http://www.theendofpoverty.com/index.html

SYNOPSIS
Global poverty did not just happen. It began with military conquest, slavery and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, minerals and forced labor. Today, the problem persists because of unfair debt, trade and tax policies -- in other words, wealthy countries taking advantage of poor, developing countries.
Renowned actor and activist, Martin Sheen, narrates The End of Poverty?, a feature-length documentary directed by award-winning director, Philippe Diaz, which explains how today's financial crisis is a direct consequence of these unchallenged policies that have lasted centuries. Consider that 20% of the planet's population uses 80% of its resources and consumes 30% more than the planet can regenerate. At this rate, to maintain our lifestyle means more and more people will sink below the poverty line.
Filmed in the slums of Africa and the barrios of Latin America, The End of Poverty? features expert insights from: Nobel prize winners in Economics, Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz; acclaimed authors Susan George, Eric Toussaint, John Perkins, Chalmers Johnson; university professors William Easterly and Michael Watts; government ministers such as Bolivia's Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera and the leaders of social movements in Brazil, Venezuela, Kenya and Tanzania . It is produced by Cinema Libre Studio in collaboration with the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation.
Can we really end poverty within our current economic system? Think again.
The End of Poverty? is a daring, thought-provoking and very timely documentary by award-winning filmmaker, Philippe Diaz, revealing that poverty is not an accident. It began with military conquest, slavery and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, minerals and forced labor. Today, global poverty has reached new levels because of unfair debt, trade and tax policies -- in other words, wealthy countries exploiting the weaknesses of poor, developing countries.
The End of Poverty? asks why today 20% of the planet's population uses 80% of its resources and consumes 30% more than the planet can regenerate?

Teop Twitter 2

HEALTH INSURERS BAIL-OUT PLAN....AGAIN THE PUBLIC IS SCREWED. THANK YOUR LOCAL CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTIVE FOR EITHER LYING THROUGH THEIR TEETH, OR NOT UNDERSTANDING WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON !!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a great interview at Democracy Now....

Insurance Industry Whistleblower Wendell Potter Blasts Senate Panel Rejection of Public Insurance Option

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/30/insurance_industry_whistleblower_wendell_potter_blasts

AMY GOODMAN: Forty-five million new customers, that’s what the private insurance companies can now look forward to, if a bill like what came out of the Senate Finance Committee moves forward with the mandate. Explain how they will make out and how important, how significant, how profitable this is for the for-profit companies.
WENDELL POTTER: Yeah, this is the first time that the insurance industry has really seen great opportunity in healthcare reform, with an individual mandate, which would require all of us to buy insurance if we are not eligible for a public, government-run program, which, fortunately, many people are. We would have to buy it in the private market from insurance companies, many of whom—many of which are for-profit companies. We would not have the option of buying or getting insurance through a government-run program like the public option would create.
So, not only would our premium dollars go into this—into the private insurance industry, but a lot of tax dollars would. Most people who don’t have insurance can’t afford it, and they wouldn’t be able to afford it after healthcare reform is passed without the government subsidizing their premiums. So billions and billions of taxpayers’ dollars will flow right into the treasuries of these big for-profit insurance companies. So we will be essentially paying a tax that will help support these insurance companies. It will be an enormous bailout of the health insurance industry.
AMY GOODMAN: Robert Reich, former secretary under Clinton, wrote, “The White House made a Faustian bargain with Big Pharma and Big Insurance, essentially scuttling both of these profit-squeezing mechanisms in return for [these] industries’ agreement not to oppose healthcare legislation with platoons of lobbyists and millions of dollars [of] TV ads, and Pharma’s willingness to cut drug prices by some $80 billion over the next ten years.” He says, “The White House promised these industries they’d come out way ahead—getting tens of millions of new customers who’d be buying private health insurance policies and thereby paying [for] an almost endless supply of new drugs. Healthcare reform would be, in short, a bonanza.”
Is that why, for example, your companies, Wendell Potter, and the other insurance companies have not launched the kind of massive campaign that they did against the ’93 and ’94 Clinton healthcare reform?
WENDELL POTTER: That’s right. And they have worked very closely with the White House. Some of the executives I know have been to the White House multiple times from the insurance industry. So they’ve been cutting their own deals, undoubtedly, or making their own assurances to the White House.
But the thing that the White House must not be taking into consideration is that while they will say things publicly, that they’re working as good faith partners for the—with the President and with Congress, behind the scenes they’re doing all that they can to cut the heart out of legislation, including the public option, and to preserve what would benefit them. That’s the way they operate. That’s what’s going on here.

