Possible solutions to the worlds problems

All this scary stuff in the news as the nwo control system seeks to tighten its grip on the public for example the anti-'terrorism' rhetoric is being amped up in the US at the moment because the patriot Act is coming upto renewal and the control system will want to renew it for more years so that they can keep spying on the US public and persecuting any dissenting voices

So wityh all this stuff happening its important to remember that there ARE SOLUTIONS TO THESE PROBLEMS

So for example the economy could be cured with the creation of an interest free currency run by the treasury instead of the central bankers

The health problems of the nation could be alleviated by turning away from big pharma to natural remedies and organic food production which could be done sustainably by permaculture

The pollution of the world could end with the adoption of free energy technology (currently uppressed through patents by the fossil fuel companies and their shill politicians)

And the divisions in society both nationally and internationally could be cured by adopting anarchist systems....see article below

All we have to do is CHOOSE these things as a community, but that requires people to be consciously aware of them and to then reject the old sick ways of doing things and to embrace the new ways

That process begins by TALKING about them and building them up in the public discourse so that the publioc arena fills up with ideas about new ways of doing things and from there people begin to learn how to act on them

http://www.wakingtimes.com/2015/05/...chy-would-an-improvement-in-human-governance/

[h=1]5 Reasons Why Anarchy Would be an Improvement in Human Governance[/h]
“Give a man a gun and he’ll rob a bank. Give a man a bank and he’ll rob the world.” –Unknown
Give people just a little bit of knowledge and courage and they will track down those greedy-ass bankers and hold them accountable. All we need is just a little courageous anarchy. The problem, the crux, the fly in the ointment: most people are not courageous enough, and most people don’t want to learn anything that attacks their all-too-precious worldview. Yes, the very worldview that is keeping people indebted to an immoral, unhealthy, unsustainable, unjust system of human governance, is precisely the worldview that the majority of people are clinging to. Indeed, most people, even though they would probably say otherwise, would rather be kissed with a lie than slapped with the truth. They would rather deny facts that tarnish their worldview than reject the deceit that upholds it. But as Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”
Healthy human evolution requires authentic vigilance. It requires a consistent upheaval of the status quo. This requires proactive human beings who are willing to be authentically vigilant and consistently rebellious. It requires courageous interdependent individuals who dare to recondition the status-quo-junky original condition. It turns out that the wisdom gained from anarchy is precisely the ability to distinguish between sacrifice that is transformative and healthy from mere suffering caused by the state that we’ve allowed because we were too cowardly or too unimaginative to think of a healthier way to live. Like Stefan Molyneux said, “Never, ever underestimate the degree to which people will scatter themselves into a deep fog in order to avoid seeing the basic realities of their own cages. The strongest lock on the prison is always avoidance, not force.”
Here are five reasons why anarchy will improve human governance and thereby cultivate a healthy human evolution.
[h=3]1.) It Has Inherent Checks and Balances[/h]
“Failure shows us the way –by showing us what isn’t the way.”Ryan Holiday
This one alone is reason enough to give anarchy a try again. The other four are just icing on the cake. I say “again” because human beings lived in hunter-gatherer groups that were characterized by what anthropologists call Fierce Egalitarian Anarchy. They not only shared things, they demanded that things be shared: meat, shelter, and protection… this was simply the best way to mitigate risk in a survival context in a world with limited resources.
Fierce egalitarianism and primal politics (tribal anarchy) worked exceptionally well for the human race for 95% of our existence on this planet. Indeed, it’s one of the only reasons why we’ve survived as long as we have.
In an amazing game theory study by Duéñez-Guzmán-Sadedin on the topic of police corruption, they concluded that once a police system becomes entrenched, nothing can stop it from eventually becoming corrupt, with the result being a population of gullible sheep and hypocritical overlords. But they didn’t stop the study there. They decided to tweak it ever so slightly. In the words of Suzanne Sadedin: “The results were startling. By making a few alterations to the composition of the justice system, corrupt societies could be made to transition to a state called ‘righteousness’. In righteous societies, police were not a separate, elite order. They were everybody. When virtually all of society stood ready to defend the common good, corruption didn’t pay. Similarly, as it turns out, social norms in hunter-gatherer societies are enforced by the whole group rather than any specially empowered individuals.”
This is a critical aspect of anarchy: that everyone is free to be as moral, or as amoral, as they need to be in order to maintain a healthy cosmic, ecological, and social order. Freedom is primary. Health is secondary. Understanding how everything is connected is third. And immorality is not tolerated.
The monumental problem with our Statist society is that we are not taught to be as moral or as amoral as we need to be in order to maintain a healthy cosmic, ecological, and social order. In fact, statism purposefully forces whatever the state decrees to be healthy, as healthy, whether or not it is actually healthy according to cosmic law. This creates an exorbitant amount of problems.
[h=3]2.) It Would Nullify Debt Slavery and Eliminate Poverty[/h]
“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living in a society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.”Frederic Bastiat
How does our legal system authorize plunder? It allows banks to create fiat money out of thin air and then charge interest on it, which keeps the poor wallowing in poverty, and entrenches the rich in corruptible power structures based upon immoderate wealth.
How does our moral code glorify plunder? It pushes militarization, creates profit prisons, creates “war heroes” out of violent psychopaths, and makes war itself a profitable endeavor. It puts profit over people, equity over equality, transforms elections into auctions, and creates a fundamentally unsustainable and unhealthy money first, human heart second, mentality. Like Naseem Nicholas Taleb said, “Those who do not think that employment is systematic slavery are either blind or employed.”
How does anarchy flip the tables on the authorization and glorification of plunder? It prevents plunder from ever becoming possible because anarchy-based modes of governance are engineered in such a way that groups never get to the point of concentrated centers of power. The monopolization of power never gets to the point to where it becomes corrupt, because of controlled leveling mechanisms such as reverse dominance and wealth expiation. Like Jim Dodge said, “Anarchy doesn’t mean out of control; it means out of their control.” Whoever “they” may be: monopolizing corporations, overreaching governments, tyrants.
Self-aware critical thinker beware: political propaganda, especially in regards to war, money, government, and law, are designed to keep you conditioned and brainwashed into believing whoever is in power is being moral and just with their power. But as George Orwell warned, “Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance to solidity to pure wind.”
Have no illusions: within the current systems of human governance, poverty is a business. Profits are made on the labor of the poor, the consumption of the poor, and the debt of the poor. Anarchy is a system of human governance built to lift people out of poverty and into freedom. It gives people hope for a more balanced future of human prosperity. Like Raymond Williams advised, “To be truly radical is to make hope possible rather than despair convincing.”


