Author: Alicia

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Polling data released this week shows that voters in the vital swing states overwhelmingly support the reinstatement of Glass-Steagall and other measures to break up the big Wall Street banks.  According to the poll by the Lake Research Partners, 70 percent of voters in Florida, Pennsylvania, Missouri and Ohio want Glass-Steagall now.  The poll concluded “Public frustration with Wall Street recklessness and greed is high and cuts across the political spectrum.  Whoever wins this election should make turning this outrage into real change a high priority.”
 
Lyndon LaRouche on Tuesday took that argument to its logical conclusion: All of that hatred is actually directed at President Obama, whose disastrous policies have brought us to the point of existential crisis.  Hillary Clinton is an extension and continuation of those Obama policies: protection of Wall Street; inaction in the face of a nationwide illegal drug epidemic; perpetuation of overseas endless wars costing taxpayers trillions of dollars; the total destruction of the U.S. healthcare system under Obamacare; demonization of Russia, driving us to thermonuclear World War III.
 
An honest vote on Nov. 8 will show this hatred of Obama and everything he has done to the United States on behalf of his British masters.  British interests have run Obama since the day he entered politics.  Hillary Clinton destroyed herself through her capitulation to Obama, and this is why she is hated. Any attempt to conceal this on election day will lead to bloodshed.
 
This is deadly serious.  We are not only facing the prospect of domestic bloodshed, but the real chance of war.  We are on the edge of World War III already, because  of the Obama policies of provocation against Russia, policies that Hillary Clinton has carried to an even more obscene extreme.

I’m ready to work with LPAC

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The November 2016 issue of Sarasota Magazine features a lengthy account of Senator Bob Graham’s battle against the FBI, to unearth new evidence of high-level Saudi support for the September 11, 2001, terrorists. The article, by Lucy Morgan, a longtime Florida journalist and personal friend of Senator Graham, goes through the full account of the FBI cover-up of the Sarasota connection between a leading Saudi businessman and royal family advisor, his daughter and son-in-law, and the three Florida-based hijackers, including ringleader Mohammed Atta.

The prominent Saudi businessman, Esam Ghazzawi, owned a home in an exclusive gated community, where his daughter and son-in-law lived for six years—up until weeks before the 9/11 attacks. Security records from the gated community confirmed that Atta and two other hijackers were frequent visitors and had numerous phone conversations with the house occupants. The residents, Abdulazzi Hiijjii and his wife Anoud, lived at 4224 Escondito Circle, where they hosted the hijackers—until they abruptly left and returned to Saudi Arabia, leaving a new car in the driveway, clothes in the washer and food on the table. Hiijjii’s computer left with the couple and their two young children.

According to the Morgan account, in Sept. 2011, Graham received a phone call from Irish investigative journalist Anthony Summers and Florida Bulldog editor and publisher Dan Christensen, indicating new evidence about a Sarasota connection to the 9/11 terrorists. When the three met several days later, Summers and Christensen reported that they had received information from an “unnamed counterterrorism official” about the Atta visits to the Sarasota home. Senator Graham knew that the FBI had never disclosed any information about this crucial Sarasota lead when he and Porter Goss co-chaired the Joint Congressional Inquiry. After speaking with neighbors, Graham and the two journalists confirmed that the FBI had been all over the story—but they never provided any of the information to Congress or to the 9/11 Commission.

Graham tried to contact FBI agent Gregory Sheffield, who had written some of the reports on the Sarasota investigation, but he had been transferred to Honolulu and FBI brass blocked any contact. Furthermore, several months after he began his inquiries into the Sarasota story, Sen. Graham and his wife Adele were stopped at Dulles Airport, as they arrived there to spend Thanksgiving with one of their children. They were hauled into a room at the airport terminal, where FBI Deputy Director Sean Joyce was waiting for the senator with a pointed message: Drop the inquiries into Sarasota, stop trying to reach Sheffield, and “get a life.”

Graham, Christensen, and Summers, along with some other Florida news organizations, filed an FOIA law suit to get access to the FBI files on the Sarasota probe, and a Federal judge is now reviewing over 80,000 pages of pertinent documents.

Lucy Morgan brought out the San Diego evidence, further detailed in the 28-page chapter from the Joint Inquiry report, finally declassified in July, and she quoted Sen. Graham, who believes that the Saudi royals cut a deal with Bin Laden, to provide material support to the terrorist attack on the U.S. in return for a pledge from Al Qaeda to halt all insurgent activities inside the Kingdom.

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The Schiller Institute’s president, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, was a leading speaker on a panel on the future of relations between Europe, the United States, and Russia, taking place on Oct. 30 at the conference “The Great Peace” in Auerstedt, Germany. Other speakers at the panel were Prof. Gerhard Schreiber (Dresden), a longtime expert on military strategy at numerous top assignments at pre-1989 East German army institutes and presently a consultant on security policies; Prof. Natalya Bubnova, expert on Russian relations to the West, working at the Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations in Moscow; Klaus-Dieter Boehm, director of the private station Salve.TV in Erfurt (the only German TV station that runs new items from RT on a regular basis). The conference site of Auerstedt, near the city of Jena in Thuringia, was the scene of a major battle in 1806 at which Napoleon’s armies defeated the Prussian armies. “The Great Peace ” was held for the fourth time there.

Helga, had already presented the New Silk Road and World Land-Bridge when numerous initiatives were introduced on Saturday afternoon, showing a short video clip on that, which was well received by the audience. She again went into the importance of the new paradigm to replace the acute threat of nuclear war, on the Sunday panel. This threat is originating from the fact that the trans-Atlantic financial system is doomed, and that certain Western leaders refuse to enter cooperation with the Chinese and the BRICS. She also warned that Hillary Clinton has turned into a complete hawk in the recent period, that her election poses the risk of a world war considerably. Professor Schreiber, who spoke on the post-1990 history of NATO build-up and expansion against Russia, with particular reference to the detrimental role of the EU, including the triggering of the Ukraine crisis, endorsed the One Belt One Road as a peace-building new paradigm which should be joined by Europe, saying at one point that “it is because U.S. policy is against the New Silk Road, that the Americans hate you so much, Mrs. Zepp-LaRouche.”

Prof. Bubnova, who spoke on the false images the West has built up on Russia but also voiced concern over Russia’s being drawn into a strategic confrontation, said in respect to U.S. dreams about continued world hegemony that it won’t work, because larger parts of the world disagree and do not want to go where the U.S. tells them to go. Schreiber also made a strong case of multipolarity as being the future of the world, replacing the unipolar period which has obtained since the collapse of the Soviet bloc 25 years ago. Guenther Boehm spoke on the U.S. hand behind bin Laden, Al Qaeda, Al Nusra, and IS, saying that these have been built up to provide a new enemy image after the Soviet enemy had disappeared after 1990. 

