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I watched those videos on Truthdig about Wall Street highspeed Trading (HST). Very interesting! They talked about the "Flash Crash" on May 6, 2010, and in 2012.
And here is a 4 part story on how one young guy, Heim Bodek, is bringing down the HST behemoths:
"The Dark (Pool) Truth About What Really Goes On In The Stock Market"
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/dark-pool-truth-about-what-really-goes-sto...
Heim Bodek is prominently interviewed in the above videos as well.
As we move from a primitive culture to hopefully a more evolved one we will begin to understand that a corporation would never be allowed to pollute the water ,air or land to make a profit .We can clearly see that the quality of the lives of the very people who own or work for the corporation,s are being irrevocably damaged.What profit is there in that ?
i understand that this is all about short term gain but life has given us the resources to live far longer lives than we now do .If we stop polluting the air ,water and land and stop using chemicals in our food and everything else we could begin to realise our vast potential and find balance with nature but at this time we are all practicing mass suicide ?
namaste
PBS Newshour reported last night that this is the 3rd major spill along this waterway in 5 years and that this plant has not been inspected since the early 1990s. It is said the current owners as well as the former owners knew of the problems which enabled the spill.
As businesses are slowly opening, local and state governments areasking restaurant-goers to give a little extra because servers have been out of work extra days. REALLY? These elected officials should be insisting this company pay for ALL damages including lost income.
As so many have pointed out, though, companies privatize the profits and socialize the risks. Shameful!
HAVE AREADY COMMENTED IN AN EMAIL TO YOU VIA YOUR WEBMASTER THOM!
GCrackers SEYCHELLES
By the way, I was reading an article about Chris Christy on Truthdig...and he sounds a lot scarier than I had ever heard before. Maybe he is being built up to be the next Republican bogey man in order to frighten all the voters to vote Democrat again.
DAnneMarc: I've watched about 14 of about 68 or those videos and find them more believable than you do. Gordon Cooper is pretty old and hard to understand...tis true..that is part of getting old for most people...but aside from his brief religious comments I tend to believe what he has to say...ie: I believe that he believes that what he is saying is true...and that he is not trying to delude us in any way. None of these people are claiming they were abductees and were given special messages for mankind. At least not of the 14 I've watched so far.
Many of those old guys had signed an agreement not to divulge information for a term of 50 years. 50 years would have been up in 1997 on what they knew back in 1947. In fact, 50 years ago would have been 1963. There was one younger man, that I watched, who was rather careful in what he divulged and a couple of others would not divulge the names of others they were associated with in order to protect them. But, at this point, if the government believes that they have sufficiently bullied or propagandized the majority of the population into thinking the whole subject is nonsense and if they were to start assassinating people, especially old people, for speaking out then that might make more people start believing that there is something to the ravings of these old people. And a lot of these old people, while they may have worried about losing a pension at a younger age, know they don't have much longer to live anyway and just want to clear the burden that they've carried all these years. And perhaps they are seeing the kind of criminal, corrupt government and institutions, and no longer feel they owe any loyalty to them any more. Even young Snowden, when he found out how sinister and corrupt the US government is, he took a very big chance to set the story straight. We need many more people like Edward Snowden. Or all will be very bad for us all in the future.
By the way, I understand that Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium, astrophysicist and cosmologist is coming out with an updated version of Carl Sagan's Cosmos series called "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage".
http://www.space.com/24243-cosmos-tv-series-neil-degrasse-tyson.html
We have seen the enemey and he is us. Until people stop watching Faux News and until they start demanding that journalists ask politicians straight questions and demand straight answers, we'll all get continually flim-flammed and we have only ourselves to blame.
In a case of art imitating life (or what life SHOULD be like) try watching The Newsroom and start to think about all the issues that even they couldn't cover in a 1 hour weekly show. The politicians, corporations and 1% are getting away with murder and we let it happen by NOT getting out and protesting and calling for political impeachments and recalls.
This is not a new phenomenon. It has been happening and accelerating since Reagan and Thatcher's New Economic Order.
Get active, or get over it.
sandlewood: I agree, the Koch's have and continue to play a large role in the dismantling of our representative government. Charles and David have set up, developed, and supported the following right-wing think tanks since 1977.... Center for Market Processes, Cato Institute, Reason Foundation, Freedom Works, Americans for Prosperity, Institute for Justice, Mercatus Center, Citizens for a Sound Economy, and Empower America. That said, I also understand Thom's desire to take the air out of their tires by the move to amend Citizens United.
I've said it before, it's up to we the people to do a legislative intervention on out of control citizens like the Kochs, and you're right, it won't happen until we gain control of the message. The alternative is another French Revolution. I prefer a government intervention.
You're correct, money is power and too much money in the hands of anyone in the 21st century is a risk society can no longer tolerate. In my opinion, taxation would be the quickest, but only a temporary solution, to the Koch's out of control and obsolete behaviour.
Thom Just saw you on MSNBC As a former GOP voter I have seen the light ! 30 years of reaganomics deregulation, GOP wealth favoring anti worker anti women policies anti US trade agreements as well as greedy war profiteers have damaged our once great country . Keep spreading the facts to all who will listen !
Mark: Good comparison! In fact the only difference I can see between the toxic spill verse a toxic fracking injection, is the spill doesn't generate a massive profit. Both contaminate the water supply......Free market madness.....the forces of supply and demand with little or no government control.
