consciouslifenews--2020-09-09--Ten Keys to Everyday Anti-Racism

Ten Keys to Everyday Anti-Racism

We are sisters—and the great-great-granddaughters of Caroline and Allen , who were born enslaved in the state of Alabama .
As African Americans and moms to Black sons , we are heartbroken and sick about the level of anti-Blackness that permeates every aspect of American life .
We feel the urgency of the moment and want to help convert this moment into a movement for meaningful change .
We believe our voices matter and that we have something to share with the world as a way to offer to heal to this crisis .
Between us , we have careers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ background in African-American Studies , nonviolent communication , meditation , right speech , and conflict resolution .
With those skills , we launched the AntiRacist Table on June 20 , 2020 .
Metaphorically and physically speaking , at the table you learn , celebrate , grieve , fight , and live in the community .
We offer a 30-Day Challenge which has been intentionally curated to help educate , face and get past shame , anger , and blame and develop empathy—all key elements of creating an anti-racist America .
Each day participants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , videos , podcasts , journal/reflection prompts , and mindfulness practices .
Each week participants work through a subset of our core principles , which we feel are essential aspects of bringing mindful anti-racist practice into daily life .
We provide the tools to help tackle emotionality—shame , guilt , and anger—and translate the seminal works of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and Dr. Robin DiAngelo , among other academic experts , into 10 core principles : education , intention , courage , individuality , humanity , anti-racist work , equality , empathy , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the focus of the AntiRacist Table ’ s 30-Day Challenge—an invitation to do the hard work to be anti-racist .
Kendi , a leading scholar on anti-racism , argues that the heart of racism is denial .
You can not acknowledge or change that which you deny or choose not to see .
Thus , the first step towards dismantling racism is breaking through that denial , by educating oneself about the history of African Americans and the Black experience .
Seeing systemic racism is foundational work .
Historical context provides an understanding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which is the foundation upon which American racism is built .
It reveals the laws and policies implemented to support white supremacy , and the cultural rules and norms that created anti-Blackness .
Learning about the unconscious and automatic ways racism presents itself will help one recognize it and take steps to stop it .
Challenge participants credit “ learning lesser-known facts ” as helping them not only see and understand but to launch them into action to fight against racism and anti-Blackness .
Anti-racism is a way of life .
Like starting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conscious decision to pursue it as a goal and way of being .
Intention brings mindful presence and awareness of what we say and what we do .
Setting the intention to have an open heart and open mind in order to be anti-racist affects how one shows up .
Present moment awareness links with our intention to pull us out of autopilot and into the conscious pursuit of our goals .
This opens the door to growth .
As psychologist Rick Hanson explains , whatever you hold in attention has a special @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is like a combination spotlight and vacuum cleaner : it illuminates what it rests upon and then sucks it into your brain—and your self .
Setting the intention to pursue anti-racism will help adjust one ’ s life lens and it will deactivate the trance of autopilot .
This will help you tap into your internal motivation to be anti-racist .
And according to studies , being motivated internally is what will most help you to make lasting change .
Affirming why you want to be anti-racist as part of your intention will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you stick to it .
This is why we offer the 30-Day Challenge : it provides participants with a clarity of purpose and helps them commit to action .
Facing facts about racism , white privilege , and white supremacy is hard .
Robin DiAngelo , a sociologist and author , coined the term “ white fragility ” to describe “ the defensive reactions so many white people have when our racial worldviews , positions , or advantages are questioned or challenged.
” She continues : Reckoning with shame , blame , guilt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
As researcher Brené Brown says , vulnerability is when we feel uncertainty , risk , or emotional exposure .
Vulnerability takes courage ; it takes learning how to be brave and afraid at the exact same time .
Courage allows us to be an everyday hero and to inspire collective heroism .
To be anti-racist , you have to sit with the discomfort and put courage , compassion , and vulnerability over comfort .
Cultivating an anti-racist mindfulness practice is essential to doing and sustaining this work .
Challenge participants say The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Challenge provided a space for them to face hard emotions and to find compassion .
Seeing another person ’ s individuality means noticing the details and qualities , both positive and negative , that set them apart from the group .
But mental shortcuts that psychologists call heuristics “ can lead us to make potentially damaging assumptions about other people , ” as Zaid Jilani writes in .
“ Racial stereotyping , for instance , comes from the belief that membership in a racial group defines someone on a range of characteristics , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it ’ s critical to understand and recognize that Black people have historically been assigned a negative group identity , being labeled lazy , irresponsible , dangerous , and angry .
Realizing that these stereotypes can prevent us from seeing Black people as individuals is an important awareness because , according to research , when we view people who are “ not like us ” in terms of their own individual tastes and preferences , we feel less threatened by them .
As Philosopher Michelle Maiese argues , the process of dehumanization @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seem less than human and hence not worthy of humane treatment.
” The result is a framing of “ good versus evil.
” According to Maiese , “ dehumanization might be mitigated or reversed through humanization efforts , the development of empathy , the establishment of personal relationships between conflicting parties , and the pursuit of common goals.
” Just as denial is the heart of racism , so seeing the humanity in others is at the heart of anti-racism “ We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality , tied in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrote Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “ Whatever affects one directly , affects all indirectly.
” In this context , “ anti-racist ” is a verb , defined by the action one is taking .
An anti-racist is “ one who is supporting an anti-racist policy through their actions or expressing an anti-racist idea , ” writes Ibram X. Kendi .
To be anti-racist , one must actively work to create anti-racist policies .
One must engage the world seeing all racial groups are equals and intentionally promote equity .
Anti-racists support policies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : • Reparations to address the wealth gap between Black families and white created by slavery , Jim Crow segregation , anti-Black practices such as redlining , and other discriminatory public policies in criminal justice and education that have withheld opportunities to build wealth from Black people that have been afforded to whites .
• Educating Americans about systemic racism and racist policies and the need to dismantle them .
“ Racial inequity is when two or more racial groups are not standing on approximately equal footing , ” writes Kendi .
One @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ethnicity , gender , sexuality , religion , ability , age , and any combination of those—as equal .
To champion , equality is to fight for equity .
It is to understand that corrective action is needed to create equity .
Cultivating empathy is key to rehumanizing the dehumanized .
“ Empathy is … an umbrella term that describes multiple ways people respond to one another , including sharing , thinking about , and caring about others ’ feelings , ” writes Jamil Zaki , Director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way to foster empathy , suggests Zaki , is to share experiences because that ’ s the “ closest we come to dissolving the boundary between self and other.
” It ’ s this empathic concern that motivates us to “ improve someone else ’ s well-being.
” We know from studies that empathy creates connection and it breaks down the “ us and them ” divide so that we see outsiders as human beings .
But empathy has another benefit to anti-racists : it helps to build the ability to bounce back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this work .
Empathy increases shame-resilience because it moves us towards connection , compassion , and courage—the opposite of fear , blame , and disconnection that results from shame .
Staying stuck in shame means one is not working to be anti-racist .
To be an ally is to take on this struggle as if it is your own .
It means that you do what is uncomfortable .
You are committed to taking a risk , sharing any privilege you have to center marginalized Black and brown people .
When you see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ imagine and act as if you do not have a choice .
You fight to dismantle injustice .
“ Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble , necessary trouble , ” wrote Congressman John Lewis just before his death .
Allies get into good trouble .
As one Challenge participant said , “ Coming to terms with and exploring the deeply rooted systems of white supremacy within my own self and the way in which I have worked in the world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ true ally.
” Choosing love and healing over fear and oppression is a path of courageous vulnerability .
Gratitude , joy , and an open heart are all components of love that enable one to do the work to be anti-racist and to bring anti-racism into daily life .
Accepting love empowers us to do the hard work .
As meditation and communication teacher Oren Jay Sofer says : Barbara Fredrickson , Director of Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , puts it another way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your cocoon of self-absorption to attune to others .
Love allows you to really see another person , holistically , with care , concern , and compassion.
” America is a critical moment .
This is the call of our time .
We must do more than put out a sign or read a book—we must come to understand our shared history and work to support our collective humanity by eradicating anti-Blackness in the many forms that it exists .
You can begin right now by starting to educate yourself—and the AntiRacist Table @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Tags : `` featured , anti-racism , everyday anti-racism , featured , keys to anti-racism , keys to everyday anti-racism , stop racism , systemic racism , the AntiRacist Table

