Protestor

“Sometimes storms are necessary to wash away the old, and bring along the new”

Click here for a Youtube video of Iran Protests

By Mike Sanch

Over the past couple of news intense and hot summer weeks, Americans and people around the world have stayed glued to their screens as they watched in dismay at the ongoing and violent street demonstrations in downtown Tehran, the capital of Iran. The erudite and young crowds have been massing in the streets in protests that have essentially pitted a generation of young revolutionaries against a hard line establishment.(“youth or young” pertains to the 16-35 demographic in this article)

During the recent Iranian unrest, the images of bloodied protestors facing off with masked police in riot gear could not be ignored by the world’s internet community, as videos posted by Iranians lit up youtube.com, and helped spread the news and images of the carnage being executed on the world stage- streaming to you within minutes of the events.

The role of Internet in these demonstrations cannot be ignored, for the Iranian revolutionaries have shown their utilization of the internet with twitter.com accounts, and facebook.com profiles as they are openly reeling and blazingly demanding reform by posting and updating the world and the rest of Iran about their struggles in confronting their government.

Videos of the events have spread virally, such as the now infamous Neda video, a graphic and raw video that shows a bloodied protestor named Neda staring into a camera as she laid dying after audaciously taking a bullet while standing up for her rights as a women. The video now serves as a rallying cry, and has become a symbol of rebellion.

Ironically, the government being confronted by these demonstrators is led by the people who participated in their own revolution just 30 years ago, when their generation was young.

I could not help but have reverence for the youthful and connected demonstrators who showed the world the courage it takes to stand up to an unrighteous and oppressive regime. By amassing and communicating via the internet to organize their demonstrations, they openly defied the elites, and sent the establishment a message. A message that is quickly becoming a mantra- in the age of the Internet, tyranny does not go unchecked or unnoticed by the world community.

Demographics – Young and connected

Iran is a nation of youthful and connected people. Because of the Iraq- Iran War, which lasted through 1980-1988, nearly a whole generation of Iranians was wiped out due to the long, savage and bloody war that forced Iran to defend their borders against an invading U.S. backed Saddam Hussein who unleashed hell in the region. Chemical warfare, village massacres, and pointless lost of life were all part of that merciless war which had no clear winner, yet the people of the two countries were the clear losers.

One of the consequences of the aftermath of the Iran –Iraq war is the shift in demographics. Iran’s population characteristics are unique in the world. Nearly half of the 70 million Iranians are under the age of 25, and accordingly, it is the third largest nation of bloggers in the world. In fact, Iran has the highest amount of bloggers per capita in the world. The blogs provide a safe haven for the young generation of people in expressing their thoughts about politics, love, dating, railing against the repression of women’s rights and other “progressive” topics.

Here is cool video on the bloggers in Iran- “A revolution within a revolution”

What the demonstrations may really be about

The demonstrations come in response to voting irregularities experienced during the elections, which saw the controversial incumbent, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, take a commanding victory once the votes were tallied.

However, this is only what sparked the powder keg, for the country was just waiting to explode.
Patrick Zeller, an ex “mainstream media guy”, who has frequently worked with numerous publications around the country, such as San Antonio’s own Express News, toured the country of Iran just three years ago on a cross country motor bike ride that took him from the elegant palaces of Tehran graced with elaborate and colorful Persian rugs, to the gate of a controversial Nuclear power plant, tucked in between the mountains that dictate much of Iran’s geographical landscape.

Check his story here about his amazing trip across 3,000 miles of Iran Here

I had the opportunity to speak with Patrick at a local beer joint in San Anto’s South Town district over a couple of beers.

“When I was there, the topic of another revolution came up frequently.” said Zeller, as if it was a matter of fact. He noted the disconnect between the hard line Shia branch of Islam, which dominates the government, directly conflicts with the youth of Iran, who seemed just to want to ride their motorcycles and be free.

Zeller went on to say, “We tried to predict when the next revolution would come, we thought at the time within 8 years”.

The revolution it seems, didn’t want to wait that long. For the clash between the generations can be described as a battle between the connected vs. the unconnected, the progressive (secular) urban populations vs. conservative (religiously) rural populations.

