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Rob Kall is executive editor, publisher and site architect of OpEdNews.com, Host of the Rob Kall Bottom Up Radio Show (WNJC 1360 AM), President of Futurehealth, Inc, inventor . He is also published regularly on the Huffingtonpost.com
With his experience as architect and founder of a technorati top 100 blog, he is also a new media / social media consultant and trainer for corporations, non-profits, entrepreneurs and authors.
Rob is a frequent Speaker on the bottom up revolution, politics, The art, science and power of story, heroes and the hero's journey, Positive Psychology, Stress, Biofeedback and a wide range of subjects. He is a campaign consultant specializing in tapping the power of stories for issue positioning, stump speeches and debates, and optimizing tapping the power of new media. He recently retired as organizer of several conferences, including StoryCon, the Summit Meeting on the Art, Science and Application of Story and The Winter Brain Meeting on neurofeedback, biofeedback, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology. See more of his articles here and, older ones, here.
To Watch me on youtube, having a lively conversation with John Conyers, Chair of the House Judiciary committee, click here Now, wouldn't you like to see me on the political news shows, representing progressives. If so, tell your favorite shows to bring me on and refer them to this youtube video
My radio show, The Rob Kall Bottom Up Radio Show, runs 9-10 PM EST Wednesday evenings, on AM 1360, WNJC and is archived at www.opednews.com/podcasts Or listen to it streaming, live at www.wnjc1360.com
Rob also host a health/mind/body/heart/spirit radio show-- the Rob Kall Futurehealth radio show. Check out podcasts from it at futurehealth.org/podcasts
A few declarations.
-While I'm registered as a Democrat, I consider myself to be a dynamic critic of the Democratic party, just as, well, not quite as much, but almost as much as I am a critic of republicans.
-My articles express my personal opinion, not the opinion of this website.
(22 comments) Manchurian candidates have been characterized as plants, put into positions of power, so they can do their work for the entity that plants them many years earlier. In some ways, I am feeling like some of the many Catholics in government now have blossomed as Manchurian plants, particularly when we look at the unfolding attack on the right to access to birth control the Catholic Church seems to be systematically orchestrating
(6 comments) We know that AIPAC meddles in US policy, exerting huge influence on congress.
I have no doubt that any member of congress who attacks US policy of blindly supporting Israel will be targeted to be primaried.
Could it get any worse? Maybe it can. Maybe Israeli leaders are literally taking actions, talking war, operating a playbook with the intention of influencing the 2012 presidential elections.
(19 comments) Some of the same old Catholic Bishops and their proxies are making a lot of noise about Obamacare's requirement that hospitals and schools cover contraception costs.
(4 comments) At this point, it is impossible to deny that the Citizens United Supreme Court decision was an act of treason, totally exposing the US election system to unlimited influence by foreign nations.
(16 comments) Mark Perry goes beyond what he reported in his Foreign Policy article to discuss multiple Israeli False flag operations and how supporters of Palestinians fall into the languaging trap, using the words Jews and Jewish.
(12 comments) I left the BBC America channel on last night. When I put the TV on today, the Torchwood series was playing.
It tells the story of a world where aliens are returning. They communicate by taking over the children-- all the children in the world-- who freeze and then start mouthing the same message;
(13 comments) Congress has handed President Obama more executive branch power, further damaging the "balance of power" that protects Democracy. This time he's signed ACTA, an international treaty that could make the worst fears about SOPA and PIPA seem minor.
(21 comments) FLAME, (Facts and Logic About the Middle East,) a rabidly right wing, organization which generates Pro-Israel, anti-palestinian, anti-Iran, anti American Left propaganda, has stooped to a new low. It has sent out an email titled, " Killing Iranian Nuclear Scientists May Be the Best Hope for Stopping the Mullahs."
(13 comments) Opednews.com stands with Google, Wikipedia, and countless other Internet activists protesting Internet censorship today. The Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA) and Protect-IP Act (PIPA) threaten the many glorious freedoms of the web and the communities that have risen from it--including our own.
