

Thank you Moore for making this movie.

Moore seems to suggest Socialism would be better than Capitalism, in theory because of a more fair distribution of wealth. Moore also attempts to break down the negative connotations that we in America have of Socialism.

I would assert that Capitalism was fine before Corporate Greed took over. The problem was that there was never anything that protected the masses from big business.

Moore points out that Franklin Roosevelt did attempt to correct this shortcoming, but he passed away before this could be done.

Moore barely addresses Obama's potential role as someone to help the situation or make it worse. He does point out the fact that Goldman Sachs was the largest contributor to Obama's campaign, and he also points out that Obama supported the striking workers that were waiting for Bank Of America to pay them before they would leave, in which they were victorious. Perhaps Moore is taking a wait and see approach before a judgement is rendered.

Moore left out the fact that a large majority of Obama's cabinet members are from banking and financial interests. And he could have included the issue that the Federal Reserve is independent from the government rather than a part of the government.

Perhaps Moore was trying to keep his focus on the points that he did make, and in this he succeeded.

Every US citizen should be required to see this movie.

Dead Peasant's Policy

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 15:54:00 +0000

I saw Michael Moore's new movie last night and the movie interviewed two surviving families of spouses who worked for companies that took out Dead Peasant's Policies on them. Moreover, none of these funds were ever shared with the surviving spouses. One deceased spouse had worked for Amegy Bank, the other for Wal Mart.

What is a Dead Peasant's Policy?

Attorney Mike Myers lists the following definition on his website http://deadpeasantinsurance.com/:

Dead Peasant Insurance is sometimes used as a shorthand reference for life insurance policies that insure a company’s rank-and-file employees and name the company as the beneficiary. This means that the company receives the life insurance benefits when the covered employees die. This insurance may also be called “janitor insurance,”…

Attorney Myers also explains how the Dead Peasant's term came to be:

Winn Dixie Stores bought life insurance policies on approximately 36,000 of its employees, without their knowledge or consent, and named itself as the policies’ beneficiary. The insurance brokerage firm that placed the policies prepared two memos describing the deceased employees as “Dead Peasants.” These memos were part of the court’s record in a lawsuit in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that Winn-Dixie’s policies were a sham transaction for federal income tax purposes. The memos were later used by reporters such as Ellen Schultz and Theo Francis of the Wall Street Journal and L.M. Sixel of the Houston Chronicle and incorporated into articles about this type of insurance.

This practice was not only used by a few wayward companies. Myers also lists other companies known to engage in this practice, but disclosure has not always been required, so there may be many other companies as well:

ADAC Laboratories
Advanced Telecommunication Corp.
Aeroquip Vickers Inc.
Alabama Power Co.
Alfa Corp.
Allegheny Technologies Inc.
Allergan Inc.
Allfirst Financial Inc.
Amegy Bank, N.A.
American Business Products, Inc.
American Electric Power
American Express Co.
American Greetings Corp.
American Management Systems Inc.
American Seafoods Group LLC
Ameritech Corp.
Amerus Group Co.
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation
Appalachian Power Co.
Arch Chemical
Aristech Chemical Corp.
AT&T Communications
Atlantic Richfield Co.
Avery Dennison Corp
Avon Products Inc.
B. F. Goodrich Company
Ball Corporation
Bank Boston
Bank Of America
Bank One Corp.
Barnett Banks Inc.
Bassett Furniture Industries Inc.
Be Aerospace Inc.
Bear Stearns Companies
Bellsouth Corporation
Boise Cascade Corp.
Boston Company
Boston Federal
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
Camelot Music, Inc.
Carolina Power & Light Co.
Carpenter Technology Corp.
Catskill Financial Corp.
Central Power & Light Co.
Ch2m Hill Companies Ltd.
Charming Shoppes, Inc.
Checkfree Corp.
Chemical Banking Corporation
Citibank, N.A.
Citizens Bank
Clark Inc.
Clorox Company
CNF Inc.
Coca-Cola Company
Columbus Southern Power Co.
Commercial Intertech Corp.
Compass Bank (Florida & Alabama)
Computer Technology Associates Inc.
Consolidated Natural Gas Co.
Consolidated Rail Corporation
Cox Enterprises, Inc.
CTA Inc.
Cymer Inc.
Diamond Shamrock Inc.
Diebold Inc.
Dime Bancorp Inc.
Dow Chemical
Earle M. Jorgensen Co.
Eastman Kodak Company
Eaton Corp.
ECC Capital Corp.
Enserch Corp.
F&M Bancorp
FiberMark Inc.
Figgie International Inc.
Fina Oil & Chemical Company
First Bank System Inc.
First Commonwealth
First Midwest Bancorp Inc.
Fleet Bank
FleetBoston Financial Corp.
Flightsafety International Inc.
Frontier Bank
Fulton Financial Corp.
GATX Corporation
Georgia Power Co.
GNC Corp.
Great Plains Energy Inc.
GTE Corporation
Gulf Power Co.
HCR Manor Care Inc
Hechinger Company
Heritage Commerce Corp.
Herman Miller Inc.
Hershey Foods Corporation
Hillenbrand Industries, Inc.
Hosiery Corporation of America
Houghton Mifflin
Household Finance
Hovnanian Enterprises Inc.
Hughes Supply Inc
ICI Americas, Inc.
Idaho Power Company
IKON Office Solutions Inc.
Indiana Michigan Power Co.
Integra Bank Corp.
Intermark Inc.
Iowa First Bancshares Corp.
Iroquois Bancorp Inc.
J Jill Group Inc.
JP Morgan Chase & Co.
Kansas City Power & Light
Kansas Gas & Electric Co.
Keithley Instruments Inc.
Kentucky Power Co.
Keycorp Ohio
Kimberly Clark
Korn Ferry International
Laser Master Int’l. Inc.
Linens N Things Inc.
LKQ Corp.
Louisiana Pacific Corp.
Manor Care Inc.
Marriott International Inc.
McDonnell Douglas Corp.
Media General Inc.
Medicalcontrol Inc.
Menasha Corporation
MidAmerican Energy Co.
Miix Group Inc.
Mississippi Power Co.
MNC Financial Inc.
Mueller Industries Inc.
National City Corporation
NationsBank
Nestle Enterprises
Norfolk Southern Corp.
Norfolk Southern Railway Co.
Northern States Power Co.
Ohio Power Co.
Old National
Olin Corporation
Owens & Minor Inc.
PacifiCorp
Panera Bread Co.
Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Company
Parker Hannifin Corp.
Penn Treaty American Corp.
Penns Woods Bancorp Inc.
Phibro Animal Health Corp.
Philipp Brothers Chemicals Inc.
Phoenix Companies Inc.
Pinnacle Financial Services Inc.
Portland General Electric
Potlatch Corporation
PPG Industries
Procter & Gamble Company
PSS World Medical Inc.
Public Service Co. of New Mexico
Public Service Co. of Oklahoma
Public Service Enterprise Group
Questech Inc.
R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company
Ruddick Corp.
Ryder System Inc.
Sallie Mae (Stud Ln Mktg Assoc.)
Savannah Electric & Power Co.
Sequa Corp.
Service Merchandise Co., Inc.
Shearson Mortgage
Sherwin-Williams
Sky Chefs
Smart & Final Inc.
Smith Barney
Sonoco Products Co.
Southwest Bank
Southwest Water Co.
Southwestern Bell Corp.
Southwestern Electric Power Co.
Southwestern Public Service Co.
Star Banc Corp.
Stauffer Management Company
Steelcase Inc.
Sturgis Bancorp Inc.
Summit Bank of N.J.
Swank, Inc.
Tellabs Inc.
Tenet Healthcare Corp.
Texas Eastern Transmission Corp.
Tompkins Trustco Inc.
TXU Corp.
TYCO International
UniFirst Corp.
Union Bank
United National Bancorp
Urocor Inc.
Vineyard National Bancorp
W. R. Grace & Company
Wachovia Corporation
Walgreen Company
Wal-Mart Stores
Walt Disney
Wang’s International, Inc.
Wells Fargo, N.A.
West Coast Bancorp
West Texas Utilities Co.
Westar Energy Inc.
Western Aire Chef Inc
Western Resources, Inc.
Westpoint Pepperell
Winn Dixie
Winnebago Industries Inc.
Woolworth Corporation
Xcel Energy Inc.
York Water Co.
Zale Corp.