Background

To understand the situation in Iran today, let’s establish a little history.
In 1979, Universities across the nation of Iran started participating in demonstrations with students railing against the shah and the United States intervention into their internal affairs. The struggle of ’79 eventually led to a revolution that overthrew the U.S. Government supported and installed crony, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, or better described as the then dictator of Iran.

The revolutionaries of the 1979 revolution were inspired by the Ayatollah Khomeini, an elderly and charismatic clergy man who was exiled by the Shah for political reasons, yet returned to Iran once the student led rebellion successfully ousted the Shah.

Once Khomeini arrived in Iran, he and the clergy quickly began to formulate one of the most complicated governments in the world, which consists of nearly two “branches” of everything. A secular government body and a clerical or religious based government body complimenting each sector of the government. The president of Iran serves at the bequest of the most powerful individual, who is known as the supreme leader, which is presently Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

After the 1979 revolution, the fierce war between Iraq and Iran began, and it can be analyzed, because of the War and the scenes witnessed by the Iranian revolutionaries of 1979, their conscious and ideas of an ideal new government was tarnished forever. This allowed and set the stage for an oppressive government led by theocrats to take hold. Perhaps,  these past events gave the reasoning behind the crackdown in Tehran, for it is the scarred minds that fought in that war, who now control the government a generation later in 2009.

The Future vs the Past

The clashes between the Bassij (Government Troops) and the young people of Tehran, has stained the streets of the capital of Iran with the blood of protestors.

The Ayatollahs who benefit from the current theocratic status quo in Iran realize the power of the Internet, and recognize the web’s efficiency and view it as a threat. The Iranian Government has even moved to crackdown on those who are utilizing the internet, by slowing down internet access, detaining opposition leaders, and in some cases restricting internet access in general.

Michelle Bastanjoo, who is an Iranian- American, attending the University of Texas in Austin, said this about a fellow acquaintance that left for Iran in May.

“I know one girl who went to Iran for vacation for two months, she left right after the spring semester, so after all this started I thought I would send her a message on facebook, but then I saw on someone’s page that apparently facebook is blocked for them, so I didn’t think she’d see my message any time soon.”

As the young generations of people around the world, log in, have access, and are exposed to the internet, we should have nothing to fear. Once we combine the taste and experience of freedom with energy of the young imaginations that enable the human conscious-the revolutionary spirit against oppression will be kept alive and well.

It is the youth that formulate creativity and progress, and the energy of the youth combined with the prowess to access information-perhaps this will accelerate progress in the years to come. Knowledge is power, and in tomorrow’s world, if knowledge is increasingly being decentralized because of the internet, then it is only natural that power will be decentralized, as human’s go into a world where bombs and bullets don’t solve our problems anymore.

Iranian protesters after the polices shoot them

Iran Election Fraud: 5 Reasons to Doubt the Results

There were many other bills that did not make it, however this particular one had a large amount of media coverage and public support and opposition, one would think that the legislature would have made high priority of such a bill. However, there is a potential problem when you look at how the Texas legislature is set up.

It is a system that invites corruption. Doing little for people and as much as possible for big business or other powerful interests. Many find Texas politics boring and do little to understand them, so I will give a brief breakdown.

The Texas legislature only meets ONCE every TWO years, and only for 90 days. With all the decisions that need to be made, this is not nearly enough time to make them. Another problem is with the short amount of time in session is added to the problem that the pay for being a legislature in Texas is extremely low. This causes many of the legislature to work for companies and corporations.

This causes a conflict of interest, being on the company payroll, it causes representatives to put forward bills of their host companies first and with more intensity, leaving issues that have to deal with the public to be placed on the back burner.

Another problem that has been seen is what is called “ghost voting”. With only having to meet 90 days every 2 years, you would think that these Texas state reps could make all or at least most of the meetings. However this is not the case ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG6X-xtVask&feature=related). As seen in the video many congressmen are voting for other congressmen on issues, even reaching across party lines. This has been accepted inside the chamber, however is very immoral.

This goes back to the problem that so many things must be voted on in such a short period of time, bills are not even discussed the are just put up on the floor and voted on. The way Texas politics is set up is horrifying, but not many people pay attention to them.

However, where most of the things that affect our lives happen is at the State level. I would encourage all readers to look more deeply into your state politics, many of your representatives are running around unchecked and unleashed serving their own selfish interests.

