Grandmaster Putin’s Trap


I expect that a few people already realize the ploy of reducing oil prices at the behest of the US and its controllers is to weaken Russia’s economy and subdue it into submission to the will of the NWO Cabal. It says a lot that the West have sufficient influence to achieve this but that is another story.

Where the West’s problem lies is that the US Dollar is well and truly overinflated and is susceptible to a correction that would be catastrophic. It is often referred to as the Petrodollar because it is/was the main currency for international trade of oil and gas (and a lot of other commodities), probably the only reason for the surprising survival of its inflated value to date.

The failure of the West to bring Russia into disrepute by falsely blaming them for the downing of MH 17 over Ukraine and falsely blaming Russia for invading Ukraine, has led to this economic attack which, as suggested in this article, is also bound to fail. It is unfortunate that the general public fall for the “official” press and Western leaders’ rhetoric and propaganda, simply hypocrisy and blatant lies.

Worse still, our PM, Tony Abbott, has allied Australia with these atrocious, unjustified attacks on Russia, Ukraine and the Middle East. Imagine what should be our and his embarrassment at Tony Abbott’s official statement in front of him, that Putin was responsible for the MH 17  incident when it was known then, by the rest of the world, to be a fraudulent accusation, and is now proven to be so. [Sorry, got off the track 🙂 ]

Whatever the rest of the world think of Putin and Russia, there is a need for clear thinking about the whole situation. It is not patriotic to support your country/government if they are indulging in lies and war crimes and that is exactly what is happening here. It is foolish and will be regrettable.

So, to the source article, By Dmitry KALINICHENKO (Russia), on ‘Oriental Review‘:

Accusations of the West towards Putin are traditionally based on the fact that he worked in the KGB. And therefore he is a cruel and immoral person. Putin is blamed for everything. But nobody ever accused Putin of the lack of intelligence.

Any accusations against this man only emphasize his ability for quick analytical thinking and making clear and balanced political and economic decisions.

Often Western media compares this ability with the ability of a grandmaster, conducting a public chess simul. Recent developments in US economy and the West in general allow us to conclude that in this part of the assessment of Putin’s personality Western media are absolutely right.

Despite numerous success reports in the style of Fox News and CNN, today, Western economy, led by the United States is in Putin’s trap, the way out of which no one in the West can see or find. And the more the West is trying to escape from this trap, the more stuck it becomes.

What is the truly tragic predicament of the West and the United States, in which they find themselves? And why all the Western media and leading Western economists are silent about this, as a well guarded military secret? Let’s try to understand the essence of current economic events, in the context of the economy, setting aside the factors of morality, ethics and geopolitics.

After realizing its failure in Ukraine, the West, led by the US set out to destroy Russian economy by lowering oil prices, and accordingly gas prices as the main budget sources of export revenue in Russia and the main sources of replenishment of Russian gold reserves. It should be noted that the main failure of the West in Ukraine is not military or political. But in the actual refusal of Putin to fund the Western project of Ukraine at the expense of the budget of Russian Federation. What makes this Western project not viable in the near and inevitable future.

Last time under president Reagan, such actions of the West’s lowering of oil prices led to ‘success’ and the collapse of USSR. But history does not repeat itself all the time. This time things are different for the West. Putin’s response to the West resembles both chess and judo, when the strength used by the enemy is used against him, but with minimal costs to the strength and resources of the defender. Putin’s real policies are not public. Therefore, Putin’s policy largely has always focused not so much on effect, but on efficiency.

To continue the source article.

 

Posted in 'WAR on(of) TERROR', Globalism, MIDDLE EAST, New World Order, War Crimes | Tagged , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Waking Up is Hard to Do


With so much drama currently being enacted and imposing a deluge of information into our lives, this particular post delves into a very real aspect of our understanding – how do we react to new information? How do we perceive reality?

Conflicting evidence and emotions are inherent in our thought processes and our ability to get the correct interpretation is rife with complexities.

