Dynamic Approach Rule by Kurt Lewin of The Tavistock Institute

Dynamic Approach Rule

The label ‘dynamic approach’ indicates the necessity of discovering multiple forces at work in any situation. This means that no matter where we enter an organisational development or change process we need to be prepared to use many levels of analysis to understand what is going on within the social system. What is affecting the people who are leading, managing and existing in the midst of the change and development?
Lewin’s dynamic approach rule states that the ‘elements of any situation should be regarded as parts of a system’. In other words, we find it useful as scholarly practitioners to assume that all component parts relate with each other forming a complex whole. We find it useful to assume that all parts connect somehow in ways to be discovered through action and study.
The dynamic approach rule challenges us to be concerned with multiple energizing or motive forces. At minimum, this requires data to be collected and analysed at multiple levels of social analysis. As we consider the issues implicated in a particular change, we discipline ourselves to describe separate components and to assert how they might be influencing each other. No matter which level we enter – individual, group, inter-group, organisational or inter-organisational – we work to notice and hypothesize about connections across the boundaries of these levels.
Within The Tavistock Institute’s archive, a study conducted by Gordon Lawrence and Eric Miller exemplifies the dynamic approach rule. They were asked by a government department to study the psychic and political constraints on the growth of industrial democracy in the UK. Their theoretical formulation started with the societal level at which European-wide legislation in favour of workers’ councils within all businesses was under debate. As they gathered and worked with data, they noticed and made connections between societal forces and individual psychological forces.  Particularly, they were able to show that feelings of ‘failed dependency’ towards both employer and employee representative organisations resulted in insufficient trust in industrial democracy to challenge corporate resistance.

Plato, The Allegory of the Cave from The History Guide

Plato, The Allegory of the Cave

The son of a wealthy and noble family, Plato (427-347 B.C.) was preparing for a career in politics when the trial and eventual execution of Socrates (399 B.C.) changed the course of his life. He abandoned his political career and turned to philosophy, opening a school on the outskirts of Athens dedicated to the Socratic search for wisdom. Plato's school, then known as the Academy, was the first university in western history and operated from 387 B.C. until A.D. 529, when it was closed by Justinian. Unlike his mentor Socrates, Plato was both a writer and a teacher. His writings are in the form of dialogues, with Socrates as the principal speaker. In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato described symbolically the predicament in which mankind finds itself and proposes a way of salvation. The Allegory presents, in brief form, most of Plato's major philosophical assumptions: his belief that the world revealed by our senses is not the real world but only a poor copy of it, and that the real world can only be apprehended intellectually; his idea that knowledge cannot be transferred from teacher to student, but rather that education consists in directing student's minds toward what is real and important and allowing them to apprehend it for themselves; his faith that the universe ultimately is good; his conviction that enlightened individuals have an obligation to the rest of society, and that a good society must be one in which the truly wise (the Philosopher-King) are the rulers. The Allegory of the Cave can be found in Book VII of Plato's best-known work, The Republic, a lengthy dialogue on the nature of justice. Often regarded as a utopian blueprint, The Republic is dedicated toward a discussion of the education required of a Philosopher-King. The following selection is taken from the Benjamin Jowett translation (Vintage, 1991), pp. 253-261. As you read the Allegory, try to make a mental picture of the cave Plato describes. Better yet, why not draw a picture of it and refer to it as you read the selection. In many ways, understanding Plato's Allegory of the Cave will make your foray into the world of philosophical thought much less burdensome.

Update on "Hghtly radioactive" Water Leaks at Fukushima by Rod Adams from theenergycollective

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Update on "Highly Radioactive" Water Leaks at Fukushima

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Posted September 8, 2013

Keywords: Energy Security, Utilities, Climate, Nuclear Power, Public Health, Environment, Energy and Economy, Fuels, Politics & Legislation, Fukushima nuclear disaster, public health