Why Music?

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 14:25:00 +0000

This is a cool article, that was forwarded to me by Kate Harrod, a very talented opera singer/pianist here in Austin I work with.

Even a reference to the movie 'ET', so we are somewhat making a music/ET connection here.... C3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome address to freshman class at Boston Conservatory
given by Karl Paulnack, pianist and director of music division at
Boston Conservatory

"One of my parents' deepest fears, I suspect, is that society
would not properly value me as a musician, that I wouldn't be appreciated. I
had very good grades in high school, I was good in science and math, and they
imagined that as a doctor or a research chemist or an engineer, I might be
more appreciated than I would be as a musician. I still remember
my mother's remark when I announced my decision to apply to music school-she
said, "You're WASTING your SAT scores." On some level, I think, my
parents were not sure themselves what the value of music was, what its
purpose was. And they LOVED music, they listened to classical music all the time.
They just weren't really clear about its function. So let me talk about that
a little bit, because we live in a society that puts music in the "arts and
entertainment" section of the newspaper, and serious music, the
kind your kids are about to engage in, has absolutely nothing whatsoever to
do with entertainment, in fact it's the opposite of entertainment.. Let me
talk a little bit about music, and how it works.

The first people to understand how music really works were the
ancient Greeks. And this is going to fascinate you; the Greeks said that
music and astronomy were two sides of the same coin. Astronomy was seen as
the study of relationships between observable, permanent, external objects,
and music was seen as the study of relationships between invisible,
internal, hidden objects. Music has a way of finding the big, invisible
moving pieces inside our hearts and souls and helping us figure out the position of
things inside us. Let me give you some examples of how this works.

One of the most profound musical compositions of all time is the
Quartet for the End of Time written by French composer Olivier Messiaen in
1940. Messiaen was 31 years old when France entered the war against Nazi
Germany. He was captured by the Germans in June of 1940, sent across
Germany in a cattle car and imprisoned in a concentration camp.

He was fortunate to find a sympathetic prison guard who gave him
paper and a place to compose. There were three other musicians in the camp, a
cellist, a violinist, and a clarinetist, and Messiaen wrote his quartet with
these specific players in mind. It was performed in January 1941 for
four thousand prisoners and guards in the prison camp. Today it is one of the
most famous masterworks in the repertoire.

Given what we have since learned about life in the concentration
camps, why would anyone in his right mind waste time and energy writing or
playing music? There was barely enough energy on a good day to find food
and water, to avoid a beating, to stay warm, to escape torture-why would
anyone bother with music? And yet-from the camps, we have poetry, we have
music, we have visual art; it wasn't just this one fanatic Messiaen; many, many
people created art. Why? Well, in a place where people are only focused on
survival, on the bare necessities, the obvious conclusion is that
art must be, somehow, essential for life. The camps were without money,
without hope, without commerce, without recreation, without basic respect,
but they were not without art. Art is part of survival; art is part of the human
spirit, an unquenchable expression of who we are. Art is one of the ways
in which we say, "I am alive, and my life has meaning."

On September 12, 2001 I was a resident of Manhattan. That morning
I reached a new understanding of my art and its relationship to the world. I
sat down at the piano that morning at 10 AM to practice as was my daily
routine; I did it by force of habit, without thinking about it. I lifted the
cover on the keyboard, and opened my music, and put my hands on the keys
and took my hands off the keys. And I sat there and thought, does this even
matter? Isn't this completely irrelevant? Playing the piano right now,
given what happened in this city yesterday, seems silly, absurd, irreverent,
pointless. Why am I here? What place has a musician in this moment in time?
Who needs a piano player right now? I was completely lost.

And then I, along with the rest of New York, went through the journey of
getting through that week. I did not play the piano that day, and
in fact I contemplated briefly whether I would ever want to play the piano
again. And then I observed how we got through the day.

