This is and will always be a problem for America’s economy. The more our leaders push for a global finance system the more we are strained. America is 25% of the worlds population and holds 20% of it’s wealth. The global elite’s have tried creating this global mess that would bring the standard of living in the US to other country’s standards. Why would we allow this ? Please read further. The very people that have caused these problems are now blaming the victims of their greed.

The European Monetary Union, Europe’s experimental nose in the fiscal union tent, is disintegrating before our eyes, and it seems there’s nothing Europe’s financial elites are prepared to do to prevent its complete collapse. The financial elites know it; they’re all making contingency plans not just for Greece’s exit but others beyond. They’re also scrambling to blame everyone but themselves for what now seems inevitable, even as they tell their respective populations that they all want the Euro to survive.

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, writing in the telegraph, describes the catastrophic decisions of the European Central Bank to engage in “ferocious monetary and fiscal contraction on an economy [he’s referring to Spain] struggling to deal with housing bust” and how it led to a double-dip recession in Spain. As it raised interest rates too soon, ECB became the banking “enforcer” for the IMF and European Union policy of punishing austerity even while the private sector was shrinking:

But blaming the financial elites is not fashionable, so they’re inventing other stories. Two days earlier IMF Director Christine Lagarde dismissed Greek claims of suffering — after all, Africans are starving — so she blamed the plight of Greek children on the parents refusing to pay their taxes. That implies that putting money in the hands of the hard pressed familes [sic] is exactly wrong, while cycling it through the government to pay off creditors is the correct policy. The Greeks are now using Facebook to express their anger. 

Lagarde’s obviously offensive rhetoric is not unique; others have been just as insulting for months, and it all seems calculated to increase Greek hostility to the austerity measures imposed by the IMF-EU-ECB Troika, thus leading Greek voters to reject parties in the June elections that support paying the Troika’s ransom for  avoiding further default. So what’s the game, here?

Ever since Greek voters overwhelmingly rejected the parties that accepted the austerity measures imposed on them by Germany et al, various Troika representatives have tried to frame the next Greek election as a referendum on whether Greeks want to remain in the Euro Union. If you vote against the austerity package, you want out of the Euro. Of course, the Troika does not have the right to tell the Greeks what their internal elections mean.

Indeed, polls have consistently shown that while Greeks reject the punishing measures of imposed austerity, particularly in the absence of any plausible theory that the pain will lead eventually to some gain that makes it all worthwhile, they also overwhelmingly want to remain part of Europe and even its common currency. The Greeks very rationally want a path out of the depression but inside the Europe community. That’s not a choice the Troika has offered, so every time the Greeks are offered a choice between godawful A and godawful B, the rational choice is still NO. But the elites are not listening.

If the medicine promises no viable path out of the depression, there is no reason for Greeks to take it.

The troika threatens to force the Greeks into default if they refuse to accept the terms, but what they’re not admitting is that Greece likely faces default no matter what, as long as the terms preclude any means to grow out of the depression. So the message to Greece is: you’re screwed, no matter what.

I’ve come to believe the Germans and other core countries reached this conclusion earlier this year, when we first heard German and other officials suggest insulting terms to the Greeks last winter. They realized Greece was doomed, so best to create the conditions to push them out and not be blamed for it, while trying to put in place all the means to hold the Euro together after the Greek exist. Ms. Lagarde statement can be seen as merely reflecting that strategy.

But even that strategy is failing. People and businesses are moving their money out of weak nations and their banks, and where allowed, out of the Euro system. It makes no sense to hold Euros in Spain if the Euro’s value is declining every day against the pound or dollar. There’s Euro run going on, and even when the money is left “inside,” the transactions are being redirected to be within each country, not across the Euro zone. In effect, parties are starting to function as though each country had it’s own Euro, preparing the way for separate currencies.

Trend watchers, & observers, like Martin Wolf (or Wolfgang Munchau, Paul Krugman, and others), have been warning for months that if it really wants to save the Euro, Germany must accept the conditions that create an actual union, as opposed to merely a budget straight jacket. A true union needs a collective monetary authority that stands behind the union’s debts (or can print them away), a federal insurance scheme for bank deposits, a federal counter-cyclical support system for the less competitive regions, and a common arrangement for allocating the gains of trade. And they need a growth strategy to replace, not “balance”, their current system of austerity leeches.

There is little stomach for these necessary measures in the core nations, and little acknowledgment they even have some responsibility for solving the problem. So the game is over. What we seem to be watching is a theater in which those who created this disaster play out the dissolution and avoid getting burned by or blamed for what’s already happening.

In the end if allowed every nation with a decent standard of living will be raped like this. We already see it in America. When Goldman Sachs can fund almost an entire presidential election without one word said where will this take us ? If we only watch main stream news and take what they tell us to believe as gospel we will suffer the consequences. Be a critical thinker, pay attention to what our leaders do, not what they say. We are unimportant to these large corporations that fund these elections. My only hope is some are standing against it and many are paying a price for doing it.

