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Friday, March 16, 2012

How To Gum Up Any Institution by Gary North

Here are Alinsky's 13 tactical rules:

  1. Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.
  2. Never go outside the experience of your people.
  3. Wherever possible go outside the experience of the enemy.
  4. Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules.
  5. Ridicule is man's most potent weapon.
  6. A good tactic is one your people enjoy.
  7. A tactic that drags on too long is a drag.
  8. Keep the pressure on.
  9. The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.
  10. The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.
  11. If you push a negative hard and deep enough it will break through into its counter side.
  12. The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.
  13. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize and polarize it.

http://burndownthefreakingmission.com - I read Rules for Radicals when it first came out.

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How To Gum Up Any Institution by Gary North

First, every institution assumes voluntary compliance in at least 95% of all cases. This may be a low-ball estimate. Most people comply, either out of fear or lack of concern or strong belief in the system and its goals.

Second, every institution has more rules than it can follow, let alone enforce. Some of these rules are self-contradictory. The more rules, the larger the number of contradictions. (There is probably a statistical pattern here – some variant of Parkinson's law.)

Third, every institution is built on this assumption: partial compliance. Not everyone will comply with any given procedural rule. There are negative sanctions to enforce compliance on the few who resist. They serve as examples to force compliance. Conversely, very few people under the institution's jurisdiction will attempt to force the institution to comply exactly with any procedural rule.

These three laws of institutions – and they really are laws – offer any resistance movement an opportunity to shut down any system.

http://burndownthefreakingmission.com

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Lightweight Sub-5 Ounce Cook Kit

My friend Jeff Scott, who is an ultralight backpacker, sent me his most recent sub-5 ounce cook kit list. It weighs in at an astonishing 4.62 oz., and it features everything you'd need without skimping on anything. He uses it for on solo backpacking trips, but there's no reason why this wouldn't wor

http://live-free-in-an-unfree-world.com

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Thursday, March 15, 2012

Here’s What’s Actually “Dead” in 2012…

CoreyBornmann // Mar 15, 2012 at 8:39 am

With social signals being so important these days it will be interesting to see the impact that Pinterest brings to the table. I believe that every website now needs an image that is “pinnable” on every page and you need to add a “pin it” button right alongside your Facebook like button and Google plus button. This is especially important if your niche websites target the female crowd because Pinterest is about 80% female.

Interesting comment. I'm hearing about this all over the place. http://live-free-in-an-unfree-world.com

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Here’s What’s Actually “Dead” in 2012…

A close third would be 2-tier links (boosted Web 2.0 links). In a nutshell, this means building pages linking to your money site on Authority sites, like Squidoo/HubPages/InfoBarrel/Blogger/WordPress, etc. and then blasting the crap out of those with masslink tactics (but don’t aim masslinks at your actual moneysite).

another important linking strategy - http://live-free-in-an-unfree-world.com

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Here’s What’s Actually “Dead” in 2012…

In a word – the “formula” for your best shot at success with white-hat SEO this year is summarized in one word:

OVERKILL

And I’m not talking about being aggressive, or building “thousands” of backlinks. No.

I’m talking about building multiple layers of legitimacy.

Making sure your sites not only have great content, but also LOOK like an authority. Embracing the new ranking factors that Google seems to be in love with lately – sitewide content standards, social factors, user behavior statistics (like bounce rate) and passing the manual human reviews by conducted by Google staff/contractors.

Offering valid contact information, full legal docs (privacy, disclaimers, etc), professional graphics, and in general an “implied trustworthiness” that would make a human reviewer comfortable.

http://live-free-in-an-unfree-world.com - good article from Chris on what Google's changes mean to Internet marketing.

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Wednesday, March 14, 2012

How To Create an Anonymous Website by Bill Rounds

Free speech is threatened when corrupt forces can pressure the means of distributing speech. Corrupt governments all over the world, or corrupt elements within governments, use the methods at their disposal to silence uncomfortable speech. One of the main methods they use is to threaten the source of speech.

Anonymous speech is important, even for more mundane reasons than scathing political criticism. Advocates of medical marijuana, proponents of evolution, gay rights activists, critics of local police, and many others may need the protection of anonymous speech to protect themselves while they voice their opinion. Efforts to censor online speech are doomed to fail because people will find ways to publish unflattering material online without leaving any trace of identity behind.