[h=3]3.) It Would Be Eco-Morally and Ecologically Healthier and More Sustainable[/h]
“The best teachers are those who show you where to look, but don’t tell you what to see.” –Alexandra K.Trenfor
Authority tells you what to see, and therefore must be questioned. Authority is telling you that it’s okay to live immoderate, over-indulgent, violent, ecocidal lifestyles. It’s not okay, because it is fundamentally unhealthy and leads to unsustainable devolution. In a system of human governance that is systematically transforming livingry into weaponry, it is the supreme duty of all healthy, moral, compassionate, eco-conscious, indeed anarchist, people to question authority to the nth degree.
Such audacious questioning has the potential to create robust eco-centric communities based upon permaculture, wellness, creativity, and a sacred economy that takes the interconnectedness of all things into deep consideration. It incentivizes individuals who value human flourishing, environmental flourishing, permaculture, sustainable building, alternative education, and nature-based wellness.
The cornerstone of anarchist modes of human governance is the deep understanding of the interdependence of all living things. As Nikola Tesla proclaimed, “Every living being is an engine geared to the wheelwork of the universe. Though seemingly affected only by its immediate surroundings, the sphere of external influence extends to infinite distance.”
An anarchist society divorced from the oppressive Big Brother bitch-slap of Statism, reveals a society that is capable of preserving the moral Golden Mean and the middle-way, as opposed to the immoral, suffocating greed of state politics. It will uncover a society that exemplifies the Golden Ratio of nature, as opposed to the state’s expropriation of nature and nature-based cultures.
[h=4]Read more articles from Gary ‘Z’ McGee.[/h] [h=3]4.) It Would Result in the Expiation of Power and Wealth Through an Ethics of Reciprocity[/h]
“A freedom that is interested only in denying freedom must be denied.”Simone De Beauvoir
The ultimate leveling mechanism inherent within anarchist modes of human governance is the ethics of reciprocity combined with the expiation of power.
Anthropologist Christopher Boehm has proposed a social theory that anarchist, egalitarian hunter-gatherers maintained equality through a leveling mechanism he calls Reverse Dominance: a social system of checks and balances that maintains egalitarian ethos while preventing a dominance hierarchy from forming. Reverse dominance hierarchies are broken down into four different leveling mechanisms: public opinion, ridicule, disobedience, and ostracism. These mechanisms work because human beings are social creatures and hugely influenced by peer pressure and social acceptance.
Anarchist modes of human governance are largely based upon shame as a regulatory method. Within such a society individuals are socially, morally, and ecologically compelled to expiate their power and reciprocate wealth because the alternative is the risk of shaming, ridicule, and/or ostracism. Like A.C. Grayling explained it, “The first task is to win something; the second, to banish the feeling that has been won; otherwise it is a burden.” In order for power and wealth not to become a psychological burden within anarchist systems, the powerful and the wealthy must be able to expiate and reciprocate their power and wealth, lest people become oppressed, and entire systems become corrupt.
But this does NOT mean that skill, courage, intelligence and perseverance are not rewarded. Anarchy does not imply socialism. Ours is a cultural problem. We’ve been raised to believe in the false ideal of greed. We’ve been conditioned to own. Our culture has become ego-centric, as opposed to eco-centric. It has become ownership-based, as opposed to relationship-based.
But prestige and merit can still be highly strived for values within an anarchist society that practices expiation of wealth and the ethics of reciprocity.
As I wrote in Breaking out of a Broken System, “Eco-moralism tames capitalism through holistic checks and balances. Ego-moralism jumpstarts communism through proactive citizenry. What we’re left with is a healthy anarchism with an egalitarian ethos which is less about capital and one-upmanship and more about respect for what is borrowed. It is less about ownership and more about relationships. It is ethical, spiritual, and diverse; as opposed to egotistical, religious, and homogenized by nationalism. Eco-moralism helps us pierce through the smoke and mirrors of hyper-reality and into the way reality actually is: interconnected and interdependent. Ego-moralism helps us become more motivated by revealing that our egos are actually tools towards leveraging a healthy balance between cosmos and psyche.”
Anarchists are crazy enough to think they can change the world, which is precisely why they will.
[h=3]5.) It Would Create Compassionate, Humble, but Courageous Leadership[/h]
“To really understand something is to be liberated from it. Dedicating one’s self to a great cause, taking responsibility, and gaining self-knowledge is the essence of being human. A predatory capitalist’s greatest enemy, and humanity’s greatest ally, is the self-educated individual who has read, understood, delays their gratification, and walks around with their eyes wide open.” –The Four Horsemen, documentary
Anarchist modes of human governance create precisely the type of self-educated, autodidactic individual that predatory capitalist’s and pacifist socialist’s fear. As Louis G. Herman wrote, “When individuals try to balance self-interest with a consideration of the bigger picture, they discover, as Socrates did, that deep self-interest actually includes concern for the good of the whole.” An individual (ego) acting on the good of the whole (eco) is a force of nature first, a person second, which provides them the phenomenal power of standing on the shoulders of giants while also wearing a wide array of masks of self-mastery.
If we can combine fierce egalitarian primal politics along with the type of progressive self-interested people who are capable of considering the bigger interdependent picture, then we have a recipe for a healthy, prestigious anarchic leadership. We have a blueprint for authentically venerated and wise leadership that has the potential to transform the currently unlivable human world into a livable one. Like MLK Jr. said, “The hope of a secure livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists, who are dedicated to justice, peace, and brotherhood. The trailblazers in human, academic, scientific, and spiritual freedom have always been nonconformists. In any cause that concerns the progress of mankind, put your faith in the nonconformist.”
Indeed, it is typically the nonconformist who is the one testing the outer limits of the human imagination: stretching comfort zones, shattering mental paradigms, and flattening status quo boxes that those hooked on conformity so desperately try to think outside of. As Henry David Thoreau said, in true anarchist leadership form, “I was not designed to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest.”
[h=6]About the Author[/h] Gary ‘Z’ McGee, a former Navy Intelligence Specialist turned philosopher, is the author of Birthday Suit of God and The Looking Glass Man. His works are inspired by the great philosophers of the ages and his wide awake view of the modern world.
©2015 Waking Times, all rights reserved. For permission to re-print this article contact wakingtimes@gmail.com, or the respective author.
 
https://www.minds.com/blog/view/447...m-can-produce-20-tons-of-vegetables-every-day

[h=2]This solar powered floating farm can produce 20 tons of vegetables every day[/h]
  • Public
May 19, 2015 • Page Views: 61,515+