Summer time and the livin' easy (Photo: Sanch)

Go Green to Save Green this Summer!

By Mike Sanch

As we all know, South Texas summer’s can get really caliente! This usually means your utility bills are going to rise with the temperatures, because your air conditioner will work overtime trying to keep your house cool.

With the summer here, it’s also a good time to be aware of the environment and take steps that will help your wallet, as well as la tierra. In these uncertain economic times, now is a good time to pick up on some of these money saving habits.

Here are some tips to save some green, while being verde.

1. Set your thermostat between 75-78 degrees: or whatever you can accept and be comfortable with. According to the Department of Energy, for every degree warmer you set your thermostat, you save up to 4% of energy your air conditioner uses.

2. Dry Your Laundry Outside: Clothes dryers use a lot of energy and attributes to our consumption of precious resources. You can save money on your electric bill at the end of the month by hanging up your clothes outside on a clothes line. The hot sun and warm summer breeze will dry your clothes naturally, and you will get some exercise as well.

3. Cook Outside: Electric stoves and gas stoves use a lot of energy, and they also warm up your house, so your air conditioner will have to work harder. Hang outside under a tree and B-B-Q, that way you don’t have to have the air conditioner on inside.

4.Go to the Library or other Public Spaces(or book store): The Public Library is a great community resource, and has a friendly and helpful staff. The library has many magazines, books, and computers that can keep you entertained and indoors in the air conditioned building. Public buildings always have the air on, so go to the library so you don’t have to have the air on at your casa. If the Library doesn’t  live up to your “cool”-”hipster” standards, just seek out your nearest Barnes  and Nobles. You might even learn something.

5. Stop Drinking Bottled Water: Bottled water is very expensive when you compare the cost to tap water. Also, the plastic bottles usually end up polluting our earth, and are not environmentally friendly.

So, this summer,enjoy your Mother Earth while also taking care of her. Have fun!

Local San Antonio artist AM Architect has released his newest album. “The Road to the Sun“. It’s an electronic melody that’s sure to please your aural fantasy.

Be sure to also download the free track “Next of Kin“

Greatbeats and sweet treats.

Reviews:

Scissorkick: “The beats here possess more of an edge, ocassionally touching on some propulsive BPMs. The melodic sensibility on their debut LP “The Road to the Sun” is one of it’s biggest assets.”

Analog Giant: “The duo specializes in glitched-out beats and unintelligible samples, creating something both ambient and that spans genres. The dabble in hip-hop mixes in some jazz and ambiance.”

rcrdlbl: “The duo drizzle ambient, fuzzed out beats over ethereal guitar builds – creating calming, lush ambient affect.”

xlr8r: Next of Kin (Ernest Gonzales remix) – This Ernest Gonzales remix of their track “Next of Kin” blends ambient outdoor sounds with the din of distant conversation, giving the impression of a garden party interrupted by a complex instrumental of buzzy bottom synths, light interwoven electric guitar, and sped-up bongo and electronic hand claps.

textura: Next of Kin (Ernest Gonzales remix) – This Ernest Gonzales remix of their track “Next of Kin” blends ambient outdoor sounds with the din of distant conversation, giving the impression of a garden party interrupted by a complex instrumental of buzzy bottom synths, light interwoven electric guitar, and sped-up bongo and electronic hand claps.
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The original and ultimate goal behind establishing a police force was to serve and protect the people. Each and every day, we entrust our immediate security to the police force and thus we have given them an enormous amount of power. Unfortunately, the mission to serve and protect sometimes becomes blurred, and the power of law enforcement is misguided and abused. We as Americans can’t be expected to feel “safe” if our protectors are spending more time with violation enforcement than actually protecting our neighborhoods from danger.  The idea is to exert the full wrath of the law on dangerous and violent criminals, not upon harmless citizens for petty violations.  To date, the police force remains unchallenged and has not taken full responsibility for these moments of overexertion and the common misuse of power. In order to reduce police misconduct, we as civilians should establish local review boards with the power to monitor, review, and prosecute officers to provide accountability and restore trust in the community.