Info for those who need an anonymous website. http://live-free-in-an-unfree-world.com

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Compliant Americans by Walter E. Williams

Last month, at a Raeford, N.C., elementary school, a teacher confiscated the lunch of a 5-year-old girl because it didn't meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines and therefore was deemed nonnutritious. She replaced it with school cafeteria chicken nuggets. The girl's home-prepared lunch was nutritious; it consisted of a turkey and cheese sandwich, potato chips, a banana and apple juice. But whether her lunch was nutritious or not is not the issue. The issue is governmental usurpation of parental authority.

With teachers like this, is it any wonder that home schooling is on the rise? http://burndownthefreakingmission.com

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Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Should Christians Support the War on Drugs? by Laurence M. Vance

Yes, I know I am being redundant. But that’s because some Christians still just don’t get it. So let me make myself perfectly clear: drugs are bad. Smoking crack is evil. Getting high on marijuana cigarettes or brownies is a vice. Snorting cocaine is destructive. Shooting up with heroin is sinful. Swallowing ecstasy is immoral. Injecting yourself with crystal meth is dangerous. But none of these things means that there should be a law against doing any of them. And it is a myth that those who favor marijuana legalization or drug decriminalization just want to get high without being hassled by the police. Pat Robertson certainly doesn’t. And I certainly don’t either.

http://live-free-in-an-unfree-world.com

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Senators Intervene To Halt Wellness Ambassadors Who Recommend Dietary Supplements Instead of Drugs at Rite-Aid Stores by Bill Sardi

Senators Intervene To Halt Wellness Ambassadors Who Recommend Dietary Supplements Instead of Drugs at Rite-Aid Stores

by Bill Sardi

Recently by Bill Sardi: I Thought Separation of Church and State Was a Two-Way Street

 
   

About 300 of Rite-Aid’s 4700 drug stores are starting to direct customers to what they want – wellness without dependence upon problematic and over-priced prescription drugs. But that practice has obviously upset Big Pharma. These white-coated ambassadors are allegedly pretending they are pharmacists and directing patients to diet supplements – heaven’s to Betsy!

At least that is what two US Senators allege in their letter to Rite-Aid, which has GNC nutrition centers inside many of its stores. A letter from the senators to Rite-Aid says they are concerned these ambassadors "could be making false and misleading claims by marketing dietary supplements as treatments for health conditions."

Wait a minute – I thought the Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) gave the right to market dietary supplements as long as they strictly support health, not as cures, treatments or prevention for any disease. Drugs do not promote wellness, and few are an appropriate cure for anything.

A grave problem (the word grave being used in its true meaning) is that that DSHEA didn’t go far enough. Dietary supplements do in fact prevent, treat and cure diseases, many of them. The Food & Drug Administration mandates censorship of the truth. Doesn’t vitamin D prevent rickets, vitamin C prevent scurvy, vitamin B1 prevent beri beri, etc?

The FDA says that even claims that these obvious nutrient deficiency diseases are remedied by vitamin pills must be stated in terms of which bodily structure and functions they affect, they cannot be labeled they prevent, treat or cure a disease when they clearly do. For example, the label on a bottle of vitamin D pills could say "promotes healthy bones" or vitamin C could say "supports healthy capillaries" (connectors between arteries and veins). They can’t say "prevents osteoporosis" or "treats arteriosclerosis."

The FDA says (can you believe this?) that dietary supplements would be required to submit a New Drug Application to the FDA to make such a disease/cure claim. Ditto for limes if a label affixed to them said they cure scurvy, as they did for British sailors in the 19th century. How absurd.

How dare these "wellness ambassadors" direct anyone to a dietary supplement instead of a drug! Forget that drug companies and pharmacists are hiding the fact that diet supplements replicate the biological action of most Rx drugs without the high cost or side effects. Why modern medicine treats every disease as if it were a drug deficiency goes unexplained. Terrible that anyone should address the true cause of disease with a dietary supplement rather than a drug.

Instead of getting vitamin B1 to treat heart failure, you get diuretics and digitalis that deplete vitamin B1.

Instead of getting vitamin D to treat osteoporosis you get synthetic bone hardeners.

Instead of getting vitamin C to treat high cholesterol you get liver-toxic statin drugs which increase the risk for muscle aches, diabetes and mental confusion, and while "FDA-approved," statin drugs only prevent one non-mortal heart attack among 1 in 200 healthy adults and 1 in 70 at-risk adults.

Instead of getting fish oil, magnesium, resveratrol, vitamin E or a garlic pill to thin the blood you get vitamin-K depleting warfarin or coumadin which then result in calcification and stiffening of arteries.