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The media frenzy about the detection of water leaks from the vast tank farm that Tokyo Electric Power Company has been forced to build to store water used to cool the three damaged cores at their Fukushima Daiichi power station continues to sizzle, even in the face of the potential for US attack on Syria. (A more rational solution to building an ever-increasing number of water tanks is to use a tanker to move the treated water a few miles out into the Pacific Ocean for safe disposal.)
The latest media discovery was that the reading that was initially reported as 100 mSv/hour was really 1,800 mSv/hour because the detector that produced the 100 mSv/hour reading had a range that maxed out at 100 mSv/hour. What few, if any, media reports include is an explanation that the measured dose rate is nearly 100% beta radiation and that it was measured at a distance of just 70 micrometers from the radioactive material. Beta radiation can be shielded by a single sheet of paper and will only travel about 1-2 meters in dry air.
Someone needs to help journalists understand that there is no way that a beta-emitting radiation source can cause a deadly dose to a human being unless it is ingested in a concentrated form. Even if it is in direct contact, about the worst it can do is cause a skin burn; I would also not recommend using water contaminated with a beta emitter for eye wash. I suppose I have volunteered for that educational task.

Fukushima Fraud and Corruption: Japanese Organized Crime Involved in Recruitment of "Specialized Personnel" by Michel Chossudovsky of Global Research

Fukushima Fraud and Corruption: Japanese Organized Crime Involved in Recruitment of “Specialized Personnel”

By Prof Michel Chossudovsky

Global Research, October 25, 2013

Region: Asia

Theme: Environment

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What prevails is a well organized camouflage. The public health disaster in Japan, the contamination of water, agricultural land and the food chain, not to mention the broader economic and social implications, have neither been fully acknowledged nor addressed in a comprehensive and meaningful fashion by the Japanese authorities.
The crisis in Japan has been described as “a nuclear war without a war”. In the words of renowned novelist Haruki Murakami:

“This time no one dropped a bomb on us … We set the stage, we committed the crime with our own hands, we are destroying our own lands, and we are destroying our own lives.”

Several Global Research reports and background articles have outlined the dangers of Worldwide radiation resulting from the Fukushima disaster.
This disaster is now being sustained and aggravated by the incompetence of  TEPCO as well as political camouflage by the Abe government.
Fukushima and the Yakuza
There is another dimension: The coordination of the multibillion dollar Fukushima decontamination operation relies on Japan’s organized crime, the Yakusa, which is actively involved in the recruitment of “specialized” personnel for dangerous tasks.

“The complexity of Fukushima contracts and the shortage of workers have played into the hands of the yakuza, Japan’s organized crime syndicates, which have run labor rackets for generations.” (Reuters, October 25, 2013)

The Yakuza labor practices at Fukushima are based on a corrupt system of subcontracting, which does not favor the hiring of competent specialized personnel. It creates an environment of fraud and incompetence, which in the case of Fukushima could have devastating consequences. The subcontracting with organized crime syndicates is a means for major corporations involved in the clean-up to significantly reduce their labor costs.

Fukushima in the wake of the Tsunami, March 2011
This role of Japanese organized  crime also pertains to the removal of the fuel rods from Reactor no. 4. As documented in several GR articles, this undertaking –if mishandled– by careless workers under the lax supervision of corrupt subcontractors (linked to the Yakusa) creates an environment which could potentially lead to a massive radioactive fallout:

Fraud Exposed in NIST WTC 7 Reports by Chris Sarns from Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth

