Mindconnection eNL, 2009-09-20

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In this issue:
Brainpower | Finances | Security | Health/Fitness | Factoid | Product Highlight | Thought for the Day

Here's a tip to prevent falling into this "brain off" trap. If something supports your view, assume it's wrong until proven otherwise. This is counterintuitive. We naturally give greater weight to those "facts" that support what we already believe. But what you may not realize is we more readily accept as fact anything that supports what we already believe. And this is very dangerous.

Hey, if it sounds right it probably is right--right? Wrong.

When President Obama was campaigning, he talked about hope and promised change. After 8 years of Bush's excessive spending and the damage it wrought, people wanted hope and change. So, they believed Obama because he promised change. But was it even reasonable that he would deliver?

People who assumed "wrong until proven otherwise" and were happy about Obama's great-sounding promises did something smart. They looked at Obama's spending record as a senator and understood he going to make our financial problems far worse by accelerating the debt that we were already staggering under. The National Taxpayer's Union, www.ntu.org, provides the spending records of all members of CONgress. Change for the worse isn't generally the kind of change you want.

Another source of information available at the time (and still available) was the movie IOUSA, released during the Bush misadministration. Anyone aware of our problems would not have voted for Obama because of what he said he'd do (which conflicted with the picture he painted) or for McCain (whose own record and rhetoric were also unacceptable). Both men proved themselves unsuitable for election with their existing records, and people who "assume wrong until proven otherwise" checked said records.

Unfortunately, most voters didn't follow this principle and we are now worse off for that mistake.

Not sure debt is an existential problem for the USA? See this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_TjBNjc9Bo.

Getting one's facts straight before believing something takes a special effort. But it's worth it because it puts your brainpower to work on the right things.

In the example of the "election," what if the majority of people getting the mudstream media's version of the Second Party candidate Ron Paul had checked their facts? We would have, in that case, had an actual run-off instead of just a "choice" between two big-spending members of The Party. And Ron Paul's record on spending is so good he has consistently gotten an A rating from citizen advocacy groups like the National Taxpayer's Union.

Our willingness to believe is often powerful enough to send us into a "brain off" mode so that we are duped into accepting false information as real and not seeing information that counters the position we have or that opens us up to new, better possibilities. This effect allows magicians, novel writers, and actors to make a living. Don't let it limit your ability to understand important issues.

The extent of the stealing is mind-boggling. Here a few examples of what your "elected" misrepresentatives are doing (and the folks they hire) are doing with your money:

$34,000:
The amount of federal taxes that Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner (D) failed to pay during his employment at the International Monetary Fund despite receiving extra compensation and explanatory brochures that described his tax liabilities.

True: http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2009/01/timothy_geithner_obamas _nomine.html

$75,000:
The amount of money that the head of the powerful tax-writing committee, Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), was
forced to report on his taxes after the discovery that he had not reported income from a Dominican Republic rental property. His excuses for the failure started with blaminghis wife, then his accountant and finally the fact that hedidn't speak Spanish.

True http://www.nypost.com/seven/09102008/news/regionalnews/rangels_spanish_excuse_128444.htm

$93,000:
The INCREASE in the amount of petty cash each of our Congressional misrepresentatives voted to give themselves in January 2009 during the height of an economic meltdown.
That's a $40 + million INCREASE!


$133,900:
The amount Fannie Mae "invested" in Chris Dodd (D-CT), head of the powerful Senate Banking Committee, presumably to repel oversight of the GSE20prior to its meltdown. Said meltdown helped touch off the current economic crisis. In only a few years, Fannie also "invested" over $105,000in then-Senator Barack Obama.
True: http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/07/top-senate-recipients-of-fanni.html

$140,000:
The amount of back taxes and interest that Cabinet nominee Tom Daschle (D) was forced to cough up after the vetting process revealed significant, unexplained tax liabilities.

True: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123335984751235247.html?mod=googlenews_wsj Wall Street Journal

$356,000:
The approximate amount of income and deductions that Daschle (D) was forced to report on his amended 2005 and 2007 tax returns after being caught cheating on his taxes. This includes $255,256 for the use of a car service, $83,333 in unreported income, and $14,963 in charitable contributions.

True: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123335984751235247.html?mod=googlenews_wsj Wall Street Journal

$800,000:
The amount of "sweetheart" mortgages Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) received from Countrywide Financial, the details for which he has refused to release details despite months of promises to do so. Countrywide was once the nation's largest mortgage lender and linked to Government-Sponsored Entities like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Their meltdown precipitated the current financial crisis. Just days ago in Pennsylvania, Countrywide was forced to pay $150,000,000 in mortgage assistance following "a state investigation that concluded that Countrywide relaxed its underwriting standards to sell risky loans to consumers who did not understand them and could not afford them."

True: http://rightvoices.com/2008/08/21/more-sweetheart-loan-details-on-senator-chris-dodd-d-ct-chairman-of-the-senate-committee-on-banking-housing-and-urban-affairs/

$1,000,000:
The estimated amount of donations by Denise Rich, wife of fugitive Marc Rich, to Democratic Party interests and the William J. Clinton Foundation in an apparent quid pro quo deal that resulted in a pardon for Mr. Rich. The pardon was reviewed and blessed by Obama Attorney General and then Deputy AG Eric Holder, despite numerous requests by government officials to turn it down.