There’s a bill currently up for debate in the US House of Representatives that would give companies and government agencies the right to share information when issues of cybersecurity were at stake. If the first thing you thought after reading that was “Wait, don’t we already do this,” the answer is “Yes, we do.” The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) is drawing fire for certain provisions that drastically expand the definition of what data can be shared and for the way they handle existing data protections. 

At present, the government’s ability to share data on its citizens is fairly restricted, insomuch as the various agencies must demonstrate cause and need. This has created a somewhat byzantine network of guidelines and laws that must be followed — a morass of red tape that CISPA is intended to cut through. One of the bill’s key passages is a provision that gives private companies the right to share cybersecurity data with each other and with the government “notwithstanding any other provision of law.”

It’s that last bit that’s understandably drawn fire, despite the bill’s sponsor (Mike Rogers, R-MI) insisting that the government and various private entities wouldn’t abuse the privilege. Rogers is, at least, more open to revising the bill than were the backers of SOPA/PIPA earlier this year, but groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation remain unsatisfied with the bill in its current form. The ACLU has also weighed in on the proposed changes. “”A lot of them aren’t substantive,” Michelle Richardson, legislative counsel for the ACLU, told CNET. “They just put the veneer of privacy protections on the bill, and will garner more support for the bill even without making substantial changes.”

The core problem with most of the proposed amendments isn’t that they don’t provide necessary protections, it’s that they seek to bind the length of time the government can keep the data it gathers, or the sorts of people it can’t collect data on rather than protecting citizens as a whole. One proposed amendment, for example, would make it illegal to monitor protestors — but not other groups. It’s not hard to see how those seeking to abuse the law could find a workaround — a “protestor” is just a quick arrest away from being considered a “possible criminal risk.” 

One of the other major issues raised by the groups against CISPA is that none of the proposed amendments restrict how agencies like the CIA or NSA could use the information they gather. In the eyes of many, the push to secure the United States’ digital borders is little more than a power grab based on spooky cyberboogymen. The idea that we suddenly need a new law that would carry a built-in override to the privacy protections already in place seems out of proportion to the dubious reality of current “cyber threats.”

The problem with this sort of blank check “notwithstanding” clause is that even if the people who write the law have only good intentions, it provides substantial legal cover to others who might not. Given the amount of sharing that already takes place between corporations and government institutions, there’s simply no need to give investigators the right to invade the privacy of any citizen at will—not when such a privilege could so obviously be abused.

This is a problem that has gone too far in my view. It could and probably will be the beginning of the end of all FIAT currencies internationally unless the very few options left are taken seriously. Allowing the global corporations that caused the problems to confiscate resources that belong to these sovereign nations would change the world forever.

The Eurozone is experiencing financial difficulties once again, and this time problems appear to be spreading beyond chronically debt stricken Greece.  Other, much larger economies, are now in danger of dragging down Europe’s economic system.  While Greece still tops the list of nations that Europe’s leaders are worrying about, similar debt fears are beginning to manifest themselves in other Euro countries.

If Greece remains the number one concern, then Spain must be a close second.   Even though Greece presents a more immediate threat to the stability of the Euro, possible economic instability from Spain could have more drastic consequences than a Greek collapse.  This is because Spain’s economy (measured by GDP) is nearly five times as large as Greece’s economy*.  Potential economic fallout from a Spanish collapse can therefore be estimated to be nearly five times more dangerous than repercussions from Greece.

Unfortunately, Spain’s economic situation is becoming increasingly more dire.  Investors are growing wary of the nation’s debt, and ten year bond yields have been hovering around the uncomfortably high six percent mark.

If six percent seems relatively low, think about it this way.  The average mortgage rate in America is well below 6%, meaning investors have less confidence in Spain’s financial future than American banks have in the average American home buyer.  A country should be more economically stable than an average middle-class family, but in investors’ eyes, that may no longer be the case for Spain.

Spain is affected by underlying economic problems, not just a lack of trust from creditors.  While Americans have been complaining about an unemployment rate around 8%, the Spanish are experiencing unemployment rates approximately three times as high!  Worse, the Spanish economy is shrinking, complicating plans to lift the debt-ridden nation out of its financial woes.

But Spain isn’t the Eurozone’s only worry.  Italy’s finances also give member nations cause for concern.  Much like Spain, Italy is deep in debt and their bond rates have been spiking.  Even larger than Spain’s economy, any attempt to bailout Italy would be a huge sacrifice for the European economy as well.

Together, Spain and Italy pose a double threat.  If one’s economy collapses, debt contagion may cause the other’s economy to falter as well.  To protect themselves from this worse-case scenario, the region has been creating new lending institutions.  Both the EFSM (European Financial Stability Mechanism) and the EFSF (European Financial Stability Facility) have been set up to help troubled countries, and they will likely join to form one institution next year.  Whether or not the combined resources of these funds will be enough to successfully combat problems in Spain and Italy is unknown, but this move towards consolidation is certainly making the system stronger.

Consolidation itself seems to be a theme in Europe.  The seventeen nations that make up the Eurozone have been forced to work together while dealing with this mutual threat.  Weaker economies have needed support from larger, stronger economies in order to stay afloat.

