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@Ending EnviroIgnorance

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I’ve always said that our environment encompasses everything around us.  Now our form of government is under attack by large corporations.  We cannot turn a blind eye to these wealthy, powerful, and influential people who may use there riches, their power, and their influence in an attempt to overthrow our government.

If you are not familiar with the Koch brothers and you’ve never heard of the American Legislative Exchange Council, Citizens United, or other organizations.  Do some research!  Don’t be afraid to talk politics.  In what I would call a very revealing and well written article by Jane Mayer entitled: Covert Operations (The billionaire brothers who are raging a war against Obama) was published in the New Yorker and is indeed a masterpiece.  An excerpt from her article reads:

But Charles Lewis, the founder of the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan watchdog group, said, “The Kochs are on a whole different level. There’s no one else who has spent this much money. The sheer dimension of it is what sets them apart. They have a pattern of lawbreaking, political manipulation, and obfuscation. I’ve been in Washington since Watergate, and I’ve never seen anything like it. They are the Standard Oil of our times.”

There is allot of work ahead and loads of information gathering needed before next week.  The following links have been updated from the 18th of July to Present:

http://www.facebook.com/jamesjpond
http://enviroignorance.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/JamesJPond

Written by James J. Pond

July 29, 2011 at 4:17 PM

Posted in Democracy, EnviroActivism

@ Ending EnviroIgnorance

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I’m no journalist but these are indeed tumultuous times that require our attention.  The decade that began on January 1, 2000 and ended just after midnight on December 31, 2009 is likely going to be recorded historically as the worst decade in American History. Today Uncle Sam points his finger calling us all to defend our constitution. He weeps tears acknowledging that there is a radical faction of power hungry businessmen who are secretly creating legislation behind closed doors, doors that are not open to the people, doors that hide tyranny, and doors that threaten our own constitution.  Now Uncle Sam shouts loudly to all Americans, “The probability that we may fail; ought not deter us, and it shall not deter me”. Become a participant in our democracy.  This is my effort!

The following is a list of topics:

Written by James J. Pond

July 19, 2011 at 6:34 PM

Posted in Democracy, EnviroActivism

Mainstream Media, Propaganda, & Spin

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As the News Corp. drama unfolds I find myself wondering why Americans have permitted the corporate takeover of our free press.  Ladies and Gentlemen this is nothing new!  For over two decades organizations who have followed our free press have also warned, reported vital information, and provided educational material.  If we close our eyes and simply believe whatever our Government states we are complacent in our duties of governing.

How much of the pie does News Corporation own? You will likely going to be surprised!