(2 comments) Corporate personhood has not been an issue that's been on the table in terms of presidential campaigns or debates. That was until the superpac Stephen Colbert just transferred to Jon Stewart, Americans for a Better Tomorrow Tomorrow, created an ad that pulls together a quote from Romney, affirming that corporations are people, with the idea of executing corporations. Is "Mitt the Ripper a Serial Killer? Read on.
(14 comments) Congress is punting again, this time on the tax cut extension. This pattern, which has led to the lowest approval levels since measures of approval were taken, has become chronic. It's really about the bulk of the members of congress being cowards who are intentionally destroying the balance of powers between legislative, Judiciary and Exectutive, so they can save their jobs.
(1 comments) This year, I don't want to buy crap from box stores to give for presents.
I don't want to give money to a commercial, consumer system that has been designed to break down community, isolate people.
What are YOU giving that builds community and connection, that supports people, not corporations, that is ecologically sound.
(2 comments) If the unemployed and poor are to be drug tested, why not drug test legislators as well? That's the idea of Georgia Democratic legislator Scott Holcomb, according to an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution,
(20 comments) Chris Matthews just asked his guests on his Sunday show the question, "What's the Biggest Event or Thing that Happened This Year?"
Guests mentioned the shooting of congresswoman Gifford, the economic mess in Europe, the Killing of Bin Laden.
(4 comments) Corporate personhood is one of the biggest issues for Occupy Wall Street. Thom Hartmann, who wrote THE book on it, discusses it and related issues as they relate to Occupy Wall street, Citizens United and the current state of affairs.
(25 comments) The US real estate market went to hell when bankers centralized home financing. Before then, local bankers worked with people in their communities. The move to centralized, algorithm driven banking led to the massive increase in foreclosures and the collapse of the real estate market.
Now, French and German leaders Sarkozi and Merkel are calling for increasing the centralization of control of European economic policies
(7 comments) a report on the first major action of Occupy Philly since the encampment was shut down and blockaded. There was a real question of whether people would show up. This gave an answer, bigtime. Videos included.
(10 comments) Police have taken over the Dilworth Plaza where Occupy Philly has been. Occupiers marched to Rittenhouse Square, a small park in center city Philly surrounded by expensive condos.
In LA the police have been reportedly gathering at Dodgers stadium in preparation for clearing Occupy LA. Live feed reports over 500 people there.
(1 comments) The enemy of the middle class and the 99%, the United States Chamber of Commerce is lobbying to end laws making it illegal to engage in the corrupt practices of bribery. The fines big corporations are paying are for some, the only money the government is getting from them, since they avoid paying taxes.
(13 comments) I witnessed the waning of Occupy Philly's encampment, but also saw what looks to me like a pattern of energy and development that suggests that occupy evictions will lead to a Metamorphosis of the Occupy Movement to something that not only walks but flies, that is more beautiful, more powerful than anything we have seen so far.
(18 comments) Did police use of pepper spray on OWS protesters "prime" the woman who pepper sprayed Walmart shoppers this morning. If so, and people avoid shopping the box store melees, those police actions could have led to losses of hundreds of millions if not billions in Black Friday sales.
(23 comments) Ron Paul has again distanced himself from the mainstream right wing echo chamber and its lock step messaging attacking and defaming Occupy Wall Street.
At a recent event, Paul was subjected to the "human mike," where people start by saying "mike check," then repeat words. "we will be heard." When they were done, Paul asked, "Do you feel better?" which brought cheers and standing ovations.
(19 comments) The Arab spring occupations did not tweak their political systems. They replaced them with big, huge changes. There was no waiting for the end of a political term. The occupiers re-set the terms.