As large economies go, the German economy is the powerhouse of the Eurozone.  Having invested heavily in the debt of their Euro brethren and not wanting trade to dry up, the Germans have taken a leadership role in combating the crisis.  But interestingly enough, trouble in the rest of the Eurozone is turning Germany into an investment safe-haven.  Even as bond rates have spiked across Europe, the cost of borrowing for Germany has actually been decreasing.  Germany has also experienced a significant drop in unemployment over the last few years.  And yet even Germany would be severely affected by a complete Eurozone collapse, so it is for this reason that German leaders are working diligently to solve debt-related problems.

The Eurozone faces difficult and dangerous economic issues, but the member nations have proven that they are willing to collaborate.  Since the possible economic consequences are dire, let’s hope they are successful.

 Please note that this is a ticking time bomb that will go off. It can only be fixed by “not” paying the global banks that created the problem and now holds the debt for these countries. They made the mess. Let them pay for it.

Police from all over New England arrived at Remick and Gendron for the funeral service of Greenland police chief mike Maloney Wednesday in Hampton.
(John Huff)

America has come a very long way in very short period of time, in terms of racial integration and understanding.

But that hard-fought progress is currently under threat, but not from rogue neighbourhood watchmen, as we are led to believe by our media’s divisive coverage and commentary on events surrounding the tragic shooting of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.

In both the media and political classes, there exist individuals who are seemingly addicted to crisis opportunity, and whose shallow efforts threaten to set the country back 30 or 50 years in terms of its social and racial development.

Like fast food, they will use cheap techniques like race-baiting, and tabloid sensationalism to score cheap ratings and even cheaper political points. Their reckless efforts fly in the face of every fundamental principle which the United States was founded upon, principles which each generation has fought for, in some way or another, in order to to improve society over the last 250 years.

The George Zimmerman Case has been seized upon by the charlatans, the political classes and the media manipulators – as their latest vehicle for dividing Americans into their respective camps, along the lines of ethnicity, insisting that Martin’s death was caused by ‘racial profiling’ – when no evidence beyond anecdotal has been presented to date to support such an accusation. here we witness both the media and politicians alike, working in concert, to construct theillusion of a race war in America.

But this is only the beginning.

Amidst all the hype and media circus promoted by the likes of NBC, CNN, FOX and and foundation-funded talking heads like Al Sharpton, and even President Obama who injected flammable material into the conversation early on with his comment, “If I had a son, he’s look like Trayvon Martin”- there exists a a dark Zeitgeist, trend, or a wave forming, which is obviously and overwhelmingly antagonistic – and ultimately designed to ‘divide and rule’ the culture.

TV network NBC took race-baiting to new depths, with its own humiliating admission that it had in fact edited and then aired the audio clips of Zimmerman’s 911 call in order to give the impression that the caller, Zimmerman, was racially profiling the victim Martin. In repsonse, NBC scapegoated a producer by firing him, and the network walked away clean from the incident - when other smaller media outlets have had their broadcast licenses revoked for lesser offenses.

On the left, we’ve seen Democrat political operators circling the wagons in order to grab any cheap available air time, gaining political mileage where they can, seizing on a short-term opportunity. On the right, stands an equally bankrupt far right-wing reactionary wave. Both sides are playing along with an artificial Left vs Rightparadigm, in a battle where all opposition is controlled by social engineers.  This is only the first ‘divide and rule’ phase that social engineers and their political managers have in store for 21^st century America.

The biggest danger of the artificial race-baiting which the media and grandstanding politicians have been fuelling is the mob. They are indirectly promoting random racial retaliation.

Last week, Baltimore local news aired a video of a white man being beaten, stripped and robbed by a gang of black youths. The video was posted by the gang on social networks, as a mark of pride by the gang. In the wake of the Trayvon circus, however, it’s highly likely that this type of incident could be racially motivated.

Our media and political leaders should be held accountable. If we want to protest something let’s protest this behavior. Stop allowing them to sell you what they want you to believe and do real fact finding before getting angry about something that may in fact have never happened at all.

If the talking heads on television don’t tell us about something that happens, does it make that event any less real?  Of course the answer to that question is quite obvious, but unfortunately way too many Americans allow their realities to be defined by what they hear from the mainstream media.  Way too many people use phrases such as “if that was true I would have heard about it on television” to deflect conversations that are starting to become uncomfortable.  Critical thinking is a skill that is in short supply in America today, and most Americans seem content to let their televisions do their thinking for them.  Sadly, the pretty people on television do not spend a lot of time talking about the things that are truly important.  Instead, they love to talk about the latest celebrity scandal and they love to divide people into groups and get them fighting with one another.  In this day and age, it is absolutely critical that we all learn to think for ourselves.  The talking heads on television are concerned with keeping their bosses happy and with keeping the ratings up.  Most of them are not really concerned about what happens to you.  They just want you to keep watching them so that they can continue to earn their inflated salaries.

Unfortunately, most Americans seem perfectly content with the “infotainment” that they are getting from the major news networks, so major changes to the mainstream media are not likely to happen any time soon.

For those wanting something different, you will have to seek out alternative sources of news (such as this website) that are willing to discuss the truly earth shattering events that are continually taking place all over the globe.