By Kirsten Ivey-Colson, Lynn Turner | Greater Good Magazine
We are sisters—and the great-great-granddaughters of Caroline and Allen, who were born enslaved in the state of Alabama. As African Americans and moms to Black sons, we are heartbroken and sick about the level of anti-Blackness that permeates every aspect of American life. We feel the urgency of the moment and want to help convert this moment into a movement for meaningful change. We believe our voices matter and that we have something to share with the world as a way to offer to heal to this crisis.
Between us, we have careers in law and education, and a background in African-American Studies, nonviolent communication, meditation, right speech, and conflict resolution. With those skills, we launched the AntiRacist Table on June 20, 2020. Metaphorically and physically speaking, at the table you learn, celebrate, grieve, fight, and live in the community.
We offer a 30-Day Challenge which has been intentionally curated to help educate, face and get past shame, anger, and blame and develop empathy—all key elements of creating an anti-racist America. Each day participants receive a daily lesson consisting of reading, videos, podcasts, journal/reflection prompts, and mindfulness practices. Each week participants work through a subset of our core principles, which we feel are essential aspects of bringing mindful anti-racist practice into daily life.
We provide the tools to help tackle emotionality—shame, guilt, and anger—and translate the seminal works of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and Dr. Robin DiAngelo, among other academic experts, into 10 core principles: education, intention, courage, individuality, humanity, anti-racist work, equality, empathy, allies, and love. These are the focus of the AntiRacist Table’s 30-Day Challenge—an invitation to do the hard work to be anti-racist.
1. Education
Kendi, a leading scholar on anti-racism, argues that the heart of racism is denial. You cannot acknowledge or change that which you deny or choose not to see. Thus, the first step towards dismantling racism is breaking through that denial, by educating oneself about the history of African Americans and the Black experience.
Seeing systemic racism is foundational work. Historical context provides an understanding of the original dehumanization of African Americans which is the foundation upon which American racism is built. It reveals the laws and policies implemented to support white supremacy, and the cultural rules and norms that created anti-Blackness.
Learning about the unconscious and automatic ways racism presents itself will help one recognize it and take steps to stop it. Challenge participants credit “learning lesser-known facts” as helping them not only see and understand but to launch them into action to fight against racism and anti-Blackness.
2. Intention
Anti-racism is a way of life. Like starting any new habit, anti-racism requires a conscious decision to pursue it as a goal and way of being. Intention brings mindful presence and awareness of what we say and what we do.
Setting the intention to have an open heart and open mind in order to be anti-racist affects how one shows up. Present moment awareness links with our intention to pull us out of autopilot and into the conscious pursuit of our goals.
This opens the door to growth. As psychologist Rick Hanson explains, whatever you hold in attention has a special power to change your brain. Attention is like a combination spotlight and vacuum cleaner: it illuminates what it rests upon and then sucks it into your brain—and your self. Setting the intention to pursue anti-racism will help adjust one’s life lens and it will deactivate the trance of autopilot. This will help you tap into your internal motivation to be anti-racist.
And according to studies, being motivated internally is what will most help you to make lasting change. Affirming why you want to be anti-racist as part of your intention will remind you of your goal and help you stick to it. This is why we offer the 30-Day Challenge: it provides participants with a clarity of purpose and helps them commit to action.
3. Courage
Facing facts about racism, white privilege, and white supremacy is hard.
Robin DiAngelo, a sociologist and author, coined the term “white fragility” to describe “the defensive reactions so many white people have when our racial worldviews, positions, or advantages are questioned or challenged.” She continues:
For a lot of white people, just suggesting that being white has meaning will trigger a deep, defensive response. And that defensiveness serves to maintain both our comfort and our positions in a racially inequitable society from which we benefit.
Reckoning with shame, blame, guilt, and anger takes courage and vulnerability. As researcher Brené Brown says, vulnerability is when we feel uncertainty, risk, or emotional exposure. Vulnerability takes courage; it takes learning how to be brave and afraid at the exact same time. Courage allows us to be an everyday hero and to inspire collective heroism.
To be anti-racist, you have to sit with the discomfort and put courage, compassion, and vulnerability over comfort. Cultivating an anti-racist mindfulness practice is essential to doing and sustaining this work. Challenge participants say The AntiRacist Table Mindfulness Practices incorporated in the Challenge provided a space for them to face hard emotions and to find compassion.
4. Individuality
Seeing another person’s individuality means noticing the details and qualities, both positive and negative, that set them apart from the group. But mental shortcuts that psychologists call heuristics “can lead us to make potentially damaging assumptions about other people,” as Zaid Jilani writes in Greater Good. “Racial stereotyping, for instance, comes from the belief that membership in a racial group defines someone on a range of characteristics, including their behavior.”
To be anti-racist, it’s critical to understand and recognize that Black people have historically been assigned a negative group identity, being labeled lazy, irresponsible, dangerous, and angry. Realizing that these stereotypes can prevent us from seeing Black people as individuals is an important awareness because, according to research, when we view people who are “not like us” in terms of their own individual tastes and preferences, we feel less threatened by them.
5. Humanity
Supporting humanity means rehumanizing African Americans.
As Philosopher Michelle Maiese argues, the process of dehumanization demonizes “the enemy, making them seem less than human and hence not worthy of humane treatment.” The result is a framing of “good versus evil.”
According to Maiese, “dehumanization might be mitigated or reversed through humanization efforts, the development of empathy, the establishment of personal relationships between conflicting parties, and the pursuit of common goals.”
Just as denial is the heart of racism, so seeing the humanity in others is at the heart of anti-racism “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny,” wrote Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
6. Anti-Racist Work
In this context, “anti-racist” is a verb, defined by the action one is taking. An anti-racist is “one who is supporting an anti-racist policy through their actions or expressing an anti-racist idea,” writes Ibram X. Kendi.
To be anti-racist, one must actively work to create anti-racist policies. One must engage the world seeing all racial groups are equals and intentionally promote equity. Anti-racists support policies that reduce racial inequity, such as:
Reparations to address the wealth gap between Black families and white created by slavery, Jim Crow segregation, anti-Black practices such as redlining, and other discriminatory public policies in criminal justice and education that have withheld opportunities to build wealth from Black people that have been afforded to whites.
Educating Americans about systemic racism and racist policies and the need to dismantle them.
Holding police with records of excessive force accountable.
7. Equality
“Racial inequity is when two or more racial groups are not standing on approximately equal footing,” writes Kendi. One must hold all groups of people—a color, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, ability, age, and any combination of those—as equal. To champion, equality is to fight for equity. It is to understand that corrective action is needed to create equity.
8. Empathy
Cultivating empathy is key to rehumanizing the dehumanized. “Empathy is … an umbrella term that describes multiple ways people respond to one another, including sharing, thinking about, and caring about others’ feelings,” writes Jamil Zaki, Director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Laboratory and author of The War for Kindness. The best way to foster empathy, suggests Zaki, is to share experiences because that’s the “closest we come to dissolving the boundary between self and other.” It’s this empathic concern that motivates us to “improve someone else’s well-being.”
We know from studies that empathy creates connection and it breaks down the “us and them” divide so that we see outsiders as human beings.
But empathy has another benefit to anti-racists: it helps to build the ability to bounce back from shame, a critical tool in this work. Empathy increases shame-resilience because it moves us towards connection, compassion, and courage—the opposite of fear, blame, and disconnection that results from shame. Staying stuck in shame means one is not working to be anti-racist.
9. Allyship
To be an ally is to take on this struggle as if it is your own. It means that you do what is uncomfortable. You are committed to taking a risk, sharing any privilege you have to center marginalized Black and brown people. When you see something, you say something. You imagine and act as if you do not have a choice. You fight to dismantle injustice.
“Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble,” wrote Congressman John Lewis just before his death. Allies get into good trouble. As one Challenge participant said, “Coming to terms with and exploring the deeply rooted systems of white supremacy within my own self and the way in which I have worked in the world are critical for me to become a true ally.”
10. Love
Choosing love and healing over fear and oppression is a path of courageous vulnerability. Gratitude, joy, and an open heart are all components of love that enable one to do the work to be anti-racist and to bring anti-racism into daily life. Accepting love empowers us to do the hard work. As meditation and communication teacher Oren Jay Sofer says:
The more deeply we feel our own life, the more we experience our inter-connectedness with others. This kind of love is a force for change. It bestows the courage to face the suffering in the world and the energy to act for its healing.
Barbara Fredrickson, Director of Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, puts it another way: “Love draws you out of your cocoon of self-absorption to attune to others. Love allows you to really see another person, holistically, with care, concern, and compassion.”
America is a critical moment. This is the call of our time. We must do more than put out a sign or read a book—we must come to understand our shared history and work to support our collective humanity by eradicating anti-Blackness in the many forms that it exists. You can begin right now by starting to educate yourself—and the AntiRacist Table 30-Day Challenge is one place to start.
About the Authors
Kirsten Ivey-Colson The AntiRacist Table Kirsten Ivey-Colson, JD, has an LLM in Alternative Dispute Resolution and her undergraduate degree is in African American Studies and English. She is an active meditation practitioner and a student of nonviolent communication, conflict resolution, conflict coaching, neuroscience, happiness, and well-being. She has served as a union steward, conflict coach, mediator, and leader in her son’s school’s parent of Black students affinity group. In response to the racial reckoning in June 2020, Kirsten co-founded Learn more about the AntiRacist Table, with her sister, Lynn Turner. The AntiRacist Table is a multidimensional platform dedicated to bringing antiracism to daily life through education about African Americans, the Black experience, rehumanizing Black people, and motivating action.