From design practice, Forward Thinking Architecture, come a set of modular floating farms that harvest sunlight and rainwater, as well as desalinate saltwater and grow thousands of tons of vegetables ever year.
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Inspired by Chinese floating fish farms, these rectangular units measure 200x350 meters and can connect with other modules via walkways. The usage of waterways is a great compliment to the farming industry because it makes farming available in so many more locations. It reduces the need to import food by localizing growth and incorporates rivers and lakes as viable "farmland."Each unit is comprised of three levels. The bottom floor focuses on aquaculture and water desalination, the first floor on hydroponic crop cultivation, and the roof is adorned with solar panels, skylights and rainwater collectors.
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Each module is anticipated to make 8,152 tons of vegetables every year and bring in 1,703 tons of fish. The modules, then, connect into a grid and can scale up into huge farms, producing local food for entire cities.
http://www.inhabitat.com/could-sola...be-an-answer-to-global-food-self-sufficiency/
http://www.forwardthinkingarchitecture.com/SFF-FLOATING-FARMS-INITIATIVE
 
To end war and conflicts on this planet, we need to remove jealousi from the human mind = Impossble .. We as a race will never get smarter, and at some point we're going to erase ourselves
 
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http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...e-food-wants-to-take-law-global-10276028.html

[h=1]Man behind campaign for French supermarkets to donate waste food wants to take law global[/h]
[h=3]Petitions have been started for UK Government to adopt similar measures
[/h]
Lizzie Dearden


Tuesday 26 May 2015



A local councillor who started a petition leading to a new law making it illegal for French supermarkets to destroy edible food wants similar measures to be adopted worldwide.

Arash Derambarsh, who represents the Paris commune of Courbevoie, started a petition against food waste that had garnered 211,000 signatures by the time the legislation was approved.
The “Loi Macron”, passed unanimously by the National Assembly last week, will force chains to donate discarded food to charity or allow it to be turned into animal feed, compost or energy.

Courbevoie's Arash Derambarsh started a petition against food waste (BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/Getty Images)
The move has been welcomed by environmental groups, charities and food organisations around the world.
Mr Derambarsh, 35, initially tested the proposals with shops that volunteered in Courbevoie and is now setting his sights much further from home.
[h=5]Read more: It is now illegal for French supermarkets to destroy edible food
Petition for UK anti-food waste laws passes 100,000 signatures
How the UK is failing to feed its most vulnerable people[/h]In an interview with RFI radio, he said food waste in African countries must also be addressed, adding: “We act locally but think globally.”
Batting away criticism that his aims are “naïve and idealistic”, he said he experienced hunger while struggling to feed himself living on €400 (£280) a month after rent as a student.
“Food is the basis of life, it is an elementary factor in our existence,” he told the Guardian.


Mr Derambarsh is working with the campaign group ONE, which was founded by U2 frontman Bono, to take the issue of food waste to the United Nations when it addresses its Millennium development goals later this year.
ONE is also making representations to the G20 summit in Turkey in November and the COP21 environment conference in Paris the following month.
A blog on the campaign group’s website said food waste was a “global problem”.
Carrefour-France-2.jpg
French supermarkets are being forced to sign contracts to donate unwanted food to charity
“While industrialised countries are mainly responsible waste at the point of consumption, a lack of resources and infrastructure in developing countries leads to huge losses during production,” it said.
“Indeed, waste occurs in all countries at different stages of the food chain.”
Several petitions have already been started in the UK for the new Government to implement anti-food waste laws and one has already reached almost 115,000 signatures. France is trying to cut down on food waste
Lizzie Swarf, who started the petition to David Cameron, wrote: “Rather than wasting millions of pounds worth of food that is still usable, make supermarkets donate their leftover products that are still safe to eat, to food banks.”
The demands come after several attempted prosecutions in the UK in recent years for people taking discarded food from supermarket bins, including freegans, students and parents.
A case against three men who took food worth £33 from an Iceland bin in London was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service last year after it was found not to be “in the public interest”.
British supermarkets have also been known to destroy out-of-date food in industrial bins with chemicals, a practice that is now illegal across the Channel


Guillaume Garot, a Socialist politician who sponsored the French bill, said: “It’s scandalous to see bleach being poured into supermarket dustbins along with edible foods.”
Any shops larger than 400 square metres must sign a contract with a charity to donate edible products.
The French government is working towards its target of halving food waste by 2025 and is also putting the issue on the school curriculum, L'Express reported.
Belgium became the first European country to introduce similar laws in May 2014.
 
I don't think that it's possible to see "the world" as one thing that needs to be fixed. Like with cancer, you can't find a magic cure for all of them, you have to find cures for each one of them. That's what sucks about the problems of the world, there are no easy fixes or solutions.

Personally, I think that a lot of good could be done by us listening to each other, and acknowledging that we're not always right. If each and every one of us thinks that we have the perfect mind and opinions, we're never going to accomplish anything.
 
I don't think that it's possible to see "the world" as one thing that needs to be fixed. Like with cancer, you can't find a magic cure for all of them, you have to find cures for each one of them. That's what sucks about the problems of the world, there are no easy fixes or solutions.

Personally, I think that a lot of good could be done by us listening to each other, and acknowledging that we're not always right. If each and every one of us thinks that we have the perfect mind and opinions, we're never going to accomplish anything.

Then always remember that you believe that everyone should be able to have a say and that everyone should be listened to and that we should always be wary of any group who claim to be able to singlehandedly solve our supposed problems

Then live by that

But you might find that there is a section of humanity who don't care what you think and are determined to impose their will on you

So.....those of us who want to live free have a challenge ahead of us which is to prevent that group from forcing their dictatorship on us

central control v's decentralised control
 
I don't think that it's possible to see "the world" as one thing that needs to be fixed. Like with cancer, you can't find a magic cure for all of them, you have to find cures for each one of them. That's what sucks about the problems of the world, there are no easy fixes or solutions.

Personally, I think that a lot of good could be done by us listening to each other, and acknowledging that we're not always right. If each and every one of us thinks that we have the perfect mind and opinions, we're never going to accomplish anything.

Alternatively, people could be taught self-restraint in how they deal with others, and done well, violence nearly disappears. The tendency towards violence is humanity's biggest problem, imho, or rather the biggest threat to it with increasing ability to blow each other up better.
 
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Alternatively, people could be taught self-restraint in how they deal with others, and done well, violence nearly disappears. The tendency towards violence is humanity's biggest problem, imho, or rather the biggest threat to it with increasing ability to blow each other up better.