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Resolutions for Congressional Action Introduced Into State Legislatures

2016

  • 2016 – Ohio | JOINT RESOLUTION To urge the United States Congress and the President of the United States to enact legislation that would reinstate the separation of commercial and investment banking function that was in effect under the GlassSteagall Act.
  • July 2016 – Pennsylvania | LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION Urging the Congress of the United States to enact legislation to reinstate the separation of commercial and investment banking functions in effect under the Glass-Steagall Act and support the adoption of S.1709 and H. Res.381, which repeal the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
  • March 2016 – Minnesota | HOUSE RESOLUTION A resolution memorializing Congress to support efforts to reinstate the separation of commercial and investment banking functions in effect under the Glass-Steagall Act and supporting H.R. No. 381.
  • March 2016 – Illinois | HOUSE RESOLUTION RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the United States Congress to immediately adopt the “American Recovery” program by doing the following: 1) Restore the provisions of the Glass Steagall Act, … 2) Return to a national banking and a federal credit system, modeled on the principles of Alexander Hamilton’s First Bank of the United States, … 3) Use the federal credit system to build a Modern network of high speed rail, power generating systems, water projects, such as those urgently needed… 4) Launch a program to rebuild our space program to put a permanent manned colony on the Moon and explore the solar system, and develop a program to create nuclear fusion, to finally solve the energy needs of the nation and the planet…
  • March 2016 – Connecticut | 18 members of the Connecticut General Assembly write to the Connecticut Congressional delegation in Washington, in support of the reinstatement of Glass-Steagall.
  • January 2016 – Arizona | CONCURRENT MEMORIAL Urging the United States Congress to enact H.R. 381, the Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2015, and S. 1709, the 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act of 2015.
  • January 2016 – Rhode Island | SENATE RESOLUTION Respectfully requesting Congress to re-enact provisions of the Glass-Steagall Banking Act.
  • January 2016 – Michigan | SENATE RESOLUTION A resolution to urge the United States Congress and the President of the United States to enact legislation that would reinstate the separation of commercial and investment banking functions that was in effect under the Glass-Steagall Act.
  • January 2016 – New Mexico | SENATE MEMORIAL Urging the New Mexico Congressional delegation in Washington, D.C. to support efforts to reinstate separation of commercial and investment banking functions in effect under the Banking Act of 1933.
  • January 2016 – South Carolina | HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION To memorialize the United States Congress to reenact certain provisions of the Glass-Steagall Act that were essential to providing stable economic markets following the Great Depression but which were repealed in 1999, contributing substantially to high-risk banking and investment practices that caused the Great Recession.

2015

  • April 2015 – New York | LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION urging the New York State Congressional delegation to support efforts in the US House and US Senate to reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act, including the separation of commercial and investment banking functions in effect under the Glass-Steagall Act.

2014

  • April 2014 – Louisiana | Louisiana State Representative Katrina Jackson, the head of the Black Caucus, has introduced House Concurrent Resolution NO. 83 into the State House of Representatives.
  • March 2014 – New Jersey | New Jersey Senate Resolution 56 was introduced by Sen. Shirley Turner.
  • March 2014 – Minnesota | House Resolution HF 3299 was submitted by Rep. R. Dehn on March 26, 2014. This resolution matches Senate Bill 2334 which was introduced into the Minnesota Senate earlier in March.
  • March 2014 – New York | Resolution K1012 was introduced into the New York State Assembly as K1012 urging the New York State Congressional delegation to support efforts to reinstate the Glass-Steagall separation of banks. The resolutions main sponsor is Phil Steck, who also introduced the bill last year. There are 13 official co-sponsors.
  • March 2014 – Minnesota | Senate Bill 2334 “memorializing the Congress of the United States to enact legislation that would reinstate the separation of commercial and investment banking functions that were in effect under the Glass-Steagall Act, the Banking Act of 1933” was introduced into the Minnesota State Senate.
  • February 2014 – Rhode Island | House Resolution 7650 “Respectfully Requesting Congress To Re-enact Provisions Of The Glass-steagall Banking Act” was introduced by Rep. Gregg Amore into the Rhode Island House of Representatives.
  • February 2014 – West Virginia | Del. Mike Manypenny introduced an updated resolution, House Concurrent Resolution 89 into the West Virginia House of Delegates with a total of 49 co-sponsors.

  • February 2014 – Maryland | Maryland Senator Anthony Muse has introduced Senate Joint Resolution 8 which matches Maryland House Joint Resolution 8, calling for the “Reinstatement of the Separation of Commercial and Investment Banking Functions”.
  • February 2014 – Kentucky | Kentucky State Senator Perry Clark has introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 140 ‘urging Congress to reenact provisions of the Glass-Steagall Act’.
  • February 2014 – Arizona | HCM 2011 was filed with 13 House sponsors, 12 Democrats, 2 Republicans AND 4 Senate sponsors, 2 Democrats and 2 Republicans, for a total of 18 sponsors.
  • February 2014 – Maryland | House Joint Resolution 8 was introduced with 50 total sponsors, which is over 1/3 of the Maryland House. 3 of which are Committee Chairs and 5 are Republicans.
  • January 2014 – Rhode Island | Senate Resolution S 2176 was introduced into the Rhode Island Senate by Senators DiPalma, Ruggerio, Lombardo and Metts.
  • January 2014 – New Mexico | Senate Memorial 37 introduced by Senator William P. Soules urges members of the New Mexico congressional delegation to support the efforts to reinstate the separation of commercial and investment banking.
  • January 2014 – Alabama | House Resolution 75 introduced by Rep. Tom Jackson.
  • January 2014 – Virginia | Senate Joint Resolution 22 introduced by Sen. Richard Black.
  • January 2014 – Washington State | Senate Joint Memorial Resolution 8012 resubmitted by Sen. Bob Hasegawa and Maralyn Chase with a total of 17 co-sponsors.

2013

  • January 2013 – Rhode Island | Senate Resolution S10 respectfully urging Congress to Enact “The Return to Prudent Banking Act”

  • January 2013 – Montana | House Joint Resolution 4 introduced by B. Harris – “Urging the US Congress to enact the Return to Prudent banking act.” On Jan. 28 the Committee on Business and Education voted 15 to 5 to table the resolution. Plans are being made to get the bill un-tabled.

  • January 2013 – Virginia | Senate Joint Resolution 273 and House Joint Resolution 600, both introduced January 9, 2013.

  • January 2013 – Kentucky | Kentucky Senate Concurrent Resolution SCR16 introduced January 2013 and referred to the Banking and Insurance Committee.

  • February 2013 – Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania House Resolution HR73 “urging the Congress of the United States to support efforts to reinstate the separation of commercial and investment banking functions in effect under the Glass-Steagall Act and supporting H.R. No. 129.” The resolution was introduced by Rep. Mark Cohen, and now has 30 cosponsors. The resolution has been referred to the Commerce Committee.
  • February 2013 – Maryland | House Joint Resolution 3 was introduced for the “Reinstatement of the Separation of Commercial and Investment Banking Functions” with the bipartisan support of 15 Representatives.
  • February 2013 – South Dakota | Senate Concurrent Resolution 6 was introduced with 69 cosponsors representing a large majority of the 105 total legislators. The resolution requests that Congress “reinstate the separation of commercial and investment banking functions that were in effect under the Glass-Steagall Act”.
    On Feb. 28 South Dakota became the first state in the nation to pass a resolution urging the U.S. Congress to reinstate Glass-Steagall. SCR 6 passed the State Senate on Feb. 26 by a vote of 19 to 16, and passed the House of Representatives on Feb. 28 by a decisive vote of 67 to 2. The resolution, as passed, will be delivered to the S.D. delegation in Congress.

  • February 2013 – West Virginia | House Resolution 15 was introduced with 32 cosponsors and “urges Congress to enact H. R. 129, the ‘Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2013.'”
  • February 2013 – Alabama | House Joint Resolution 121 was introduced with the bipartisan support of 18 cosponsors and urges “Congress to support efforts to reinstate the separation of commercial and investment functions in effect under the Glass-Steagall Act.”
    On April 30, the Alabama House of Representatives became the fourth state legislative body to adopt the resolution urging Congress to restore Glass-Steagall.

