WAKE UP
I’m not the strapping young Muslim socialist that I used to be. -Barack Hussein Obama
$7,000 in food stamps
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New numbers for April 15th Bombing: 50 dead, 300 injured
The violence, which mostly struck during morning rush hour amid tightened security ahead of the polls, raises further questions about the credibility of the April 20 vote, seen as a key test of Iraq's stability and its security forces' capabilities.
Officials said more than 30 bombings and a shooting hit 12 different areas of Iraq, leaving 50 people dead and nearly 300 injured, making Monday the country's deadliest day since March 19.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Sunni militants linked to Al Qaeda frequently attack both government targets and civilians in a bid to destabilise the country.
They have also reportedly sought to intimidate candidates and election officials ahead of polling.
The deadliest attacks were in Baghdad, where eight bombings struck in seven neighbourhoods across the capital despite tougher checkpoint searches and heightened security.
Among them was a car bomb in a parking area used by vehicles making their way to Baghdad's heavily guarded airport, a rare bombing on the road famously known as "Route Irish".
The airport road was once referred to by American forces as "RPG alley" for the high numbers of attacks there, but it has since become far more secure.
"There were several people, buses and private cars in the parking area when the explosion went off," said a man who gave his name as Abu Ali, at the site of the blast.
"It happened all of a sudden, and several people were killed and wounded. Some of the buses went straight to the airport to avoid more attacks."
In all, 30 people were killed and 92 wounded in the capital, officials said.
Sites of the Baghdad attacks were reportedly cordoned off by security forces who barred journalists from filming or taking photos of the aftermath of the bombings.
In Tuz Khurmatu, 175 kilometres north of Baghdad, six people were killed and 67 wounded by three near-simultaneous car bombs, and in Kirkuk, five people were killed and 44 wounded by six more car bombs.
Attacks elsewhere killed nine people and wounded 92 others.
A total of 14 election hopefuls have already been murdered and just 12 of the country's 18 provinces will be taking part in this weekend's vote.
Soldiers and policemen cast their ballots for the provincial elections on Saturday, a week ahead of the main vote, the country's first since March 2010 parliamentary polls.
It is also the first election since US troops withdrew from Iraq in December 2011.
The election also comes amid a long-running crisis between Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and several of his erstwhile government partners, which officials and diplomats say insurgent groups exploit by using the political differences to enhance their room for manoeuvre on the ground.
More than 8,000 candidates are standing in the elections, with 378 seats on provincial councils up for grabs. An estimated 16.2 million Iraqis are eligible to vote.
Although security has markedly improved since the height of Iraq's confessional conflict in 2006-2007, 271 people were killed in March, making it the deadliest month since August, according to AFP figures.
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Monsanto Protection Act
President Obama has become the best friend that agribusiness has ever had in the White House. He just signed a law that critics are already dubbing the “Monsanto Protection Act.” The law makes it illegal for a federal judge to issue a court order halting the sale, use, or distribution of genetically engineered seeds even if it is proven the seeds could be harmful. The law would also limit the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ability to regulate the use of genetically engineered seeds.
They call the measure the Monsanto Protection Act because it only benefits the makers of genetically engineered seeds, such as Monsanto. Congress was able to put this horrendous piece of legislation on the books by tacking it onto a funding act for the USDA and other agencies. If Obama hadn’t signed the law, the USDA would have had to cut back on food inspections.
Why You Should Worry About The Monsanto Protection Act
Instead of going into the well-documented dangers of genetically modified foods here, I’ll just raise one troubling point. Why would Monsanto and its operatives on Capitol Hill go out of their way to get this law passed if there wasn’t something wrong with genetically modified foods? What do those people know that we don’t? If GM foods were safe in the first place, they wouldn’t need this law.
The frightening thing is that signing this law was in keeping with Obama’s whole agriculture policy. In spite of Michelle’s advocacy for organic food, the Obama administration has been squarely on the side of agribusiness since it took office. Tom Vilsack, who used to ride on Monsanto’s corporate jet when he was governor of Iowa, was both appointed and reappointed Secretary of Agriculture by Obama. Vilsack, a media darling, is also a likely choice for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016.
To make matters worse, some observers, including organic food advocate Dr. Joseph Mercola, have alleged that the Department of Homeland Security and the USDA have plans to ban or severely restrict organic farming in the name of food safety. The idea is to prove that organic farming is at risk for terrorist attack but conventional farming is not. In other words, the Obama administration wants to force genetically engineered food on your family whether you want it or not.
New Survival Seed Bank™ Lets You Plant A Full Acre Crisis Garden!
The USDA itself has a long and proven history of championing big agribusiness over small farmers. In the past it’s even tried to list genetically engineered algae as an organic food. It has also refused to require that food labels list whether a product contains genetically engineered materials or not. Even the People’s Republic of China and Saudi Arabia require such labeling; our supposedly democratic government does not.
It looks as if big food and its henchmen in Washington are afraid of a massive backlash against genetically engineered food. In particular, they’re afraid of huge lawsuits they might face if it’s proven that GM food does cause harm. Worse, they’re trying to use government to protect their investment in genetically modified food.
A Troubling Double Standard
The Monsanto Protection Act exposes a troubling double standard that is on display from America’s leaders. News reports that President Obama and Michelle go out of their way to avoid processed food, industrialized food, and genetically modified food and keep from feeding it to their daughters. Sasha and Malia Obama attend an exclusive private school in Washington, where the cafeteria only serves organic food. Former presidential chefs have revealed that the food served in the Clinton, G.W. Bush, and Obama White Houses has been almost exclusively organic.
Get the picture here: Our leaders are trying to force something on us that they refuse to eat. The executives of the large corporations that bankrolled the successful opposition to Proposition 37 in California (which would have required labels to list all genetically modified ingredients) eat in corporate cafeterias and exclusive restaurants that only use organic ingredients.
They shop at Whole Foods, a supermarket chain that plans to label all genetically modified products. A large percentage of the American population cannot afford to shop there. Whole Foods and its competitor, Trader Joe’s, refused to carry Monsanto’s genetically modified corn; however, Wal-Mart stocked the GM product.
So What Can You Do To Protect Your Family From Genetically Modified Foods?
Obama’s latest action should be a wakeup call to all of us who care about our families’ health. We need to take actions to defend our families and not rely on the government to do it.
Fortunately, there is a lot that you can do to protect your family from genetically modified foods. The Non-GMO Project maintains a list of foods that are verified to contain non-GMO ingredients. The list is available at the project’s website. Start buying organic non-GMO products. Also vote with your money by shopping at Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and other stores that label or refuse to stock GMO food.
Beyond that, you need to locate sources of organic non-GMO food for your family. The best, of course, is your own garden. You can start by investing in a large stockpile of heirloom seeds now. These are traditional seeds that pollinate, which means you can harvest new seeds from the plants you grow. You can order heirloom seeds online, and with them you can have a source of organic vegetables. Learn how to can and preserve food so you can have a supply of food all winter.
Look into other alternative sources of food, such as food cooperatives, foraging, local organic farms, farmer’s markets, and community gardens as well. If you belong to a church or community organization, try to talk the members into organizing an organic community garden.
Try to get in a position so you’ll be able to serve your family healthy, organic food even if Monsanto succeeds in yanking it from the shelves. Also learn how to cook so that you can prepare your own food from raw ingredients. Organic ingredients aren’t that much more expensive that regular ones, especially if you grow the majority of it yourself.
What Does The Future Hold?
Be ready for a massive federal assault on organic food and the opponents of genetically modified foods. The Monsanto Protection Act looks like an opening shot in this war.
