Secrets of the Fed

NYT Article: Why RATIONAL PEOPLE BUY INTO CONSPIRACY THEORIES

liberating elder — Tue, 21 May 2013 23:08:01 +0000

In the days following the bombings at the Boston Marathon, speculation online regarding the identity and motive of the unknown perpetrator or perpetrators was rampant. And once the Tsarnaev brothers were identified and the manhunt came to a close, the speculation didn’t cease. It took a new form. A sampling: Maybe the brothers Tsarnaev were just patsies, fall guys set up to take the heat for a mysterious Saudi with high-level connections; or maybe they were innocent, but instead of the Saudis, the actual bomber had acted on behalf of a rogue branch of our own government; or what if the Tsarnaevs were behind the attacks, but were secretly working for a larger organization?

Crazy as these theories are, those propagating them are not — they’re quite normal, in fact. But recent scientific research tells us this much: if you think one of the theories above is plausible, you probably feel the same way about the others, even though they contradict one another. And it’s very likely that this isn’t the only news story that makes you feel as if shadowy forces are behind major world events.

“The best predictor of belief in a conspiracy theory is belief in other conspiracy theories,” says Viren Swami, a psychology professor who studies conspiracy belief at the University of Westminster in England. Psychologists say that’s because a conspiracy theory isn’t so much a response to a single event as it is an expression of an overarching worldview.

As Richard Hofstadter wrote in his seminal 1965 book, “The Paranoid Style in American Politics,” conspiracy theories, especially those involving meddlesome foreigners, are a favorite pastime in this nation. Americans have always had the sneaking suspicion that somebody was out to get us — be it Freemasons, Catholics or communists. But in recent years, it seems as if every tragedy comes with a round of yarn-spinning, as the Web fills with stories about “false flag” attacks and “crisis actors” — not mere theorizing but arguments for the existence of a completely alternate version of reality.

Since Hofstadter’s book was published, our access to information has vastly improved, which you would think would have helped minimize such wild speculation. But according to recent scientific research on the matter, it most likely only serves to make theories more convincing to the public. What’s even more surprising is that this sort of theorizing isn’t limited to those on the margins. Perfectly sane minds possess an incredible capacity for developing narratives, and even some of the wildest conspiracy theories can be grounded in rational thinking, which makes them that much more pernicious. Consider this: 63 percent of registered American voters believe in at least one political conspiracy theory, according to a recent poll conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University.

While psychologists can’t know exactly what goes on inside our heads, they have, through surveys and laboratory studies, come up with a set of traits that correlate well with conspiracy belief. In 2010, Swami and a co-author summarized this research in The Psychologist, a scientific journal. They found, perhaps surprisingly, that believers are more likely to be cynical about the world in general and politics in particular. Conspiracy theories also seem to be more compelling to those with low self-worth, especially with regard to their sense of agency in the world at large. Conspiracy theories appear to be a way of reacting to uncertainty and powerlessness.

Economic recessions, terrorist attacks and natural disasters are massive, looming threats, but we have little power over when they occur or how or what happens afterward. In these moments of powerlessness and uncertainty, a part of the brain called the amygdala kicks into action. Paul Whalen, a scientist at Dartmouth College who studies the amygdala, says it doesn’t exactly do anything on its own. Instead, the amygdala jump-starts the rest of the brain into analytical overdrive — prompting repeated reassessments of information in an attempt to create a coherent and understandable narrative, to understand what just happened, what threats still exist and what should be done now. This may be a useful way to understand how, writ large, the brain’s capacity for generating new narratives after shocking events can contribute to so much paranoia in this country.

“If you know the truth and others don’t, that’s one way you can reassert feelings of having agency,” Swami says. It can be comforting to do your own research even if that research is flawed. It feels good to be the wise old goat in a flock of sheep.

Surprisingly, Swami’s work has also turned up a correlation between conspiracy theorizing and strong support of democratic principles. But this isn’t quite so strange if you consider the context. Kathryn Olmsted, a historian at the University of California, Davis, says that conspiracy theories wouldn’t exist in a world in which real conspiracies don’t exist. And those conspiracies — Watergate or the Iran-contra Affair — often involve manipulating and circumventing the democratic process. Even people who believe that the Sandy Hook shooting was actually a drama staged by actors couch their arguments in concern for the preservation of the Second Amendment.