  • March 2013 – Washington | Senate Joint Resolution 8009 was introduced by Senators Bob Hasegawa, Marilyn Chase, David Frockt and Adam Kline, asking that “Congress enact legislation that would reinstate the separation of commercial and investment banking functions that were in effect under the Glass-Steagall act.” The resolution has been referred to Committee on Financial Institutions, Housing & Insurance.
  • March 2013 – Maine | On April 4th Senate Paper 465 to reinstate Glass-Steagall was read and adopted in the Senate and on April 9th it was read and adopted without objection in the House.
  • March 2013 – Rhode Island | Rhode Island State Representatives McLaughlin, Bennett, and Hull introduced a resolution into the House, H5840, strongly urging Congress “to reinstate the restrictions of the Banking Act of 1933, commonly referred to as the Glass-Steagall Act.” This House resolution is identical to the Rhode Island Senate resolution already introduced in January.
  • March 2013 – Hawaii | House Concurrent Resolution 138 “requesting the United States Congress to take action regarding the separation of commercial and investment banking functions through the reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 or similar legislation” was introduced by the Chair of the Consumer Protection and Commerce Committee, and co-sponsored by four representatives.
  • April 2013 – Mississippi | House Resolution 165 was introduced with the support of State Representatives Banks, Calhoun, Evans (70th), Straughter, and Watson.
  • April 2013 – Minnesota | H.F. 1744 was introduced into the Minnesota House of Representatives “memorializing Congress to enact legislation that would reinstate the separation of commercial and investment banking functions under the Glass-Steagall Act”. The bill was initiated by a Republican Representative and has a list of bi-partisan cosponsors. The bill has been referred to the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection Finance and Policy.
  • April 2013 – North Carolina | H.R. 836 was introduced into the General Assembly “supporting efforts to reinstate the separation of commercial and investment banking functions in effect under the Glass-Steagall Act”. All four primary sponsors (three Republicans and one Democrat) are on the Finance Committee.
  • April 2013 – Indiana | H.R. 0086 was introduced and passed the same day, April 11th, “urging the Congress of the United States to support efforts to reinstate the separation of commercial and investment banking functions in effect under the Glass-Steagall Act and supporting H.R. No. 129.” The bi-partisan bill was authored by Representatives Klinker and Truitt.
  • April 2013 – Colorado | SJM13-002 was introduced into the Senate “Memorializing the United States Congress to enact legislation regarding the regulation of commercial and investment banks.” The primary sponsor is Republican Senator Owen Hill. The seven cosponsors, Baumgardner, Brophy, Lambert, Lundberg, Marble, Harvey, and King, are all Republicans. The memorial has been referred to the State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee.
  • May 2013 – Louisiana | HCR 93 was introduced into the House “Memorializing congress relative to the reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act separating commercial and investment banking functions.” The primary sponsor is Democratic Representative Katrina Jackson, along with four cosponsors, two Republicans and two Democrats: John C. Morris (Republican), Marcus L. Hunter (Democrat), Frank A. Hoffmann (Republican), and John F. “Andy” Anders (Democrat).
  • May 2013 – Minnesota | S.F No. 1666 was introduced into the State Senate with four co-sponsors, two Republicans and two Democrats, mirroring the bipartisan composition of the Minnesota House version of the resolution, introduced a month ago.
  • May 2013 – Illinois | H.R. 354 was introduced by three Democrats into the Illinois State Legislature and calls for Congress to enact Glass-Steagall banking separation.
  • May 2013 – Delaware | Senate Resolution 8 was introduced into the Delaware State Senate with ten cosponsors; six Democrats and four Republicans, including the Democratic Majority Whip.
  • May 2013 – New York | House Resolution K. 490, sponsored by Assemblyman Phil Steck (D-Schenectedy), was introduced with 19 cosponsors, including 3 Republicans. The resolution has been referred to the Committee on Banks.
  • June 2013 – New Jersey | AR-182 was introduced into the New Jersey legislature urging Congress to reinstate Glass-Steagall.
  • July 2013 – Oregon | The state of Oregon has introduced Senate Joint Memorial 11 urging Congress to reinstate Glass-Steagall.
  • July 2013 – Massachusetts | A resolution, Senate 1824, was filed in the Massachusetts senate after a petition from the citizens of Milbury gained local approval.
  • August 2013 – California | The state legislature of California introduced Assembly Concurrent Resolution 73 urging “the President and the Congress of the United States to enact federal legislation to protect the public interest by reviving the separation between commercial banking and speculative activity embodied in the Glass-Steagall Act.”

  • September 2013 – New Jersey | New Jersey State Sen. Shirley Turner, a Democrat from Trenton, has introduced Senate Resolution 121, which “urges the U.S. Congress to adopt the ‘Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2013.'” This is a companion bill, identical to Assembly Resolution 182, urging Congressional action to reinstitute Glass-Steagall.
  • October 2013 – Michigan | Michigan State Senators Johnson, Anderson, Gregory, Bieda, Pappageorge, Young, Hopgood and Warren introduced Senate Resolution No. 98 for the reinstatement of Glass-Steagall banking separation.
  • November 2013 – Michigan | H.R. 260 was introduced into the Michigan House of Representatives by Rep. Brian Banks and has 11 cosponsors.

Support from Policy Makers & Notable Individuals in the U.S.

  • Leo Gerard, President, United Steelworkers International Union
    In a news article titled “Who Will Stand Up to Wall St?“, Gerard states that Congress should pass Glass-Steagall and notes that “The 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act would restore the regulations that prohibited banks that use federal deposit insurance from engaging in risky Wall Street activities like swaps dealing”

  • Ramsey Clark, former Attorney General of the United States
    “I hereby add my name to endorse the passage of HR 129, to restore Glass-Steagall. HR 129, co-sponsored by Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), and Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), is entitled: the ‘Return to Prudent Banking Act.'”

  • John Burton, former U.S. Congressman, current Chairman of the California Democratic Party
    In response to an email requesting his public support for H.R. 129 to reinstate Glass-Steagall, Burton responded “I have spoken out in support of such banking reforms and happily support it. ” Burton also included the 2011 CA Democratic Party resolution to separate the banks.

  • David Stockman, former Director of Office of Management and Budget
    “I do have a pretty pessimistic diagnosis, I agree — but I do have some ideas that could be pursued at the end. And one of them I call super Glass-Steagall. And what that means is one, break up the big banks regardless. No bank should be more than 1 percent of GDP. That’s $150 billion. That’s big enough for a bank. There’s no advantages beyond that. So the banks that are a trillion or 2 trillion today would be broken up.”

  • Sen. Maria Cantwell Reiterates Call for Glass-Steagall
    ” I’d certainly go back to Glass-Steagall and separate commercial and investment banking. And I would basically recapture resources from those banks and put it toward job training and education.”

  • Ted Kaufman, former Senator
    “We can address these problems by reimposing the kind of protections we had under Glass-Steagall… We need to rebuild the wall between the government-guaranteed part of the financial system and those financial entities that remain free to take on greater risk.”

  • Dr. Cornel West, professor, author, and activist
    Has added his name as an endorser of H.R. 129 reinstate Glass-Steagall.

