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FAILURE AT RIO+20? NO, THAT'S THE GREEN MASK

6/24/2012

You'll read that Rio was a failure. It wasn't.

The 20th anniversary UN Agenda 21 conference in Rio de Jainiero that just ended will be posed as a failure--a failure to get wealthy nations to make contributions to poor nations, a failure to protect pristine lands from development, a failure to impose stricter regulations and provide greater power to the UN.

That's the Green Mask.

What Rio+20 did was consolidate power in non-governmental organizations and solidify partnerships with corporations. Capacity building. Strengthening major groups.

More than a half TRILLION dollars in commitments between non-governmental orgs, corporations, and governments so far. Transferring power to unelected groups while giving the appearance of empowering the weak: women, children, minorities populations, and the poor.

UNelected boards and commissions directing your federal, state, and local government to impose regulations, statutes, restrictions, ordinances, laws, and policies on you. Now. In your town.

Don't be misled by the the media lament that Rio+20 was a failure. It wasn't. It's a very effective smokescreen to convince you that it's a weak, powerless, ineffectual, bumbling mass of bureaucrats.

That's the Green Mask.
Read 'The Future We Want', the Rio+20 agreement
***

Secretary of State Clinton is still pushing the UN Law of the Sea Treaty. LOST. With provisions that will tax production of minerals through seabed mining, the International Seabed Authority will transfer money from developed nations to undeveloped nations. Sounds good doesn't it? IF there is a dispute among nations it will be decided by a 5 member tribunal. Two members are chosen from each of the two sides and then the fifth deciding vote is chosen by...The UN. Loss of sovereignty. Regulation and control by the majority voting block in the UN. Mob rule. Still sound good? Hilary said that those of us who object to a treaty that could have the world charging us with the 'crime' of heating up the ocean have 'black helicopters' hovering over our heads. Sounds like she's delusional. Unlike us, she's seeing things that aren't there.

HOW DO YOU SAY FORCED STERILIZATION IN CHINESE?

6/23/2012

Do you wonder if China has an Agenda 21 program? YES. Here's the link and an excerpt:
http://sedac.ciesin.org/china/policy/acca21/218-1.html
China is one of only three countries in the world (along with the United States and India) now working on development of a contraceptive vaccine, a new generation method of birth control. It is expected that one dose of such a vaccine would last 1 to 1.5 years, thus proving simpler, more economical, and more effective than other alternatives, yet still reversible. Although most of the work to date has been on developing a vaccine for women, progress has also been made, and will continue on the more difficult task of isolating antigens to be used in a vaccine for men. China hopes to continue its work and eventually be able to provide these vaccines to other developing countries.

RENAISSANCE: NEWSPEAK FOR TAX GRAB/SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

6/21/2012

'RENAISSANCE DOWNTOWNS' is the name for a corporation that is all over the US 'helping' cities redevelop their downtown areas. Actually they call themselves 'Authenticity and Quality of Life.' This company partners with the American Planning Association, the Urban Land Institute, the Congress for New Urbanism, and others to figure out ways to grab federal and state dollars to implement Smart Growth. They put on dog and pony shows (visioning meetings) and convince people that indebting themselves for 20-45 years in order to put in quaint lamp posts and wide sidewalks in the downtown area is going to be an economic driver. Then Renaissance Downtowns will 'assist' in directing your tax dollars to developers who play ball with the Smart Growth model. Renaissance keeps plenty for themselves too. This is a manipulation that keeps UN Agenda 21/Sustainable Development alive and eating at your town. You may have new streetlights but you'll be in debt for 2 generations paying off bonds that funded big developers. Sustainable! Take a look at California for the real truth on redevelopment. It bankrupts cities.

Here's what they say on their website: Straight out of the Sustainable Development playbook. http://www.renaissancedowntowns.com/approach.php

Comprehensive Planning as a Tool to Attract Funding:
Another critical component of a comprehensive approach to downtown planning and redevelopment is the increased opportunity to receive significant federal funding assistance for efforts that could range from the construction of structured parking, rehab/revitalization of historic buildings, economic development grants and significant pools of money to enable the successful implementation of large scale, well planned and coordinated downtown redevelopment efforts. Such a comprehensive approach also provides a tremendous advantage for communities that are looking to institute or reinstitute rail service to their downtown.