Seems simple enough to me.
 
Alternatively, people could be taught self-restraint in how they deal with others, and done well, violence nearly disappears. The tendency towards violence is humanity's biggest problem, imho, or rather the biggest threat to it with increasing ability to blow each other up better.

humanity is not the problem

most people just go about their business without causing any real harm

the problem is a small section of humanity who constantly manipulate everyone else into conflicts

this is the thrust of most of my posts

I have been accused of having a dark vision of reality but that is not true

A far darker vision of reality is to believe that all humans are evil

the truth that becomes abundantly clear when you dig deeper and find out who is behind various events is that the vast majority of chaos and carnage is perpetrated by the same few psychopaths

And that is a very positive message because it means that if humanity can wake upto that reality and stand upto the psychopaths then we can end or at least massively reduce the carnage and chaos
 
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/05/22/argentina-workers-management-as-a-response-to-the-crisis/

[SIZE=-1] Weekend Edition May 22-24, 2015

The Case of MadyGraf Factory: You Close It, We Take Control of It
[h=1]Argentina: Workers’ Management as a Response to the Crisis[/h] by JUAN CRUZ FERRE
When the workers of Donnelley arrived at the plant on August 11, 2014 they found a note at the gates explaining that the company was shutting down its operations in the country and that it “regretted the inconvenience.”
This has become a fairly familiar scene. A company shuts down its plant, in order to move operations abroad and take advantage of a cheaper and more docile labor force. Under capitalism, the capitalists are free to relocate their businesses when they are no longer profitable, even if this means leaving 400 families in the streets. The workers, on the other hand, are only free to choose by whom they will be exploited.
Faced with this desperate situation, the workers’ response might have been resignation, but this was not the case. The workers decided to open the gates of the factory, occupy the plant, and restart production. They showed that “no hierarchy is needed to run the production of the factory” in the words of Hugo Padua, a worker at the factory for the past 22 years.
The company’s declaration of bankruptcy was denounced by the attorney representing the workers and later rejected by the Ministry of Labor for the Province of Buenos Aires. The reasons that Donnelley offered to justify abandoning its factory in the country were determined to be invalid and the bankruptcy was declared fraudulent.
The workers did their part immediately. In less than a month, the workers of MadyGraf (the new name given to the factory by the workers) had finished a job worth $500,000. They enrolled in the national registry of cooperatives and obtained the authorization to function as such. However, a series of bureaucratic obstacles prevented them from receiving their salaries for 45 long days.
But the experience had shown the workers of MadyGraf that concessions do not come from the good will of the bosses or the government. They immediately mobilized to demand their salaries, and they formed links with other factories, the student movement, and political parties.
The Women’s Commission, formed in 2011, was and continues to play a fundamental role in this struggle. It participates in assemblies, it collects donations for a solidarity fund, and now, with the factory under workers’ control, the women decided to open a daycare to look aftertheir children during the workday.
The ‘recovered factories’ movement of the 1990s and 2000s
Toward the end of the 1990s, the advancement of neoliberal policies in Argentina caused the closure of several companies, some of which were occupied by the workers and put into production. After the economic and political crisis of 2001, the seizure of factories extended throughout the country at breakneck speed. Hundreds of companies declared bankruptcy or left the country. In many cases, the response of the workers was to occupy the factory and resume production under worker’ control, beginning a true movement of recovered factories across the country. Today, there are more than 311 recovered companies, employing over 13 thousand workers.
One can see two major tendencies within this movement. The first aims for the transfer of machinery and infrastructure of the factory to the worker’s hands, for them to become owners and create a cooperative. The other, more radical, position proposes as a final objective the expropriation of the factory and its nationalization, while maintaining workers’ control. In the latter strategy, the cooperative model is accepted only as a temporary stage.
The first, more moderate, option has the advantage of being more accessible. There is less resistance on the part of the politicians and the legal road is relatively clear cut. The reasons why this model is not resisted lie in its own limits. The seemingly radical measure of seizing a factory from its owners becomes a legal procedure whereby capital remains private and simply changes hands. Sure, the owners are now also the workers and they toil daily to assure production and their own salaries, which is generally distributed equitably. But this model exists within a system of capitalist production. And this brings us to the second limit of this strategy. The new company is bound by the rules of the free market, and will enter into unequal competition with larger, more productive, and more efficient companies. In this context, it is very likely that the workers of the cooperative will find it necessary to self-exploit in order to maintain a competitive price in the market.
The second route is primarily advanced by the parties of the revolutionary left who have inserted themselves into the workers movement. Although advocates of this model accept the cooperative as a temporary stage, the final objective is nationalization under workers’ control. This objective is both practical and ideological. On one hand, competition in the market ceases to be a concern. At worst, sustainability can be jeopardized by cutbacks in the state budget, but not due to lack of profitability. On the other hand, nationalization represents an all-out attack on private property: private property is not simply changing hands this time. It is the expropriation of the means of production for the benefit of the whole of society. It is a small example, though isolated and fatally insufficient, of what revolutionaries seek for the whole system.
A reference that inspires
The factory once known as Zanon (today called FaSinPat or Fábrica Sin Patrones “Factory Without Bosses”) is an example of this strategy. The workers of Zanon advanced the program of expropriation and nationalization under workers’ control. They resisted several attempts to have them evicted from the factory, and overcame a boycott from wholesalers, clients, and other companies which saw the example of Zanon as an unacceptable threat.
The workers of Zanon, knowing that they faced powerful enemies, created alliances with other oppressed sectors, for their mutual benefit. For example, when the provider of raw materials refused to continue selling clay to the worker-controlled factory, the workers approached a Mapuche community (an indigenous community in the south of Argentina and Chile) and reached an agreement whereby the community members would provide the workers clay and, in exchange, the workers produced a line of tiles with traditional illustrations made by Mapuche community members.
When the police attempted to evict the workers from the factory, popular mobilization was overwhelming. Students, social movements and state workers surrounded the factory in solidarity. The staff of Neuquén’s public hospitals declared that they would not provide medical treatment to the police if they were injured in the operation. The workers inside the factory were prepared to resist. There was ultimately no eviction.
Although many have tried to portray FaSinPat’s struggle and achievements as a spontaneous occurrence or even as the product of autonomist ideologies, a conscious, militant and patient effort was central to the task of organizing the workers at the factory. The work of Raul Godoy, a long-time Trotskyist, along with Alejandro Lopez, an independent leftist, and other politically active workers was crucial in the years previous to the take-over. Recovering the comisión interna (shop floor commission) from the hands of the union bureaucracy was a major win after years of underground organizing. It was at the same time a stronghold that enabled leaders to advance the organization and the consciousness of the whole factory. When the owner Luiggi Zanon decided to lock out and the plant was taken, a lot of work had been done.
Today they have reached 13 years of worker-controlled operation. In 3 months they built a health center that the community had asked of the government for 20 years, and they created jobs for more than 200 unemployed workers.
Eduardo Ayala describes the relationship between FasinPat and Madygraf clearly: “From the beginning we took the experience of Zanon as the basis our organization. As soon as the first comrades joined with us to form a group in the factory, with a program, convinced that we would change everything –as Raul said, the first thing we did was travel to Neuquén to get to know Zanon.”
Una respuesta a la crisis, y a las multinacionales (cambiar titulo)
RR Donnelley is a multinational corporation based in Chicago, with factories in four countries in addition to the US. One week before the factory was to be closed, they announced that 123 workers would be laid off. The comisión interna (shop floor commission) stood firm: they rejected the layoffs with the slogan ‘No More Families Left in The Streets’, and they prepared to fight. For several years the combative comisión interna had fought against layoffs and furloughs within the factory. It is an example of a phenomenon that is spreading in the industrial zone of Greater Buenos Aires, known as sindicalismo de bas (grassroots unionism), or sindicalismo de izquierda (left-wing unionism).
An article published in June 2014 by the center-right newspaper ´Clarin´ voiced the growing concern of companies about the spread of leftist caucuses at the front of the comisiones internas in several factories: such as “Mondelez, Felfort, Pepsico, the Coca Cola bottling plant, the meat-packing company Frigorifico RioplatenseFate, the Lear auto parts plant and Worldcolor graphics, Printpack and RR Donnelley itself, among many others. “Even though they don’t yet control the shopfloor commission, the PTS also has shop stewards in Procter & Gamble and in the agribusiness Ledesma.” In 2012, a left-wing slate reached 40% of the votes in the Buenos Aires regional elections of the major Food Workers Union. The Partido Obrero, one of the other Trotskyist parties within the Left Front (FIT), has also won some important positions in the union structures over the last decade.
Since 2001, keeping pace with the economic recovery, there has been a growth of this grassroots unionism (‘sindicalismo de base’) characterized by democratic organizing in the workplace, militant activism and opposition to union bureaucracy, usually at the head of the regional or national union offices.
The comision interna –a shopfloor commission with large autonomy from the union’s higher levels – is a distinctive trait of unionism in Argentina and historically one of the strongholds of workers’ power and democracy. This type of workplace organizations played a key role during the labor uprising of 1970s, and their strong militancy earned them the toughest persecution from the repressive dictatorship in the late 70s and early 80s. Mercedez Benz’s entire commisión interna was ‘disappeared’.
Donnelley’s comisión interna was taken back from the hands of the union bureaucracy in 2005. Since then, a militant and democratic activism has taken place, where the assembly is the highest authority and delegates return to the production line after serving a term, to prevent the establishment of a caste in the leadership. Along with the comisiones internas of Mondélez (exKraft), Pepsico and Lear, they laid the foundations of the left-wing unionism in northern Buenos Aires.
The comisión interna showed its class solidarity on several occasions: fighting for the permanent hiring of contracted and outsourced workers of the plant, actively supporting the struggles in companies in the area (Kraft, Lear), effectively supporting the occupation of the parque indoamericano in 2010, and joining in the campaign for the acquittal of the oil companies of Las Heras.
Along with workers from other graphic plants of the area, they formed an anti-bureaucratic caucus within the graphic union. The Bordo and Naranja slates combined to challenge the leadership of the union, and obtained 30% of the votes at national level, and 40% in the Zona Norte of Buenos Aires.
The high degree of organization within the factory was a determining factor in the bosses’ decision to close the plant. At the same time, this very element allowed the rapid response from the workers. Although the closure was still a surprise and a hard blow to take, they were prepared to face it.
In August, Christian Castillo the legislator representing the PTS (part of the Frente de Izquierda, FIT –Left and Workers’ Front) in the legislature of the Province of Buenos Aires introduced a bill for the expropriation of the company under workers’ control. The law already has preliminary approval of the Lower House, but still needs to be approved by the Senate. Today the challenge is to get the expropriation campaign on the national agenda with the support of students, political parties and trade unions, united behind the bill, but flexing their muscle in the streets.
The self-management of the workers, the operation of the factory as a cooperative, and the preservation of jobs are all tremendous achievements. However, the workers in MadyGraf are striving for more. Today the goal is the expropriation and nationalization of the company for the benefit of all.
As Eduardo Ayala explains, “From the first meeting we held after bankruptcy was declared, the decision voted in the assembly was expropriation and nationalization under worker management to put this factory at the service of the neediest, so that the manuals and books we can print reach the humblest children in the poorest neighborhoods.”
There is no class divide within MadyGraf. Its struggle and achievements, like those of FaSinPat, are an example and a beacon for the international labor movement. Far from being a goal in itself, these gains should encourage and motivate the revolutionary militants to continue the long struggle for a classless society.
Translation by Emma Vignola and Robert Belano.
Juan Cruz Ferre is a Medical Doctor, Master in Public Policy (JHU) and columnist for La Izquierda Diario (www.laizquierdadiario.com). He can be reached at jcferre17@gmail.com