At least in my neighborhood, we didn't shoot hoops or play
Scrabble. We didn't play cards to pass the time, we didn't watch TV, we
didn't shop, we most certainly did not go to the mall. The first organized
activity that I saw in New York, that same day, was singing. People sang.
People sang around fire houses, people sang "We Shall Overcome". Lots of people sang
America the Beautiful. The first organized public event that I remember
was the Brahms Requiem, later that week, at Lincoln Center, with the New York
Philharmonic. The first organized public expression of grief, our
first communal response to that historic event, was a concert. That was the
beginning of a sense that life might go on. The US Military
secured the airspace, but recovery was led by the arts, and by music in
particular, that very night.

From these two experiences, I have come to understand that music
is not part of "arts and entertainment" as the newspaper section would
have us believe. It's not a luxury, a lavish thing that we fund from leftovers of our
budgets, not a plaything or an amusement or a pass time. Music is
a basic need of human survival. Music is one of the ways we make sense of
our lives, one of the ways in which we express feelings when we have no
words, a way for us to understand things with our hearts when we can't
with our minds.

Some of you may know Samuel Barber's heart-wrenchingly beautiful
piece Adagio for Strings. If you don't know it by that name, then some of you
may know it as the background music which accompanied the Oliver Stone movie
Platoon, a film about the Vietnam War. If you know that piece of music either
way, you know it has the ability to crack your heart open like a walnut; it
can make you cry over sadness you didn't know you had. Music can slip
beneath our conscious reality to get at what's really going on inside us the
way a good therapist does.

I bet that you have never been to a wedding where there was
absolutely no music. There might have been only a little music, there
might have been some really bad music, but I bet you there was some music. And
something very predictable happens at weddings-people get all pent up with
all kinds of emotions, and then there's some musical moment where the action of
the wedding stops and someone sings or plays the flute or something.
And even if the music is lame, even if the quality isn't good, predictably 30
or 40 percent of the people who are going to cry at a wedding cry a
couple of moments after the music starts. Why? The Greeks. Music allows us
to move around those big invisible pieces of ourselves and rearrange our
insides so that we can express what we feel even when we can't talk about it.
Can you imagine watching Indiana Jones or Superman or Star Wars with the
dialogue but no music? What is it about the music swelling up at just the
right moment in ET so that all the softies in the audience start crying
at exactly the same moment? I guarantee you if you showed the movie with the
music stripped out, it wouldn't happen that way. The Greeks: Music is the
understanding of the relationship between invisible internal objects.

I'll give you one more example, the story of the most important
concert of my life. I must tell you I have played a little less than a
thousand concerts in my life so far. I have played in places that I thought
were important. I like playing in Carnegie Hall; I enjoyed playing in
Paris; it made me very happy to please the critics in St. Petersburg. I have
played for people I thought were important; music critics of major
newspapers, foreign heads of state. The most important concert of my entire
life took place in a nursing home in Fargo, ND, about 4 years ago.

I was playing with a very dear friend of mine who is a violinist.
We began, as we often do, with Aaron Copland's Sonata, which was written
during World War II and dedicated to a young friend of Copland's, a young
pilot who was shot down during the war. Now we often talk to our audiences about
the pieces we are going to play rather than providing them with
written program notes. But in this case, because we began the concert with
this piece, we decided to talk about the piece later in the program and to just
come out and play the music without explanation.

Midway through the piece, an elderly man seated in a wheelchair
near the front of the concert hall began to weep. This man, whom I later
met, was clearly a soldier-even in his 70's, it was clear from his buzz-cut
hair, square jaw and general demeanor that he had spent a good deal of
his life in the military. I thought it a little bit odd that someone would be
moved to tears by that particular movement of that particular piece, but it
wasn't the first time I've heard crying in a concert and we went on with the
concert and finished the piece.

When we came out to play the next piece on the program, we decided
to talk about both the first and second pieces, and we described the
circumstances in which the Copland was written and mentioned its
dedication to a downed pilot. The man in the front of the audience became so disturbed
that he had to leave the auditorium. I honestly figured that we would not see
him again, but he did come backstage afterwards, tears and all, to explain
himself.