Instead of resveratrol, SAMe, vitamin E or folic acid for mental depression you get Elavil or Wellbutrin. If you are mentally depressed due to a nutrient deficiency these drugs artificially elevate mood, are inappropriate and do not address the primary cause of the problem, only its symptoms. The drug only masks the symptoms of the nutrient deficiency.

Instead of getting vitamin D, resveratrol, folic acid or vitamin B1 to remedy Alzheimer's-like dementia, you get Aricept or Tacrine that are no better than a placebo tablet.

Instead of getting fish oil after a heart attack to natural slow the heart rate you get beta blockers which induce energy deficiency in the heart, as well as asthma, fatigue, impotence and poor mental function.

That Congress wants to step in and protect pharmaceutical profits is fascism, not democracy. Government will steer you in a safe direction, right? How many Americans die of properly-used prescription drugs annually? Answer: over 100,000. How many die from use of dietary supplements? Answer: according to poison control center data, zero.

Maybe natural health advocates should hand out the proper questions for consumers to ask in retail stores, questions that will pass the scrutiny of a government censor, so wellness ambassadors can provide true answers. Questions like these:

Instead of asking "What can I take that would substitute for a statin cholesterol-lowering drug?, ask: "What do I take to support healthy cholesterol levels?" (vitamin C, apple pectin, resveratrol)

Instead of asking "What can I take in place of coumadin and Warfarin?" ask: "What do I take to support healthy blood clotting?" (fish oil, garlic, magnesium, resveratrol, vitamin E)

Instead of asking "What can I take in lieu of digitalis and beta blockers for heart failure?" ask: "What do I take to promote a stronger heart?" (vitamin B1)

Instead of asking "What is the alternative to diabetic drugs?" ask: "What do I take to support healthy kidneys, eyes and nerves if I am a diabetic?" (vitamin B1)

Instead of asking "Don’t you have something natural that will replace my antidepressant drug?" ask: "What natural products can I take that promote a healthy mood?" (vitamin D, folic acid, SAMe, resveratrol)

Instead of asking "What can I take in lieu of antibiotics so I don’t develop germ resistance?" ask: "What do I take to support a healthy immune response?" (vitamin D, vitamin C, fish oil, beta glucan, quercetin, oil of oregano, garlic, cinnamon extract)

Instead of asking "What can I take in lieu of allergy medications?" ask: "What natural anti-histamines are available?" (vitamin C, quercetin)

If public health authorities were truly interested in protecting consumers from product-related health problems they would require drug companies to list all of the nutrient deficiencies induced by pharmaceuticals. Some common examples are:

Vitamin C depleted by: cortisone/prednisone (steroidal anti-inflammatories), aspirin, estrogen replacement, tobacco, antacids.

Vitamin B1 depleted by: digitalis, diuretics (water pills), antibiotics, antacids.

Vitamin B12: antibiotics, antacids.

Vitamin D: cortisone/prednisone, some cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Zinc: ACE inhibitors (Enalapril, Lisinopril), cortisone/prednisone, estrogen, some antidepressants, antacids.

Magnesium: digitalis (digoxin), antibiotics, diuretics, estrogen, cortisone/prednisone, antacids.

Folic acid (vitamin B9): aspirin, cortisone/prednisone, metformin anti-diabetic drug, estrogen), antacids

Taking drugs that induce deficiencies of essential nutrients means patients will never get well.

Who knows, government overseers may soon install wire taps in health food stores and pharmacies to listen in on private conversations about dietary supplements over the telephone.

March 13, 2012

Bill Sardi [send him mail] is a frequent writer on health and political topics. His health writings can be found at www.naturalhealthlibrarian.com. His latest book is Downsizing Your Body.

Copyright © 2012 Bill Sardi Word of Knowledge Agency, San Dimas, California. This article has been written exclusively for www.LewRockwell.com and other parties who wish to refer to it should link rather than post at other URLs. 

The Best of Bill Sardi

http://live-free-in-an-unfree-world.com

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Monday, March 12, 2012

USD Meltdown Is Your Gold Advantage by Morris Hubbartt

The best thing to do in preparation for any financial crisis is to own physical gold. It should be your largest holding. Asian physical buyers are accumulating gold at these highly attractive prices. In the gold market, a good motto is, “Do as the Asians do!”

http://live-free-in-an-unfree-world.com

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From Kipling

What are we doing there? When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains, And the women come out to cut up what remains, Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains An' go to your Gawd like a soldier. Go, go, go like a soldier, Go, go, go like a soldier, Go, go, go like a soldier,

http://burndownthefreakingmission.com

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