Expect to see the USDA and agribusiness engage in a disinformation campaign similar to what tobacco conducted on behalf of cigarettes. Dr. Mercola believes it’s already begun. They’ll use pseudoscience to defend genetically modified foods and scare tactics against GM opponents. A big one will be that the poor will starve if food is labeled genetically engineered. Another tactic will be branding everybody who refuses to eat GM food as a granola-eating hippie.
It looks like it’s going to be much harder for average people to control what their families eat in the near future. Only those of us who take action now will be able to keep healthy food on our tables.
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On March 24, the pro-Monsanto “Farmer Assurance Provision, Section 735” rider was quietly slipped into the Agricultural Appropriations provisions of HR 933, the Continuing Resolution spending bill designed to avert a federal government shutdown.
Section 735 should have been labeled the “Monsanto Protection Act.” Now law for the next six months after President Barack Obama signed HR 933 on March 29, it allows agribusiness giant Monsanto to promote and plant genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and genetically engineered (GE) seeds, free from any judicial litigation that might decide the crops are unsafe.
The rider states that the U.S. Department of Agriculture “shall, notwithstanding any other provisions of law, immediately grant temporary permits to continue using the [GE] seed at the request of a farmer or producer [Monsanto].” The bill effectively requires the USDA to give Monsanto a green light to promote GMO seeds.
Even if a court review determines that a GMO crop harms humans, Section 735 allows the seeds to be planted once the USDA approves them. Public health lawyer Michele Simon says the Senate bill requires the USDA to “ignore any court ruling that would otherwise halt the planting of new genetically-engineered crops.”
The rider’s wording is so controversial that even USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack called on the Office of General Council to review it, noting, “It appears to pre-empt judicial review of a deregulatory action which may make the provision unenforceable.”
Prior to the bill’s passage, 13 new GMO seed crops awaited USDA authorization. Now these endorsements are almost certainly guaranteed, even though previous legal challenges overturned USDA sanctions of other GMO crops. No doubt Monsanto and other GMO companies will use the next six months to fast track their new seeds.
Even more controversial than Section 735’s wording is that its primary beneficiary, Monsanto, wrote it. Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt (R), who drafted the rider with Monsanto, admitted as much to the New York Daily News with the excuse that “it is only a one-year protection.”
This bill’s passage was a bipartisan effort. Despite a protest petition with 250,000 signers and a demonstration by farmers opposing it outside the White House on March 24, the entire Senate, led by Democrat Barbara Mikulski, chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, passed the bill. Obama, who campaigned in 2007 for labeling GMO food, signed it.
GM foods dominate food supply
Genetically modified foods are overtaking the food supply. Nearly 80 percent of nonorganic processed foods, including those labeled “natural,” contain genetically engineered bacteria, viruses, antibiotic-resistant genes or imported DNA.
Through ownership of patents on 90 percent of all GE seeds, Monsanto effectively controls most of the U.S. food supply, and not just processed foods. In August, Walmart began selling fresh Monsanto GM sweet corn — the first to go straight from farm to table.
Under the brand name “Roundup Ready,” Monsanto sells seeds genetically engineered to be resistant to the herbicide glyphosate. GE seeds are designed to let farmers aerially spray fields to kill weeds while leaving crops intact.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says glyphosate, absorbed by the crops, has appeared in foods sold for consumption.
Monsanto also sells seeds engineered to produce their own pesticides. Bacillus thuringiensis genes are inserted into plant genomes. The plant cell then produces an insecticidal protein known as Bt, which is incorporated into food.
The EPA and FDA approved Monsanto’s sale of Bt seeds for potato plants, maize, soybeans and cotton. Some seeds can produce more than one Bt protein and be resistant to Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup.
Monsanto tried, but failed, to insert a similar “protection act” into the Farm Bill of 2012. In defending Section 735’s provisions, Monsanto, DuPont and other GMO seed producers claim government restrictions are “unfair to farmers.” These corporations control 47 percent of the worldwide proprietary seed market.
Monsanto’s alleged “concern” for farmers has its limits. GMO seeds often end up in the fields of unsuspecting farmers who planted crops using traditional seeds. Inevitably, Monsanto’s “seed police” turn up at their doors armed with lawsuits claiming seed patent violations. The farmers are prohibited from recycling their own seeds and forced to pay hefty fines to Monsanto for having GMO crops they never planted in their fields.
Farmers buying Monsanto patented seeds must agree not to save the seeds for replanting or to sell seeds to other farmers. Each year farmers are forced to buy new seeds and more Roundup weed killer from Monsanto. Traditional seeds are disappearing. In the 1990s, pesticide manufacturers purchased seed companies, anticipating potential profits from monopolizing both aspects of farm production.
Roundup Ready seeds sicken rats
Last fall, French scientists released a study that found rats fed on Monsanto’s GMO corn or exposed to Roundup Ready seeds suffered tumors and multiple organ damage. (Reuters, Sept. 19)
Gilles-Eric Seralini and colleagues at the University of Caen fed rats a diet containing NK603, a Roundup Ready seed variety, or gave them water with Roundup weed killer at U.S.-permitted levels. These rats died earlier than the control group.
Seralini noted that his study of rats throughout their two-year lifespan provided a more realistic view of the risks than the 90-day feeding trials typically used for GMO crop approvals. While Monsanto disputes this study, global concern is mounting over GMO foods.
No doubt Monsanto hopes that its six-month window of opportunity will quietly be extended through future congressional acts. Everyone who opposes the expanded use of GMO food should make sure this doesn’t happen.
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It can be dificult to make an informed judgement on the safety of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) because of the impassioned reaction that greets each new study.
At the very least, there is general agreement that much more research is required on a case by case basis into any potential health risks of GMOs.
With that in mind, the European Union (EU) has strict controls over their use, while doubts persist.
But in the US, President Barack Obama last week approved a law giving the production and sale of GMOs and Genetically Engineered crops, immunity from court intervention, even if health risks do emerge.
Food safety campaigners have dubbed it the Monsanto Protection Act. And they are heavily criticising,not only the President, but the US Congress which they say failed to scrutinise the language of the bill which was reportedly crafted in collusion with Monsanto to be deliberately opaque.
So why did the US President Barack Obama sign the Monsanto Protection into law? And is this a positive step?
Inside Story Americas, with presenter Shihab Rattansi, discusses with guests: Tom Philpott, the food and agriculture correspondent for Mother Jones magazine; and Colin O'Neill, director of Government Affairs at the Centre for Food Safety;
We asked a Monsanto representative to join the programme but they declined.
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The so-called "Monsanto Protection Act," a controversial provision protecting the biotech giant from litigation, has found an unusual critic in the tea party.
The provision, Section 735, was slipped anonymously into the Senate version of the continuing resolution as part of the Agricultural Appropriations Bill, subsequently passed by the House and signed into law by President Barack Obama late last month.
Since then it's ignited an advocacy firestorm, with 250,000 people signing a petitionopposing the provision and Food Democracy Now network organizing a protest at the White House last week. Critics -- including members of the tea party -- have expressed dismay, not only at the provision's contents, but at the secretive way in which the biotech rider was introduced.
"It is not the purview of Tea Party Patriots to comment on the merits of GMOs -– that is a discussion and debate for experts and activists within that field," wrote Dustin Siggins, who blogs for Tea Party Patriots, on the group's website. "From the perspective of citizens who want open, transparent government that serves the people, however, the so-called 'Monsanto Protection Act,' Section 735 of the Continuing Resolution, is one heck of a special interest loophole for friends of Congress."
The Center for Food Safety is placing blame for the measure's covert introduction with the Senate Appropriations Committee and its chairman, Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.). "While there are no definite fingerprints for whoever is responsible for the rider, the earmark was allowed under the direction of Senator Barbara Mikulski," the center wrote on its website. Most lawmakers appear to have been unaware the provision was even included in the C.R., according to reports.