Our access to high-quality information has not, unfortunately, ushered in an age in which disagreements of this sort can easily be solved with a quick Google search. In fact, the Internet has made things worse. Confirmation bias — the tendency to pay more attention to evidence that supports what you already believe — is a well-documented and common human failing. People have been writing about it for centuries. In recent years, though, researchers have found that confirmation bias is not easy to overcome. You can’t just drown it in facts.

Hungary Destroys All Monsanto GMO Corn Fields

liberating elder — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:46:41 +0000

Hungary has taken a bold stand against biotech giant Monsanto and genetic modification by destroying 1000 acres of maize found to have been grown with genetically modified seeds, according to Hungary deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development Lajos Bognar. Unlike many European Union countries, Hungary is a nation where genetically modified (GM) seeds are banned. In a similar stance against GM ingredients, Peru has also passed a 10 year ban on GM foods.

Almost 1000 acres of maize found to have been ground with genetically modified seeds have been destroyed throughout Hungary, deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development Lajos Bognar said. The GMO maize has been ploughed under, said Lajos Bognar, but pollen has not spread from the maize, he added.

Unlike several EU members, GMO seeds are banned in Hungary. The checks will continue despite the fact that seek traders are obliged to make sure that their products are GMO free, Bognar said.

During the invesigation, controllers have found Pioneer Monsanto products among the seeds planted.

The free movement of goods within the EU means that authorities will not investigate how the seeds arrived in Hungary, but they will check where the goods can be found, Bognar said. Regional public radio reported that the two biggest international seed producing companies are affected in the matter and GMO seeds could have been sown on up to the thousands of hectares in the country. Most of the local farmers have complained since they just discovered they were using GMO seeds.

With season already under way, it is too late to sow new seeds, so this years harvest has been lost.

And to make things even worse for the farmers, the company that distributed the seeds in Baranya county is under liquidation. Therefore, if any compensation is paid by the international seed producers, the money will be paid primarily to that company’s creditors, rather than the farmers.

Source: NaturalSociety.com by Anthony Gucciardi

23 YEAR OLD PEDOPHILE DISEMBOWELED AFTER BRAGGING OF HIS CRIMES IN PRISON

liberating elder — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:10:04 +0000

A prisoner who bragged about his offenses was disemboweled in prison on Saturday.

For many criminals, especially those who sexually assault people, it’s often in prison they are made to suffer for their crimes. Many men are raped, sexually assaulted, or murdered in prison. Mitchell Harrison (23) a serial sex offender, Saturday found the latter awaited him.

When Mitchell Harrison was sentenced to four years in prison for raping a 13-year-old girl he seemed proud of his crime. Harrison was sent to the notorious Frankland Prison, home of child killer Ian Huntley (who last year had his throat cut). When quizzed by other inmates, Harrison would brag about the intricacies of his sexual exploits (this the third time he was caught for sexual offences on minors). It’s this bragging that is thought to have ended his life.

On Saturday morning, having made makeshift weapons out of toothbrushes and razors, two inmates at Frankland prison confronted Harrison in his cell, slit open his stomach, and to ensure he was dead pulled out some of his internal organs onto the floor, essentially disemboweling him.

The two men (as yet unnamed) aged 23 and 32 then cleaned themselves up, went to eat breakfast, then turned themselves into officers for the crime, which at that point had gone undetected.

Harrison’s previous offices included sexual assault on a 7 year old when he was 13, and stalking and threatening to rape a 15-year-old classmate in his school. In his boasts however Harrison stated he had committed more offences than he had been found guilty of. He was sentenced to prison after luring a 13-year-old into a flat and raping her twice.

Officials state that the scene of the murder was extreme, and almost ritualistic in its detail. Many of those who saw the scene, stated they had never seen anything quite so horrific. The murder was not only a killing; it was a message to other prisoners. Most prisoners tend to keep quiet about their offences, but it is claimed that Harrison never stopped talking about his, a fact that ultimately contributed to his death.

SOURCE: NEWS FLAVOR.COM

RON PAUL & JIM ROGERS: ALERT US GOVERNMENT IS GOING TO CONFISCATE YOUR BANK ACCOUNT

liberating elder — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:56:23 +0000

The United States has been a stable country for most of its 230-plus years, as well as a global hegemonic power since the end of World War II and the world’s primary superpower since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the crumbling of the Soviet Union in 1990. That kind of long-term stability has led many Americans – too many, in fact – to adopt an attitude of, “It can’t happen here – not to us,” attitude.

