Albanian Governances - Beyond Tax Policy

Governments use their taxation systems to get their hands on, and then spend, between 10 percent and 40 percent of national income. That is a lot of money. There is little doubt that taxing is one of the most important things that governments do. Correspondingly, it is widely agreed that it is important that governments should get tax policy right.

When people debate and argue about tax policy, they mostly address some aspect of four big questions:

- How much money should government gather as tax? It should be enough to meet public spending needs and contribute to fiscal stability, but not so much as to encourage the government itself to be wasteful or to appropriate money that could be better used in private hands.

- How should the tax burden be distributed among actual taxpayers? This issue may be argued either in terms of fairness in burden sharing, or in terms of the potential instrumental advantages of using tax policy to help achieve other public policy goals, for example, encouraging businesses to locate in poorer regions or to invest in particular sectors, or actively redistributing income or wealth from one group of citizens to another.

- How can the potential adverse economic costs of taxation be contained or minimized? Taxpayers tend to be alert to the costs that they directly incur, whether these take the less damaging form of complex and costly paperwork and record-keeping obligations, or the more malign form of harassment: arbitrariness on the part of tax collectors and the need to pay bribes. If collectively well organized, taxpayers or their legislators may inquire into the efficiency of the tax administration itself.

- How much of the money that it raises is absorbed in the collection process? Economists also routinely focus our attention on the indirect costs of revenue raising that taxing any activity almost inevitably discourages it. If, for example, a government chooses the easy option of raising most of its income by taxing chrome exports, it may be biasing the whole economy, in an inefficient way, against producing chrome for export. It is probably more efficient simply to spread the tax burden broadly. These tax policy questions are very important.

These questions will continue to dominate debate about taxation in most countries and to absorb the attentions of tax policy specialists. However, they are not the only important tax policy issues. In particular, there is a growing debate focused on poorer countries and on governments enjoying large incomes from grants and borrow funds or from oil, and mineral exports that addresses a different and in some ways more foundational set of questions: not ''What is good tax policy?'' but ''How does the taxation relationship between state and citizens itself contribute to the quality of governance?''

Taxation and Governance?

Governments need to command the services of a large number of people and acquire substantial monetary and material resources. Historically, governments have depended on two main kinds of material resources, extracted from the societies over which they rule: conscript manpower, mainly for military purposes, and financial resources to pay the salaries of civilian and military personnel and to meet the other capital and recurrent costs of warfare and government.

The most convincing evidence on the connections between tax dependence and governance is now emerging from comparisons between local governments within the same country. They depend substantially but with significant inter local variations on fiscal transfers from central government and, in a few cases, local revenues from the specific region industry. The local governments most dependent on broad taxation of their citizens had historically been more democratic. When provincial governments were most generously supplied with financial transfers from central government or specific region industry revenues, local political leaders had been better able to buy off or suppress competition from democratic oppositions.

I have compared some economic statistics of big local governments in Albania, a country in which central and local revenue raising is often coercive. I term ''coercive taxation 'an assessment and collection conducted in ways that are likely to be validly perceived by taxpayers as arbitrary, extractive, unfair, or brutal. Why? There is a formal answer: Taxpayers have few rights. But why do they have few rights? I don't have a complete answer, but I can see some reasons why public authorities in Albania are motivated to tax coercively.

The structure and organization of economy and businesses are the main reason that matters. It is difficult actually (a) to collect taxes from middle-income services-agrarian businesses like economy of Albania is organized in small and medium size enterprises that lack formal, bureaucratic structure and operate without extensive use of banking systems and written or electronic records of economic transactions, and (b) to collect without resorting to arbitrariness and coercion. In this model of economy, tax collecting tends to be coercive and conflictual. The dearth of records of economic transactions and the limited use of banking systems encourage face to face interaction between taxpayer and tax assessor or collector and oblige the latter to make discretionary decisions about tax liabilities that cannot easily be independently validated. The inspector who tells you what you owe also gets his hands on the money. These logistical factors endow tax collectors with considerable discretionary power, facilitate corruption and perhaps extortion, increase the leakage of tax revenues into private hands, generate resentment and tax resistance on the part of taxpayers, establish taxation as the issue of choice for political rebels, and make it practically and politically difficult for governments to appropriate a high proportion of national income through taxation, especially direct taxation.

How Much Do Citizens Pay in Taxes?

The potential causal interactions between the state and taxpayers are many and relatively complex, especially because government face choices between taxing broadly and thus engaging with citizens, and exploiting unearned revenues, which requires to be engaged with a narrow range of other actors and monitors or a small number of large companies, public or private, in the oil, construction, telecommunication and minerals sector. The question of how heavily government tax citizens is distinct and conceptually less complex. How the level of revenue demand might impact the political actions of taxpayers? We know that the political implications are not straightforward. Increases in the tax take are unlikely to occur in isolation. They will generally result also in increases in public expenditure, which might in turn intensify the processes through which the politics around public expenditure ''confuses'' the politics around revenue raising. However, there are good, logical reasons, to believe that the more of their income the citizens pay in tax, the more they are likely to be politically engaged in and demanding of the government. Marked increases in the level of tax burdens has mobilized taxpayers, as well as recent statistical evidence indicating that increases in revenue demands precede by only a few years shifts toward more democratic tax resistance. In sum, there is compelling evidence that the dependence of state on unearned income is likely to have adverse effects on the quality of governance and that the overall level of taxes does help mobilize citizens politically.

Who and what is taxed and how are taxes assessed and collected?

Government is more accountable and responsive to their citizens when dependent on them for revenue. Does that also imply that governments are only accountable and responsive to taxpayers that is, those citizens who pay taxes? Is the policy implication that we should find ways of ensuring the poor are taxed to prevent government being accountable and responsive only to the non poor, at the expense of the poor?

The answer to the last question is no. There are two reasons:

The first is cautionary: We simply do not know enough about the effects of taxation on political behavior to justify this kind of experimental social. The second is that there is good reason to believe that the entire polity and all social groups normally will benefit from greater state responsiveness and accountability to taxpayers. Why? Especially, in Albania with relatively fragile public institutions, politics is rarely the kind of rational public finance game that economists love to model, in which one particular definable group for example, small entrepreneurs will be calculating in detail the benefits of, say, exchanging reduced simplified profit tax for a stronger legal commitment to employees' rights. The more that politics is like that, the more we should be concerned about the problem of accountability only to taxpayers. However, in some of the regions with which we are concerned the poorest, and those dependent on aid and mineral resource wealth the pressure for government to be accountable or responsive to taxpayers is likely to have more positive effects at a more basic level of the polity by encouraging the creation of the kinds of stable institutions and predictable political behaviors that are often in deficit. Poor people will normally benefit and rarely lose out when ruled by government that, because they are dependent on general taxes, face incentives to coax rather than simply extract revenues from citizens, and therefore confront restraints on their power, are motivated to protect human and property rights, and understand that they and citizens share a common interest in economic growth.