NEWS CORPORATION
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, New York 10036
www.newscorp.com
Television
Cable Television
FOX News Channel
FOX Business Network
FOX College Sports
Fox Deportes
Fox Movie Channel
Fox Pan American Sports (33%)
Fox Regional Sports Networks
FOX Soccer Channel
FOX Sports Enterprises
FOX Sports Net
Big Ten Network (49%)
FSN
FUEl TV
FX
Nat Geo Wild (71%)
National Geographic Channel United States (71%)
SPEED
STAR
Stats, Inc. (50%)
Fox Television Stations
WAGA (Atlanta)
KTBC (Austin)
WUTB (Baltimore)
WFXT (Boston)
WFLD (Chicago)
WPWR (Chicago)
KDFW (Dallas)
KDFI (Dallas)
WJBK (Detroit)
KRIV (Houston)
KTXH (Houston)
KTTV (Los Angeles)
KCOP (Los Angeles)
WHBQ (Memphis)
KMSP (Minneapolis)
WFTC (Minneapolis)
WNYW (New York City)
WWOR (New Jersey)
WOGX (Ocala-Gainesville)
WRBW (Orlando)
WOFL (Orlando)
WTXF (Philadelphia)
KUTP (Phoenix)
KSAZ (Phoenix)
WTVT (Tampa Bay)
WTTG (Washington D.C.)
WDCA (Washington D.C.)
Satellite Television
BSkyB (39%)
FOXTEL (25%)
Sky Deutschland
SKY Italia
Sky Network Television Limited (44%)
TATA Sky (20%)
International Television Stations
FOX Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America
FOX CRIME Europe and Asia
FOX LIFE Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America
FOX MOVIES Asia and Middle East
FOX NEXT Europe
FOX RETRO Europe and Africa
FOX SPORTS Europe, Africa, and Latin America
FOX Telecolombia (51%)
AQUAVISION PRODUCTIONS Africa (51%)
Asianet (75%)
BABY TV Europe, Asia and Latin America
CHANNEL [V]
CHANNEL [V] Asia
CULT Europe
ESPN STAR Sports (50%)
FX Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America
Hathway Cable and Datacom (17%)
LAPTV (Movie City Pack, Cinecanal, and The Film Zone) (55%)
National Geographic International Channels (52%)
Nat Geo Adventure Europe and Asia
Nat Geo Music Europe, Africa and Asia
Nat Geo Wild Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America
NHNZ PRODUCTIONS Asia
Phoenix Satellite Television (18%)
Premier Media Group (50%)
Rotana (9%)
SPEED Latin America
STAR Chinese Channel
STAR Chinese Movies
STAR Den (50%)
STAR GOld
STAR Movies
STAR MOVIES Asia
Star News (26%)
STAR ONE
STAR PLUS
STAR UTSAV
STAR World
STAR World Asia
UTILISIMA Latin America
Telecine (13%)
TVN Asia
VIJAY (81%)
VOYAGE Europe
XING KONG
Other Television
FOX Broadcasting Company
FOX Sports
FOX Sports Australia
FOX Television Stations
MyNetworkTV
Film
20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox Espanol
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Fox International
20th Century Fox Television
Fox 2000 Pictures
Fox Music
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Fox Studios Australia
Fox Studios LA
Fox Television Studios
Blue Sky Studios
Twentieth Television
20th Century Fox Licensing and Merchandising
Premium Movie Partnership (Australia and New Zealand – 20%)
Newspapers (U.S.)
New York Post
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal Digital Network
SmartSource (Coupons)
Newspapers (International)
The Advertiser and Sunday Mail (Australia)
The Australian (Australia)
The Courier-Mail and The Sunday Mail (Australia)
The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph (Australia)
Gold Coast Bulletin (Australia)
Herald Sun and Sunday Herald Sun (Australia)
mX (Australia)
The Mercury and Sunday Tasmanian (Australia)
News of the World (U.K.)
Northern Territory News and Sunday Territorian (Australia)
Perth Now (Australia)
Post-Courier (Papua New Guinea)
The Sun (U.K.)
Sunday Times (Australia)
The Times and The Sunday Times (U.K.)
Weekly Times (Australia)
Dow Jones
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal Asia
The Wall Street Journal Europe
The Wall Street Journal Radio
The Wall Street Journal Digital Network
The Wall STreet Journal Classroom
Barron’s
Dow Jones Local Media Group (Ottaway):
Cape Cod Media Group (MA)
Cape Cod Times
Cape Cod View
Barnstable Patriot
Hudson Valley Media Group (NY)
Times Herald-Record (Middletown)
Orange Magazine (Orange County)
Nantucket Island Media Group (MA)
Times Herald-Record (Nantucket)
Nantucket Today
Pocono Mountains Media Group (PA)
Pocono Record (Stroudsburg)
San Joaquin Media Group (CA)
The Record (Stockton)
Seacoast Media Group (NH)
The Portsmouth Herald
The Exeter News-Letter
The Hampton Union
The York Weekly
York County Coast Star
South Coast Media Group (MA)
The Standard-Times (New Bedford)
The Advocate (Fairhaven)
The Chronicle (Westport and Dartmouth)
Middleboro Gazette
The Spectator (Somerset and Swansea)
The Fall RIver Spirit
New England Business Bulletin
Southern Oregon Media Group (OR)
Medford Mail Tribune
The Nickel (Medford)
Ashland Daily Tidings
AllThingsD.com
BigCharts.com
eFinancialNews
Factiva
Dow Jones AveragesDow Jones Client Solutions
Dow Jones Companies & Executives
Dow Jones Events
Dow Jones Indexes
Dow Jones Insight
Dow Jones Investment Banker
Dow Jones LP Source
Dow Jones Newswires
Dow Jones Private Markets
Dow Jones Reprint Portal
Dow Jones Watchlist
Dow Jones VentureSource
FINS.com
Marketwatch.com
SmartMoney.com (with Hearst)
Vedomosti (with Pearson and Independent Media)
Virtual Stock Exchange
Magazines
Alpha (Australia)
Big League (Australia)
Inside Out (Australia)
Donna Hay (Australia)
Other News Properties
News Digital Media
News International
Publishing
HarperCollins Publishers
Amistad
Avon
Avon A
Avon Inspire
Avon Red
Caedmon
Harper Design
Ecco
Eos
Harper
Harper Business
HarperLuxe
Harper Paperbacks
Harper Perennial
Harper Perennial Modern Classics
HarperAudio
HarperBibles
HarperCollins e-Books
HarperOne
ItBooks
Rayo
William Morrow
HarperCollins Children’s Books
Amistad
Balzer + Bray
Collins
Greenwillow Books
HarperCollins Children’s Audio
HarperCollins Children’s Books
HarperCollins e-books
HarperFestival
HarperTeen
Katherine Tegen Books
Rayo
Walden Pond Press
HarperCollins Australia
HarperCollins Canada
HarperCollins India (40%)
HarperCollins New Zealand
HarperCollins US
HarperCollins UK
Zondervan
Online Properties
AmericanIdol.com
AskMen
BrandAlley UK (49%)
careerone.com.au
CARSguide.com.au
Fox.com
FoxSports.com
FoxSports.com.au
Fox Audience Network
hulu.com (32%)
kSolo
Milkaround
Myspace
News.com.au
News Digital Media
Realestate.com (58%)
Scout
Spring Widgets
truelocal.com.au
WhatIfSports
Other
Fox Mobile Group
IGN Entertainment
National Rugby League (Australia) (50%)
NDS (49%)
News America Marketing
News Outdoor Group (79%)
last updated 12/24/2010

