These stories circulating about culinary raves are becoming more prevalent. In fact, the New York Times did a good story back in April. Instead of the old dance-and-drug-type rave, these are raves where foodies gather to craft, sell, talk about, and share their food in underground farmer's markets, away from all of the bureaucracy and tyranny of the federal food fuzz.
These are people who are sick and tired of the stifling, despotic regulations keeping them from freely transacting with customers at local farmer's markets. They are weary of wasting productive time filling out maddening amounts of paperwork while chasing down one arbitrary stipulation after another. They've had it with the fees for health permits, liability insurance, and the use of commercial kitchens to comply with laws. They are denying the pay-offs to bureaucrats and "public safety" gatekeepers. (See my piece on Michigan's cottage food laws.) And of course, this glorious movement was spawned because of blogs and Twitter. One guy, Roger Feely, a San Francisco chef, is known for his “pop-up” dinner parties in alleyways. The story says:
...The market organizers sidestep city health inspections by operating as a private club, requiring that participants become “members” (free) and sign a disclaimer noting that food might not be prepared in a space that has been inspected.
I celebrate the civil disobedience and and the blatant disregard for federal, state, and local laws. I have reverence for the breaking of laws that are nothing more than a stranglehold on creativity and market exchange. I extol those who deny the rent-seeking criminals who call themselves public servants. I promote the free exchange of goods and services for the betterment of each transacting party. And lastly, I despise the trotting out of "safety laws" by government goons as a necessary by-product of the exchange of edible things to "protect" the collective health of a society from spurious hazards lurking beneath every bite. "Safe" is a propaganda ploy used for scaremongering, which in turn is used for political power grabs (federal control). "Safe" can be whatever any special interest or government bureaucrat wants it to be. We own our own bodies; we are the gatekeepers of safe.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Obama and the Drug Cartels
The Obama administration is once again throwing curveballs to the American public on their policy for dealing with the Mexican drug cartels. They are constantly stating that the border is safe and secure. This July there were new directives issued that would supposedly help curtail the drugs coming into America from Mexico.
One of these new directives requires gun dealers in the Southwestern border states, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, to file a report with ATF when a person buys two or more semiautomatic rifles within five days. The administration sees this as an attempt to disrupt the weapon trafficking networks that divert firearms to the gun cartels.
Also, in July Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske, and US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin came up with a new strategy to deal with the drug runners coming across the border into America. This strategy only focuses on drug prevention and gives little attention to the unsecured border. Napolitano stated at this meeting that "we have been devoting really unprecedented efforts to making sure that the border is safe and secure," which is why she felt that the school programs were emphasized.
Everyone interviewed strongly felt that Napolitano's statement was completely false and the administration needs to make the border secure and safe. Although education and prevention are a component, demand will always be a factor and the immediate problem is not going to be solved by school anti-drug programs. Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne cited the fact that last year, just in the Tucson sector, there were 400,000 who crossed the border. Leo Banks, an Arizona journalist, stressed that there are fewer workers coming across, but there are more corridors that are out of control, with more drug traffickers "who are a nasty bunch, bolder, more violent, more sophisticated, and unafraid." There are isolated incidents spilling over into the US from kidnappings and murders, to bullets flying across the border. In Arizona Horne told of incidents of drug cartel violence: a beheading in Chandler, a policeman and one of his investigators shot, and a rancher killed.
One of these new directives requires gun dealers in the Southwestern border states, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, to file a report with ATF when a person buys two or more semiautomatic rifles within five days. The administration sees this as an attempt to disrupt the weapon trafficking networks that divert firearms to the gun cartels.
Also, in July Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske, and US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin came up with a new strategy to deal with the drug runners coming across the border into America. This strategy only focuses on drug prevention and gives little attention to the unsecured border. Napolitano stated at this meeting that "we have been devoting really unprecedented efforts to making sure that the border is safe and secure," which is why she felt that the school programs were emphasized.
Everyone interviewed strongly felt that Napolitano's statement was completely false and the administration needs to make the border secure and safe. Although education and prevention are a component, demand will always be a factor and the immediate problem is not going to be solved by school anti-drug programs. Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne cited the fact that last year, just in the Tucson sector, there were 400,000 who crossed the border. Leo Banks, an Arizona journalist, stressed that there are fewer workers coming across, but there are more corridors that are out of control, with more drug traffickers "who are a nasty bunch, bolder, more violent, more sophisticated, and unafraid." There are isolated incidents spilling over into the US from kidnappings and murders, to bullets flying across the border. In Arizona Horne told of incidents of drug cartel violence: a beheading in Chandler, a policeman and one of his investigators shot, and a rancher killed.
Big-Name Hollywood Film Producer Exposed as Covert Agent for Israel
A just-released book* confirms what U.S. law enforcement had suspected for decades: A Jewish Hollywood film producer “was a full-fledged operative for Israel’s top-secret intelligence agency” and used his many U.S.- based companies to smuggle sensitive nuclear technology from the United States to Israel. This spy was also the most likely source for Iran and Libya’s uranium enrichment advances.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the book, Confidential: The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon—Arnon Milchan, “recounts Milchan’s life story, from his days as a boy through his friendships with Israeli prime ministers, U.S. presidents and Hollywood stars.”
As far back as 1995, AFP correspondent Michael Collins Piper revealed that Milchan—who bankrolled Oliver Stone’s film JFK—was a key figure in Israel’s nuclear weapons program that Kennedy was determined to stop. The Milchan-funded film ignores this conflict. Milchan produced other films including Pretty Woman, War of the Roses, Fight Club and Natural Born Killers.
He also funds the Israeli Network, which broadcasts Israeli TV programming to the U.S. and Canada. Milchan, a fanatical devotee of the Zionist state and an Israeli citizen, set up shop in Tinseltown in the late 1970s, attaining a net worth of around $4 billion. Forbes magazine listed him as the world’s 268th richest person.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the book, Confidential: The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon—Arnon Milchan, “recounts Milchan’s life story, from his days as a boy through his friendships with Israeli prime ministers, U.S. presidents and Hollywood stars.”
As far back as 1995, AFP correspondent Michael Collins Piper revealed that Milchan—who bankrolled Oliver Stone’s film JFK—was a key figure in Israel’s nuclear weapons program that Kennedy was determined to stop. The Milchan-funded film ignores this conflict. Milchan produced other films including Pretty Woman, War of the Roses, Fight Club and Natural Born Killers.
He also funds the Israeli Network, which broadcasts Israeli TV programming to the U.S. and Canada. Milchan, a fanatical devotee of the Zionist state and an Israeli citizen, set up shop in Tinseltown in the late 1970s, attaining a net worth of around $4 billion. Forbes magazine listed him as the world’s 268th richest person.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Israel Controls French Intelligence, Lobby Pressures US President
Former French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas referred in a book he published entitled "Coups et blessures" (Assaults and Injuries), that "The "Israelis" are doing whatever they want in France, and are controlling the French Intelligence with what serves them".
On another hand, Dumas confirmed that the "Israelis" are mistaken not to negotiate with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, even if the latter refuses any kind of agreement. He also added, "I made some special relations with him [Bashar al-Assad] like those I had with his father (President Hafez Assad)".
Furthermore, Dumas revealed in the same book that when current Zionist President, Shimon Perez was still the entity's Foreign Minister, he advised Dumas to pay President Hafez Assad a visit in 1992. At that time Perez was aware that the US is seeking a new way to understanding with Damascus, so he [Perez] believed that France could also gain interest through being involved in the Middle East peace process.
In this context, Former French Minister added, "The deceased Syrian President had little faith in Perez, and he knew the mazes of the internal "Israeli" relations". Hafez al-Assad was aware that the "Israeli" Foreign Minister might adopt unilateral initiatives, and therefore it won't lead into anything effective".
In his "Coups et blessures", Dumas also mentioned the Islamic Republic of Iran, which he had visited several times and met its former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Wilayati, and former President Hachemi Rafsanjani. Dumas strictly affirmed, "The Iranian atomic bomb is in my view similar to the weapons of mass destruction possessed by former Iraqi President Sadam Hussein, i.e. I don't believe in all of that. I believe that all what occurred was a misleading of facts". He also referred to that, "The confusion in the French policies goes back to known interferences, where "Israel's" close presence makes all analysis suspicious".
On another hand, Dumas confirmed that the "Israelis" are mistaken not to negotiate with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, even if the latter refuses any kind of agreement. He also added, "I made some special relations with him [Bashar al-Assad] like those I had with his father (President Hafez Assad)".
Furthermore, Dumas revealed in the same book that when current Zionist President, Shimon Perez was still the entity's Foreign Minister, he advised Dumas to pay President Hafez Assad a visit in 1992. At that time Perez was aware that the US is seeking a new way to understanding with Damascus, so he [Perez] believed that France could also gain interest through being involved in the Middle East peace process.
In this context, Former French Minister added, "The deceased Syrian President had little faith in Perez, and he knew the mazes of the internal "Israeli" relations". Hafez al-Assad was aware that the "Israeli" Foreign Minister might adopt unilateral initiatives, and therefore it won't lead into anything effective".
In his "Coups et blessures", Dumas also mentioned the Islamic Republic of Iran, which he had visited several times and met its former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Wilayati, and former President Hachemi Rafsanjani. Dumas strictly affirmed, "The Iranian atomic bomb is in my view similar to the weapons of mass destruction possessed by former Iraqi President Sadam Hussein, i.e. I don't believe in all of that. I believe that all what occurred was a misleading of facts". He also referred to that, "The confusion in the French policies goes back to known interferences, where "Israel's" close presence makes all analysis suspicious".