Fraud Exposed in NIST WTC 7 Reports: Part 5 of 5

Written by Chris Sarns

Thursday, 26 September 2013 16:08

Non-Existent Diesel Fuel Fire Chris SarnsEditor’s note: To this day most people, including many architects and engineers, are not aware that a third skyscraper, World Trade Center Building 7, mysteriously collapsed along with the World Trade Center Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. The official report on this building’s collapse by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been challenged by many reputable and credentialed technical professionals. The NIST analysis has not undergone the rigors of scientific peer review – the typical pathway for validating significant scientific theories. Chris Sarns’ research appears in Dr. David Ray Griffin’s book titled "The Mysterious Collapse of World Trade Center 7. "A definitive study of what happens when political concerns are permitted to override science and the scientific method. With intellectual finesse worthy of a scientist, Griffin shows that NIST's WTC 7 report has no scientific credibility. A must read for all concerned with the restoration of science to its `rightful place' in our democracy."--John D. Wyndham, Ph.D., Physics, Cambridge University; former Research Fellow at the California Institute of Technology]" The studies below represent years of work by Chris in unraveling some of the most glaring inconsistencies and outright frauds in the NIST report on World Trade Center 7. He demonstrates that the NIST’s theory of the fire-induced collapse of Building 7 is faulty and misleading. The destruction of this skyscraper on September 11 was truly unprecedented in the history of high-rise buildings. More than 1,900 architects and engineers at AE911Truth are demanding a new investigation. Chris Sarns has also been deeply involved in the work of AE911Truth, where he provides his expertise on WTC 7. Part 1 of Chris Sarns’ report, regarding the burned-out fire in WTC 7, is available here. Part 2 of Chris Sarns' report, examining NIST's claim of thermal expansion, is available here. Part 3 of Chris Sarns' report, examining NIST's omission of shear studs in its WTC 7 analysis, is available here. Part 4 of Chris Sarns' report, analyzing NIST's claim of damage to WTC 7 from falling North Tower debris, is available here. Quotes from the NIST WTC 7 report are shown in "brown" 5. NON-EXISTENT DIESEL FUEL FIRE NIST’s fraudulent diesel fuel fire hypothesis is exposed. FEMA acknowledges the problem with the diesel fuel fire hypothesis: "Although the total diesel fuel on the premises contained massive potential energy, the best hypothesis has only a low probability of occurrence. Further research, investigation and analysis is needed to resolve this issue." FEMA Chapter 5 p. 31 – May, 2002

The Truth About the Health Care Bills-Michael Connelly, Ret. Constitutional Attorney from Infowars.com

The Truth About the Health Care Bills – Michael Connelly, Ret. Constitutional Attorney

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September 29, 2013 in Health

by Falcon57

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Well, I have done it! I have read the entire text of proposed House Bill 3200: The Affordable Health Care Choices Act of 2009. I studied it with particular emphasis from my area of expertise, constitutional law. I was frankly concerned that parts of the proposed law that were being discussed might be unconstitutional. What I found was far worse than what I had heard or expected.
To begin with, much of what has been said about the law and its implications is in fact true, despite what the Democrats and the media are saying. The law does provide for rationing of health care, particularly where senior citizens and other classes of citizens are involved, free health care for illegal immigrants, free abortion services, and probably forced participation in abortions by members of the medical profession.
The Bill will also eventually force private insurance companies out of business, and put everyone into a government run system. All decisions about personal health care will ultimately be made by federal bureaucrats, and most of them will not be health care professionals. Hospital admissions, payments to physicians, and allocations of necessary medical devices will be strictly controlled by the government.
However, as scary as all of that is, it just scratches the surface. In fact, I have concluded that this legislation really has no intention of providing affordable health care choices. Instead it is a convenient cover for the most massive transfer of power to the Executive Branch of government that has ever occurred, or even been contemplated. If this law or a similar one is adopted, major portions of the Constitution of the United States will effectively have been destroyed.
The first thing to go will be the masterfully crafted balance of power between the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the U.S. Government. The Congress will be transferring to the Obama Administration authority in a number of different areas over the lives of the American people, and the businesses they own.

Title 28 of the United States Code by Paul Andrew Mitchell

Private Attorney General Cracks

Title 28 of the United States Code

by

Paul Andrew Mitchell, B.A., M.S.

Counselor at Law, Federal Witness

and Private Attorney General

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                       November 26, 2001 A.D.

Sacramento.  Paul Andrew Mitchell, the Private Attorney General at the Supreme Law Firm and Webmaster of the Supreme Law Library on the Internet, today announced major developments in his ongoing project to decode Title 28 –- the set of American laws that govern the federal court system.

In a brief but direct application of this knowledge, written for a trainee in federal litigation, Mitchell demonstrated how the federal courts lacked original jurisdiction in the anti-trust case against the Microsoft Corporation.

That case was allegedly brought by the “United States of America” (or “USA”), but attorneys for the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) have no powers of attorney to represent the “USA”, as such.  Willful misrepresentation is a violation of the McDade Act at 28 U.S.C. 530B, which requires DOJ attorneys to obey State Bar disciplinary guidelines:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/28/530B.html

The federal government recently reversed its policy in the case against the Microsoft Corporation, and is now pushing equitable settlements across the board.

The term “USA” is mentioned only once in Title 28 –- at section 1746 –- and there it is clearly distinguished from the “United States” –- the proper legal term that is used for the federal government throughout Title 28:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/28/1746.html

Mitchell’s findings have consequences that reach far beyond the anti-trust case against Microsoft.  It is now painfully apparent that DOJ are pretending to represent the “USA” in all civil and criminal cases, intentionally to avoid exercising the judicial power of the United States.

