05 February 2009

NYC's Middle-class Exodus Seen Accelerating

Posted: Crain's NY, February 05, 2009 11:37 AM
By: Daniel Massey
Photographs: A. Golden, eyewash design, c. 2008.

New study cites NYC’s soaring cost of living and flattened wages for “outmigration” of moderate-income families.

The rising cost of living in the five boroughs, combined with a city economy that has been unable to create enough well-paying jobs, has led tens of thousands of middle class New Yorkers to leave the city in recent years and kept others stuck among the ranks of the working poor, a new report shows.

The city, which for much of its history thrived as a place where people from poorer backgrounds could climb into the middle class, is in danger of losing that piece of its identity, the report says.

“New York has long been a city that has groomed a middle class, but that’s a more arduous job today,” said Jonathan Bowles, director of the Center for an Urban Future, a Manhattan-based think tank dedicated to independent research on cities, and one of the report’s authors. “There’s a tremendous amount of positives about the city, yet so many middle class families seem to be stretched to their limits.”

More residents moved out of the five boroughs in each of the years between 2002 and 2006 than in 1993, when the city was far less inviting, the report says. In 2006, 151,441 residents left the city, a 7% increase over 2002. The overall population increased as a result of natural births and immigration.

“The extraordinarily high levels of those relocating through much of the decade — even as crime rates remained at record lows and the city economy was booming — suggests that growing numbers of New Yorkers simply couldn’t prosper here,” the report argues.

The number of New Yorkers with bachelor’s degrees who left the city rose to 29,370 in 2006, up 127% from a year earlier. But they weren’t the only ones leaving. Families with children concerned about the quality of schools and small business owners seeking lower costs and new markets have also left. The number of New Yorkers moving to such places as Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia, for instance, doubled and even tripled during the period studied.

Joe Salvo, director of the New York City Department of Planning’s population division, questioned the report’s findings. He said the study looked at too narrow a time period and examined people leaving the city without looking at those coming in.

“What they’re doing in the report is looking at domestic outflow by itself,” he said. “You can’t do that.”

He said people have moved away from the city throughout history, but that immigrants have always come to replace them.

“We have a dynamic operating here,” he said. “People who come and people who leave, they come from everywhere and they go everywhere.”

He said if outmigration were a problem, it would be visible in the boroughs outside Manhattan.

“If you go to the Bronx, if you go to Brooklyn, neighborhoods of modest means, you will see that these neighborhoods are growing,” he said. “If we had substantial rates of outmigration, you would see it in neighborhoods from Marine Park in Brooklyn to Morris Park in the Bronx.”

The sky-high cost of living in the city is the lead driving force behind the squeeze on the middle class, the report argues. City residents pay among the highest prices in the nation for electricity, telephone service, auto insurance, home heating oil, parking and milk—and those prices continue to rise. Combined state and local taxes are tops among major cities, and housing is the most expensive. In the third quarter of 2008, only 10.6% of all housing in New York City was deemed affordable to people earning the median area income. And average rents in the fourth quarter were $2,801, or 53% higher than in San Francisco, the city with the second-highest figure, the report shows.

Manhattan is by far the most expensive urban area in the United States, according to the report, but the escalating cost of living isn’t the only factor hurting the middle class in New York, the report says. The city’s job mix has shifted away from positions that provide middle-income wages and benefits. The city has lost a far greater share of blue collar jobs than Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and other major cities. More than 150,000 goods-producing jobs have been lost since 1990, including 66,500 in the past decade.

While manufacturing accounts for about 3% of private sector jobs in the city, it employs a much larger share in other cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Charlotte. The city also fares poorly in other blue collar sectors like wholesale trade, while much of its job growth has come in traditionally low-paying areas like health care and social assistance. Those two industries together accounted for 17.4% of all private sector jobs in 2007, up 12.7% from 1990.

The result, the report argues, is that large numbers of people are working, but they’re not earning enough to live comfortably. Citywide, 31.1% of workers over the age of 18 are employed in low-wage jobs, the report says. Between 1975 and 2007, average weekly wages, when adjusted for inflation, barely increased in the boroughs outside Manhattan. Wages in Manhattan increased exponentially because of the boom in Wall Street salaries, but job growth in high-end sectors has not been strong enough to make up for the losses of middle-income jobs.

And things are not looking any brighter. The jobs expected to grow the most during the decade ahead typically pay low wages, including retail, home health aides, child care workers and janitors, the report says.

“The city, probably going back to Mayor [John] Lindsay really hasn’t focused on the middle class,” said Joel Kotkin, an urban historian and the report’s coauthor. “It’s becoming increasingly addicted to a ‘Masters of the Universe’ economy, which has now completely fallen apart.”

