Audio Transcription

Foster: Hello everyone out there! I’m happy to report that I have been so inundated with good news reports recently that my file folder is overflowing, so we’re having a Good News Tuesday. I’m going to cover a few items in the areas of Economics and Justice and, if it doesn’t go on too long, then I want to include some from Environment and then put them all, as we go along, in a Liberty Perspective context. There are going to be lots of items and there will be links on all of them to follow up if you want more details, so relax, everyone, under a gentle waterfall of good news about human integrity and courageous initiative, starting with Economics.

First of all, it’s been pointed out to us that in 2013, California, which is the leading solar state in the U.S., has more than doubled its rooftop solar installations and it’s generated 2,000 megawatts of power, which is more than in the first 30 years of California solar, combined. When you add in the home units, along with the utility level projects, we’re generating over 4,000 megawatts. That’s nearly twice as much as the capacity of Diablo Canyon, which is our sole remaining nuclear power plant (which hopefully we can get turned off soon and replaced entirely with renewables). This is huge progress in a better direction and, of course, from a Liberty Perspective, when new energy inventors are free to bring their inventions to market, we won’t need all the copper wire, the transmission stations, the battery storage, and all the stuff that really makes even solar non-sustainable.

The second item is that the Mexican Congress has just passed a bill opening its oil industry to outside investors. Their oil industry has been struggling (I think a lot because of it’s nationalization) and this allows for foreign investments, not to take over production, but simply to boost exploration and development, and foreign companies and individuals can share in profits while paying royalties to Mexico. All the oil and gas rights remain the property of Mexico itself. This approach has already proven successful in Colombia and Brazil. From the Liberty Perspective, I see this, again, as a transition strategy that can ultimately lead to complete privatization beyond the control of corrupt governments where individuals, as well as companies would be held liable for the pollution and fraud, and there’d be no subsidies to destroy the natural pricing that would be there in a true free market.

The next item is that Iceland has committed to a $1.2 billion debt relief plan. Through this, they’ll be writing off up to $32,600 worth of every household’s mortgage. The IMF has advised against it, citing “economic concerns”, which is probably a very good sign and Standard & Poor’s, which is one of the corrupt, elite control rating agencies, has warned that the measure could “effect the confidence of foreign investors if it ends up being paid for by the existing creditors of Icelandic banks.” In the larger picture, this, to me, ultimately, is a socialistic plan, so I would not be in favor of continuing it, but in the interim, as a Stage 1 of the Thrive Solutions Strategy, it helps people get back on their feet while getting rid of the corrupt bankers that knocked them down in the first place.

Moving on to a few items in the Justice arena, the Michigan governor, Rick Snyder, has recently signed a bill prohibiting any state agency from co-operating with the U.S. military if it attempts to indefinitely detain a U.S. citizen without due process as was called for in the NDAA bill. The bill passed the Michigan Senate 37–0 last March and then recently was also passed by the House 109-0. I think we’re seeing a very strong trend here and Michigan is joining Virginia, California, and Alaska in taking this stand. From a Liberty Perspective, this whole problem would not even exist without the aggregation of unethical authority that is known as government, but meanwhile, the more localized state versions can help stand up for human rights against the larger, more onerous Federal version while we’re in transition.

Along similar lines, Senator Patrick Leahy and Congressional Representative Jim Sensenbrenner have introduced a piece of legislation called “The Freedom Act”, that will restore America’s privacy by ending the government’s collection of phone records and requiring greater oversight, transparency, and accountability with respect to domestic surveillance authority.

Along the same line, Congressman Rush Holt, who was originally in favor of the Patriot Act, has introduced bills to repeal both the Patriot Act and parts of the FISA Act. He regrets voting for it. He wants to change it. Getting rid of this may not exactly sound like rocket science, but, interestingly enough, Rush Holt actually was a rocket scientist before becoming a Congressman, so maybe he’s intelligent enough to catch on to the real plan behind the Patriot Act.

Again, from the Liberty Perspective, we would never have had 9/11, we wouldn’t have had the Patriot Act, or the invasions in the Middle East if we were really living in a region of true liberty, but here we are. The transition to a free world is going to be messy and it’s going to be multi-faceted and I hope that these can be helpful Stage 1 and Stage 2 steps along the way.

In a different, but freedom-related area, Uruguay has just legalized marijuana for recreational as well as medicinal use. And Colorado has also, as you probably heard, started sales of recreational marijuana, joining Washington in that ability. There are 16 states that can use it for medical use, just two so far have been authorized to sell it recreationally and, of course, millions of dollars are changing hands very rapidly over this, but the truth is, they always were. Now, it can be done without the stress and the violence that previously had to accompany it because it was illegal. One of the reasons politicians are finally going along, besides the fact that the wind is blowing in that direction so to speak, is that the state will be collecting billions in taxes on the sales. In the long run, it’s a travesty that those who want to claim authority should be getting a cut of a voluntary transaction. That’s what the mafia does. But, we will look back, I think, from a free society, to probably see this as a necessary transition stage.

So, ask yourself, from a Liberty Perspective, in any of these situations, is it voluntary? Is anyone getting violated? Meanwhile, where marijuana and other such harmless drugs are still illegal, there are cartels, there are gangs, there are governments basically kidnapping people who haven’t harmed anyone and then filling their jails to reward private investors who are invested in the jails, and all at taxpayer expense, meanwhile destroying the future employment and the prospects of the people who are getting incarcerated. To many, I understand this kind of so-called legalization might still seem shocking if you’re either prone to be a busy-body or fully propagandized, but look at how the world now laughs at the prohibition of alcohol. I think we’ll look back and see the same thing on this. Of course, responsible behavior has to be required and irresponsible behavior needs to be prosecuted with restitution going to the victim, but stop and ask yourself, do you want a bunch of thugs telling you what you can and can’t put in your body?