Under Article III in the U.S. Constitution, this power must be exercised in constitutional courts that guarantee cherished fundamental Rights, like the Right to due process of law as guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment.  Article III courts must be convened to hear Controversies to which the United States is a Party (singular).

To make matters worse, the U.S. Supreme Court has also erred by ruling that the term “Party” as used in Article III means “Plaintiff” but not “Defendant”.  See Williams v. United States, 289 U.S. 553 (1933).  In Bouvier’s Law Dictionary, the term “Party” embraces both plaintiffs and defendants.

By substituting the “USA” as Plaintiffs (plural), DOJ have perpetrated a fraud by switching to legislative courts where fundamental Rights are not guarantees, but merely privileges granted (or denied) at the discretion of arbitrary judges, sitting on legislative tribunals.  Mitchell describes these courts as operating in legislative mode as opposed to constitutional mode.

The Guernsey Experiment by Peter Verity

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The Guernsey Experiment Page history last edited by Peter Verity 1 year, 7 months ago (From the Guernsey Experiment by Olive & Jan Grubiak): “At the beginning of the 19th Century, after the Napoleonic Wars, the Island of Guernsey was in dire straits. Apart from the natural beauty and pleasant climate, there was precious little else to attract visitors to the island, or indeed, to keep her inhabitants from removing to the mainland. The deep roads were mere cart-tracks, only 4ft. 6ins. wide, which in wet weather became muddy rivers between steep banks. The town was ill-paved and unattractive, and there was not a vehicle for hire of any kind on the island. There was no trade, nor hope of employment for the poor. Worst of all, the sea was fast encroaching on the land, and washing away large tracts of it, thanks to the sorry state of the dykes. The States Debt of £19,137 bore an annual interest charge of £2,390; the annual revenue was only £3000. This meant that while vast sums of money were required to save the land from the sea, and make the island fit to live in, the net revenue from all sources was only £600 per annum. The dyke project alone was estimated at over £10,000. In 1815 the need for improving the Public Market, which then provided neither cover nor shelter, became pressing, and a Committee was duly appointed to examine the matter. It was found that further taxation on the impoverished island was impossible. The alternative, that of borrowing money from the banks, would incur debt charges at a high interest rate, which they could not afford. It was abundantly clear that whatever they might borrow, although they paid interest charges for years, would never be repaid.

Comet ISON and The Planet Nibiru Conspiracy Theory from Comet ISON News

Comet ISON and the Planet Nibiru Conspiracy Theory

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There is an Internet conspiracy theory floating around that Comet ISON is barreling down the Solar System and is in fact Nibiru. This is not the case.
Let’s look at few things first.
According to Wikipedia, Nibiru is a term from the ancient Akkadian language, which means “crossing” or “point of translation”, especially of rivers. It’s thought of as another Akkadian term for the highest point of the ecliptic.
In more recent history author Zecharia Sitchin proposed in his 1976 book The 12th Planet that somewhere beyond the orbit of Nepture, there is a planet called Nibiru. The proposed planet has a long, elliptical orbit, and reaches the inner Solar System every 3,600 years.
In the Sitchin’s book, 12 planets are discussed and are listed in the below graphic (Luna is Earth’s moon).

Artistic depiction of the planets from Sitchin’s book.

The mainstream view is that the sun is not a planet but a star, and that Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are the 8 major planets and that Pluto is designated as a dwarf planet.
Distance and Visibility
On September 21, 2012, Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) was discovered by Vitali Nevski (Виталий Невский, Vitebsk, Belarus) and Artyom Novichonok (Артём Новичонок, Kondopoga, Russia) around 01:15 UT.

'Tsunami bomb' tested off New Zealand coast by Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney

'Tsunami bomb' tested off New Zealand coast

The United States and New Zealand conducted secret tests of a "tsunami bomb" designed to destroy coastal cities by using underwater blasts to trigger massive tidal waves.

Photo: ALAMY

By Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney

2:50PM GMT 01 Jan 2013

711 Comments

The tests were carried out in waters around New Caledonia and Auckland during the Second World War and showed that the weapon was feasible and a series of 10 large offshore blasts could potentially create a 33-foot tsunami capable of inundating a small city.