Last week, Mikulski's office issued a statement distancing the senator from the provision. "Senator Mikulski understands the anger over this provision. She didn't put the language in the bill and doesn't support it either," the statement reads. "As Chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Mikulski's first responsibility was to prevent a government shutdown. That meant she had to compromise on many of her own priorities to get a bill through the Senate that the House would pass. "
The provision's impact is unclear, since the underlying spending bill expires Sept. 30. Siggins argues in his lengthy Tea Party Patriots post analyzing the issue that it sets a "dangerous precedent." He concludes:
This all can be boiled down into a single, common phrase: a special interest loophole, and a doozy at that. We are used to subsidies, which give your tax dollars to companies to give them advantages over competitors. We are used to special interest tax loopholes and tax credits, which provide competitive and financial benefits to those with friends in Congress. And we are familiar with regulatory burden increases, which often prevent smaller companies from competing against larger ones because of the cost of compliance.
However, this is a different kind of special interest giveaway altogether. This is a situation in which a company is given the ability to ignore court orders, in what boils down to a deregulation scheme for a particular set of industries.
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Chrysler Turbine - Jet Car
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BBC Documentary on Wikileaks
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Ethos - Woody Harrelson Movie
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17 Ways to Persuade People
You want to be persuasive. The power to influence people to get what you want is sometimes all it takes to be successful. These are some tactics, discovered through psychological research, that you have probably not yet heard about, but have the potential to increase your persuasive abilities.
I’m not going to cover reciprocity, scarcity or social proof and all those widely known persuasion principles. You already know all about those (in case you don’t, stop everything and read this book by Cialdini).
1. Be confident, talk fast
The best way to persuade audiences that are not inclined to agree with you, is to talk fast. Fast pace is distracting and people find it difficult to pick out the argument’s flaws. When talking to an audience who is likely to agree (preaching to the choir), slow down and give the audience time to agree some more.
Want to boost persuasive power? Talk with confidence.
Don Moore from Carnegie Mellon’s Center for Behavioral Decision Research has published research showing that confidence even trumps past accuracy in earning the trust of others.
We prefer advice from a confident source, even to the point that we are willing to forgive a poor track record. Moore argues that in competitive situations, this can drive those offering advice to increasingly exaggerate how sure they are.
People naturally associate confidence with expertise. Know your product, know the facts about its benefits and believe in what it does – true confidence becomes from knowing and believing what you’re saying. It’s essential that we communicate our confidence to others in order to persuade them.
2. Swearing can help influence an audience
Light swearing, that is. (Go overboard and lose all credibility.)
Researchers divided 88 participants into three groups to watch one of three slightly different speeches. The only difference between the speeches was that one contained a mild curse word at the start:
“…lowering of tuition is not only a great idea, but damn it, also the most reasonable one for all parties involved.”
The second speech contained the ‘damn it’ at the end and the third had neither. When participants’ attitudes were measured, they were most influenced by the speeches with the mild obscenity included, either at the beginning or the end.
The word ‘damn’ increased the audience’s perception of the speaker’s intensity, which increased persuasion. The audience’s perceived credibility of the speaker did not change.
So that’s the secret of Gary Vaynerchuk and Dave McClure. I thought they’re just cool guys, but turns out its the swearing that got me.
3. Get people to agree with you first
If you want people to buy into your message, start with something they can agree with.
In a research study by Jing Xu and Robert Wyerestablished, there were lingering effects of messages people agree with. In one of the tests, participants listen to a speech by John McCain or one by Barack Obama and then watch a TV ad for Toyota.
Republicans tended to be more swayed by the ad after watching the speech by John McCain, while Democrats showed the opposite effect, finding the ad more persuasive after the Obama speech.
So when you try to sell something, make statements or represent a world view your customers can agree with first – even if they have nothing to do with what you’re selling.
4. Balanced arguments are more persuasive
If what you are doing inspires (or can inspire) criticism, resist the instinct to paper over weaknesses. We fear undermining our point of view by talking about weaknesses, but actually it would help our case.
Psyblog writes: Over the years psychologists have compared one-sided and two-sided arguments to see which are the most persuasive in different contexts. Daniel O’Keefe at the University of Illinois collected together the results of 107 different studies on sidedness and persuasion conducted over 50 years which, between them, recruited 20,111 participants (O’Keefe, 1999, Communication Yearbook, 22, pp. 209-249).
The results of this meta-analysis provide persuasive reading. What he found across different types of persuasive messages and with varied audiences, was that two-sided arguments are more persuasive than their one-sided equivalents.
People are not idiots and they can think. If you don’t mention the other side of the coin in your arguments, people are less likely to believe you.
Perhaps it might be a good idea to mention the shortcomings of your product or service on your website.
5. People believe you more if they sit in the evidence
A research study by Ye Li, Eric Johnson, and Lisa Zaval looked into the belief into global warming and its relation to the current local weather.
Participants in the US and Australia rated the strength of their belief in global warming. They also rated whether they thought the temperature that day was warmer, colder, or about normal for that time of year. When people felt the day was warmer than usual, they also expressed a higher belief in global warming than when they felt the day was cooler than usual.
In the related study they asked the same stuff, but also asked for a donation to a non-profit combating climate change. The participants in this study donated over four times as much money when the day was much warmer than usual than when the day was much cooler than usual.
If you want people to buy your message, ask for the sale in the situation that supports your claims. Online, use imagery or other visual material to build the stage for your story.
6. Upsell a product that cost 60% less
Once somebody gets to a point that they’ll buy something from you, they have given you their trust and have convinced themselves it’s okay to give you money. In that moment you are able to sell them more.
When somebody buys a shirt, you upsell should be a tie and not the whole suit.
The time-tested 60×60 rule says that your customers will buy an upsell 60 percent of the time for up to 60% of the original purchase price. Any upsell you offer must be congruent with the original purchase.
If you don’t use up-selling in your business yet, it’s a quick way to boost profits (“would you like fries with that?”).
7. Frame it in the positive
Emphasising the positive can be more persuasive than pointing out the negative.
An analysis added up the results of 29 different studies, which had been carried out on 6,378 people in total. The finding was that there was a slight persuasive advantage for messages that were framed positively.
This study had to do with the way people relate to disease prevention, such as encouraging people to use sunscreen, and promoting healthy eating habits, but it might have a wider appeal. The researchers hypothesized the reason to be that we don’t like to be bullied into changing our behaviour.
Try framing your marketing message in the positive (“Gain additional hour every day” vs “Stop wasting time”) and see if it makes a difference.
8. The paradox of choice
The more choice you offer, the less people will take you up on it – says this study.
Researchers set up a jam-tasting stall in a posh supermarket in California. Sometimes they offered six varieties of jam, at other times 24. Jam tasters were then offered a voucher to buy jam at a discount.
While more choice attracted more customers to look, very few of them actually bought jam. The display that offered less choice made many more sales — in fact, only 3 per cent of jam tasters at the 24-flavour stand used their discount voucher, versus 30 per cent at the six-flavour stand.
If you have a ton of products, invest in building better filters that help people make the choice. Read the excellent book or watch the great TED talk on the topic.
9. If something happens often enough, you will eventually be persuaded
Repetition of things has a distinct effect on us. Advertisements repeated replay themselves when we see the product. The songs that radios play over and over again eventually grow on us.
Repetition of a word or visual pattern not only causes it to be remembered (which is persuasive in itself), it also leads people to accept what is being repeated as being true.
ChangingMinds writes this about Hugh Rank’s persuasion research (Teaching about public persuasion, 1976):
Our brains are excellent pattern-matchers and reward us for using this very helpful skill. Repetition creates a pattern, which consequently and naturally grabs our attention.