This blog goes on and on about the main issues regarding war and terrorism, global warming, vaccine dangers and financial crises, all of which are contentious and, in some way or other, life-threatening. Surely it is important to get our perceptions correct and our decision-making based on truth and reality, rather than living in a sort of dream world?

We all handle and react to information differently, this article from ‘Zero Hedge‘, by ‘Cognitive Dissonance‘ takes a bit of absorbing, but puts into words the personal internal issues that affect our judgement.

Do you remember when you first woke up, that point when it all became frighteningly clear to you? I certainly don’t, and if rigorous honesty is employed I doubt you do as well.

I make this statement with a high degree of certainty based not just upon my own personal experience, but from countless conversations over the years. Stated simply, ‘waking up’ is not an on/off switched event, but rather a process of slowly clearing away the fog of self deception and comforting illusion. Just as we do not instantly wake from our overnight slumber fully aware and properly functioning, so too do we fail to shake off decades of deep social conditioning and propaganda in an instant.

Sure, during this awakening process there are lightening strikes of clarity and revelation that stop us dead in our tracks while sickening the stomach and weakening the legs. The most devastating of these bolts from the blue are usually self revelatory and rarely joyful events. In fact I still suffer from these ‘First Light’ events to this day. The only thing worse than being caught naked to the world is to be exposed to our ‘self’ devoid of comforting emotional cover.

It is the height of childish thinking, something I am guilty far too often of, to believe we can wipe away in days, weeks or even months what has been carefully and painstakingly crafted within our psyche (what we think of as our ‘self’) over decades; our entire lifetime in fact. The ego does not easily concede its manipulative techniques nor lift its concealing veils willingly and without a ferocious fight.

That emotional stab in the gut you feel when you reach a recognition point is your ego falsely telling you ‘here be dragons’. The trick, if further progress is sincerely desired, is to stay the course and endure further emotional pain rather than run for the hills and continue to hide from the self.

A common misconception, maybe even self deception, pertaining to our corporate and governmental masters is the idea ‘they’ somehow trick ‘us’ into doing things contrary to our own best interest. I deliberately use the word ‘trick’ in this case since others, myself included, dress it up (lipstick on a pig anyone?) by calling it manipulation, propaganda and implied consent. While those words accurately describe the larger overall picture of what’s going on under the covers, in fact the techniques employed are not speaking directly to ‘us’, but rather to our ego and subconscious ‘self’.

Like the master puppeteer carefully hidden above by darkness, heavy curtains and the prancing distraction below, the ego wants us to ‘believe’ the thoughts, ideas and ‘beliefs’ (aka ‘truth’) we profess as ours are actually ‘ours’. Thus ‘we’ are as vulnerable to circumvention as the Maginot Line was and tragically ignorant of our own defenseless condition. Sadly most, if not all, of us are willfully ignorant of our own vulnerability because to examine that particular line of thought requires we open the entire can of self revelation whoop ass. And as we all know too well by now ‘here be dragons’ so why even try.

If this is starting to make sense, read the complete article here.

In real life, it is important to be able to base our lives on actualities, not on misconceptions and propaganda. Be wary of any attempts to control your independence and freedoms, or to affect your health, or to lessen your moral values.

Posted in HEALTH, Human Behaviour, Philosophy | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

The effects of radio frequency radiation upon the brain: Dr Leif Salford, neurosurgeon


In our interests to take this seriously.

Stop Smart Meters Australia

Dr. Leif Salford is a neurosurgeon at Lund University Hospital (Sweden), and Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery. Since 1988 he has led a team of researchers that have exposed thousands of laboratory rats to microwave radiation from various sources. Since the late 1990s they have used mobile telephones as the source of this radiation.

The results have been consistent and alarming: not only does radiation from a mobile phones damage the blood-brain barrier, but it does so at even when the exposure level is reduced a thousandfold.

This is presentation by Dr. Leif Salford on the effects of radio frequency radiation (RF) upon the brain.  The statistics are jolting, to say the least: YouTube Link

See also: http://www.cellphonetaskforce.org/?page_id=579

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Posted in ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH, radiation | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Now Hear This! – “Australian government exploits Paris attacks”


How much lateral thinking does it take to consider this as a questionable reaction to an overseas “terrorist” activity, especially one that is being seriously questioned as a political ploy.

