The corporate media inundates us with poll results concerning the approval ratings of the first three Estates of the Realm. But what if a completely independent poll were conducted concerning the performance of the Fourth Estate, our illustrious press. I suspect that, if it were even possible to conduct such an “independent poll,” our press would not fare well on the question of whether they are “honest brokers of information.”

Consider, for example, the recent press handling of the fiftieth anniversary of the Kennedy assassination. In light of this, ask yourself if Operation Mockingbird is still alive and well? Ask yourself, if you were conducting a murder investigation, would you put a man that was fired by the decedent on your investigative team? And, with that in mind, have you ever heard anyone in the main stream press question the appropriateness of having former CIA Director Allen Dulles sit on the Warren Commission?

Most people, who consider the Warren Commission Report to be a politically expedient gloss over, believe that a shadow government has operated continuously in this country from the days immediately following World War II to the present. They like to cite the Farewell Address of Dwight D. Eisenhower as a clear indicator of this moral inversion.

“Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea…. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex…. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted.”

– Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961

Eisenhower was certainly a man in the know. And his successor also came to know these facts all too well, even unto death. The book “JFK and the Unspeakable,” by Jim Douglass, was recently endorsed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. It cites several facts that are documented in over 100 pages of endnotes, referring to declassified government documents contained in the National Archives building in Maryland.  These documents are readily available to the public as well as members of the press.

Among the points raised by Douglass are these:

1. Eisenhower warned us of the “military-industrial complex” just before Kennedy took office
2. JFK went toe to toe with military contractor United States Steel
3. The military-industrial complex regularly pressured JFK to start all-out nuclear war
4. JFK secretly brokered a nuclear disarmament treaty with Khrushchev
5. JFK openly sided with Castro in the Cuban Revolution
6. JFK was secretly working to end the US occupation of Vietnam
7. JFK refused a plot to stage terrorist attacks on US soil to be blamed on Cuba
8. Lee Harvey Oswald was a CIA asset
9. Oswald was on the FBI’s payroll
10. CIA assets helped Lee Harvey Oswald get work
11. Oswald was seen in Dallas with a CIA covert ops chief two months before the assassination
12. The CIA revealed their hand in killing JFK through the use of Oswald doubles
13. The Warren Commission Report was a cover-up
14. JFK’s assassination was supposed to happen in Chicago, not Dallas
15. The real shooter in Dallas was on the grassy knoll, and carried a Secret Service badge
16. CIA employee Sidney Gottlieb made Secret Service credentials

Ever since the slang “dumbing down” was first adopted in 1933 by motion picture screenplay writers, it has been used to encourage revisions of anything developed for public consumption “so as to appeal to those of little education or intelligence.” We really have no one to blame but ourselves for the success of our lemming-like press, for this is no longer the land that Edmond Burke wrote of to King George when he observed:

They . . . “snuff out the approach of tyranny in every tainted brief.”

— Edmund Burke (“Conciliation with America”‘; March 22, 1775)

There are sixteen points listed above that are supported by well documented research.  Our corporate media will never bite the hand that feeds them. The only hope remaining for this country lies with an engaged citizenry dedicated to exposing every sophistry and exposing that which lies in the shadows. Are the above listed allegations as raised by Jim Douglass true? While democracy itself may end with a failure to preserve net neutrality , the obligations of citizenship, in a participatory democracy, certainly begin with discerning motivations and considering the source.

© 2013 Robert H. Kalk

Consider the Source

Because of the insidious way in which it works, it has been sold as a relatively benign replacement for the devastating earlier dioxin-based herbicides. But a barrage of experimental data has now shown glyphosate and the GMO foods incorporating it to pose serious dangers to health.

Compounding the risk is the toxicity of “inert” ingredients used to make glyphosate more potent. Researchers have found, for example, that the surfactant POEA can kill human cells, particularly embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells. But these risks have been conveniently ignored.