  • Thomas Hoenig, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Board
    “If we don’t make these changes, I think we’re destined to repeat the mistakes of the past,” Hoenig said. “When you mix commercial banking and high-risk broker-dealer activities, you increase the risk overall and as a result you invite new problems.”

  • Matthew Fink, Director Oppenheimer Mutual Funds, Director Retirement Income Industry Association
    “The Glass-Steagall Act and other New Deal measures worked. For decades, the nation avoided lax regulation, excessive speculation, and financial crises.”

  • Robert Reich, Berkeley professor, former US Secretary of Labor
    “Also included in that bill — in order to make sure our future isn’t jeopardized by another meltdown of Wall Street — would be a resurrection of Glass-Steagall and a limit on the size of the biggest banks.”

  • Representative Collin Peterson (D-MN) regrets his vote to repeal Glass-Steagall
    “The other vote I made that was really bad is eliminating Glass-Steagall. We should have never done that and I bought into that. You know, if we had Glass-Steagall back, this wouldn’t be an issue here … You’re putting taxpayers on the hook.”

  • Gordon H. Hoffner, vice president of the Union Bank of Beulah, ND; Former President of the Independent Community Banks of North Dakota
    “Without the provisions of Glass-Steagall, there is nothing in our current regulatory framework that will bring this crisis under control. This is not a party-politics matter; it is a national security question.”

  • Quentin Kopp, former San Francisco Supervisor, State Senator, and Superior Court Judge
    “I’m fiscally responsible and conservative, but I’m no friend of Wall Street. I abhor it. My creed is, bring back Glass-Steagall regulations and you’ll take care of those banks.”

  • Richard Belzer, author and actor
    Has added his name in support of H.R. 129, the bill to restore Glass-Steagall.

  • Gary Karr, internationally renowned solo string bass player
    “For the attention of the members of Congress: I would like it to be known that I urge both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives to reinstate the 1933 Glass-Steagall legislation, reversing its 1999 repeal. I am among a large body of concerned citizens who feel that the reinstatement of the 1933 Glass-Steagall legislation is of paramount importance and needs to be acted upon immediately for the good of our nation.”

  • Daniel Lipton, esteemed conductor, active internationally
    Has added his name to the above endorsement of Glass-Steagall by Gary Karr

  • American Actor Ed Asner
    Has written to his congressional leaders urging them “to immediately become a co-sponsor of this crucial legislation, and act to see that it, once again, becomes the law, and ends the reign of the Too Big to Fail banks.”

  • John Kusumi, independent for President in 1984, has endorsed the LaRouchePAC campaign to reinstate Glass-Steagall
    “It’s time to insist that the U.S. government must do the right thing, and reinstate the Glass-Steagall firewall between commercial and investment banking. To do so is a necessary first step to restore America into good form. It is already in keeping with my “politics of practical idealism,” and it’s a chance for Congress to do something decisive, rather than fiddling at the margins.”

  • Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research
    “The Glass-Steagall Act provided financial security for Americans and now is the time to revive the legislation.”

  • Harold Meyerson, opinion writer, The Washington Post
    “First, banks hold the ability to jack up prices on life’s essentials. Second, since giant, publicly insured banks such as JPMorgan Chase are investing in all manner of businesses and markets, taxpayers would be on the hook if those businesses and markets should tank. That’s why we need to bring back something like the Glass-Steagall Act, which built a wall between depositor banks and investment banks, and the 1956 Bank Holding Company Act. “

  • Thom Hartmann, Veteran Truthout columnist
    “How do we stop the banks, like Bank of America, from dragging America into yet another financial collapse? First and foremost, we need to bring back Glass-Steagall”

  • Roseanne Barr, performer, writer, producer, Green party candidate for President
    Barr has made many statements and tweets to her followers about the need to reinstate Glass-Steagall i.e. “Congress! Pass the Glass-Steagall Bill to save our country! We need to regulate criminals on Wall Street!”

U.S. Institutional Support

  • December 2013 – The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) debated a Resolution Concerning Regulation of Commercial and Investment Banking which had been submitted by Rep. Andrea Boland of Maine. For details on the debate see http://larouchepac.com/node/29106.

  • November 12, 2013 – In a unanimous hands-up vote, all 15 members of Arizona’s Legislative District 27 Republican Committee voted in favor of the a resolution for the restoration of Glass-Steagall stating, “LD 27 Republican Committee supports H. R. 129, the Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2013 as the best working model of American banking”.
  • At the September 8-11 AFL-CIO Convention in Los Angeles a Resolution 14 was passed calling for ending too-big-to-fail by enacting a new Glass-Steagall Act. “We need to make banking boring again. During the Great Depression, the Glass-Steagall Act was adopted to separate commercial banks, which take deposits and make loans for consumers and businesses, and investment banking, which entails more risky and speculative activity. The Glass-Steagall Act prohibited banks backed by government deposit insurance from engaging in overly risky activities. During the 50 years after passage of the Glass-Steagall Act, bank failures were rare and our economy generated the longest period of broad-based prosperity in our nation’s history.”
  • On August 29, 2013 the Detroit Board of Education approved a resolution urging Congress to enact legislation that would reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act separation of commercial and investment banking.
  • On August 19, 2013 the Green Party of the United States issued a press release announcing it’s support for the restoration of Glass-Steagall.
  • On Aug. 2, 2013 the National Conference of State Legislatures, a bi-partisan organization of which all state legislators and staff are members, released their official Policy Directives and Resolutions for their upcoming annual National Legislative Summit (Aug. 12-16 in Atlanta), with a Glass-Steagall resolution on their agenda.
  • Indiana Farmers Union President James Benham sends a letter to leading members of the U.S. Senate and House Agriculture Committees and to the Indiana Congressional delegation, urging the reinstatement of Glass-Steagall.
  • On July 23, 2013 the National Farmers Organization issued a press release in support of the reinstatement of Glass-Steagall.
  • On July 11, 2013 Americans for Financial Reform released a statement to announce “AFR Supports Warren/McCain/Cantwell/King ‘21st Century Glass Steagall Act’“.
  • On June 11, 2013 the Alabama State Council of Machinists went on record endorsing S.985 and H.R.129, the restoration of the Glass-Steagall Act.
  • On May 20, 2013 the National Farmers Union issues a Press Release titled “Glass-Steagall: An Idea Worth Reconsidering” to congratulate both Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) for introducing legislation to reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act which would help protect the U.S. economy from widespread collapse.
  • The Greater Northwest Ohio AFL-CIO headquartered in Toledo passed a resolution in support of HR 129 on January 30th, 2013 and is forwarding the resolution to the Ohio Congressional delegation.
  • Point #2 of the Oregon Democratic Party’s Legislative Agenda is the restoration of Glass-Steagall.
  • The National Farmers Union, representing farmers and ranchers in 32 states, reiterated support for re-instating the Glass-Steagall banking law, in its annual policy statement, released March 5, 2013 at the conclusion of its yearly convention.
  • Secretary and past Chair of the Grays Harbor Democrats in Washington State, Patrick Wadsworth, called on the Washington congressional delegation to support Glass-Steagall, HR129.
  • Aden Blair, Business Manager and Financial Secretary of the Portland, OR Ironworkers Shopman’s Local 516 announced his support for Glass-Steagall and issued a call to the Oregon congressional delegation to pass HR 129.
  • Public Citizen, the Ralph Nader-founded group
    Openly endorsed the reinstatement of Glass-Steagall with the publication of a thirteen-page pamphlet, “Safety Glass — Why It’s Time to Restore the 1930s Law Separating Banking and Gambling“

Support from Policy Makers & Notable Individuals Abroad

2016

October 10, 2016 – Former Executive Director for Japan at the IMF and currently Research Director at the Canon Institute, Daisuke Kotegawa, gives an interview to LaRouchePAC, warning that because Glass-Steagall was not reenacted after the 2007-08 crisis, the same criminal bankers continue to wreck the transatlantic economy.