So many pointers to political agendas that align with the UN and its associated people and organizations, that are followed by limiting freedoms of whole populations on very flimsy evidence of any justification.

Australians cannot be expected to immediately start to doubt the veracity of Tony Abbott, who is however, acting independently of parliament,  a huge factor to consider.

But, hopefully, Australian readers will start to wonder about what is really happening and leave their mental door slightly ajar for further examples of unjustified political controls.

If your immediate reaction is to think they are justified, please spend some time checking this and other connected blogs for references and links that will open your eyes. Unless they are “Eyes Wide Shut”! Perhaps “wired shut”.

I often refer to George Orwell’s fictional but fast becoming factual, novel “Nineteen Eighty Four”. It is recommended reading for people of all mature ages and enables current political activities to be viewed in a more understandable way.

Here is a lot of the ‘World Socialist Web Site” article by Mike Head.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott immediately seized upon the attack on the Charlie Hebdo editorial offices in Paris to foreshadow further boosting the vast powers of Australia’s police-intelligence apparatus and expanding the country’s frontline participation in the US-led war in Iraq and Syria.

While claiming to speak in defence of free speech and other supposed “precious values” of “Western civilisation,” Abbott sought to justify a barrage of measures that abrogate free speech and other fundamental democratic rights, along with stepped-up involvement in the renewed drive by American imperialism to establish hegemony over the Middle East.

Even before the basic facts surrounding the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris were known, Abbott lumped it together with recent incidents in Australia, despite the obvious differences between them. Abbott not only echoed, but amplified, the responses from the US, British and French governments, declaring that a global “war” had been launched against the “freedom” of the Western world.

“Sadly, we can expect more of this because the ISIL [also known as ISIS, or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria] or Da’ish, as they call it in the Middle East, death cult has declared war on the world,” he said.

Abbott linked the Charlie Hebdo massacre to the armed siege last month at the Lindt Café in Sydney, in which two hostages and the deranged hostage-taker were killed, and the alleged attempted stabbing of two policemen in Melbourne last September by a teenager who was slain by the police. “Paris (was) an unspeakable atrocity,” he said. “But it is of a piece with what we saw in Martin Place a couple of weeks ago; it’s of a piece with what we saw at the Victorian police station a couple of months ago; it’s of a piece with actions that have been perpetrated by extremist fanatics in France before.”

Are you starting to get the picture?  Continue reading

Posted in 'WAR on(of) TERROR', AGENDA 21, AUSTRALIA, Human Behaviour, New World Order | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Federal Reserve is doctoring statistics; financial expert predicts US economic bubble to collapse soon


From ‘Natural News’, by .

Information that might, I guess, unfortunately be accurate. Undoubtedly the US and global financial  scenario(s) are technically unsustainable and economic balance and stability more of  a dream (?nightmare), than in any way sound.

Where this will lead is impossible to predict confidently, but Peter Schiff’s opinion is surely a valid possibility. Important to read and reflect on this rather than believe what is not true.

(NaturalNews) Best-selling author and financial expert Peter Schiff is someone worth listening to when he makes a forecast regarding the economy.

Schiff, who is also CEO and chief global strategist at Euro Pacific Capital Inc., was one of the few who accurately predicted the crash of 2008. But, as he is fond of pointing out, that crisis was merely an initial tremor compared to the financial earthquake that he predicts will be coming in the near future — perhaps as early as 2015.

In recent interviews, Schiff has been warning that estimates of economic growth are overblown, and that the U.S. economy is in far worse shape than the GDP growth figures suggest.

Read all about it here.

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Forbidden History: Did You Know that Raggedy Ann is an Iconic symbol for Vaccine Induced Injury and Death?


