Leading at the ballot box from Alaska to Washington, D.C., Americans are charting a path to a saner national drug policy
By Tim Dickinson

The conservative wave of 2014 featured an unlikely, progressive undercurrent: In two states, plus the nation’s capital, Americans voted convincingly to pull the plug on marijuana prohibition. Even more striking were the results in California, where voters overwhelmingly passed one of the broadest sentencing reforms in the nation, de-felonizing possession of hard drugs. One week later, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and the NYPD announced an end to arrests for marijuana possession. It’s all part of the most significant story in American drug policy since the passage of the 21st Amendment legalized alcohol in 1933: The people of this country are leading a dramatic de-escalation in the War on Drugs.

November’s election results have teed up pot prohibition as a potent campaign issue for 2016. Notwithstanding the House GOP’s contested effort to preserve pot prohibition in D.C., the flowering of the marijuana-legalization movement is creating space for a more rational and humane approach to adjudicating users of harder drugs, both on the state level and federally. “The door is open to reconsidering all of our drug laws,” says Alison Holcomb, who led the pot-legalization push in Washington state in 2012, and has been tapped to direct the ACLU’s new campaign against mass incarceration.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-war-on-drugs-is-burning-out-20150108#ixzz3QLRuzk7G

According to a new study from the School of Medical Sciences at Australia’s University of New South Wales, junk food can alter behavior by causing lasting changes in the brain’s reward circuiting, an alteration that triggers obesity.

Although the UNSW study was conducted on rats, the conclusions are likely applicable to humans because all mammals share similarities in the orbitofrontal cortex, which is involved in sensing and evaluating the pleasurable aspects of food. (Notice that we also see more overweight pets these days, too.)

Over time, animals (including humans) have evolved a simple mechanism that protects us from overeating: As we eat a particular food, the pleasure we get from eating it and the desire to eat more diminishes relative to other, uneaten foods. This phenomenon, called “sensory-specific satiety” reinforces the natural inclination to seek out a variety of foods, which promotes a healthy, balanced diet.

Read More: https://www.organicconsumers.org/news/junk-food-kills-more-wars-famine-genocide

Jillian York
Activist Post

PEN America published a report this week summarizing the findings from a recent survey of 772 writers around the world on questions of surveillance and self-censorship. The report, entitled “Global Chilling: The Impact of Mass Surveillance on International Writers,” builds upon a late 2013 survey of more than 500 US-based writers conducted by the organization.

The latest survey found that writers living in liberal democratic countries “have begun to engage in self-censorship at levels approaching those seen in non-democratic countries, indicating that mass surveillance has badly shaken writers’ faith that democratic governments will respect their rights to privacy and freedom of expression, and that—because of pervasive surveillance—writers are concerned that expressing certain views even privately or researching certain topics may lead to negative consequences.”

Specifically, more than 1 in 3 writers living in “free” countries (as classified by watchdog Freedom House) stated that they had avoided speaking or writing on a particular topic since the Snowden revelations, and only seventeen percent of writers in these countries felt that the United States offers more protection for free speech than their countries. A whopping sixty percent of writers in Western Europe and fifty-seven percent in the remaining Five Eyes countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK) think that US credibility “has been significantly damaged for the long term” by NSA spying.

Read More: http://www.activistpost.com/2015/01/pen-america-harm-caused-by.html

Sayer Ji
Activist Post

A 17-year-old girl is being forced to receive chemotherapy that is guaranteed to cause her premature death. Will you stand up to save her?

Background: The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled on Jan. 8th that a teenager diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma who declined treatment with chemotherapy will be made to undergo treatment anyway. The 17-year-old female, who cited chemotherapy’s adverse health effects as her primary reason for refusing, is now in protective custody at Connecticut hospital where she will be forced to undergo treatment against her will, and the will of her mother, her legal guardian, who supported her decision.

The latest case of forced chemotherapy by the State of Connecticut has raised a number of highly concerning legal issues simultaneously, primarily: the “mature minor doctrine”, parental rights, and the right to make medical decisions.

According to USlegal.com the mature minor doctrine “provides for minors to give consent to medical procedures if they can show that they are mature enough to make a decision on their own.” The court order ruled that the 17 year old, referred to as Cassandra S. in the court document, was not fit to make medical decisions for herself, making it a moot point.