The widespread use of GMO foods and glyphosate herbicides helps explain the anomaly that the US spends over twice as much per capita on healthcare as the average developed country, yet it is rated far down the scale of the world’s healthiest populations. The World Health Organization has ranked the US LAST out of 17 developed nations for overall health.

Sixty to seventy percent of the foods in US supermarkets are now genetically modified. By contrast, in at least 26 other countries—including Switzerland, Australia, Austria, China, India, France, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, Greece, Bulgaria, Poland, Italy, Mexico and Russia—GMOs are totally or partially banned; and significant restrictions on GMOs exist in about sixty other countries.

Consider the Source

 Consider the First Source!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word choreographed an assembly of amino acids into an exquisite array of specific proteins. Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” In so doing God demonstrated a penchant for genomic writing, preceeded by an amazing series of prebiotic events, in a highly orchestrated presentation of evolutionary overcontrol.

More about God’s Handiwork!

“The foxes have holes, and the birds of heaven have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head,” and so it is today for many of his followers. Despite all the warnings about the snares laid by moneylenders, despite the fact that gage mort is literally translated as a pledge to give up one’s life, millions have lost their homes through mortgage exploits, and their quality of life through the service of debt.

Along the river banks and across the plains, archaeologists have unearthed abundant evidence of human practicality. The long evolutionary struggle is depicted in dwell time as our earliest ancestors enjoy the inspiration of mountain vistas and the tranquility of peaceful valleys. They also experienced the terror of lightning strikes, glacial advances, animal attacks, seismic events and lava flows.

Homo Erectus is constantly mobile as he steadily progresses through his gift of ingenuity. He seeks shelter in caves, from overhanging ledges and under the brush. By learning to fashion materials, such as clay, wood, and stone, early humans were able to move down from the treetops and out from the hillside grottoes to create family huts. The home had begun to take shape as the most basic human institution.

Then, as the ice advanced, man again appropriates the most practical shelter that nature has to offer. The comforts of home give way to necessity as protection from the elements drives him ever onward in search of more suitable provisions.

Flash forward a million years or so and consider the plight of today’s homo-sapiens. Extreme weather, internecine wars, and raging wildfires all continue and conspire to keep a great humanity unsettled. The voids are filled, as if by reflex, with stunted vegetation, outgassing trailers, and tent cities as the most desirable solutions are put off time and again.

Bloated governments have generated burdensome regulations that allow us to live simply only if we are tucked into very small sheds or build our houses on wheels. These influences are literally driving us into dwellings that are too costly to build, too large to heat or cool, and too burdensome to maintain. Politicians pay lip service to sustainability while erecting huge barriers to those who are sincerely trying to leave the smallest of footprints.

The art of living large in a small abode is intriguing to the upwardly mobile as well as those who have chosen, or have been forced, to downsize. In the first case, squandering precious resources on mortgage interest is one of the fastest ways to become a wage slave. In the second case, the escape from a debtor’s prison is liberating in more ways than one can imagine.

This is not to say that there is no value in stress. Sometimes having a tough, recurring nut to crack is precisely what’s needed to cure the ease drifting soul. But, for the highly motivated, for those whose enthusiasm truly emanates from en-theos (God within), there are higher callings.

Supporting the same entitled barons of financial sophistry who brought us the Great Swindle, known by the less discerning among us as the “Great Recession,” is a form of self-imposed detention. It saddles us with excessive drag. In contrast, a pay-as-you-go strategy is easier than one might think.

The TV that once occupied floor space can now hang on the wall, a cabinet door, or the front of a drawer. The oversized washers and dryers that are pushed by appliance stores in the U.S. can be replaced by a single more energy efficient under-the-counter unit, readily available in Europe or at U.S. RV stores. These compact combo units employ the same drum for both washing and drying. The range hood over your stove can be replaced by a combination hood, microwave and convection oven to save even more space.

Ask yourself, how many burners do you really use on your stove? How about supplementing with a guest’s hotplate or slow-cooker for the pot-luck seasonal bash? Could you eliminate cooking odors, and greasy films on the walls, by using the outside grill more often? Do you really need a big oven, the one you justified with the Thanksgiving turkey, if you’re now frying it outside anyway?

