5 Industries That Buy Government Influence

Source: RINF.com - 9/09/13

We all know that government policy is for sale and corporations can easily exploit our corrupt politicians for financial gain. Here we look at five industry sectors that are able to buy their way to influencing government policy the most.

Defense Contractors

Defense contractors have serious pull in Washington for several reasons. The civilian and contractor labor force of the military has grown while enlisted forces have shrunk. The Department of Defense no longer manufactures its own hardware, relying on defense contractors to do this work. Defense contractors like Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Raytheon have significant influence in key districts because of the jobs they bring, the prestige military contracts have and the cash they have to donate. The UK Daily mail reported that senators who voted for the Syria revolution received more than 80% more cash from defense contractors that those who did not. In essence, those who get more money from the war machine are voting for war, regardless of national interests.

Big Data

Freedom Project

Mind Over Matter: Princeton & Russian Scientist Reveal The Secrets of Human Energy Fields & Intentions

Collective Evolution - 9/05/13, Joe Martino

A Russian scientist has been studying the human energy field and is claiming that people can change the world simply by using their own energy. While this idea is not new, not too many have taken the time to scientifically go about proving such ideas -although the field of quantum physics has shed some powerful light on the topic over the years. Dr. Konstantin Korotkov, professor of physics at St. Petersburg State Technical University, states that when we think positive and negative thoughts, each have a different impact on our surrounding environment.

“We are developing the idea that our consciousness is part of the material world and that with our consciousness we can directly influence our world,” said Dr. Konstantin Korotkov.

Freedom Project

How Did We Get So Far Away from Us?

Greeks stage massive anti-austerity rally in Thessaloniki

PressTV.ir - 9/08/13

Greeks protest against the government’s austerity measures and the layoff of public workers during a rally in the city of Thessaloniki on September 7, 2013.

Greeks have taken to the streets in yet another mass anti-austerity demonstration despite the government’s talk of improvement in the recession-hit economy.

Thousands of people, including union workers, rallied in the country’s second largest city of Thessaloniki on Saturday to protest against cutbacks and layoff of public workers.

More: PressTV.ir

Freedom Project

UN: press should not be 'intimidated into silence' over state secrets

The Guardian - 9/04/13, Josh Halliday and Ewen MacAskill

David Miranda (right) the partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greewald (left) was detained by the UK government under shedule 7 of the Terrorism Act. Photograph: Ricardo Moraes/Reuters

Two senior UN representatives have warned the British government that the protection of state secrets must not be used as an excuse to "intimidate the press into silence" following the detention of David Miranda under the Terrorism Act.

Freedom Project

California Abruptly Drops Plan to Implant RFID Chips in Driver’s Licenses

Wired - 9/03/13, David Kravets

Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED

Following complaints from privacy groups, California lawmakers on Friday suspended legislation to embed radio-frequency identification chips, or RFIDs, in its driver’s licenses and state identification cards.

The legislation, S.B. 397, was put on hold by the state Assembly Appropriations Committee, despite it having been approved by the California Senate, where it likely will be re-introduced in the coming months. Had the measure passed, it would have transformed the Golden State’s standard form of ID into one of the most sophisticated identification documents in the country, mirroring the four other states that have embraced the spy-friendly technology.

More: Wired.com