Written by James J. Pond

July 17, 2011 at 1:18 AM

Posted in Democracy, EnviroActivism, Journal Entry

So You Thought Dallas, TX is Organized- Think Again!

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Last nights stampede for housing vouchers was anything but organized and the City of Dallas is fortunate that nobody is launching a lawsuit against the city.

If you think this lack of organization is unusual you need to know that it really isn’t. Piss poor planning by the City of Dallas is a common occurrence.

It’s business as normal in Dallas, TX.

Think Again!

Written by James J. Pond

July 15, 2011 at 10:13 AM

Posted in EnviroActivism

Information Resources

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Domestic & Foreign Newspapers Online:

U.S. Links:  The Top Twenty Newspapers

1. Alabama  2. Alaska  3. Arizona 4. Arkansas 5. California 6. Colorado 7. Connecticut 8. Delaware

9. District of Columbia 10. Florida 11. Georgia 12. Hawaii 13. Idaho 14. Illinois 15. Indiana 16. Iowa 17. Kansas

18. Kentucky 19. Louisiana 20. Maine 21. Maryland 22. Massachusetts 23. Michigan 24. Minnesota

25. Mississippi 26. Missouri 27. Montana 28. Nebraska 29. Nevada 30. New Hampshire 31. New Jersey

32. New Mexico 33. New York 34. North Carolina 35. North Dakota 36. Ohio 37. Oklahoma 38. Oregon

39. Pennsylvania 40. Road Island 41. South Carolina 42. South Dakota 43. Tennessee 44. Texas 45. Utah

46. Vermont 47. Virginia 48. Washington 49. West Virginia 50. Wisconsin 51. Wyoming

Highly Recommended Media Alternative Resources: Under Construction

Foreign Newspapers: Under Construction

1. My Afghan News 2. Afghan Daily 3. Kabul Daily 4. AOP Online 6. All Africa,Com 7.

Written by James J. Pond

July 9, 2011 at 7:05 PM

Posted in Democracy, EnviroActivism

Homelessness, Hunger, Poverty, and Politics

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In April of 2011, I was preparing to embark on a bicycle journey to increase my own awareness on a topic that I was not so familiar with.  The social issue that I chose to explore was homelessness.  As I searched around the internet I stumbled across something that hit home.  There is a large number of veterans that are sleeping on our nations streets.  Having retired from the U.S. Coast Guard after 26 years of service I found myself wondering how veterans could ever become homeless. I discover my own naivety.