Read More: http://www.activistpost.com/2015/01/forcing-chemo-on-17-year-old-girl-is.html

Anna Hunt
Activist Post

Over the last decade, millions of homes worldwide have been outfitted with smart meters. Power utility companies continue to force smart meters upon the population under the argument that they allow a more accurate and concise measurement of home energy usage, and give the resident and utility provider more visibility of and control over power consumption. Yet, concerns continue to grow about the potential dangers from the electro-magnetic radiation given off by these devices.

The US Federal Communications Commission and the World Health Organization (WHO) claim that the broadcasting frequencies emitted by smart meters are safe to humans, even though in May of 2011, the WHO officially recognized that wireless radiation such as that emitted by smart meters is possibly carcinogenic. So, according to the WHO, smart meters are safe, except that they may cause cancer – a questionable contradiction.

Hundreds of independent scientific studies have shown that smart meters create a vast and clear health hazard, in addition to emitting carcinogenic radiation; and many people living around smart meters have reported insomnia, rashes, headaches, disorientation, neuropathy, sinus issues, thyroid problems, hyperactivity, and other illnesses after the installation of a smart meter. There have also been many instances of smart meters catching fire and destroying homes.

Smart meters emit high-frequency RF radiation 24/7, from 250mWatts to 2.0Watts. At times, the radiation from a smart meter can be up to 160 times the radiation of a cell phone. Unlike your other wireless devices, you have no control over when the device is on and when it is turned off. In some multi-unit homes and apartment buildings, roomfuls of smart meters emit radiation that could be quite dangerous.

Read More: http://www.activistpost.com/2015/01/protecting-yourself-from-harmful-smart.html

Carey Wedler
Activist Post

The Imperial Death Star from Star Wars and the Pentagon have much in common. It is not difficult to observe the similarities between the two behemoth structures and what they represent — especially in recent years.

For one, both used to be part of representative republics and both represent the military wings of the empires in power.

In 2007, Alternet reported that the U.S. had 737 bases, 38 of which were “major,” and that …perhaps the optimum number of major citadels and fortresses for an imperialist aspiring to dominate the world is somewhere between thirty-five and forty.

The desire of the military’s operatives to exert control over regions all over the world parallels the desire of the Emperor and Vader to rule the galaxy.

Another similarity is the desire of both the Death Star’s leaders and those at the Pentagon to weed out dissent. One of the main objectives of the dark side’s adherents is to find the rebels and eliminate them.

Though the Pentagon hasn’t quite started assassinating political dissidents (or entire planets, though Hiroshima and Nagasaki are an earthly comparison to Adleraan), it has made its views crystal clear: protesters are a form of terrorist and anyone deemed associated with terrorism may be denied his or her rights.

Still another commonality between the two ministries of war and destruction is the level of decadence afforded to the galactic and American agencies. The Death Star was a moon-sized, laser-clad behemoth for the dark side. The Pentagon employs 23,000 people in a floor space three times the size of the Empire state building and spawns doomsday technology. In both societies, the resources devoted to violence far outweigh those dedicated to promoting peace or the well-being of humanity (or alienhood).

Read More: http://www.activistpost.com/2015/01/the-difference-between-death-star-and.html

Heather Callaghan
Activist Post

It appears that the EU is both vulnerable and sought after – economically and geopolitically.

Russia is making no bones about an open proposal to the EU. Essentially, dump the U.S. – don’t join the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), but join the Eurasian Economic Union, which went into effect January 1st. It’s a call to join other members at the “cool table” – a promise of a better trading table.

Western sanctions led Russia to ban food imports from the West. Russia has consistently rejected GMOs and went even further to tighten GMO sanctions. Is it any wonder why they have a valid card to use sway with the EU? Meanwhile, the EU can ostensibly continue keeping its patrons happy with consumer freedom regarding GMOs (yet is has been heavily tempted to give that power right back to GE corporate interests). If the EU chooses America, then that means the import of GE foods. They are straddling some fences.

Russia has multiple ploys to “close the deal” with the E.U. One is to show them their bleak economic outlook. But another, no less, is to point to the bleak American food supply, even the non-GMO parts.

Read More: http://www.activistpost.com/2015/01/american-food-supply-listed-as-reason.html

By Levi Winchester
In fact, the poles are “much more stable” than climate scientists once predicted and could even be much thicker than previously thought.

For years, scientists have suggested that both poles are melting at an alarming rate because of warming temperatures – dangerously raising the Earth’s sea levels while threatening the homes of Arctic and Antarctic animals.

But the uncertainty surrounding climate change and the polar ice caps reached a new level this month when research suggested the ice in the Antarctic is actually growing.