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humanity is not the problem

most people just go about their business without causing any real harm

the problem is a small section of humanity who constantly manipulate everyone else into conflicts

this is the thrust of most of my posts

I have been accused of having a dark vision of reality but that is not true

A far darker vision of reality is to believe that all humans are evil

the truth that becomes abundantly clear when you dig deeper and find out who is behind various events is that the vast majority of chaos and carnage is perpetrated by the same few psychopaths

And that is a very positive message because it means that if humanity can wake upto that reality and stand upto the psychopaths then we can end or at least massively reduce the carnage and chaos

I believe in a causal universe, so we are all doing the inevitable; we've all been manipulated to where we're at since the beginning of the universe. Understanding allows one's lot, and all of us together, to be better in the future and present. Both fall victim to themselves and the circumstances of their lives. Some people's actions have more effect on society than others, but it's still everyone's lack of restraint that leads to people killing, though some may have more or less. Simply blaming the elites, to me, is demonstrative of a system that is going to lead to more of the same. Lopping off the heads of the French aristocrats did nothing to improve most of the Frenchmen's lives, or keep them from going into conflict. The people pushing for war at the top aren't the only ones who will have to change, because if people don't change their voting criteria, there will just be another to take their place. Eliminating psychopathy is not going to solve the problem by itself either, and that's something that people have to face if they want a planet that won't eventually self-destruct or be subject to a cataclysm caused by the people who live there.