What is needed then?

Take a look at the logistical advantages enjoyed by tax collection agencies in wealthier economies. Four factors facilitate their task and help to explain the historical shifts from levying taxes on specific items (oil, tobacco, beverages, landed property, houses) to levying them according to accounting categories (especially income, value added, and profits rather than simply asset values):

- Extensive written and electronic records of economic transactions help collectors to hunt down their quarry accurately and to create effective checks against misappropriation within the tax bureaucracy itself.

- The relative insulation of most economic transactions and incomes from seasonality or the weather makes it feasible to collect most taxes in regular installments over the course of a year.

- The widespread use of banking and other indirect systems of money transfer reduces the need for tax collectors to meet personally with most taxpayers.

- The prevalence of bureaucratically organized economic enterprises provides opportunities to place the collection process on the impersonal and quasi-automatic basis that underpins most contemporary company taxation and employees' pay-as-you-earn systems.

When local populations have the greatest potential economic mobility, and therefore the widest scope to flee from coercive local and national taxation, local and central government spend higher proportions of their revenues on providing services for their citizens and less on themselves. In different ways, studies provide evidence for the balance of power hypothesis: When governments face the strongest pressures to finance themselves by coaxing rather than extracting revenues from their citizens, they are more likely to rule democratically or to spend money providing services to citizens.

It's pity, but true the fact that in Albania there are no great intellectual or organizational wars that need to be fought and won before government is in a position to change tax policies in ways that will improve governance: abolish some taxes, replace them with more modern and effective alternatives that can be levied less coercively, use widely known techniques to make the taxpaying experience less coercive, and find national revenue sources to replace the former coercive techniques in the long term. Let's hope to see soon the change needed to go ahead.

Gaining an Online Education in Government

Completing a degree program in government prepares students to take on a large number of jobs. Careers can be forged in the public sector, education, politics, and much more. The wide breadth of schooling opportunities can be pursued through online education.

Online education is offered in numerous areas. Students can study government in degree programs such as homeland security, international affairs and public service. Perhaps the most taken path in entering a career in government is gaining a degree in political science. Online education teaches students to understand the development of government so they can explore how to integrate new and improved concepts into the system. Obtaining a degree online allows students to enter various fields of work that can include:

Foreign Affairs
Military Services
Journalism
Legislation
Law

Online education in government allows students to apply their knowledge to these areas because of the knowledge gained. For example, students that pursue a bachelor's degree in political science learn the basics of today's political systems. Online courses establish the understanding of the economic, social, and cultural influences that shape society and influence politics. Bachelors degree programs allow students to step into government positions as market researchers, campaign workers, and political research assistants. Further study is recommended because students can enter a specialty that will focus on online courses in public administration, international relations, and law. These fields of study are further explored in online courses on constitutional law and government philosophy.

Masters degree programs expand student's comprehension of political and government structures. Online schools teach students about government by breaking down specific concepts and covering them in depth according to their specialization. Energy policies, military operations, foreign policies, American politics, and comparative politics are some government areas that students can expect to study online. Students that specialize in comparative politics learn about the different global structures of government. Students interested in working in diplomatic communication can step into a concentration where schooling focuses on international relations. Students learn how to integrate new concepts regarding international relations through the understanding of administration and political theory. Further education is for students that want to work in academic careers.

A PhD is a terminal degree and provides students with a thorough understanding of government and politics. Specific online course subjects explore political economy, public policy implementation, and administrative analysis. Upper-level jobs as policy analysts, academic researchers, and professors can be entered upon graduation.

Through the complete educational understanding of the origin, development, and contemporary use of government systems students have the knowledge to work in multiple areas. The study of government can be pursued through various accredited educational degree programs. Agencies like the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration ( http://www.naspaa.org/ ) can fully accredit quality programs that provide students with the best education possible. Online government studies provide students with the required knowledge to meet their career goals. Students can find the right program by examining what accredited training opportunities are available in their field of interest.

DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERIC OUTLINE and may or may not depict precise methods, courses and/or focuses related to ANY ONE specific school(s) that may or may not be advertised at PETAP.org.

Copyright 2010 - All rights reserved by PETAP.org.

Renata McGee is a staff writer for PETAP.org. Locate Online Government Schools and Colleges as well as Campus Based Government Schools and Colleges at PETAP.org, your Partners in Education and Tuition Assistance Programs.

Politics - Bread and Circuses

There's an old saying: "If you want to know what's really going on, follow the money trail."

If you do not understand money, banking and finance, you cannot really understand politics. For the motivation of politics and politicians is ultimately the accumulation of money and resources. Money and resources = power.

Many people object to this statement. One of my clients said, "I grew up in the 60's during the civil rights movement. That was a purely political and altruistic agenda that had nothing to do with money."

In the 1960's however, the United States was unquestionably the world's greatest economic power. Our currency was strong. When you are abundant and strong, you feel magnanimous. In 2007, our economy is weak, our debt is high and our currency is declining. The current corrupt and mean-spirited political environment is a reflection of our country's declining economic status.

The OMB predicts that by the year 2012, the national debt of the United States will be 11.466 trillion dollars. This figure does NOT account for unfunded liabilities like Social Security.

The total amount of dollar denominated debt (including unregistered derivatives securities) worldwide has been estimated at 1.2 quadrillion dollars. That's right folks. 1.2 quadrillion. The dollar has been hyper-inflated on a planetary scale.

How has this happened? To understand that, you have to understand how money is created and manipulated. A great place to start is to read the book called "The Creature From Jekyll Island.

The money we use is monetized debt. It has no value whatsoever. Today, money is not backed by anything tangible, other than the "full faith and credit of the United States." What does that mean? It means the future work, sweat and productivity of the American people.

It is a startling fact that if all dollar denominated loans and debts were paid off, all of our money would disappear. Therefore, even if Congress wanted to pay off the national debt, it could not do so without destroying the economy!