This is a classic article of overwhelming significance.vaccine2

It shows that as far back as 1915, vaccinations were under suspicion of both health dangers and questionable medical practices. Including collusion from supporters covering their own backsides. Under suspicion for very solid reasons, what’s more! A complete absence of ethics and responsibility. On shaky scientific grounds for nearly 100 years!

I would like to copy a substantial part of the article for purposes of maximum exposure and apologize for any copyright or related  ethical issues.

It is a fascinating story, the fact that it is based on a tragedy makes it sad but at the same time makes it powerful. It now has direct relevance to modern injustices where extremes in all the relevant areas are currently being applied to today’s public.

Then there was at least a serious attempt at honesty and justice – “Ultimately, “Seven leading physicians are called upon to opine about the cause of her death. Six consented it is the result of vaccine induced poisoning and call it malpractice. The seventh, being the head of the school board and a supporter of vaccination, declines to comment.”  Even then, authorities were apparently not interested in justice.

I would be interested if any qualified person would genuinely refute the timing element provided in the included charts , as they are, as they stand, clear scientific proof against the industry claims of both need and efficacy.

I am enthused about bringing this article, linked here, to reader’s attention.

by PAUL FASSA, from Real Farmacy – “Forbidden History”.

Johnny Gruelle created the Quintessential Raggedy Ann doll in 1915 (US patent D47789). Raggedy_Ann_&_Andy_-_Project_Gutenberg_eText_17371Gruelle was a successful American writer, cartoonist, storyteller and illustrator who worked for a popular magazine at the time called Physical Culture.
Many are unaware that Gruelle’s famous Raggedy Ann storybooks and illustrations were based in large part on Marcella’s childhood adventures.

Marcella’s Vaccine Tragedy

Not long after the creation of the much beloved Raggedy Ann, Gruelle’s only child and 13 year old daughter Marcella died a painful death after receiving a routine small pox vaccination at school, which was given without parental consent.

Reports indicate that after the initial inoculation Marcella had, “… lost her appetite, and became feverish and fatigued.” Amazingly, more inoculations were given despite her negative reaction from the first jab.  Predictably Marcella’s health continued to decline to the point where she lost all muscle control, “becoming listless and lifeless like a rag doll.”

While all this was going on at school, her parents knew nothing about it and had never ever given their consent for any vaccinations.

Sadly, Marcella died a slow and agonizing death. The Gruelle’s were convinced beyond any doubt that the vaccination was the culprit behind the death of their only child, even though school authorities and vaccination proponents insisted Marcella had died from a preexisting heart defect.

Ultimately, “Seven leading physicians are called upon to opine about the cause of her death. Six consented it is the result of vaccine induced poisoning and call it malpractice. The seventh, being the head of the school board and a supporter of vaccination, declines to comment.”

The Creation of the Raggedy Ann Doll

Johnny had originally created Raggedy Ann as an unlikely protagonist gracing the many stories he began writing to entertain his young sickly daughter, Marcella. For those who are not familiar or who have forgotten, Raggedy Ann was the unusual character starring in a series of stories for young children that became a sensation. She was a rag doll who sported bright, red yarn hair and a triangle nose.

The story goes, one afternoon Marcella had been rummaging around in the attic of her grandmother’s house when she spied an old storage chest, opened it and to her delight found a faceless rag doll.  When Marcella showed her dad the faceless doll he drew a unique face on it. “The doll had no face, so, it was her Dad, Johnny Gruelle, who put the famous black eyes, red triangle nose, and separated mouth on the original doll and Grandma made a new dress.”

Johnny then proceeded to walk over to his bookshelf, where he pulled down a book of poems by James Whitcomb Riley. After thumbing through the pages, he found two poems that suited him and combined their titles to create a name for his daughter’s rag doll. So “The Raggedy Man” and “Little Orphan Annie,” poem titles were morphed into “Raggedy Ann.” Gruelle then suggested Marcella name her rag doll Raggedy Ann.

In 1918, Gruelle had sold his first volume of Raggedy Ann Stories published by P. F. Volland Company based in Chicago. The Raggedy Ann doll was marketed along with the book and within months the book and doll were selling like hotcakes.