      Some of the most unjust actions taken by a police officer involve exerting excessive and/or deadly physical force on innocent and non-threatening citizens. According to data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, “Police forces have paid out more than 44 million in compensation …for wrongful arrests, assaults, malicious prosecutions and abuses of human rights” (Lexis Nexis). The American Civil Liberties Union wrote a letter to Louisiana’s Attorney General about a case in which Baron DeAundrae, who was already in police custody, was tasered unnecessarily no fewer than nine times by police officers. The excessive electrocutions resulted in DeAundrae’s death (ACLU).  The letter’s purpose was to urge the Attorney General to prosecute those involved as the way they would with anyone engaging in such violent misconduct. Often times those who hold power hold enough power to get pardoned regardless of which law is broken. This is where a civilian review board would prove effective. It is important to remember that “A police department can formulate [its own] model policies aimed at deterring and punishing misconduct, but those policies [are] meaningless unless a system is in place to guarantee that the policies are aggressively enforced” (ACLU).  In response to DeAundrae’s case and similar cases, we need to first increase awareness about the nature and frequency of these incidents, and then make an effort to help the family of the victim find justice.  With a civilian review board in place, a panel can seek facts and prosecute any police officers responsible for misuse of power, and thus prove that the “Police… [are] accountable for their actions just as others are” (ACLU).

      Of course, not all police officers are involved in such harsh treatment of the citizens they claim to protect. Some police officers abuse their power in other ways, through verbal harassment or making wrongful arrests. In 2007 in the Bronx, New York “two high school teachers…were arrested, handcuffed and verbally abused by the New York Police Department without cause after they questioned police officers handcuffing students who had been involved in a fight” (ACLU). The teachers, a married couple, merely questioned why the police men were handcuffing the students since the fight had already been broken up. The city agreed to give both teachers $60,000 to settle the case; however the officers who arrested them were not disciplined. Had the case been reviewed by a civilian board, perhaps the innocent teachers would have more peace of mind knowing that such events would not occur in the future. That peace of mind is hard to obtain since there is “evidence of defects in the way [police] forces keep their records. More than half did not keep accessible records of claims, complaints or court cases. Others kept no separate record of damages awarded to victims of police misconduct, recording only total damages” (Lexis Nexis). The civilian board review concept has many functions that aid this problem. For one, a board can collect the complaints and grievances that the people have and work on doing an investigation. The police have been known to withhold information as with any institution with something to hide, but a civilian review board may work through the system to gain “complete access to police witnesses and documents through legal mandate or subpoena power” (ACLU). The review board system is a much more honest system when headed by civilians and it allows for the voices of the complaints to be heard and not just thrown away or discreetly settled with money.

      One of the biggest complaints citizens have about the police force deals with racial profiling and ethnic discrimination. The U.S. Human Rights Network released a report to confute the report the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination did, saying “A disproportionate number of minorities are arrested, charged, prosecuted and convicted, and minorities are over-represented in US prisons” (Lexis Nexis). Some may find this data to be coincidental, however there is often a distinct correlation between cities that are heavily populated with African-Americans and the number of African-Americans who were wrongfully murdered, arrested, or imprisoned. In April of 2001, tensions rose in Cincinnati between the police force and the overwhelmingly black community after “a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed black man named Timothy Thomas. Three days of demonstrations and rioting followed” (NPR).   Peculiarly enough, the facts noted in the NPR article describing the situation point out disproportion and underrepresentation of blacks since “Cincinnati is 43 percent black [and] the police department is 28 percent black…[Also] Timothy Thomas [was]  the 15th African-American male to be shot and killed by Cincinnati police” (NPR). The discriminatory pattern of excessive police shootings combined with the uproar of Cincinnati’s residents suggests that racial inequality is present. A civilian review board can work effectively to monitor and investigate the way officers handle citizens. As a group the board can obtain information “about police firearm discharges…repeat shooters…[and] information on the race of persons shot and wounded or killed…[all which can] evaluate the use of deadly force in [a] department” (ACLU). If the people have the information that should be legal to get hold of, they can work within the system to make sure that the officers involved in misconduct are either dismissed or disciplined accordingly.  Furthermore, a review board can work to diversify the number of minorities working in the police department as well as “their distribution through the department’s ranks” (ACLU). “This information is useful in assessing… the ‘culture’ of [the] local police department — is it internally diverse, fair and equitable? It also suggests how much value the department places on the ‘human relations’ aspects of its work, and how responsive it is to community concerns” (ACLU). Of course, if minorities are equally represented in a police department, cases of racial prejudice may wind up being curbed.    It is a shame to see our protective force perform so unprofessionally.  As Americans it is our duty to act civil and enforce that action when it appears otherwise. We cannot simply sit back and watch our law enforcers abuse their power — remember that their objective of enforcing the law is secondary to the important idea — to serve and protect.  Overly aggressive police officers and those who cherry pick who they will protect next are not following the main idea at all.  Civilian review boards at the local level are one solution to cutting down on excessive enforcement, wrongful accusations and racial prejudice. It unifies and empowers the citizens in a town or city, giving them more accessibility and responsibility, and a better eye to watch the wrongdoers when injustice is at hand.  With that, justice, equality and trust can hopefully be accomplished.