There are so many ways to get right-sized. If you’re reading the periodicals biblically, and the bible periodically, then find out how many of your favorite periodicals are now online. And, if you want to read your bible more often, download it to your tablet or smart phone. Who knows, you may even decide you prefer the page-white backlit display to your itty-bitty-book-light.

Ever wonder how many linear feet of shelf space you could eliminate by converting your music and books to digital form? What about that shoebox full of receipts? You could adopt a new policy of scannin’ and pitchin’ em. Some stores will even email them to you. Hard discs are cheap and they don’t seem to get any heavier when you fill them up.

Over half of the people who live in tiny houses have no mortgage. That’s twice as many as the average U.S. homeowner. Owners of small houses have more savings than the average homeowner. 89% of tiny house people have less credit card debt and 65% have no credit card debt at all while such dwellers are also earning $478 more annually than the average American. They are also twice as likely to have a master’s degree. It just goes to prove that less debt service gives us more time for gainful pursuits.

Everyone seems to have a different definition, of what constitutes small, but generally a “tiny house” is less than ten percent the size and cost of the average sized house currently built in the USA. Once a 30 year mortgage at a 4.25% interest rate is added to the cost of a “standard” 2,100 square foot house that sells for $272,000 the bill is $481,704. The $23,000 owner built tiny house is often built entirely from savings that would otherwise yield an insultingly low rate of return.

The home is the crowning achievement of human kind. The Living Crown (TLC) project within Ascension University and the Aevia Group is focused on this basic institution of human progress. We believe home building should be the essence and at the center of all educational effort.

When the Lord asks: “Where is the place of my dwelling?” we look to his handiwork, and a universe of nurturing infrastructure, for the answer. We are still at the creative stage of homebuilding and seek an understanding of just how a minimalist structure can support maximum functionality.

We are actively developing a rapid-deployment, fit-for-purpose product line featuring houses that float, rooms reinforced with carbon fiber, and suites that filter air and water through a unique circulatory system. They will be energy efficient as well as energy independent depending on a wide array of options. They can be pressed into service as houseboats, in-law suites, safe-rooms, stand-alone cabins, and emergency shelters. They will look and feel like cozy cottages.

We are witnessing a ceaseless progression in refining what has become society’s veritable foundation. And our focus on evolving science, best practices, and continuous improvement is motivated by our passion for improving the home and ennobling the home life. Alignment and integration within the various Ascension University fields of study insures our academic initiatives are conditioned by real-world experience, and that the applied technology is always cutting edge. We are fully engaged in the virtuous cycle and you can be too!

© 2013 Robert H. Kalk

As Sir Edmond Burke once observed, this country’s founders were always ready to “snuff out the approach of tyranny with every tainted brief.” And yet, it seems we are now resigned to live subject to the vast, multi-layered, and robust surveillance infrastructure that is the envy of every totalitarian regime? We can no longer trust the companies that build and manage our internet infrastructure, the companies that create and sell us our hardware and software, or the companies that host our data. And, our integrity challenged government is hell-bent on betraying every trust.
Now, more than ever, we need ethical stewards. It is time to purge those executive, legislative, and judicial bodies that have become infested with the kind of self-serving parasites that can only thrive in the decay products of democracy. Since our constitution has apparently been reconstituted by these “representatives” to serve as their own bureaucratic toilet paper, I think we should respond by recommissioning the old style, mechanical voting machines. Sure, the paper based audit trail has clear value. But the imagery, the ability to pull the handle and flush, now that’s priceless! — Robert H. Kalk

When the exhaust from a typical engine is expelled, it contains a lot of unburned fuels. Besides being wasteful, the exhaust is so hot that in Oklahoma, (USA), firetrucks can not have a catalytic convertor or they may start more fires than the crews are trying to extinguish.