Now, in Tahrir Sqaure, hundreds of thousands protesters are standing up against violent military & police, laying their lives on the line for true democracy, I say, follow the Tahrir Square model HERE. Demand these BIG changes
(5 comments) Israeli defense minister and former prime minister Ehud Barak says Obama is "extremely strong supporter of Israel in regard to its security"
(24 comments) Across the nation a "safety" meme is emerging as the excuse police chiefs, Mayors, etc. are using to justify intensifying, brutal levels of violence against peaceful Occupy Wall Street protesters. Many have speculated that the fingerprints of the FBI and Homeland Security are behind the pattern of assaults and evictions of OWS locales and protesters. To me, that suggests President Obama is allowing, perhaps even encouraging..
(22 comments) Go to many of the occupied territories and there are signs that read,
"I'll accept corporate personhood when Texas executes a corporation."
In a recent thread, a few commenters were speculating on what an execution of a corporation would look like.
That got my imagination spinning.
(19 comments) Some are calling it Obama punting, but I say that the protesters who were arrested at the White House gates and elsewhere, Bill McKibben, 350.org and the 10,000 plus protesters who circled the Whitehouse this past weekend flat out WON!!
(39 comments) Is the Occupy Wall Street movement fetishizing the spaces that they occupy? Are they defining the movement based on place rather than the many, many other powerful elements and symbols the movement has developed as it has birthed and evolved?
(11 comments) I first heard the term, "Occupied Territories" from Vanessa, a press person and occupier living at Occupy Philly.
Occupied territories!!
It struck me as such a more powerful word than the words I had been using to describe the different Occupy Wall Street locales and communities.
Locales or communities exist. They are. But Occupied Territories, well that's a term with some muscle in it, some fight, some power.
(4 comments) The biggest "progressive" think tank has a new, non-progressive leader. But maybe, with the embryonic Occupy Movement developing, that doesn't matter.
(21 comments) When the right attacks the Occupy movement, and suggest that the Tea Party is better, or that the people of the Occupy movement are not of the best class-- you know they are either lying or ignorant. There is no comparison between the two. The Occupy movement is profoundly more kind, more evolved, more deep and nurturing than the Koch funded tea party.
(20 comments) Last night I covered a Trenton City council meeting where Occupy Trenton was being discussed. There, I met Trenton Tea Party president, Darrell Brooks, who has been supporting and participating in Occupy Trenton and the Occupy movement in general. We talked about his support for the movement and how that gibes with the Tea Party and we discussed corporate personhood.
(7 comments) Could the Koch brothers be buying the Republican presidential nomination with a Koch-Cain (pronounced like cocaine) campaign? They've been funding Cain as their mouthpiece for a long time.
(8 comments) I asked Noam Chomsky, "What's your take on the criticism that Occupy Wall Street people don't have demands, don't have leaders, are not clear on what they stand for?"
He replied.
(5 comments) Brookfield Properties, the company which owns Zuccoti Square, has ordered that it be cleared and cleaned, with new rules that prohibit laying down or using sleep bags to follow. The question is, will activists in the many cities where Brookfield Properties rents office and retail space, launch actions against the company that seems to be launching an attack on the Occupy Wall Street movement.
(11 comments) The Occupy Wall Street movement is freaking out leaders on the right. Fact is, they are not scared or worried enough. The OWS movement is a huge, explosive development, with bigger more profound implications than they can imagine, just like the US space program had a much greater affect on every occupant of the planet.
(25 comments) Cain doesn't get why his "go to the White House" admonition is the exact opposite of what the Occupy Movement is all about.
There's a lot of work yet to be done by the Occupy movement. Like a fresh tapped oil well, the energy is gushing and not yet fully harnessed. But it will be soon and when it is, look out. Changes are going to happen, in spite of the powers at the top. This is a truly bottom-up movement.
(46 comments) It's become clear that besides pepper-spray wielding police there is another threat to the "Occupy" movement-- agents provocateur.
An agent provocateur admitted perpetrating actions at the protest at the National Air and Space museum. There was another person who engaged in a violent act-- who the other protesters quickly stopped and challenged.
Discussion of the dangers of these kinds of people for the Occupy movement.