October 10, 2016 – The Board of Directors of the Kansas Cattlemen’s Association issued its support for reinstating the Glass-Steagall banking separation law that was repealed in 1999. The KCA Board reported that its 18th annual convention will be Oct. 28 and 29, and in giving the agenda of presentations, reported that, “KCA supports the passage of the 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act (S. 1709, H. Res. 3054).”

September 2016 – The American Banker publishes coverage of the Fed’s call for downsizing the banks in its, “Fed Becomes Latest Cheerleader for Glass-Steagall-Like Reform.”

July 2016 – AFL-CIO launches “Take on Wall Street” campaign. “The core tenants of this effort include making Wall Street pay its fair share of taxes by putting in place a Wall Street Speculation Tax. This would be a small tax on the trading of stocks, bonds and other Wall Street financial products that would discourage risky speculation and encourage long-term investment. Wall Street reform also must address the ongoing risks that too-big-to-fail banks pose to the economy. It is time to break up the too-big-to-fail banks and pass the 21st Century Glass–Steagall Act to separate federally insured commercial banking from risky Wall Street trading and speculative activities.” See their full statement here.

July 2016 – The reinstatement of Glass-Steagall is featured in both party platforms, in the run up to the November 2016 presidential election.

May 13, 2016 – New York state Senator James Sanders Jr., along with 6 other New York state Senators, write a letter to Senators Chuck Schumer and Kristen Gilibrand, as well as 29 other New York Federal Representatives, urging them to reinestate the Glass-Steagall Act.

May 26, 2016 – After sending a letter to his Federal Representatives in Washington, D.C., New York state Senator James Sanders Jr. writes op-ed “Time to bring back real banking reform”, published in the Times Newsweekly, serving Queens and Brooklyn.

April 2016 – An impressive list of current and former Federal and State representatives, Labor leaders, NAACP representatives, both Democrats and Republicans send greetings to the April 7 international Schiller Institute conference, commending the work of the institute on fighting for financial reform and offering their endorsement of the Schiller Institute’s campaign for the U.S. to join the Chinese New Silk Road project to usher in a new paradigm of global development.

March 1, 2016 – Mr. Marco Zanni and Mr. Marco Valli, members of the European Parliament and of Italy’s Five Star Movement Party, joined LaRouchePAC organizers on Capitol Hill in their campaign for Glass-Steagall. Watch an interview with them on Capitol Hill, here.

January 20, 2016 – The Washington State Senate Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee holds a hearing on Senate Joint Memorial 8005, which calls on Congress to enact pending legislature to restore the FDR Glass-Steagall law.

2015

August 1, 2015 – Italian MPs and Professors Send Endorsement to U.S. Senators for New Glass-Steagall Bill. Read the full letter here.

July 2015 – International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Convention issues a resolution in support of reinstating Glass-Steagall.

July 18, 2015 – Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders (I-VT) becomes the fifth Senator to co-sponsor S. 1709, the current senate bill calling for the reinstatement of Glass-Steagall. Read Sanders’ statement here.

July 17, 2015 – Amid a flurry of discussion across the nation, in support of reinstating Glass-Steagall, the White House again comes out against it. From The Hill‘s article, “At this point, we believe that the kind of implementation of Wall Street reform is the most effective way to protect our economy and middle-class taxpayers,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters at a press briefing Friday when asked whether President Obama supports it.”

July 15, 2015 – LULAC Adopts Resolution Urging Congress to Re-Enact Glass-Steagall.

July 13, 2015 – LPAC Organizer Daniel Burke stirs up the Glsas-Steagall debate, when, during a Hillary Clinton event in Manhatten, whose subject was what to do with the U.S. economy, Daniel yelled from the crowd, “Senator Clinton, will you restore Glass-Steagall?” Later that afternoon a spokesperson for Clinton’s campaign answered Burke’s question: No. Coverage of the incident can be found here.

July 7, 2015 – Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), John McCain (R-AZ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Angus King (I-ME) reintroduce their bill calling for a “21st Century Glass-Steagall Act of 2015.” S. 1709

May 12, 2015 – Machinists Push Congress for Glass-Steagall. IAM backs H.R. 381, full statement here.

April 15, 2015 – Sen. Elizabeth Warren delivers “The Unfinished Business of Financial Reform” speech at the Levy Institute conference in Washington, D.C. Three steps adopted by the government in the Wall Street Crash of 1929 worked for half a century, until they were blown away by the political wind of deregulation, she stated from the outset: establishing the SEC, the FDIC, and “a clear division between deposit-taking institutions and investment banks —the Glass-Steagal Act—so that banks couldn’t use government- guaranteed deposits for high-risk speculation.”

March 12, 2015 – O’Malley issues another call for reinstating Glass-Steagall, this time on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program.

March 6, 2015 – Former Maryland Governor, pressing his exploratory bid for the 2016 Democratic Presidential nomination, asserts restoring Glass-Steagall as a leading priority were he to become President. American Statesman Lyndon LaRouche says, “We should get this out everywhere, both Glass-Steagall and the fact that O’Malley is running on it. O’Malley’s raised this question, and anyone who opposes that policy, has to be considered as a defective choice for a candidacy for President. O’Malley’s the only one right now, who has the qualifications for being a Presidential candidate. The others will now have to declare themselves on this. You cannot ‘go along to get along’ forever with Wall Street.” Full story here.

February 23, 2015 – Italian MEPs: Go Back to FDR’s Glass-Steagall Model. In a press statement released on Feb. 23, European Parliament Members Marco Valli and Marco Zanni explain their initiative for turning the EU draft bill on bank resolution into a Glass-Steagall Act.

January 21, 2015 – Hawaiian Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Tells Obama: We Need Glass-Steagall Now!

January 14, 2015 – Representatives Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) and Walter Jones (R-NC) reintroduce their bill, “Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2015”, H.R. 381

2014

July 9, 2014 – Petitions signed by nearly 600,000 American citizens, calling for Senate action on the 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act, were delivered to the bill’s primary sponsor, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), as well as all other United States Senators, asking them to support the bill.

June 16, 2014 – On the 81st anniversary of the signing of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, 162 state and national organizations sent a letter to Senators urging them to co-sponsor the 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act (S.1282).

2013

October 15, 2013 – LaRouchePAC publishes a Glass-Steagall ad in the D.C. daily The Hill with over 40 signatures.

October 6, 2013 – Thirty-four South Dakota state legislators, including 8 members of the State Senate, signed a letter to Sen. Tim Johnson, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, calling on him to hold hearings on the Glass-Steagall legislation currently pending in the U.S. Senate.

July 29, 2013 – A bipartisan group of South Dakota legislators made public a letter sent to Sen. Tim Johnson. The letter calls upon Sen. Johnson “as Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, to hold immediate, emergency hearings on the reinstatement of The Glass-Steagall Act. There is strong support for the Glass-Steagall Bills in the Senate and the House. Our people are facing economic and social ruin. The collapse of Detroit, which used to be the U.S. arsenal of democracy, is the handwriting on the wall for economic ruin across our once strong United States.” The letter was signed by 13 current and former members of the South Dakota State Legislature.