Anders Behring Breivik, Mystery Man
What do we really know about Anders Behring Breivik, the Norway mass murderer who killed in the name of his anti-Muslim ideology, nearly a week after his horrific rampage? We know what he did, and why he did it: he left behind not only a 1,500 page manifesto, in which he pours out his hatred of Muslims, but also a day-by-day diary that details his elaborate preparations, in which he claims his crime was nine years in the making.
That’s an awfully long time for a "lone wolf" to keep his plans to himself, yet the head of Norway’s intelligence agency was quick to state Breivik acted alone – this is spite of Breivik’s own contention, in his online "book," that two other cells of his "Knights Templar Europe" exist. Furthermore, according to Breivik, the Knights were founded at a London meeting in 2002, at which his British "mentor" and representatives from across the continent were in attendance.
What we don’t know, however, is how he did it. Oh, he gives us a detailed account of his obsessive preparations, including how much protein he added to his weightlifting regimen. We know he set up a front company, Breivik Geofarm, supposedly devoted to the growing of tubers, which is how he managed to get the fertilizer that was a key component of his car bomb. What we don’t know, however, is where money came from.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the leaders and "scholars" who provided Breivik with the intellectual and political support he needed also provided more substantial support, such as ensuring the confidentiality of communications with the "Knights." Geller has already gone on the public record as supporting the thugs of the English Defense League, who troll the streets of British cities looking for Muslim victims – why not Breivik?
That’s an awfully long time for a "lone wolf" to keep his plans to himself, yet the head of Norway’s intelligence agency was quick to state Breivik acted alone – this is spite of Breivik’s own contention, in his online "book," that two other cells of his "Knights Templar Europe" exist. Furthermore, according to Breivik, the Knights were founded at a London meeting in 2002, at which his British "mentor" and representatives from across the continent were in attendance.
What we don’t know, however, is how he did it. Oh, he gives us a detailed account of his obsessive preparations, including how much protein he added to his weightlifting regimen. We know he set up a front company, Breivik Geofarm, supposedly devoted to the growing of tubers, which is how he managed to get the fertilizer that was a key component of his car bomb. What we don’t know, however, is where money came from.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the leaders and "scholars" who provided Breivik with the intellectual and political support he needed also provided more substantial support, such as ensuring the confidentiality of communications with the "Knights." Geller has already gone on the public record as supporting the thugs of the English Defense League, who troll the streets of British cities looking for Muslim victims – why not Breivik?
Thursday, July 28, 2011
The Scientific Dictatorship Explained
Eisenhower’s warning is especially prescient here. “The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded,” he warned. Tax-exempt foundations have played a critical role in directing society and technological development. For example, as president of the Carnegie Institution, Vannevar Bush “…was able to influence research in the U.S. towards military objectives and could informally advise the government on scientific matters.”
As Dr. Lily E. Kay has documented in her book The Molecular Vision of Life: Caltech, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Rise of the New Biology, large foundations effectively set in motion the entire scientific technological agenda for the 20th Century. Under the “Science of Man” agenda, the physical makeup of human beings was studied, and methods to alter various biological processes were devised. This inertia rippled throughout society and impacted the minds of the intelligentsia that were totally unconnected to the core group responsible for organizing the central project.
The Scientific Dictatorship often operates under the cover of darkness, under national security, private contractors, and deep levels of government secrecy.
One area of operations for this group is in bio weapons laboratories across the globe. As revealed by The Age, Nobel prize winning Australian microbiologist Sir Macfarlane Burnet secretly urged the Australian government in 1947 to develop bio weapons for use against the “overpopulated countries of South-East Asia.” In a 1947 meeting with the New Weapons and Equipment Development Committee, the group recommended that “the possibilities of an attack on the food supplies of S-E Asia and Indonesia using B.W. agents should be considered by a small study group.”
The anthrax attacks that occurred shortly after 9/11 have exposed the underbelly of this system, along with the murder of Dr. David Kelly in 2003. Investigative journalist and film maker Bob Coen examined the anthrax case and concluded that an “international biological weapons mafia” is operating in total secrecy.
As Dr. Lily E. Kay has documented in her book The Molecular Vision of Life: Caltech, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Rise of the New Biology, large foundations effectively set in motion the entire scientific technological agenda for the 20th Century. Under the “Science of Man” agenda, the physical makeup of human beings was studied, and methods to alter various biological processes were devised. This inertia rippled throughout society and impacted the minds of the intelligentsia that were totally unconnected to the core group responsible for organizing the central project.
The Scientific Dictatorship often operates under the cover of darkness, under national security, private contractors, and deep levels of government secrecy.
One area of operations for this group is in bio weapons laboratories across the globe. As revealed by The Age, Nobel prize winning Australian microbiologist Sir Macfarlane Burnet secretly urged the Australian government in 1947 to develop bio weapons for use against the “overpopulated countries of South-East Asia.” In a 1947 meeting with the New Weapons and Equipment Development Committee, the group recommended that “the possibilities of an attack on the food supplies of S-E Asia and Indonesia using B.W. agents should be considered by a small study group.”
The anthrax attacks that occurred shortly after 9/11 have exposed the underbelly of this system, along with the murder of Dr. David Kelly in 2003. Investigative journalist and film maker Bob Coen examined the anthrax case and concluded that an “international biological weapons mafia” is operating in total secrecy.
ADL: U.S. RIGHT HELPED INSPIRE NORWAY SHOOTING
Of course, Israel and its PR-rep ADL have been, at least for the past century, anti-Arab/Muslim. But if by posturing as protective of Muslim rights, ADL can cast anti-Muslim Christians as haters, then ADL, ever the far-seeing strategist, will not pass up the opportunity. Literally everything ADL does in promoting homosexuality, evolution, pornography, abortion and radical feminism, unrestrained immigration, and hate laws is directed toward one horrific goal—destruction of Christian civilization and criminalization of Christianity.
Breivik, like the rest of us, living in a world of ideas, is influenced by such ideas. But if he is sane, he and only he is responsible for the premeditation and carrying out of the horrendous murder of possibly 98 people.
But don't expect ADL to be satisfied with such a prosaic, unimaginative explanation, any more than ADL/SPLC was satisfied by the facts in the Giffords' shooting. When you are obsessed that an army of potentially homicidal, radical right-wingers lurk behind every bush, you will try to connect the lone wolf with the right-wing pack.
ADL wants us to believe the very existence of intolerant ideas in the world is intolerable. ADL says it is the role of government to remove, by force if necessary, the influence of such ideas, lest they stimulate thoughts which might lead to bigotry or even violence. This is the whole rationale behind ADL thought and hate crimes philosophy and laws, now permeating the Western world.
Breivik, like the rest of us, living in a world of ideas, is influenced by such ideas. But if he is sane, he and only he is responsible for the premeditation and carrying out of the horrendous murder of possibly 98 people.
But don't expect ADL to be satisfied with such a prosaic, unimaginative explanation, any more than ADL/SPLC was satisfied by the facts in the Giffords' shooting. When you are obsessed that an army of potentially homicidal, radical right-wingers lurk behind every bush, you will try to connect the lone wolf with the right-wing pack.
ADL wants us to believe the very existence of intolerant ideas in the world is intolerable. ADL says it is the role of government to remove, by force if necessary, the influence of such ideas, lest they stimulate thoughts which might lead to bigotry or even violence. This is the whole rationale behind ADL thought and hate crimes philosophy and laws, now permeating the Western world.
This Is What A Collapsing Ponzi Scheme Looks Like
You might want to sit down for this one. As bad as the housing crisis has been over the past three years, it has only been a warm up to what we have headed our way. Laurie Goodman, from Amherst Securities, has been tracking the housing market as well as anyone. She just presented her latest findings at the American Enterprise Institute and it is a horrific forecast, to say the least. As she puts it, “10.81 million homes are at risk of default over the next 6 years. Even if we try to be extremely conservative we can’t get the number below 8.7 million units.”
With defaults already piling up, the shadow inventory of homes has been growing rapidly, and given this new data the number is going to skyrocket. As this chart shows, the total has gone up from 2 million homes in 2009 to 3.35 million as of April, a 67.5% increase already.
Laurie Goodman’s full presentation is available in pdf format here.
Obviously this is going to significantly drive home prices further down, as I reported a few weeks ago, 28% of US homeowners already owe more on their mortgage than their homes are worth. A recent survey by Fannie Mae found that 27% of American homeowners are considering walking away from their mortgage. A perfect storm is brewing. As prices continue to drop, with 10 million now at risk of default, a strategic default movement could devastate the “too big to fail” banks that caused this mess in the first place.
With all this trouble headed their way, no wonder they are fighting hard to, as Reuters put it, get “immunity over irregularities in handling foreclosures, even as evidence has emerged that banks are continuing to file questionable documents.” They can attempt to fraudulently paper over reality, play accounting games, “extend and pretend” and buy off all the state attorneys and regulators they want, even have the Fed, Treasury, Congress and the president in their pocket; they can buy all the king’s horses and all the king’s men, but they can’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
With defaults already piling up, the shadow inventory of homes has been growing rapidly, and given this new data the number is going to skyrocket. As this chart shows, the total has gone up from 2 million homes in 2009 to 3.35 million as of April, a 67.5% increase already.
Laurie Goodman’s full presentation is available in pdf format here.