The report defines a middle class New Yorker loosely as someone who has enough money to pay the bills, have health insurance, own a computer with Internet connection, live in a safe neighborhood and take a vacation once a year.

Action is needed to make that lifestyle a possibility for future generations of New Yorkers, the report says. The authors urge the city to focus more attention on diversifying its economy. That was also a major theme of Crain’s Future of New York City conference, held earlier this week.

The report said such diversification could be achieved through a focus on the city’s ports, educational services, niche manufacturing and so-called “green-collar” industries and by nurturing entrepreneurs and freelancers.

More support for community colleges and stronger workforce development programs could help better prepare young people for fields that pay middle-income salaries, the report argues. Improving schools, parks and transportation in the outer boroughs could also make the areas more attractive to middle-class families.

“A New York inhospitable to middle class aspirations,” the report concludes, “will lose population, character and ultimately even its economic pre-eminence.”


LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!


FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.


Dr. Paul introduces HR 833: ABOLISH the FED.

Posted: RestoreTheRepublic.com

By: Michael Vonasten

Photograph: A. Golden, eyewash design, c. 2008.

The Ron Paul movement swept the nation in 2007 and 2008 leaving a trail of well informed citizens in its wake. We all worked hard for the campaign, whether you stood on an over pass with a sign, handed out literature or screamed at the top of your lungs. The campaign did well. 1.2 million votes for the Good Doctor. We all received a taste of what it feels like to become true activists for a true cause.

The Doctor needs your help again.

Dr. Ron Paul has introduced HR 833 into congress entitled: To abolish the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal reserve banks, to repeal the Federal Reserve Act, and for other purposes.

The bill has been introduced and referred to committee on Monday Feb. 3rd. Currently the bill does not have co-sponsors.

According to GovTrack.us, “This bill is in the first step in the legislative process. Introduced bills and resolutions first go to committees that deliberate, investigate, and revise them before they go to general debate. The majority of bills and resolutions never make it out of committee.”

This is where we as American citizens come into play. Americans that are interested in preserving liberty and restoring our republic to it’s constitutional roots need to contact our Representatives in Congress to push them into co-sponsoring this bill.

This bill will be the only saving grace to our faltered economy. Below is a transcript of Dr. Ron Paul introducing this bill in front of Congress.RestoreTheRepublic.com will keep you updated on the Bill’s progress.

To contact you Congressman/woman, dial the D.C. switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or find your Representatives info at www.House.gov.

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Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act Statement
Hon. Ron Paul

Madame Speaker, I rise to introduce legislation to restore financial stability to America’s economy by abolishing the Federal Reserve. Since the creation of the Federal Reserve, middle and working-class Americans have been victimized by a boom-and-bust monetary policy. In addition, most Americans have suffered a steadily eroding purchasing power because of the Federal Reserve’s inflationary policies. This represents a real, if hidden, tax imposed on the American people.

From the Great Depression, to the stagflation of the seventies, to the current economic crisis caused by the housing bubble, every economic downturn suffered by this country over the past century can be traced to Federal Reserve policy. The Fed has followed a consistent policy of flooding the economy with easy money, leading to a misallocation of resources and an artificial “boom” followed by a recession or depression when the Fed-created bubble bursts.

With a stable currency, American exporters will no longer be held hostage to an erratic monetary policy. Stabilizing the currency will also give Americans new incentives to save as they will no longer have to fear inflation eroding their savings. Those members concerned about increasing America’s exports or the low rate of savings should be enthusiastic supporters of this legislation.

Though the Federal Reserve policy harms the average American, it benefits those in a position to take advantage of the cycles in monetary policy. The main beneficiaries are those who receive access to artificially inflated money and/or credit before the inflationary effects of the policy impact the entire economy. Federal Reserve policies also benefit big spending politicians who use the inflated currency created by the Fed to hide the true costs of the welfare-warfare state. It is time for Congress to put the interests of the American people ahead of special interests and their own appetite for big government.

Abolishing the Federal Reserve will allow Congress to reassert its constitutional authority over monetary policy. The United States Constitution grants to Congress the authority to coin money and regulate the value of the currency. The Constitution does not give Congress the authority to delegate control over monetary policy to a central bank. Furthermore, the Constitution certainly does not empower the federal government to erode the American standard of living via an inflationary monetary policy.