During my service in the U.S. Coast Guard we were trained on the usual social issues of our times: human diversity, civil rights, and sexual harassment to name just a few.  This caused me to begin my research of homeless veterans and was eventually extended to the sum of all homelessness in America.  Once again, my naivety was exposed.  I had no idea what caused homelessness.  Was it our nations economy?

What are the signs of a weakening economy? While I agree with the article linked below it fails to identify the real “values”.  This is not an unusual circumstance in our country these days.  I believe that most economists do not consider homelessness, hunger, poverty, and politics (HHPP) as an early warning sign of a declining economy.  Our economists focus on certain reports issued by our government, which focuses primarily on the numbers, but ignores the economic impact of HHPP.   It’s like knowing that oil reserves are drying up and nobody is raising the prices.   I believe these are early signs for any countries economic condition.  Even our ecological condition does not find itself part of the our economic condition.  What is the sustainability?  The basic necessities to sustain life are: A healthy environment, adequate shelter, clean water, food, clean air, an adequate healthcare system, a fare and adequate income, and worldwide peace. Removing any of these basic necessities threatens all life on our planet. If we fail to plan for our future someone will have a plan for us.  This means we will experience an even greater reduction of our natural resources.  It is obvious that when it comes to protecting our environment  or ensuring that our economy is healthy you can bet the economy will come first; however, I still hope for the day that our environmental condition along with all issues that plague our society will be combined, and that combination shall become the measurement of our real economic and ecological condition.

To learn more about homelessness I did some very simple research that revealed some shocking estimates:

  • An estimated 1.5 million Americans are homeless (National Alliance to End Homelessness).
  • An estimated 200,000 veterans are homeless during any given night (Department of Homeless Affairs). The department has implement a national call center for homeless vets: 877-4AID VET (1-877-424-3838) which enables vets to call for themselves or citizens may call for someone else. The service is free and confidential, manned by trained VA counselors to assist, available 24 hours/7 days a week.  The department also provides information about VA homeless programs and mental health services in your area that can help.  For Homeless Vets call: 877.424.3838
  • There is some controversy regarding the average age of a homeless person.  We need to know more!
    To Be Young (Like 9, on Average?) and Homeless (New York Times).
  • Links to individual efforts: MAM Productions
  • My Homeless Playlist– Listen close to the comments made by Bill O’Reilly.  He is one of the reasons I do not watch FOX News.

We are supposed to learn from history.  The truth is that wars have produced homeless people throughout the history of wars.  It is my opinion that before we enter into war we should have the ability to provide reasonable care (including homelessness) to our veterans and all human beings who are experiencing homelessness in America.

Get thinking!
Get talking!
Get engaged!
Share Your Opinion!
Make A Difference!

Email: jamespond.usa@gmail.com
Facebook Me: http://facebook.com/jamesjpond
YouTube Channel: http://youtube.com/user/jamesjpond
Ending EnviroIgnorance: http://enviroignorance.blogspot.com
My Twitter: http://twitter.com/jamesjpond

Your Opinion Makes A Difference!

Written by James J. Pond

March 27, 2011 at 2:49 PM

Posted in Democracy, EnviroActivism

Restore Democracy Now!

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“The great masses of the people will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one”.
-Adolph Hitler

The world is rapidly changing before our eyes.  While we stare at our televisions watching  people stand up for their liberties- Americans seem to be content relaxing on  their sofas.  The “System” is flawed at a much deeper level, not JUST at the political level but way down at the level of physical reality. (Neo-)Classical economics teaches that infinite growth on a FINITE planet is possible. Reality check! The earth has only a finite volume and finite quantities of non-renewable resources like oil or coal. The Peak Oil hypothesis takes the finite volume of the earth into consideration: as cheap, easy to extract oil depletes, drillers will be forced to go deeper, drill in dangerous places (seafloor) or use low grade resources (Alberta oilsands: mixed with sand). Price per bbl will necessarily rise and eventually when new oil costs about $90 – 100 per bbl our growth addicted economy- founded on cheap, high volume oil production – will asphyxiate. This seems to be happening now. [CLICK HERE]