Raggedy Andy

Two years later, in 1920 Gruelle wrote the sequel Raggedy Andy Stories where a new rag doll character debuted named Raggedy Andy, who was to be Ann’s brother. Andy wore a sailor suit and hat, had a triangle nose and the trademark red yarn hair. A Raggedy Andy doll was created to accompany the sequel and as a striking complement  to the popular Raggedy Ann doll. In 1929, Gruelle published Marcella: A Raggedy Ann Story which was a much anticipated tribute to his beloved daughter, who had died unexpectedly from a smallpox vaccination at the tender age of thirteen.

Anti Vaccination Movement

Not long after his daughter’s death from vaccination, Johnny Gruelle was commissioned to create an illustration for an article titled “Vaccines Killed My Two Sisters.” Cleverly, Gruelle enclosed the following note along with his submitted illustration.

“Having recently lost our only daughter through Vaccination (in public school, without our consent) you may realize how terribly HUMOROUS the subject of vaccination appears to Mrs. Gruelle and myself. Of the seven physicians called in on the case, six pronounced it in emphatic terms MALPRACTICE. The seventh did not commit himself, being the head of the school board and a firm advocate of vaccination.”

The tragic vaccine induced death of Marcella propelled Johnny to become a staunch member of the anti-vaccination movement of the time. Johnny’s wife, Myrtle Gruelle, explained that Johnny had been putting the final touches on the Raggedy Ann doll just prior to Marcella’s untimely death.  Ironically, the patent for the Raggedy Ann character, soon to be adopted as an iconic symbol for anti-vaccination advocates, had been granted around the same time as Marcella’s death from vaccination.

 

killed_by_vaccnation_largeObviously, Raggedy Ann was not originally conceived by Gruelle as an iconic symbol representing injury and death from vaccines, yet the doll is uncanny in its evocation of a child who has become limp like rag doll from a vaccine injury. The expression “like a rag doll” immediately conjures up the qualities of listless and lifeless, those same qualities that accurately described Marcella’s frail body, after injection with deadly inoculations by well-meaning public school “vaccinators.”

 

 

Surely, Johnny would not have objected to fact that his beloved rag doll became an icon for almost a century of childhood vaccine injuries and deaths. Reality check: the anti-vaccination movement is not merely a modern movement started by a few misguided misfits. Objections to vaccinations began at the very same time that vaccinations came into use – from the get-go.

“As governments began to compel their citizens to be vaccinated, resistance to the procedure grew. Anti-vaccination societies became especially vocal during the late nineteenth century. Many anti-vaccinators believed that vaccination was, as George Bernard Shaw put it, a … “filthy piece of witchcraft which did more harm than good.”

America, introduced compulsory vaccination on a state by state basis. Although there is no mandatory federal vaccination law, all 50 states require children who attend public school to be vaccinated. Vaccination exemptions are issued in all states. “All 50 states issue medical exemptions, 48 states (excluding Mississippi and West Virginia) permit religious exemptions, and 19 states allow an exemption for philosophical reasons.”

Whatever happened to the Smallpox Vaccine? “Routine smallpox vaccination in the United States ended in 1972. Officials are hesitant to resume the immunizations because the vaccine is the most reactive of all and has been linked to serious side effects, including death.” ~ Reuters, November 29, 2001.

The Data below is from Greg Beattie’s book, Vaccination A Parent’s Dilemma. For those of you who have been mislead by corporate vaccination lies, this will come as quite a shock. When you take a step back and look at the big picture, it is remarkably clear that vaccinations did not in fact save us.

Please now connect to the original article for more information, including two compelling videos, the authors credentials and relevant references.

I would love to get sensible and respectful, feedback on this post, positive or critical. If any part of this post can be proven to be scientifically invalid, an appropriate response will be forthcoming and will be taken up with the originating author.

 

Posted in drugs & medication, HEALTH, medical, vaccines | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Richard Smith: Is the pharmaceutical industry like the mafia?