The federal government has formed an interagency partnership that includes HUD, USDOT, USEPA, Federal Transit Administration and Federal Railroad Administration amongst other groups to jointly review grant applications. Renaissance has been involved in these discussions, including participation on panels that include high ranking members of the aforementioned agencies. The Presidential Administration and Congress, through their Sustainable Communities initiative amongst other efforts, is looking to award federal dollars to large scale, smart growth redevelopment efforts, especially those that focus on transit oriented development within our nation's downtowns. Their goal is to see significant returns on public investments that include job and economic growth, social benefits for communities and regions along with environmental benefits. With this in mind, a comprehensive downtown redevelopment designed to meet these objectives stands a far greater chance of receiving significant funding dollars and/or resumption of rail than smaller, isolated efforts. In short, the government is not looking to provide just streetscape grants and sidewalk benches - they are looking for transformative projects focused on our nation's downtowns that will serve the triple bottom line of social, economic and environmental responsibility.

An example of how to successfully leverage private investment to procure significant funding is Renaissance's Glen Cove Waterfront Redevelopment plan, which has garnered nearly 140 Million dollars in public funding for infrastructure and remediation work, along with funding slated for the construction of the City's ferry terminal. The concept utilizing private investment as a catalyst to attract federal dollars is an additional benefit to large scale, comprehensive downtown redevelopment efforts.

IT TAKES GUTS

6/20/2012

I recently spoke in Cleveland, Tennessee about UN Agenda 21/Sustainable Development and how redevelopment is a funding and implementation arm for Smart Growth: the ideology and preferred development style of A21.

I talked about making flyers and putting them on doorsteps to alert the town to what is happening.

An anonymous citizen in Cleveland did just that. The author of the flyer contacted me and said that everything in the flyer is true and fully documented. Take a look at this local newspaper article detailing the intimidation and attacks that are the result. This is an outrage. That a mayor would call on the police to investigate and find out who the citizen is, shows just how frightened the government is of its free people. WE SUPPORT THE PEOPLE OF CLEVELAND TENNESSEE.

Cleveland City Mayor Tom Rowland Calls For Investigation Of "Propaganda Flyer"Monday, June 18, 2012 - by Tonya Brantley

During the Cleveland City Council’s regular voting session meeting Monday afternoon, Mayor Tom Rowland addressed the council and audience concerning a flyer that was circulated to various residents throughout the city’s second district.

The flyer, which Mayor Rowland referred to as propaganda, reads: “WARNING: If you live in the area of 18th Street SE between King Edward Avenue SE and Wildwood Avenue (south of the old Whirlpool site) – Your property rights may soon be violated if we don’t act now!

"I am not a member of any political party and I am not asking you to join anything.
I am one citizen concerned about maintaining our way of life as Americans and stopping this madness that has taken over our local government. Please take 5 minutes to read this critical information, and you can decide what your next step will be. I do hope you will feel the need to get involved in some way. If you have questions, please feel free to contact me, A Concerned Citizen, at [email protected].

"The governments of Cleveland City, Bradley County and Charleston City, recently contracted with consultation group for $250,000, paid for by your tax dollars, to develop a plan called BCC 2035. This plan is based on the concepts of sustainable development, a managed growth plan for our area that is implemented through new land use regulations and restrictions. It incurs new public debt, and of course, increases our taxes. This plan is already in the implementation phase under the guise that the community supports it, even though you have never heard of it. How is this possible? They use a tactic called the Delphi Technique to manufacture consensus. In fact, the only persons who have bought into this plan are local politicians, the Chamber of Commerce, favored developers and environmental groups.

"Q. What does this mean to you as a resident or local business owner?

A. Your homes and businesses are targeted by this plan for demolition andredevelopment!! No Joke! I have the documentation to prove it! It’s called “Central City Area Plan – Themes White Paper with Draft Goals and Recommendations.” Call city Planner Greg Thomas or Rick Russell at BPR, who is the paid consultant for the plan, and ask for a copy.

"Q. Why You?

A. Because you “do not pay a lot in property taxes” and have the infrastructure they need under your streets, your property is prime for redevelopment. I was told this to my face by the consultant himself, Rick Russell.