The top secret operation, code-named "Project Seal", tested the doomsday device as a possible rival to the nuclear bomb. About 3,700 bombs were exploded during the tests, first in New Caledonia and later at Whangaparaoa Peninsula, near Auckland.

The plans came to light during research by a New Zealand author and film-maker, Ray Waru, who examined military files buried in the national archives.

"Presumably if the atomic bomb had not worked as well as it did, we might have been tsunami-ing people," said Mr Waru.

American supporters of the European Fascists from rationalrevolution.net

American supporters of the European Fascists

Charles Lindbergh attending Nazi party in Berlin - 1935
A number of prominent and wealthy American businessmen helped to support fascist regimes in Europe from the 1920s through the 1940s.  These people helped to support Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War of 1936, as well as Benito Mussolini, and Adolph Hitler.
Some of the primary and more famous Americans and companies that were involved with the fascist regimes of Europe are: William Randolph Hearst, Joseph Kennedy (JFK's father), Charles Lindbergh, John Rockefeller, Andrew Mellon (head of Alcoa, banker, and Secretary of Treasury), DuPont, General Motors, Standard Oil (now Exxon), Ford, ITT, Allen Dulles (later head of the CIA), Prescott Bush, National City Bank, and General Electric.
It should be noted that businessmen from many countries, including England and Australia, also worked with the fascist regimes of Europe prior to WWII.  The fascist governments were involved in a high level of construction, production, and international business.
I.G. Farben, a German company, was the largest chemical manufacturing enterprise in the world during the early part of the 20^th century.  As such the company had many holdings in a variety of countries, including America.  The American holdings of I.G. Farben included Bayer Co., General Aniline Works, Agfa Ansco, and Winthrop Chemical Company.
I.G. Farben was critical in the development of the German economy and war machine leading up to WWII.  During this time I.G. Farben's international holdings along with its international business contracts with companies like Standard Oil, DuPont, Alcoa, and Dow Chemical were crucial in supplying the Nazi regime with the materials needed for war as well as financial support.
The Spanish Civil War was the precursor to World War II.  Fascist Francisco Franco was aided by Hitler and Mussolini during the Spanish Civil War.  At this time GM, Ford, DuPont, and Standard Oil were working with Franco and supplying the fascist powers of Europe.  At this same time many Americans were protesting the goings on in Europe as well as the involvement of American companies in helping the fascist powers. A group of American volunteer soldiers known as the Abe Lincoln Brigade went to Spain during this time to fight against Franco in defense of the Spanish Republic.  This group was made up primarily of leftist American groups, such as members of American socialist parties and communist parties.

Oreos As Addictive As Cocaine? For Rats, At Least by Kathleen Megan of The Hartford Courant

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Oreos As Addictive As Cocaine? For Rats, At Least

Like Kids, Lab Rats Go For The Creamy Middle First

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(Connecticut College )

October 15, 2013|By KATHLEEN MEGAN, kmegan@courant.com, The Hartford Courant

Oreos may be as addictive as cocaine, at least for lab rats, according to a study done at Connecticut College.
And like most humans, rats go after the creamy center first.
In a study designed to consider the potential addictiveness of foods with high fat and high sugar content, Connecticut College Professor Joseph Schroeder and his students found eating the cookies activated more neurons in the brain's "pleasure center" than exposure to cocaine or morphine.

They also found that rats formed an equally strong association between the pleasurable effects of eating Oreos and a specific place as they did between cocaine or morphine and a specific place.
"Our research supports the theory that high-fat, high-sugar foods stimulate the brain in the same way that drugs do," Schroeder said. "It may explain why some people can't resist these foods despite the fact that they know they are bad for them."
Schroeder, an assistant professor of neuroscience, will present the research next month at the Society for Neuroscience conference in San Diego, Calif.
The research was the inspiration of neuroscience major Jamie Honohan, who undertook a project through the college's Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy where students choose a social injustice and do research related to it.
Honohan, who graduated in May, was interested in the prevalence of obesity in lower socio-economic communities. "Our goal was to design a study to explore the hypothesis that high fat, high sugar foods have the same addictive potential as drugs of abuse," Honahan said.
As for why Oreos were chosen rather than a high fat, high sugar rat chow, Schroeder said, "We specifically wanted to choose a food that was palatable to humans so that we could make a direct correlation from rats to a problem facing humans."
Honahan said she also wanted to use a product that was common in grocery stores and, she noted, some research that showed that rats like Oreos.
The study was conducted by setting up two adjoining chambers for the rats. In one experiment, rats were given Oreo cookies in one space and rice cakes in the other. It was clear, Honahan said that the rats preferred the broken Oreos, splitting the cookies apart and devouring the cream first and then going on to eat the cookies. While they often didn't bother to finish the rice cakes, that wasn't the case with the Oreos.
"Just like humans, rats don't seem to get much pleasure out of eating [rice cakes]," Schroeder said.
Then, the food was removed and the rats were given the option of spending time in either chamber. The rats spent far more time in the chamber where the Oreos had been than in the chamber where the rice cakes had been.