by JenniFlashFive

Note: (Libre! does not condone the use of alcohol or drugs, this is for cultural knowledge and opinion)

We at Libre! love beer, just as many of you do, at least I hope you do. So I decided that it was a good idea to do the first ever Libre! Beer review. Libre! also loves the founding fathers, so I thought it appropriate to place this quote before this review starts.

“Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” (Benjamin Franklin) 

The beer that we have chosen to honor as the first to ever be reviewed by Libre! is New Belgium’s Mothership Wit.

Mothership Wit is an organically grown wheat beer which is a great start in itself, many people are not aware the nasty things that make their way into many commercial beers. Mothership Wit has the typical style of a wheat beer with a long lasting foam and a cloudy appearance. I enjoyed mine with a slice of orange, squeezed and dropped in. Being as it is a wheat beer, Mothership wit lacks the strong hoppy flavor of traditional beers, which can be an interesting and exciting change for many. What I found very pleasing about this beer, was its unbelievable ability to be refreshing; or what I like to call, “refreshability”. After a week of tests and projects due, sitting back and enjoying a quiet night with my hound dog and a 6 pack of Mothership Wit, brought great closer to a hectic week. If you can find this beer I would highly recommend picking it up. We at Libre! love beer, we love organic, and we really love GREAT TASTING ORGANIC BEER. So if your in the super market and see it. Pick it up!

BY Mike Sanch 2/03/09

The first time we met the good ol’ brothers from Tennessee in 2003, we were introduced to a fast paced southern version of the Strokes that had an emotional lead singer that always seemed to be yearning for that ever elusive girl that he met one night, fell in desperate desire for, and wrote a song about it the next day with a hangover.

If you follow the Kings, by now you’ve been on board long enough to allow lead singer Caleb Followill’s wild, uninhibited lyrics, that seem to have been recorded with copious amounts of Tennessee’s finest whiskey, enter your longing soul.

Well, Caleb doesn’t disappoint, Only By the Night serves the usual formula of the sometimes scandalously literal and un-abstract lyrics superimposed on bluesy rhythms and southern style drums. You know, “Let’s get blitzed” music.

From the mind that brought us those classic lines in 2005, “Aha shake taper jean girl with a motel face”, you can expect some more bluntly honest lyrics. (Lyrics I can relate to, as I’ve seen those girls at the motel I run)

Only by The Night builds on KOL ‘s recent channeling of 80’s arena rock icon’s, which they continue with since coming out with Because of the Times in 2007. However, KOL adds the same raw, potent, and ferocious energy KOL has to offer.

Yet, KOL also brings the occasional arena jam that allows an 18 year old dude to reflect on his last night filled with those teases and opportunities that slipped away while making the rounds on his last freshmen college party circuit.

Only by the Night starts off with one of the synthesizer laden sequence created by equipment that they probably borrowed from U2. The song titled,Closer, has Caleb’s whiny lyrics going like,

“You shimmy-shook my boat
Leaving me stranded all in love on my own
Do you think of me
Where am I now
Baby where do I sleep”

Kinda sounds like a dude that had an amazing one night connection with some girl of his dreams, and the goddess left him “stranded”-again very straight up lyrics, and the U2 channeling chorus follows suit.