So what are some of the things that the mainstream media has been ignoring?

The following are 19 things that the talking heads on television have been strangely silent about….

#1 Strange Things Happening On The Sun

A lot of really weird things have been happening on the sun lately.  For example, recently there was a tornado on the sun that was five times larger than the earth.  The following is how this solar tornado was described by a recent Wired article….

Over the course of three hours, this behemoth reached up from the sun’s surface to a height of 125,000 miles, or roughly half the distance between the Earth and the moon. The hot gases were whipped up to nearly 186,000 miles per hour. In comparison, the wind speed of terrestrial tornadoes generally reaches a paltry 100 miles per hour.

#2 Fukushima

Fukushima has turned out to be the worst nuclear disaster in human history and it is far from over.  In fact, there is still the potential that an earthquake or an explosion could cause the crisis at Fukushima to become far more dangerous than ever.  In fact, some officials have even discussed the possibility of evacuating Tokyo if a worst case scenario plays out.

Mitsuhei Murata, a former Japanese ambassador to Switzerland, wrote the following in a March 25th letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon….

I was asked to make a statement at the public hearing of the Budgetary Committee of the House of Councilors on March 23. I raised the crucial problem of N0.4 reactor of Fukushima containing 1535 fuel rods. It could be fatally damaged by continuing aftershocks. Moreover, 50 meters away from it exists a common cooling pool for 6 reactors containing 6375 fuel rods!

It is no exaggeration to say that the fate of Japan and the whole world depends on NO.4 reactor. This is confirmed by most reliable experts like Dr. Arnie Gundersen or Dr. Fumiaki Koide.

Please allow me to inform you of an initiative being taken by a former UN official who is endeavoring to have the Nuclear Security Summit take up the crucial problem of N0.4 reactor of Fukushima. He is pursuing the establishment of an independent assessment team. I think his efforts are very significant, because it is indispensable to draw the attention of world leaders to this vital issue.

So just how serious is the threat posed by the spent fuel pool at reactor number 4?

Well, just check out the following assessment from a Japanese news source….

One of the biggest issues that we face is the possibility that the spent nuclear fuel pool of the No. 4 reactor at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant will collapse.

The storage pool in the No. 4 reactor building has a total of 1,535 fuel rods, or 460 tons of nuclear fuel, in it and the storage pools are barely intact on the building’s third and fourth floors. If the storage pool breaks and runs dry, the nuclear fuel inside will overheat and explode, causing a massive amount of radioactive substances to spread over a wide area.

The worse-case scenario drawn up by the government includes not only the collapse of the No. 4 reactor pool, but the disintegration of spent fuel rods from all the plant’s other reactors. If this were to happen, residents in the Tokyo metropolitan area would be forced to evacuate.

#3 Mount Fuji In Japan About To Erupt?

Mount Fuji in Japan had been dormant for about 300 years, but in recent months there have been a lot of signs that the volcano is waking up.  If Mount Fuji were to experience a full-blown major eruption, millions of Japanese could potentially die and the Japanese economy would immediately collapse.

The following is from an article that was recently posted on The Extinction Protocol….

Reports are appearing about unrest and signs of a possible awakening of Mt Fuji volcano in Japan. According to a report which includes an unclear photo of the area, a row of new craters, the largest 50 m in diameter, has appeared on the eastern flank of the volcano at 2200 m elevation. Steam was observed erupting from these vents. The observation joins other signs suggesting a gradual reawakening: A swarm of earthquakes including 4 of magnitude 5 have occurred northeast of Mt Fuji on and after 28 January. An earlier 6.4M quake occurred under the volcano on 15 March 2011. The report also mentions increased activity from a fumarole vent at 1500 m elevation and hot spring areas at the eastern flank observed since 2003. These locations seem to be aligned geographically, and are probably connected. Dr. Masaaki Kimura of Ryukyu University is quoted to admit that there is an increased risk of an eruption on the eastern flank and that the status of the volcano should be closely monitored.

#4 Stunning Rise In Volcanic Activity Around The World

All over the world major volcanoes are showing signs of awakening.  We are especially seeing a rise in volcanic activity along the “Ring of Fire” that encircles the Pacific Ocean.

#5 Global Food Prices Rising Again

According to Reuters, global food prices have risen for three months in a row and are rapidly approaching record levels.  The food riots that we have seen in the developing world during past summers could be even worse this year.

#6 U.S. Government Debt Downgraded Again

Credit rating agency Egan Jones downgraded the credit rating of the United States from AA+ to AA last week.  There was barely a peep about this on the major news networks.

#7 500 Million Dollars To Help The IRS Implement Obamacare

The Obama administration is giving the IRS 500 million extra dollars “outside the normal appropriations process” to help them implement the provisions of Obamacare that they are in charge of overseeing.

#8 Go To Jail If You Offend Someone On The Internet In Arizona?

A proposed law in Arizona will actually make it a very serious crime to annoy or offend someone on the Internet.  So if you live in Arizona, you might want to be very careful about what you say if you leave a comment at the end of this article.

#9 Passport Suspended For Not Paying Taxes?

