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.

Posted in Financial Crisis, Globalism, Human Behaviour, World Issues | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

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…

View original post 171 more words

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

Read on at the original article source, here, or

Continue reading →

Posted in 'WAR on(of) TERROR', AGENDA 21, China, New World Order, Russia, War Crimes, World Issues | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Roundup ‘Weedkiller’ Feeds Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria, Study Finds


From ‘GreenMedInfo’ by Sayer Ji, Founder

The nightmarish toxicological profile of Roundup herbicide (glyphosate) continues to emerge within the peer-reviewed research, this time revealing its role in supporting the growth of a pathogenic bacteria of great medical significance.

A concerning new study published in the Brazilian Journal of Microbiology titled, “Influence of glyphosate in planktonic and biofilm growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa,” indicates that the world’s most widely used herbicide Roundup (glyphosate) may be contributing to the enhanced growth of the pathogenic bacteria P. aeruginosa in our environment.

The Brazilian team responsible for the study expressed concern over the “virtual nonexistence” of research evaluating glyphosate herbicide-pathogenic microbiota interactions, and conducted a series of microbial experiments to fill this data gap.  They noted:

“Glyphosate is probably the herbicide most discharged into the environment. Due to its extensive use in the protection of crops, it is inevitable that it will reach surface and deep waters (Pournaras et al., 2007), especially after rainfalls.”

P. aeruginosa is commonly found in watercourses and reservoirs in both oxygen (aerobic) and non-oxygen preferring forms (anaerobic), and can be a source of waterborne infection.

 

Read the complete article here.

Posted in ENVIRONMENT, FOODS, HEALTH | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Is the Sun driving ozone and changing the climate?


From the JoNova excellent blog, some scientific information that contrasts starkly with the general flood of propaganda.

In 2015 the hunt for clues continues…

The central mystery in climate science is the Sun. The direct energy from the 1.4 million-kilometer-wide flaming ball stays remarkably constant. The radiation pours down on us but the relentless sameness of the watts can’t be causing of the swings in temperature on Earth. Something else is going on with the Sun. For one thing, the total light energy coming off the Sun stays almost the same but the type of light changes — the spectrum shifts –  with more shorter wavelengths at one point in the cycle and longer wavelengths at the opposite part of the cycle. These have different effects. Shorter wavelengths (UV) generate ozone in the stratosphere and penetrate the ocean. Longer wavelengths don’t. But the Sun is also sending out charged particles and driving a massive fluctuating magnetic field, both of which affect Earth’s atmosphere.

But the tiny changes in total sunlight (TSI) may still be leaving us clues about other things going on with the Sun. David Evans’ notch-delay theory is that TSI is a leading indicator, and after solar TSI peaks, the temperatures on Earth follows with a peak roughly 11 years or so later (or one solar cycle). But what’s the mechanism? Stephen Wilde has a theory. Plug in your brain, and follow this chain of potential influence:

The Sun —-> UV or charged particles —- > ozone —->  polar jet streams —–> clouds —–> surface temperatures.

Stephen Wilde  put forward the first version of this hypothesis in 2010. It is long past time to get into those details.

Read all about it here.

Learn about true science, as distinct from political agenda-driven, “settled” pseudo-science.

Posted in AGENDA 21, AGW, climate change, ENVIRONMENT, Science, World Issues | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

Smart Meters Have Failed and Were a Dumb Investment


Failed Smart Meter ProgamAs we approach the end of 2014, it is clear that it has been a devastating year for utility smart meters and smart grid advocates.  Whether all utility executives yet realize it or not, smart meters have failed.  They have failed miserably to the deliver the promised benefits.  We are left with nothing but the increased costs and risks associated with boondoggle projects reminiscent of pork barrel spending bills approved in the middle of the night by a Congress wanting to get home for the Christmas holidays.