consciouslifenews--2020-09-09--Mile Markers of Tyranny: Losing Our Freedoms on the Road from 9/11 to COVID-19

You can map the nearly 20-year journey from the 9/11 attacks to the COVID-19 pandemic by the freedoms we ’ ve lost along the way .
The road we have been traveling has been littered with the wreckage of our once-vaunted liberties , especially those enshrined in the Fourth Amendment .
The assaults on our freedoms that began with the post-9/11 passage of the USA Patriot Act laid the groundwork for the eradication of every vital constitutional safeguard against government overreach , corruption , and abuse .
The COVID-19 pandemic with its lockdowns , mask mandates , surveillance , snitch @ @ @ @ @ @ @ citizens for engaging in risky behavior , and veiled threats of forced vaccinations have merely provided the architects of the American police state with an opportunity to flex their muscles .
These have become mile markers on the road to tyranny .
Free speech , the right to protest , the right to challenge government wrongdoing , due process , a presumption of innocence , the right to self-defense , accountability and transparency in government , privacy , press , sovereignty , assembly , bodily integrity , representative government : all of these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government ’ s ongoing war on the American people .
In the process , the American people have been treated like enemy combatants , to be spied on , tracked , scanned , frisked , searched , subjected to all manner of intrusions , intimidated , invaded , raided , manhandled , censored , silenced , shot at , locked up , denied due process , and killed .
What the past 20 years have proven is that the U.S. government poses a greater threat to our individual and collective freedoms and national @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , or pandemic .
In allowing ourselves to be distracted by terror drills , foreign wars , color-coded warnings , partisan politics , pandemic scares , and other carefully constructed exercises in propaganda , sleight of hand , and obfuscation , we failed to recognize that the U.S. government—the government that was supposed to be a “ government of the people , by the people , for the people ” —has become the enemy of the people .
Indeed , the U.S. government has grown so corrupt , greedy , power-hungry , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 240-plus years that our constitutional republic has since given way to an idiocracy , and representative government has given way to a kleptocracy ( a government ruled by thieves ) and a kakistocracy ( a government-run by unprincipled career politicians , corporations and thieves that panders to the worst vices in our nature and has little regard for the rights of American citizens ) .
Although the Bill of Rights—the first ten amendments to the Constitution—was adopted as a means of protecting the people against government tyranny , in America today , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is damned .
“ We the people ” have been terrorized , traumatized , and tricked into a semi-permanent state of compliance by a government that cares nothing for our lives or our liberties .
The bogeyman ’ s names and faces have changed over time ( terrorism , the war on drugs , illegal immigration , a viral pandemic ) , but the end result remains the same : in the so-called name of national security , the Constitution has been steadily chipped away at , undermined , eroded , whittled down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Congress , the White House , and the courts .
What we are left with today is but a shadow of the robust document adopted more than two centuries ago .
Sadly , most of the damage has been inflicted upon the Bill of Rights .
Here is what it means to live under the Constitution , post-9/11 , and in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic .
The First Amendment is supposed to protect the freedom to speak your mind , assemble , and protest nonviolently without being bridled by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the media , as well as the right to worship and pray without interference .
In other words , Americans should not be silenced by the government .
To the founders , all of America was a free speech zone .
Despite the clear protections found in the First Amendment , the freedoms described therein are under constant assault .
Increasingly , Americans are being arrested and charged with bogus “ contempt of cop ” charges such as “ disrupting the peace ” or “ resisting arrest ” for daring to film @ @ @ @ @ @ @ practices .
Journalists are being prosecuted for reporting on whistleblowers .
States are passing legislation to muzzle reporting on cruel and abusive corporate practices .
Religious ministries are being fined for attempting to feed and house the homeless .
Protesters are being tear-gassed , beaten , arrested and forced into “ free speech zones.
” And under the guise of “ government speech , ” the courts have reasoned that the government can discriminate freely against any First Amendment activity that takes place within a government forum .
The Second Amendment was intended @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people to keep and bear arms.
” Essentially , this amendment was intended to give the citizenry the means to resist tyrannical government .
Yet while gun ownership has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court as an individual citizen right , Americans remain powerless to defend themselves against SWAT team raids and government agents armed to the teeth with military weapons better suited to the battlefield .
As such , this amendment has been rendered null and void .
The Third Amendment reinforces the principle that civilian-elected officials are superior to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any citizen ’ s home without “ the consent of the owner.
” With the police increasingly training like the military , acting like the military , and posing as military forces—complete with heavily armed SWAT teams , military weapons , assault vehicles , etc.—it is clear that we now have what the founders feared most—a standing army on American soil .
The Fourth Amendment prohibits government agents from conducting surveillance on you or touching you or invading you unless they have some evidence that you ’ re up to something criminal .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ensures privacy and bodily integrity .
Unfortunately , the Fourth Amendment has suffered the greatest damage in recent years and has been all but eviscerated by an unwarranted expansion of police powers that include strip searches and even anal and vaginal searches of citizens , surveillance ( corporate and otherwise ) , and intrusions justified in the name of fighting terrorism , as well as the outsourcing of otherwise illegal activities to private contractors .
The Fifth Amendment and the Sixth Amendment work in tandem .
These amendments supposedly ensure that you are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ authorities can not deprive you of your life , your liberty , or your property without the right to an attorney and a fair trial before a civilian judge .
However , in the new suspect society in which we live , where surveillance is the norm , these fundamental principles have been upended .
Certainly , if the government can arbitrarily freeze , seize or lay claim to your property ( money , land , or possessions ) under government asset forfeiture schemes , you have no true rights .
The Seventh @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jury trial .
Yet when the populace has no idea of what ’ s in the Constitution—civic education has virtually disappeared from most school curriculums—that inevitably translates to an ignorant jury incapable of distinguishing justice and the law from their own preconceived notions and fears .
However , as a growing number of citizens are coming to realize , the power of the jury to nullify the government ’ s actions—and thereby help balance the scales of justice—is not to be underestimated .
Jury nullification reminds the government that “ we the people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what laws are just .
The Eighth Amendment is similar to the Sixth in that it is supposed to protect the rights of the accused and forbid the use of cruel and unusual punishment .
However , the Supreme Court ’ s determination that what constitutes “ cruel and unusual ” should be dependent on the “ evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society ” leaves us with little protection in the face of a society lacking in morals altogether .
The Ninth Amendment provides that other rights @ @ @ @ @ @ @ retained by the people .
Popular sovereignty—the belief that the power to govern flows upward from the people rather than downward from the rulers—is clearly evident in this amendment .
However , it has since been turned on its head by a centralized federal government that sees itself as supreme and which continues to pass more and more laws that restrict our freedoms under the pretext that it has an “ important government interest ” in doing so .
As for the Tenth Amendment ’ s reminder that the people and the states @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mentioned in the Constitution , that assurance of a system of government in which power is divided among local , state , and national entities has long since been rendered moot by centralized Washington , DC , power elite—the president , Congress , and the courts .
If there is any sense to be made from this recitation of freedoms lost , it is simply this : our individual freedoms have been eviscerated so that the government ’ s powers could be expanded .