A bill currently going through the U.S. Congress would allow the federal government to suspend your passport if you have unpaid taxes.  If you are not able to pay the taxes that you owe, you could end up stuck in the United States indefinitely.

#10 Preparations For War In The Persian Gulf

A second U.S. aircraft carrier is on the way to the Persian Gulf.  Tensions with Iran continue to increase, and over the past several months there have been all kinds of signs that military preparations are being made for an eventual conflict.

#11 Mysterious Mass Deaths

Large numbers of birds, fish, dolphins and whales continue to die all over the globe and scientists do not have any explanation for why this is happening.

#12 The Federal Reserve Monetizing U.S. Debt

During 2011, the U.S. Federal Reserve bought approximately 61 percent of all U.S. debt that was issued according to an article in the Wall Street Journal.  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke promised that he would never monetize the debt, but that is exactly what he is attempting to do.

#13 Giant Sinkholes

Enormous sinkholes continue to open up all over the planet.  For example, a mammoth 200 foot wide sinkhole recently opened up near a town in Sweden.

#14 Increase In Global Earthquakes

As I have written about previously, we have seen a substantial increase in the number of major earthquakes around the globe in recent years.  So far in 2012, we have seen four earthquakes of greater than magnitude 7.0, and all four of themhave been along the “Ring of Fire”.

#15 Increase In U.S. Earthquakes

Scientists are acknowledging that there has been a huge increase in the number of earthquakes in the center of the United States, but they are blaming this increase on fracking.

#16 Evacuation Drills At U.S. Public Schools

All over the United States, public schools are conducting “evacuation drills” which involve putting children on buses and taking them to alternate locations.  Sometimes the alternate locations are “undisclosed” and parents are only told what the undisclosed locations were after the drills are over.

#17 Strange Sounds In The Sky

All over the planet, people are hearing strange noises in the sky.  People have come up with all sorts of theories and explanations for why they are happening, but so far the mystery has not been solved and reports of these strange sounds continue to pour in from all over the globe.

#18 Crazy Tornado Outbreaks

So far in 2012 the United States has had a very unusual number of tornadoes.  In fact, so far we have seen about twice as many tornadoes as usual. The 2011 tornado season was one of the worst ever, and the 2012 tornado season could end up being even more traumatic.

#19 Obama Signs Disturbing Executive Order

A few weeks ago, Barack Obama signed an executive order that would allow him to take control of all food, all energy, all health resources and all transportation resources.  This was an update to an old executive order, but the Obama administration made a change that would allow Barack Obama to do this even in “non-emergency” situations.  Sadly, the talking heads on television were strangely silent about this.

The world that we live in is becoming increasingly unstable.

The political order is being shaken, the financial world is being shaken, the social fabric of our society is being shaken and even the ground under our feet is being shaken.

Previous generations never had to deal with a world that was changing at blinding speed.  The rate at which things are moving is almost unimaginable, and it just seems to keep accelerating with each passing year.

We are privileged to live during one of the most exciting times in human history, but it is also likely to be one of the most dangerous times in human history.

The talking heads on television are going to keep telling us that everything is going to be okay and that everything will “return to normal” very soon, but that simply is not going to happen.

Our world has reached a critical juncture, and a time of great shaking is at hand.

So what do you think is going to happen next?

    This is what I observe and how I feel about first responders. Particularly police officers. The job has changed over the years. The risk reward factor seems out of balance. What would we do without them ? Really ?

                                 ——————————————————————————————————————

    When I was growing up back in Louisville Kentucky my father was a city bus driver. My uncle owned an auto body shop, and it seemed to be open 24 hours a day. The local police officers working the night shift use to hang out and have coffee, tell war stories, and “watch over the place”. As my brothers and I grew up my middle brother decided he would become a firefighter. He showed courage and passion for his calling in life. He retired a Captain after about 27 years in uniform. Many times he was called to lay his life on the line to save someone he’d never met. I always looked up to him for that. Many of my friends were police officers back then in Louisville. They were a well oiled machine and managed for the most part to stem the tide of crime, work traffic accidents, and basically make life really good for the people of our city. 

   I moved to the Atlanta area in 1986. Again I met a lot of law enforcement officers over my years here. In the 80’s it seemed like a great career. A career with a purpose, respect, and community. They hit the streets every day and did what they do no matter what it takes or costs them. A soldier on the front line in battle could not be doing any more than they do. The concept of becoming a law enforcement officer was dangerous but something one does because it had to be done. 

   Flash forward to 2011. Wow has things changed. If you decide to be a police officer you must accept the fact that politics will control your career, that you move up because of who you know not what you do,  that the respect many in society had for your authority has vanished because of ignorant public policies, and the public in general is painted a picture very unflattering of you. Public schools are not allowing anything in them that may teach what it means to be a good citizen, judges no longer are on your side, instead they have an agenda. Usually pandering for votes in the next election, and a judicial system that sometimes does the unthinkable. To turn on their own. The liability of becoming a law enforcement officer has become incredible. 