Next comes, Crawl, a classic KOL song that hits you the mouth unexpectedly; the kind of jam with the rockabilly bass that draws you back in, and boom, the riffs blow you away, all the while you’re slamming the clutch and shifting into high gear as you pass that fool in the S.U.V. on the freeway. Sometimes the lyrics are literal in relation to the music, considering lyrics like,

“You broke, my mouth,
The bloody bits are spittin’ out”

Next up was probably the most obviously recognizable KOL song of the album, Sex on Fire. As you can probably guess, it’s a song about wild adventures that was sexual in nature- to put it mildly. So you can just imagine the lyrics. HINT: the chorus includes, “your sex is on fire.”

Use Somebody followed, and this song brings back the arena sing along KOL that is easily forgettable; unless your alone on a Saturday night loaded with a 6 pack of Lone Star beer, and considering calling up that one girl.

Unfortunately for KOL, the party ended prematurely. (kinda like my Friday night that I don’t want to talk about)

The album climaxes in the first four songs, yet some wannabe classics present their case for the right to be on your i-pod quite well.

Standouts include I Want You, and the somber toned Cold Desert, which wraps up the drunken night with a soft and dreamy set up.

Overall this album is not exactly your, “let’s jam this from start to finish album”, that you show your new friends how cool you are because of the jamz you listen to.

It’s more like a solo, freeway type of music that you don’t mind unconsciously singing along to. The kind of music that finds its way into your headphones when you’re thinking about that one wild summer night spent with that perfect, yet single serving girl.

The good news is The Strokes are back in the studio.

As a college student, most likely you have remained indifferent to the “financial crisis”. For whatever your reasons, whether it be the fact that you have been busy studying for your midterms, or perhaps you have been preoccupied with work and class attendance that you have tuned out the mainstream media’s assertions that what is happening on Wall Street, is your problem.

Most college students don’t own a mortgage, have stocks or 401k plans to worry about, so the reasons for ignorance when it comes to the current economic situation are quite reasonable.

However, what is happening in New York, and within the halls of Washington D.C. are profound, and unprecedented. The government’s response to the crises is undeniably laced with the potential to eventually affect you negatively. Remember, in a capitalist, free market society, cash is king, and everything you do revolves around it.

Let’s engage in a quick thought experiment to help you formulate the vital importance of currency stability in this modern consumer based economy.

Consider for a moment your purchasing power is drastically limited by introducing the notion that the currency you hold in your hand has lost a percentage of value over night, to the point where it would take 50 bucks to buy a loaf of bread. This is called inflation, and if it occurs at an uncontrollable increasing rate, it’s known as hyperinflation.

It has happened before. Numerous of times in fact.

It happened in the 1920’s German Weimar republic, in Mexico in the late 1970’s, and recently in Argentina in the 90’s. Always, people suffer, people go hungry. We must prevent this at all costs. A good student of history will realize an unstable political atmosphere and dictatorial governments breed out of economic instability. These consequential entities are enemies of economic and civil liberties.

The cause of inflation is rather simple, economists will always point towards too much fiat (paper) money in circulation. In most cases, the government’s central bank introduces a policy that prints too much money. The simple law of supply and demand dictates that when there is too much of something, the value will go down. It is no different for currency.

Now mull over the current economic “bailout plan” that both parties have supported, and promoted. It includes a plan that will pump close to seven trillion dollars into the economy. The entire economy of the U.S. in 2007 was 13.8 trillion dollars.

It doesn’t take an economist to realize that the current plan will produce even more inflation that according to government figures is already at 5.8% a year. When you look at inflation rated by independent economic firms, it has consistently sat around 8% for the past 3 years.

It may prove in the near future, whether you want to pay attention to what is going on or not, that economic instability will eventually reach you personally.

American farms have been receiving “farm subsidies” since the end of the great depression and the dust bowl. A farm subsidy is money from taxes that is paid to farmers to grow or in some cases to not grow crops that year.

This made sense back in the 1930′s when about 25% of the population was on 6 Million farms across the country. However demographics have changed with time and now there are about 157,000 farms in America which account for over 72% of the total farming output.

Now these subsidies are supposed to help struggling farmers by placing a price floor for their crops, as well as giving them some extra money to continue farming.