Look at the top of any bill of any denomination, and you will find "Federal Reserve Note." Do you know what a note is? It is a promise to pay, a certificate of debt. The money we use are just a fancy IOU's. Unfortunately, the Fed, in cooperation with Congress, has played fast and loose with our currency. When you discover how money is created, you will understand the truth of this statement: "Money DOES grow on trees." Those who control the creation of money control the economy, and the lives of everyone in the nation. Economic cycles of boom and bust are not natural economic occurrences, but artificially created conditions due to the manipulation of the money supply.

Did you know that legal tender laws FORCE Americans to use Federal Reserve Notes? Look on the left hand side of the bill: "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private." It is illegal in the United States to use gold or silver as money. If you refuse to accept Federal Reserve Notes in exchange for your valuable goods and services, you can be thrown in jail. The power of the State is used to enforce legal tender laws.

The debasing of our currency (and thus our economy) is the most important crisis facing our country, and the world, because the dollar is the linchpin of international finance. [1] The growth of the unregistered derivatives market has hyper-inflated the dollar to the point where the international financial and banking system is in turmoil. At the present moment, and behind the theater of politics, the world is confronted with an international banking and currency crisis which is being completely ignored by the mass media in the United States (so what else is new?)

Called "Wantagate" by those in the know, it is a story of fraudulent financial manipulation that involves the highest banking and political officials in the United States, and the world.

How can such a gigantic crisis go unreported?

Because the focus is on politics!

Pick up a copy of the New York Times, the Washington Post, or the L.A. Times. Listen to the news. Listen to NPR. The news is, almost exclusively, political. What economic news is reported is mostly mundane stuff like the Dow Jones industrial average.

Politics and political intrigue obscures the fundamental economic and financial realities underlying the actions politicians take. In other words, the bread and circuses of politics takes your attention away from the money trail. Following the money trail will ALWAYS explain the actions of politicians.

For example, why did we go to war in Iraq?

The government says that we did it to establish democracy, or remove WMD's, or destroy Al Queda, blah, blah, blah. Former secretary of State Jim Baker said facetiously that we invaded Iraq because of "oil, oil, oil." Well that, at least, is partially true. According to Christopher Story, noted U.K. intelligence analyst, one of the fundamental reasons for invading Iraq was the takeover of the Rafidain Bank, Saddam Hussein's private bank. The Rafidain Bank had trillions of dollars worth of assets and billions in gold bullion. That money properly belongs to the people of the United States via the U.S. Treasury, as the spoils of war. According to Story, Saddam's money was stolen by criminal operatives within the U.S. intelligence community -- with full knowledge of officials at the highest levels of government, including the President, the Vice President, the Treasury secretary and the Homeland Insecurity chief -- and parked in offshore bank accounts. This money is "off the books," because the people who stole it cannot identify source of funds. In any legitimate banking transaction, official codes are issued which identify the financial institutions on both ends of the transaction, and where the money came from. This is not possible with stolen money. For the rest of the story, see the link below in the Resource Box.

We are spending 10 billion dollars every day to fund the war in Iraq. The war has so far, as of this writing, cost almost 500 billion dollars and President Bush has just submitted a request to Congress for 200 billion more. Moreover, the war in Iraq is being privatized, which means that private contractors are making billions from this war. Meanwhile, our brave men and women in the military fight and die -- for what? [2]

Governments throughout history have printed money and debased the currency to fund their conflicts. When the currency becomes devalued, it loses its purchasing power, and prices rise. This is the genesis of inflation. Inflation is not rising prices, it is the debasing of the currency.

The only legitimate way for governments to get money is through taxation. But politicians do not like to raise taxes because the voters will throw them out of office. However, the political scientists in Congress and the monetary scientists at the Fed have devised a brilliant scheme to spend more and more money and keep themselves in power: simply print and create more and more of it. The process by which this occurs is complex and obfuscated, but the bottom line is that the population is taxed by inflation when the money supply increases too rapidly. Each dollar buys less and less, you see. Inflation is a hidden tax -- a cowardly trick imposed by politicians (and bankers) who hide behind the power of the state to enforce legal tender laws.[3]

Moreover, when money is created from nothing, the size and power of government grows larger and larger, sapping the economy. Money that would have been used to start businesses and employ people is wasted by government cronyism. Regardless of who is in power -- capitalists, socialists, liberals, conservatives, Democrats or Republicans -- political parties always use the power of the state to enforce their decrees. Thus, government grows and the political structure of a nation becomes more and hierarchical, fertile soil for the growth of tyranny.

Political parties and groups exist first and foremost to advance an economic agenda. Study the bills Congress passes. Almost all of them have language benefiting special interests -- tax breaks, government contracts, etc.

Political parties did not exist in 1789. Many of the founders of the United States were against the establishment of political parties. George Washington, in his farewell address in 1796, said,

"They [political parties] serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests."

Although the motivation of the founders of the United States was rooted in the ideals of freedom, economic issues -- such as taxation -- played a very important role. Moreover, the creation of a central bank was one of the fundamental issues that divided the founders. Whether or not a political party begins it's life with a set of high ideals, once it becomes established, it 's main motivation is to stay in power. Then it always becomes a vehicle to protect the vested interest.

So people, do not become distracted by the bread and circuses of political theater, for that is what politics is.

Look underneath the superficialities of the news and always ask yourself these questions:

1) Who stands to gain financially by a declared government policy?

2) Where is the money trail?

In this way you may uncover the true motivations behind the actions of the actors on our political stage.

You can then begin to identify people who are open and honest, and vote for them. The crooks, of course, stand out like sore thumbs.

_________________________________

Footnotes:

[1] In an interview for the German magazine Stern, Allan Greenspan, former Fed chief, says that the Euro is rapidly replacing the dollar as the world's reserve currency. Greenspan said that the dollar is still slightly ahead in its use as a reserve currency, but added that "it doesn't have all that much of an advantage" anymore. And why is that, do you think?

[2] According to the FRONTLINE documentary "Private Warriors," private military contractors comprise the second largest "force" in Iraq. There are as many as 100,000 civilian contractors and approximately 20,000 private security forces currently in Iraq, and the number is growing.

[3] Here's an historical example (there are many): The Continental Congress, beginning in 1775, simply printed money to fund the colonial rebellion. The Continental, which was worth 1 dollar in gold in 1775, was by 1779 trading for less than a penny. A loaf of bread cost $5,000! In a letter to Samuel Cooper in 1779, Benjamin Franklin wrote, "This Currency, as we manage it, is a wonderful machine. It performs its Office when we issue it, it pays and clothes Troops and provides Victuals and Ammunition, and when we are obliged to issue a Quantity excessive, it pays itself off by Depreciation."