Mind you , by “ government , ” I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ partisan , two-party bureaucracy of the Republicans and Democrats .
Rather , I ’ m referring to the Deep State—the corporatized , militarized , entrenched bureaucracy that has set itself beyond the reach of the law and is unaffected by elections , unaltered by populist movements , and staffed by unelected officials who are , in essence , running the country and calling the shots in Washington DC , no matter who sits in the White House .
This is a government that , in conjunction with its corporate partners , views the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be bought , sold , and traded .
This is a government that spies on and treats its citizens as if they have no right to privacy , especially in their own homes .
This is a government that is laying the groundwork to weaponize the public ’ s biomedical data as a convenient means by which to penalize certain “ unacceptable ” social behaviors .
This is a government that subjects its people to scans , searches , pat-downs and other indignities by the TSA and VIPR raids on so-called “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bus depots by black-clad , Darth Vader look-alikes .
This is a government that uses fusion centers , which represent the combined surveillance efforts of federal , state , and local law enforcement , to track the citizenry ’ s movements , record their conversations , and catalog their transactions .
This is a government whose wall-to-wall surveillance has given rise to a suspect society in which the burden of proof has been reversed such that Americans are now assumed guilty until or unless they can prove their innocence .
This is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ citizens who have no rights and is working overtime to stigmatize and dehumanize any and all who do not fit with the government ’ s plans for this country .
This is a government that uses free speech zones , roving bubble zones , and trespass laws to silence , censor , and marginalize Americans and restrict their First Amendment right to speak truth to power .
The kinds of speech the government considers dangerous enough to a red flag and subject to censorship , surveillance , investigation , prosecution , and outright @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speech , intolerant speech , conspiratorial speech , treasonous speech , threatening speech , incendiary speech , inflammatory speech , radical speech , anti-government speech , right-wing speech , left-wing speech , extremist speech , politically incorrect speech , etc .
This is a government that adopts laws that criminalize Americans for otherwise lawful activities such as holding religious studies at home , growing vegetables in their yard , and collecting rainwater .
This is a government that persists in renewing the National Defense Authorization Act ( NDAA ) , which allows the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ detain American citizens indefinitely .
This is a government that saddled us with the Patriot Act , which opened the door to all manner of government abuses and intrusions on our privacy .
This is a government that , in direct opposition to the dire warnings of those who founded our country , has allowed the Department of Homeland Security ( DHS ) to establish a standing army by way of programs that transfer surplus military hardware to local and state police .
This is a government that has militarized American ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weapons such as “ tens of thousands of machine guns ; nearly 200,000 ammunition magazines ; thousands of pieces of camouflage and night-vision equipment ; and hundreds of silencers , armored cars , and aircraft , ” in addition to armored vehicles , sound cannons and the like .
This is a government that has provided cover to police when they shoot and kill unarmed individuals just for standing a certain way , or moving a certain way , or holding something—anything—that police could misinterpret to be a gun or igniting some trigger-centric @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mind that has nothing to do with an actual threat to their safety .
This is a government that has allowed private corporations to get rich at taxpayer expense by locking people up in private prisons for non-violent crimes while providing Corporate America with a source of cheap labor .
This is a government that has created a Constitution-free zone within 100 miles inland of the border around the United States , paving the way for Border Patrol agents to search people ’ s homes , intimately probe their bodies , and rifle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ warrant .
Incredibly , nearly 66 % of Americans ( 2/3 of the U.S. population , 197.4 million people ) now live within that 100-mile-deep , Constitution-free zone .
This is a government that treats public school students as if they were prison inmates , enforcing zero-tolerance policies that criminalize childish behavior , failing to teach them their rights under the Constitution , and indoctrinating them with teaching that emphasizes rote memorization and test-taking over learning , synthesizing and critical thinking .
This is a government that is operating in the negative on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ far more than what it makes ( and takes from the American taxpayers ) and it is borrowing heavily ( from foreign governments and Social Security ) to keep the government operating and keep funding its endless wars abroad .
Meanwhile , the nation ’ s sorely neglected infrastructure—railroads , water pipelines , ports , dams , bridges , airports , and roads—is rapidly deteriorating .
This is a government whose gun violence—inflicted on unarmed individuals by battlefield-trained SWAT teams , militarized police , and bureaucratic government agents trained to shoot first and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the safety and security of the nation than any mass shooter .
There are now reportedly more bureaucratic ( non-military ) government agents armed with high-tech , deadly weapons than U.S. Marines .
This is a government that has allowed the presidency to become a dictatorship operating above and beyond the law , regardless of which party is in power .
This is a government that treats dissidents , whistleblowers , and freedom fighters as enemies of the state .
This is a government—a warring empire—that forces its taxpayers to pay for wars @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to expand the reach of the military-industrial complex .
This is a government that has in recent decades unleashed untold horrors upon the world—including its own citizenry—in the name of global conquest , the acquisition of greater wealth , scientific experimentation , and technological advances , all packaged in the guise of the greater good .
This is a government that allows its agents to break laws with immunity while average Americans get the book thrown at them .
This is a government that speaks in the language of force .
What is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Riot squads .
Camouflage gear .
Black uniforms .
Armored vehicles .
Mass arrests .
Pepper spray .
Tear gas .
Batons .
Strip searches .
Surveillance cameras .
Kevlar vests .
Drones .
Lethal weapons .
less-than-lethal weapons unleashed with deadly force .
Rubber bullets .
Water cannons .
Stun grenades .
Arrests of journalists .
Crowd control tactics .
Intimidation tactics .
Brutality .
Contempt of cop charges .
This is a government that justifies all manner of government tyranny and power grabs in the so-called name of national security @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This is a government that exports violence worldwide , with one of this country ’ s most profitable exports being weapons .
Indeed , the United States , the world ’ s largest exporter of arms , has been selling violence to the world in order to prop up the military-industrial complex and maintain its endless wars abroad .
This is a government that is consumed with squeezing every last penny out of the population and seemingly unconcerned if essential freedoms are trampled in the process .
This is a government that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , seize , strip , scan , spy on , probe , pat down , taser , and arrest any individual at any time and for the slightest provocation , the Constitution be damned .
In sum , this is a government that routinely undermines the Constitution and rides roughshod over the rights of the citizenry .
This is not a government that believes in , let alone upholds , freedom .
So where does that leave us ?
As always , the first step begins with “ we the people.
” Those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bill of Rights believed that the government exists at the behest of its citizens .
It is there to protect , defend , and even enhance our freedoms , not violate them .
Our power as a citizenry comes from our ability to agree and stand united on certain freedom principles that should be non-negotiable .
It was no idle happenstance that the Constitution opens with these three powerful words : “ We the people.
” In other words , we have the power to make and break the government .
We are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We the American people—the citizenry—are the arbiters and ultimate guardians of America ’ s welfare , defense , liberty , laws , and prosperity .
As I make clear in my book Battlefield America : The War on the American People , we have managed to keep the wolf at bay so far .
Barely .
Our national priorities need to be re-prioritized .
For instance , some argue that we need to make America great again .
I , for one , would prefer to make America free again .