Another Nobel Peace Prize- Another Farce? by Felicity Arbuthnot of Global Research

Global Research

Another Nobel Peace Prize – Another Farce?

By Felicity Arbuthnot

Global Research, October 20, 2013

Theme: Culture, Society & History, Militarization and WMD, US NATO War Agenda

In-depth Report: SYRIA: NATO'S NEXT WAR?

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The Nobel Peace Prize brings another surprise – or farce, depending on your view.
In relatively recent history, there has been Henry Kissinger (1973) architect supreme of murderous assaults on sovereign nations; the United Nations (2001) whose active warmongering or passive, silent holocausts (think UN embargoes) make shameful mockery of the aspirational founding words.

In 2002 it was Jimmy Carter, whose poisonous “Carter Doctrine” of 1980 included declaring the aim of American control of the Persian Gulf as a “US vital interest”, justified “by any means necessary.” 2005 saw the Award go to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which promotes nuclear energy, creating the most lethal pollutants to which the planet and its population has ever been subjected. The nuclear waste from the industry the IAEA promotes, is now turned in to “conventional”, but never the less, nuclear and chemical weapons, by a sleight of hand of astonishing historical proportions.

Barack Obama (2009) has since declared himself executioner, by assassination in any form, any time, any place, anywhere, of anyone deemed by him (not judge or jury) connected to that now catch all phrase “terrorism” – half a world away.

The Guantanamo concentration camp to which he unequivocally committed closing (17th November 2008,“60 Minutes”) asserting:

“I have said repeatedly that I will close Guantanamo and I will follow through on that. I have said repeatedly that America does not torture. And I’m gonna make sure that we don’t torture … those are part and parcel of an effort to … regain America’s moral stature in the world.” Gulag Guantanamo remains with its prisoners, pathetic, desperate untried, or those ordered released, languishing year after year. America’s “moral stature” has plummeted lower than the Nixon years, Libya lies in ruins, Syria barely survives, with the terrorists’ backers aided via Washington’s myriad back doors – and in global outposts, US backed or instigated torture thrives.

Ron Paul: Phone Call Was Important First Step to Peace

Last week, for the first time since the 1979 Iranian revolution, the US president spoke with his Iranian counterpart. Their 15 minute telephone call was reported to open the door to further high-level discussions. This is a very important event.

I have been saying for years that we should just talk to the Iranians. After all, we talked to the Soviets when they actually had thousands of nuclear missiles pointed at us! The Iranians have none, according to our own intelligence services. I even suggested a few years ago that we should “offer friendship” to them. Unfortunately, so many so-called experts have a stake in keeping tensions high and pushing us to war. They did not want to hear what I was saying. It seems, though, this is beginning to change now with these recent events.

The phone call was one of the most important moves away from war and conflict in a long time. Taken with the Obama administration’s decision to hold off on bombing Syria, we should be encouraged.

It is also probably a good sign that this phone call has infuriated the neoconservatives at home, the pro-war faction in Israel, and the hard-liners in Iran. Now that a process of negotiation has begun, the chance of war has been significantly reduced. The US is very unlikely to bomb Iran while it is talking with them, and Israel is also unlikely to start a war while the US is at the negotiating table with the Iranian leadership.