Obviously this is going to significantly drive home prices further down, as I reported a few weeks ago, 28% of US homeowners already owe more on their mortgage than their homes are worth. A recent survey by Fannie Mae found that 27% of American homeowners are considering walking away from their mortgage. A perfect storm is brewing. As prices continue to drop, with 10 million now at risk of default, a strategic default movement could devastate the “too big to fail” banks that caused this mess in the first place.
With all this trouble headed their way, no wonder they are fighting hard to, as Reuters put it, get “immunity over irregularities in handling foreclosures, even as evidence has emerged that banks are continuing to file questionable documents.” They can attempt to fraudulently paper over reality, play accounting games, “extend and pretend” and buy off all the state attorneys and regulators they want, even have the Fed, Treasury, Congress and the president in their pocket; they can buy all the king’s horses and all the king’s men, but they can’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Another smoking gun: Breivik link to Israel
Although the mainstream corporate media and even a few "alternative news" websites are ignoring the proven links between Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik and Israel, yet another "smoking gun" connection between the pro-Zionist mass murderer and Israel has emerged.
Ninety minutes before Breivik was reported to have detonated a huge fertilizer-fuel bomb in the government district of downtown Oslo and then proceeding to Utoya island dressed as a uniformed police officer to massacre scores of youth attending a Norwegian Labor Party jamboree, he sent an email containing a 1500-page rambling manifesto to Isak Nygren, a member of the far-right, anti-Islamic and Roma (gypsy), and pro-Zionist Sweden Democrats (SD) political party. Among Breivik's writings is this quote: "So let us fight together with Israel, with our Zionist brothers against all anti-Zionists, against all cultural Marxists/multiculturalists."
Who is Isak Nygren? One will not see any mention of him in the English-language corporate media. Nygren is a pro-Israeli SD activist who is only 21 years old but has already run for municipal-level political office in his native province of Sodermanland and municipality of Katrineholm, Sweden. It is also noteworthy that Nygren was not in Sweden when he received Breivik's e-mail but, according to the July 24 edition of Sweden's Nyheter newspaper, was in Israel living on a kibbutz. The location of the kibbutz was not reported. There are other reports on Internet websites that Nygren is Jewish.
The only English-language media that reported Breivik's connection to Nygren is Die Presse of Vienna, Eskiltuna-Kurinen of Sweden,Sveriges Radio, Expo magazine of Sweden, the Berliner Zeitung of Germany, and Kurier of Austria. To its credit, Nyheter is the only media outlet that officially reported on Breivik's connections to Nygren, in addition to Nygren's current presence in Israel.
Ninety minutes before Breivik was reported to have detonated a huge fertilizer-fuel bomb in the government district of downtown Oslo and then proceeding to Utoya island dressed as a uniformed police officer to massacre scores of youth attending a Norwegian Labor Party jamboree, he sent an email containing a 1500-page rambling manifesto to Isak Nygren, a member of the far-right, anti-Islamic and Roma (gypsy), and pro-Zionist Sweden Democrats (SD) political party. Among Breivik's writings is this quote: "So let us fight together with Israel, with our Zionist brothers against all anti-Zionists, against all cultural Marxists/multiculturalists."
Who is Isak Nygren? One will not see any mention of him in the English-language corporate media. Nygren is a pro-Israeli SD activist who is only 21 years old but has already run for municipal-level political office in his native province of Sodermanland and municipality of Katrineholm, Sweden. It is also noteworthy that Nygren was not in Sweden when he received Breivik's e-mail but, according to the July 24 edition of Sweden's Nyheter newspaper, was in Israel living on a kibbutz. The location of the kibbutz was not reported. There are other reports on Internet websites that Nygren is Jewish.
The only English-language media that reported Breivik's connection to Nygren is Die Presse of Vienna, Eskiltuna-Kurinen of Sweden,Sveriges Radio, Expo magazine of Sweden, the Berliner Zeitung of Germany, and Kurier of Austria. To its credit, Nyheter is the only media outlet that officially reported on Breivik's connections to Nygren, in addition to Nygren's current presence in Israel.
Deep Parallels Surface – Norway, 9/11, 7/7 and Bali
The greatest controversy in the world today is Israeli involvement in 9/11. Israeli terrorists were captured with explosives in New York on 9/11, others with electronics gear.
A planeload were flown out of the country on presidential order the next day but, in the end, Muslims were blamed and two “revenge” wars buried America.
In fact, then Mossad operations chief Mike Harari, who escaped Norwegian police in 1973, after murder charges were leveled against him for killing an innocent Muslim he misidentified as a terror suspect, is the same Mike Harari who confessed to organizing the 9/11 attacks while having breakfast with VT staffer, Dimitri Khalezov on September 12, 2001 in Bangkok.
If you don’t remember the Bali bombing of 2002, it was Australian’s 9/11 just as 7/7 was Britain’s 9/11. These attacks were all political, all involved the same people, the same “event planners” and benefited the same players, Israel and right wing extremists in the US, Britain and Australia. Mike Harari planned and executed the Bali bombing but he needed help, he said. What he needed was a “fall guy” to blame and Dimitri Khalezov, former Soviet nuclear weapons intelligence officer was a perfect patsy, or so Harari believed when he approached him.
A planeload were flown out of the country on presidential order the next day but, in the end, Muslims were blamed and two “revenge” wars buried America.
In fact, then Mossad operations chief Mike Harari, who escaped Norwegian police in 1973, after murder charges were leveled against him for killing an innocent Muslim he misidentified as a terror suspect, is the same Mike Harari who confessed to organizing the 9/11 attacks while having breakfast with VT staffer, Dimitri Khalezov on September 12, 2001 in Bangkok.
If you don’t remember the Bali bombing of 2002, it was Australian’s 9/11 just as 7/7 was Britain’s 9/11. These attacks were all political, all involved the same people, the same “event planners” and benefited the same players, Israel and right wing extremists in the US, Britain and Australia. Mike Harari planned and executed the Bali bombing but he needed help, he said. What he needed was a “fall guy” to blame and Dimitri Khalezov, former Soviet nuclear weapons intelligence officer was a perfect patsy, or so Harari believed when he approached him.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Norway’s monster and THE question
There are two things we know for sure.
One is that Breivik is fanatically anti Islam and pro Zionism.
The other is that Zionism’s propaganda machine has been set to work at full speed, day and night, eight days and nights a week, to demonize, discredit and destroy all who are calling and campaigning for Israel to be boycotted.
From the obscenity of the Nazi holocaust to the present, Zionism’s success in selling its propaganda lies as truth is the reason why the search for peace based on an acceptable amount of justice for the Palestinians has been, and remains, a mission impossible.
I describe the Israel-Palestine conflict as the cancer at the heart of international affairs which threatens to consume us all. It’s bad enough that Zionist propaganda has prevented a cure for it, but if now that same propaganda is inspiring Europeans in Europe to slaughter their own, the future is very, very frightening.
One is that Breivik is fanatically anti Islam and pro Zionism.
The other is that Zionism’s propaganda machine has been set to work at full speed, day and night, eight days and nights a week, to demonize, discredit and destroy all who are calling and campaigning for Israel to be boycotted.
From the obscenity of the Nazi holocaust to the present, Zionism’s success in selling its propaganda lies as truth is the reason why the search for peace based on an acceptable amount of justice for the Palestinians has been, and remains, a mission impossible.
I describe the Israel-Palestine conflict as the cancer at the heart of international affairs which threatens to consume us all. It’s bad enough that Zionist propaganda has prevented a cure for it, but if now that same propaganda is inspiring Europeans in Europe to slaughter their own, the future is very, very frightening.
Massacre in Norway-- More About the Jewish Right Wing Connection
Thanks to respected anti-Zionist Jeff Blankfort (who provided me with a crucial link) I have now learned that, just one day before last Friday’s Massacre in Norway, former Trotsky-ite turned neo-con David Horowitz carried an article by Joseph Klein in his Front Page magazine, entitled "The Quislings of Norway," which might as well have provided mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik with all the motivation he needed to commit his crime.
Here are some of the ‘pearls’ produced by the pro-war Jewish rightwing magazine, just a few hours before Behring Breivik picked up his guns and launched into his lethal journey:
The truth of the matter is surely clear by now : it is Jewish right wing pro-war platforms such as FrontPage Magazine, Daniel Pipes, Harry’s Place and others following their example, that consciously, openly , deviously and divisively cultivate a prevalent culture of hate and Islamophobia.
However, the message should be urgent and clear to all of us: police, intelligence and home security services around the world must surely investigate, and clampdown on these hate inspiring outlets, immediately. Their motivations, aims and activities must be brought under scrutiny and questioned. For the sake of peace and our general safety, law makers in Europe and America had better quickly put into place the necessary measures to restrain the activity of these Zionist warmongers in our midst.
Here are some of the ‘pearls’ produced by the pro-war Jewish rightwing magazine, just a few hours before Behring Breivik picked up his guns and launched into his lethal journey:
The truth of the matter is surely clear by now : it is Jewish right wing pro-war platforms such as FrontPage Magazine, Daniel Pipes, Harry’s Place and others following their example, that consciously, openly , deviously and divisively cultivate a prevalent culture of hate and Islamophobia.
However, the message should be urgent and clear to all of us: police, intelligence and home security services around the world must surely investigate, and clampdown on these hate inspiring outlets, immediately. Their motivations, aims and activities must be brought under scrutiny and questioned. For the sake of peace and our general safety, law makers in Europe and America had better quickly put into place the necessary measures to restrain the activity of these Zionist warmongers in our midst.