GEET (Global Environmental Energy Technology) offers a long suppressed, fuel efficient solution that includes a Self Induced Plasma Generator. The GEET Fuel Processor (GFP) begins by taking the newly vaporized fuel to the engine through the center of the path of the exhaust that’s leaving the engine, while maintaining a constant vacuum. There is a rapid exchange of heat from the exhaust into the “new fuel”. The “New Fuel” is called “GEET GAS”. GEET GAS implodes, pulling heat from the block of the engine. This serves to reduce the heat buildup in the engine, allowing the oils used for lubrication to last much longer.

The technology can be adapted to fit anything that uses fuel. During a demonstration for scientists at BYU, in 1994, the GFP was running on crude oils and saltwater. The results were zero HC; zero CO; zero CO2, and more oxygen coming out the exhaust pipe than in the ambient air. The system can be fueled by gas, diesel, kerosene, crude oil, floor cleaner, lacquer thinner, and as much as 80% water.

Despite corporate rejection, ridicule from the media, hostile take-over attempts, political corruption, blackmail, torture, and patent infringement, Paul Pantone and his 1983 invention have slowly gained acceptance. There are an estimated 5000 vehicles world-wide running on GEET. This includes cars, tractors, other farm equipment, and a helicopter. Generators, kit’s, components and other equipment are available proving that consumer sovereignty is a powerful, innovation sustaining force.

Consider the Source

Before the latest G8 meeting at the start of June, several summits aimed at addressing the prevalence of malnutrition were held in London, culminating in the signing of the Nutrition for Growth Compact. However, agreements on a heightened role for private businesses and the use of genetically modified crops have proven to be more controversial, and civil society groups have been vocal in their condemnation – referring to some of the measures a “new wave of colonialism”.

Countries joining the New Alliance will be expected to facilitate access to land (including communally held land), and enact intellectual property laws around seed which will criminalise age-old agricultural practices among Africa’s peasant farmers, including the saving and sharing of seed. The targets of the biotech industry (and their grovelling politician-allies) are the staple crops that people depend on, so that there would be no escaping them. Crops genetically engineered either for nutrition reasons or otherwise pose a wide range of threats – including to biodiversity.

Consider the Source

Want to know why GMO foods are not labeled as such? The following “Representatives” have voted against legislation that would require truth in labeling. Well, we each have a vote too.

Alexander (R-TN), Ayotte (R-NH), Baldwin (D-WI), Barrasso (R-WY), Baucus (D-MT), Blunt (R-MO), Boozman (R-AR), Brown (D-OH), Burr (R-NC), Carper (D-DE), Casey (D-PA), Chambliss (R-GA), Coats (R-IN), Coburn (R-OK), Cochran (R-MS), Collins (R-ME), Coons (D-DE), Corker (R-TN), Cornyn (R-TX), Cowan (D-MA) ,Crapo (R-ID) ,Cruz (R-TX) ,Donnelly (D-IN), Durbin (D-IL) ,Enzi (R-WY) ,Fischer (R-NE) ,Franken (D-MN), Gillibrand (D-NY), Graham (R-SC), Grassley (R-IA), Hagan (D-NC), Harkin (D-IA), Hatch (R-UT), Heitkamp (D-ND), Heller (R-NV), Hoeven (R-ND), Inhofe (R-OK), Isakson (R-GA), Johanns (R-NE), Johnson (D-SD), Johnson (R-WI), Kaine (D-VA), Kirk (R-IL), Klobuchar (D-MN), Landrieu (D-LA), Lee (R-UT), Levin (D-MI), McCain (R-AZ), McCaskill (D-MO), McConnell (R-KY), Menendez (D-NJ), Moran (R-KS), Nelson (D-FL), Paul (R-KY), Portman (R-OH), Pryor (D-AR), Risch (R-ID), Roberts (R-KS), Rubio (R-FL), Scott (R-SC), Sessions (R-AL), Shaheen (D-NH), Shelby (R-AL), Stabenow (D-MI), Thune (R-SD), Toomey (R-PA), Udall (D-CO), Vitter (R-LA), Warner (D-VA), Warren (D-MA), Wicker (R-MS)

Consider the Source

A 2005 report by the Office of Inspector General for the USDA was critical of government oversight of field tests of GMO crops. The report said there was a risk “that regulated genetically engineered organisms… will inadvertently persist in the environment before they are deemed safe to grow without regulation.”