   What would we do without these people on our front lines ? We would no longer have a society, we could not live with any type of safety. Security would be us barring up our homes and standing guard 24/7. Why do we not appreciate the fact that we have these amazing people that are willing to do a thankless job for way below what they could make in the private sector ? I’m amazed at the public perceptions of true community heroes. 

   I live next door to a great family. My neighbor, Jeff is a police officer. He drives his patrol car home every night. As a family man I love having that car that close to my family’s home. This morning my wife and I walked outside and Jeff was cleaning spray paint off of his car. Someone in the middle of the night wrote words that I will not repeat in the press release. They also spray painted the minivan in his driveway. It sickened me. We live in a middle class area, near our kids schools, and peaceful. A coward came in the middle of the night and defaced these cars for what ? Showing off ? Someone angry ? Jeff has accepted a position in society that if the person that did this had their life threatened then Jeff would stand between this unknown person and danger. He’d do this without an agenda, without reason other than it is what he signed up for and what he does. Amazing. 

   I just want to take the time to say “Thank You” to all those on the front lines of society that put it all on the line every day for perfect strangers. We should say thank you. It’s not just a job these people do. It’s a passion. Why else would they do it ? I say it all the time. It is a thankless position and I for one would like to change that. 

Ken Stepp 
Director of Operations 
American Angel Works 
Rosebud Advocacy 
877-577-1486 
info@americanangelworks.com

This is a story of someone with a giving heart that wanted to help those that help others. Incredibly there are still generous loving people working with nothing to gain for themselves. We needed help and “Nina” showed up. We remain thankful.

                                                      ————————————————————————-

    American Angel Works in a new division of Rosebud Advocacy. Established in 1999 and almost invisible since the economic collapse beginning 2007 to the present. Rosebud was working with men with addiction issues for years and continues to this day. In late 2010 because it seemed like so many people were searching for basic help due to job loss, injury, or sickness American Angel Works was born. Rosebud’s President, Peter Erbele had a meeting with Ken Stepp in a little coffee shop early one morning and the question was thrown out. How can we partner our time talent ideas and passion and make a difference in hurting peoples lives ? How can a nonprofit with $18.00 in the bank offer help to families that may not have food today ? Let’s work with offenders and make them a resource that makes a difference in hurting families lives. And lets get started right away ! 
   Well the “right away” thing wasn’t to go off without a hitch. It seems there are a lot of legal things one must do to even begin such a journey. First we have the board to petition on this idea. And since they are so spread out that would not happen overnight. Who knew that wanting do do something good for people would be so difficult ? Not us. But in the nonprofit world all the T’s are crossed and the I’s are dotted. This would be much the same. We met with our board, met with our attorney, and met with some very wise people. After receiving an all systems are go sign from everyone we began. Of course now it was late January 2011. We would launch in February. 
   One of the first thing we learned is that the desire to help others would not actually lead to helping others. It would take more than desire. It would take a community of people that would have to be found to do the things that we did not have the training or talent to do. I decided to write this press release because of just such a person that literally came out of nowhere. I ran an ad on Craigslist. I received spams, scams, and crazy things from it. But one person sent me an email. Her name was Nina Gibson. Her email was pleasant, thoughtful, and to the point. She wanted to help. No agenda, just help. She asked what we needed. I emailed her back that we really needed a flyer that we could email people. She asked what it needed to say. I mentioned a few items that should be included but asked her to do the creative part. I thought that was pretty bold of me but it really is all I could offer. She sent me the proofs, they were fantastic. Nothing about what she created looks free at all. In an economy and a time when so many Americans have pulled back and watching out for number one she came in and made a difference. American Angel Works is in this for the long haul and it’s people like Nina that reminds us we are not alone in this struggle to make a difference. Here’s to tomorrow and beyond. I just wanted to say thank you. America really is the most generous nation in the world, and full of the best people on Earth.
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Rosebud Advocacy and American Angel Works is a 501C3 national nonprofit that focuses on helping families in financial crisis and first responders that have been injured or can no longer do their job.

(Source: prlog.org)

American Angel Works is a division of Rosebud Advocacy. Standing in the gap for those in need. Emergency groceries, utility bills, gas to get to an interview,etc.

Helping budgets has become the rage lately , finding ways to keep county ,city ,and even states budgets in line. How changing the way they punish minor pot offenses to drawing productive people back to their city or state will help. Today the need is saving more money and doing it with a purpose in mind. Today the focus is on saving your court much needed funds and helping families in need can both be done at the same time ? Yes and it is very simple. 

 Sentencing offenders to community service hours can be a way to save a substantial amount of the budget. Sending people to jail is costly and very high in liability. It also causes in many cases the offender to lose their job and thus adding to the problems the economy has today. This action can even displace entire families because they lose their bread winner to unnecessary incarceration. There are smarter more helpful solutions. 

 Community service sentencing really only has one problem. There are very few places to do community service in the community. American Angel Works a foundation that helps families in crisis has developed a unique way of combining an offenders community service hours and helping these children. It’s simple really. 

 American Angel Works supports families in every state and most communities. A probation officer ,judge ,or district attorney loves sentencing people to community service or having them do their service hours with American Angel Works because they know that it is their area that will benefit from it. Mark Baker with North Georgia Judicial Services explained that he met people in his area receiving funds . 