In fact, Congress’ constitutional mandate regarding monetary policy should only permit currency backed by stable commodities such as silver and gold to be used as legal tender. Therefore, abolishing the Federal Reserve and returning to a constitutional system will enable America to return to the type of monetary system envisioned by our nation’s founders: one where the value of money is consistent because it is tied to a commodity such as gold. Such a monetary system is the basis of a true free-market economy.

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to stand up for working Americans by putting an end to the manipulation of the money supply which erodes Americans’ standard of living, enlarges big government, and enriches well-connected elites, by cosponsoring my legislation to abolish the Federal Reserve.

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LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Unemployment rose in 363 out of 369 U.S. cities in 2008.

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FROM COUNTERSPINYC: UPDATE! NOTICE FOR ALL NY STATE UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:

Important Information about Extended Emergency Unemployment Compensation, from the NY state Department of Labor:

Due to the high unemployment rate in New York State, an additional 13 weeks of emergency benefits will be available on February 22, 2009, for a total of 33 week of emergency benefits. These additional weekly benefits may be claimed in the usual manner starting on Sunday, February 22, 2009. Check our website weekly for updates. click here for further information.

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Published: UPI.com, Feb. 4, 2009 at 6:22 PM
Photograph: A. Golden, eyewash design, c. 2009.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Unemployment rose in 363 out of 369 U.S. cities in 2008, the Labor Department announced Wednesday.

As the recession sunk its teeth into the labor market, 40 cities reported jobless rates above 10 percent. Two reported rates under 3 percent, the report said.

In December, the nation's unemployment rate hit 7.1 percent, compared with December 2007, when it was 4.8 percent.

In one year, Elkhart-Goshen, Ind., beset by manufacturing sector layoffs, found its unemployment rate jump 10.6 percentage points, the largest leap in the country. The second highest jump was recorded in Dalton, Ga., where the unemployment rate grew by 6.2 percentage points.

In total, 27 cities saw their unemployment rate jump by 4 percentage points or more, the report said.

Among larger cities in December, the greater Detroit area recorded the highest jobless rate with unemployment reaching 10.6 percent, the Labor Department said.

The lowest unemployment rates among cities with a population of 1 million or more in the 2000 census was in Oklahoma City, Okla. -- at 4.6 percent in December.

The highest rate in December among all cities was in El Centro, Calif. at 22.6 percent; the lowest was in Morgantown, W. Va. -- 2.7 percent.


LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Health Benefits For Unemployed Stripped From Stimulus.

Post: Huffington Post, February 4, 2009 05:28 PM

Reading even a single page of a Senate bill is often no simple task, with legislative-ese obscuring the purpose behind the language. Reading 736 pages of the stuff is like mountain climbing in a wheelchair.

So we outsourced the work to Huffington Post readers: 367 people responded to the call and signed up to read portions of the Senate stimulus bill, compare it to the House bill passed earlier, and look for anything else interesting or newsworthy in it. Hundreds more posted their finds in the comments section below the full text of the bill. Responses that came in earlier are featured here.

The readers who signed up brought varying degrees of expertise to the project. One reader, who wanted to stay anonymous, is a consultant who works with the Department of Defense doing facilities and infrastructure assessments to determine the need for just the kinds of projects included in the section of the bill he read. Another, Tim Dickinson, is a politics reporter for Rolling Stone. Dickinson quickly found that the Senate had increased funding for STD prevention to $400 million. (Senate Republicans found that appalling and have succeeded in stripping it from the bill.)

Citizen journalism is still in its infancy and there will be many more opportunities around budget time to dig through congressional and presidential products. If you were one of the hundreds of people who contributed -- or signed up to, but didn't end up having time - let us know where the kinks are. How could it have been smoother?

The sifters found some noteworthy nuggets in the bill. Combing through his section of the bill, law professor and health care author Timothy Jost noticed that the Senate had removed the House provision that would allow people 55 and over who are laid off to continue COBRA coverage at a subsidized rate until they're 65 and eligible for Medicare. The House version also made folks who were laid off temporarily eligible for Medicaid; the Senate version strips that out, Jost found. Every one percent increase in unemployment throws more than a million people into the ranks of the uninsured.

Our Pentagon consultant broke the spending differences into a spreadsheet and also found a nugget in the bill giving Filipino World War II veterans $198 million. His find highlights what citizen journalists are capable of. His item had yet to be reported when he e-mailed it Tuesday evening; between then and now, the L.A. Times broke the story. So we cost our guy a scoop. Our apologies. We'll get it next time.