If you have any questions about why all the "protests" at the G20 summit in Pittsburg....

check out below....the answers to your questions may curl your toes.....

http://www.citizen.org/trade/

Report: US-Initiated WTO Rules Could Undermine Regulatory Overhaul of Global Finance

Report: US-Initiated WTO Rules Could Undermine Regulatory Overhaul of Global Finance

As the G-20 meets in Pittsburgh, a new report from Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch warns that the World Trade Organization has long advanced extreme financial deregulation under the guise of trade agreements and could undermine the current push for increasing regulation. We speak to Lori Wallach, the director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch division.

Zoopharmacognosy

With the Bioneers conference rapidly approaching....this video is just, well, just EXCITING.
enjoy.

CODEPINK and Jewish Voice for Peace are supporting the US tour of two extraordinary young Israeli women, Maya Wind and Netta Mishly, to discuss why they refused to serve in an occupying army. This was not a decision they came to lightly as they knew they would pay a price - military prison.
Maya and Netta share a few words about their story and US tour here: We're writing from Tucson, Arizona, after an incredible first week on tour in the US. So far, we have been welcomed very warmly by all of our hosts in the cities we visited, from the San Francisco Bay Area to Seattle to Honolulu, Hawaii! Given the reactions to our politics in Israel, we came prepared for a strong opposition to our events. We were happy that the disagreements that have arisen in our talks have been civil and respectful-- there is an openness to listening that is refreshing, even in a Jewish synagogue and on a campus that usually have a lot of tension around this issue! We hope that our talks will stimulate discussion regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the role the US plays in it. As we remind audiences we speak with, "Your tax dollars are fueling our occupation!" The debates at our events are giving us new perspectives which will enrich our discourse back home. We hope to meet you on the tour soon! In solidarity, Maya and Netta

The recently released Goldstone Report, based on a UN fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict, found evidence of grave "violations of international human rights and humanitarian law and possible war crimes and crimes against humanity" committed by Israel, Hamas, and the Palestinian Authority and recommends that the findings be reviewed by the UN Security Council, with measures taken to ensure accountability.
You can speak up for human rights in the Middle East by signing our petition to UN Ambassador Susan Rice demanding that the US endorse and support these recommendations. There is already a lot of opposition to the findings of this report; we need to ensure that it won't be swept under the rug.

BE A PART OF THE SOLUTION.....

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/424/t/4589/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27921

http://www.gazafreedommarch.org/article.php?list=type&type=416

THIS IS THE MOST HILARIOUS THING I HAVE EVER HEARD....JUSTICE SERVED UP ON A GOLDEN PLATTER !!!

Whoops: Anti-ACORN Bill Ropes In Defense Contractors, Others Charged With Fraud

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/22/whoops-anti-acorn-bill-ro_n_294949.html

Going after ACORN may be like shooting fish in a barrel lately -- but jumpy lawmakers used a bazooka to do it last week and may have blown up some of their longtime allies in the process.
The congressional legislation intended to defund ACORN, passed with broad bipartisan support, is written so broadly that it applies to "any organization" that has been charged with breaking federal or state election laws, lobbying disclosure laws, campaign finance laws or filing fraudulent paperwork with any federal or state agency. It also applies to any of the employees, contractors or other folks affiliated with a group charged with any of those things.
In other words, the bill could plausibly defund the entire military-industrial complex. Whoops.
Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) picked up on the legislative overreach and asked the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) to sift through its database to find which contractors might be caught in the ACORN net.
Lockheed Martin and Northrop Gumman both popped up quickly, with 20 fraud cases between them, and the longer list is a Who's Who of weapons manufacturers and defense contractors.
The language was written by the GOP and filed as a "motion to recommit" in the House, where it passed 345-75.
POGO is reaching out to its members to identify other companies who have engaged in the type of misconduct that would make them ineligible for federal funds.
Grayson then intends to file that list in the legislative history that goes along with the bill so that judges can reference it when determining whether a company should be denied federal funds.
The Florida freshman is asking for direct assistance. He has set up a Google spreadsheet where people can suggest contractors who have been charged with violations and include a link to a media or government report documenting the alleged transgression.
The weapons manufacturers might have a better line of defense in court, however. Immediately after the bill passed, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), a constitutional whiz, noted that the measure appeared to be a "bill of attainder" -- specifically targeting a company or organization or individual -- and is therefore specifically barred by the Constitution. If it's not targeted at one group, then Northrop Grumman is in trouble.
Reps. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.) sent a letter to the Congressional Research Service on Tuesday asking it to clarify, among other things, if the Defund ACORN Act is constitutional.
Ryan Grim is the author of This Is Your Country On Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in AmericaRead more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/22/whoops-anti-acorn-bill-ro_n_294949.html