Kenneth James Michael MacLean has written 8 books, dozens of articles, and produced two movies.
Read more free articles, see free movies, and get the Spiritual Wisdom newsletter at The Big Picture
To check out "The Creature from Jekyll Island" Click Here
For a story on Wantagate, Click Here.

Why is Airbus Bidding on a US Military Air Tanker Contract

The World really is getting much closer together in regards to trade. But some ask why is an Airbus being retrofitted for the military to use? Why not an American company? Why is Airbus a European Union Company going to bid on Making a United States Military Air Tanker?

Well there are lots of reasons for this, one reason is that the DOD and the Senators are trying to teach Boeing a lesson for playing games with the “leases” on a bid for the flying gas stations in the past in an aerial re-fueling aircraft scandal. John McCain took it on as a personal political issue. Since Boeing has little competition in this matter, they are allowing Airbus.

Of course there are other reasons for instance we want access to their markets as well. Many nations in the EU need to replace their old fighter aircraft in case of a future conflict of political will being settled by war with a new Super Power like China. Our Industrial Military Complex would like to them jets, planes, tanks, missile defense systems and Smart Munitions. Also we would like some levers to prevent the EU from selling modernized weapons to potentially future rogue nations, which may not be politically stable in the future period, ushering yet another era of war.

Also the politics of Boeing being black balled world wide because that company although it is broken into sectors; military, satellite, commercial aviation, submarines, etc. is said to be subsidized by our military and government; just as we point to Airbus Commercial Airlines being subsidized by EU nations. It is a big issue in the EU over competition and state sponsored business.

Also this affects US Companies like Wal-Mart, Microsoft, Monsanto, Drug companies over there in European markets. There is a lot of cross multi-national conglomeration pull in international politics. Look at ChevronTexeco, ExxonMobile, BP in the oil sector or Roche and our pharmaceutical companies. You have to remember who is really running the world and how it all has to gel together to work. It is a giant chess board and it all has to work. You see?

Even the contract for the Future Presidential Helicopters will have Westwind, a UK based company rotor blades on the Marine One in the future? Same type of thing and you must also realize Halliburton is building UK Aircraft Carriers? We need to kind of keep our doors open so we can all find our niche and allow them to bid on our contracts to keep our companies honest and get the best price for the taxpayer.

Plato would have liked this. For instance if every corporation does what it is best at and alleviated from what they suck at, then the universal community is best served you see? Read the Republic by Plato or go pick up the cliffs notes and read this if you have some more time;

[http://worldthinktank.net/wttbbs/index.php?s=7f4036c0bf6bc904ff71536468d447d1&showtopic=150]

Here is the deal, in the future we will need to act more like a global market and if we want to compete, then we will not be able to block out European Union allies from bidding on our lucrative Military Contracts. At first glance this may all look like some sort of conspiracy, but in the end it will be the best for all concerned, free markets usually are. Think on this.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is an online writer in retirement.

Avian Flu Fright: Politically Timed for Global "Latrogenocide"

Dr. Len Horowitz's Avian Flu Fright Commentary

To: All grassroots activists, health and vaccination networkers.

Please forward this urgent e-mail, to help save lives, to everyone in your network.

Avian Flu Fright: Politically Timed for Global "Iatrogenocide"

A Public Health Warning and Political Essay by a Harvard-trained Author of Fifteen Books Including the American bestseller, Emerging Viruses: AIDS & Ebola-Nature, Accident or Intentional?

Leonard G. Horowitz, DMD, MA, MPH

Abstract

If avian flu becomes more than a threatened pandemic, it will have done so by political and economic design. This thesis is supported by current massive media misrepresentations, profiteering on risky and valueless vaccines, gross neglect of data evidencing earlier similar man-made plaques including SARS, West Nile Virus, AIDS and more; continuance of genetic studies breeding more mutant flu viruses likely to outbreak, inside trading scandals involving pandemic savvy White House and drug industry officials, curious immunity of these pharmaceutical entities over the past century to law enforcement and mainstream media scrutiny, and published official depopulation objectives. With the revelations and assertions advanced herein, the public is forewarned against this physician assisted mass murder best termed "iatrogenocide."* This genocidal imposition is expected to serve mainly economic and political depopulation objectives.

Background

In April, 2003, a social experiment called SARS, said to have arrived from Asia, heavily struck Toronto. I was there throughout most of this Asian flu-foreshadowing fright. This bizarre new pneumonia-like illness was named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. It was said to be the latest threat in an ongoing series of attacks on humanity by mysteriously mutating "supergerms."

A careful study of the scientific and medical-sociological correlates and antecedents of this "outbreak" revealed something amiss far more insidious than SARS. I critically considered Toronto's media reaction as any Harvard-trained public health expert in media persuasion behavioral science might. The scourge had all the earmarks of a novel social experiment conducted by white-collar bioterrorist.

It seemed clear to me that this unprecedented population manipulation effectively indoctrinated the mass mind in support of a grossly ineffective, albeit legislated, public health response in advance of the arrival of "the Big One." Throughout the "SARS Scam,"(1) repeated references were made to biological agents that might facilitate decimation of approximately a third to half of the world's population. Having extensively reviewed political population control literature and contemporary objectives of leading global industrialists, I noted these predictions were in close keeping with current official population reduction objectives.(2)

Canada's response to SARS in 2003 was, for the first time in history, directed by the United Nations and World Health Organization (WHO). Having reviewed the intimate financial and administrative ties between these organizations, the Rockefeller family, Carnegie Foundation, and the world's leading drug makers, "the fox," in essence, reigned over Canada's "chickens."

The truth about plagues includes the fact that "no grand pandemic ever evolved divorced from major socio-political upheaval." SARS advanced a political agenda more than a public health emergency. If public health officials earnestly intended to prevent these new emerging diseases, or successfully treat them at their roots, I repeated, they would study their obvious origins from the merged military-medical-biotechnology arena. A basic course in medical sociology simply justifies this utilitarian counsel.

"Experts" had been predicting the arrival of a super-plague for decades. What was HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS about the mysterious and terrifying arrival of SARS, however, was its timing. It synchronously arrived with the global war on terrorism, and the Anglo-American war with Iraq. It seemed a convenient distraction from the fact that the earlier Bush administration had shipped Saddam Hussein most of his deadly biological weapons arsenal including anthrax and West Nile Virus. SARS was pathognomonic (i.e., symptomatic and characteristic) of what I had predicted and explained in the book, Death in the Air: Globalism, Terrorism and Toxic Warfare (Tetrahedron Publishing Group, 2001; http://www.healthyworlddistributing.com/), a prophetically-titled text that predated the 9-11 attacks on America by several months, and provided a contextual analysis of certain globalists' links to recent "outbreaks."