There is statistical evidence that the subprime mortgage collapse – Autumn 2008 – was triggered by rising oil prices in the spring and summer of that year. Young yuppies who were bad risks were enticed by subprime mortgages scammers into the exurbs where they communted, say, 100 miles per day to work.  As oil prices rose to about $150 per bbl in midsummer, 2008 they found that the “good life” left no room for the SUV and the daily commute. They defaulted on their mortgage payments, triggering the early deflation of the construction bubble. Once “bubbles” are pricked like this they pop which happened in the fall. The construction bubble burst and rapidly spread throughout the financial sector at large because of contamination by “toxic assets” based on unsafe subprime mortgages. Because of globalization – TOO MUCH INTERCONNECTEDNESS / NOT ENOUGH “MODULARITY” – the financial sector imploded GLOBALLY (what your mother DIDN’T tell you about globalization!). Finanally, the financial / investment sector took down the “real economy” of commodities, goods and services (those actually produced, traded and consumed by real people). Like a house of cards falling – pull out a card at the bottom and the whole structure falls.. But the original cause – or, rather, ONE MAJOR cause- was the summertime spike in oil prices due to an increasingly “tight” oil supply. The tight supply was itself due to the depletion of cheap, easy to extract and refine oil reserves. This view of the recession – founded on the Peak Oil hypothesis – seems to be gainging ground of late..
[CLICK HERE]

Meanwhile, Corporations have managed to become more and more powerful.  Since the midterm election of November 2010 voters have witnessed the great threat corporate power has over our election process.  The long arms of corporations are very capable of feeding a variety of organizations that including a radical Tea Party.  Americans  are increasingly becoming more conscious, yet there their is a percentage of people who also feel helpless against these organizations.[UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

Americans are slowly waking up and understanding that the two party system is failing. Our government is failing because our three branches of government (Legislative, Executive, and Judicial) are incapable of ensuring the integrity of our U.S. Constitution.  We are a allowing this great atrocity to occur because we are not satisfying our own responsibilities to govern.

What is being discussed here has nothing to do with your individual vote.  Nobody even needs to know the political party you may support!  The message that I’m communicating challenges every American to know that corporations are spending millions of dollars on deceitful campaign strategies.  These strategies are designed to confuse voters. Meanwhile, corporate campaign contributions install candidates into office, creating an atmosphere that supports  unethical lobbying practices; which in turn, poisons our Democracy and ensures campaign promises cannot be achieved.

How do we restore our democracy?  In my opinion, there are a few things we can do.  First, we should redefine what a corporation is and reduce how much influence it has on democracy.  Corporations are not people, they don’t care about people, and they are required by law to produce profits at whatever cost.  Real human beings have compassion for human life, and our environment.  If we continue to allow corporations to be defined as a person we will exhaust our natural resources to the point that future generations will never experience a reasonable quality of life.

Ideas for Change:

1. Change the law.  Corporations are not people and they should not have the same rights as you and I!
2. The two-party system is failing.  Both parties can be manipulated easily by big money (Corporations).  Charters are much better than Corporations.  That’s exactly how our forefathers ensured that corporations did not get to big for their britches.
3. Ending EnviroIgnorance: My Free Speech & Democracy Playlist
4. Ending EnviroIgnorance: Click on “What is Proportional Representation”.
5. We need four our more parties in congress.  In my humble opinion we should have proportional representation.
6. Support local businesses and refuse to support unethical corporate business.  Local small businesses often support their local community.
7. Send me an email to jamespond.usa@gmail.com and share your ideas to improve government, our environment, and help ensure that future generations will enjoy a reasonable quality of life.

James J. Pond

Get thinking!
Get talking!
Get engaged!
Share Your Opinion!
Make A Difference!

EMail: jamespond.usa@gmail.com
Facebook Me: http://facebook.com/jamesjpond
YouTube Channel: http://youtube.com/user/jamesjpond
Ending EnviroIgnorance: http://enviroignorance.blogspot.com
My Twitter: http://twitter.com/jamesjpond

Your Opinion Makes A Difference!

Written by James J. Pond

March 26, 2011 at 7:48 AM

Posted in Democracy, EnviroActivism