July 25, 2013 – Rep. Marcy Kaptur speaks on the floor of the House for Glass-Steagall, urging her colleagues to join her in sponsorship of H.R. 129.

July 23, 2013 – Congressmen Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) and Walter Jones (R-NC) released a bi-partisan “Dear Colleague” letter to all members of the U.S. Congress asking them for support to reinstate Glass Steagall and to co-sponsor their bill, HR 129.

July 23, 2013 – Glass-Steagall was raised in a hearing on Wall Street control of commodities

July 18, 2013 – At a Senate briefing, FDIC vice-chairman Thomas Hoenig and former IMF chief economist Simon Johnson say that Glass-Steagall is necessary now.

July 11, 2013 – Senators Elizabeth Warren, John McCain, Angus King and Maria Cantwell introduced a second Glass-Steagall bill into the U.S. Senate called “21st Century Glass-Steagall Act”

June 26, 2013 – Thomas Hoenig and Sheila Bair Recommend Glass-Steagall to the House Financial Services Committee

May 16, 2013 – Sen. Tom Harkin introduces S. 985, “The Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2013”, which would “repeal certain provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and revive the separation between commercial banking and the securities business, in the manner provided in the Banking Act of 1933, the so-called `Glass-Steagall Act’, and for other purposes.”

April 24, 2013 – Sen. Angus King (I-ME) favorably cites Glass-Steagall and opposes Dodd-Frank during his maiden speech on the floor of the Senate.

Feb. 16, 2013 – Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) raises Glass-Steagall while questioning banking officials in Senate Banking Hearing.

Feb. 13, 2013 – Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) presses Treasury Secretary nominee Jacob Lew on the reinstatement of Glass-Steagall.

January 3, 2013 – Rep. Marcy Kaptur introduces H.R. 129, “The Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2013”, which would “repeal certain provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and revive the separation between commercial banking and the securities business, in the manner provided in the Banking Act of 1933, the so-called `Glass-Steagall Act’, and for other purposes.”

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At its 13th annual conference in Sochi, Oct. 24-27, the Valdai International Discussion Club is appropriately discussing “The Future in Progress: Shaping the World of Tomorrow” with a spotlight on the emerging global order defined by China and Russia, counterposed to the “unipolar” vision of the United States and trans-Atlantic system. Lawfully, the Syrian crisis was a key topic of discussion.

Thirty-five nations and 130 “high-profile” speakers are featured at the conference, RT reports. Russian President Vladimir Putin will address the closing session tomorrow. For the first time this year, a Syrian representative, Abdullah Abdel Razzaq Al-Dardani, Deputy Executive Director of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) will be present, joining Igor Shuvalov, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for a discussion on the Syrian situation.

While speakers expressed differing viewpoints of the future of Chinese, Russian, and U.S. relations, remarks by Fu Ying, head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chinese National People’s Congress, and Mikhail Bogdanov, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister are worth highlighting.

Speaking at the panel entitled “World Order, Quo Vadis?” on Oct. 25, Fu Ying pointed to the lack of trust among world powers, noting that China and the U.S. are still “far away” from being partners on security issues, as seen in the South China Sea dispute. China “has no ‘strategy’ to challenge the U.S.-led ‘world order’,” she added, “but when [the U.S.] ostracizes the Chinese political system and security interests, it’s hard for China to think of supporting it.” In fact, she added, “China views the U.S.-dominated world order as a mess, and this is why it doesn’t want to take it over. Why should China repeat the mistakes that the U.S. made?”

After noting that the world “has shifted its agenda from bloc politics to development and cooperation,” Fu Ying pointed to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s concept of “building a community of shared interest” and the need for a “new model of global partnership.” These are reflected in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and in the Eurasian Economic Union proposed by Russia, which reinforce each other. Pointedly, she suggested that the U.S. “despite its apprehension should also find opportunities in these initiatives if it one day joins in.”

In his address to the panel “From the Middle East to Central Eurasia: an arc of instability or a space for joint action?”, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov repeated President Putin’s call for the creation of a “wide global coalition against terrorism,” noting that peace cannot be brought to Syria without Russia. “Moscow remains prepared for cooperation with all countries that are capable of making a contribution to the settlement of the Syrian crisis,” he stated.

Bogdanov also indicated that Russia is tired of America’s broken promises, and in particular, promises to separate the so-called “moderate” armed opposition from the terrorist groups. “In the long run, we have wasted too much time since February believing all these promises and agreements on ceasefire not only in Aleppo but in the entire country, to hear the Americans say they don’t have enough time.” It is regrettable, he added, that “no separation has taken place as of yet,” warning that there will be no cease-fire until that task is accomplished.

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In 1976 NASA’s two Viking landers successfully touched down on the surface of Mars, becoming the first spacecraft to successfully land and operate on the red planet. While the more recent success of a series of NASA Martian rovers and landers—with Curiosity being the most impressive triumph so far—might cause us to forget the 1976 Viking missions, there is one thing we shouldn’t forget: those early missions might have found living microbial life on Mars.

Both Viking landers carried an experimental apparatus (called “Labeled Release”) to test for metabolic activity in the Martian soil. When samples of Martian soil were given drops of nutrient solutions both lander’s apparatuses returned positive signs of metabolic activity. Initially even the operators of the experiment expressed considerable skepticism about the positive results, but by 1997 (20 years later) two of the experimenters involved in the mission, Dr. Gilbert Levin and Dr. Patricia Straat, had completed years of additional tests and investigations and concluded that the original 1976 results are best explained by the existence of microbial life on Mars. Dr. Levin and Dr. Straat have now published a new paper in the journal Astrobiology presenting further evidence from the Curiosity rover and other Mars missions which supports their argument for the possible 1976 detection of microbial life on Mars (see “The Case for Extant Life on Mars and Its Possible Detection by the Viking Labeled Release Experiment,”).

The details of the original experiments, the subsequent further investigations, and the ongoing debates are summarized in recent coverage of this new paper, but here we’ll examine a related point which is perhaps just as important: the ideological hostility toward even considering these results. The obvious response to the decades-long debate over the validity of this potentially monuments discovery should have been to include improved experimental tests on later missions (specifically experiments to repeat the original tests , while also testing for homochirality in the results). However, in the half dozen NASA landers after Viking (launched between 1997 and 2012), each equipped with multiple instruments, none included an experiment to follow up the successful 1976 Viking results (despite the fact that such follow up experiments were proposed and were quite feasible).

Why not dedicate at least one experiment to try and answer one of the most interesting questions in the Universe?

Between and behind all the assertions and alibis one thing is certain, modern academic investigations of life are dominated by the reductionist outlook of Alexander Oparin, rather than the superior approach of Oparin’s ideological adversary, Vladimir Vernadsky. To the mind of the average modern scientist (even those studying life) the universe is fundamentally abiotic, with the process they call life being the result of a miraculous happenstance organization of chemical reactions. How exactly some accidental chemical arrangement became self-perpetuating, self-evolving, and one of the most complex systems known to man is not explained, but left to vague hand-waving generalizations. What is known is that the fossil records of life on Earth indicate a coherence of organization and rapidity of development (e.g., the Cambrian explosion and early date of the first signs of life on Earth) which point to life being the expression of some organizing principle intrinsic to the Universe itself—as Vernadsky argued.