I'm not saying that it's impossible because everyone's evil, or impossible even if they were all evil. That's why it should be comforting that we've been made, seemingly, by some group that's lasted quite a long time with much more advanced technology than we have. There might be something to learn from the so-called Archons who've managed not to obliterate each other, at least here, despite having the knowledge and ability to do so far easier than we do. Whether or not some of them intentionally cause chaos here, which I seriously doubt, they've got something going on that's allowed them to get as far as they are w/o killing each other.
 
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Seems simple enough to me.

The plan is fairly simple in principle, but it's going to take conscious effort from lots of people, if not everyone. I'd say everyone here's got it, so it'd be a matter finding out how we got here and recreating it. And others doing the same elsewhere. This is why the media's treatment of war and conflict bothers me; it definitely seems to be causing, or did cause, a shift towards the opposite. Also, hyperfocusing on the terrible things that people visit on each other on the news gets people afraid enough to be callous towards each other, especially when nobody talks about why the thing happened.
 
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The plan is fairly simple in principle, but it's going to take conscious effort from lots of people, if not everyone. I'd say everyone here's got it, so it'd be a matter finding out how we got here and recreating it. And others doing the same elsewhere. This is why the media's treatment of war and conflict bothers me; it definitely seems to be causing, or did cause, a shift towards the opposite.

I see a lot of unnecessary conflict pretty much everywhere, people that just can't control themselves. I don't understand because I've never been like that. I usually find a way around conflict and because of this I am able to avoid escalation to anything serious. Many people just don't seem able to do it. I have a sibling that will always fight when disrespected and although is ashamed the next day, can never just walk away. I'm not sure what the answer is, but as long as people don't learn to control themselves, we will continue to have violence in society. It often comes down to whether one believes in free will or not. Those that don't believe they have it won't exercise it.
 
I see a lot of unnecessary conflict pretty much everywhere, people that just can't control themselves. I don't understand because I've never been like that. I usually find a way around conflict and because of this I am able to avoid escalation to anything serious. Many people just don't seem able to do it. I have a sibling that will always fight when disrespected and although is ashamed the next day, can never just walk away. I'm not sure what the answer is, but as long as people don't learn to control themselves, we will continue to have violence in society. It often comes down to whether one believes in free will or not. Those that don't believe they have it won't exercise it.

Personally, I don't believe in free will. The concept of it can be useful because it encourages people to try to understand and change things, but I think it's really the understanding of why things happen and learned behaviors. Not believing in free will might also compel people to try to teach others. To me that would include teaching how to be proactive about gaining understanding and how that understanding can be used to find better ways of being. To me, lack of free will doesn't mean that the reflective conception of I is nonsensical or w/o value.
 
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http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...-them-says-leading-psychiatrist-10277332.html

[h=1]Reclassify psychedelic drugs so we can properly research them, says leading psychiatrist[/h]
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[h=3]Large trials of the drugs are 'almost impossible' due to 'bureaucratic obstacles', says psychiatrist Dr James Rucker
[/h]
Charlie Cooper
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Health Correspondent

Wednesday 27 May 2015



Psychedelic drugs including LSD and magic mushrooms are much less harmful than has been claimed, and should be reclassified to make it easier for scientists to research their potential benefits, a leading psychiatrist has said.

Promising medical research into psychedelics ground to a halt as long ago as 1967, when they were made illegal amid widespread concern about their psychological and social harms.
However, writing in the BMJ, psychiatrist Dr James Rucker, said that no evidence had ever shown the drugs to be habit-forming. There is also little evidence of harm when used in controlled settings, and a wealth of studies indicating that they have uses in the treatment of common psychiatric disorders, he said.
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A drawing by Beatles star John Lennon called ‘Strong’, believed to be executed by Lennon while under the influence of LSD (Getty)
Researchers are beginning to look again at how LSD and psilocybin – the active compound in magic mushrooms – might be of benefit in the treatment of addiction, for obsessive compulsive disorder and even, according to one small Swiss study, to alleviate the symptoms of anxiety in terminally ill patients.
However, larger trials are “almost impossible”, Dr Rucker argues, because of the “practical, financial, and bureaucratic obstacles” imposed by the drugs’ legal status.

A trip through time: The history of LSD
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In the UK, magic mushrooms and LSD are class A and schedule 1 drugs. Institutions that wish to conduct research require a licence of £5,000 to hold the drugs, and only four hospitals in the UK possess one.
The small number of manufacturers willing to produce the drugs must also comply with international regulations, leading to hefty charges for researchers wishing to acquire the drugs, with one manufacturer quoting a cost of £100,000 for 1g of psilocybin, according to Dr Rucker, of King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience.
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Doses of LSD, in the form of stamps, seized by French Customs authorities in 2008 (Getty)
“These restrictions, and the accompanying bureaucracy, mean that the cost of clinical research using psychedelics is five to 10 times that of research into less restricted (but more harmful) drugs such as heroin – with no prospect that the benefits can be translated into wider practice,” he writes.
National and international bodies should reclassify psychedelics as a schedule 2 drugs, he argues, “to enable a comprehensive, evidence based assessment of their therapeutic potential”.
[h=5]Read more: Psychedelic drugs 'as safe as riding a bike', says study
Psychedelic drugs could alleviate symptoms of depression
Professor David Nutt: Why I think terminally ill should take LSD
LSD may not be bad for you, says study[/h]In the UK, drugs regulations are the responsibility of the Home Office, which takes advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.
A former chairman of the council, Professor David Nutt, who was dismissed after saying that LSD and ecstasy are less harmful than alcohol, is currently conducting research into psychedelics’ effects on the brain. His team at Imperial College London are the first in the world to conduct brain scans on people under the influence of LSD.
An outspoken critic of the restrictions around studies of psychedelics, Professor Nutt has compared the repression of such research to the censorship of Galileo and the banning of the telescope. Amid difficulty securing funding, his team recently announced they would have to crowd-fund the next stages of their research.
Minister for Policing, Crime, Criminal Justice and Victims Mike Penning said: “Drugs are illegal where scientific and medical analysis has shown they are harmful to human health.
“Psychedelic drugs destroy lives, cause misery to families and communities, and this Government has no intention of decriminalising them.
“We have a clear licensing regime, supported by legislation, which allows legitimate research to take place in a secure environment while ensuring that harmful drugs are not misused and do not get into the hands of criminals.”
 