NATO: An Alliance That Divides Rather Than Unites
A common purpose once united members of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance. But no longer. Individual members now increasingly capture NATO for their own purposes. As a result, the alliance will find it ever harder to bring nations together even when they share interests.
NATO made sense when it was created more than six decades ago. Allies across the Atlantic were united in their commitment to protect war-ravaged Western Europe from Soviet aggression. When the Warsaw Pact disbanded and the Soviet Union collapsed, NATO had fulfilled its role.
Unfortunately, alliance partisans acted as Public Choice economics would predict: They scrambled to save their jobs and careers. Instead of closing NATO, they looked for new reasons to keep it going.
NATO would expand to the east, adding security burdens that made existing members less safe. And the organization would go “out of area,” intervening where members were not threatened. Observed Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.): “Either NATO goes out of area or goes out of business.” And no self-respecting politician or bureaucrat ever wants to do the second.
NATO made sense when it was created more than six decades ago. Allies across the Atlantic were united in their commitment to protect war-ravaged Western Europe from Soviet aggression. When the Warsaw Pact disbanded and the Soviet Union collapsed, NATO had fulfilled its role.
Unfortunately, alliance partisans acted as Public Choice economics would predict: They scrambled to save their jobs and careers. Instead of closing NATO, they looked for new reasons to keep it going.
NATO would expand to the east, adding security burdens that made existing members less safe. And the organization would go “out of area,” intervening where members were not threatened. Observed Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.): “Either NATO goes out of area or goes out of business.” And no self-respecting politician or bureaucrat ever wants to do the second.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Mossad Was Behind 2011 Oslo Attacks
Last night, I posted a quote by investigative journalist Wayne Madsen who says that Israel’s Mossad was behind the Oslo attacks along with a post by Washington’s Blog that showed Norway’s support for a Palestinian state and its support for the campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel.
When you question the motives and tactics of the Israeli state you get called ‘anti-Semitic.’ That nasty trick worked years ago, but it doesn’t work today. People have wised up to the huge fraud.
If there is evidence that points towards the reality that Mossad was behind the attacks in Oslo then we should talk about the evidence, and not be afraid to tell the truth.
I see Mossad’s fingerprints all over this recent killing in Oslo, Norway. They have everything to gain by attacking Norway and teaching it a lesson. And they have a long track record of false flag terrorism. The blog ‘Thirteenth Monkey’ has a good round-up of links showing that over the past months and years relations between Israel and Norway have been rocky. Israel’s resentment towards Norway for taking a strong stand against Israeli war crimes and supporting the rights of Palestinians is so obvious. Resentment leads to acts of violent retribution, this is true of both individuals and states.
When you question the motives and tactics of the Israeli state you get called ‘anti-Semitic.’ That nasty trick worked years ago, but it doesn’t work today. People have wised up to the huge fraud.
If there is evidence that points towards the reality that Mossad was behind the attacks in Oslo then we should talk about the evidence, and not be afraid to tell the truth.
I see Mossad’s fingerprints all over this recent killing in Oslo, Norway. They have everything to gain by attacking Norway and teaching it a lesson. And they have a long track record of false flag terrorism. The blog ‘Thirteenth Monkey’ has a good round-up of links showing that over the past months and years relations between Israel and Norway have been rocky. Israel’s resentment towards Norway for taking a strong stand against Israeli war crimes and supporting the rights of Palestinians is so obvious. Resentment leads to acts of violent retribution, this is true of both individuals and states.
The Norway massacre and the nexus of Islamophobia and right-wing Zionism
Breivik is apparently an avid fan of U.S.-based anti-Muslim activists such as Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer and Daniel Pipes, and has repeatedly professed his ardent support for Israel. Breivik's political ideology is illuminated by looking at comments he posted to the right-wing site document.no, which author and journalist Doug Sanders put up.
Breivik's right-wing pro-Israel line, combined with his antipathy to Muslims, is just one example of the European far-right's ideology, exemplified by groups such as the English Defense League (EDL). The EDL, a group Breivik praises, along with the anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders, share with Breivik an admiration for Israel.
Anti-Muslim activists and right-wing Zionists share a political narrative that the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is a "clash of civilizations," one in which Judeo-Christian culture is under attack by Islam. Israel, in this narrative, is the West's bulwark against the threat that Islam is posing to Europe and the United States. The nexus of Islamophobia and right-wing Zionism was clearly on display during last summer's "Ground Zero mosque" hysteria, which culminated in a rally where Geller and Wilders addressed a crowd that included members of the EDL waving Israeli flags.
Breivik's admiration for the likes of Daniel Pipes is also telling, and should serve as a warning that, while it would be extremely unfair and wrong to link Pipes in any way to the massacre in Norway, Breivik's views are not so far off from some establishment neoconservative voices in the U.S. For instance, both Pipes and Breivik share a concern with Muslim demographics in Europe. In 1990, Pipes wrote in the National Review that "Western European societies are unprepared for the massive immigration of brown-skinned peoples cooking strange foods and maintaining different standards of hygiene...All immigrants bring exotic customs and attitudes, but Muslim customs are more troublesome than most."
Breivik's right-wing pro-Israel line, combined with his antipathy to Muslims, is just one example of the European far-right's ideology, exemplified by groups such as the English Defense League (EDL). The EDL, a group Breivik praises, along with the anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders, share with Breivik an admiration for Israel.
Anti-Muslim activists and right-wing Zionists share a political narrative that the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is a "clash of civilizations," one in which Judeo-Christian culture is under attack by Islam. Israel, in this narrative, is the West's bulwark against the threat that Islam is posing to Europe and the United States. The nexus of Islamophobia and right-wing Zionism was clearly on display during last summer's "Ground Zero mosque" hysteria, which culminated in a rally where Geller and Wilders addressed a crowd that included members of the EDL waving Israeli flags.
Breivik's admiration for the likes of Daniel Pipes is also telling, and should serve as a warning that, while it would be extremely unfair and wrong to link Pipes in any way to the massacre in Norway, Breivik's views are not so far off from some establishment neoconservative voices in the U.S. For instance, both Pipes and Breivik share a concern with Muslim demographics in Europe. In 1990, Pipes wrote in the National Review that "Western European societies are unprepared for the massive immigration of brown-skinned peoples cooking strange foods and maintaining different standards of hygiene...All immigrants bring exotic customs and attitudes, but Muslim customs are more troublesome than most."
Saturday, July 23, 2011
The CIA & the Military’s Mind Control Research
Imagine a world where all privacy has been eliminated, where none of your own personal thoughts can be protected, and where Big Brother can modify your thinking electronically without you even realizing it. A nightmarish future like that would be much worse than the surveillance society described in George Orwell’s book 1984. In an ultra high-tech electronic police state, there would be no place to run and no place to hide.
More than half a century ago, the CIA started working on covert mind control technology. One of the earliest of the CIA’s secret behavioral control programs was known as Project Artichoke. According to The New York Times on Aug. 2, 1977, the scope of this project was summarized in a CIA memorandum dated Jan. 25, 1952 wherein CIA officials wanted “the evaluation and development of any method by which we can get information from a person against their [sic] will and without his knowledge.”
The memo also asked if they could “get control of an individual to the point where he will do our bidding against his will and even against such fundamental laws of nature as self-preservation.”
On April 13, 1953 Project Artichoke grew into a super-secret project called MK-ULTRA that was overseen by Dr. Sidney Gottlieb, who Counterpunch called a “pusher, assassin, pimp and U.S. official poisoner.” In his well-known book The Search for the Manchurian Candidate,* author John Marks wrote, “The agency’s brainwashing experts gravitated to people more in the mold of the brilliant—and sometimes mad—scientist, obsessed by the wonders of the brain.” Gottlieb’s boss at the CIA was the notorious Christian Zionist James Angleton.
More than half a century ago, the CIA started working on covert mind control technology. One of the earliest of the CIA’s secret behavioral control programs was known as Project Artichoke. According to The New York Times on Aug. 2, 1977, the scope of this project was summarized in a CIA memorandum dated Jan. 25, 1952 wherein CIA officials wanted “the evaluation and development of any method by which we can get information from a person against their [sic] will and without his knowledge.”
The memo also asked if they could “get control of an individual to the point where he will do our bidding against his will and even against such fundamental laws of nature as self-preservation.”
On April 13, 1953 Project Artichoke grew into a super-secret project called MK-ULTRA that was overseen by Dr. Sidney Gottlieb, who Counterpunch called a “pusher, assassin, pimp and U.S. official poisoner.” In his well-known book The Search for the Manchurian Candidate,* author John Marks wrote, “The agency’s brainwashing experts gravitated to people more in the mold of the brilliant—and sometimes mad—scientist, obsessed by the wonders of the brain.” Gottlieb’s boss at the CIA was the notorious Christian Zionist James Angleton.
Multiple Terrorist Bombings In Oslo, Norway — Signature Of Mossad False Flag Al-Qaeda Terror Attack
The problem is there is absolutely no motive for Al-Qaeda to launch an attack against Norway since Norway supports the formation of a Palestinian state, which is against the wishes of Israel and in support of Muslim activists world-wide.
If this in fact an Al-Qaeda attack a blaring question remains. Why would Al-Qaeda attack a nation whose goals are aligned with the goals of the Al-Qaeda movement?
The simple answer would be this is a false flag terror attack and the likely suspect for carrying out the operation would be the Israeli Mossad as an act of revenge for supporting Palestine.
Norway is also pulling out of the Libya Invasion which is also against the Zionist agenda.
For strike three on the list of Mossad hit motives, Oslo excluded two Israeli firms from a$450 billion Euro oil fund for ethical reasons.