From ‘The BMJ’, originally an older post but of increasing relevance as we see much to worry about in many areas, including this one of the “Big Pharma” industry.

The article commences as follows, merits a full read here, and suggests the book worth reading. I cannot see anything wrong with that suggestion.

The piece that follows is my foreword to a new and fascinating book by Peter  Gøtzsche, the head of the Nordic Cochrane Centre, entitled Deadly Medicines and Organised Crime: How Big Pharma Has Corrupted Healthcare. I hope that this piece might prompt you to read the book. I was not paid for my foreword and will not receive any payment from the book.

There must be plenty of people who shudder when they hear that Peter  Gøtzsche will be speaking at a meeting or see his name  on the contents list of a journal. He is like the young boy who not only could see that the emperor had no clothes but also said so. Most of us either cannot see that the emperor is naked or will not announce it when we see his nakedness, which is why we badly need people like Peter. He is not a compromiser or a dissembler, and he has a taste for strong, blunt language and colourful metaphors.  Some, perhaps many, people might be put off reading this book by Peter’s insistence on comparing the pharmaceutical industry to the mob, but those who turn away from the book will miss an important opportunity to understand something important about the world—and to be shocked.

An emotional debate at the Danish Society for Rheumatology
Peter ends his book with a story of how the Danish Society for Rheumatology asked him to speak to the theme “Collaboration with the drug industry. Is it THAT harmful?” The original title was “Collaboration with the drug industry. Is it harmful?” but the society thought that too strong. Peter started his talk by enumerating the “crimes” of the meeting’s sponsors. Pfizer, for instance, had been fined $2.3 billion in the United States for  promoting offlabel use of four drugs, while Merck, the last sponsor, had, said Peter, been responsible for the deaths of thousands of patients with its deceptive behaviour around a drug for arthritis. After this beginning to his talk he launched into his condemnation of the industry.

You can imagine being at the meeting, with the sponsors spluttering with rage and the organisers acutely embarrassed. Peter quotes a colleague as saying that he felt “my direct approach might have pushed some people away who were undetermined.” But most of the audience were engaged and saw legitimacy in Peter’s points. In the following year all but one of the companies declined to sponsor the meeting.

Right about mammography
The many people who have enthusiastically supported routine mammography to prevent breast cancer might empathise with the sponsors—because Peter has been critical of them and published a book on his experiences around mammography. The important point for me is that Peter was one of few people criticising routine mammography when he began his investigations but—despite intense attacks on him—has been proved largely right.

Posted in Corruption, drugs & medication, HEALTH, medical, Science | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

How Much Warming Have School Leavers Seen?


This is prompted by the BOM post on Facebook today which claims:
“WATCH: 2014 was Australia’s third-warmest year on record with frequent heatwaves and warm spells. Rainfall was near average for Australia as a whole, but drier in much of the east and along the west coast. More information in our latest Annual Climate Statement: http://bom.is/acs
So for readers who can think for themselves, hopefully including students, an interesting excercise for you to reach your own conclusions.
After all, how less a scientific statement can you get from the official government sources than “climate change was having a significant impact on Australia’s temperatures,..”?

If she really means ‘global warming’ then that makes her statement simply incorrect, instead of simply meaningless, because ‘global warming’ is currently in recession. Which, of course, is why the ‘global warming’ label has been discontinued by the officials.

How more naked can this ‘Emperor’ of ‘climate change’ be? How long before the public are prepared to see and admit that the ‘catastrophic global trends due to carbon pollution’ are not clothed with scientific substance.

It is necessary to read the reblogged post to find clear scientific assessment that stands up to scrutiny and makes a nonsense of this BOM official propaganda.

kenskingdom

Reports of the recent heatwave and record high temperatures in November (which coincided with the end of schooling for our Year 12 students), have been exciting the media here in Australia, and last week Professor Lesley Hughes of the Climate Council got herself overheated and joined in.