Prof Michel Chossudovsky of Global Research: The Speculative Endgame: The Government "Shutdown" and "Debt Default", A Multibillion Bonanza for Wall Street

The Speculative Endgame: The Government “Shutdown” and “Debt Default”, A Multibillion Bonanza for Wall Street

By Prof Michel Chossudovsky

Global Research, October 16, 2013

Region: USA

Theme: Global Economy, Poverty & Social Inequality

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The “shutdown” of the US government and the financial climax associated with a deadline date, leading to a possible “debt default” of the federal government is a money making undertaking for Wall Street. 
A wave of speculative activity is sweeping major markets.
The uncertainty regarding the shutdown and “debt default” constitutes a golden opportunity for “institutional speculators”.  Those who have reliable “inside information” regarding the complex outcome of the legislative process are slated to make billions of dollars in windfall gains.  
Speculative Bonanza
Several overlapping political and economic agendas are unfolding. In a previous article, we examined the debt default saga in relation to the eventual privatization of important components of the federal State system.
While Wall Street exerts a decisive influence on policy and legislation pertaining to the government shutdown, these same major financial institutions also control the movement of currency markets, commodity and stock markets through large scale operations in derivative trade.
Most of the key actors in the US Congress and the Senate involved in the shutdown debate are controlled by powerful corporate lobby groups acting directly or indirectly on behalf of  Wall Street.  Major interests on Wall Street are not only in a position to influence the results of the Congressional process, they also have “inside information” or prior knowledge of the chronology and outcome of the government shutdown impasse.
They are slated to make billions of dollars in windfall profits in speculative activities which are “secure”  assuming that they are in a position to exert their influence on relevant policy outcomes.
It should be noted, however, that there are important divisions both within the US Congress as well as within the financial establishment. The latter are marked by the confrontation and rivalry of major banking conglomerates.
These divisions will have an impact on speculative movements and counter movements in the stock, money and commodity markets. What we are dealing with is “financial warfare”. The latter is by no means limited to Wall Street, Chinese, Russian and Japanese financial institutions (among others) will also be involved in the speculative endgame.
Speculative movements based on inside information, therefore, could potentially go in different directions. What market outcomes are being sought by rival banking institutions? Having inside information on the actions of major banking competitors is an important element in the waging of major speculative operations.
Derivative Trade
The major instrument of “secure” speculative activity for these financial actors is derivative trade, with carefully formulated bets in the stock markets, major commodities –including gold and oil– as well as foreign exchange markets.
These major actors may know “where the market is going” because they are in a position to influence policies and legislation in the US Congress as well as manipulate market outcomes.
Moreover, Wall Street speculators also influence the broader public’s perception in the media, not to mention the actions of financial brokers of competing or lesser financial institutions which do not have foreknowledge or access to inside information.

Hitlercare vs. Obamacare by Ellis Washington

THE REPORT FROM WASHINGTON

Hitlercare vs. Obamacare

Exclusive: Ellis Washington reveals similarities between systems of socialized medicine

Published: 10/04/2013 at 8:09 PM

Ellis Washington About | Email | Archive

Ellis Washington is a former staff editor of the Michigan Law Review and law clerk at the Rutherford Institute. He is a professor of Constitutional Law, Legal Ethics, and Contracts at the National Paralegal College, a counselor at the American College of Education, and a founding board member of Salt and Light Global. Washington is a co-host of "Joshua's Trial," a radio show of Christian conservative thought. A graduate of John Marshall Law School and post-grad work at Harvard Law School, his latest law review article is titled, "Social Darwinism in Nazi Family and Inheritance Law." Washington’s latest book is a 2-volume collection of essays and Socratic dialogues – "The Progressive Revolution" (University Press of America, 2013). Visit his popular law/political blog, "EllisWashingtonReport.com, an essential repository dedicated to educating the next generation of young conservative intellectuals.

• “Many who think themselves infinitely superior to the aberrations of Nazism, and sincerely hate all manifestations, work at the same time for ideals whose realization would lead straight to the abhorred tyranny.” – F.A. Hayek

With the official launching of Obamacare on Oct. 1, I ask, who is the real father of universal health care? Otto von Bismarck, the chancellor of Germany (1871-90), established the world’s first welfare state in Germany. In 1883, von Bismarck established socialized health care in Germany with the Reichsversicherungsverordnung, or the Reich Insurance Act, which was limited to government bureaucrats and the elderly. Bismarck’s institution of socialized health care was designed to co-opt the increasing popularity of Marxist socialism and implement its anti-God, anti-capitalism ideas spreading throughout Europe in the late 1800s.