But according to long-serving former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, along with legendary investor Jim Rogers, things can – and very likely will – get tumultuous and chaotic in America in the near-term, because even the United States, with its Constitution and its centuries-old history, is not immune to political and economic events that besiege other nations. Since our economy is so large, it just takes longer.

Speaking at a Sovereign Man Offshore Tactical Workshop conference in Santiago, Chile, recently, Paul said, for example, that real unemployment in the U.S. was much higher than the current 7.7 percent figure represents, and that economically, the country is simply flat broke and going further in debt.

Things are bad and getting worse

“We’re going to have a calamity in economics and political crisis,” he said. “The economy, worldwide and certainly in the states, I think is a lot weaker than they tell us. I believe that the unemployment rate in the United States is over 20 percent.”

He also believes inflation is taking place, but much of that is caused by U.S. economic policy.

“Inflation could be defined as the increase in supply of money and credit, and everybody knows that they’re [the Federal Reserve] printing $85 billion a month and that could be considered inflation,” he said.

Bottom line: Things are bad in America and they are only going to get worse. Entire countries, especially in Europe, are just going bust. Moreover, the worse things get, the more dramatic the tactics of those in positions of authority.

None of this is new.

“This isn’t the first time that the world has been in this position. This time is not different. History shows that there are serious, serious consequences to running unsustainably high debts and deficits. And those consequences have almost invariably involved pillaging people’s wealth, savings, livelihoods and liberties… either directly or indirectly,” reportsInfoWars.com.

“I would expect that there’s going to be a lot more chaos yet to come,” said Paul, “and it will not be limited to Europe. I think it’ll be a worldwide phenomenon…the states won’t escape it either…”

Added Rogers:

“The present head of the (U.S.) central bank (Ben Bernanke) does not understand economics and finance, and he does not understand currencies. All he understands is printing money. His whole intellectual career has been devoted to the study of printing money, and as you know, we’ve given him the printing presses. And he has said, ‘I’ll run the printing presses as fast as I have to.’”

Coming after your retirement account

As to the subject of wealth confiscation, as happened recently in Cyprus – where the government confiscated billions of dollars held in private bank accounts, as part of a temporary bailout deal with the European Central Bank – Rogers said he sees things a bit differently shaping up in the U.S.

“I suspect it won’t happen that way in the U.S.,” he said. “They won’t take our bank accounts, they will take our retirement accounts.” (For the record, private retirement accounts in the United States amount to a government bonanza – more than $18.5 trillion, according to a 2010 study by the Investment Company Institute).

The government will “take our 401(k)s, they will say, ‘You’ve all had such hard times earning money in your 401(k), so what we’re going to do, we’re going to save you, we’re going to give you government bonds, which are guaranteed, 30-year government bonds and you will get 3 percent, and you give us your retirement assets.’”

The current U.S. debt is nearing $17 trillion, or about 105 percent of our annual GDP (gross domestic product) of about $15.5 trillion.

“I don’t doubt [the confiscation] at all; and they will use force and they’ll use intimidation,” Paul added.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.infowars.com

http://youtu.be/CmqIerOV3EM

http://www.wnd.com/2012/11/now-obama-wants-your-401k/

http://www.ici.org/pdf/ppr_12_rec_survey-q2.pdf

J. D. Heyes
naturalnews.com
May 21, 2013

6 OF THE BEST VIDEOS CAPTURING THE SIZE, FORCE AND DESTRUCTION OF THE O.K. TORNADO [VIDEO]

liberating elder — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:42:33 +0000

A devastating tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma on Monday, May 20, 2013. It was reportedly over 2 miles wide at one point, and covered 20 miles during the 40 minutes it was on the ground. The National Weather Service has classified it as at least an EF-4 tornado with winds of at least 166 miles per hour.

NBC affiliate station WMC-TV had a helicopter camera in the sky capturing the whole thing, and released the time-lapse video above showing the storm traveling across the land before finally disappearing back into the clouds.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The 2013 Oklahoma City tornado as it passed through south Oklahoma City. Photograph by Ks0stm

The tornado was also extremely well documented by cameras and gutsy storm chasers (and ordinary folk) on the ground. Here are some of the videos that were uploaded to the web just hours after the storm struck:

One family even had its camera rolling as it emerged from their storm shelter and surveyed the destruction:

Photo galleries of the tornado and its aftermath can be found on The Denver Post’s Plog and The Atlantic’s InFocus. USA Today has published a list of relief organizations you can donate to if you’d like to help the victims of this disaster.
SOURCE: PETA PIXEL.COM

JUSTICE IS DEAD: ACCUSED FORT HOOD SHOOTER PAID $278,000 WHILE AWAITING TRIAL… WHILE HIS VICTIMS GO W/O COMPENSATION [W/ VIDEO]

liberating elder — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:19:07 +0000

View more videos at: http://nbcdfw.com.