Professor Hughes, an ecologist, this year was awarded the Australian Government Eureka Prize for Promoting Understanding of Australian Science Research.

prof hughes

See  http://australianmuseum.net.au/media/2014-Eureka-Promoting

Last week, she claimed that “climate change was having a significant impact on Australia’s temperatures, with record-breaking weather becoming more frequent and more severe.”

“Nine of the 10 warmest springs have occurred in just the last 13 years,’’ Prof Hughes said. “Heatwaves are becoming hotter, lasting longer and occurring more often.

“This is resulting in year after year of recordbreaking temperatures, which increases the risk of bushfires, droughts and heatwave-related health issues.”

How much of this frightening climate change have the…

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Posted in AGENDA 21, AGW, AUSTRALIA, climate change, ENVIRONMENT | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Ford Model T


This is a fun post.

The other night I lost a $100 bet (not yet paid), when playing children’s Trivial Pursuit with the family.  I claimed that the model T was the first Ford production car, in  contrast to the game card answer that it was the model A.

Ford model T  model T

One of our family Googled the question  and got confirmation that model A was correct.

Ford model Amodel A

Without going back down that track, my present defence was to ask my search engine, ‘infoplease’, which tells me the following:

Henry Ford

The Inception of the Ford Motor Company

Ford showed mechanical aptitude at an early age and left (1879) his father’s farm to work as an apprentice in a Detroit machine shop. He soon returned to his home, but after considerable experimentation with power-driven vehicles, he went (1890) to Detroit again and worked as a machinist and engineer with the Edison Company. Ford continued working in his spare time as well, and in 1896 he completed his first automobile. Resigning (1899) from the Edison Company he launched the Detroit Automobile Company.

A disagreement with his associates led Ford to organize (1903) the Ford Motor Company in partnership with Alexander Malcomson, James Couzens (who devised and oversaw the company’s successful early business and accounting procedures), the Dodge brothers, and others. In 1907 he purchased the stock owned by most of his associates, and thereafter the Ford family remained in control of the company. By cutting the costs of production, by adapting the conveyor belt and assembly line to automobile production, and by featuring an inexpensive, standardized car, Ford was soon able to outdistance all his competitors and become the largest automobile producer in the world. He came to be regarded as the apostle of mass production. In 1908 he guided his chief engineer Harold Wills in the design of the Model T; nearly 17 million cars were produced worldwide before the model was discontinued (1928) and a new design—the Model A—was created to meet growing competition. Highly publicized for paying wages considerably above the average, Ford began in 1914—the year he created a sensation by announcing that in future his workers would receive $5 for an 8-hr day—a profit-sharing plan that would distribute up to $30 million annually among his employees. [My bold emphasis]

In other words, it appears that I am correct!

My answer was from experience (Australian), from recalled knowledge and visual recollections of model A Fords which were far more advanced in style, function  and comfort than the model T. (At that time I was a car enthusiast in my teens in the early 50’s).

Sure the model T was innovative, with a steering gearbox and a cyclic gearbox but it did not have a starter motor.

So, here is the question for readers:

How come the Trivial Pursuit  game and a ‘googled response’ claims the model A to be the first Ford production car?

Please advise me what is the reason for this confusion?

Do I owe the rest of my family $100?

 

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Darkness at the Brink of Chaos


From ‘CounterPunch’, an article well worth reading

Russia and China Mock Divide-and-Rule

by PEPE ESCOBAR,m

The Roman Empire did it. The British Empire copied it in style. The Empire of Chaos has always done it. They all do it. Divide et impera. Divide and rule – or divide and conquer. It’s nasty, brutish and effective. Not forever though, like diamonds, because empires do crumble.

A room with a view to the Pantheon may be a celebration of Venus – but also a glimpse on the works of Mars. I had been in Rome essentially for a symposium – Global WARning – organized by a very committed, talented group led by a former member of European Parliament, Giulietto Chiesa. Three days later, as the run on the rouble was unleashed, Chiesa was arrested and expelled from Estonia as persona non grata, yet another graphic illustration of the anti-Russia hysteria gripping the Baltic nations and the Orwellian grip NATO has on Europe’s weak links. [1] Dissent is simply not allowed.