Repetition creates familiarity, but does familiarity breed contempt? Although it can happen, the reality is that familiarity leads to liking in far more case than it does to contempt. When we are in a supermarket, we are far more likely to buy familiar brands, even if we have never tried the product before.
Think about the last time you bought a pair of shoes. Did you pick them then put them down several times before trying them on. Did you come back to try them again? If so, you are in good company. Many people have to repeat things several times before they get convinced. Three times is a common number.
Use repetition of key benefits or value proposition in your sales copy and ad campaigns many times. Effective advertising and political campaigns do that (“Geico can save you 15% or more …”). Use friendly repetition to create familiarity and hence liking.
Another research reveals even if only one member of a group repeats their opinion, it is more likely to be seen by others as representative of the whole group.
10. Men are more responsive to email than face-to-face talk
Guadagno & Cialdini research (2002) showed that men seem more responsive to email because it bypasses their competitive tendencies. Women, however, may respond better in face-to-face encounters because they are more ‘relationship-minded’
This research is suggesting that email could provide a way of side-stepping men’s competitive tendencies. But, this only applies to distant relationships. The closer the relationship between men, the better face to face works.
When you want to persuade a man you don’t know too well, start with an email.
11. Limiting the quantity you can buy makes you buy more
From Brian Wansink’s excellent book Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think:
A while back, I teamed up with two professor friends of mine—Steve Hoch and Bob Kent—to see if anchoring influences how much food we buy in grocery stores. We believed that grocery shoppers who saw numerical signs such as “Limit 12 Per Person” would buy much more than those who saw signs such as “No Limit Per Person.”
To nail down the psychology behind this, we repeated this study in different forms, using different numbers, different promotions (like “2 for $2” versus “1 for $1”), and in different supermarkets and convenience stores. By the time we finished, we knew that almost any sign with a number promotion leads us to buy 30 to 100 percent more than we normally would.
So put numbered limitations or anchors on the quantity your customer can buy from you.
12. Story beats data
A Carnegie Mellon University study in 2007 by Deborah Small, GeorgeLowenstein and Paul Slovic compared the effects of story vs data.
Test subjects where asked to collect donations for a dire situation in Africa. The data pitch contained statistics about food shortages in Malawi, lack of rain in Zambia, and the dislocation of millions in Angola.
The second version talked about a particular girl in Zambia, Rokia, who was starving. People were shown her photo and asked to donate to help her directly.
On average, students who received the fact-based appeal from Save the Children donated $1.14. Students who read the story about Rokia donated an average of $2.38, more than twice as much.
In a third experiment, students were told Rokia’s story but also included statistics about persistent drought, shortfalls in crop production, and millions of Africans who were going hungry. While students who had read Rokia’s story alone donated an average of $2.38, those who read the story plus the data donated an average of $1.43.
The plight of Africa, the fight with poverty is too overwhelming and people feel their contribution is just a drop in a bucket, hence feel less inclined to help.
“If I look at the mass I will never act,” said Mother Teresa. “If I look at the one, I will.”
13. Marketing to men? Use photos of women
A field experiment in the consumer credit market found that pictures of women as as effective as low interest rate.
A South African lender sent letters offering incumbent clients large, short-term loans at randomly chosen interest rates. The letters also contained independently randomized psychological “features”. As expected, the interest rate significantly affected loan take-up. Inconsistent with standard economics, some of the psychological features also significantly affected take-up.
For the male customers, replacing the photo of a male with a photo of female on the offer letter statistically significantly increases takeup; the effect is about as much as dropping the interest rate 4.5 percentage points… For female customers, we find no statistically significant patterns.
Overall, these results suggest a very powerful effect on male customers of seeing a female photo on the offer letter. Standard errors however do not allow us to isolate one specific mechanism for this effect. The effect on male customers may be due to either the positive impact of a female photo or the negative impact of a male photo.
The experiment featured a rather dramatic range in interest rates – 3.25% to 11.75%. The effect of a photo of a woman on a loan offer was equivalent 4.5% difference in the loan interest rate.
Next time add a photo of a woman to your offer and see your conversions go up.
The above study did not feature sexy women. But would a sexy women wearing bikinis help?
Research shows that arousal makes men stupid, as they become bad at making decisions. It gives them tunnel vision. The effect seems to be a short-term -one that would be most effective at the point of purchase, for impulse purchases.
The ideal selling situation would be to have the bikini-clad babe selling to the men in person. I guess you could do that also online for products meant only for men.
Studies have shown that sexy ads don’t really make men remember the product. We’re so lasered in on the sexy stuff, we don’t care what brand of product it is.
14. Want to convince leaders? Make them feel less powerful
Don’t bother trying to persuade your boss of a new idea while he’s feeling the power of his position, research suggests he’s not listening to you.
“Powerful people have confidence in what they are thinking. Whether their thoughts are positive or negative toward an idea, that position is going to be hard to change,” said Richard Petty, co-author of the study and professor of psychology at Ohio State University.
The best way to get leaders to consider new ideas is to put them in a situation where they don’t feel as powerful, the research suggests.
“Our research shows that power makes people more confident in their beliefs, but power is only one thing that affects confidence,” Petty said. “Try to bring up something that the boss doesn’t know, something that makes him less certain and that tempers his confidence.”
“You want to sow all your arguments when the boss is not thinking of his power, and after you make a good case, then remind your boss of his power. Then he will be more confident in his own evaluation of what you say. As long as you make good arguments, he will be more likely to be persuaded,” Petty said.
So in a nutshell: make the leaders feel less powerful and confident by talking about stuff they don’t know and if possible, talk outside of his office (neutral territory), after the pitch, remind them who’s the boss, so they could take action on your request.
15. The Sullivan Nod
Invented by restaurant consultant, Jim Sullivan, the Sullivan nod involves reciting a list of options but just inclining your head slightly when you reach the choice you’d like the buyer to make. The nod has to be subtle, but perceptible and works best in lists of no more than five items. According to Jim Sullivan, it’s successful up to 60 percent of the time.
Whenever servers suggest a beverage, have them smile and slowly nod their heads up and own as they make the suggestion. Body language is powerful, and research shows that over 60% of the time, the guest will nod right back and take your suggestion!
I bet you could use that online in sales videos. When talking about plans or packages, do the nod on the one you want them to buy.
16. Clarity trumps persuasion
Dr. Flint McGlaughlin of Marketing Experiments likes to say this: “Clarity trumps persuasion”. Remember this.
Persuasion tricks work when done subtly and skillfully. Overdo it and you lose the sale. When you’re writing sales copy or doing presentations, the best way to persuade people is to use clarity. Give people enough information to make up their mind without being cheesy or using hype.
17. 87% of people believe everything if there’s a percentage in it
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No CPR - Woman Dies - Nursing Home
Glenwood Gardens - VERY Independant Living
Glenwood Gardens
350 Calloway Drive, Bakersfield, CA 93312
(855) 204-3103
========================
911: "We need to get CPR started. That's not enough. OK?"
Nurse: "Yeah, we can't do CPR."
911: "Okay, then hand the phone to a passerby. If you can't do it, hand it to the passerby and I'll have her do it. Or if you've got any sitting citizens there, I'll have them do it.”
Nurse: "No. No."
911: "Anybody there can do CPR. Give them the phone please. I understand if your facility is not willing to do that. Give the phone to that passerby, then, that stranger. This woman is not breathing enough. She's going to die if we don't get this started. Do you understand?"
Nurse: "I understand.”
911: "Okay."
Nurse: "I am a nurse, but I cannot have our other senior citizens who don't know CPR--"
911: "I will instruct them in it."
Nurse: "--to do this. We're in a dining room."