"Q. How can they do it?

A. The city, local housing authority, or appointed representatives, can use any of several tactics, including: citing your property as an eyesore or blight increasing code enforcement, and possibly using eminent domain to remove you from your property. You can Google “TN Code Annotated 13-20-201” to see the powers of the city or housing authority to act in regards to blight in the state of TN.

"Q. How will they pay for all of this development?

A. This may be the worst part: You do! You will pay for a portion of your property taxes to repay bond debt incurred through a tool called Tax Increment Financing. Money will be diverted from our general fund to pay these debts that will be used to destroy you, all in the name of “creating jobs.”

"Q. What can you do?

A. Educate yourself about this! Google every one of the words or terms I have underlined in this document. Especially read the contents of BCC 2035. It is boring reading, so skip all the background and go to the recommendations. Your eyes will be opened! For more in depth reading I recommend you Google Redevelopment the Unknown Government. It gives an excellent understanding of the abuses of redevelopment. Tell your friends and neighbors. Feel free to copy and hand this out. Call your local representatives, city and county planners, Rick Russell at BPR, and make them explain why they think your home(s) should be demolished!!”

Mayor Rowland said, “This flyer was anonymously passed out in the city. It’s my understanding that over 20 people contacted Greg Thomas because his number was listed on the flyer, who were concerned and some even expressed fear that we’re going to take their property. Nothing can be further from the truth. I think this flyer is very exciting. I don’t find anything, maybe some terminology here and there that’s even true. As you know, we’ve informed the Southside Redevelopment District to increase property values in that area to get rid of the blighted piece of our city to enhance the value of the property around it. I don’t know who the favored developers are, I’ve never seen any. I’ve asked the question about public hearings. Numerous public hearings have been held, not only in the BCC 2035 Plan, but in this venue as well and the county commission. The public has had plenty of time to hear comments on this issue.

"First of all, if local politicians are brought into it, that’s the American way. These are people elected by the people. Nothing is going to happen without elected officials acting on behalf of the people. How will they pay for this new development? I don’t know what new development they’re talking about. We do know that we don’t want the old Whirlpool factory to become a blighted part of our community and devalue property in the area. We don’t want that to happen. That’s why we formed this Southside Development Committee.”

Mayor Rowland went on to say, “My concern is this. The 20-plus families that called who were fearful of the propaganda in this flyer are upset because of this. I’m upset that somebody who is anonymous thinks they have a right to spread untruths to the citizens in our community. To tell them things, and put fear into their minds that are not true, things very unlikely to happen. I this is some sort of tactic to scare people.

"We do want to get rid of eyesores and blight and that’s what we intend to do with the old Whirlpool property. I think this is a very cruel hoax on the citizens of our community to put this flyer in their doors. This is sneaky and at its very best deceiving. Whoever wrote this should be exposed. I’m going to ask the council for a vote to ask police chief, city attorney and the district attorney’s office to do a full investigation on this matter and determine if any laws were broken and try to uncover source of this flyer.”

Councilman David May made the motion which passed unanimously.

RIO + 20 AND ICLEI

6/19/2012

On ICLEI's website they say that there are 1,301 United States cities who are members. Some cities which have not renewed their memberships, such as Santa Rosa, CA and Sarasota, FL, are still shown as members. Interesting, isn't it? Why not project a bigger presence than you have? Why not hide a growing movement to KICK ICLEI OUT

If you check to see what ICLEI's saying about their involvement in the 20th anniversary of the Rio de Jaineiro Earth Summit (1992) where Agenda 21 was launched, they make their connection to the UN quite clear. There are still cities who will deny that there is any connection to the United Nations and that they have no idea what UN Agenda 21 is. For those clueless or deceitful government officials who can't name the source of Sustainable Development, or define it, send them to ICLEI's own Rio+20 website:

How is ICLEI involved?
The year 2012 marks the 20th anniversary of the Earth
Summit, the birthplace of the Local Agenda 21 movement. Initiated by ICLEI, it has inspired thousands of local governments and communities worldwide to put in place local strategies and actions for sustainable development.