The cards point to a Mossad backed false flag. On the other side of the table, western media can only offer up a cartoon drawings of the Prophet Mohammed, in a Danish newspaper, as a motive for an Al-Qaeda attack.
If this in fact an Al-Qaeda attack a blaring question remains. Why would Al-Qaeda attack a nation whose goals are aligned with the goals of the Al-Qaeda movement?
The simple answer would be this is a false flag terror attack and the likely suspect for carrying out the operation would be the Israeli Mossad as an act of revenge for supporting Palestine.
Norway is also pulling out of the Libya Invasion which is also against the Zionist agenda.
For strike three on the list of Mossad hit motives, Oslo excluded two Israeli firms from a$450 billion Euro oil fund for ethical reasons.
The cards point to a Mossad backed false flag. On the other side of the table, western media can only offer up a cartoon drawings of the Prophet Mohammed, in a Danish newspaper, as a motive for an Al-Qaeda attack.
Reckoning with Taliban irreconcilables
Though the concept of Afghan and Western reconciliation with the Mullah Omar-led Taliban has gained much momentum, the consequences of some kind of ad hoc settlement between the Islamists and the government of President Hamid Karzai have not been clearly defined.
Opposition is growing within some quarters in Afghanistan to a settlement that would give the Taliban access to power. Much of this opposition is being led by heirs to the late anti-Taliban leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, particularly former foreign minister Dr Abdullah Abdullah and the former head of the Afghan National Directorate of Security, Amrullah Saleh.
As Saleh recently told a rally in Kabul: "We have not forgotten the
burning of our homeland and the humiliation of the men and women of Afghanistan ... But you [Karzai] are still calling these people [the Taliban] 'brother'."
A bitter legacy
Since the Taliban were ejected from central Kabul in November 2001 in the face of the United States-led invasion, the movement has transformed itself from a mostly unrecognized government to a Pashtun ethno-nationalist insurgency with its roots in the anti-Soviet jihad that consumed the country throughout the 1980s.
Opposition is growing within some quarters in Afghanistan to a settlement that would give the Taliban access to power. Much of this opposition is being led by heirs to the late anti-Taliban leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, particularly former foreign minister Dr Abdullah Abdullah and the former head of the Afghan National Directorate of Security, Amrullah Saleh.
As Saleh recently told a rally in Kabul: "We have not forgotten the
burning of our homeland and the humiliation of the men and women of Afghanistan ... But you [Karzai] are still calling these people [the Taliban] 'brother'."
A bitter legacy
Since the Taliban were ejected from central Kabul in November 2001 in the face of the United States-led invasion, the movement has transformed itself from a mostly unrecognized government to a Pashtun ethno-nationalist insurgency with its roots in the anti-Soviet jihad that consumed the country throughout the 1980s.
Friday, July 22, 2011
UN may switch blue helmets to green, then launch climate change peacekeeping wars
The United Nations may soon announce that merely by changing the color of its soldiers’ helmets from blue to green, it can intervene in the business of sovereign nations under the guise of so-called “climate change peacekeeping.”
As you consider this, keep in mind that the current bombing of infrastructure in Libya is also brazenly called “peacekeeping.” In fact, there’s hardly a military campaign that’s been conducted in the last hundreds years that wasn’t sold to the public as a way to create “peace.” Now, the UN is on the verge of “waging peace” wearing green helmets instead of blue helmets. The invocation of all things “green,” it seems, provides justification for just about anything these days… including war.
This new “green” UN initiative is due for discussion in a special meeting of the United Nations security council, where the organization will decide whether to expand its “peacekeeping” role to cover everything that happens in a world suffering under climate change. An article in The Guardian explains that this plan involves “…a new environmental peacekeeping force — green helmets — which could step into conflicts caused by shrinking resources.” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environme…)
Justification for UN troops on U.S. soil?
As you consider this, keep in mind that the current bombing of infrastructure in Libya is also brazenly called “peacekeeping.” In fact, there’s hardly a military campaign that’s been conducted in the last hundreds years that wasn’t sold to the public as a way to create “peace.” Now, the UN is on the verge of “waging peace” wearing green helmets instead of blue helmets. The invocation of all things “green,” it seems, provides justification for just about anything these days… including war.
This new “green” UN initiative is due for discussion in a special meeting of the United Nations security council, where the organization will decide whether to expand its “peacekeeping” role to cover everything that happens in a world suffering under climate change. An article in The Guardian explains that this plan involves “…a new environmental peacekeeping force — green helmets — which could step into conflicts caused by shrinking resources.” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environme…)
Justification for UN troops on U.S. soil?
Washington's singular accomplishment
The Pentagon is pouring an estimated US$3.5 billion into its biometric programs (2007 through 2015). And though it's been a couple of rough weeks when it comes to money in Washington, at least no one can claim that taxpayer dollars have been ill-spent on this project. Give the Pentagon just another five to 10 years in Iraq and Afghanistan and the biometric endeavor of a lifetime should be complete. Then Washington will be able to identify any Iraqi or Afghan on the planet by eye-scan alone.
And consider that feat a bright spot of American accomplishment (and not the only one either) in a couple of weeks of can't-do news from the Greater Middle East. After all, despite those biometric scans, an assassin managed to gun down Our Man in Kandahar (OMK), Ahmed Wali Karzai, the Afghan president's half-brother, in his own residence. He was the warlord the US military buddied up with as US troops were surging south in 2009 and who helped bring American-style "progress" to the Taliban heartland.
Think of the Washington-Islamabad relationship, wrapped in the disaster of the Afghan war, as a classic can't-live-with-'em-or-without-'em marriage made in hell. Or, if you prefer, think of it, now so many decades and two Afghan wars old, as a kind of Gordian knot.
America's Gordian knot in Pakistan, as in Afghanistan and the Greater Middle East, is beyond untying. Hold back that $800 million, send in the drones, cajole, plead, threaten, issue stern warnings, train, equip, bribe, kill. None of it does the trick. None of it will. Alexander would have known what to do. Washington is clueless.
And consider that feat a bright spot of American accomplishment (and not the only one either) in a couple of weeks of can't-do news from the Greater Middle East. After all, despite those biometric scans, an assassin managed to gun down Our Man in Kandahar (OMK), Ahmed Wali Karzai, the Afghan president's half-brother, in his own residence. He was the warlord the US military buddied up with as US troops were surging south in 2009 and who helped bring American-style "progress" to the Taliban heartland.
Think of the Washington-Islamabad relationship, wrapped in the disaster of the Afghan war, as a classic can't-live-with-'em-or-without-'em marriage made in hell. Or, if you prefer, think of it, now so many decades and two Afghan wars old, as a kind of Gordian knot.
America's Gordian knot in Pakistan, as in Afghanistan and the Greater Middle East, is beyond untying. Hold back that $800 million, send in the drones, cajole, plead, threaten, issue stern warnings, train, equip, bribe, kill. None of it does the trick. None of it will. Alexander would have known what to do. Washington is clueless.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Smashing Greater Central Asia – Part One
After ten years of raging warfare in Afghanistan, watching the fight slowly ooze across the invisible Durand Line into Pakistan, we have the right to wonder whether the war is any closer to ending today? It is perfectly reasonable to suspect that if we were allowed to know the truth we would understand that the American government has no plans to end the war in the near future. Trying to make sense of relentless Western news reports on the disaster of the impending American “withdrawal from Afghanistan,” even though other reports reveal that super-bases have been constructed, leaveing most observers completely bewildered about whether the Afgan war is ending or expanding. The only thing that is obvious is that there is to be no “withdrawal” from Afghanistan, at least not from the northern half of the country (SEE: Plan B In Afghanistan).
If it was true that US forces were planning to eventually leave Afghanistan, then CENTCOM would not be allocating $100 million to build a Special Forces base in Mazar i-Sharif. This is to be a massive, permanent structure, intended to serve as a Special Forces operations center for many years to come. The majority of analysts who have focused upon this SOCOM facility, have drawn the conclusion that this and the other super-bases are intended to provide protection to the pipelines which are planned, in addition to providing Green Berets and Navy Seals to send on night raids into Pakistan. My own research into the subject reveals something far more sinister than just the intentional prolonging of the occupation of Afghanistan.
From the bid solicitations which are cited below, the US Army has big plans for Central Asia, most of them are scheduled to take place after the official Afghan withdrawal date of 2014. Ongoing military construction contracts are proof of military intent. CENTCOM has just awarded KBR a contract for $3.8 billion for constructing unspecified new facilities in an “area of responsibility” which encompasses the following countries:
Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
If it was true that US forces were planning to eventually leave Afghanistan, then CENTCOM would not be allocating $100 million to build a Special Forces base in Mazar i-Sharif. This is to be a massive, permanent structure, intended to serve as a Special Forces operations center for many years to come. The majority of analysts who have focused upon this SOCOM facility, have drawn the conclusion that this and the other super-bases are intended to provide protection to the pipelines which are planned, in addition to providing Green Berets and Navy Seals to send on night raids into Pakistan. My own research into the subject reveals something far more sinister than just the intentional prolonging of the occupation of Afghanistan.
From the bid solicitations which are cited below, the US Army has big plans for Central Asia, most of them are scheduled to take place after the official Afghan withdrawal date of 2014. Ongoing military construction contracts are proof of military intent. CENTCOM has just awarded KBR a contract for $3.8 billion for constructing unspecified new facilities in an “area of responsibility” which encompasses the following countries:
Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
ANONYMOUS. Just Another Element Of Controlled Opposition
Vladamir Ulyanov/Lenin, the bisexual syphilitic Satanist, mass murderer and multi-millionaire customer of Swiss Banking establishments, famously said that "The best way to control the opposition is to lead it ourselves."