I liked when I lived in England no growth hormones no steriods no antibiotics in the meats. When a company pollutes there there isnt a fine (which in reality here is just another cost of doing business). In the U.K. They are shut down. I miss the UK. No place is perfect,
but as long as its about guns gays and abortion its not about GREED.
Until the majority wakes up and votes for people they know are representing their views instead of who had the most tv ads, we are not getting a better place to live for ourselves and our children.
I think voting ourselves by email instead of a system that elects someone that may or may not vote for the majority has a few flaws and/or room for a little error.
The government is all upset about this accident, what about all the disasters intentionally caused by fracking and mountain top removal?
Palindromedary ~ Thanks for those links up above. I've watched about half of them so far. Of the ones I've seen, I found the facial expressions somewhat disturbing. The first one, the scientist's kid, had a permanent smirk on his face that could have rivaled GWB. I seriously question his testimony. The other one I found strange was the former astronaut Cooper. His blank stare and monotone voice void of any emotion also lead me to suspect something. Quite frankly, Alex Collier seemed much more genuine and convincing. However, that could have simply been because he was a much better liar. After all, he used to work for the IRS and sell insurance.
One major paradox puzzles me concerning these testimonies from former government employees. How is it that so many people can come out and spill the beans of the highest top secret that the government and the military hold; and, somehow not only allude being arrested and assassinated, but manage to still collect their government pensions in retirement? Yet Edward Snowden, by comparison a rather minor whistleblower, has to flee to Russia for his own safety; and, may never again be able to return to the USA? To me, this all appears very fishy.
chuckle8: yes, it is my understanding that it is used for cleaning up coal before the coal is burned...before the coal is used for fuel.
"The chemical, 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol (MCHM), is used to wash coal of impurities and spilled from a tank at Freedom Industries into the river. "--Truth-out.org *
Oh, an ex-girl-friend of the current guy in charge of the company claims that people should go easy on them because she brushed her teeth in that water and she says she is ok. Just wait a few years to see if she has any lesions or cancerous growth on her gums and lips. ;-0
* http://truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/18414-founder-of-wv-chemi...
One of the founders of Freedom Industries was a twice convicted felon..tax evasion..and something relating to Cocaine...it looks like he got off by participating in a sting. Although he hasn't been connected with the company since 2005. But now, it looks like he has set up a tax preparation business in Boca Raton, Fl....if this is the same guy..it's the same name*. But here's a web site that indicates he is in Charleston, WV with a tax return preparation business.**
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-13/meet-freedom-industries-...
http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201401120056
* http://www.ptindirectory.com/tax-preparers/florida/boca-raton-fl/666300/...
**http://www.taxreturn8.com/TaxReturn/Carl-L-Kennedy-Ii-Carl-L-Kennedy-II-Charleston-WV-19572959.htm
Palin -- Do you know if the leaking chemical is used in coal processing?
Truthdig article by Alexander Reed Kelly on
Three videos by Dutch filmmaker Marije Meerman who exposes Wall Street.."the dark and dangerous future of investment and trade".
The three videos are available at this web site: (But 2 of these 3 videos appear to be the same film.)
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/truthdigger_of_the_week_documentary_...
chuckle8: Well, one of their products was...don't laugh...a water purification chemical.
How True!!! What if, in 'Home Alone' they never came home?
Thom,
Earlier today you sort of 'chastised' a caller who “vilified” the kRoch bros. Not so long ago you were trying to come up with a new way to pronounce their name because you like Coke. It’s their greed and corruption that enabled them and other Plutocrats to concentrate so much wealth, to monopolize media, to control the message, to corrupt and infiltrate government and bribe/threaten judges/politicians such that they would rule that $$=speech in the first place. Want to amend the constitution? Take back ubiquitous media...otherwise, forget it. $$$ is power, power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and absolute corruption is detroying the planet. My house is on the banks of the Ohio, 2 watersheds away from the Elk and if I saw a Koch, or anyone like them, I would be hard pressed to remember my desire to remain peaceful.
This spill has a couple of underlying themes that have not been mentioned here yet.
Why was this chemical being stored at a water processing plant that has no use for it. Were Massey mines hiding it here?
Massey mines bought a WV supreme court justice. The reasonably progressive senator from WV has stated in the pass he does not want to talk about the coal mining industry in his state. This sitution certainly illustrates why state's rights are a joke. An oligarch can buy a state directly. It is much harder to buy all the sentors in the US congress.
ckrob -- I like your comparison of randism to an adolescent fantasy. Thanks
"Randism" can only work if there are no crooks. The "free market" is like believing in Santa Claus. Atlas Shrugged is an adolescent fantasy (i.e.), if the grown-ups would just leave me alone everything would be great.
Here is one statment from 10 NSA myths debunked:: (#8: Terrorists are everywhere and dangerous)
http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175792/tomgram%3A_peter_van_buren,_we_ha...
I wonder just how many chemical plants are located along waterways in the US. They are there, I suppose, largely because of access to barges for shipping. I know of some other plants, probably among many, that are along the Mississippi River that could one day cause massive pollution should they leak like the one in West Virginia.
Just enter Freedom Industries, WV in Google Earth and you can see the plant and all those tanks along the river. It is right on the outskirts of Charleston near the southwestern edge of the airport.
Freedom Industries indeed...freedom from regulations and prosecution..freedom to pollute!
Here's a good picture of the sudsy shore line along the Elk River.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/13/us/critics-say-chemical-spill-highligh...