In essence, I provided insight into the broad application of a new form of institutionalized "bioterrorism" consistent with state sponsored biological warfare. Saddam Hussein was said to have exposed populations in his and adjacent lands with biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction. SARS and the current avian flu fright is sanctioned by military-medical-pharmaceutical-petrochemical industrialists likewise operating above the law in many documented instances. Having testified before the U.S. Congress, I personally experienced how premiere pharmaceutical industrialists direct our political-economic representatives in government. Emerging diseases complement the political "War on Terrorism," and our bioterror-influenced culture. This agenda serves two primary objectives: profitability and population-reduction.

Political Reality Versus Mass-Mediated Myths

The ever increasing madness around us is eerily consistent with globalist think tank recommendations for the current "conflicts short of war." Beginning in the late 1960s, "economic substitutes for standard militarization" were sought and found by leading global industrialists. New biological threats, the "war on terrorism," and increasing numbers of "natural disasters" including space-based threats and superstorms were considered economically and politically expedient compared with the first and second world wars. These "conflicts short of war" were decidedly more manageable and economically viable. For this reason, especially their profitability, they were leading options among Anglo-American policy makers.

Nelson Rockefeller's protégé, Henry Kissinger, for instance, as National Security Advisor (NSA) under Richard Nixon, oversaw foreign policy while considering Third World population reduction "necessities" for the U.S., Britain, Germany, and other allies. This Bush nominee to direct the 9-11 conspiracy investigation, a reputed war criminal, then selected the option to have the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) develop biological weapons, according to the U.S. Congressional Record of 1975. Among these new man-made biological weapons were germs far deadlier than the avian flu.

For example, by 1968, when Kissinger requested and received updated intelligence on useful "synthetic biological agents" for germ warfare and population control, mutant recombinant flu viruses had just been engineered by Special Virus Cancer Program researchers O'Conner, Stewart, Kinard, Rauscher and others.(3) During this program, influenza and parainfluenza viruses were recombined with quick acting leukemia viruses (acute lymphocytic leukemia) to deliver weapons that potentially spread cancer, like the flu, by sneezing. These researchers also amassed avian cancer

(sarcoma) viruses and inoculated them into humans and monkeys to determine their carcinogenicity. In related efforts, Raucher et al. used radiation to enhance avian virus's cancer-causing potential. These incredible scientific realities have been officially censored and generally neglected by the media's mainstream.

Similarly, the Institute of Science in Society (IoSS) in London raised the genetic engineering question in the origin of SARS. "Could genetic engineering have contributed inadvertently to creating the SARS virus?" they asked. "This point was not even considered by the expert coronavirologists called in to help handle the crisis, now being feted and woed by pharmaceutical companies eager to develop vaccines." Those living in glass houses should not throw stones. The above emphasis is added to show IoSS they had "not even considered" intentional SARS deployment in their scientific, allegedly unbiased, purview.(4)

Conflicts short of war, like the "War on AIDS," "War on Drugs," "War on Terrorism," "War on Cancer," and now "War on the Avian Flu" require sophisticated propaganda programs employing fear campaigns for social acceptance and popular support of legislated policies. These psychological operations (officially termed PSYOPS) for "command and control warfare"

(technically called C2W), experts advise, best support the emerging "Revolution in Military Affairs" (RMA). The RMA's capabilities include "a form of human slavery" in which the world's captive populations would not know they are enslaved.(2)

The RMA undoubtedly incorporates the use of debilitating biologicals and chemical agents most generously on behalf of drug and vaccine makers. A classic example is the toxic carcinogenic organophosphate pesticides deployed against human populations, said to target "mosquitoes," in the "War Against the West Nile Virus." Such "non-lethal warfare" agents, as these are militarily termed, are indeed deadly, but mortality results slowly from toxic exposures allowing more profits to be made by allied pharmaceutical and medical industrialists. Victims of the "non-lethal" exposures die slowly from chronic debilitating diseases. Expensive hospitals and long-term care facilities are virtual concentration camps. The ailments generated for "iatrogenocide" include the plethora of autoimmune diseases and newer cancers virtually non-existent 50 years ago. This fact, alone, strongly suggests a genocidal socio-economic and political agenda.

Avian Flu for Profit

In response to SARS, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, Michael Fumento, published an economic thesis in Toronto related to the one I advance here. The "Super-bug or Super Scare," he wrote was published in Canada's National Post. Canadians were warned to "quarantine themselves," wear masks, and in some cases stay home. The Ontario Health Minister declared a "health emergency," as the media dubbed the "mysterious killer" a "super-pneumonia." Recoiling from the hype, Fumento asked and answered a few "real questions . . . How lethal, how transmissible, and how treatable is this strain?" The answers, he concluded, "leave no grounds for excitement, much less panic." The same may be said for this new curse of avian flu.(1)

Lethal?

At this writing, the avian flu is said to have killed "about 65 people" in Southeast Asia during the past two years! Little to no data is available on these individuals who most commonly had immune-compromising medical conditions. Further, all deaths were in Asian countries with questionable health services.

Conversely, other forms of flu kill more than 40,000 North Americans annually, generally the immune-compromised elderly.

Transmissibile?

According to USA Today (October 9, 2005), "European health officials are working to contain the [avian flu] virus, which so far has not infected anyone in the region." Although, allegedly "more than 140 million birds have died or been destroyed, . . . and financial losses to the poultry sector have topped $10 billion." This propaganda actually admits, "the current virus, known as H5N1, has not yet mutated to the point at which it can easily spread from person to person." In fact, it is likely to have never spread from person to person other than during laboratory handling!(5)

Treatability?

"The U.S. Senate has already approved a $3.9 billion package to buy vaccines and antiviral medications, and the Administration is also preparing a request for an additional $6 billion to $10 billion," according to a current BusinessWeek report.( 6)

"Beam me up Scottie, there is no intelligent life on this planet." This largely explains why the public puts up with this deadly deception. Even USA Today bemoans, "there is no human vaccine yet." So how come the U.S. Senate is rushing to spend all these billions for an avian flu vaccine?