The forces of globalism, led by Judeo-Masonic international bankers, have all the resources necessary to do exactly this and do so quite effectively.
Anyone who has been involved in the '9/11 Truth' movement will be have become aware of leading presences within this 'resistance' that have no interest whatsoever in creating effective (or even embarrassing) difficulties for the powers-that-be.
'Stop The War' will not speak a word about 9/11. This tells you all you need to know. As Paul Craig Roberts says, "Trying to oppose the consequences of an event whose explanation you accept is an impossible task."
'Stop The War' are government shills and their silence over Libya is deafening.
Likewise for '7/7 Truth'.
J7, while exposing all the anomalies in available evidence, shy away from stating the obvious. They will not accuse. This organisation's anger is reserved for and directed towards other 7/7 activists (who might be forgiven for imagining they were 'on the same side' as J7....but find they are not).
The forces of globalism, led by Judeo-Masonic international bankers, have all the resources necessary to do exactly this and do so quite effectively.
Anyone who has been involved in the '9/11 Truth' movement will be have become aware of leading presences within this 'resistance' that have no interest whatsoever in creating effective (or even embarrassing) difficulties for the powers-that-be.
'Stop The War' will not speak a word about 9/11. This tells you all you need to know. As Paul Craig Roberts says, "Trying to oppose the consequences of an event whose explanation you accept is an impossible task."
'Stop The War' are government shills and their silence over Libya is deafening.
Likewise for '7/7 Truth'.
J7, while exposing all the anomalies in available evidence, shy away from stating the obvious. They will not accuse. This organisation's anger is reserved for and directed towards other 7/7 activists (who might be forgiven for imagining they were 'on the same side' as J7....but find they are not).
A Jewish Conservative Wonders: Is Free Speech Really A Jewish Tradition?
The late Joe Sobran once observed that denying that Jews are powerless can bring swift retribution. That is precisely because the Jewish community is anything but powerless. The professionally conscious intellectual is also expected to stress the supposed agonies of the American Jewish experience—for example, the virulently anti-Semitic past for which American Christians are considered responsible.
This unpleasantness is, of course, much exaggerated. American Jews suffered far less prejudice in the US than most other immigrant groups, including ethnic Catholics. Before the arrival at the beginning of the twentieth century of masses of Eastern European Jews, who struck even the very tolerant historian Frederick Jackson Turner as “hard to assimilate”, the German and Sephardic Jews who were already here encountered mostly good will from Christians. Were it not for the Jewish newcomers, this older Jewish minority would have totally melted away through intermarriage with upper-class Protestants.
The problem was those Eastern European Jews, who tended to come from unemancipated shtetls in much less modernized societies, generally didn’t like the bourgeois Christian society they encountered. They found it to be alien, threatening or just disagreeable. And, as Kevin MacDonald accurately shows in The Culture of Critique, these Jews have played a decisive role in subverting once-established culture.
The current guilt trip that liberal and neoconservative Jews have disproportionately encouraged must be undone in the name of freedom. The social engineering and forced ideological instruction that American Jews in the public sphere have pushed for decades is incompatible with true liberal ideals of intellectual inquiry and freedom of association.
This unpleasantness is, of course, much exaggerated. American Jews suffered far less prejudice in the US than most other immigrant groups, including ethnic Catholics. Before the arrival at the beginning of the twentieth century of masses of Eastern European Jews, who struck even the very tolerant historian Frederick Jackson Turner as “hard to assimilate”, the German and Sephardic Jews who were already here encountered mostly good will from Christians. Were it not for the Jewish newcomers, this older Jewish minority would have totally melted away through intermarriage with upper-class Protestants.
The problem was those Eastern European Jews, who tended to come from unemancipated shtetls in much less modernized societies, generally didn’t like the bourgeois Christian society they encountered. They found it to be alien, threatening or just disagreeable. And, as Kevin MacDonald accurately shows in The Culture of Critique, these Jews have played a decisive role in subverting once-established culture.
The current guilt trip that liberal and neoconservative Jews have disproportionately encouraged must be undone in the name of freedom. The social engineering and forced ideological instruction that American Jews in the public sphere have pushed for decades is incompatible with true liberal ideals of intellectual inquiry and freedom of association.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
‘Anonymous’ launches social networking website AnonPlus
Infamous hacker group Anonymous launched Monday its own social network after being rejected by Google's freshly-launched online community.
"Today we welcome you to begin anew," the hacker alliance said at the website anonplus.com, which it described as a platform to distribute information.
"Welcome to the Revolution - a new social network where there is no fear...of censorship...of blackout...nor of holding back."
The drive to build a social network came after the Anonymous account was suspended at the Google+ online community, which was launched last month by the Internet giant as a challenge to Facebook.
A message on the anonplus.com website promised that the Anonymous social network would be for everyone and listed online monikers of developers taking part in the project.
Anonymous, which rose to infamy last year with cyber attacks in support of controversial whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, posted the suspension notice from Google on its blog at Tumblr.
The group has been linked to attacks on Visa, Mastercard and Paypal, which blocked donations to WikiLeaks after it published thousands of US diplomatic cables.
"Today we welcome you to begin anew," the hacker alliance said at the website anonplus.com, which it described as a platform to distribute information.
"Welcome to the Revolution - a new social network where there is no fear...of censorship...of blackout...nor of holding back."
The drive to build a social network came after the Anonymous account was suspended at the Google+ online community, which was launched last month by the Internet giant as a challenge to Facebook.
A message on the anonplus.com website promised that the Anonymous social network would be for everyone and listed online monikers of developers taking part in the project.
Anonymous, which rose to infamy last year with cyber attacks in support of controversial whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, posted the suspension notice from Google on its blog at Tumblr.
The group has been linked to attacks on Visa, Mastercard and Paypal, which blocked donations to WikiLeaks after it published thousands of US diplomatic cables.
GMO Deregulation: An Act of War
Scotts Miracle Gro has applied for and received complete deregulation for genetically engineered Kentucky Bluegrass from the USDA. Scotts “is Monsanto’s exclusive agent for the international marketing and distribution of consumer Roundup®.” The main ingredient in Roundup is glyphosate. This strain of Kentucky Bluegrass will be “herbicide resistant” to Monsanto’s Roundup, and there will be absolutely no oversight of this genetically engineered plant, which can be used as turf or livestock feed. The reason that this was allowed to happen is because actual regulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) was designed just for such an opportunity. The program was meant to fail from the very beginning. This is no less than an act of war against the world’s population.
What this means to you
All new genetically modified crops can now be completely deregulated if one processing ingredient is changed (APHIS definitions for plant pests), because they will no longer qualify for regulation under the USDA. This means that there will be absolutely no accountability regarding GMOs at all. The labeling movement that has been growing stronger and stronger, will be a moot point because retailers and manufacturers won’t even know if what they are selling contains GMOs. No regulations, no oversight. Simply thrown into the market without distinction from traditional items, the only way we will be able to tell if something is genetically engineered is if…. well, we won’t. Period. As an official at the USDA told me: “I don’t know why GE Kentucky Bluegrass would be regulated, almost all plants are genetically engineered.” That is the USDA’s attitude.
The regulations for GMOs contain no teeth and are just there for show – to fool the public into thinking there is real oversight when in actuality, there isn’t. The USDA is a rogue agency of the Federal government that has proven time and time again that its only purpose is to provide a distraction for the American public so that corporate interests are able to completely take over our food supply with little to no interference from the people they are injuring.
This Kentucky Bluegrass case precedent has the potential to be the single biggest food event on the planet. The complete deregulation of all GMOs means that anything goes. As long as there are no plant pests involved in the genetic engineering process that are listed on the APHIS site, then it is possible that just about anything else can be inserted into the plants, including pharmaceuticals, vaccines, psychotropic substances, etc., without our knowledge or consent. Pandora’s box has just been opened, and closing it is quickly becoming ‘not an option.’
What this means to you
All new genetically modified crops can now be completely deregulated if one processing ingredient is changed (APHIS definitions for plant pests), because they will no longer qualify for regulation under the USDA. This means that there will be absolutely no accountability regarding GMOs at all. The labeling movement that has been growing stronger and stronger, will be a moot point because retailers and manufacturers won’t even know if what they are selling contains GMOs. No regulations, no oversight. Simply thrown into the market without distinction from traditional items, the only way we will be able to tell if something is genetically engineered is if…. well, we won’t. Period. As an official at the USDA told me: “I don’t know why GE Kentucky Bluegrass would be regulated, almost all plants are genetically engineered.” That is the USDA’s attitude.
The regulations for GMOs contain no teeth and are just there for show – to fool the public into thinking there is real oversight when in actuality, there isn’t. The USDA is a rogue agency of the Federal government that has proven time and time again that its only purpose is to provide a distraction for the American public so that corporate interests are able to completely take over our food supply with little to no interference from the people they are injuring.
This Kentucky Bluegrass case precedent has the potential to be the single biggest food event on the planet. The complete deregulation of all GMOs means that anything goes. As long as there are no plant pests involved in the genetic engineering process that are listed on the APHIS site, then it is possible that just about anything else can be inserted into the plants, including pharmaceuticals, vaccines, psychotropic substances, etc., without our knowledge or consent. Pandora’s box has just been opened, and closing it is quickly becoming ‘not an option.’
