Monday, June 24, 2013

This Bothers Me

  1. The US government goes to war or uses funds/weapons/CIA operatives to topple governments it considers a threat to US interests. It doesn't matter if those governments were democratically elected. Usually it involves countries that don't want to play by crony capitalism or global central banking rules. Oh, also, the actual people of the United States don't support these wars or government coup d'états. 
  2. In the name of fighting "terrorism" and protecting American citizens, our elected officials pass police-state laws and implement liberty-crushing systems (Prism, the Patriot Act, NDAA, etc).
  3. When someone witnesses deception/crimes against humanity and tries to tell people about it (Daniel Ellsberg, Bradley Manning, Edward Snowden, and others), the government considers them a threat and argues their actions risk the lives of military and intelligence personnel (see bullet point 1).
Does anyone else see the circular logic here?

When the branches of government (or, more accurately, the military industrial complex and the bankers/corporations who profit) take action the people don't want (1), put systems of control in place (i.e. tools for fascists) (2), and are discovered when someone points out the misuse of these tools, they site the danger it will create for those at war (3). We're back at (1) again, this time protecting something the people never wanted.

The claims above aren't baseless, but many Americans aren't familiar with them because of who owns the mainstream media. If the nightly news passes judgment on a foreign nation or leader, we often unquestionably consider it the truth. What if there's more to the story?

If even 50% of what follows in these videos and documentaries is true, shouldn't we be talking about it? Why talk about the weather or last night's reality TV show when we can talk about more significant things that impact lives around the world?

Some things I've found interesting lately:

The War On Democracy (1:34 hours)
All Wars Are Bankers' Wars (43 min)
CIA Agent Explains How Al-Qaeda Doesn't Exist (11 min)
The Road to World War 3 (13 min)
The Terrifying Future of The United States (12 min)
** Who Really Owns the Mainstream Media?? ** (11 min)
How the Media Controls Society (13 min)

I'm not saying these videos are smoking guns of proof. I'm simply saying, shouldn't we talk about this stuff? Shouldn't these be a starting point for more research and open discussion? I guarantee there are factual inaccuracies, but what about the facts? What if critical thinking could help us find some truth?

Why don't the majority of our conversations revolve around things we deeply care about?

There are things in this world that bother me. They may not bother you or you may completely disagree with me. Can't we talk about them openly?

Here goes. Here's a list I compiled on 5/30/2013 of things that bother me:
  • Loss of my worldview that our country represents the "good guys," spreading freedom and democracy
  • Drone strikes and the uncontrolled military industrial complex (see War is a Racket)
  • The war on drugs and how completely ineffective it has been (see drug prices)
  • The central banking system and global debt slavery (see Creature from Jekyll Island)
  • Abortion and eugenics
  • Monsanto and the control/poisoning of our food supply
  • The treatment of whistle blowers
  • Gitmo
  • Lies / deception related to the CIA and our involvement in funding / creating terrorist organizations to destabilize governments who don't want to play by the international banking rules (i.e. petrol dollar)
  • MK Ultra and whatever versions of it are in operation today
  • The centralization of mass media in the hands of a very few which effectively controls the masses by controlling the conversation
I don't list these things to spread fear or depress you. They are listed here so I can get them out in the open and discuss them. Are there action steps to be found? Is there something specific we can do about these issues (or others that may bother you)?

Looking at the list again, I'd like to add a few more like child trafficking and sex slavery.

What would you include?

My last post was about how many of us are often too busy to care and the system we're part of keeps us that way. Shouldn't that bother us?

I don't have the answers, but I'm just starting to look for them. I'm not alone.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

We're Too Busy to Care

Most people are working frantically to keep up with their mortgage, school loans, and credit card payments. Some are working two jobs. No time for quality family time. Weekends are filled with diversions because "we deserve it" having worked so hard all week.

Almost our entire lives are spent working for a paycheck, and yet most of us haven't spent time to understand how money actually works. Central banking, fractional reserve lending, and fiat currencies are things for the crazy "occupy" people to worry about. We're busy watching football or Americon Idol.