By the way, Portugal decriminalized all drugs back in July of 2001 and the results have been staggering. It’s been long enough now that we can actually see what happens. People were afraid it would turn into a drug tourist haven in Portugal. There’d be a surge in usage rates among young people and the truth of the matter is the answer is ‘no’ on both accounts. Decriminalization is not the same as legalization. This simply means that possession and use of these drugs is moved out of the criminal courts and treated as a public health service issue. Imagine what the results will be when the drugs are actually legalized. So, what are the results? There’s been a drastic reduction in addiction, down 50% in ten years and usage rates are among the lowest of any of the E.U. member states. Additionally, there are a lot less sick people. Drug-related diseases, including STDs and overdoses, have been reduced even more than the usage rates.

Along the lines further of legalization, Canada has now legalized all prostitution. It actually wasn’t illegal. Prostitution wasn’t illegal in Canada, but keeping a brothel, living off the trade, and street soliciting were. To me, that’s a little like legalizing food, but prosecuting anyone who grows or sells it. The vote in the Canadian Supreme Court was 9-0. This vote was last tried in 1990 and only the two women on the court voted for lifting the bans. This time, the men had apparently seen the light and hopefully realized the safety and health and human rights implications of the issue and it’s finally been unanimous.

A couple more items on the rights issues...There is a woman in Cape Coral, Florida who was raided by what they call their “city code enforcement officers” and they moved to evict her from her home. What do you think her crime was? Her crime was not being dependent on city water and electricity. She was gathering sunlight with solar panels and collecting rainwater for use in the house. What edicts is this woman actually violating (and here’s where it gets really important)? They are so-called regulations of something called “the international code council”. It turns out that these are not actually laws, but are “available for adoption and use by jurisdictions internationally.” Does anyone smell Agenda 21 here? (If you don’t know what Agenda 21 is, please and make sure to check out my previous blog on that topic.) So what’s the good news in this story? The good news is that residents rallied in support of this woman, filing hundreds of complaints with the city council, and her attorney pointed out that the city powers of eviction in this matter were non-existent. This lady, Robin Speronis, is still in her home and has really modeled for the world, in my opinion, the type of resourcefulness and courage that we’re all going to need to thrive.

Two final hometown items…First of all, I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, which is not exactly a bastion of freedom, but a Cincinnati judge has just ordered the speed cameras in his county “unconstitutional, a violation of privacy, and a money grab” and a class action lawsuit has been filed and it’s in the courts and, meanwhile, the judge has ordered that all cameras be removed, impounded, and that all ticket fees be repaid to the citizens. The suit is in process, but people in Cincinnati are saying that the days of traffic cameras in Hamilton County seem to be numbered.

Finally, I want to touch on a local item where we live here in Santa Cruz. The local newspaper, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, carried a cover article that a hot new item at UC-Santa Cruz amongst student activities is what they call the Ethics Bowl. Instead of football or just debating or a chess contest or whatever, they are creating teams and then having interactions with other universities, contests where they argue ethics. They’ve been confronting issues such as “should the Boston marathon bombers be allowed to be buried within the Boston city limits?” and “is it morally permissible to pay bone marrow donors?”. One of the questions was “Is it morally consistent for pet owners to eat meat?” They noted that one of the team members had noted that that one had turned him vegetarian. I look forward to the day, and I hope to be in contact with them, where they’ll be entertaining such issues as “is it morally acceptable for someone to call himself ‘the State’ and take a portion of your hard-earned wages, calling it “taxation”, whether you like it or not”? Or “is it ethical to take someone’s son or daughter away from them and make them risk their own lives and then go and kill others in some war of aggression?”. But that’s all for another day.

Finally, in the Justice arena, there’s an article that’s come out, (you might put this in the category of “American “exceptionalism”), the end of the year survey by the WIN/Gallup poll found that the United States is now considered the #1 “greatest threat to peace in the world today” by people across the globe. The U.S. received 3 times as many votes as it’s nearest challenger, Pakistan, for the global bully recognition. Its other nearest competitors were China, Afghanistan, Iran, and Israel. Why, you might be asking yourself, is this “good news”? To me, it’s good news because the world is waking up to the truth and seeing through this ruse about making the world safe for democracy and human rights when what’s really going on, from what I can see, is the pillaging of resources and the destruction of human lives and of civilizations for the benefit of multi-national corporations, as well as the bankster controllers in the service of the agenda for global domination. When enough people wake up and speak up, we can stop that elite agenda as happened, at least temporarily, in aborting the plan to invade Syria.

I’m going to wait, given how long it has taken to describe this, to go on to the Environmental issues. I’ll do that in the next Good News Tuesday because I don’t want this session to be too long. I want people to be able to just really conveniently listen to it. But, just quickly, in summary from the Liberty Perspective, let’s keep asking ourselves, is it voluntary? Is anyone being violated? If the breakdown of the wholeness of a natural system is the problem, as we’re finding it is in virtually every critical issue that Thrive is addressing, then restoring and sustaining wholeness is the fix. That has to start and to stay, in our opinion, with the wholeness of each and every person so that violation is not legalized, whether it’s in the form of taxation, subsidies, bailouts, the draft, monopolies on money and media, and military. I’ll be doing a series of future blogs on the core principles of this, as well as addressing the most frequently asked questions that came up for me in learning about this and that seem to come up for other people. Meanwhile, share your good news with us and with others, and stand up for the rights of every being on this beautiful planet.

Thank you and bye for now…