By John W. Whitehead | The Rutherford Institute
“No one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end.”—George Orwell
You can map the nearly 20-year journey from the 9/11 attacks to the COVID-19 pandemic by the freedoms we’ve lost along the way.
The road we have been traveling has been littered with the wreckage of our once-vaunted liberties, especially those enshrined in the Fourth Amendment.
The assaults on our freedoms that began with the post-9/11 passage of the USA Patriot Act laid the groundwork for the eradication of every vital constitutional safeguard against government overreach, corruption, and abuse.
The COVID-19 pandemic with its lockdowns, mask mandates, surveillance, snitch lines for Americans to report their fellow citizens for engaging in risky behavior, and veiled threats of forced vaccinations have merely provided the architects of the American police state with an opportunity to flex their muscles.
These have become mile markers on the road to tyranny.
Free speech, the right to protest, the right to challenge government wrongdoing, due process, a presumption of innocence, the right to self-defense, accountability and transparency in government, privacy, press, sovereignty, assembly, bodily integrity, representative government: all of these and more have become casualties in the government’s ongoing war on the American people. In the process, the American people have been treated like enemy combatants, to be spied on, tracked, scanned, frisked, searched, subjected to all manner of intrusions, intimidated, invaded, raided, manhandled, censored, silenced, shot at, locked up, denied due process, and killed.
What the past 20 years have proven is that the U.S. government poses a greater threat to our individual and collective freedoms and national security than any terrorist, foreign threat, or pandemic.
In allowing ourselves to be distracted by terror drills, foreign wars, color-coded warnings, partisan politics, pandemic scares, and other carefully constructed exercises in propaganda, sleight of hand, and obfuscation, we failed to recognize that the U.S. government—the government that was supposed to be a “government of the people, by the people, for the people”—has become the enemy of the people.
Indeed, the U.S. government has grown so corrupt, greedy, power-hungry, and tyrannical over the course of the past 240-plus years that our constitutional republic has since given way to an idiocracy, and representative government has given way to a kleptocracy (a government ruled by thieves) and a kakistocracy (a government-run by unprincipled career politicians, corporations and thieves that panders to the worst vices in our nature and has little regard for the rights of American citizens).
Although the Bill of Rights—the first ten amendments to the Constitution—was adopted as a means of protecting the people against government tyranny, in America today, the government does whatever it wants, freedom is damned.
“We the people” have been terrorized, traumatized, and tricked into a semi-permanent state of compliance by a government that cares nothing for our lives or our liberties.
The bogeyman’s names and faces have changed over time (terrorism, the war on drugs, illegal immigration, a viral pandemic), but the end result remains the same: in the so-called name of national security, the Constitution has been steadily chipped away at, undermined, eroded, whittled down, and generally discarded with the support of Congress, the White House, and the courts.
What we are left with today is but a shadow of the robust document adopted more than two centuries ago. Sadly, most of the damage has been inflicted upon the Bill of Rights.
Here is what it means to live under the Constitution, post-9/11, and in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic.
The First Amendment is supposed to protect the freedom to speak your mind, assemble, and protest nonviolently without being bridled by the government. It also protects the freedom of the media, as well as the right to worship and pray without interference. In other words, Americans should not be silenced by the government. To the founders, all of America was a free speech zone.
Despite the clear protections found in the First Amendment, the freedoms described therein are under constant assault. Increasingly, Americans are being arrested and charged with bogus “contempt of cop” charges such as “disrupting the peace” or “resisting arrest” for daring to film police officers engaged in harassment or abusive practices. Journalists are being prosecuted for reporting on whistleblowers. States are passing legislation to muzzle reporting on cruel and abusive corporate practices. Religious ministries are being fined for attempting to feed and house the homeless. Protesters are being tear-gassed, beaten, arrested and forced into “free speech zones.” And under the guise of “government speech,” the courts have reasoned that the government can discriminate freely against any First Amendment activity that takes place within a government forum.
The Second Amendment was intended to guarantee “the right of the people to keep and bear arms.” Essentially, this amendment was intended to give the citizenry the means to resist tyrannical government. Yet while gun ownership has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court as an individual citizen right, Americans remain powerless to defend themselves against SWAT team raids and government agents armed to the teeth with military weapons better suited to the battlefield. As such, this amendment has been rendered null and void.
The Third Amendment reinforces the principle that civilian-elected officials are superior to the military by prohibiting the military from entering any citizen’s home without “the consent of the owner.” With the police increasingly training like the military, acting like the military, and posing as military forces—complete with heavily armed SWAT teams, military weapons, assault vehicles, etc.—it is clear that we now have what the founders feared most—a standing army on American soil.
The Fourth Amendment prohibits government agents from conducting surveillance on you or touching you or invading you unless they have some evidence that you’re up to something criminal. In other words, the Fourth Amendment ensures privacy and bodily integrity. Unfortunately, the Fourth Amendment has suffered the greatest damage in recent years and has been all but eviscerated by an unwarranted expansion of police powers that include strip searches and even anal and vaginal searches of citizens, surveillance (corporate and otherwise), and intrusions justified in the name of fighting terrorism, as well as the outsourcing of otherwise illegal activities to private contractors.
The Fifth Amendment and the Sixth Amendment work in tandem. These amendments supposedly ensure that you are innocent until proven guilty, and government authorities cannot deprive you of your life, your liberty, or your property without the right to an attorney and a fair trial before a civilian judge. However, in the new suspect society in which we live, where surveillance is the norm, these fundamental principles have been upended. Certainly, if the government can arbitrarily freeze, seize or lay claim to your property (money, land, or possessions) under government asset forfeiture schemes, you have no true rights.
The Seventh Amendment guarantees citizens the right to a jury trial. Yet when the populace has no idea of what’s in the Constitution—civic education has virtually disappeared from most school curriculums—that inevitably translates to an ignorant jury incapable of distinguishing justice and the law from their own preconceived notions and fears. However, as a growing number of citizens are coming to realize, the power of the jury to nullify the government’s actions—and thereby help balance the scales of justice—is not to be underestimated. Jury nullification reminds the government that “we the people” retain the power to ultimately determine what laws are just.
The Eighth Amendment is similar to the Sixth in that it is supposed to protect the rights of the accused and forbid the use of cruel and unusual punishment. However, the Supreme Court’s determination that what constitutes “cruel and unusual” should be dependent on the “evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society” leaves us with little protection in the face of a society lacking in morals altogether.
The Ninth Amendment provides that other rights not enumerated in the Constitution are nonetheless retained by the people. Popular sovereignty—the belief that the power to govern flows upward from the people rather than downward from the rulers—is clearly evident in this amendment. However, it has since been turned on its head by a centralized federal government that sees itself as supreme and which continues to pass more and more laws that restrict our freedoms under the pretext that it has an “important government interest” in doing so.
As for the Tenth Amendment’s reminder that the people and the states retain every authority that is not otherwise mentioned in the Constitution, that assurance of a system of government in which power is divided among local, state, and national entities has long since been rendered moot by centralized Washington, DC, power elite—the president, Congress, and the courts.
If there is any sense to be made from this recitation of freedoms lost, it is simply this: our individual freedoms have been eviscerated so that the government’s powers could be expanded.