While the reports noted problems with government oversight, USDA itself lists 21 “major incidents of noncompliance” from 1995 through 2011. Five of those involved Monsanto and included a failure by the company to properly monitor test fields, a failure to follow certain test planting protocols and a failure to properly notify regulators about test activities.

A report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office in 2008 highlighted several gaps in regulations designed to prevent genetically altered crops from escaping test plots.

The report’s conclusions were based on USDA data that there were 712 violations of its regulations from 2003 to 2007, including 98 that could lead to a possible release of unauthorized crops.

The GAO study said the USDA lacked the resources to conduct routine testing on areas adjacent to the GMO crops. Instead, the report found, the government relied on biotechnology companies to voluntarily provide test results.

Many international buyers will not accept genetically modified grain, and several U.S. food companies also reject GMOs. When Monsanto in 2004 shelved its Roundup Ready wheat research, the move came amid a backlash from foreign buyers who said they would reject U.S. wheat if DNA-altered wheat was commercialized.

Consider the Source

Last week, the U. S. House of Representatives voted, by a count of 285-144, to approve a three-month extension of the debt limit in a bill that concurrently pressures lawmakers to adopt a budget or have their pay withheld. The bill, known as the No Budget No Pay Act of 2013, directs both chambers of Congress to adopt a budget resolution for fiscal year 2014 by April 15, 2013. If either body fails to pass a budget, members of that body would have their paychecks put into an escrow account starting on April 16 until that body adopts a budget. Any pay that is withheld would eventually be released at the end of the current Congress even if a budget doesn’t ever pass. Is this a joke?

No, it’s just another example of Our Legislature’s deceptive practices. This is one of the best examples of the difference between the way a government treats it’s subjects, and how self-serving politicians treat themselves. For most of us, no work means no pay. It doesn’t mean our un-earned pay is held in a savings account to collect interest, or as security for a loan. It means, if we don’t do our job, we lose our job, and any money withheld is gone forever.

Our position is simple. If these so-called public servants don’t do their friggin’ job, they should forfeit their pay. No escrow, no pay for the lapsed time, period. Apply their forfeited pay towards the deficit they created and as restitution for their breach of trust while habitually dipping into the Social Security Trust Fund. We all need to understand their true motivations for putting Social Security in play. They don’t plan to make the trust fund whole, for the money they stole. They squandered our security by paying their puppeteers through tax gimmicks. No matter which political persuasion we each embrace, we can at least agree on the fundamentals, that poli + tics = many + blood sucking creatures.

We cannot go directly after the pay of our pampered politicians. After all, each branch of government has all kinds of extra-constitutional conveniences and immunities borrowed from the days when the King and the Pope were considered infallible. We can, however, hold every legislator accountable for any pay they take from the escrow fund, and for all the ways they have prostituted themselves politically. We can force them to answer for it at all future political events. We can follow them and follow up with questions about their automatic pay raises. We can teach the lemming-like press to ask probing questions. And we can eventually pry the most self-serving incumbents from their form fitting-seats.

Let’s get it done! Contribute your opinion to this web log. Subscribe, to consider a variety of viewpoints in a world of competing ideas. Post your favorite opinions to Facebook and Google+. Tweet and re-tweet those posts and comments that resonate the most with you. And, don’t forget to help us build the School of Statesmanship while calling upon our elected representatives to start acting in accordance with the principles of true statesmanship.   —  Robert H. Kalk
Consider the Source

The problem with trickle-down economics is that evaporation occurs at twice the rate of flow. — Robert H. Kalk