Still, his analysis is worth sharing. He said that his "pork-o-meter went off" and he did some rough math. "For U.S. citizens, [the payment is] $15,000 a head and for non-citizens it's $9,000 a head. Considering that there are only 1.6 million Filipinos in the U.S. and only 30 percent of those are over the age of 55, and to qualify you would have to be at least 78 years old, the lion's share of this money would be going to non-citizens. This will not create jobs or stimulate the economy," he wrote.

Diane Szilagy, whose expertise is in the energy and information technology fields, broke her section into a comparison chart you can see here.

Jost, the law professor, noticed that a crucial word had been added to the Senate bill's health care section. The House had appropriated $700 million for health care "comparative effectiveness research." Finding what health care approaches are most cost effective is a key to reducing those costs, but opponents of such research see it is a first step toward rationing care -- not that we don't ration care already, in a different way -- and health care companies oppose it because it could cut into profits.

Jost noticed that the word "clinical" was inserted into the Senate package so that the money would only go to study the clinical effectiveness of treatment, not cost effectiveness.

The website Medical Devices Today, the voice of the medical device industry, had been pushing for the change. "We need a clear statement in the language of the bill that it would fund clinical comparative effectiveness, not cost comparative effectiveness, and that the studies will not be used for national coverage determinations," it quoted AdvaMed Senior Executive VP David Nexon as saying last week.

To join the team for the next round of research, sign up here.


LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

04 February 2009

Calling All NYC Freelancers to come Have a Drink. Cocktails for a Cause!


Join the folks at the Freelancer's Union for a drink!

WHEN: Wednesday, February 18, 2009

WHAT / TIME: Cocktails for a Cause: 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

LOCATION: Le Poisson Rouge Gallery Bar, 158 Bleecker Street, NYC

Dear Freelancers Union Volunteer, Remember all that hard work you did to help advance freelancers’ agenda in 2008? We do too, and we’d like to say Thank You on Wednesday, February 18, at a special event just for our member leaders.

We hope you’ll be there as we toast your advocacy on freelance issues, and stick around for our first ever Cocktails for a Cause!

Cocktails for a Cause: The economy is tanking, and freelancers are struggling to stay afloat. Even though we pay twice as many taxes as the cubicle crowd—not to mention an additional 4% for the Unincorporated Business Tax (UBT)—we get none of the benefits like unemployment insurance.

The independent workforce has carried New York’s economy through boom and bust, and it’s time for the state to return the favor. Freelancers need an unemployment program, and it could be funded by the double taxes we already pay. But Albany will take some convincing, which means we need the energy and voices of our members to claim the benefits we’ve earned.

That's why we're having cocktails for a cause. Please come. Though, space is limited, so register now. Can’t wait to see you there!

Althea Erickson

Senior Manager of Advocacy and Policy


LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

The USA Isn’t a Country, It’s a Corporation!

If you have any sense, READ THIS NOW!

Post: Republic of Lakotah, February 1, 2009 by admin

Artwork by: David Behrens "Founding Fathers" (Chief Joseph, Sitting Bull, Geronimo, Red Cloud,
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln).

Note from Russell: The following article is one of the important reasons the Republic of Lakotah was re-born. It is also one of the main reasons why we welcome all freedom workers to Lakotah. Lakotah is a base from which we can spread the Truth and work towards reclaiming our Freedoms in our Country, and yours! I have heart-felt thanks to Lisa Guliani and her allies (lakotah in Lakotah language) for this very succinct article.

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” –Preamble of the original “organic” Constitution.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident. That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.” –Excerpt from the Declaration of Independence of the original thirteen united states of America, July 4, 1776.

Fourth of July 2002 has come and gone, and Americans honored the holiday with a renewed patriotic fervor that reminded me of the Bicentennial celebrations of 1976. As is customary, traditional fireworks displays took center stage and scores of people turned out to witness the dazzling show in the summer sky. With mixed feelings, I sat with friends on a crowded Pennsylvania sidewalk beneath a glittering, mesmerizing explosion of color, pondering the keen sense of sadness and betrayal that overwhelmed my spirit. Looking around at the huge crowds gathered for the annual events, I thought silently, “We are not free.” In truth, we have not been a free people for a very long time.

We celebrate this day in honor of our “independence”. We call ourselves a free people in a land of liberty. Our anthems proudly sing the praises of this nation, and we raise our voices, wave our flags and join in song – but how many Americans realize they are not free? This is a myth perpetuated by the powers-that-be in order to avoid any major civil unrest, and to keep us all living under the thumb of a militaristic corporate Big Brother within the illusions that have been created for us. The truth of the matter is this: what freedom has not been stolen from us, we have surrendered willingly through our silence and ignorance. As Americans, most of us have no idea how our freedoms are maintained –or lost. Apparently, our ancestors didn’t have a good grasp of this either. It is sad, but it is also very true.