I believe in a causal universe, so we are all doing the inevitable; we've all been manipulated to where we're at since the beginning of the universe. Understanding allows one's lot, and all of us together, to be better in the future and present. Both fall victim to themselves and the circumstances of their lives. Some people's actions have more effect on society than others, but it's still everyone's lack of restraint that leads to people killing, though some may have more or less. Simply blaming the elites, to me, is demonstrative of a system that is going to lead to more of the same. Lopping off the heads of the French aristocrats did nothing to improve most of the Frenchmen's lives, or keep them from going into conflict. The people pushing for war at the top aren't the only ones who will have to change, because if people don't change their voting criteria, there will just be another to take their place. Eliminating psychopathy is not going to solve the problem by itself either, and that's something that people have to face if they want a planet that won't eventually self-destruct or be subject to a cataclysm caused by the people who live there.

I'm not saying that it's impossible because everyone's evil, or impossible even if they were all evil. That's why it should be comforting that we've been made, seemingly, by some group that's lasted quite a long time with much more advanced technology than we have. There might be something to learn from the so-called Archons who've managed not to obliterate each other, at least here, despite having the knowledge and ability to do so far easier than we do. Whether or not some of them intentionally cause chaos here, which I seriously doubt, they've got something going on that's allowed them to get as far as they are w/o killing each other.

Yeah I'm not saying individuals don't have to change they do!

But by becoming aware of how they are being manipulated by the elites they are able to then consciously engage with reality in a more positive way

Our reality is created by our collective perceptions so if we are all aware of banking elites then we can change the world

Of course what we change it to will depend on our spiritual maturity and that too is part of the change that we must undergo but awareness of all this is fundamental to the shift in consciousness

Part of the issue i have with the new age movement is that it is teaching many people exactly what the old religions taught them which is that there is a messiah coming in the form of aliens or something

This teaches people to sit back and relax because they believe that positive change will come regardless

But what they need to realise is that the cavalry isn't coming because WE ARE THE CAVALRY!!!!!!!!!

It is OUR ACTIONS that are informed from our new expanded consciousness and growing conscious awareness that will then change things

There is no point in being aware of what goes on in the world if people do not then translate that awareness into action

So awareness is only the first stage which then is followed by strategising ways to engage with reality as we now perceive it; this includes building community and organising amongst ourselves

Then those organised communities can act in concert to enact change

However many new age types seem to think that they don't need to do anything for the world to change and that is simply not true; its an attractive delusion though because it means they don;t need to take any responsibility for their world

But the point is that we are all going to need to start changing how we: act, spend, think, vote, speak and what we give energy to if we want things to change for the better

The reason the archons haven't destroyed themselves is because they are too busy attacking their common enemy: US!!!!!!!!!!

It's time to for us to all come together now and take our planet back off these malevolent forces and that comes form putting in the required effort in the right ways to enact the right changes

[video=youtube;WT8uzR4JDYw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT8uzR4JDYw[/video]
 
The Heart/Mind connection

The reason dragons aren't always depicted as bad in popular culture is because the animal nature is not bad per se

So in some stories the hero befriends a dragon and on the psychic journey each of us MUST BEFRIEND our animal nature

We must acknowledge it as a part of ourselves and integrate it into our being

The animal nature represents the base chakras and sexual (generative) organs. It is our libidos (sex drive) and violent impulses

The mind on the other hand is where our ego resides. The ego too must be tamed as like the animal nature if it is left unchecked it will control our behaviours in destructive ways (by bubbling up out of the unconscious mind)

So the point of the mystery schools was to initiate people to an understanding of these inner processes and to ultimately connect the initiate to their HEART which then acted as the balancing force on the mind and the generative organs

This is because powerful forces like ego or animal nature MUST be leashed to the compassion and empathy of the heart or they will roam across the land laying waste to it

So you must acknowledge the dragon within you and leash it to your heart so that it remains under control.

Equally we shouldn't deny it or repress it and should allow it some expression but without allowing it to possess us entirely

Dark orders eg 'satanism' are about unleashing the animal nature in sex and violence orgies; these people are the unbalanced Kings of Edom who seek to unleash those forces on the world by unlocking them within the individual and society as a whole

So yeah.....when unleashed the dragon will be destructive eg the dragon in the Hobbit which represents territoriality, greed and envy

Whereas a dragon in eragon represents a force within the hero that must be allied with and brought under control so that the hero may realise their full powers

Feel the dragons strength but master it and direct it!

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http://www.collective-evolution.com...g-us-about-the-hearts-intuitive-intelligence/

The wonderful and brilliant scientists over at the Institute of HeartMath have done some amazing work in shedding light on some very significant findings regarding the science of the heart. The Institute of HeartMath is an internationally recognized nonprofit research and education organization dedicated to helping people reduce stress, self-regulate emotions and build energy and resilience for healthy, happy lives. HeartMath tools, technology and training teach people to rely on the intelligence of their hearts in concert with their minds at home, school, work and play. A large portion of their research has investigated heart and brain interaction. Researchers at the institute have examined how the heart and brain communicate with each other and how that affects our consciousness and the way in which we perceive our world. Their research has shed light on a number of facts, one for example, is when a person is feeling really positive emotions like gratitude, love, or appreciation, that the heart beats out a very different message. They’ve been able to determine this by the fact that the heart beats out the largest electromagnetic field produced in the body, and they can gather data from it.
“Emotional information is actually coded and modulated into these fields. By learning to shift our emotions, we are changing the information coded into the magnetic fields that are radiated by the heart, and that can impact those around us. We are fundamentally and deeply connected with each other and the planet itself.” – Rolin McCratey , Ph.D, Director of Research at the Institute.​
This is very important work, as again, it shows how the heart plays an important role far beyond what is commonly known. Did you know that your heart emits electromagnetic fields that change according to your emotions? Did you know that the human heart has a magnetic field that can be measured up to several feet away from the human body? Did you know that positive emotions create physiological benefits in your body? Did you know that you can boost your immune system by conjuring up positive emotions? Did you know that negative emotions can create a nervous system chaos, and that positive emotions do the complete opposite? Did you know that the heart has a system of neurons that have both short term and long term memory, and that their signals sent to the brain can affect our emotional experiences? Did you know that in fetal development, the heart forms and starts beating before the brain is developed? Did you know that a mother’s brainwaves can synchronize to her baby’s heartbeats? Did you know that the heart sends more information to the brain than vice versa? All of these facts, published researched papers and more can be accessed at heartmath.org Below is a video from the institute about the intuitive intelligence of the heart. Definitely worth a look.