And there could even be evidence to suggest the polar bear population is not under threat.

Ted Maksym, an oceanographer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, conducted a study in which he sent an underwater robot into the depths of the Antarctic sea to measure the ice.

His results contradicted previous assumptions made by scientists and showed that the ice is actually much thicker than has been predicted over the last 20 years.

Read More: http://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/548516/North-South-poles-not-melting-Dr-Benny-Peiser

By Thomas Lifson
A startling discovery by a graduate student has uncovered what looks like a fraud remarkably parallel to the infamous “Hockey stick” graph of Michael Mann that purported to show global temperatures skyrocketing when atmospheric CO2 rose, but only did so because “hide the decline” was the operating principle in selecting data. For those who have not been keeping up with the alarmist follies, alleged ocean acidification has joined and supplemented the rapidly-fading alleged global warming threat as an urgent reason to stop emitting CO2, and hand money and power over to regulators who would control the production of energy, the very basis of modern life.

The theory is that adding atmospheric CO2 leads to the acidification of the world’s oceans, and this profoundly alters the ecosystem, endangering sea life. As Marita Noon of CFACT.org, who first publicized the discovery of the suspected fraud, writes:

“Ocean acidification” (OA) is receiving growing attention. While someone who doesn’t follow climate change science might think OA is a stomach condition resulting from eating bad seafood, OA is claimed to be a phenomenon that will destroy ocean life—all due to mankind’s use of fossil fuels. It is a foundational theory upon which the global warming/climate change narrative is built.

The science and engineering website Quest recently posted: “Since the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s, we have been mining and burning coal, oil, and natural gas for energy and transportation. These processes release carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. It is well established that the rising level of CO2 in our atmosphere is a major cause of global warming. However, the increase in CO2 is also causing changes to the chemistry of the ocean. The ocean absorbs some of the excess atmospheric CO2, which causes what scientists call ocean acidification. And ocean acidification could have major impacts on marine life.”

Within the Quest text is a link to a chart by Dr. Richard A. Feely, who is a senior scientist with the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL)—which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Feely’s climate-crisis views are widely used to support the narrative.

Feely’s four-page report: “Carbon Dioxide and Our Ocean Legacy,” offered on the NOAA website, contains a similar chart. This chart, titled “Historical & Projected pH & Dissolved Co2,” begins at 1850. Feely testified before Congress in 2010—using the same data that show a decline in seawater pH (making it more acidic) that appears to coincide with increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide.

There’s big money in alarmism:

In 2010, Feely received the $100,000 cash prize from the Heinz Family Foundation awards (established by Teresa Heinz, wife of Secretary of State John Kerry). The Heinz award site touts Feely’s work: “Ocean acidity is now considered global warming’s ‘evil twin,’ thanks in large measure to Dr. Feely’s seminal research on the changing ocean chemistry and its impact on marine ecosystems.”

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/12/evidence_discovered_that_ocean_acidification_scare_may_be_as_fraudulent_as_global_warming.html#ixzz3PsOnOAIp

January 13, 2015 by: Jennifer Lilley

When most people accidentally cut or scrape themselves, the first item they reach for is a store-bought bandage. After all, they’re convenient; just pluck them out of a box, peel off the protective covering and slap them on.

For those wanting to tend to their cuts and scrapes naturally, one has to go no further than their own garden. Antibacterial bandages need not come in a box.

Woolly Lamb’s Ear has been used for centuries as a wound dressing on battlefields. Not only do the soft, fuzzy leaves absorb blood and help it to clot more quickly, they also contain antibacterial, antiseptic, and anti-inflammatory properties. Their leaves can even be bruised so the juices leak out. Those juices can then be applied to the skin to lessen swelling from bug bites or stings.

Several plants offer antibacterial and antiseptic properties such as aloe, horseradish root, thyme, tarragon, basil and blueberry. Each have varying degrees of antimicrobial compounds and phytochemicals that help kill fungi, viruses, parasites and bacteria.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/048269_gardening_antibacterial_bandages_herbal_medicine.html#ixzz3OwgxRgRZ

Read more: http://www.rushfm.co.nz/cell-tower-attack-mind-control-microwave-sickness-tinnitus-insomnia-fatigue/

January 13, 2015
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

Australia’s vaccine zealots are the most rabid extremist wing of the vaccine medical mafia, and they’ve engaged in tactics like issuing death threats to vaccine educators to try to silence them.

They are absolutely terrified that citizens of Australia might learn the truth about vaccine exemptions, toxic vaccine ingredients (like mercury) and the growing global epidemic of vaccine-damaged children.