At the symposium, held in a divinely frescoed former 15th century Dominican refectory now part of the Italian parliament’s library, Sergey Glazyev, on the phone from Moscow, gave a stark reading of Cold War 2.0. There’s no real “government” in Kiev; the US ambassador is in charge. An anti-Russia doctrine has been hatched in Washington to foment war in Europe – and European politicians are its collaborators. Washington wants a war in Europe because it is losing the competition with China.

Glazyev addressed the sanctions dementia: Russia is trying simultaneously to reorganize the politics of the International Monetary Fund, fight capital flight and minimize the effect of banks closing credit lines for many businessmen. Yet the end result of sanctions, he says, is that Europe will be the ultimate losers economically; bureaucracy in Europe has lost economic focus as American geopoliticians have taken over.

Only three days before the run on the rouble, I asked Rosneft’s Mikhail Leontyev (Press-Secretary – Director of the Information and Advertisement Department) about the growing rumors of the Russian government getting ready to apply currency controls. At the time, no one knew an attack on rouble would be so swift, and conceived as a checkmate to destroy the Russian economy. After sublime espressos at the Tazza d’Oro, right by the Pantheon, Leontyev told me that currency controls were indeed a possibility. But not yet.

What he did emphasize was this was outright financial war, helped by a fifth column in the Russian establishment. The only equal component in this asymmetrical war was nuclear forces. And yet Russia would not surrender. Leontyev characterized Europe not as a historical subject but as an object: “The European project is an American project.” And “democracy” had become fiction.

The run on the rouble came and went like a devastating economic hurricane. Yet you don’t threat a checkmate against a skilled chess player unless your firepower is stronger than Jupiter’s lightning bolt. Moscow survived. Gazprom heeded the request of President Vladimir Putin and will sell its US dollar reserves on the domestic market. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier went on the record against the EU further “turning the screw” as in more counterproductive sanctions against Moscow. And at his annual press conference, Putin emphasized how Russia would weather the storm. Yet I was especially intrigued by what he did not say. [2]

As Mars took over, in a frenetic acceleration of history, I retreated to my Pantheon room trying to channel Seneca; from euthymia – interior serenity – to that state of imperturbability the Stoics defined as aponia. Still, it’s hard to cultivate euthymia when Cold War 2.0 rages.

Show me your imperturbable missile

Russia could always deploy an economic “nuclear” option, declaring a moratorium on its foreign debt. Then, if Western banks seized Russian assets, Moscow could seize every Western investment in Russia. In any event, the Pentagon and NATO’s aim of a shooting war in the European theater would not happen; unless Washington was foolish enough to start it.

Still, that remains a serious possibility, with the Empire of Chaos accusing Russia of violating the Intermediate-Range escobarchaosNuclear Forces Treaty (INF) even as it prepares to force Europe in 2015 to accept the deployment of US nuclear cruise missiles.

Russia could outmaneuver Western financial markets by cutting them off from its wealth of oil and natural gas. The markets would inevitably collapse – uncontrolled chaos for the Empire of Chaos (or “controlled chaos”, in Putin’s own words).

Imagine the crumbling of the quadrillion-plus of derivatives. It would take years for the “West” to replace Russian oil and natural gas, but the EU’s economy would be instantly devastated.

Just this lightning-bolt Western attack on the rouble – and oil prices – using the crushing power of Wall Street firms had already shaken European banks exposed to Russia to the core; their credit default swaps soared. Imagine those banks collapsing in a Lehman Brothers-style house of cards if Russia decided to default – thus unleashing a chain reaction. Think about a non-nuclear MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) – in fact warless. Still, Russia is self-sufficient in all kinds of energy, mineral wealth and agriculture. Europe isn’t. This could become the lethal result of war by sanctions.

Essentially, the Empire of Chaos is bluffing, using Europe as pawns. The Empire of Chaos is as lousy at chess as it is at history. What it excels in is in upping the ante to force Russia to back down. Russia won’t back down.

Darkness dawns at the break of chaos

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