Now it’s time to take stock of the lessons learnt at the local level and propose new ways forward for local governments in their quest for green, livable cities. Debate is also needed on the governance framework to be implemented on the national and international levels, in order for local governments to successfully contribute to global sustainability.

To achieve the goals outlined above, ICLEI is
strongly involved in the Rio+20 preparatory processes:

acting as Local
Authority Major Group co-organizing partner,

leading the Local Sustainability 2012 global study,

bringing the local leaders together before and at the conference with the World Congress 2012 and Rio+20 Global Town
Hall.

For more information on Rio+20 and local governments,
consult the ICLEI Rio+20 Briefing Sheet, available
in the Publications
section.

WINNING THE FIGHT: ALABAMA

6/7/2012

Don't be deflected from speaking out and taking action by those who say that UN Agenda 21/Sustainable Development is a 'voluntary, 20 year old plan with no teeth.' In fact it was adopted by your nation and can be seen throughout your town, city, county, state, and country in the regulations and restrictions on your rights, both property and civil.

The perfect analogy is that there's been a football game going on for 20 years and only one team knows it. They've been out on the field making touchdowns while we've been in the locker room. Now we're out on the field, suited up in helmets and pads, and making touchdowns ourselves. Remember: they only come after you when you've got the ball.

We do have it. Here is the text of the legislation passed by the Alabama State Legislature (SB 477) and signed into law by Alabama Governor Robert Bentley.

According to the synopsis of the bill within the text: "This bill would prohibit the State of Alabama and its political subdivisions from adopting and developing environmental and developmental policies that, without due process, would infringe or restrict the private property rights of the owner of the property."

You wouldn't think we'd need a new law for that, but the new law calls out ICLEI and UN Agenda 21 and requires that Alabama not give or receive funds from NGOs named in the UN Agenda 21 document. The law re-establishes the constitutions of the state of Alabama and the United States as the fundamental rule of law and bars adoption or implementation of policy that contravenes the Constitution.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in Alabama and to watch the first lawsuits that challenge implementation of Smart Growth/Wildlands policies that will surely be traced to UN Agenda 21/Sustainable Development.

Alabama is the first. Let's assist our legislators by educating them about UN Agenda 21/Sustainable Development.

We've got the ball. Let's run with it.

NEW DELPHI TACTICS BY THE PLANNERS

6/6/2012

I just received a note from my friends in Tennessee that they attended a visioning meeting and had a new Delphi tactic used on them. We have seen it used here in California as well. Our Tennessee Agenda 21 fighters asked what they could do to combat it, and we thought we'd share our comments with you here.

The classic Delphic technique tactics have you come into a room where you are with a large group and you're either seated in an auditorium or you'll be broken into groups at tables. This gives you access to all participants, at least for a while, and you are able to voice your objections to the entire body.

The new tactic being used by planners is the OPEN HOUSE. The Open House tactic invites the 'public' to drop in at one of several locations at different dates. There will be a planner on duty to explain the plan and solicit the public's input. Usually these open sessions are about 2 hours long. There is often an informational video shown. There is no opportunity for interaction between members of the public.

There is also an online survey that can be filled out by anyone in the public to give their input on the project. There is no way of knowing who is using these forms.

HOW TO COUNTER THIS: What we have done is to prepare a flyer and give it to people as they are going in to the building. You can do this in shifts (one hour each) at each of the locations. The flyers are essentially the 'Notice: You Are Being Delphi'd' ones. I've attached one here. This particular flyer is specific to our regional plan but you can easily adapt it. Also there must be an open meeting law in your state similar to the Brown Act in California. You can put that on the back or something else that's pertinent. The thing about this tactic of theirs is that with the online survey anyone in any state or nation--or world, I guess-- can weigh in. It's a farce, obviously.

We also suggest that you go to your council meeting/supervisors meetings and speak out about this in public comments. Take as many people as possible and do it more than once. Also go to the MPO meeting, their board meeting and protest. You can bring bullhorns and signs and stand out in front in protest. The point is to drag it out of the shadows and embarrass as many of them as possible. Expose it to the light. How many people will be making this 'binding decision' for the huge area covered by the plan? What percentage of the total population? Exploit that shockingly small number.

THIS IS NOT YOUR PLAN. LET THE PUBLIC KNOW THAT THEY ARE BEING DELPHI'D.