Mind you, by “government,” I’m not referring to the highly partisan, two-party bureaucracy of the Republicans and Democrats. Rather, I’m referring to the Deep State—the corporatized, militarized, entrenched bureaucracy that has set itself beyond the reach of the law and is unaffected by elections, unaltered by populist movements, and staffed by unelected officials who are, in essence, running the country and calling the shots in Washington DC, no matter who sits in the White House.
This is a government that, in conjunction with its corporate partners, views the citizenry as consumers and bits of data to be bought, sold, and traded.
This is a government that spies on and treats its citizens as if they have no right to privacy, especially in their own homes.
This is a government that is laying the groundwork to weaponize the public’s biomedical data as a convenient means by which to penalize certain “unacceptable” social behaviors.
This is a government that subjects its people to scans, searches, pat-downs and other indignities by the TSA and VIPR raids on so-called “soft” targets like shopping malls and bus depots by black-clad, Darth Vader look-alikes.
This is a government that uses fusion centers, which represent the combined surveillance efforts of federal, state, and local law enforcement, to track the citizenry’s movements, record their conversations, and catalog their transactions.
This is a government whose wall-to-wall surveillance has given rise to a suspect society in which the burden of proof has been reversed such that Americans are now assumed guilty until or unless they can prove their innocence.
This is a government that treats its people like second-class citizens who have no rights and is working overtime to stigmatize and dehumanize any and all who do not fit with the government’s plans for this country.
This is a government that uses free speech zones, roving bubble zones, and trespass laws to silence, censor, and marginalize Americans and restrict their First Amendment right to speak truth to power. The kinds of speech the government considers dangerous enough to a red flag and subject to censorship, surveillance, investigation, prosecution, and outright elimination include: hate speech, bullying speech, intolerant speech, conspiratorial speech, treasonous speech, threatening speech, incendiary speech, inflammatory speech, radical speech, anti-government speech, right-wing speech, left-wing speech, extremist speech, politically incorrect speech, etc.
This is a government that adopts laws that criminalize Americans for otherwise lawful activities such as holding religious studies at home, growing vegetables in their yard, and collecting rainwater.
This is a government that persists in renewing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which allows the president and the military to arrest and detain American citizens indefinitely.
This is a government that saddled us with the Patriot Act, which opened the door to all manner of government abuses and intrusions on our privacy.
This is a government that, in direct opposition to the dire warnings of those who founded our country, has allowed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish a standing army by way of programs that transfer surplus military hardware to local and state police.
This is a government that has militarized American’s domestic policy, equipping them with military weapons such as “tens of thousands of machine guns; nearly 200,000 ammunition magazines; thousands of pieces of camouflage and night-vision equipment; and hundreds of silencers, armored cars, and aircraft,” in addition to armored vehicles, sound cannons and the like.
This is a government that has provided cover to police when they shoot and kill unarmed individuals just for standing a certain way, or moving a certain way, or holding something—anything—that police could misinterpret to be a gun or igniting some trigger-centric fear in a police officer’s mind that has nothing to do with an actual threat to their safety.
This is a government that has allowed private corporations to get rich at taxpayer expense by locking people up in private prisons for non-violent crimes while providing Corporate America with a source of cheap labor.
This is a government that has created a Constitution-free zone within 100 miles inland of the border around the United States, paving the way for Border Patrol agents to search people’s homes, intimately probe their bodies, and rifle through their belongings, all without a warrant. Incredibly, nearly 66% of Americans (2/3 of the U.S. population, 197.4 million people) now live within that 100-mile-deep, Constitution-free zone.
This is a government that treats public school students as if they were prison inmates, enforcing zero-tolerance policies that criminalize childish behavior, failing to teach them their rights under the Constitution, and indoctrinating them with teaching that emphasizes rote memorization and test-taking over learning, synthesizing and critical thinking.
This is a government that is operating in the negative on every front: it’s spending far more than what it makes (and takes from the American taxpayers) and it is borrowing heavily (from foreign governments and Social Security) to keep the government operating and keep funding its endless wars abroad. Meanwhile, the nation’s sorely neglected infrastructure—railroads, water pipelines, ports, dams, bridges, airports, and roads—is rapidly deteriorating.
This is a government whose gun violence—inflicted on unarmed individuals by battlefield-trained SWAT teams, militarized police, and bureaucratic government agents trained to shoot first and ask questions later—poses a greater threat to the safety and security of the nation than any mass shooter. There are now reportedly more bureaucratic (non-military) government agents armed with high-tech, deadly weapons than U.S. Marines.
This is a government that has allowed the presidency to become a dictatorship operating above and beyond the law, regardless of which party is in power.
This is a government that treats dissidents, whistleblowers, and freedom fighters as enemies of the state.
This is a government—a warring empire—that forces its taxpayers to pay for wars abroad that serve no other purpose except to expand the reach of the military-industrial complex.
This is a government that has in recent decades unleashed untold horrors upon the world—including its own citizenry—in the name of global conquest, the acquisition of greater wealth, scientific experimentation, and technological advances, all packaged in the guise of the greater good.
This is a government that allows its agents to break laws with immunity while average Americans get the book thrown at them.
This is a government that speaks in the language of force. What is this language of force? Militarized police. Riot squads. Camouflage gear. Black uniforms. Armored vehicles. Mass arrests. Pepper spray. Tear gas. Batons. Strip searches. Surveillance cameras. Kevlar vests. Drones. Lethal weapons. less-than-lethal weapons unleashed with deadly force. Rubber bullets. Water cannons. Stun grenades. Arrests of journalists. Crowd control tactics. Intimidation tactics. Brutality. Contempt of cop charges.
This is a government that justifies all manner of government tyranny and power grabs in the so-called name of national security, national crises, and national emergencies.
This is a government that exports violence worldwide, with one of this country’s most profitable exports being weapons. Indeed, the United States, the world’s largest exporter of arms, has been selling violence to the world in order to prop up the military-industrial complex and maintain its endless wars abroad.
This is a government that is consumed with squeezing every last penny out of the population and seemingly unconcerned if essential freedoms are trampled in the process.
This is a government that believes it has the authority to search, seize, strip, scan, spy on, probe, pat down, taser, and arrest any individual at any time and for the slightest provocation, the Constitution be damned.
In sum, this is a government that routinely undermines the Constitution and rides roughshod over the rights of the citizenry.
This is not a government that believes in, let alone upholds, freedom.
So where does that leave us?
As always, the first step begins with “we the people.”
Those who gave us the Constitution and the Bill of Rights believed that the government exists at the behest of its citizens. It is there to protect, defend, and even enhance our freedoms, not violate them. Our power as a citizenry comes from our ability to agree and stand united on certain freedom principles that should be non-negotiable.
It was no idle happenstance that the Constitution opens with these three powerful words: “We the people.” In other words, we have the power to make and break the government. We are the masters and they are the servants. We the American people—the citizenry—are the arbiters and ultimate guardians of America’s welfare, defense, liberty, laws, and prosperity.
As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, we have managed to keep the wolf at bay so far. Barely.
Our national priorities need to be re-prioritized. For instance, some argue that we need to make America great again. I, for one, would prefer to make America free again.
WC: 2974