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
18 Signs That Global Financial Markets Smell Blood In The Water
Can you smell it? There is blood in the water. Global financial markets are in turmoil. Banking stocks are getting slaughtered right now. European bond yields are absolutely soaring. Major corporations are announcing huge layoffs. The entire global financial system appears to be racing toward another major crisis. So could we potentially see a repeat of 2008? Sadly, when the next big financial crisis happens it might be worse than 2008. Back in the middle of 2008, the U.S. national debt was less than 10 trillion dollars. Today it is over 14 trillion dollars. Back in 2008, none of the countries in the EU were on the verge of financial collapse. Today, several of them are. This time if the global financial system starts falling apart the big governments around the world are not going to be able to do nearly as much to support it. That is why what is happening right now is so alarming. As signs of weakness spread, the short sellers and the speculators are starting to circle. They can smell the money.
Back in 2008, bank stocks led the decline. Today, that appears to be happening again. The "too big to fail" banks are getting absolutely pummeled right now. Most people don't have much sympathy for the banksters, but if we do see a repeat of 2008 they are going to be cutting off credit and begging for massive bailouts once again, and that would not be good news for the economy.
In Europe, the EU sovereign debt crisis just seems to get worse by the day. Bond yields for the PIIGS are going haywire. The higher the yields go, the worse the crisis is going to get.
Meanwhile, as I have written about previously, a bad mood has descended on world financial markets. Pessimism is everywhere and fear is spreading. The short sellers and the speculators are eager to jump on any sign of weakness. Investors all over the globe are extremely nervous right now.
Back in 2008, bank stocks led the decline. Today, that appears to be happening again. The "too big to fail" banks are getting absolutely pummeled right now. Most people don't have much sympathy for the banksters, but if we do see a repeat of 2008 they are going to be cutting off credit and begging for massive bailouts once again, and that would not be good news for the economy.
In Europe, the EU sovereign debt crisis just seems to get worse by the day. Bond yields for the PIIGS are going haywire. The higher the yields go, the worse the crisis is going to get.
Meanwhile, as I have written about previously, a bad mood has descended on world financial markets. Pessimism is everywhere and fear is spreading. The short sellers and the speculators are eager to jump on any sign of weakness. Investors all over the globe are extremely nervous right now.
FREE SPEECH REVIVING IN CANADA, BRITAIN BUT NOT CA, ISRAEL
For 40 years the Jewish Anti-Defamation League and B’nai B’rith International have tirelessly embedded hate speech and hate crime laws in western democracies. Yet flickerings of hope continue to appear. As Israel is battered by world criticism, Israel’s PR rep, the Anti-Defamation League, is distracted from focusing as it once did on removing freedom of speech and persecuting free thinkers and Christians. Such slowing of the hate crimes agenda is particularly apparent in the failure—if not refusal—of “the vast majority” of the fifty-five member states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, to provide hate crimes statistics to ADL or enact new ADL hate laws. (ADL.org, “OSCE States Not Fulfilling Pledge On Hate Crimes”)
Recent events in Canada and England bring hope that even countries deeply committed to hate laws can experience a citizen awakening. They can even potentially repeal some of the legislation and thinking that ADL/B’nai B’rith have so fought to enshrine.
On the American state level, ADL and progressive Jewish groups continue to lobby for pro-homosexual, “anti-bullying” and same sex marriage legislation. Such efforts to forbid “discrimination” against sodomites are massively eroding freedom of speech.
Here are brief descriptions of the good and bad news on the hate law front.
Recent events in Canada and England bring hope that even countries deeply committed to hate laws can experience a citizen awakening. They can even potentially repeal some of the legislation and thinking that ADL/B’nai B’rith have so fought to enshrine.
On the American state level, ADL and progressive Jewish groups continue to lobby for pro-homosexual, “anti-bullying” and same sex marriage legislation. Such efforts to forbid “discrimination” against sodomites are massively eroding freedom of speech.
Here are brief descriptions of the good and bad news on the hate law front.
A Real History of Rupert Murdoch
The extent to which the powerful could rely on other media bosses predictably to deliver their assets is often exaggerated. Certainly, the old monsters like Hearst, Northcliffe and Beaverbrook were driven by unpredictable – indeed, barmy – passions of their own. But Rupert is the supreme pragmatist. Barking right is the default state of his own politics: however, these can be readily overwritten any time there’s a deal to do. It may be worth discussing whether he really likes running moribund newspapers. But the commercial point is that politicians love them.
Murdoch now controls enough of the market for English-language journalism that anyone resolved to keep clear loses some competitive advantage. People – already adequately fixed – should accept the limitation and let Murdoch find his servants elsewhere. We must retire the argument that “if I don’t do it, someone else will.”
Politicians may find it hardest to break the Newscorp habit. Real journalists, in any medium, may ask awkward questions: it’s not only paladins of the right who have found ease with Rupert. And, as a rule, his wants are humble – just deep-sixing a bit of monopoly law the voters know nothing of.
Centrally, Newscorp is just one among the malignancies generated by four decades of upper-crust self-indulgence, disguised as libertarianism. Possibly there’s no cure. But if there is, it will come with a moral climate quite unlike the one Murdoch has so far found propitious.
Murdoch now controls enough of the market for English-language journalism that anyone resolved to keep clear loses some competitive advantage. People – already adequately fixed – should accept the limitation and let Murdoch find his servants elsewhere. We must retire the argument that “if I don’t do it, someone else will.”
Politicians may find it hardest to break the Newscorp habit. Real journalists, in any medium, may ask awkward questions: it’s not only paladins of the right who have found ease with Rupert. And, as a rule, his wants are humble – just deep-sixing a bit of monopoly law the voters know nothing of.
Centrally, Newscorp is just one among the malignancies generated by four decades of upper-crust self-indulgence, disguised as libertarianism. Possibly there’s no cure. But if there is, it will come with a moral climate quite unlike the one Murdoch has so far found propitious.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Israeli Math
Amiram Magid, who resides in Jerusalem at the Israeli Foreign Ministry, has been promising the Caribbean states security and intelligence assistance in return for their votes in the UN General Assembly against recognition of Palestine's sovereignty. Many Caribbean travel officials scoff at Magid's promise of an influx of money-tossing Israeli tourists in return for pro-Israel UN votes by the Caribbean nations
Informed Caribbean sources have reported to WMR that Israel's Foreign Ministry personnel, including the Israeli non-resident ambassador to Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Amiram Magid, who resides in Jerusalem at the Israeli Foreign Ministry, has been promising the Caribbean states security and intelligence assistance in return for their votes in the UN General Assembly against recognition of Palestine's sovereignty. Many Caribbean travel officials scoff at Magid's promise of an influx of money-tossing Israeli tourists in return for pro-Israel UN votes by the Caribbean nations. Israelis are known by many Caribbean hotel owners as among the stingiest and cheapest tourists who have vacationed in the islands. Hotel owners often complain that Israeli tourists damage rooms, steal room fixtures, and leave the islands without fully paying their bills.
Magid is clearly trying to shore up the Caribbean states' votes against Palestine at this September's General Assembly meeting. What is hypocritical in the Israeli approach to the small Caribbean islands is that Israel is promising Israeli security assistance to fight organized crime, largely stemming from Colombian drug cartels that are allied with Russo-Israeli mafia syndicates. The latter's ranks include and have included a number of veterans of the Israeli Defense Force, Shin Bet, and Mossad, including the notorious Yair Klein, aka Jair Klein, expelled from Russia after pressure was exerted on Moscow by the European Court of Human Rights. Klein is now living in Israel.
Klein's extradition to Colombia has been requested by Bogota for his activities in training and arming the Colombian drug cartels of Pablo Escobar and Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha and right-wing paramilitary militias against the progressive forces of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Informed Caribbean sources have reported to WMR that Israel's Foreign Ministry personnel, including the Israeli non-resident ambassador to Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Amiram Magid, who resides in Jerusalem at the Israeli Foreign Ministry, has been promising the Caribbean states security and intelligence assistance in return for their votes in the UN General Assembly against recognition of Palestine's sovereignty. Many Caribbean travel officials scoff at Magid's promise of an influx of money-tossing Israeli tourists in return for pro-Israel UN votes by the Caribbean nations. Israelis are known by many Caribbean hotel owners as among the stingiest and cheapest tourists who have vacationed in the islands. Hotel owners often complain that Israeli tourists damage rooms, steal room fixtures, and leave the islands without fully paying their bills.
Magid is clearly trying to shore up the Caribbean states' votes against Palestine at this September's General Assembly meeting. What is hypocritical in the Israeli approach to the small Caribbean islands is that Israel is promising Israeli security assistance to fight organized crime, largely stemming from Colombian drug cartels that are allied with Russo-Israeli mafia syndicates. The latter's ranks include and have included a number of veterans of the Israeli Defense Force, Shin Bet, and Mossad, including the notorious Yair Klein, aka Jair Klein, expelled from Russia after pressure was exerted on Moscow by the European Court of Human Rights. Klein is now living in Israel.
Klein's extradition to Colombia has been requested by Bogota for his activities in training and arming the Colombian drug cartels of Pablo Escobar and Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha and right-wing paramilitary militias against the progressive forces of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Another take on Libya hubris for China
Western self-regard was on full display in a United States headline describing the Libya Contact Group confab in Istanbul over the weekend. It read: World leaders open Libya talks in Turkey.
China and Russia recognize the LCG as an effort by the proponents of military intervention in Libya to take the political bit in their teeth as well, in order to keep any further Libya discussions out of the UN Security Council where China and Russia - which were spectacularly burned by Resolution 1973 - would undoubtedly wield their veto power to the fullest to sidetrack the NATO/GCC-led campaign.