In his 1930 “The Study of Life and the New Physics” Vernadsky argued that our basic “scientific picture of the cosmos” must be reshaped to include life as a fundamental principle, as intrinsic organization of the Universe as gravitation, for example. At the time of his writing, relativity, the equivalence of mass and energy, and the paradoxical nature of the quantum had freshly uprooted some of the most fundamental assumptions about the basic scientific nature of the Universe—however, Vernadsky, citing this upheaval, argued that the shift must go farther.

Vernadsky opens this 1930 work stating, “The revolution being carried out in physics in our 20th century places on the agenda in scientific thinking a review of fundamental biological conceptions. It is evident that it is making it possible for the first time to locate life phenomena in the Cosmos in their proper place, in a purely scientific conception of the universe…” Deeper into the paper (after detailing the scientific revolution thus far) he says, “It is necessary to approach this process, whose progress seems inevitable to me, in another way, in relying upon the scientific conceptions of life. It is important to pay attention to the phenomena of life whose introduction in the domain of the scientific construction of the Universe is already beginning to become probable. We are approaching a very rational epoch—and that of a radical change in our conception of the scientific Universe. This change will not be, in its consequences, any less important than it was at the time of the creation of the Cosmos, based upon universal gravitation…”

Unfortunately, to the detriment of modern science, the pursuit of this principle largely died with Vernadsky, and the reductionism of Oparin began to dominate the study of life. Whatever the ultimate judgement on the 1976 Viking experiment, the tragedy is that this highly provocative evidence for extant life on Mars ran up against the ideological brick wall of modern reductionist dogma. It is long past time that we free science from such obstructive ideological prejudices.

As for the evidence itself, the new paper by Dr. Gilbert Levin and Dr. Patricia Straat, after 20 years of effort, is now published and freely available online, and we are happy to present a video recording of Dr. Levin’s presentation to the 2013 Human to Mars Summit. It is well worth a watch, while one contemplates a Universe bringing forth life as a self-expression of its creative nature.

Video of MX7vRut_lUg
2013 presentation by Dr. Levin at the Human to Mars Summit in Washington, D.C.
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In 1976 NASA’s two Viking landers successfully touched down on the surface of Mars, becoming the first spacecraft to successfully land and operate on the red planet. While the more recent success of a series of NASA Martian rovers and landers—with Curiosity being the most impressive triumph so far—might cause us to forget the 1976 Viking missions, there is one thing we shouldn’t forget: those early missions might have found living microbial life on Mars.

Both Viking landers carried an experimental apparatus (called “Labeled Release”) to test for metabolic activity in the Martian soil. When samples of Martian soil were given drops of nutrient solutions both lander’s apparatuses returned positive signs of metabolic activity. Initially even the operators of the experiment expressed considerable skepticism about the positive results, but by 1997 (20 years later) two of the experimenters involved in the mission, Dr. Gilbert Levin and Dr. Patricia Straat, had completed years of additional tests and investigations and concluded that the original 1976 results are best explained by the existence of microbial life on Mars. Dr. Levin and Dr. Straat have now published a new paper in the journal Astrobiology presenting further evidence from the Curiosity rover and other Mars missions which supports their argument for the possible 1976 detection of microbial life on Mars (see “The Case for Extant Life on Mars and Its Possible Detection by the Viking Labeled Release Experiment,”).

The details of the original experiments, the subsequent further investigations, and the ongoing debates are summarized in recent coverage of this new paper, but here we’ll examine a related point which is perhaps just as important: the ideological hostility toward even considering these results. The obvious response to the decades-long debate over the validity of this potentially monuments discovery should have been to include improved experimental tests on later missions (specifically experiments to repeat the original tests , while also testing for homochirality in the results). However, in the half dozen NASA landers after Viking (launched between 1997 and 2012), each equipped with multiple instruments, none included an experiment to follow up the successful 1976 Viking results (despite the fact that such follow up experiments were proposed and were quite feasible).

Why not dedicate at least one experiment to try and answer one of the most interesting questions in the Universe?

Between and behind all the assertions and alibis one thing is certain, modern academic investigations of life are dominated by the reductionist outlook of Alexander Oparin, rather than the superior approach of Oparin’s ideological adversary, Vladimir Vernadsky. To the mind of the average modern scientist (even those studying life) the universe is fundamentally abiotic, with the process they call life being the result of a miraculous happenstance organization of chemical reactions. How exactly some accidental chemical arrangement became self-perpetuating, self-evolving, and one of the most complex systems known to man is not explained, but left to vague hand-waving generalizations. What is known is that the fossil records of life on Earth indicate a coherence of organization and rapidity of development (e.g., the Cambrian explosion and early date of the first signs of life on Earth) which point to life being the expression of some organizing principle intrinsic to the Universe itself—as Vernadsky argued.

In his 1930 “The Study of Life and the New Physics” Vernadsky argued that our basic “scientific picture of the cosmos” must be reshaped to include life as a fundamental principle, as intrinsic organization of the Universe as gravitation, for example. At the time of his writing, relativity, the equivalence of mass and energy, and the paradoxical nature of the quantum had freshly uprooted some of the most fundamental assumptions about the basic scientific nature of the Universe—however, Vernadsky, citing this upheaval, argued that the shift must go farther.

Vernadsky opens this 1930 work stating, “The revolution being carried out in physics in our 20th century places on the agenda in scientific thinking a review of fundamental biological conceptions. It is evident that it is making it possible for the first time to locate life phenomena in the Cosmos in their proper place, in a purely scientific conception of the universe…” Deeper into the paper (after detailing the scientific revolution thus far) he says, “It is necessary to approach this process, whose progress seems inevitable to me, in another way, in relying upon the scientific conceptions of life. It is important to pay attention to the phenomena of life whose introduction in the domain of the scientific construction of the Universe is already beginning to become probable. We are approaching a very rational epoch—and that of a radical change in our conception of the scientific Universe. This change will not be, in its consequences, any less important than it was at the time of the creation of the Cosmos, based upon universal gravitation…”

Unfortunately, to the detriment of modern science, the pursuit of this principle largely died with Vernadsky, and the reductionism of Oparin began to dominate the study of life. Whatever the ultimate judgement on the 1976 Viking experiment, the tragedy is that this highly provocative evidence for extant life on Mars ran up against the ideological brick wall of modern reductionist dogma. It is long past time that we free science from such obstructive ideological prejudices.

As for the evidence itself, the new paper by Dr. Gilbert Levin and Dr. Patricia Straat, after 20 years of effort, is now published and freely available online, and we are happy to present a video recording of Dr. Levin’s presentation to the 2013 Human to Mars Summit. It is well worth a watch, while one contemplates a Universe bringing forth life as a self-expression of its creative nature.

Video of MX7vRut_lUg
2013 presentation by Dr. Levin at the Human to Mars Summit in Washington, D.C.
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Buckingham Palace and the Colombian Presidency announced last week that President Juan Manuel Santos has been invited by the Queen for a state visit on Nov. 1-3, the first such by any Colombian president. The subject of the visit? Salvaging the “peace” accord with the narco-terrorist FARC drug cartel which Colombian voters rejected at the polls on Oct. 2.

The British Monarchy, as the leading patron of the global drug trade for centuries, is stepping forward in its own name to save a “peace accord” designed and negotiated under the supervision of Barack Obama and Tony Blair, which was to be a giant step towards re-establishing “legal” narcotics trade globally, as in the heyday of Britain’s Opium Wars. In the process, Colombia’s government, judicial system, military, and economy were to be co-governed by the FARC—to which Colombians said no.