I suppose we should overlook the fact that the current frightening strain of H5N1 avian flu virus has never readily jumped from human to human, and not commonly from birds to humans either. Thus, an effective vaccine can only be prepared by mutating this virus, thus creating what the world fears most. Let me explain. . . .

To make the human vaccine specific for the H5N1 mutant virus, you must start with the human virus which does not yet exist, except in perhaps military-biomedical-pharmaceutical laboratories. In fact, this is precisely what is being prepared based on news reports. To produce the human pathogen, the avian virus must be cultured for lengthy periods of time in human cell cultures, then injected into monkey and ultimately humans to see if these experimental subjects get the same feared flu. Thus, the flu virus the world currently fears most is either: 1) now being prepared in labs paid by industrialists with massive wealth-building incentives to "accidentally" release the virus; or 2) has already been prepared in such labs to take advantage of this current fright and future sales following the virus's release.

Remember, to be effective against a virus, a vaccine is said to require specificity. If authorities were to now have the main H5N1 avian flu strain feared to spread at some future date there's no assurance by the time they developed the vaccine the strain would remain sufficiently the same for the vaccine to be effective anyway due to expected viral mutations. Viral mutations over time is a function of the agent's newness. New man-made viruses, laboratory creations, like the ones currently being prepared for vaccine trials, are less stable not having evolved over the millennia. Thus, the entire vaccine effort is largely, if not entirely, a sham with ulterior motives.

Remember too, that a vaccine's reliability requires years, or at least months, of testing in the targeted population. Vaccine injury data must, or should, be meticulously collected over this period to assure the vaccine is not killing and maiming more persons than it is helping or saving. Can you seriously believe this assurance will be provided by government or pharmaceutical industry officials in this pandemic's wake? FEMA's failed Katrina response pails by comparison to this public health liability and vaccine-injury certainty.

I say "vaccine-injury certainty" because of the extensive list of newly developed vaccinations, highly touted when brought to market, that caused horrific results. This list includes the first swine flu vaccine, polio vaccines, smallpox vaccine, anthrax vaccine, hepatitis B vaccine, and most recently Lyme disease vaccine that crippled approximately 750,000 people within months of its release and prior to its recall by the FDA.

Most people fail to realize all vaccines carry a list of ingredients that typically increase human disease and death (i.e., morbidity and mortality). These include toxic elements and chemicals such as mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde and formalin (used to preserve corpses), MSG, foreign genetic material, and risky proteins from various species of bacteria, viruses, and animals that have been scientifically associated with triggering autoimmune disorders and certain cancers. A growing body of scientific evidence strongly suggests vaccines are largely responsible for increasing cases of autism and other learning disabilities, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, Lupus, MS, ALS, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, hay fever, allergies, chronic draining ear infections, type 1 autoimmune diabetes, and many, many more pandemics. These chronic ailments are said to require long-term medical care for the patients' management causing toxic side effects resulting in America's leading killer--iatrogenic disease. That is, vaccines and other pharmaceutical industry inventions are literally killing or disabling millions with little effort on the part of government officials and their drug industry cohorts to arrest this scourge.

For all we know, governments are ordering an avian flu vaccine that will precisely deliver this pandemic to the world to affect population control. Absurd thesis? Read on.

[Continued in Part 2 ~ including references]

Last Updated ( Thursday, 24 November 2005 )

Russ Miles is author of the novel, For Sale By Owners:FSBO. A ?Seasoned Real Estate NAR? Broker,? disabled by Multiple Sclerosis, Russ writes books & articles on varied subjects. FOR SALE BY OWNERS:FSBO ISBN 0-595-28703-4,in trade paperback, is available by phone or Internet:1-800-Authors to order direct! Adobe e-book & hard cover editions also available at Amazon.com at Barnes and Noble and other fine booksellers. Comments: MilesRuss@Gmail.com. Please visit Russ Miles's website MilesBooks.com for other informative features, health cocerns, and information of interest.

Post Capitalist Free Market Society (Part VI) - Government Under Technological Democracy

In a capitalistic society, like that of the United States, the capitalist elite controls the economy through which it controls or highly influences government activities concerned in any way with its interests. The matter of power struggle, against this elite, by the people or the government has become more complex and difficult where no single country has either the authority or the power to regulate or investigate the total operation of a multinational or global corporation.

While a state is responsible to its citizens and rules with their apparent consent, a global corporation is a strict autocratic system ruled, not by its shareholders as it should have been according to its charter, but by a self-appointed and self-perpetuating members of the board of directors holding, collectively, only a small fraction of the corporate assets.

Under a socialistic system, like China, the state is controlled by a single political party which is controlled in turn by a few leaders selected and elevated to their position by the initial or senior members of the party. The socialist constitution usually prescribes a government by a democratic political process. But the execution of this electoral process is tightly controlled and supervised by the party through its instrumentalities. Consequently, the government and the society end up to be governed by a few holding leadership positions.

Thus, under both capitalist and socialist systems, individual freedoms, economic as well as political, has remained at the mercy and consent of a very small group which controls the means of production and distribution. All this suppression has occurred because the individual, under both systems, has been deprived of equality of opportunity as his basic human and democratic right. The government has played a substantial role in installing and maintaining the subjugation process making the individual life under either system exploitive.

The main objective in a technological democratic society is to grant, protect and foster the principle of equality of opportunity, to allow and provide opportunities for individual freedom and dignity in a way that no one is exploited economically, socially or politically. To accomplish this goal, the control over the means of production and distribution need to be taken away from the capitalist class and transferred to the working class by the application of the principles of equality of opportunity and prohibition of unjust enrichment.

Consequently, under technological democratic system, the role of the state becomes quite distinguished from those under capitalism or socialism. The government like any individual in society is obliged to abide by the principle of equality of opportunity. Thus, government cannot keep anything secret or classified. If secrecy is allowed, it would increase the government's opportunity to the detriment of the public. This openness extend everywhere in government and all other institutions in society. In the area of national security, as long as other nations have not complied with the principle of equality of opportunity, secrecy may be kept. But the term of national security must be applied in its narrow and strict interpretation. In technological democracy, a major part of present national functions are transferred down to the private production firms; other parts such as maintenance of law and order, supervision and enforcement of the principles and standards governing the production of goods and services, are all trusted on local and regional (states in U.S.) governments. There are no line functions left for the national government except for defense and foreign affairs. Defense and intelligence establishments are also highly curtailed since the U.S. will not interfere in internal affairs or economic resources of other sovereign nations. Because, in technological democracy, the essence of strength is not in military or intelligence power, but in the strength of its citizens' minds and commitment to peace and the extension of democracy and prosperity to other lands. No conquering force can rule in a technological democratic society without being assimilated into its way of life and culture in a short time. Any conquering force is soon conquered by the conquered society. Essentially, therefore, there is no need for military forces. The elimination of military establishment, a vestige from barbarian past, marks the disappearance of the greatest evil haunting humanity and its well being for centuries.