And yet, we know intrinsically something is wrong. We get that politicians and those in power are corrupt, but what can we do about it? We're too busy. We're clocked in. No time to read a Wikipedia page, watch a documentary, or read a book. Bills are due. Payments have to be made.

We're immersed in a system designed to keep us from asking questions. The system punishes and labels those who don't fit in. We're like frogs in a slowly heating pot of water.

What if your employer gave you the freedom to live your life on your own terms? What if you could set your own hours? What if you could spend an afternoon with your family and work later that night instead of watching TV? What if you had the freedom to research and learn things on your own schedule? What if the standard 9-5 model could be changed via creative thinking and technology?

Don't be too busy for life. Work so you have the freedom to live, learn, and act. Our world has some serious problems right now. Governments around the world are losing credibility and losing approval at an alarming rate. Difficult problems won't go away if we only make time for entertainment television, or if we're hopeless enslaved by debt.

This post may not be for you. You might be hanging on by your fingernails. Instead, this post is for those who are meant to catch you if you fall.

All of us need to get informed. We need to change the conversations we have with our friends and neighbors. Let's start talking about things that matter. Let's care enough to make some changes. Downsize, change jobs, cut out some monthly expenses. Drastic times call for drastic measures.

Don't sit back and let life happen to you. Take action. Many believe a huge financial collapse is coming (and is actually already taking place). What will you do if that happens? Take some steps to provide for your family.

If you have a business idea, pursue it now. Those who control their own income will be in the best position in the future, no matter what happens. It took me 5 years working long hours to build my own business. It's not easy, but it's worth it. Get rid of the stuff keeping you too busy to care.

Most likely, this post won't change your mind about much. It wouldn't have impacted me not long ago. I was so used to the stereotypes of the system, I couldn't see around them. But these thoughts just might plant a seed and help you realize sometime in the future you do have a choice.

--
Some things I've been reading/listening to/watching lately:
Work Smarter - 11 Ted Talks
Secrets of the Millionaire Mind
The Icarus Deception
Predictably Irrational
Lean Analytics
The Keiser Report

Monday, June 03, 2013

Hacking for Fun and (Non)profit


This past weekend I had the privilege of participating (and sponsoring, via FoxyCart) in the National Day of Civic Hacking. Nashville joined 95 cities hosting events all over the country. Saturday and Sunday, we bunkered down at the Emma office to form #Hack4Nash (more info at http://hack4changenash.org/).

Having worked in non-profit ministry for 6 years (raising my own financial suppor to do so), I know how critical money is to the process of serving others. My idea for the weekend was to build a basic content site with detailed screenshots and instructions for non-technical, no-budget nonprofits to get online quickly and start receiving donations. At FoxyCart, we often hear from nonprofits who need to get online but don't have any resources or expertise to do so. No matter how technical something is, a detailed walk-through with screenshots can be followed by just about anyone.

163 screenshots later, DonationGandhi.com was born.


I'm proud of what was accomplished by our little team in such a short timeframe. I think this could be really helpful for those who feel overwhelmed about getting a website online and accepting donations. Even if you know nothing about website hosting, Wordpress, FoxyShop, FoxyCart, Stripe, Twitter or Facebook, we put together tutorials walking through each step.

  • Get a domain name and hosting
  • Install Wordpress
  • Customize Wordpress
  • Install an ecommerce plugin
  • Build a donation page
  • Configure a shopping cart system
  • Configure a payment gateway
  • Set up a Twitter account
  • Set up a Facebook page
You might be asking why I didn't do something more complicated involving PHP, a Hypermedia API or Bitcoin algorithm. The answer is, I wanted to learn Wordpress and FoxyShop. Both are a big part of my business, and I had never personally installed them. Also, it's often the simplest solutions that make the greatest impact.

This site could be really useful to a lot of people... but only if they know about it. Will you help spread the word?