The truth is that both vaccine companies and vaccine propagandists operate as a criminal mafia, resorting to insidious, highly-unethical and borderline psychopathic tactics to try to silence anyone who dares question official vaccine propaganda. Those tactics include explicit, direct death threats, hack attempts of websites, ganging up on news organizations to blockade any news that questions vaccines, pressuring speaking venues to cancel events, and now even pressuring the government of a large nation to revoke the travel visa of a doctor who promotes vaccine education and informed consent.

A medical system that cares more about vaccine profits than public health. This is the same corrupt, criminal medical system that habitually lies to the public and claims vaccines are safe and effective (they aren’t).

More and more people are waking up and realizing the vaccine industry is a dangerous medical racket founded in pseudoscience quackery, depopulation agendas and the systematic chemical abuse of children.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/048278_vaccine_mafia_Australia_Dr_Sherri_Tenpenny.html#ixzz3Owe9aJ8L

(NaturalNews) There are some big moves taking place on the global stage that you need to know about, as this could all lead to World War III.

Yesterday Russia cut off its natural gas supply to Europe, “plunging the continent into an energy crisis ‘within hours’ as a dispute with Ukraine escalated,” reports the Daily Mail. [1]

“This morning, gas companies in Ukraine said that Russia had completely cut off their supply. Six countries reported a complete shut-off of Russian gas shipped via Ukraine today, in a sharp escalation of a struggle over energy that threatens Europe as winter sets in.”

Alternative media warned about this weeks ago
This was all predicted in advance as a move toward World War III. The website All News Pipeline summarizes the predictions which were widely printed across the alternative media weeks ago.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul Craig Roberts had also warned in advance of a “Black Swan Event” such as Russia cutting off energy supplies to European nations as a prelude to war.

Europe depends heavily on natural gas supplies from Russia which are piped into the region via Ukraine. This is especially true in the winter when gas is needed for heat.

Russia pulls out of the petrodollar
In addition to cutting off natural gas supplies to Europe, Russia has also “just pulled itself out of the petrodollar,” reports Zero Hedge. [2]

The story quotes Bloomberg.com stating that Russia “may unseal its $88 billion Reserve Fund and convert some of its foreign-currency holdings into ruble.”

This is further explained by Mac Slavo at SHTFplan.com who explains, “What we are seeing are the strategic moves that will eventually catalyze the next great war. And make no mistake, this is exactly what’s in store for the world should these escalations continue.”

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/048313_currency_war_Russia_petrodollar.html#ixzz3PDCkm8ns

Michael Snyder
Activist Post

Central banks lie. That is what they do. Not too long ago, the Swiss National Bank promised that it would defend the euro/Swiss franc currency peg with the “utmost determination”. But on Thursday, the central bank shocked the financial world by abruptly abandoning it.

More than three years ago, the Swiss National Bank announced that it would not allow the Swiss franc to fall below 1.20 to the euro, and it has spent a mountain of money defending that peg. But now that it looks like the EU is going to launch a very robust quantitative easing program, the Swiss National Bank has thrown in the towel. It was simply going to cost way too much to continue to defend the currency floor.

So now there is panic all over Europe.

On Thursday, the Swiss franc rose a staggering 30 percent against the euro, and the Swiss stock market plunged by 10 percent. And all over the world, investors, hedge funds and central banks either lost or made gigantic piles of money as currency rates shifted at an unprecedented rate. It is going to take months to really measure the damage that has been done.

Meanwhile, the euro is in greater danger than ever. The euro has been declining for months, and now the number one buyer of euros (the Swiss National Bank) has been removed from the equation. As things in Europe continue to get even worse, expect the euro to go to all-time record lows. In addition, it is important to remember that the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s began when Thailand abandoned its currency peg. With this move by Switzerland set off a European financial crisis?

Of course this is hardly the first time that we have seen central banks lie. In the United States, the Federal Reserve does it all the time. The funny thing is that most people still seem to trust what central banks have to say. But at some point they are going to start to lose all credibility.

Read More: http://www.activistpost.com/2015/01/what-in-world-just-happened-in.html

A clever reader with probably more knowledge of the Middle East than they would care to have put before me a very interesting question. Is the US laundering money to Saudi Arabia through Citigroup in order to “hedge” against, or compensate Saudi Arabia for the drop in oil prices?

Well, it sure as hell looks like it.