Santos and his wife will stay at Buckingham Palace as a guest of Queen Elizabeth and her Royal Virus, Prince Philip. Among other ceremonies and planning sessions included in this trip is a meeting with ambassadors of seven European nations which backed the failed “peace” agreement; an address to parliamentarians and guests in the Robing Room; tea with Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall; a State Dinner at Buckingham Palace, with speeches by Her Majesty and the President; a visit to the London School of Economics (his alma mater); breakfast at Buckingham Palace with British business leaders; lunch with Prime Minister Theresa May at No. 10 Downing Street; “a banquet at Guildhall given by the Lord Mayor, the Lord Mountevans, and the City of London Corporation.”

Santos then will visit Northern Ireland, to exchange views on “post-conflict processes.”

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Buckingham Palace and the Colombian Presidency announced last week that President Juan Manuel Santos has been invited by the Queen for a state visit on Nov. 1-3, the first such by any Colombian president. The subject of the visit? Salvaging the “peace” accord with the narco-terrorist FARC drug cartel which Colombian voters rejected at the polls on Oct. 2.

The British Monarchy, as the leading patron of the global drug trade for centuries, is stepping forward in its own name to save a “peace accord” designed and negotiated under the supervision of Barack Obama and Tony Blair, which was to be a giant step towards re-establishing “legal” narcotics trade globally, as in the heyday of Britain’s Opium Wars. In the process, Colombia’s government, judicial system, military, and economy were to be co-governed by the FARC—to which Colombians said no.

Santos and his wife will stay at Buckingham Palace as a guest of Queen Elizabeth and her Royal Virus, Prince Philip. Among other ceremonies and planning sessions included in this trip is a meeting with ambassadors of seven European nations which backed the failed “peace” agreement; an address to parliamentarians and guests in the Robing Room; tea with Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall; a State Dinner at Buckingham Palace, with speeches by Her Majesty and the President; a visit to the London School of Economics (his alma mater); breakfast at Buckingham Palace with British business leaders; lunch with Prime Minister Theresa May at No. 10 Downing Street; “a banquet at Guildhall given by the Lord Mayor, the Lord Mountevans, and the City of London Corporation.”

Santos then will visit Northern Ireland, to exchange views on “post-conflict processes.”

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The Washington Post published an article Monday promoting the expansion of “Death with Dignity” laws across the United States, on the grounds that legalizing euthanasia —”physician-assisted suicide”— laws allows people “to control how one’s life ends.”

Euthanasia is legal in five U.S. states, so far, with similar laws to be voted on in Colorado in the elections and by the Washington, D.C. City Council in November. But those laws were largely passed on the argument of ending pain for terminally-ill patients. Research has shown that other motivations are more important than ending pain, the Post asserts. The research cited is that of “Dr.” Ezekiel Emanuel, the chief architect of Obamacare.

Emanuel has pushed euthanasia for decades, on the same financial cost-cutting grounds that underlie Obamacare. He is obsessed with euthanasia. In 1998, he co-authored a paper titled “What Are the Potential Cost Savings from Legalizing Physician-Assisted Suicide?”

This year, Emanuel was the lead author of a study on “Attitudes and Practices of Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide in the United States, Canada and Europe,” published on July 5, 2016 in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. According to JAMA’s summary of the study, Emanuel’s team “comprehensively reviewed all the available data on attitudes and practices” of euthanasia and physically-assisted suicide, and came up with the conclusion promoted today by the Post: that “the main motivations” for getting a doctor to kill you or help you kill yourself “appear to be psychological, fear of losing autonomy and no longer enjoying life’s activities and other forms of mental distress.”

A second (lying) conclusion of the “study” cited, was that “alleged slippery-slope cases, such as ending the life of patients who are minors or have dementia, appear to be a very small minority of cases”—a bald attempt to cover the Nazi implications of this policy.

This is the outlook of the architect of Obamacare, who openly celebrated in the Chicago Tribune on Oct. 12, 2008, that the financial breakdown finally made possible the program to savagely cut public expenditures on health care implemented through Obamacare.

“The world economy is teetering … With trillions of dollars evaporating in this crisis, millions of middle-class Americans face the prospect of losing their homes and jobs, and witnessing a dramatic contraction of their retirement savings. In response, the public will desperately want financial security…. bailing out bankers and other gamblers [and the] huge increase in the federal debt that these bailouts will entail intensifies the pressure to rein in health-care costs…. The dean of health-care economists, Victor Fuchs of Stanford, has long maintained that we will get health-care reform only when there is a war, a depression or some other major civil unrest. It’s beginning to look like we might just have all three,” he wrote.

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Americans are dying from overdoses of opioid-based pain killers at alarming rates, and Obama is to blame. Since assuming office, he has acted to protect the producers and distributers, by hand-cuffing the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in their enforcement efforts. An investigative report by the Washington Post over the weekend gives the details of how this happened.

Since 2000, deaths from opioids have increased steadily — overtaking those from drunk driving around 2010 — with over 14,000 people dying in 2014 (the last year which the CDC has posted statistics, which do not include deaths from heroin overdoses). The Post, as part of a series highlighting the human side of this new opium war, produced an investigative report on the take-down of enforcement efforts, begun shortly after Obama entered the White House. (In their coverage, the Post staff can’t bring themselves to actually name Obama, only mentioning (pot) Holder once, and this article, while appearing in print on Sunday, October 23, was not featured on the home page of their wider-circulation website.)

As the death-rate increased, in 2005 the DEA created the Office of Diversion Control (ODC), targeting the “diversion” of legally-produced drugs to the black market, focusing on the distributers, the middle-men between the producers and the pharmacies. After winning their first case against a small California distributer — eventually forcing it out of business — the ODC set its sights on two “biggies,” the Fortune 500 companies of McKesson and Cardinal Health. In 2008, the DEA won a $13 million conviction against McKesson, followed by a $34 million case against Cardinal Health. In 2010, according to court records, the agency had filed 115 “charging documents,” including 52 immediate suspension orders. That’s when the trouble began.

According to Joseph Rannazzisi, director of the ODC in 2011, the DEA was on the verge of going to court with what he called “the case of my dreams” — targeting Cardinal Health for huge over-shipments to four Florida pharmacies, including two CVS stores — when he received “an unexpected phone call” from James H. Dinan, then Eric Holder’s no. 2 man, chief of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces program at the DOJ (the official “parent” of the DEA). Eventually, Rannazzisi was summoned to a February 2012 meeting, where some of the administration’s highest enforcers — including Dinan; then-Deputy Attorney General James Cole; his chief of staff, Stuart Goldberg; and DEA chief counsel Wendy Goggin — just short of Obama, himself, tried to force him to cease and desist in his case against Cardinal Health.

While CVS was eventually forced to pay a $22 million fine in this case, Cardinal Health, although settling, has not been fined. For his tenacity, Rannazzisi lost his job in 2015. The Post says that court records have now identified 13 companies which “knew or should have known that hundreds of millions of pills were ending up on the black market.” Total filed cases began dropping immediately in 2011, and “surrender of licenses” which held steady through 2015, have dropped by 30% so far this year.

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Policy makers in Europe and the U.S. still refuse to face the reality that unless the derivatives bubble is eliminated through Glass-Steagall measures, no financial system is possible.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is not expected t…

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