(26 comments) Starting from the Freedom Square, Occupy Washington DC staging area, a group of 700-1500 protesters marched through Washington DC to the National Air and Space Museum to protest the US of drones to kill.
(11 comments) Thousands, maybe tens of thousands showed up at Freedom Square in DC on a perfect, sunny day.
The big themes were the ten year anniversary of the Afghan war and getting corporations out of government.
(13 comments) The same people and entities that have corrupted the three branches of US government so they are no longer accountable to the people are also waging class war on Europe and the rest of the world.
The Occupy Wall Street movement IS going international and well it should. The conversation is about opposing corporate personhood, as it should but it should also be about opposing globalization and international trade deals.
(9 comments) Actions are showing up all over the world. Opednews wants YOU to report on ones near you-- in comments or articles or diaries. Become a part of the action. Become a citizen journalist today.
(9 comments) The people who have showed up at Occupy Wall Street are succeeding, inspiring people all across America. Photos from Brooklyn Bridge and Boston
(40 comments) People are coming out into the streets because going into voting booths has not helped them. People are joining "occupation" protests because they've realized that things are getting so bad that they have to do something.
(9 comments) Today, President Barack Obama said that since congress has been unable to act, to "fix" No Child Left Behind-- he will act. He'll change education to reflect the approach that his administration, led by Arne Duncan, has used to get states to become more innovative with education.
(36 comments) I'm attending three days of whistleblower conferences and activities. Why? Because a few years ago, when I was naive about the state of whistle blowing in the U.S
(23 comments) It looks like Obama's political leadership team is going to try to spin the loss of Anthony Weiner's NY District 9 seat on Tuesday as a local anomaly primarily due to a large Jewish population.
Don't buy it. EVERY demographic is going to run away from Obama and his reverse coat-tails.
(26 comments) For at least the past week, my 2008 article on Ron Paul,
Gawker just discovered, Center for American Progress reports following Gawker, Truthout is now reporting-- what Opednews reported in July 2008, how Ron Paul's loyal campaign manager died penniless. Kinda like Paul described in the debate the other day. Guess his campaign manager was the irresponsible type.
(5 comments) For at least the past week, my 2008 article on Ron Paul,
Gawker just discovered, Center for American Progress reports following Gawker, Truthout is now reporting-- what Opednews reported in July 2008, how Ron Paul's loyal campaign manager died penniless. Kinda like Paul described in the debate the other day. Guess his campaign manager was the irresponsible type.
(24 comments) This is a sad Labor day. But perhaps, if we face the betrayal of those we thought were on our side we can make some progress. The people still do have the power, if they wake up and choose to use it.
There are no political parties out there that unflinchingly support social and ecological justice, that defend the middle class. We are on our own, almost. These are dark times.
(54 comments) We must face the reality that Barack Obama is a wimp, a smart guy, even a nice guy, who just doesn't have the spine to be as tough as the people of the United States and the rest of the world need.
This gaffe should lead to the firing of whoever orchestrated it for Obama, and whoever failed to nix it and that includes the withdrawal of Barack Obama as a candidate for the 2012 presidency.
(33 comments) a response to an article critical of Ron Paul, not that it is off the mark entirely, but that it ignores the ways that Obama is as or close to as objectionable.
(29 comments) The pollsters are all siding with President Obama. By failing to ask how voters would vote if given an option other than Obama, they make his election seem inevitable. Asking poll questions that let poll respondents express their preferences for Democrats other than Obama will open up the conversation.
(25 comments) BART police shut off cell phone service the other day for a few hours at a number of underground stations, raising questions of restrictions of freedom of speech and access to the internet, and making fears and concerns and conspiracy theories that the government and major phone and internet access providers would be restricting access for political reasons. This could be the 1st time that such a shutdown occurred in the US
(51 comments) The Tea Party has a reputation of unwillingness to compromise. But who knew that this inflexibility would extend to reality. Michele Bachmann proves, on CNN, that she's unwilling to accept reality. You can't do president without that capacity.