Don’t point to that beloved parchment, the Constitution, as a symbol of your enduring freedom. It is representative of a form of government which seemingly no longer exists in this country today. The Constitution has been thrown out the window, the Republic shoved aside and replaced with a democracy. The thing is; most people in this country remain unaware that this is so because they simply do not know the truth –what lies beyond the myths. Your so-called government is not going to tell you, either.

To even begin to understand what has happened to the Republic, we must look backward in time to the period following the Civil War. We must go back to the year 1871, which was the beginning of the decline of the Republic. When we examine what happened during that time in our history, we begin to piece together this troubling, perplexing puzzle that is “America” –only then should we answer as to whether we are indeed a “free” people or not.

So, let’s roll backward into the past for a moment. It is time we learned what they didn’t teach us in school. It is far more interesting than what they DID tell us. I think you’ll stay awake for this lesson.

The date is February 21, 1871 and the Forty-First Congress is in session. I refer you to the “Acts of the Forty-First Congress,” Section 34, Session III, chapters 61 and 62. On this date in the history of our nation, Congress passed an Act titled: “An Act To Provide A Government for the District of Columbia.” This is also known as the “Act of 1871.” What does this mean? Well, it means that Congress, under no constitutional authority to do so, created a separate form of government for the District of Columbia, which is a ten mile square parcel of land.

What??? How could they do that? Moreover, WHY would they do that? To explain, let’s look at the circumstances of those days. The Act of 1871 was passed at a vulnerable time in America. Our nation was essentially bankrupt –weakened and financially depleted in the aftermath of the Civil War. The Civil War itself was nothing more than a calculated “front” for some pretty fancy footwork by corporate back room players. It was a strategic maneuver by European interests (the international bankers) who were intent upon gaining a stranglehold on the neck (and the coffers) of America.

The Congress realized our country was in dire financial straits, so they cut a deal with the international bankers – (in those days, the Rothschild’s of London were dipping their fingers into everyone’s pie) thereby incurring a DEBT to said bankers. If we think about banks, we know they do not just lend us money out of the goodness of their hearts. A bank will not do anything for you unless it is entirely in their best interest to do so. There has to be some sort of collateral or some string attached which puts you and me (the borrower) into a subservient position. This was true back in 1871 as well. The conniving international bankers were not about to lend our floundering nation any money without some serious stipulations. So, they devised a brilliant way of getting their foot in the door of the United States (a prize they had coveted for some time, but had been unable to grasp thanks to our Founding Fathers, who despised them and held them in check), and thus, the Act of 1871 was passed.

In essence, this Act formed the corporation known as THE UNITED STATES. Note the capitalization, because it is important. This corporation, owned by foreign interests, moved right in and shoved the original “organic” version of the Constitution into a dusty corner. With the “Act of 1871,” our Constitution was defaced in the sense that the title was block-capitalized and the word “for” was changed to the word “of” in the title. The original Constitution drafted by the Founding Fathers, was written in this manner:

“The Constitution for the united states of America.”

The altered version reads: “THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”. It is the corporate constitution. It is NOT the same document you might think it is. The corporate constitution operates in an economic capacity and has been used to fool the People into thinking it is the same parchment that governs the Republic. It absolutely is not.

Capitalization – an insignificant change? Not when one is referring to the context of a legal document, it isn’t. Such minor alterations have had major impacts on each subsequent generation born in this country. What the Congress did with the passage of the Act of 1871 was create an entirely new document, a constitution for the government of the District of Columbia. The kind of government THEY created was a corporation. The new, altered Constitution serves as the constitution of the corporation, and not that of America. Think about that for a moment.

Incidentally, this corporate constitution does not benefit the Republic. It serves only to benefit the corporation. It does nothing good for you or me – and, it operates outside of the original Constitution. Instead of absolute rights guaranteed under the “organic” Constitution, we now have “relative” rights or privileges. One example of this is the Sovereign’s right to travel, which has been transformed under corporate government policy into a “privilege” which we must be licensed to engage in. This operates outside of the original Constitution.

So, Congress committed TREASON against the People, who were considered Sovereign under the Declaration of Independence and the organic Constitution. When we consider the word “Sovereign,” we must think about what the word means.

According to Webster’s Dictionary, “sovereign” is defined as:

1. chief or highest; supreme.

2. Supreme in power, superior in position to all others.

3. Independent of, and unlimited by, any other, possessing or entitled to, original and independent authority or jurisdiction.