 The average daily cost to incarcerate someone is $50 providing they do not need medical attention or file a law suit for an event. If you used community service more in a small municipality and could keep 10 people per day out of jail they would save nearly $200,000 by simply offering an alternative. A larger municipality that could keep 100 people out would have an extra $2,000,000 (2 Million) with no cost to implement this program whatsoever. 


 A story that starts out bad and ends great is what this is. If these courts need to balance their budgets ,want to help their community ,and some families in need this is truly a fairy tail ending for everyone.
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American Angel Works is a division of Rosebud Advocacy with their home office in the Atlanta Georgia area. Helping families in financial crisis is our mission. If you have community service to complete this is definitely the place to complete them. Helping others through fund raising. 
877-577-1486

courtorderedcommunityservices:

How Our Community Service Program Works
American Angel Works has designed an online program that provides you the freedom to work your Court-ordered hours given your otherwise busy schedule. There are many ways to work this program. We will credit you with hours to create opportunities for…

Nonprofit works with offenders that have been sentenced to court ordered community service in all fifty states by helping them complete their service through fundraising and helps police and firefighters with the proceeds.

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 America Angel Works is a division of Rosebud Advocacy, a national 501C3 nonprofit. Rosebud began as a small community outreach in the Atlanta Georgia area. They have worked with men with addiction issues since 1999. In 2010 Ken Stepp came on board with them as a consulting board member and Director of Operation. American Angel Works was his dream and Rosebud was his path to making it come true. Mr Stepp wanted to help America’s first responders like police and fire fighters when they were in financial trouble. And that is where America Angel Works began. 

   In late 2010 Peter Erbele, Rosebud’s President gave Mr Stepp the go ahead to create a foundation dedicated to helping our heroes when they are injured or hurting. For example most Law Enforcement Officers work part time jobs to make ends meet. If they are sick or injured their income has a gap in it. They could lose their car, home, or credit rating because of this gap in income. That is when American Angel Works steps in to help. They will offer temporary help to keep “life going” while the officer heals or starts getting their regular pay. 

   In a unique twist they do this by helping offenders work off their court ordered community service hours they were sentenced to. The offender raises funds for American Angel Works from any city in America. The funds are then issued to the first responders to help them through their difficult time. It’s a win win. The offender often can’t find a place that fits their schedule to complete their hours and with American Angel Works they can finish them faster and at a time that is convenient to them. This form of community service is accepted by both courts and probation officers. 

   I had a meeting with a local district attorney and was stunned to find out what is going on in most if not all of our judicial systems right now. One of the consequences to a terrible economy and budget shortfalls is that many cities and counties in America simply cannot afford to incarcerate as many people now. Yet they do have to hand out justice. They are doing this on a national scale. They are now sentencing more and more offenders to court ordered community service. The district attorney I met with loved the idea of having offenders work off their hours by fundraising for first responders. Again it is a win win for everyone involved. 

   As Rosebud Advocacy continues helping men with addiction problems and their families cope with these problems American Angel Works is blazing new territory for the great men and women on our front lines all over the US. What was a dream has become a reality for Mr Stepp. He started a company in 2006 called To Protect and Serve that addressed this problem and helped many first responders. Now with American Angel Works he hopes to take it to a new level of service. Officially launched in February of 2011 American Angel Works is build roads of compassion and gratitude for America’s first responders. Although small now he hopes to be able to meet many needs in the future for the true heroes of our society. 

   We are proud of our law enforcement, fire fighters, and emergency responders and want to make a difference in their lives when they have been put in harms way for us. If you would like to donate to American Angel Works or Rosebud Advocacy you can do so online. 

   If you have been sentenced to court ordered community service hours and want a fast solution to completing them and would like for your service hours to actually make a difference in the lives of others feel free to go to American Angel Works web site, read what they are about and how their program works, then email them for how to get started. 

Contact 
www.americanangelworks.com 
877-577-1486 
Info@americanangelworks.;com

American Angel Works and Rosebud Advocacy Steps Up to Help a Mom in Trouble

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National Nonprofit Steps in to Help When Help Cannot Be Found

A mother in dire need turns to a Craigs List ad for help and finds a community. American Angel Works steps up to help.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – Apr 11, 2011 – Very few parents have had to face the hardships Amanda Whitfield has.  And until a week and a half ago, Amanda was facing them alone. 

“I’ve never asked for help like this,” she said in her e-mail to American Angel Works, a nonprofit organization based out of Marietta, Georgia.  “I’m not sure what to say.” 

Amanda probably never would have turned for help had it not been for her son.   

“I try to always look at the cup half full, but life is hard for Micah.  I know I have a tough road in front of me.”   

Her son Micah just turned seventeen.  Since being diagnosed with Complex Congenital Heart Disease at one month old, Micah has undergone twelve heart surgeries.  For two years he could not breathe without the help of an oxygen machine; even now he requires constant medically competent supervision.  A stroke has left him unable to fully use one side of his body.   

Caring for Micah is a fulltime job, but one Amanda does not resent. 