In a speech to Parliament, responding to the riots, which started in Tottenham and spread across England, UK prime minister David Cameron suggested blocking social media access to those who might be planning crimes.
(43 comments) one of the most entertaining, funny debates I can ever remember seeing. Over and over again it felt like I was watching Saturday night live.
(13 comments) Nature adapted to the extinction of big by making smarter smaller animals. We need to do the same with business. Making small big is a huge project that we have to make a major commitment to. We've already done it with nano-technology and microprocessor, putting in our pockets computers that used to fill a room. Now we need to apply our abilities to business.
(38 comments) It's time we re-evaluate the kind of economy we have. Do we still want and need an economy based on consumption and growth? If we're going to consider that possibility, we need to think about the alternate options, if any.
(37 comments) Some of you tell me we have no other choice. Some say he'll get better. How deep must Obama sell the middle class into third world status to the corporatists before it becomes clear he is the new Republican? The words of Howard Zinn can give us some hope.
(39 comments) it is no surprise to them to see that the fundamentalists who have partnered with corporatists to trash the USA's standing in ranking after ranking of international topics have intentionally, due to rank malignant ideological idiocy, trashed the USA's credit rating. They've done it in so many other profoundly important aspects of USA life.
(15 comments) Positive Psychology aims to explore the positive aspects of being human-- happiness, well-being, compassion, awe, kindness, love, civility-- and it uses some languaging, like savoring, elevation, broaden and build, eudaemonia.
(1 comments) A communist party decision has terminated an investigative journalism unit at a major Chinese Newspaper. This raises questions about what will and what has already transpired in the USA along similar lines.
(15 comments) I've been watching TNT's Falling Skies, based on the idea that aliens have attacked Earth, killed most humans, destroyed all major cities, and a rag-tag band of survivors struggling to stay alive as they deal with human-size, bug-like aliens and their elephant-sized battle robots.
I got to thinking that in some ways, we're actually facing a reality that has some similarities.
(8 comments) corporate blackmailers are playing numbers games that any fool can figure out. It is obscene that the Kapos in congress who enable these criminal corporations allow this criminal activity. It is nothing less. It is insane that tea partiers have twisted their minds into such stupid, bizarre places that they want to protect these corporate criminals.
(22 comments) The recent developments unfolding at News Corp challenge the idea of corporate personhood and whether justice can really be served when corporations are given the privileges of personhood. There are also the aspects of accountability that come with being considered a person.
The events at News Corp Are raising some very thorny questions.
(23 comments) Alan Grayson says he's in, he's running. And he told me something when I interviewed him two weeks ago that makes me confident this liberal lion is going to kick ass in the next election.
(82 comments) Even among more mainstream Democrats, there's not much hope that Obama will start acting more like a democrat and move to the left if he wins a second term.
(48 comments) The psychopath corporatists in congress and the Whitehouse are doing all they can to skin and harvest the members of the middle class. Unlike hunters who kill their prey first, the members of congress, the banksters and their enablers in the Whitehouse-- they flay their prey while still alive.
(23 comments) Fox news has announced it will shut down the paper that has been riddled with accusations that its staff hacked the phones of parents of a dead child, parents of victims of the London Subway bombings.
(35 comments) The response from the "execute Casey" advocates on the right has been vicious, vilifying the jury as stupid, incompetent, and overly influenced by CSI.
My fear is that the acquittal will lead to the mobilization of forces similar to those which were mobilized successfully to destroy another right we thought was part of the fabric of American justice-- the class action lawsuit.
(28 comments) There is a war that's been under way against the middle class.
The war has been going on for at least 11 years. It's a world wide war-- a World War funded by multinational corporations and billionaires. YOU are their target.
(14 comments) It looks like Israeli influence, and perhaps US influence as well, has reached Athens, where the US Boat to Gaza was stopped within 20 minutes of leaving dock.