The Department of Defense confirms to NBC 5 Investigates that accused Fort Hood shooter Major Nidal Hasan has now been paid more than $278,000 since the Nov. 5, 2009 shooting that left 13 dead 32 injured. The Army said under the Military Code of Justice, Hasan’s salary cannot be suspended unless he is proven guilty.

If Hasan had been a civilian defense department employee, NBC 5 Investigates has learned, the Army could have suspended his pay after just seven days.

Personnel rules for most civilian government workers allow for “indefinite suspensions” in cases “when the agency has reasonable cause to believe that the employee has committed a crime for which a sentence of imprisonment may be imposed.”

Meanwhile, more than three years later soldiers wounded in the mass shooting are fighting to receive the same pay and medical benefits given to those wounded in combat.

Retired Army Spc. Logan Burnett, a reservist who, in 2009, was soon to be deployed to Iraq, was shot three times when a gunman opened fire inside the Army Deployment Center.

“I honestly thought I was going to die in that building,” said Burnett. “Just blood everywhere and then the thought of — that’s my blood everywhere.”

Burnett nearly died. He’s had more than a dozen surgeries since the shooting, and says post-traumatic stress still keeps him up at night.

Burnett is now fighting a new battle; only this one is against the U.S. Army.

The Army has not classified the wounds of the Ft. Hood victims as “combat related” and declines to label the shooting a “terrorist attack”,

The “combat related” designation is an important one, for without it Burnett and other shooting victims are not given combat-related pay, they are not eligible for Purple Heart retirement or medical benefits given to other soldiers wounded either at war or during the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon.

As a result, Burnett, his wife Torey, and the families of other Fort Hood victims miss out on thousands of dollars of potential benefits and pay every year.

To Burnett the shooting felt like combat.

“You take three rounds and lose five good friends and watch seven other people get killed in front of you. Do you have another term that we can classify that as?” asked Burnett.

The Army has categorized the shooting as a case of “workplace violence.”

“Sickens me. Absolutely sickens me. Workplace violence? I don’t even know if I have the words to say,” said Burnett.

“They don’t need to be treated like this. They don’t need to sit and fight every day for this benefit or that,” said Torey Burnett.

As that fight continues, Burnett was stunned to see a letter detailing the more $278,000 Hasan has been paid since his arrest. NBC 5 Investigates received the letter from the Department of Defense in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act.

“There have been times when my wife and I cannot afford groceries. We cannot afford gas in our car,” Burnett said. “Literally, times where we ate Ramen noodles for weeks on end. This [that Hasan is still earning a paycheck] makes me sick to my stomach,” said Burnett.

Burnett isn’t alone in his outrage.

“We’re giving the defendant in this case every benefit of the doubt. But yet we’re not giving the benefits to the victims,” said Rep. Thomas Rooney (R) Florida

Rooney, a former prosecutor at Fort Hood, recently signed a bi-partisan letter urging defense secretary Chuck Hagel to “…reclassify the victims’ deaths and injuries as ‘combat related’…”

LOL: CONTROL FREAK RENT-A-COP LOOSES IT ON PEOPLE TAKING PICTURES … AND RENT-A-COP GETS HER ASS KICKED [VIDEO]

liberating elder — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:05:09 +0000

Infowars.com
May 21, 2013

All it takes is a blue uniform and an inflated sense of authority for a mall rentacop to go off on a few trespassing sightseers and end up in a brawl.

SHOCK CLAIM: OBAMA ADMIN HACKED CBS’S COMPUTERS!!

liberating elder — Tue, 21 May 2013 20:45:45 +0000

Sharyl Attkisson, the Emmy-award winning CBS News investigative reporter, says that her personal and work computers have been compromised and are under investigation.

“I can confirm that an intrusion of my computers has been under some investigation on my end for some months but I’m not prepared to make an allegation against a specific entity today as I’ve been patient and methodical about this matter,” Attkisson told POLITICO on Tuesday. “I need to check with my attorney and CBS to get their recommendations on info we make public.”