True: http://articles.latimes.com/2008/nov/20/nation/na-holder20

$12,000,000:
The amount of TARP money provided to community bank One United despite the fact that it did not qualify for funds, and was "under attack from its regulators for allegations of poor lending practices and executive-pay abuses." It turns out that Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), a key contributor to the Fannie Mae meltdown, just happens to be married to one of the bank's former directors.

True: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123258284337504295.html Wall Street Journal

$23,500,000:
The upper range of net worth Rep. Allan Mollohan (D-WV) accumulated in four years time according to The Washington Post through earmarks of "tens of millions of dollars to groups associated with his own business partners."

True: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/14/AR2006051401032.html

$2,000,000,000:
($2 billion) the approximate amount of money that House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI) is earmarking related to his son's lobbying efforts. The son, Craig Obey, is "a top lobbyist for the nonprofit group" that would receive a roughly $2 billion component of the "Stimulus" package.
True: http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/a_plan_for_stimulus_money_national_parks/C530/L37/

and these related stories: http://search.yahoo.com/404handler?src=news&+++%0A+fr%3D404_news%26ref%3Dhttp://directorblue.blogspot.com/2009/01/obama-democrats-by-numbers.html&url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090129/ap_on_go_co/stimulus_national_parks_2

$3,700,000,000:
($3.720billion) not to be outdone, this is the estimated value of various defense contracts awarded to a company controlled by the husband of Rep. Diane Feinstein (D-CA). Despite an obvious conflict-of-interest as "a member of the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee, Sen. Feinstein voted for appropriations worth billions to her husband's firms."

$4,190,000,000:
($4.19 billion) the amount of money in the so-called "Stimulus" package devoted to fraudulent voter
registration ACORN group under the auspices of "Community Stabilization Activities". ACORN is currently the subject of a RICO suit in Ohio.

True: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/stimulus-economy-percent-2295331-bill-pelos i


$1,646,000,000,000:

($1.646 trillion) The approximate amount of annual United States exports endangered by the "Stimulus" package, which provides a "Buy American" stricture. According to international trade experts, a "US-EU trade war looms" which could result in a worldwide economic depression reminiscent of that touched off by the protectionist Smoot-Hawley Act.

Background: Smoot-Hawley Act: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot-Hawley_Tariff_Act

It's a culture of corruption and stupidity. In addition, these folks believe they are above the law because, let's face it, they are! All of these criminals are still in office, living like the royalty they think they are.

Remember: This all happened in just the FIRST QUARTER of this year. It's just a little slice of the overall theft conducted against the rest of us, day after day.

If you don't like going to work every day to support this kind of rampant theft, then speak up. And when you have a chance to vote, don't waste it on members of The Party (Demopublicans). Vote Libertarian instead, or just vote for your neighbor's dog.

Taking the appropriate vitamin supplements will accomplish one thing: prevent a deficiency. Vitamin deficiencies can result in poor eyesight, poor resistance to disease, lethargy, fat gain, and other problems.

We recommend supplemental vitamins, as in the form of a decent multivitamin.

Unless you have some kind of medical condition and/or a horrendously poor diet, high potency supplements will not provide any benefit over a good, balanced supplement (made from food, rather than synthesized) and may result in harm that requires medical treatment (for example, vitamin a overdose.

For example, take 1 a day instead of 3 a day. Note that a "1 a day" vitamin is probably synthetic and won't do you much good. A whole food one is less concentrated, so you have to take more capsules.

Here's an article that explains more about the topic:

http://www.supplecity.com/articles/multivitamin.htm

Here's a link to the multis we offer:

https://www.mindconnection.com/category/NTR-VITAMINS.html

I mentioned earlier about "poor soil." There's an exaggerated claim put out by a particular corporation that today's foods are grown in such poor soil that you get essentially no nutrition from them. The reality is you get less nutrition.

An acorn squash will contain the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that an acorn squash contains--else, the squash won't form on the vine. But in poor soil, they won't be as concentrated in the "meat" of the squash. You can tell from the relatively pale color and relatively pale taste of a "poor soil" squash compared to one grown in healthy soil. You're still getting those nutrients, but you'll have to eat more squash to get the same amount. But not radically more, as the claim goes.

During the growing season, I grow my own vegetables in very carefully cultivated soil. I use 1/3 the recommended dosage of my multi in that season, and 2/3 the rest of the year.

As regular readers know, I'm 48 years old in the picture (above, right), taken in December. I don't diet down for summer. I don't have good genes for maintaining a lean body, I really have to be conscientious and disciplined about it. That doesn't mean I suffer, eat bland foods, or starve myself.

At www.supplecity.com, you'll find plenty of informative, authoritative articles on maintaining a lean, strong physique. It has nothing to do with long workouts or impossible to maintain diets. In fact:

• The best workouts are short and intense.
• A good diet contains far more flavors and satisfaction than the typical American diet.

Nor does it mean being hungry all the time (you are less hungry on six small meals a day than three large ones), being weak from hunger (on a proper dietary regimen, you will have much more energy than otherwise), or "giving up pleasures" (I have no idea where this concept comes from, unless a person considers being sick a "pleasure.").

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