911: "I will instruct them. Is there anyone there who is willing...?"
Nurse: "I cannot do that."
911: "I don't understand why you're not willing to help this patient."
===================
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — A nurse's refusal to give CPR to a dying 87-year-old woman at a California independent living home despite desperate pleas from a 911 dispatcher has prompted outrage and spawned a criminal investigation.
The harrowing 7-minute, 16-second call also raised concerns that policies at senior living facilities could prevent staff from intervening in medical emergencies. It prompted calls for legislation Monday to prevent a repeat of what happened Feb. 26 at the Glenwood Gardens in Bakersfield.
Lorraine Bayless collapsed in the dining room of the retirement home that offers many levels of care. She lived in the independent living building, which state officials said is like a senior apartment complex and doesn't operate under licensing oversight.
"This is a wakeup call," said Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, chair of the California Assembly Aging and Long-term Care Committee. "I'm sorry it took a tragedy like this to bring it to our attention."
Yamada cautioned that while it's not yet known whether intervention would have saved the woman's life, "we want to investigate because it has caused a lot of concern and alarm."
Independent living facilities "should not have a policy that says you can stand there and watch somebody die," said Pat McGinnis, founder of California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, a consumer advocacy group. "How a nurse can do that is beyond comprehension."
In all her years of advocating for the elderly, McGinnis said: "This was so horrifying. I've never seen this happen before."
State officials did not know Monday whether the woman who talked to the 911 dispatcher actually was a nurse, or just identified herself as one during the call. She said one of the home's policies prevented her from doing CPR, according to an audio recording of the call.
"The consensus is if they are a nurse and if they are at work as a nurse, then they should be offering the appropriate medical care," said Russ Heimerich, spokesman for the California Board of Registered Nursing, the agency that licenses health care providers.
The executive director of Glenwood Gardens, Jeffrey Toomer, defended the nurse in a written statement, saying she followed the facility's policy.
"In the event of a health emergency at this independent living community, our practice is to immediately call emergency medical personnel for assistance and to wait with the individual needing attention until such personnel arrives," Toomer said. "That is the protocol we followed."
Toomer offered condolences to the woman's family and said a thorough internal review would be conducted. He told KGET-TV that residents of the facility are informed of the policy and agree to it when they move in. He said the policy does not apply at the adjacent assisted living and skilled nursing facilities.
Multiple calls to the facility and its parent company seeking more information were not returned.
Unlike nursing homes, which provide medical care, independent living facilities generally do not.
"These are like apartments for seniors. You're basically living on your own. They may have some services provided by basic nursing staff, but it's not their responsibility to care for the individual," said Dr. Susan Leonard, a geriatrics expert at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Residents of independent living communities can still take care of themselves, but may need help getting to doctor's appointments. In skilled nursing facilities and nursing homes, many residents require around-the-clock care.
Staff members are "required to perform and provide CPR" unless there's a do-not-resuscitate order, said Greg Crist, a senior vice president at the American Health Care Association.
Bayless did not have such an order on file at the facility, said Battalion Chief Anthony Galagaza of the Bakersfield Fire Department, which was the first on the scene. That's when firefighters immediately began CPR, continuing until she reached the hospital.
Dr. Patricia Harris, who heads the University of Southern California's geriatrics division, said the survival odds are slim among elderly who receive CPR. Even if they survive, they are never the same. She said she would override the home's policy and risk getting fired "rather than watch somebody die in front of me."
During the call, an unidentified woman called from her cellphone, and asked for paramedics to be sent to help the woman. Later, a woman who identified herself as the nurse got on the phone and told dispatcher Tracey Halvorson she was not permitted to do CPR on the woman.
Halvorson urged the nurse to start CPR, warning the consequences could be dire if no one tried to revive the woman, who had been laid out on the floor on her instructions.
"I understand if your boss is telling you, you can't do it," the dispatcher said. "But ... as a human being ... you know, is there anybody that's willing to help this lady and not let her die?"
"Not at this time," the nurse answered.
Halvorson assured the nurse that Glenwood couldn't be sued if anything went wrong in attempts to resuscitate the resident, saying the local emergency medical system "takes the liability for this call."
Later in the call, Halvorson asked, "Is there a gardener? Any staff, anyone who doesn't work for you? Anywhere? Can we flag someone down in the street and get them to help this lady? Can we flag a stranger down? I bet a stranger would help her."
"I understand if your facility is not willing to do that. Give the phone to a passer-by. This woman is not breathing enough. She is going to die if we don't get this started, do you understand?"
The woman had no pulse and wasn't breathing when fire crews reached her, Galagaza said.
Sgt. Jason Matson of the Bakersfield Police Department said its investigation so far had not revealed criminal wrongdoing, but the probe is continuing.
First responders say often it's hard to find someone willing to provide CPR in an emergency.
"It's not uncommon to have someone refuse to provide CPR if they physically can't do it, or they're so upset they just can't function," Kern County Fire Department Deputy Chief Michael Miller said. "What made this one unique was the way the conversation on the phone went. It was just very frustrating to anyone listening to it, like, why wasn't anyone helping this poor woman, since CPR today is much simpler than it was in the past?"
===========================
A 911 dispatcher pleaded with a nurse at a Bakersfield, Calif., senior living facility to save the life of an elderly woman by giving her CPR, but the nurse said policy did not allow her to, according to a newly released audiotape of the call.
“Is there anybody there that’s willing to help this lady and not let her die?” the dispatcher asked in a recording of the 911 call released by the Bakersfield Fire Department.
“Not at this time,” the nurse said.
The incident unfolded on Tuesday when 87-year-old Lorraine Bayless collapsed at Glenwood Gardens, a senior living facility in Bakersfield.
In the seven-minute, 16-second recording, the nurse told the dispatcher it was against the facility’s policy for employees to perform CPR on residents.
With every passing second, Bayless’ chances of survival were diminishing. The dispatcher’s tone turned desperate.
“Anybody there can do CPR. Give them the phone please. I understand if your facility is not willing to do that. Give the phone to that passerby,” the dispatcher said. ”This woman is not breathing enough. She is going to die if we don’t get this started.”
After several minutes, an ambulance arrived and took Bayless to Mercy Southwest Hospital, where she died.
Glenwood Gardens released a statement confirming its policy prohibiting employees from performing CPR.
“In the event of a health emergency at this independent living community, our practice is to immediately call emergency medical personnel for assistance and to wait with the individual needing attention until such personnel arrives. That is the protocol we followed,” the statement said.
Despite protocol being followed, the nursing home said it would launch an internal investigation into the matter.
=============================
The “no CPR” policy that has embroiled Brentwood-based Brookdale Senior Living Inc. in controversy is fairly common among independent living facilities but not always fully understood by residents, senior housing experts say.
Independent living facilities, such as the one in California where an employee said company policy prevented her from performing CPR on an elderly resident who subsequently died, are not required and usually are not equipped to perform CPR or other emergency medical care, they say.
“Independent living does not provide care,” said Paul J. Williams, senior government relations director for the Assisted Living Federation of America, whose members also operate independent centers. “It’s like renting a senior apartment, with meals and social activities included. There is no care provided.”
The controversy erupted after authorities released a taped 911 call surrounding the Feb. 26 death of 87-year-old Lorraine Bayless in Glenwood Gardens, a Brookdale-owned facility in Bakersfield, Calif.
In the call, an unidentified employee who said she was a nurse refused to perform CPR — despite the 911 operator’s pleas — on Bayless because it was against the facility’s policy. The local police department is now investigating the episode, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Parent company Brookdale Senior Living said in a statement Tuesday that the incident “resulted from a complete misunderstanding of our practice” regarding emergency care. Brookdale says that employee is on voluntary leave while the company investigates.