In other words, our government was created by and for “sovereigns” – the free citizens who were deemed the highest authority. Only the People can be sovereign – remember that. Government cannot be sovereign. We can also look to the Declaration of Independence, where we read: “government is subject to the consent of the governed” – that’s supposed to be us, the sovereigns. Do you feel like a sovereign nowadays? I don’t.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist or a constitutional historian to figure out that this is not what is happening in our country today. Government in these times is NOT subject to the consent of the governed. Rather, the governed are subject to the whim and greed of the corporation, which has stretched its tentacles beyond the ten-mile-square parcel of land known as the District of Columbia –encroaching into every state of the Republic. Mind you, the corporation has NO jurisdiction outside of the District of Columbia. THEY just want you to think it does.

You see, you are presumed to know the law. This is ironic because as a people, we are taught basically nothing about the law in school. We are made to memorize obscure factoids and paragraphs here and there, such as the Preamble, and they gloss over the Bill of Rights. But we are not told about the law. Nor do our corporate government schools delve into the Constitution in any great depth. After all, they were put into place to indoctrinate and dumb down the masses – not teach us anything. We were not told that we were sold-out to foreign interests and made beneficiaries of the debt incurred by Congress to the international bankers. For generations, American citizens have had the bulk of their earnings confiscated to pay on a massive debt that they, as a People, did not incur. There are many, many things the People have not been told. How do you feel about being made a beneficiary of somebody else’s massive debt without your knowledge or consent? Are we gonna keep going along with this??

When you hear some individuals say that the Constitution is null and void, think about how our government has transformed over time from a municipal or service-oriented entity to a corporate or profit-oriented entity. We are living under the myth that this is lawful, but it is not. We are being ruled by a “de facto,” or unlawful, form of government – the corporate body of the death-mongers –The Controllers.

With the passage of the Act of 1871, a series of subtle and overt deceptions were set in motion – all in conjunction and collusion with the Congress, who knowingly and deliberately sold the People down the river. Did they tell you this in government school? I doubt it. They were too busy drumming the fictional version of history into your brain – and mine. By failing to disclose what THEY did to the American People, the people became ignorant of what was happening. Over time, the Republic took it on the chin to the point of a knockdown. With the surrender of their gold in 1933, the People essentially surrendered their law. I don’t suppose you were taught THAT in school either. That’s because our REAL history is hidden from us. This is the way Roman Civil Law works –and our form of governance today is based upon Roman Civil Law and Admiralty/Maritime Law –better known as the “Divine Right of Kings” and “Law of the Seas”, respectively. This explains a lot. Roman Civil Law was fully established in the original colonies even before our nation began and is also known as private international law.

The government which was created for the District of Columbia via the Act of 1871 operates under Private International Law, and not Common Law, which was the law of the Constitutional Republic. This is very important to note since it impacts all Americans in concrete ways. You must recognize that private international law is only applicable within the District of Columbia and NOT in the other states of the Union. The various arms of the corporation are known as “departments” such as the Judiciary, Justice and Treasury. You recognize those names? Yes, you do! But they are not what you assume them to be. These “departments” all belong to the corporation known as THE UNITED STATES. They do NOT belong to you and me under the corporate constitution and its various amendments that operate outside of the Constitutional Republic.

I refer you to the UNITED STATES CODE (note the capitalization, indicating the corporation, not the Republic) Title 28 3002 (15) (A) (B) (C). It is stated unequivocally that the UNITED STATES is a corporation. Realize, too, that the corporation is not a separate and distinct entity from the government. It IS the government. YOUR government. This is extremely important. I refer to this as the “corporate empire of the UNITED STATES,” which operates under Roman Civil Law outside of the Constitution. How do you like being ruled by a cheesy, sleazy corporation? You’ll ask your Congressperson about this, you say? HA!!

Congress is fully aware of this deception. You must be made aware that the members of Congress do NOT work for you and me. Rather, they work for the Corporation known as THE UNITED STATES. Is this really any surprise to you? This is why we can’t get them to do anything on our behalf or to answer to us – as in the case with the illegal income tax –among many other things. Contrary to popular belief, they are NOT our civil servants. They do NOT work for us. They are the servants of the corporate government and carry out its bidding. Period.

The great number of committees and sub-committees that the Congress has created all work together like a multi-headed monster to oversee the various corporate “departments.” And, you should know that every single one of these that operates outside the District of Columbia is in violation of the law. The corporate government of the UNITED STATES has no jurisdiction or authority in ANY state of the Republic beyond the District of Columbia. Let this sink into your brain for a minute. Ask yourself, “Could this deception REALLY have occurred without the full knowledge and complicity of the Congress?” Do you think it happened by accident? You are deceiving yourself if you do. There are no accidents or coincidences. It is time to confront the truth and awaken from ignorance.