Many may consider this allegation idealistic even utopian. These are people who have failed to study and understand the essence of technological democracy governed by the principle of equality of opportunity. One cannot judge or evaluate the characteristic of this system by employing presently available bases for evaluation. A proper judgment requires a thorough knowledge and understanding of the system. Faulty judgments are often the result of haste or shallowness of information about the subject matter.

The National Government

In Technological democracy, all line functions of the national government are eliminated except for defense and foreign affairs. The size of the latter two is also substantially reduced. All current vast bureaucracies of the regulatory agencies and those concerned with education, health care, welfare programs, social security, commerce, justice, federal courts, transportation, agriculture and other similar departments are discarded. The whole Congress and its vast staff institutions are also eliminated.[1](For detailed description of this concept see the references at the end of this essay.)

The Structure and Functions of the National Government. The traditional representative system of government and its corresponding institutions employed at the present are far outdated for the fast-moving and self-contained technological society. The system presented here is quite new and fundamentally different. It is difficult to visualize the exact structure and function of a future system. Here only its basic features are considered. In real practice, some modifications may be required.

Considering the early stages of the system, besides defense and foreign affairs, the main functions of the national government are concerned with studying and establishing economic, social and political standards, all based on the principle of equality of opportunity. Therefore, there are national legislative and executive branches but substantially different from the present forms.It cannot be established by reforming the old system; it requires a full transformation.

The National Legislative Branch. This is the main policy making body of the national government and consists of a National Legislative and Coordinating Assembly, Economic and Production Council, Health and Education Council, International Affairs Council, and Judicial Council.

1. National Legislative and Coordinating Assembly. This body has three main functions. First, it gives final approval to regional laws. It has amending authority, as it is the guardian of the principle of equality of opportunity. This task is actually minimal. When a regional legislation is made, it is fed into the Technodem. If any part from it is contrary or in conflict with the national standards or laws, it is pointed out by the Technodem and is corrected by the regional authority accordingly. Assembly also functions to provide uniformity in regional laws when they relate to the application of the principle of equality of opportunity.

The second function of this body is to approve and coordinate the framework for actions proposed by all national councils. The main purpose is to streamline conflicts that may arise from the application of frameworks designed by different councils.

Third, this body receives, amends, and approves the national budget submitted to it by the National Executive Council; and approves the framework of functions proposed by the International Affairs Council for the operation of the executive branch including defense and foreign relations.

2. The National Economic and Production Council. This is the most important national institution. Its job is mainly to establish economic standards based on the principle of equality of opportunity and enact a framework of regulations for their implementation. The main functions of the council are:

a. To establish a framework for the rate of return for the use of capital. This is done through a commission and corresponding staff. It is similar to establishing of the interest rate.

b. To devise a framework for position classification and wage system through a corresponding commission and staff.

c. To develop a framework for the use of the natural resources and return of revenues from such use to the public treasury or the Social Consumption Fund. It must be noted that under technological democracy, the principle of equality of opportunity prohibits the ownership of any part from the natural resources by any individual or institution. All these resources belong to the people as a whole. The Natural Resources Committee establishes a framework for the use of natural resources and lease of land and resources. Any direct revenue from such use goes to the public treasury. For example, oil resources may be leased to an oil company for a determined period of time to explore, extract and market the product. However, the proceeds left after paying for all expenses of operation go to the public treasury. This constitutes the market value of oil itself as a resource.

3. The National Health and Education Council. In a technological democracy health care and education are two of the most important services in society. They are the basic requirements for social democracy and socio-economic development. It is obvious that without a healthy and educated society no progress can be expected. In an advanced technological society also, more than any other, the increase in the level of opportunity heavily depends on the level of knowledge one possesses. This increase in the level of opportunity not only relates to the area of work and production but also to the area of enjoyment of life. For example, one cannot properly enjoy and appreciate an opera, classical music, or modern art unless one has knowledge and understanding of it. It can materialize only through education. Thus, it is imperative that health care and education be fully available to every individual and the work schedule in society be established accommodating education into work hours making education continuous in both areas of technical-professional as well as social-cultural knowledge. Cultural and humanistic education must be made mandatory because it is absolutely necessary to maintain and advance a civilized democratic society. This class of education includes the areas of humanities such as art, music, philosophy, literature, history, foreign languages, and the normative aspects of social sciences. Equality of opportunity in health care and education can be materialize if they are available to the public free of charge. The money to provide these services comes from the Public Consumption Fund.

The first stage of education is the most crucial in preparing children for a democratic way of life, for its comprehension as well as enjoyment. Four years of semiformal yet full time education is required from age three to seven. It constitutes of grades one to four. It is quite similar to preschool education in the ex-Soviet Union, which was considered by many experts to be the best in the world, but more systematic and more comprehensive. Then comes eight years of full time general education from age eight to fourteen, consisting of grades five through twelve. It embodies three major areas of knowledge: social sciences, humanities, and general sciences, including mathematics, each area receiving equal attention in the curriculum. Six years of at least one foreign language is required.

After graduation from this stage, every person works part-time while studying part-time, from age 15 up to 22. He then receives his higher education degree (equivalent to over an M.A. in our present higher education standards) and starts full time work- 34 hours per week.. From there on until retirement at the age 52, each individual is required to continue a part-time education- 6 hours per week, making education a part from 40 hours work per week. The content of this education is equally divided between cultural and professional-technical depending on the nature of employment and job skills requirement. The main purpose of this education is to keep one up-to-date in his area of specialty and expand his knowledge into other desired specialty areas, as well as to improve worker's cultural and intellectual knowledge for a better understanding of human society, better enjoyment of life, and maintaining of democracy.

However, one is not restricted to this requirement in his education. This is only the minimum requirement, and one remains free to pursue his education further and to advance his knowledge as he desires. Under the required education, a worker generally reaches the level of knowledge equivalent to a Ph.D. within ten years, and his education beyond that for the next 20 years, would place the worker at the level of post-doctorate compared to the present knowledge levels. The basis for this concept is simple. Democracy can be established and sustained only in a society where people are fully informed and intellectually advanced. It must be noted that one's education does not stop with retirement. Free education is available to everyone for life.