“Glenwood Gardens is an independent living facility, which by law is not licensed to provide medical care to any of its residents,” according to a separate statement from the facility. “We are conducting an internal review to determine all of the facts about what occurred while waiting for the paramedics, who arrived moments later. Our associate who was involved was serving in the capacity of a resident services director, not as a nurse.”
The publicly traded company, the nation’s largest owner and operator of senior living communities, operates more than 645 assisted living and retirement communities with nearly 60,000 residents in 33 states, according to its website.
Independent facilities essentially are senior-housing complexes in which residents pay rent in exchange for living quarters and other services, such as prepared meals and home maintenance. As such, they’re not regulated by Tennessee or any other state.
“Living in an independent living facility is just like having a landlord-tenant relationship,” said Jerry Blasingame, Tennessee’s long-term care ombudsman. “They’re not required to have any medical staff or provide any medical care.”
That differs from assisted living facilities and nursing homes, which are regulated and licensed. All but nine states require those facilities to have at least one employee who is certified in first aid and CPR on duty at all times, Williams said.
The only time they can refuse to perform CPR is when the resident has a “do not resuscitate” order or other pre-existing directives against such attempts, he said.
It’s a distinction that residents and their families need to understand, an AARP of Tennessee spokeswoman said.
“This heartbreaking situation in California absolutely points to the need to get as much information as possible about facilities and what their policies are,” Karin Miller said.
But those policies can differ, even among the same type of facility.
Five Star Quality Care Inc. has a policy similar to Brookdale’s for its more than 260 facilities nationwide, including a dozen in Tennessee, said Lisa Cooney, associate general counsel for the Newton, Mass.-based company.
“Our response to incidents and issues involving our independent residents is dictated based on the specific circumstances of each incident,” she wrote in an email. “In the event of an emergency, staff immediately call 911, remain with the resident, follow all reasonable instructions, and provide whatever assistance is needed to emergency responders upon arrival at the scene.”
She declined to elaborate on whether “following all reasonable instructions” includes performing CPR as directed by a 911 operator.
Elmcroft Senior Living, though, has a different policy for its 103 facilities in 19 states, including those offering independent living, said an official of the Louisville, Ky.-based company.
In the event a resident suffers cardiac or respiratory arrest, to the extent allowed under state law, our policy is to call 911 and perform CPR unless the resident has a do-not-resuscitate order,” said Bob Goyette, Elmcroft’s senior operations vice president. “That is a standard practice in the assisted living industry. Performing CPR at independent facilities — it’s up to the facility.”
=========================
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The "no CPR" policy that has embroiled a California independent living facility in controversy is fairly common but not always fully understood by residents, senior housing experts say.
Facilities, such as the one in Bakersfield, Calif., where an employee said company policy prevented her from performing CPR on an elderly resident who subsequently died, are not required and usually are not equipped to perform CPR or other emergency medical care, they say.
"Independent living does not provide care," said Paul J. Williams, senior government relations director for the Assisted Living Federation of America, whose members also operate independent centers. "It's like renting a senior apartment, with meals and social activities included. There is no care provided."
The controversy erupted after authorities released a taped 911 call surrounding the Feb. 26 death of 87-year-old Lorraine Bayless in Glenwood Gardens, a facility owned by Brentwood, Tenn.-based Brookdale Senior Living Inc. in Bakersfield.
In the call, an unidentified employee who said she was a nurse refused to perform CPR — despite the 911 operator's pleas — on Bayless because it was against the facility's policy. The local police department is now investigating the episode, the Los Angeles Times reported.
So is Brookfield, the company said in a statement.
"Glenwood Gardens is an independent living facility, which by law is not licensed to provide medical care to any of its residents," the statement said. "We are conducting an internal review to determine all of the facts about what occurred while waiting for the paramedics, who arrived moments later. Our associate who was involved was serving in the capacity of a resident services director, not as a nurse."
Brookdale did not respond to repeated requests for further comment Tuesday. The publicly traded company, the largest owner and operator of senior living communities in the country, operates more than 645 assisted living and retirement communities with nearly 60,000 residents in 33 states, according to its website.
Independent facilities essentially are senior housing complexes in which residents pay rent in exchange for living quarters and other services, such as prepared meals and home maintenance. As such, they're not regulated by Tennessee or any other state.
"Living in an independent living facility is just like having a landlord-tenant relationship," said Jerry Blasingame, Tennessee's long-term-care ombudsman. "They're not required to have any medical staff or provide any medical care."
That differs from assisted living facilities and nursing homes, which are regulated and licensed. All but nine states require those facilities to have at least one employee who is certified in first aid and CPR on duty at all times, Williams said.
The only time they can refuse to perform CPR is when the resident has a "do not resuscitate" order or other pre-existing directives against such attempts, he said.
It's a distinction that residents and their families need to understand, an AARP of Tennessee spokeswoman said.
"This heartbreaking situation in California absolutely points to the need to get as much information as possible about facilities and what their policies are," Karin Miller said.
But those policies can differ, even among the same type of facility.
Five Star Quality Care Inc. has a policy similar to Brookdale's for its more than 260 facilities nationwide, said Lisa Cooney, associate general counsel for the Newton, Mass.-based company.
"Our response to incidents and issues involving our independent residents is dictated based on the specific circumstances of each incident," she wrote in an email. "In the event of an emergency, staff immediately call 911, remain with the resident, follow all reasonable instructions, and provide whatever assistance is needed to emergency responders upon arrival at the scene."
She declined to elaborate on whether "following all reasonable instructions" includes performing CPR as directed by a 911 operator.
Elmcroft Senior Living, though, has a different policy for its 103 facilities in 19 states, including those offering independent living, said an official of the Louisville, Ky.-based company.
"In the event a resident suffers cardiac or respiratory arrest, to the extent allowed under state law, our policy is to call 911 and perform CPR unless the resident has a do-not-resuscitate order," said Bob Goyette, Elmcroft's senior operations vice president. "That is a standard practice in the assisted living industry. Performing CPR at independent facilities — it's up to the facility."
============================
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) — A nurse's refusal to give CPR to a dying 87-year-old woman at a California independent living home despite desperate pleas from a 911 dispatcher has prompted outrage and spawned a criminal investigation.
The harrowing 7-minute, 16-second call also raised concerns that policies at senior living facilities could prevent staff from intervening in medical emergencies. It prompted calls for legislation Monday to prevent a repeat of what happened Feb. 26 at the Glenwood Gardens in Bakersfield.
Lorraine Bayless collapsed in the dining room of the retirement home that offers many levels of care. She lived in the independent living building, which state officials said is like a senior apartment complex and doesn't operate under licensing oversight.
"This is a wakeup call," said Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, chair of the California Assembly Aging and Long-term Care Committee. "I'm sorry it took a tragedy like this to bring it to our attention."
Yamada cautioned that while it's not yet known whether intervention would have saved the woman's life, "we want to investigate because it has caused a lot of concern and alarm."
Independent living facilities "should not have a policy that says you can stand there and watch somebody die," said Pat McGinnis, founder of California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, a consumer advocacy group. "How a nurse can do that is beyond comprehension."
In all her years of advocating for the elderly, McGinnis said: "This was so horrifying. I've never seen this happen before."
State officials did not know Monday whether the woman who talked to the 911 dispatcher actually was a nurse, or just identified herself as one during the call. She said one of the home's policies prevented her from doing CPR, according to an audio recording of the call.
"The consensus is if they are a nurse and if they are at work as a nurse, then they should be offering the appropriate medical care," said Russ Heimerich, spokesman for the California Board of Registered Nursing, the agency that licenses health care providers.
The executive director of Glenwood Gardens, Jeffrey Toomer, defended the nurse in a written statement, saying she followed the facility's policy.