[video=youtube;QdneZ4fIIHE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdneZ4fIIHE[/video]

This Is Why It’s Important For The Human Race To Change The Way We Feel Inside

The Institute of HeartMath does a wonderful job in furthering the importance of why it’s critical for many of us to change the way we feel inside. Not much can be accomplished from a place of sadness, angst, sorrow and depression. Our current human experience, the everyday life we all seem to participate in does indeed take its toll on many. A lot of people are feeling that living the lifestyles we do, struggling to pay bills, constantly working and more is not a natural type of existence for the human race. It’s an experience which makes it hard to maintain a “high frequency” or positive state for some. What makes it even more perplexing is the fact that it doesn’t have to be this way, we are capable of so much more. At the same time, we have a large number of people struggling to feed, clothe and shelter themselves. The Earth is being destroyed and our time to turn things around seems to be limited. This hard reality is still present on Earth, despite the number of solutions that have been identified which could alleviate these problems. It can be difficult to maintain a positive state of mind when we see so many things on our planet that need to change, but we cannot change what we would like to change unless we do it from a positive peaceful state. Despite all of these experiences, many people experiencing them do manage to find inner peace and moments of joy regardless of their experience, which is quite remarkable. It’s all about perspective, seeing the bigger picture and changing the way you look at things. Happiness is no doubt an inside job, but with a human experience that is not resonating with many it can be hard to maintain. This is evident in a variety of different areas where people are starting to stand up and demand change. More and more people are wanting to change this entire human experience on multiple levels, one where everybody can thrive, one where everybody can feel good, one where nobody has to suffer or feel negative emotions. If one is suffering, we all suffer, that’s the way we feel here at CE and it’s clear that many are resonating with that feeling. The funny thing about our feelings is that, for the most part it’s a choice. We can change the way we feel just by changing our thoughts. Negative emotions about a person, place or certain experience in our lives or the planet are usually a result of the thoughts we have about them. At the end of the day, in the grander scheme of things it’s just a human experience, and all experiences are serving us proving opportunities for growth. Bottom line, positive emotions, feelings of love, gratitude, compassion and more have a larger impact than what we could have ever imagined. These are all characteristics of consciousness, and as quantum physics is showing us, consciousness plays some sort of role in the creation of our reality (you can read more about that here). If this is true, how we feel certainly plays a large part, and with the research coming out at the Institute of HeartMath, it’s clear that feeling good and positive emotions (gratitude, love compassion) play a very important role when it comes to the nature of our reality and could be the fundamental key for global change.
A fundamental conclusion of the new physics also acknowledges that the observer creates the reality. As observers, we are personally involved with the creation of our own reality. Physicists are being forced to admit that the universe is a “mental” construction. Pioneering physicist Sir James Jeans wrote: “The stream of knowledge is heading toward a non-mechanical reality; the universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine. Mind no longer appears to be an accidental intruder into the realm of matter, we ought rather hail it as the creator and governor of the realm of matter. Get over it, and accept the inarguable conclusion. The universe is immaterial-mental and spiritual” – (R. C. Henry, “The Mental Universe”; Nature 436:29, 2005, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University)
 
http://www.naturalnews.com/049881_Google_privacy_Gmail.html

[h=1]How to avoid Google surveillance and protect your personal data[/h] Friday, May 29, 2015 by: Daniel Barker

It all seemed rather innocent in the beginning. It certainly seemed convenient, and still is - maybe more so than ever, to be truthful. But if you haven't noticed, slowly and gradually, during the past 17 years since its inception, Google has evolved from being a company which once merely provided Internet users with a free search engine and email to becoming an all-encompassing entity that monitors nearly everything you do.

And not only does Google snoop on you, it takes the personal information it has collected and sells it to corporations. Google also provides that information to intelligence agencies, such as the NSA.

A recent article penned by Derek Scally of The Irish Times explores the extent of Google's tentacles into our private lives and offers some very useful advice on how to "de-Google" your life.

And why should you de-Google your life if you have "nothing to hide"?

From Scally's article, which is titled "De-Google your life: it's worth the hassle if you value your privacy":

"For privacy campaigner Glenn Greenwald, the man who revealed Snowden's mass surveillance claims against the National Security Agency, the most common response he hears on the road is what he calls the 'I have nothing to hide' argument. To this he has a simple answer.

'Whenever I hear someone say "I have nothing to hide," ' said Mr Greenwald in Berlin last year, 'I always ask that person for their email password so I can read their messages. No one has ever taken me up on the offer.' "


[h=1]How to de-Google your life[/h]Look for storage alternatives - Scally recommends not putting "all your digital eggs" in one basket. For example, he urges people to explore alternatives for storing emails, photos and cloud content. European-based services are preferable due to EU laws which protect privacy. German-based mailbox.org is one example of an alternative mail service that does not sell or give your data to corporate interests.

Change the way you search - Whenever you can, use an alternative search engine that doesn't track your searches, such as DuckDuckGo.com or GoodGopher.com (GoodGopher is a new search engine described as "the world's first privacy-protecting search engine that bans corporate propaganda and government disinfo").

Block cookies - We're told that cookies "improve the user experience," but they also track everything you do online. Install a tracking blocker, such as Ghostery or DoNotTrackMe, into your browser. You can also download the privacyfix.com service from AVG, which helps you click the right privacy settings on your computer and the Internet services you currently use.

Find an alternative to Gmail - Scally admits that it's "difficult" to give up Gmail and its 15GB of "free" storage, but he points out that even though you theoretically retain intellectual property rights to the content stored on Google, you also give the company a: "worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify . . . communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content." Better to use a service such as the above-mentioned mailbox.org or Posteo. Another alternative is to encrypt your emails using PGP.

Stop using Google and Apple cloud services - Keeping your calendars and contacts synced on multiple devices without using the Google or Apple cloud services can also be difficult because, as Scally notes: The "big players deliberately tinker with file standards for their calendar and address-book offerings to make migration possible and keep you inside their golden cage." This "devious and effective practice" is perhaps not easy to sidestep, but it's probably worth the hassle. And as Scally says, "if you clear this hurdle, you're home free."

Smartphone alternatives - It's possible to wipe your Android phone and install CyanogenMod, which uses the same OS, only without Google's presence. However, installing it requires some technical skills. Another alternative is to invest in a Jolla smartphone. Jolla is a Finnish-made smartphone that uses an OS with "no corporate tentacles." A team of Nokia designers left the company to introduce this product, which aside from offering privacy also has some very innovative features.

Source:

http://www.irishtimes.com

 
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