Farmers are important part of our economy, and if they don’t produce, we will not have enough to eat. However, it has become more apparent that these subsidies are no longer going to smaller farmers, but to huge agricultural businesses. This is obvious with the number of farms going from 6 million to 157,000 and the fact that fewer people are controlling such a huge percentage of farming output.

Small farmers, for which the original plans were created to assist, typically do not qualify to receive these subsidies, and are consequently going out of business because they cannot compete with the low prices the large agricultural businesses can sell their crop for. This is because big Agri-firms offset their costs with the subsidies they qualify for, and the small farmer does not.

This interventionism does not only hurt the small American farmer, but it also causes problems in other countries. For example, in Mexico huge amounts of subsidized American corn, which is extremely cheap compared to domestically grown Mexican corn, has flooded the Mexican market.

This has caused Mexican farmers to no longer be competitive with prices, since they are not lucky enough to receive huge amounts of government money to make it. This has caused large populations of Mexican farmers to go broke and have to look to immigration to America to feed themselves and their families.
Tax Payers need to be aware of farm subsidies, and move to end them; they are hurting the farmers and causing a wave of immigration that America is not ready to handle, at your expense.

“[A central bank is] a curse to a republic; inasmuch as it is calculated to raise around the administration a moneyed aristocracy dangerous to the liberties of the country.”-

-President Andrew Jackson

By Amador Salazar 11/29/08

As the sun rose, I alertly got prepared for a day that will be remembered in history.

I give my friend a ring, and three hours later we’re anxiously zigzagging through traffic on the freeway toward downtown San Antonio. We were on our way toward that putrid building that is the Federal Reserve Bank Branch of San Antonio.

We struggle to find parking but eventually do so, and we shuffle toward the crowd of non-violent renegades who were already in progress of protesting against the Federal Reserve Bank. It was a sizeable crowd of about 80 to 100 concerned Americans who understand the irony and illegitimacy of a private bank that is able to control the amount of money that floods the market.

Speeches were given by various lovers of liberty, calling for an end to a bank that is in no way federal and monetary policy reform.

Signs, music, and eye opening newsprint sources (Libre included of course) surrounded the bank of debt and deceit. The fight for freedom and liberty permeated the atmosphere and flooded San Antonio with constructive civil disobedience; it was hard not to feel like you were part of something bigger than everyone there.

Funny thing is, for the unaware at large, it was bigger than just this one protest in San Antonio. The truth is, this happened in 39 different cities: New York, Seattle, Chicago, and Houston to name a few.

Despite all the revolutionary rhetoric and symbolism, national media outlets didn’t cover the national protest. The conclusion could be taken that the event must have been “truth” driven if CNN or MSNBC wasn’t all over it. We must excuse the mainstream media as they are on their honeymoon with Obama’s victory.

Anyway, all this took place on November 22, 2008. This day has been important in the history of our country. Not only is it the supposed beginning of the end of the fed, but it is also the day when John F. Kennedy was struck down for reasons people still speculate over.

Kennedy holds a very special place in people’s hearts everywhere and rightfully so. Unbeknownst to many Americans, Kennedy bravely tried to get rid of the Federal Reserve. He had come up with Executive Order 11110 which would have given the government the ability to print their own currency backed by silver, and would have prevented the Federal Reserve Bank from printing new dollars on interest.

The dangers of continually allowing the private bank to control our currency has been echoed in the past by Thomas Jefferson who said,

“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issuance of their currencies, first by inflation then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all their prosperity until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”

With that being said, there is at least one congressman who understands the dangers of a private banking cartel. A lowly congressman from Texas, Ron Paul, has introduced the Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act.

The only thing that could be hoped for is that, when and if this ever goes to be voted on, the rest of our representatives will keep in mind the thousands of people across the country that are in favor of such legislation, and the fact that Kennedy tried to eliminate the debt driven atrocity as well.

With a recent CNBC report, on November 28, stating that there is going to be at least 7.36 trillion dollars being spent on this whole bailout the time to act is now.

People must do what they can in order to make sure that our government hears the cry against the tyrannical money manipulators through protest, letters, or just informing a fellow citizen.

May efforts of great men like John F. Kennedy never be taken for granted; instead, let it be remembered for the fight for American prosperity.

Let us not forget the people who stormed these banks peacefully either, for it is only the beginning.