"In the event of a health emergency at this independent living community, our practice is to immediately call emergency medical personnel for assistance and to wait with the individual needing attention until such personnel arrives," Toomer said. "That is the protocol we followed."
Toomer offered condolences to the woman's family and said a thorough internal review would be conducted. He told KGET-TV that residents of the facility are informed of the policy and agree to it when they move in. He said the policy does not apply at the adjacent assisted living and skilled nursing facilities.
Multiple calls to the facility and its parent company seeking more information were not returned.
Unlike nursing homes, which provide medical care, independent living facilities generally do not.
"These are like apartments for seniors. You're basically living on your own. They may have some services provided by basic nursing staff, but it's not their responsibility to care for the individual," said Dr. Susan Leonard, a geriatrics expert at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Residents of independent living communities can still take care of themselves, but may need help getting to doctor's appointments. In skilled nursing facilities and nursing homes, many residents require around-the-clock care.
Staff members are "required to perform and provide CPR" unless there's a do-not-resuscitate order, said Greg Crist, a senior vice president at the American Health Care Association.
Bayless did not have such an order on file at the facility, said Battalion Chief Anthony Galagaza of the Bakersfield Fire Department, which was the first on the scene. That's when firefighters immediately began CPR, continuing until she reached the hospital.
Dr. Patricia Harris, who heads the University of Southern California's geriatrics division, said the survival odds are slim among elderly who receive CPR. Even if they survive, they are never the same. She said she would override the home's policy and risk getting fired "rather than watch somebody die in front of me."
During the call, an unidentified woman called from her cellphone, and asked for paramedics to be sent to help the woman. Later, a woman who identified herself as the nurse got on the phone and told dispatcher Tracey Halvorson she was not permitted to do CPR on the woman.
Halvorson urged the nurse to start CPR, warning the consequences could be dire if no one tried to revive the woman, who had been laid out on the floor on her instructions.
"I understand if your boss is telling you, you can't do it," the dispatcher said. "But ... as a human being ... you know, is there anybody that's willing to help this lady and not let her die?"
"Not at this time," the nurse answered.
Halvorson assured the nurse that Glenwood couldn't be sued if anything went wrong in attempts to resuscitate the resident, saying the local emergency medical system "takes the liability for this call."
Later in the call, Halvorson asked, "Is there a gardener? Any staff, anyone who doesn't work for you? Anywhere? Can we flag someone down in the street and get them to help this lady? Can we flag a stranger down? I bet a stranger would help her."
"I understand if your facility is not willing to do that. Give the phone to a passer-by. This woman is not breathing enough. She is going to die if we don't get this started, do you understand?"
The woman had no pulse and wasn't breathing when fire crews reached her, Galagaza said.
Sgt. Jason Matson of the Bakersfield Police Department said its investigation so far had not revealed criminal wrongdoing, but the probe is continuing.
First responders say often it's hard to find someone willing to provide CPR in an emergency.
"It's not uncommon to have someone refuse to provide CPR if they physically can't do it, or they're so upset they just can't function," Kern County Fire Department Deputy Chief Michael Miller said. "What made this one unique was the way the conversation on the phone went. It was just very frustrating to anyone listening to it, like, why wasn't anyone helping this poor woman, since CPR today is much simpler than it was in the past?"
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Margaret Sanger
Founder of Planned Parenthood
In Her Own Words
"The most merciful thing that a large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it."
Margaret Sanger, Women and the New Race
(Eugenics Publ. Co., 1920, 1923)
Margaret Sanger (1883-1966)
On blacks, immigrants and indigents:
"...human weeds,' 'reckless breeders,' 'spawning... human beings who never should have been born." Margaret Sanger, Pivot of Civilization, referring to immigrants and poor people
On sterilization; racial purification:
Sanger believed that, for the purpose of racial "purification," couples should be rewarded who chose sterilization. Birth Control in America, The Career of Margaret Sanger, by David Kennedy, p. 117, quoting a 1923 Sanger speech.
On the right of married couples to bear children:
Couples should be required to submit applications to have a child, she wrote in her "Plan for Peace." Birth Control Review, April 1932
On the purpose of birth control:
The purpose in promoting birth control was "to create a race of thoroughbreds," she wrote in the Birth Control Review, Nov. 1921 (p. 2)
On the rights of the handicapped and mentally ill, and racial minorities:
"More children from the fit, less from the unfit -- that is the chief aim of birth control." Birth Control Review, May 1919, p. 12
On religious convictions regarding sex outside of marriage:
"This book aims to answer the needs expressed in thousands on thousands of letters to me in the solution of marriage problems... Knowledge of sex truths frankly and plainly presented cannot possibly injure healthy, normal, young minds. Concealment, suppression, futile attempts to veil the unveilable - these work injury, as they seldom succeed and only render those who indulge in them ridiculous. For myself, I have full confidence in the cleanliness, the open-mindedness, the promise of the younger generation." Margaret Sanger, Happiness in Marriage (Bretano's, New York, 1927)
On the extermination of blacks:
"We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population," she said, "if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members." Woman's Body, Woman's Right: A Social History of Birth Control in America, by Linda Gordon
On respecting the rights of the mentally ill:
In her "Plan for Peace," Sanger outlined her strategy for eradication of those she deemed "feebleminded." Among the steps included in her evil scheme were immigration restrictions; compulsory sterilization; segregation to a lifetime of farm work; etc. Birth Control Review, April 1932, p. 107
On adultery:
A woman's physical satisfaction was more important than any marriage vow, Sanger believed. Birth Control in America, p. 11
On marital sex:
"The marriage bed is the most degenerating influence in the social order," Sanger said. (p. 23) [Quite the opposite of God's view on the matter: "Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled; but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." (Hebrews 13:4)
On abortion:
"Criminal' abortions arise from a perverted sex relationship under the stress of economic necessity, and their greatest frequency is among married women." The Woman Rebel - No Gods, No Masters, May 1914, Vol. 1, No. 3.
On the YMCA and YWCA:
"...brothels of the Spirit and morgues of Freedom!"), The Woman Rebel - No Gods, No Masters, May 1914, Vol. 1, No. 3.
On the Catholic Church's view of contraception:
"...enforce SUBJUGATION by TURNING WOMAN INTO A MERE INCUBATOR." The Woman Rebel - No Gods, No Masters, May 1914, Vol. 1, No. 3.
On motherhood:
"I cannot refrain from saying that women must come to recognize there is some function of womanhood other than being a child-bearing machine." What Every Girl Should Know, by Margaret Sanger (Max Maisel, Publisher, 1915) [Jesus said: "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep... for your children. For, behold, the days are coming, in which they shall say, Blessed (happy) are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the breasts which never gave suck." (Luke 23:24)]
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Police shut down lemonade stands
From this
I’m beginning to think that there’s a nation-wide government conspiracy against either lemonade or children, because these lemonade stand shutdowns seem to be getting more and more common. If you set up a stand for your kids, just be prepared for a visit from the cops.
In Coralville, Iowa police shut down 4-year-old Abigail Krstinger’s lemonade stand after it had been up for half an hour. Dustin Krustinger told reporters that his daughter was selling lemonade at 25 cents a cup during the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Race Across Iowa (or RAGBRAI), and couldn’t have made more than five dollars, adding “If the line is drawn to the point where a four-year-old eight blocks away can’t sell a couple glasses of lemonade for 25 cents, than I think the line has been drawn at the wrong spot.”
Nearby, mother Bobbie Nelson had her kids’ lemonade stand shutdown as well. Police informed her that a permit would cost $400.