Health Care. This essential service is rendered through the Technodem, local and regional health care agencies. The framework of their functions and required minimum standards are established by the National Health and Welfare Commission. All health care costs are paid through the Public Consumption Fund. The primary concern will be preventive medical services. The Technodem will be of great help in making such services available, providing preventive and general healthcare, medical information, and general medical consultation at home to every member of society. Particular attention are given to individuals with special and enduring health problems and those retarded or disabled.

4. International Affairs Council. This body has the important function of establishing the framework for international relations covering all its aspects: political, economic and social. These basic policy directions are based on the principle of equality of opportunity. With non-democratic nations the policy directions are based on reciprocal opportunity, gradually moving toward equality of opportunity as those nations incorporate technological democracy in their system.

However, there are certain areas that equality of opportunity will govern from the beginning, regardless of the nature of the other nation's system of operation. For example, in the economic area, equality of opportunity does not allow the exploitation of natural and economic resources of another nation. Because, under this principle, all natural resources of a nation belong to the people of that nation and ultimately to the people of the world. Thus, these resources cannot be owned or exploited by any private or public sector. Any firm, private or public, extracting material resources under a lease contract, is entitled to the full cost of operation and marketing. I takes from the revenues all such costs and pays the balance, which is the actual price of the extracted resources, to the public treasury at home or to the country where the resources were located. This policy, would actually encourage the firm not to exploit the workers but pay wages comparable to the duties of the work. It will cause a substantial increase in real per capita income of the working class in developing countries.

Labor is another important national resource and, based on the principle of equality of opportunity, it cannot be exploited within or outside the country. Thus, the production institutions in a technological democratic society, cannot exploit labor in another country if they move a part from their production of goods and services to that country. The wage system should be comparable to the level established by the domestic system stored in the Technodem. One important effect of this policy would be the elimination or substantial reduction of outsourcing of production and labor and healthy operation of the domestic economy. The equality of opportunity also mandates that no importation of goods or services would be allowed if they are produced by exploited labor compared to the importing country's domestic standards. One strongly beneficial effect of this policy would be substantial increase in wage system in countries which want to do business with a technological democratic nation while exploiting their labor force.

Pursuing equality of opportunity also foster international peace which is a dominant characteristic of democratic life where every claim is resolved by reason and logic than by force. Simply, any military or non-military action causing death, injury or destruction of property deprives the victim of equal opportunity for enjoyment of life or property. Therefore, no country can give or sell arms to another country where such action is to increase the military opportunity of one country over another or become a tool for suppression of its own people. Under the present systems, that of the U.S. in particular, arms sale appears to be the biggest global business. No democracy can be achieved by force and armament since it is inherently undemocratic. The military is presently used to sustain undemocratic conditions benefiting well armed nations such as the United States. Militarism, regretfully, is a remaining vestige from our savage and barbarian past. No nation can be considered civilized while ascribing to militarism.

As a result of international application of the principle of equality of opportunity, ultimately, the national boundaries will disappear, not by force or intimidation but by the consent of the people involved. As each nation develops toward a technological democratic system, it will become a sister state with those already enjoying such a system. The world will gradually move toward a universal technological democracy where national contradictions, in a highly culturally diverse world, will disappear. A permanent world peace will be achieved for the first time in history.

Dr. Reza Rezazadeh

1080 Eastman Street, Platteville, WI 53818

Phone: (608)348-7064

Reference:

For a detailed presentation and analysis of the materials presented in this and all other seven essays, see the following books and other writings by the author by visiting his website http://www.democracywhere.com Technological Democracy: A Humanistic philosophy of the Future Society; Technodemocratic Economic Theory: From Capitalism and Socialism to Democracy; Passage to a Just Society: Secrets of a Democratic Life, Leisure and happiness.

Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin System,and a Fulbright scholar, a multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural, and multi-lingual scholar with background in Mechanical Engineering (B.S.M.E.), Continental and Islamic Law (Licenciate), J.D. in American Jurisprudenxce, LL.M. in International Law and International Economics, Ph.D. in Political Science, Economics and Administration, and Doctor of the Science of Law (S.J.D.) the highest law degree offered in U.S. Fluent in five languages: English, French, Spanish, Persian, Azeri-Turkish. Elementary knowledge of Arabic, Urdu, Russian and Italian. Patented inventions; an artist, a poet (oil and pastel), a musician (violin), with over 35 years of academic background in teaching, reseasrch and administration, research and cultural studies in many countries in Europe including USSR, Middle East, Central Asia, Northe africa, Central and South America. Author of 8 books and many scholarly articles listed in his website http://www.democracywhere.com

The Military Oriented Forums

Active military staff, veterans and civilians can now mingle and exchange their views through the military dedicated forums. These boards are built, own and run by veterans and military staff themselves. Every forum aims to reach out for other staff of the armed forces from various parts of the world.

The Internet is playing an important function in communication. It bridges the gap of distance and time of the people who have same interests and principles towards the agency that handles the veterans benefits as well as the current issues that involve our government and the staff of our armed forces. These boards can be easily access using an Internet connection. Hence, providing everyone with a fair share of the argument including the enemies of this country.

Event though there are hundreds of forums across the www that are readily available to listen to what its members have to say, these boards are still well maintained. Nearly all of these sites are maintained by a certain military group like retired soldiers, National Guards and active military groups. Other groups consist of ordinary people and family members of missing or deceased armed member. These groups are moderators of the boards. Their primary job is to eradicate unrelated discussions, foul words and monitoring as well.

Apart from the benefits and other compensations, different sites also discuss the "in and outs" of being an American military, the government and politics, hobbies and other interests. There are also dedicated boards for images, videos and movies about wars and significant happenings in history and forums that are specially built in memory of those service personnel who have lost their lives in different battles.

More than just discussion and private communication with the real defenders of this country, the sites also endeavor to impart facts and awareness to its civilian members and co-soldiers as well. It also provides information to confused member of the military and their loved ones about the benefits that they ought to have by conversing different related topics.

Certainly, forums like other sites are essential elements that complete the www. Its function in our everyday lives is to educate us and open our eyes with the events happening around us specifically for those people who are protecting our country. Any civilian members of these forums are undoubtedly, have interests in the welfare of our men and women in uniform. And these members are also known as supporters.

Liza Chua is a member of Veterans Advantage that supports and provides an excellent line of military benefits to US military. She is also a member of Liberty Fun Pass.