I recently tweeted the reportage on the massive derivatives position being accumulated by Citigroup (the parent Holding Company) and Citibank (the bank held by Citigroup HoldCo) – $135 TRILLION. Citi is adding roughly $10 TRILLION PER QUARTER, and the bank is now holding MORE derivatives than the parent HoldCo, which is unprecedented and shocking. Even worse, the bank – the derivatives holdings of which are now “guaranteed” by the FDIC, which is to say the US TAXPAYERS, thanks to the Cromnibus bill – is where the exposure is being added – $9 TRILLION was added to the Citibank portfolio within the third quarter of 2014 alone – the latest available data. Citi is the only big bank that is INCREASING its derivatives position, all the other big banks have modestly reduced their derivatives exposure in the same time period. But Citi is piling it on as hard and fast as it can – NINE TRILLION $ IN ONE QUARTER!!

Do you know who the largest private shareholder of Citigroup is?

Read More: http://www.barnhardt.biz/2015/01/09/how-could-trillions-of-dollars-be-laundered-from-the-wash-dc-regime-to-saudi-arabia-why-through-citigroup-of-course/

By Glenn Greenwald

One of the many pressing stories that remains to be told from the Snowden archive is how western intelligence agencies are attempting to manipulate and control online discourse with extreme tactics of deception and reputation-destruction. It’s time to tell a chunk of that story, complete with the relevant documents.

Over the last several weeks, I worked with NBC News to publish a series of articles about “dirty trick” tactics used by GCHQ’s previously secret unit, JTRIG (Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group). These were based on four classified GCHQ documents presented to the NSA and the other three partners in the English-speaking “Five Eyes” alliance. Today, we at the Intercept are publishing another new JTRIG document, in full, entitled “The Art of Deception: Training for Online Covert Operations.”

By publishing these stories one by one, our NBC reporting highlighted some of the key, discrete revelations: the monitoring of YouTube and Blogger, the targeting of Anonymous with the very same DDoS attacks they accuse “hacktivists” of using, the use of “honey traps” (luring people into compromising situations using sex) and destructive viruses. But, here, I want to focus and elaborate on the overarching point revealed by all of these documents: namely, that these agencies are attempting to control, infiltrate, manipulate, and warp online discourse, and in doing so, are compromising the integrity of the internet itself.

Read More: https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/02/24/jtrig-manipulation/

Coconut oil has made the journey from villain to victor in the health food world.

What used to be deemed an evil saturated fat, dangerous for anyone worried about heart disease and high blood pressure, has become a healing nourishing substance soaring in popularity.

How did such a drastic change come about? What made people change their minds about the numerous benefits of coconut oil?

This story is tied in with the saturated fat myth that to this day runs rampant spreading misconceptions.
Coconut Oil And The Saturated Fat Myth

The myth that saturated fats makes you fat, came about in the late 1970’s. People were led to believe from health authorities that foods high in saturated fat were to be avoided. Foods such as butter, egg yolks, animal fats and, of course, coconut oil.

The premise behind this notion is that saturated fat would raise LDL cholesterol, which in turn would clog the arteries and lead to heart diseases. Many studies were done, however they all had one fatal flaw.

The studies showing a link between saturated fats and heart disease were also grouping trans fats into the same category. Trans fats are fat molecules which have literally been transformed, such as the hydrogenation process vegetable oils undergo to become margarine.

Trans fatty acids can be linked to heart disease and other health problems, but it certainly isn’t fair to put naturally occurring saturated fats in the same category.

Since the hay day of the saturated fat myth, more and more scientific evidence is being released to prove just the opposite. Many indigenous cultures around the world value saturated fats for their nourishing properties.

The Maasai tribe in Africa drink full fat raw milk in abundance, in China women who can afford to are encouraged to eat up to 10 eggs per day.

Take a look at the Inuit of Northern Canada, they used to survive harsh winters eating mainly seal blubber and fish. Modern science is starting to see that the diets of our ancestors were far more balanced, you didn’t have any incidence of the diseases we are facing today.

Ancestral diet has a huge role to play in this, and as you can see, our ancestors weren’t afraid of a little fat.

Over 50 Coconut Oil Uses – Some Might Surprise You – http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/50-latest-coconut-oil-benefits-backed-science

In case you haven’t seen it, one of Monsanto’s front groups—Coalition for Safe Affordable Food—has launched a petition asking people to “Stop Alarmists from Hijacking America’s Food.”

You are the “alarmist” they target. You are the uninformed fear-monger who doesn’t “support science.”