 

The Year in Review
Here is a list of some of the most important articles and events highlighted this year at SkyVision Solutions:
Whether the issue ranges from privacy to cyber threats to fires to health effects, it has been all bad news.  Furthermore, there have been news reports that question the fundamental underpinnings of why governments and the smart grid industry were supposedly trying to ever sell us this smart meter fiasco of a project in the first place.
Cracks in the Industry Narrative
Cracks in the smart grid industry narrative began to appear in June when the industry mouthpiece website SmartGridNews.com ran an article called, “Smart meters trapped between benefits and dangers, claims Forbes.”  In quoting the Forbes article, SmartGridNews.com stated:
“Despite the promise of empowering people through enhanced consumption data… some people are scared and resist the idea of smart metering, citing concerns about meter accuracy, data security, and health,” wrote Forbes contributor Federico Guerrini.  “Privacy is probably the most sensitive issue:  similarly to what happens with phone calls metadata, information about the energy consumption of a family or of an individual, can reveal a lot of details about the life of the persons monitored.”
A “reality check” report was released in July by the South-central Partnership for Energy Efficiency as a Resource (SPEER) in Texas, entitled “An Update on Smart Energy in Texas.”  In that report it was stated that:
“Texas has nearly seven million smart meters deployed, but according to the most recently available published data:
  • Only 30,000 customers log in each month to Smart Meter Texas to obtain consumption information.  That’s less than ½ of one percent.
  • Only 60,000 customers have ever logged in to Smart Meter Texas, or less than 1% (Smart Meter Texas, 2013).
As of the last public report about Smart Meter Texas, there are only 12,000 HAN devices connected to Smart Meter Texas, or less than 1 for every 540 smart meters deployed (Smart Meter Texas, 2013).  According to an anecdotal report from the Smart Meter Texas Operations Manager, that number has fallen by over 15% in the year since the report was issued.”
Also in July an article was featured at Bloomberg.com regarding hackers finding an open back door to the power grid.  According to the Bloomberg.com article:
“Making the electricity grid greener is boosting its vulnerability to computer hacking, increasing the risk that spies or criminals can cause blackouts.”
“Adding wind farms, solar panels and smart meters to the power distribution system opens additional portals through which hackers can attack the grid, according to computer security experts advising governments and utilities.”
“… electronic meters that send real time power usage to consumers and utilities are providing new back-door entry paths for computer hackers to raise havoc with the grid.”
There was another admission from SmartGridNews.com in late December in an article that dealt primarily with smart meter-related fires:
“The fires put utilities in a bind.  Smart meters have been an essential building block for the smart grid initiative and have been represented as providing several benefits, including more reliable service, enabling customers to better control their energy use and participate in money- and energy-saving programs, as well as enabling automating smart devices in their homes.”
“However, several utilities have or are dealing with lawsuits and backlash from customers who do not want the advanced meters, criticism that they invite invasion of privacy and cause health problems — all issues that have led to organized groups dedicated to stopping smart meter deployments.  While many utilities have fine-tuned their customer outreach and communication programs and offered or agreed to opt-out options, those solutions are likely inadequate to the task at hand:  reassuring a number of wary customers that smart meters are safe.”
So finally there has been at least some recognition of the “dangers” associated with smart meter technology; plus, consumers are not necessarily all that interested in reviewing their private “enhanced consumption data” that was supposedly going to “empower” them.
Warnings from the UK, Canada, and Australia on Costs 
Then came a warning in September from the UK:  “Smart metering technology ‘could be out-of-date’ by the time it is rolled out, MPs [Members of Parliament] warn” and that the Public Accounts Committee also questioned the value of the £10.6 billion project, with consumers expected to save just £26 a year.
Plus, keep in mind for the UK that the measly savings of £26 a year, 2% of the average bill, is a hypothetical number that is projected if consumers change their behavior based on what the smart meters are telling them.  This amounts to wishful thinking that people need or want smart meter data to reduce energy consumption.
Furthermore, a new published study released in mid-December showed that in-home displays (IHDs) provided to customers in the UK in combination with smart meters would likely have little effect on influencing consumers to conserve energy.  The smart meters and IHDs may have a “novelty factor” for awhile that will wear off over time.
For a press release summarizing the Ontario Auditor General report, refer to the following link:  Auditor General New Release – Smart Metering Initiative Had Serious Shortcomings – Benefits Not Yet Realized
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The Empire is Crumbling, A Realistic Viewpoint and an Appeal for a Sane Future.


André Vltchek PictureThe Empire is Crumbling, That is Why it Needs War, by André Vltchek

From ‘The Vineyard Saker in Oceana”

What follows is a little of what Andre writes, read the complete article here, and please tell me where you think it is not right on the ball!