What he told us was this: "During World War II, I was a pilot, and
I was in an aerial combat situation where one of my team's planes was hit.
I watched my friend bail out, and watched his parachute open, but the
Japanese planes which had engaged us returned and machine gunned across the
parachute chords so as to separate the parachute from the pilot, and I
watched my friend drop away into the ocean, realizing that he was lost. I have not
thought about this for many years, but during that first piece of music you
played, this memory returned to me so vividly that it was as though I was
reliving it. I didn't understand why this was happening, why now, but then
when you came out to explain that this piece of music was written to commemorate
a lost pilot, it was a little more than I could handle. How does the
music do that? How did it find those feelings and those memories in me?

Remember the Greeks: music is the study of invisible relationships
between internal objects. This concert in Fargo was the most important
work I have ever done. For me to play for this old soldier and help him
connect, somehow, with Aaron Copland, and to connect their memories of
their lost friends, to help him remember and mourn his friend, this is my
work. This is why music matters.

What follows is part of the talk I will give to this year's freshman class
when I welcome them a few days from now. The responsibility I will
charge your sons and daughters with is this:

"If we were a medical school, and you were here as a med student
practicing appendectomies, you'd take your work very seriously because you
would imagine that some night at two AM someone is going to waltz into your
emergency room and you're going to have to save their life. Well, my
friends, someday at 8 PM someone is going to walk into your
concert hall and bring you a mind that is confused, a heart that is
overwhelmed, a soul that is weary. Whether they go out whole again will depend partly on how well you do your craft.

You're not here to become an entertainer, and you don't have to sell
yourself. The truth is you don't have anything to sell; being a
musician isn't about dispensing a product, like selling used Chevies. I'm
not an entertainer; I'm a lot closer to a paramedic, a firefighter, a rescue
worker. You're here to become a sort of therapist for the human
soul, a spiritual version of a chiropractor, physical therapist, someone
who works with our insides to see if they get things to line up, to see if
we can come into harmony with ourselves and be healthy and happy and well..
Frankly, ladies and gentlemen, I expect you not only to master
music; I expect you to save the planet. If there is a future wave of
wellness on this planet, of harmony, of peace, of an end to war, of mutual
understanding, of equality, of fairness, I don't expect it will come from a
government, a military force or a corporation. I no longer even expect it to
come from the religions of the world, which together seem to have brought
us as much war as they have peace. If there is a future of peace for humankind,
if there is to be an understanding of how these invisible, internal things
should fit together, I expect it will come from the artists, because that's
what we do. As in the concentration camp and the evening of 9/11, the artists
are the ones who might be able to help us with our internal, invisible
lives."

Old Thinker News: 9/11 Commission Members Doubt Official Story

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:07:00 +0000

Though much mockery is made of 9/11 Truthers, this article does not point to the Truthers, it points to members of the 9/11 Commission themselves and mainstream media as reasons to doubt the official story.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Daniel Taylor
Old-Thinker News
September 11, 2009

On the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, there remain unanswered questions surrounding the events that transpired that day. These questions demand answers, and far from being a “fringe” movement as cast by the mainstream media, many of the 9/11 commission members themselves doubt the official story.

The following are a few examples:

Senator Max Cleland, who resigned from the 9/11 Commission after calling it a “national scandal”, stated in a 2003 PBS interview,

“I’m saying that’s deliberate. I am saying that the delay in relating this information to the American public out of a hearing… series of hearings, that several members of Congress knew eight or ten months ago, including Bob Graham and others, that was deliberately slow walked… the 9/11 Commission was deliberately slow walked, because the Administration’s policy was, and its priority was, we’re gonna take Saddam Hussein out.”

Cleland, speaking with Democracy Now, said,

“One of these days we will have to get the full story because the 9-11 issue is so important to America. But this White House wants to cover it up”.