“I have never once complained,” she says.  But it has become increasingly difficult to take care of Micah on her own. 

Every three weeks he receives eight hours of blood infusions from the hospital since his body does not produce its own antibodies.  Micah takes thirty-five medications daily, ten more in case of emergency.  Twelve of these medications are not covered by Amanda’s medical insurance.   

Micah’s father, who suffers from a severe mental illness, has threatened Micah’s life repeatedly over the last five years; Micah currently suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  Amanda has had to move three times, and is no longer in contact with her former husband.  To make ends meet she has had to sell nearly everything they own.  A low point came a few weeks ago when she had to pawn one of Micah’s videogames (beside watching his beloved Phillies on television, playing his videogames is one of the few forms of entertainment Micah is able to enjoy).   

Amanda Whitfield knew she needed help.   

While scanning Craigslist for opportunities to make money from home, while still caring for Micah, Amanda found an ad that led her to American Angel Works.  American Angel Works is a nonprofit organization, sponsored by Rosebud Advocacy, Inc., that is dedicated to providing assistance for children and families in need. 

American Angel Works contacted fifteen churches in the Philadelphia area; of these two responded.   

A representative from Ensamples Church, Mission, and Ministries—sponsored by the New Life Community Church of Truth, Inc.—contacted American Angel Works and agreed to offer her support.  The representative recognized the importance of providing Amanda with what she needs to feel good about herself so that she can be strong for Micah.  And while they may not be able to provide Amanda with direct financial support, the representative from Ensamples Church has made arrangements with the merchants at 9th Street Market so that Amanda can maximize the potential of her government food benefits. 

Valerie McCrae, in charge of the ministry outreach at Fellowship Evangelistic Church where her father is the pastor, had already heard of the Whitfield’s situation—McCrae works at the children’s hospital where Micah receives his blood infusions.  Although Fellowship Evangelistic Church is a small church without liberal funding, McCrae has agreed to make a donation, out of her own pocket if necessary.  She will be meeting with Amanda within the next week to discuss the situation. 

Even more important than the financial support these two churches are providing—American Angel Works will attempt to match their contributions—is the caring community in which Amanda and Micah now find themselves.  They are no longer alone.   There are two congregations of friends, neighbors, babysitters, caregivers, confidants, who know their plight and are working together to help.   

Even the smallest things can make all the difference.  Recently, for the first time in 150,000 hours, Amanda found someone who could watch Micah for a couple of hours, while she took a break, and she did a thing most of us take for granted:  she went for a walk.   

For a while now Amanda Whitfield has been ‘getting by’.  She hasn’t been able to plan ahead, to save her finances; all she can do is make sure that there is food on the table, that the electricity bill is paid on time, that the van has enough gas to get her to the store and Micah to the hospital, that she has enough for basic internet so Micah can complete his online schoolwork, basic cable so he can watch his Phillies.  Ultimately her goal is to live without the anxiety of not knowing how she is going to do it all again tomorrow.   

She needs someone to watch Micah while she pursues the opportunities that have been passing her by (last week she had an opportunity to do paid research, but she could not afford to pay someone to watch him).  She needs a friend to stay with her at the hospital, while she waits for Micah’s infusions.  She needs someone who will pick her up when she gets discouraged, to laugh with her when things are good.  She needs a network.  She has that now. 

“With an extended network of caring people,” she says, “I could both be helped and helped others.”   

American Angel Works is a small organization, with limited financial reach.  Fellowship Evangelistic Church and Ensamples Church, Missions and Ministries are small inner-city churches and do not have nearly the resources of some of the other churches that were contacted.  But by pooling their resources together, each organization’s capacity for outreach is increased.  By contacting churches in an area and creating a dialogue between church leadership, American Angel Works hopes to establish meaningful networks and lasting relationships between churches; so that churches can help families like the Whitfields.

I was taking a break from writing for the Summer but I found some info on a bill that is being looked at by Congress that has merit. It’s a tax hike. Most of you that know me also know that I hate the “T” word. America is taxed enough already. Lowering taxes on the upper and middle class has always and will always help lubricate the economy. That is just the way it works. But this bill is very different. The mega banks are sitting on over a trillion dollars of money they borrowed from the Fed at zero interest. So it’s just sitting there on their balance sheets earning small interest and making their stock look more appealing. Somewhere between 65 % and 80% of American jobs are in the small business community. Small business borrowing is now at a negative level. In other words they are paying debt and not borrowing. This has caused expansion in these companies to contract instead of expand giving us a negative job growth situation. I’m sure most everyone reading this knows that we have a “jobs” problem in America. The bill going through Congress introduced by Rep Sanders will tax the money sitting in these banks if it isn’t loaned out to small business. This is so simple and it would work. If our leaders want this economy to start moving then this bill needs to pass. It’s simple yet genious at the same time. If you read some of my previous predictions you will see that in June of 2009 I said that the flood gates to small business lending would be the way to make the economy roll again. I was very wrong on the timing. I predicted by May 2010 it would start. Maybe in August we can see it happen. Until then keep your fingers crossed. I really do think after the midterm elections that more leaders will be listening. We will have their attention by then.