On one hand, you should be flattered. For nearly two decades Monsanto quietly (and profitably) went about creating its gene-altered “lab food,” pumping billions of pounds of Roundup and Bt into the ecosystem. Without giving you a second thought.

But in the past few years, you’ve wised up. You’ve spoken out.

You’ve morphed into a movement.

With your help, we’ve forced some of the most powerful corporations in the country to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to defeat GMO labeling initiatives. We’ve also forced them to pour millions into buying favor with politicians and corporate media, into funding grants to pro-biotech researchers and universities, into brainwashing schoolchildren with pro-biotech coloring books and into luring 4-H’ers and future farmers with false promises of high yields and sky-high profits.

You also helped us win a major victory this year, in Vermont, when the state passed this country’s first stand-alone GMO labeling law—forcing Monsanto to follow through with what will likely be a costly lawsuit against Vermont.

You kicked the hornets’ nest. Now you are being attacked.

And it’s not just you. Monsanto’s Lie Machine is going after scientists, physicians and any credible source who dares question the “safety” of their pesticide-laden products, their soil-killing, biodiversity-destroying mono-cropping practices that don’t deserve to be called “agriculture.”

Our movement is strong. But it will be no match for the continued onslaught of slick campaigns designed to portray us as ignorant, anti-science alarmists.

Unless we take it to a whole new level.

Read More: http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50865/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=1306640

(NaturalNews) Americans are breathing a small sigh of relief these days every time they pull into a gas station to fill up: Prices at the pump are the lowest they have been in years, and what’s even better is that a global oil glut fed in large part by massive new U.S. reserves in shale oil fields is expected to keep prices down for some time to come.

However, the collapse in the price of crude oil is also having some negative effects, and they will begin to manifest themselves more and more in the coming months in the form of rising social tension and unrest, say experts, especially in countries where oil keeps their economies afloat.

In addition to growing supplies, a stronger U.S. dollar and lower demand — consumers in the U.S., in particular, have responded to chronically high gas prices by purchasing more efficient vehicles — is also driving down prices. None of these factors are expected to change soon.

Since June, oil prices have lost about half their value, falling from about $100 a barrel to $55 a barrel as of this writing. They are expected to go lower, with some industry analysts predicting a floor of $40 a barrel.

There is already a plot afoot to essentially rally oil prices, and it is being led by the leader of OPEC: Saudi Arabia, a nation that relies almost exclusively on oil revenues to fund its monarchy and generous government entitlement programs (programs that keep the Saudi people obedient to the king).

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/048082_oil_prices_social_unrest_global_economy.html#ixzz3P1EaGX8G

Having reached the end of 2014, there is no doubt it has been a devastating year for utility smart meters and smart grid advocates. Whether all utility executives yet realize it or not, smart meters have failed. They have failed miserably to the deliver the promised benefits. We are left with nothing but the increased costs and risks associated with boondoggle projects reminiscent of pork barrel spending bills approved in the middle of the night by a Congress wanting to get home for the Christmas holidays.

The Year in Review
Here is a list of some of the most important articles and events highlighted this year at SkyVision Solutions:

• Major U.S. Utility Says “No Rational Basis” for Mandating Smart Meters
• Nine Reasons Why Today’s Smart Meter Systems Are a [Big] Mistake
• The Smart Meter Canard
• Smart Meter Privacy Invasion ALERT
• Utilities Can Monitor Home Occupancy Using Smart Meters
• Ralph Nader’s Viewpoint on Smart Meters: A “Step Toward Technological Despotism”
• When Smart Meters Get Hacked: The Nightmare Scenario
• Smart Meters Can Be Hacked to Order a Power Blackout
• Smart Meters Increase the Risk of Fires!
• Smart Meter Fires Spread to Nevada: “Be Very Aware, Very Vigilant” Says Fire Chief
• Smart Meter Failures a ‘Catastrophe’ in Saskatchewan
• Analog Meters Withstand “Hot Sockets” Better Than Smart Meters
• Smart Meter Privacy Invasions Are Not Justified in a Democratic Society
• Arizona Smart Meters Not Established as Safe
• Published Article: Symptom Development from Exposure to Wireless Smart Meters

Whether the issue ranges from privacy to cyber threats to fires to health effects, it has been all bad news. Furthermore, there have been news reports that question the fundamental underpinnings of why governments and the smart grid industry were supposedly trying to ever sell us this smart meter fiasco of a project in the first place.

Read More: http://smartgridawareness.org/2014/12/18/smart-meters-have-failed/