Your legislators will not apprise you of this information. You are presumed to know the law. THEY know you don’t know the law, or your history for that matter, because this information has not been taught to you. No concerted effort has been made to inform you. As a Sovereign, you are entitled to full disclosure of the facts. As a slave, you are entitled to nothing other than what the corporation decides to “give” you –at a price. Be wary of accepting so-called “benefits” of the corporation of the UNITED STATES. Aren’t you enslaved enough already?

I said (above) that you are presumed to know the law. Still, it matters not if you don’t in the eyes of the corporation. Ignorance of the law is not considered an excuse. It is your responsibility and your obligation as an American to learn about the law and how it applies to you. THEY count on the fact that most people are too uninterested, or distracted, or lazy to do so. The People have been mentally conditioned to allow the alleged government to do their thinking for them. We need to turn that around if we are to save our Republic before it is too late.

The UNITED STATES government is basically a corporate instrument of the international bankers. This means YOU are owned by the corporation from birth to death. The corporate UNITED STATES also holds ownership of all your assets, your property, and even your children. Does this sound untrue? Think long and hard about all those bills you pay, all those various taxes and fines and licenses you must pay for. Yes, they’ve got you by the pockets. Actually, they’ve had you by the ass for as long as you’ve been alive. In your heart, you know it’s true. Don’t believe any of this? Read up on the 14th Amendment. Check out how “free” you really are.

With the Act of 1871 and subsequent legislation such as the purportedly ratified 14th Amendment, our once-great nation of Sovereigns has been subverted from a Republic to a democracy. As is the case under Roman Civil Law, our ignorance of the facts has led to our silence. Our silence has been construed as our consent to become beneficiaries of a debt we did not incur. The Sovereign People have been deceived for hundreds of years into thinking they remain free and independent, when in actuality we continue to be slaves and servants of the corporation.

Treason was committed against the People in 1871 by the Congress. This could have been corrected through the decades by some honest men (assuming there were some), but it was not, mainly due to lust for money and power. Nothing new there. Are we to forgive and justify this crime against the People? You have lost more freedom than you may realize due to corporate infiltration of the so-called government. We will lose more unless we turn away from a democracy that is the direct road to disaster – and restore our Constitutional Republic.

In an upcoming article, we’ll take a closer look at the purportedly ratified 14th Amendment and how we became “property” of the corporation and enslaved by our silence.

I am saddened to think about the brave men and women who were killed in all the wars and conflicts instigated by the Controllers. These courageous souls fought for the preservation of ideals they believed to be true –not for the likes of a corporation. Do you believe that any one of the individuals who have been killed as a result of war would have willingly fought if they knew the full truth? Do you think one person would have laid down his life for a corporation? I think not. If the People had known long ago to what extent their trust had been betrayed, I wonder how long it would have taken for another Revolution? What we need is a Revolution in THOUGHT. We change our thinking and we change our world.

Will we ever restore the Republic? That is a question I cannot answer yet. I hope, and most of all –pray – that WE, the Sovereign People, will work together in a spirit of cooperation to make it happen in this lifetime. I know I will give it my best shot – come what may. Our children deserve their rightful legacy – the liberty our ancestors fought so hard to give to us. Will we remain silent telling ourselves we are free, and perpetuate the MYTH? Or, do we stand as One Sovereign People, and take back what has been stolen from the house of our Republic?

Something to think about – it’s called freedom.

My heartfelt thanks goes out to the following people for their gracious and generous assistance in researching this subject:

Ken S. of American Revolution II Online News,

Paul Walker of RMN News,

Bob Taft,

Stanooch, and

Willy Whitten – true Patriots, one and all.


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FROM COUNTERSPINYC: Here's a link from New York City Activist, Diane, rebuffing this article. I encourage you to read both & make up your mind. There will always be two sides to every coin! Now, if we could just get our coins to again be backed by gold!


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LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

03 February 2009

Concerned about the NY Budget Cuts? Attend this meeting on Saturday, 07 February, 3pm



WHERE?
St. Mary's Church
521 W. 126th Street
New York City - 10027

Hosted by the NYC Local of the Socialist Party, USA. Presenters at the forum will speak against the budget cuts proposed by NY State Governor David Paterson and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg which include harsh cuts to education, transportation, health care, and a variety of social services.