In 2006 the Washington Post reported that several members of the 9/11 Commission suspected deception on part of the Pentagon. As reported,[in the Washington Post]

“Some staff members and commissioners of the Sept. 11 panel concluded that the Pentagon’s initial story of how it reacted to the 2001 terrorist attacks may have been part of a deliberate effort to mislead the commission and the public rather than a reflection of the fog of events on that day, according to sources involved in the debate.”

9/11 Commissioner Bob Kerry also has unanswered questions. As reported by Salon, he believes that there are legitimate reasons to believe an alternative version to the official story.

“There are ample reasons to suspect that there may be some alternative to what we outlined in our version,” Kerrey said. The commission had limited time and limited resources to pursue its investigation, and its access to key documents and witnesses was fettered by the administration.

Commissioner Tim Roemer, speaking to CNN, stated that Commission members were considering a criminal probe of false statements. As quoted,

“We were extremely frustrated with the false statements we were getting,” Roemer told CNN. “We were not sure of the intent, whether it was to deceive the commission or merely part of the fumbling bureaucracy.”

Richard Hoagland Banned From Facbook

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 19:38:00 +0000

Richard Hoagland was science advisor for CBS News during the original moon landing, advising Walter Cronkite. He has been banned from Facebook this month with no warning or explanation.

Facebook has not reached out to Richard Hoagland, and he is still banned from posting on his fan page.

There are several ways to put pressure on Facebook to get him reinstated.

To join a grassroots effort to have Hoagland reinstated, please email Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg http://www.facebook.com/zuck on Richard's behalf so we can help get him reinstated. You must be a Facebook member to post.

You can also email appeals@facebook.com and disabled@facebook.com, membership is not necessary to email, but would be helpful.

There are two sites on Facebook devoted to ending the Hoagland siege.

Stop Facebook from censoring Richard C. Hoagland
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/321978

Anti Censorship Of Richard C Hoagland On Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=237412615369

Russia Today: UFO phenomenon was strictly tabooed in USSR

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:05:00 +0000

Following article was actually published by Russia Today 2/07. I think it's a bit ironic obviously that some attitudes of Soviet Russia parallel the US Government's own attitudes regarding UFOs in light of the many enlisted Russian men and women that are talking about UFOs now, and not a word from our own country now.....

__________________________________

“That was a tabooed subject in the USSR. Any piece of information about the flying saucers was treasured. Any public jokes about the UFO were strictly forbidden,” Mr. Stolyarov said.

Read more....

Russia Today: Russian Navy UFO records say aliens love oceans

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:03:00 +0000

The Russian navy has declassified its records of encounters with unidentified objects technologically surpassing anything humanity ever built, reports Svobodnaya Pressa news website.

The records dating back to soviet times were compiled by a special navy group collecting reports of unexplained incidents delivered by submarines and military ships. The group was headed by deputy Navy commander Admiral Nikolay Smirnov, and the documents reveal numerous cases of possible UFO encounters, the website says.

Vladimir Azhazha, former navy officer and a famous Russian UFO researcher, says the materials are of great value.

Read more

CNN: Cheney kept CIA program from Congress, source says

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 17:00:00 +0000

Seems like Cheney isn't the angel CNN once thought he was....

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The CIA withheld information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress during the Bush administration on direct orders from then-Vice President Dick Cheney, current CIA director Leon Panetta told members of Congress, a knowledgeable source confirmed to CNN.

Read more here.

Video of Me Asking Bill Richardson About Looking Into UFOs

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:29:00 +0000

This while he was campaigning to be President. Thanks to Grant Cameron for getting into a Youtube format.

Voltaire Network: 9/11 FEMA videographer at Ground Zero goes public

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:16:00 +0000

As official videographer for the U.S. government, Kurt Sonnenfeld was detailed to Ground Zero on September 11, 2001, where he spent one month filming 29 tapes: "What I saw at certain moments and in certain places ... is very disturbing!" He never handed them over to the authorities and has been persecuted ever since. Kurt Sonnenfeld lives in exile in Argentina, where he wrote "El Perseguido" (the persecuted). His recently-published book tells the story of his unending nightmare and drives another nail into the coffin of the government’s account of the 9/11 events. Below is an exclusive interview by The Voltaire Network.

Full interview here.