consciouslifenews--2020-09-09--28 Dirt Cheap Items That Will Be Priceless After an Economic Collapse

The 2020 economic collapse has demonstrated its ability to wipe out supply chains , drive grocery store prices to sky high , and cause massive shortages of everything from toilet paper to meat to aluminum cans .
As we head into the fall , the disaster is only going to intensify , so it is crucial that you take the last days of the summer season to prepare for the worst .
This list from UrbanSurvivalSite details 28 of the most important items to add to your stockpile as the economic collapse wreaks havoc on the United States .
Keep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you don ’ t miss a single item .
The last thing you want is to notice that key supplies are absent when it ’ s already too late .
After all , although they ’ re cheap now , as soon as things go south , the value of these supplies will skyrocket overnight .
The good news is that for now most of the supplies that will make the difference between catastrophe and survival when the time comes won ’ t break the bank .
In fact , these cheap goods @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in day to day life .
But in a few months , they could be keeping you and your loved ones alive or be used to barter for other necessary items .
Here ’ s the list Tags : `` featured , 2020 economic collapse , cheap items for an economic collapse , economic collapse , featured , important items during an economic collapse

Video Source: Epic Economist
The 2020 economic collapse has demonstrated its ability to wipe out supply chains, drive grocery store prices to sky high, and cause massive shortages of everything from toilet paper to meat to aluminum cans. As we head into the fall, the disaster is only going to intensify, so it is crucial that you take the last days of the summer season to prepare for the worst.
This list from UrbanSurvivalSite details 28 of the most important items to add to your stockpile as the economic collapse wreaks havoc on the United States. Keep watching until the end to make sure you don’t miss a single item. The last thing you want is to notice that key supplies are absent when it’s already too late. After all, although they’re cheap now, as soon as things go south, the value of these supplies will skyrocket overnight.
The good news is that for now most of the supplies that will make the difference between catastrophe and survival when the time comes won’t break the bank. In fact, these cheap goods are things we may take for granted in day to day life. But in a few months, they could be keeping you and your loved ones alive or be used to barter for other necessary items. Here’s the list
1. Aluminum foil
2. Duct tape
3. Plastic sheeting
4. Bandages
5. Baking soda
6. Sunscreen
7. Activated charcoal
8. Batteries
9. Vitamins
10. Soap
11. Rubbing alchohol
12. Chapsitck
13. Rubber bands
14. Zip ties
15. Can opener
16. Cotton balls
17. Salt
18. Fishing lines
19. Over-the-counter medications
20. Candles
21. Nail polish
22. Sewing kit
23. Paper clips
24. Lighter
25. Seeds
26. Socks
27. Ziplock bags
28. Superglue


consciouslifenews--2020-09-09--Morning Inspiration: Prove Them Wrong (Motivational Video)

This compilation video of some of the best motivational speeches will get you going throughout the day .
“ Roll @ @ @ @ @ gon na try , go all the way .
Otherwise do n't even try .
@ @ @ @ @ , go all the way .
This can mean losing girlfriends , wives , relatives @ @ @ @ @ mind .
Go all the way.
” Tags : featured , how to achieve dreams @ @ @ @ @ , how to achieve success , how to get what you want , how to @ @ @ @ @

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consciouslifenews--2020-09-09--The Three Stages Of Grief & How To Deal With Them

Grief is one of the most terrible things to try and have to deal with , and it does n't just come from the loss of a loved one .
It could be from a relationship breakup when you did n't want it to end , it could be your absolute best friend moving to the other side of the world .
But arguably the hardest form of grief is the loss of a loved one , and we know that so many people are going to be going through that right now .
Even if not the loss of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a relationship , it can be to try and get through that you do n't know how to carry on with normal life .
If it has got to the point of utter despair for you , we 're going to help .
We want to show you three of the biggest stages of grief and how you can get through them so you can at least feel a little bit better .
Keep on reading to find out more .
This is most definitely the first stage of any heartbreak , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ca n't stop crying and your mind wo n't stop racing , so much so that you keep thinking you 'd do anything to turn your thoughts off .
It 's during this stage that you need to become rationale , people do the craziest things during this stage .
It might be that you put your focus into something .
For example , if the loss of your loved one needs a lawyer , you could contact lawyers so that you can start to get some answers so that you can also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really is best to keep yourself distracted , even if that means you need to be around your friends or family all the time , find comfort in whatever it is that brings you comfort .
Then comes this stage .
The stage where you 're not necessarily crying every two minutes , but all you want to do is lie in bed with the curtains closed and Netflix on all day .
During this stage it 's important to allow yourself to have days where you do n't move because you 'll @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that 's a great way of getting over grief .
But do n't allow yourself to withdraw for too long .
Make sure you and get surrounded by people you love and that are going to make you happy .
To try and get back to normal you need to try and start doing the things you usually would do .
Get in the gym , go out for drinks with friends , go for a family day out .
Just anything you can do to make you feel normal .
But do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make sure that you 're speaking to someone who you can trust if you feel like you 're really suffering .
People would rather know you are than to think you 're feeling better when you 're not .