Meanwhile, in Georgia, police shutdown a lemonade stand run by three girls who were saving money to go to a water park. Police said the girls needed a business license, a peddler’s permit, and a food permit to operate the stand, which cost $50 per day or $180 per year each, sums that would quickly cut into any possible profit-margin.
In Appleton, Wisconsin the city council recently passed an ordinance preventing vendors from selling products within two blocks of local events – including kids who want to sell lemonade or cookies.
These are hardly isolated incidents. From slapping parents with $500 fines for letting their kids run unlicensed lemonade stands (though this was later waived after public outcry), to government officialscalling the cops on kids selling cupcakes, the list goes on and on and on.
Nor does it stop with kids. Food Trucks are also under the gun of regulators and city governmentsacross the country. This isn’t to say that food trucks don’t need any regulations at all, but many of the regulations that come down the pipeline are pushed by brick-and-mortar competitors who want to keep competition at a minimum.
But it’s the shutdown of lemonade stands that I find so inexplicable. Who stands to lose from a couple of six-year-olds selling lemonade? Who stands to gain from shutting them down? Do local governments really think parents are going to pay for $400 vendor permits, or that kids can scrape together the money for food permits? Are there any actual safety risks? Kids have been selling lemonade for decades without permits of any sort. They often set the stands up just for fun, but many lemonade stands (or bake sales) are used to raise money for schools, cancer, or sick pets. Lemonade stands represent the most innocent, optimistic side of capitalism out there.
Fortunately, August 20th is now unofficially National Lemonade Freedom Day, because when life gives you overbearing government regulations…make lemonade, or something.
A map of lemonade stand crackdowns can be found here. They’re spread out pretty much all across the country.
Hat tip to Radley Balko and the Reason team for many of these stories, so many of which sound like they’ve been pulled straight from The Onion.
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Is the United States 9 meals away from anarchy?
From Their Newsletter
FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, urges all Americans to have at least a 3-day supply of non-perishable food and water in case of emergency. We agree ... especially when you consider their track record at providing disaster relief.
We’re not talking, though, about cans of soup and peanut butter and crackers. Because while those items are indeed non-perishable, they aren’t really portable. In an emergency situation where you need to leave in a hurry, canned soups and jars of peanut butter are going to be heavy. And those crackers will get smashed.
That’s why we like 72-Hour Kits. Each 72-Hour Kit is designed for one person and includes four servings per day for 3 days. They are airtight, compact, and best of all, lightweight ... and they’re shelf stable for years (far longer than those cans of soup and boxes of crackers in your pantry). I’ll tell you more about our 72-Hour Kit in a moment.
But first, consider this:
You might think you can make it 3 days without food, and you probably can, but do you really want to? When food supplies are cut off, irritabilitysets in within half a day. (Imagine being cooped up for days with family or even strangers who are just as hungry and irritable as you are.)
Within one day ... or less if you have blood sugar or other health issues ... your ability to make good decisions is affected. Your cognitive processes are not firing on all cylinders, and in an emergency, you need to be able to think clearly. Within two days, you’ll probably be experiencinggnawing stomach pains. You may be able to stand it, but do you want to watch your loved ones suffer like that?
And if the emergency - and lack of access to food - goes on past three days, forget about it. Within a week, you’re probably too weak to stand. Your vision becomes blurry. You won’t be able to think straight, much less do what you need to do to weather the emergency.
It’s worth planning for “just in case,” wouldn’t you agree?
9 Meals From Anarchy
In 2000, the British coined a saying that should inspire everyone to get prepared. In that year, fuel protests broke out across England. British oil refineries were blockaded by the protestors and the resupply of fuel came to a standstill. Trucking and distribution was crippled. Supermarket owners warned government officials that there were just three days of food left. The nation was, it was said, nine meals away from anarchy. That’s 72 hours ... and it can seem like a lifetime if you’re hungry.
We face the same 72-hour logistics barrier here in the U.S. One major civil disturbance, one earthquake, one blizzard, one hurricane ... and we, too, are looking at the “9 meals from anarchy” phenomenon. (And that’s a major reason why FEMA encourages every citizen to have a 72-hour supply of emergency food on hand.)
In a perfect world, every home would have 72-Hour Emergency Meal Kits for every person. You can’t control the world around you, but you can control your own preparedness.
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Thousands of pigs dumped in Shanghai river raise concern
BEIJING, China – A surge in the dumping of dead pigs upstream from Shanghai — with more than 2,800 carcasses floating into the financial hub through Monday — has followed a police campaign to curb the illicit trade in sick pig parts.
The effort to keep infected pork off dinner tables may be fueling new health fears, as Shanghai residents and local media fret over the possibility of contamination to the city’s water supply, though authorities say no contamination has been detected.
Authorities have been pulling out the swollen and rotting pigs, some with their internal organs visible, since Friday — and revolting images of the carcasses in news reports and online blogs have raised public ire against local officials.
“Well, since there supposedly is no problem in drinking this water, please forward this message, if you agree, to ask Shanghai’s party secretary, mayor and water authority leaders if they will be the first ones to drink this meat soup?” lawyer Gan Yuanchun said on his verified microblog.
On Monday, Shanghai officials said the number of dumped adult and piglet carcasses retrieved had reached 2,813. The city government, citing monitoring authorities, said the drinking water quality has not been affected.
Shanghai’s Agriculture Committee said authorities don’t know what caused the pigs to die, but that they have detected a sometimes-fatal pig disease in at least one of the carcasses. The disease is associated with the porcine circovirus, which is widespread in pigs but doesn’t affect humans or other livestock.
Shanghai’s city government said initial investigations had found the dead pigs had come from Jiaxing city in neighbouring Zhejiang province. It said it had not found any major epidemic.
Huang Beibei, a lifetime resident of Shanghai, was the first to expose the problem when he took photos of the carcasses and uploaded them onto his microblog on Thursday.
“This is the water we are drinking,” Huang wrote. “What is the government doing to address this?”
His graphic photos apparently caught the attention of local reporters, who followed up.
Huang said he’s most concerned about water safety. “Though the government says the water is safe, at least I do not believe it — given the number of the pigs in the river. These pigs have died from disease,” Huang said.
The dumping follows a clampdown on the illegal trade in contaminated pork.
In China, pigs that have died from disease should be either incinerated or buried, but some unscrupulous farmers and animal control officials have sold problematic carcasses to slaughterhouses. The pork harvested from such carcasses has ended up in markets. As a food safety problem, it has drawn attention from China’s Ministry of Public Security, which has made it a priority to crack down on gangs that purchase dead diseased pigs and process them for illegal profits.
Zhejiang police said on their official website that police have been campaigning to rid the market of unsafe pork meat and that the efforts were stepped up this winter as Chinese families gathered to celebrate the Lunar New Year in February.
In one operation last year, police in Jiaxing broke up a criminal gang that acquired and slaughtered diseased pigs. The provincial authorities said police arrested 12 suspects and confiscated nearly 12 tons of tainted pork meat.
“Ever since the police have stepped up efforts to crack down on the illicit market of sick pigs since last year, no one has come here to buy dead pigs, and the problem of pig dumping is worse than ever this year,” an unnamed villager told the Jiaxing Daily newspaper, which is run by the local Communist Party.
Wang Xianjun, a government worker for Zhulin village, told the newspaper that villagers were breeding too many pigs.
Wang said the village had 10,078 dead pigs in January and another 8,325 in February. “We have limited land in the village,” he said. “We do not have that much land for burial.”
Zheng Fengtian, a professor at the School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development at Renmin University in Beijing, acknowledged that there is illegal trade in diseased dead pigs in China.
“According to the law, dead pigs must be burned or buried, but if there is not enough regulatory monitoring, it’s possible some of them will be sold into the market at low prices,” he said, adding that it isn’t known how serious the problem is.
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