In an earlier interview with WPHT Philadelphia, Attkisson said that though she did not know the full details of the intrustion, “there could be some relationship between these things and what’s happened to James [Rosen],” the Fox News reporter who became the subject of a Justice Dept. investigation after reporting on CIA intelligence about North Korea in 2009.

On Sunday, The Washington Post reported that the Justice Dept. had searched Rosen’s personal e-mails and tracked his visits to the State Dept. The court affadavit described Rosen as “at the very least, either as an aider, abettor and/or co-conspirator” of his government source, presumably because he had solicited classified information from that source — an argument that has been heavily criticized by other journalists.

Attkisson told WPHT that irregular activity on her computer was first identified in Feb. 2011, when she was reporting on the Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal and on the Obama administration’s green energy spending, which she said “the administration was very sensitive about.” Attkisson has also been a persistent investigator of the events surrounding last year’s attack in Benghazi, and its aftermath.

SOURCE: POLITICO.COM

AMAZING VIDEO OF DEADLY OKLAHOMA TORNADO [VIDEO]

liberating elder — Tue, 21 May 2013 20:16:14 +0000

Brandon Sullivan and his crew documented multiple strong to deadly violent tornadoes today across central Oklahoma.

The first shot is approx 2 miles west of Shawnee, OK.. Brandon said this was some of the most violent motion he has ever witnessed and you could hear the roaring motion as the tornado tears across the land.. This tornado then went on to cause significant damage in Shawnee, Oklahoma..

The second clip is from approximately 4 miles west of Shawnee, Oklahoma and is a powerful multi vortex/wedge tornado….

The third and fourth clips are from near Luther, Oklahoma.. This storm produced the tornado near Edmond, OK earlier in the day..

The final clip is the cone tornado near Edmond, OK earlier in the day.

6 FOODS TO BOOST BRAIN FUNCTION!

liberating elder — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:58:45 +0000

Foods high in compounds such as antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids can improve brain health and memory, experts say.

From fruit to fish, here are six things that, based on various studies, may perk up your gray matter.

Walnuts

They even look like little brains, so maybe that’s Mother Nature’s way of telling us what walnuts are good for.

Indeed, a 2009 study in the Journal of Nutrition found that diets in which nuts made up as little as 2 percent reversed signs of aging in the brains of old rats, including the ability of the brain to function and process information.

And a study presented in 2010 at the International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease reported that mice with Alzheimer’s demonstrated improved learning, memory and motor coordination after being fed walnuts.

Walnuts contain high amounts of antioxidants, which some researchers say may combat the damage to brain cells’ DNA caused by free radicals in our bodies.

Carrots

Carrots have long been known to be good for the eyes — and it turns out, they’re good for the brain, too.

Carrots have high levels of a compound called luteolin , which could reduce age-related memory deficits and inflammation in the brain, according to a study published in 2010 in the journal Nutrition. In the study, mice whose daily diet was supplemented with 20 milligrams of luteolin had reduced inflammation in their brains. The researchers said the compound also restored the mice’s memory to the level of younger mice’s.

Olive oil, peppers and celery are also high in luteolin.

Berries

Adding some vitamin-rich berries to your diet may not be a bad idea if you want to improve your memory, according to several studies.

One study, published in 2010 in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, found that after 12 weeks of daily supplements of wild blueberry juice, nine older adults who had started to experience slight memory problems showed better learning and recall abilities than a similar group of adults who didn’t take the supplements. The blueberry group also showed reduced symptoms of depression.

And in a 2009 report in the Journal of Nutrition, researchers said they examined a group of studies that showed fruits such as blueberries and strawberries, which are high in antioxidants, can decrease a type of stress in cells associated with aging and increase the signaling capabilities in brains. In one of the studies, researchers placed 6-month-old rats on a diet supplemented with blueberry and strawberry extracts (totaling 2 percent of their diet) for nine months. These rats had better spatial and memory skills than rats not given the supplements.

Fish

Although recent research has shown that taking fish oil supplements may not help slow the cognitive decline in people with Alzheimer’s disease, other studies have shown that eating fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids could help slow typical cognitive decline that comes with age.

A 2005 study in the journal Archives of Neurology found that people 65 and older who ate two meals of fish a week for six years had a 13 percent decrease in cognitive decline, compared with people who didn’t eat any fish regularly. And people who ate one meal of fish a week had a 10 percent decrease in cognitive decline.

Fish high in vitamin B12 may also help protect against Alzheimer’s , according to a study published in 2010 in the journal Neurology.