Grief is one of the most terrible things to try and have to deal with, and it doesn't just come from the loss of a loved one. It could be from a relationship breakup when you didn't want it to end, it could be your absolute best friend moving to the other side of the world. But arguably the hardest form of grief is the loss of a loved one, and we know that so many people are going to be going through that right now. Even if not the loss of a loved one, perhaps the breakdown of a relationship, it can be so crippling to try and get through that you don't know how to carry on with normal life. If it has got to the point of utter despair for you, we're going to help. We want to show you three of the biggest stages of grief and how you can get through them so you can at least feel a little bit better. Keep on reading to find out more.
Complete Heartbreak & Despair
This is most definitely the first stage of any heartbreak, the stage where you feel like you can't stop crying and your mind won't stop racing, so much so that you keep thinking you'd do anything to turn your thoughts off. It's during this stage that you need to become rationale, people do the craziest things during this stage. It might be that you put your focus into something. For example, if the loss of your loved one needs a lawyer, you could contact lawyers offering first-class legal representation to everyone so that you can start to get some answers so that you can also get closure. During this time it really is best to keep yourself distracted, even if that means you need to be around your friends or family all the time, find comfort in whatever it is that brings you comfort.
Withdrawing From Normal Life
Then comes this stage. The stage where you're not necessarily crying every two minutes, but all you want to do is lie in bed with the curtains closed and Netflix on all day. During this stage it's important to allow yourself to have days where you don't move because you'll be calmly thinking and processing, and that's a great way of getting over grief. But don't allow yourself to withdraw for too long. Make sure you pick yourself back up and get surrounded by people you love and that are going to make you happy.
Trying To Act Normal
To try and get back to normal you need to try and start doing the things you usually would do. Get in the gym, go out for drinks with friends, go for a family day out. Just anything you can do to make you feel normal. But don't try and act normal, always make sure that you're speaking to someone who you can trust if you feel like you're really suffering. People would rather know you are than to think you're feeling better when you're not.


consciouslifenews--2020-09-10--World’s Rarest Great Ape, Discovered 3 Years Ago, is Fast Being Wiped Out By British Firm’s Goldmine

When scientists discovered the Tapanuli Orangutan in 2017 , they were ecstatic .
After all , these rare primates were the first great ape species to be discovered in almost a century .
But now , with only about 800 of the newly-identified animals remaining , it is feared that the rarest great ape species on the planet could soon be made extinct by transnational mining operations .
The Tapanuli orangutan can be found only in a single high-elevation forest in the Batang Toru Ecosystem , which lies in North Sumatra , Indonesia .
The area is rich in biodiversity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Pangolin and Sumatran tiger calling it home .
However , the lush rainforest of Batang Toru is also the site of a major gold-mining project by Jardine Matheson , an Anglo multinational conglomerate whose dealings in Asia date back nearly 200 years , when it trafficked opium to China from colonial India to the Pearl River Delta and directly helped deliver Hong Kong to the British imperialists .
The Hong Kong-based transnational corporation now has extensive holdings across Southeast Asia and the world , including automobile companies , dairy farms , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But ever since 2018 , when Jardine Matheson bought the Martabe goldmine on Sumatra Island , the company has been expanding its operations deeper and deeper into the Tapanuli orangutans ’ environment .
This has entailed the destruction of the irreplaceable Tapanuli orangutan forest habitat with projects to expand mining infrastructure including the huge massive Batang Toru hydroelectric dam project , which is meant to power the smelters of the Martabe mine .
Scientists are now warning that the damage is so great that if only eight of the Tapanuli orangutans are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the isolated great ape species would decline to the point of no return over the next decade .
Conservationist group Mighty Earth has been organizing and advocating for an end to the destruction of the Tapanuli orangutan habitat by the Martabe gold-mining project and is demanding that Jardine Matheson halt the deliberate damage being done to the forest ecosystem .
“ I think this is an issue of corporate responsibility , ” campaign director Amanta Hurotwitz told The Telegraph .
“ You have a mine in the habitat of the most endangered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going to profit off this species you have a responsibility to take action to protect the species.
” However , spokespeople for the transnational conglomerate strongly reject the claims , explaining that they strictly abide by the guidelines of local authorities , including any environmental regulations that are in place .
“ The mine has not encroached on areas categorized as protected forest and has been clear on its commitment to protecting biodiversity , ” a spokesperson said .
However , conservationists fear that the Tapanuli orangutan , whose unique genetic make-up and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be forever lost due to the devastating carelessness and corruption that comes with corporate greed – especially in the case of such large-scale mining operations .
Hurotwitz urged the company to rethink its practices , noting that it is crucial that Jardine Matheson resolves to “ work with scientists to mitigate the damage that has been done .
”

By Elias Marat | TheMindUnleashed.com
When scientists discovered the Tapanuli Orangutan in 2017, they were ecstatic. After all, these rare primates were the first great ape species to be discovered in almost a century. But now, with only about 800 of the newly-identified animals remaining, it is feared that the rarest great ape species on the planet could soon be made extinct by transnational mining operations.
The Tapanuli orangutan can be found only in a single high-elevation forest in the Batang Toru Ecosystem, which lies in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The area is rich in biodiversity, with other highly endangered species like the Pangolin and Sumatran tiger calling it home.
However, the lush rainforest of Batang Toru is also the site of a major gold-mining project by Jardine Matheson, an Anglo multinational conglomerate whose dealings in Asia date back nearly 200 years, when it trafficked opium to China from colonial India to the Pearl River Delta and directly helped deliver Hong Kong to the British imperialists.
The Hong Kong-based transnational corporation now has extensive holdings across Southeast Asia and the world, including automobile companies, dairy farms, and ownership of the Mandarin Oriental hotel chain.
But ever since 2018, when Jardine Matheson bought the Martabe goldmine on Sumatra Island, the company has been expanding its operations deeper and deeper into the Tapanuli orangutans’ environment. This has entailed the destruction of the irreplaceable Tapanuli orangutan forest habitat with projects to expand mining infrastructure including the huge massive Batang Toru hydroelectric dam project, which is meant to power the smelters of the Martabe mine.
Scientists are now warning that the damage is so great that if only eight of the Tapanuli orangutans are killed each year, the genetic diversity of the isolated great ape species would decline to the point of no return over the next decade.
Conservationist group Mighty Earth has been organizing and advocating for an end to the destruction of the Tapanuli orangutan habitat by the Martabe gold-mining project and is demanding that Jardine Matheson halt the deliberate damage being done to the forest ecosystem.
“I think this is an issue of corporate responsibility,” campaign director Amanta Hurotwitz told The Telegraph. “You have a mine in the habitat of the most endangered species of great ape… If you are going to profit off this species you have a responsibility to take action to protect the species.”
However, spokespeople for the transnational conglomerate strongly reject the claims, explaining that they strictly abide by the guidelines of local authorities, including any environmental regulations that are in place.
“The mine has not encroached on areas categorized as protected forest and has been clear on its commitment to protecting biodiversity,” a spokesperson said.
However, conservationists fear that the Tapanuli orangutan, whose unique genetic make-up and behavior delighted scientists and primatologists, could be forever lost due to the devastating carelessness and corruption that comes with corporate greed – especially in the case of such large-scale mining operations.
Hurotwitz urged the company to rethink its practices, noting that it is crucial that Jardine Matheson resolves to “work with scientists to mitigate the damage that has been done.”


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