The world is in turmoil. Like in the early 1940’s, something tremendous is gaining shape, something irreversible.

Almost all of us who have been analyzing the Empire fighting against the propaganda and nihilism it spreads, and its venomous tentacles extending to every corner of the globe, know that ‘appeasing’ Western imperialism is clearly impossible, as it is impractical, and even immoral.

Just as George W. Bush (clearly borrowing from fundamentalist Christian rhetoric), liked to say: “You are either with us or against us”. Countries are now evidently put on the spot: ‘they either accept the Western neo-colonialist doctrine’, or they get destroyed, one after another, as were Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria.

No logic can help, no negotiations, no international mediation from the United Nations. The willingness to compromise is mocked. Appeals for simple human compassion do not move the rulers of the Empire even an inch.

It is clear that the Empire is preparing for the final assault. It will not back down. It will attack, destroy and annihilate. No idea when, but it will. And it will happen sooner rather than later, and with tremendous force.

Some would ask, why now? Why is there suddenly such a rush to fight the final battle for the total control over the planet?

The answer is very clear: for the first time disgust with the Empire is widespread, and worldwide. Many people are getting cured from blindness.

The mask of benevolence and rationality has been torn off by powerful media outlets based in the countries of Latin America, in Russia, China, Iran, but also in North America where the independent media is playing an increasingly important role. It is not even a matter of some elaborate ‘objectivity’, anymore. To get things right, it is enough to call fascism by its real name, as it is sufficient to identify mass murder perpetrated by the Empire on all continents!

The mask has fallen and what is now exposed is horrifying: the face of a monster, with blood and pus, a greedy grin and merciless fangs. It is a monster that is still in love with itself, unable to see its dreadfulness. It remains proud of its fundamental religious dogma, which it often doesn’t even see as ‘religious’. It dwells on self-righteousness, and at the same time, on its twisted market-fundamentalist faith that everything and everybody are for sale. It is a monster full of complexes – both those of superiority and inferiority.

 

Despite all of its terror, propaganda and brainwashing called ‘education’, the Empire is well aware that it is losing its grip on global power. And it is horrified, because it does not know how else to live, except with a whip in its hand. Planet Earth realizes that the ruler is sinister, ruthless and degenerate – some people realize it clearly using logic, others just sense it, intuitively. If there was really a global democracy, the people of our planet would throw the existing power structure straight to the dogs. But there isn’t, there still isn’t! Just look at the toothless, constantly humiliated United Nations. Almost everywhere, voting has become nothing more than an act of sticking a piece of paper into a box, and not much more.

 

The ‘peace’, we were told about again and again, is something that has to be achieved and upheld by all means.

But what kind of peace are we aiming at, and peace for whom?

The Empire want a ‘peace’ arrangement, in which countries like Cuba and Russia, Venezuela and China, just back down, give up, and surrender. That is not peace!

We are asked, ordered, to live peacefully in a world ruled by European and North American masters, as some slaves crawling in filth.

Are we expected to succumb to the one and only religious dogma on which this entire racist, imperialist and capitalist system is built?

What a prospect, what a peace!

To them, to the imperialist West, peace means only one thing: unopposed rule over the planet.

 

The Empire is decomposing; it is sick, unsustainable.

But it is also toxic, and its illness is contagious. Its propaganda is mighty and its dogmas are violent.

Let us make sure that it goes away, crumbles, step by step, without destroying the world, without dragging it into WWIII.

Let us unite, individuals and nations, movements and parties. At least until the most dangerous period passes.

Source:http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/12/26/the-empire-is-crumbling-that-is-why-it-needs-war/

 

Andre Vltchek is a novelist, filmmaker and investigative journalist. He covered wars and conflicts in dozens of countries. The result is his latest book: “Fighting Against Western Imperialism”. ‘Pluto’ published his discussion with Noam Chomsky: On Western Terrorism. His critically acclaimed political novel Point of No Return is re-edited and available. Oceania is his book on Western imperialism in the South Pacific. His provocative book about post-Suharto Indonesia and the market-fundamentalist model is called “Indonesia – The Archipelago of Fear”. His feature documentary, “Rwanda Gambit” is about Rwandan history and the plunder of DR Congo. After living for many years in Latin America and Oceania, Vltchek presently resides and works in East Asia and Africa. He can be reached through his website or his Twitter.

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