“These cuts will have a devastating effect on the lives of working class, and poor New Yorkers.” stated Amilcar Navarro of the Socialist Party USA
.

LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.


02 February 2009

Longer notice now needed for layoffs in NY

Post: Crain's NY
By:
Daniel Massey
Photograph: A. Golden, eyewash design, c. 2009.

February 02, 2009 3:49 PM

Tougher new law requires 90 days notice before layoffs or closings – up from 60 days.

Just as job losses are mounting, thousands of private employers in New York must now give an even earlier heads up to workers of mass layoffs, plant closings and relocations.

The New York State Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act went into effect Feb. 1 and is more expansive than the 20-year-old federal law that had previously set notification standards. Indeed, the New York law is considered the strictest in the country by some employment lawyers, who note that it applies to more employers, requires additional advanced notice and is more easily invoked than the federal WARN statute.

Employment lawyers and business advocates say the new set of rules come at the wrong time for businesses and make it harder for them to cope with the recession.

“In this economic climate, there are going to be a lot of companies that have to make changes for business reasons,” said attorney Marc Mandelman, co-chair of the Managing Change/Reductions in Force group at law firm Proskauer Rose. “These new deadlines will be extremely difficult to meet.”

The federal law required employers with 100 or more full-time employees to provide written notification of mass layoffs and closings, but the New York law applies to businesses with 50 or more full-time workers.

The new law also requires 90-day advance notice to employees and government officials, compared with 60 days in the federal rules.

And notification is now required when at least 25 employees lose their positions, if they make up one-third of the workforce, or when a company lays off at least 250 full-time employees. The federal WARN act is triggered when 50 workers who represent one-third of the workforce are let go, or if 500 workers are laid off.

The Business Council of New York State says some 13,000 small businesses that weren’t affected by the federal statute will now be covered by the state law. Many of them can’t afford to hire labor attorneys to assist with the process, the council argued.

“It makes it more difficult to do business in New York State,” said a spokesman for the group.

But a spokesman for the New York State AFL-CIO, which represents 2.2 million workers, said the law provides employees a much-needed cushion to help deal with the harsh effects of unemployment.

“Every day counts when you’re losing your job,” the spokesman said. “You have to pay the bills, pay the rent and provide for your family. Any extra time helps you deal with the horror of losing your job.”

The law empowers the State Department of Labor to hit violators with penalties of $500 per day and hold them liable for back pay and employee benefits. Under the federal law, redress is more limited.

Employers are exempt from the requirements if they can show unforeseen hardship or attempts to actively seek capital or business that would have prevented the layoff, plant closing or relocation.

But Gerald Hathaway, an employment attorney at law firm Littler Mendelson, says the exemptions don’t go far enough. New Jersey’s WARN law, for example, applies only to businesses that have been around for three years or more. He says startups and even Broadway shows now have to factor giving 90 days notice into their business plans.

“Any entrepreneur starting a business has to ask himself six months in, ‘Am I going to make it?’” Mr. Hathaway said. “If I don’t, now I’m on the hook for giving three months notice. It calls to question survivability.”



LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

01 February 2009

NY Museum Seeks Women For $10/Hour Sleep Art

Exhibit Described As 'Living Sculpture'

Posted: Click on Detroit, Saturday, January 31, 2009. Photograph: A. Golden, eyewash design, c. 2009.
Looking for work? Here's a gig where you not only get to sleep on the job -- it is the job.

The New Museum of New York City is seeking women between the ages of 18 and 40 to participate in an art installation where a woman sleeps in a bed in the gallery space. The pay is $10 an hour.

The museum's director of special exhibitions called the work by Chinese artist Chu Yun "a living sculpture, but one in which you have someone there and doing almost nothing." He said the artist will select the women.

The installation is part of an exhibition called "The Generational: Younger Than Jesus," featuring emerging international artists born after 1976. It opens in April.
The museum said women hired for the bed installation are expected to sleep for six hours.

LOCATION:
New Museum
235 Bowery
New York, NY 10002
212.219.1222
Show Map

MUSEUM HOURS:
  • Wednesday 12-6 PM
  • Thursday and Friday 12-9 PM
  • Saturday and Sunday 12-6 PM
  • Monday and Tuesday closed
The seventh floor Sky Room with panoramic views is open on weekends only.
The Museum is closed to the public on Monday and Tuesday and on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Years Day.
CIT Free Thursday Evenings (from 7 PM to 9 PM).

ADMISSION:
  • General Admission: $12
  • Seniors: $10
  • Students: $8
  • 18 and under: FREE
  • Members: FREE
  • Buy tickets now
  • Target Free Admission for Youth


LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.