China has been relatively circumspect in its criticisms of the LCG, politely declining Turkey's invitation to join the Istanbul meeting - and thereby adding a further veneer of political legitimacy to the exercise - with the statement that it would skip the meeting "because the function and method of operation of this contact group need further study".
The Russians have been much more blunt. In May, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared that it was the LCG, and not Muammar Gaddafi, that had a legitimacy problem:
China and Russia recognize the LCG as an effort by the proponents of military intervention in Libya to take the political bit in their teeth as well, in order to keep any further Libya discussions out of the UN Security Council where China and Russia - which were spectacularly burned by Resolution 1973 - would undoubtedly wield their veto power to the fullest to sidetrack the NATO/GCC-led campaign.
China has been relatively circumspect in its criticisms of the LCG, politely declining Turkey's invitation to join the Istanbul meeting - and thereby adding a further veneer of political legitimacy to the exercise - with the statement that it would skip the meeting "because the function and method of operation of this contact group need further study".
The Russians have been much more blunt. In May, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared that it was the LCG, and not Muammar Gaddafi, that had a legitimacy problem:
Saturday, July 16, 2011
George Soros, Feds Seize Control of America’s Flooded Farmland
Amid the chaotic weather systems thus far in 2011, the federal government has twisted and exacerbated a natural catastrophe to victimize
American farming families, while subsequently staging a land grab to further the UN’s Agenda 21 protocols, all at once.
When asked if the government would be compensating them for losses, Ms. Barnhardt told this reporter: “Of course not. The feds are calling it an act of God.” Ms. Barnhardt also makes the stunning connection of George
Soros and a company he is investing in called Ospraie Capital Management. It seems Ospraie is also buying farmland, and Soros’s investments have netted him control of “the third-largest grain company in the U.S., with 280 million bushels of storage capacity.”
The liberal Center for American Progress receives large donations from Soros. Plus, its former executive vice president for policy, Melody Barnes, was recently named to the White House Rural Council.
According to a popular news website, The Blaze, this council “makes recommendations to the president on streamlining and leveraging federal investments in rural areas to increase the impact of federal dollars and create economic opportunities to improve the quality of life in rural America.” The group’s staffers also “coordinate federal efforts directed toward the growth and development of geographic regions that encompass both urban and rural areas” which, The Blaze states, “sounds very similar to the language found in the UN plan for sustainable cities known as Agenda 21.”
American farming families, while subsequently staging a land grab to further the UN’s Agenda 21 protocols, all at once.
When asked if the government would be compensating them for losses, Ms. Barnhardt told this reporter: “Of course not. The feds are calling it an act of God.” Ms. Barnhardt also makes the stunning connection of George
Soros and a company he is investing in called Ospraie Capital Management. It seems Ospraie is also buying farmland, and Soros’s investments have netted him control of “the third-largest grain company in the U.S., with 280 million bushels of storage capacity.”
The liberal Center for American Progress receives large donations from Soros. Plus, its former executive vice president for policy, Melody Barnes, was recently named to the White House Rural Council.
According to a popular news website, The Blaze, this council “makes recommendations to the president on streamlining and leveraging federal investments in rural areas to increase the impact of federal dollars and create economic opportunities to improve the quality of life in rural America.” The group’s staffers also “coordinate federal efforts directed toward the growth and development of geographic regions that encompass both urban and rural areas” which, The Blaze states, “sounds very similar to the language found in the UN plan for sustainable cities known as Agenda 21.”
Former CIA Official: Israel Will Bomb Iran in September
A longtime CIA officer who spent 21 years in the Middle East is predicting that Israel will bomb Iran this fall, dragging the United States into another major war and endangering U.S. military and civilian personnel (and other interests) throughout the Middle East and beyond.
Robert Baer made his prediction on the provocative KPFK Los Angeles show Background Briefing, hosted by Ian Masters.
Baer has had a storied career, including a stint in Iraq in the 1990s where he organized opposition to Saddam Hussein. (He was recalled after being accused of trying to organize Saddam's assassination). Upon his retirement, he received a top decoration for meritorious service. Incidentally, George Clooney won an Oscar for playing a character based on Baer in the film Syriana (Baer also wrote the book).
Baer didn't name sources for his prediction of an Israeli attack, but the few he did cite are all Israeli security figures who have publically warned that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are hell-bent on war.
Robert Baer made his prediction on the provocative KPFK Los Angeles show Background Briefing, hosted by Ian Masters.
Baer has had a storied career, including a stint in Iraq in the 1990s where he organized opposition to Saddam Hussein. (He was recalled after being accused of trying to organize Saddam's assassination). Upon his retirement, he received a top decoration for meritorious service. Incidentally, George Clooney won an Oscar for playing a character based on Baer in the film Syriana (Baer also wrote the book).
Baer didn't name sources for his prediction of an Israeli attack, but the few he did cite are all Israeli security figures who have publically warned that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are hell-bent on war.
Why Banks Aren't Lending: The Silent Liquidity Squeeze
Local Business Lending Depends on Ready Access to Liquidity
Without access to the interbank lending market, local banks are reluctant to extend business credit lines. The reason was explained by economist Ronald McKinnon in a Wall Street Journal article in May:
Banks with good retail lending opportunities typically lend by opening credit lines to nonbank customers. But these credit lines are open-ended in the sense that the commercial borrower can choose when - and by how much - he will actually draw on his credit line. This creates uncertainty for the bank in not knowing what its future cash positions will be. An illiquid bank could be in trouble if its customers simultaneously decided to draw down their credit lines.
If the retail bank has easy access to the wholesale interbank market, its liquidity is much improved. To cover unexpected liquidity shortfalls, it can borrow from banks with excess reserves with little or no credit checks. But if the prevailing interbank lending rate is close to zero (as it is now), then large banks with surplus reserves become loath to part with them for a derisory yield. And smaller banks, which collectively are the biggest lenders to SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises], cannot easily bid for funds at an interest rate significantly above the prevailing interbank rate without inadvertently signaling that they might be in trouble. Indeed, counterparty risk in smaller banks remains substantial as almost 50 have failed so far this year.
The local banks could turn to the Fed's discount window for loans, but that, too, could signal that the banks were in trouble; and for weak banks, the Fed's discount window may be closed. Further, the discount rate is triple the Fed funds rate.
Without access to the interbank lending market, local banks are reluctant to extend business credit lines. The reason was explained by economist Ronald McKinnon in a Wall Street Journal article in May:
Banks with good retail lending opportunities typically lend by opening credit lines to nonbank customers. But these credit lines are open-ended in the sense that the commercial borrower can choose when - and by how much - he will actually draw on his credit line. This creates uncertainty for the bank in not knowing what its future cash positions will be. An illiquid bank could be in trouble if its customers simultaneously decided to draw down their credit lines.
If the retail bank has easy access to the wholesale interbank market, its liquidity is much improved. To cover unexpected liquidity shortfalls, it can borrow from banks with excess reserves with little or no credit checks. But if the prevailing interbank lending rate is close to zero (as it is now), then large banks with surplus reserves become loath to part with them for a derisory yield. And smaller banks, which collectively are the biggest lenders to SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises], cannot easily bid for funds at an interest rate significantly above the prevailing interbank rate without inadvertently signaling that they might be in trouble. Indeed, counterparty risk in smaller banks remains substantial as almost 50 have failed so far this year.
The local banks could turn to the Fed's discount window for loans, but that, too, could signal that the banks were in trouble; and for weak banks, the Fed's discount window may be closed. Further, the discount rate is triple the Fed funds rate.
Friday, July 15, 2011
"Isolationism" Now Center Stage in GOP Tent? Oh My!
It seems strange sometimes, the things that trouble Senator John McCain. Take the NATO war on Libya, for example, in which the United States is a participant, if not the outright leader.
Libya has, so far as is generally known, committed no recent offense against the United States or our NATO allies, nor threatened to do so. The African nation poses no threat to America and her interests abroad, nor has it made any assault on our nation’s honor. Yet President Barack Obama has waged an air war against Libya without any authorization by Congress, let alone a declaration of war, which power the Constitution assigns to Congress. He has gone past the time allotted by the 1973 War Powers Act for either obtaining the support of Congress or ceasing the military action.
Robert Taft died in 1953, and he took Old Guard conservatism to the grave with him. The Republicanism that survived during the Eisenhower years and after would not be called “isolationist.” Eisenhower himself mainly did the bidding of the Eastern establishment internationalists who got him the nomination at a fiercely divided Republican National Convention and won him the election over fellow global interventionist Adlai Stevenson. Richard Nixon, mentored and promoted by former New York Governor and two-time presidential loser Tom Dewey, was as thorough-going an internationalist as his Democratic opponent for President in 1960, Sen. John F. Kennedy. And while critics called Sen. Barry Goldwater, the 1964 GOP presidential candidate, a great many things, none accused him of being isolationist.
But because Ron Paul and other Republicans are moving the Republican Party once again in the direction of non-interventionism and a growing number of Americans see no rhyme or reason to be bombing Libya and want President Obama to obey the War Powers Act and the Constitution of the United States, John McCain is once again warning of the dangers of isolationism. In truth, isolationists have never been any more prevalent in the United States than the Viet Cong John McCain fought in Southeast Asia were on the streets of New York and Los Angeles. We must not be complacent about our national security. But we don’t need Sen. John Quixote of Arizona tilting at the windmills of “isolationism” he discovered with great alarm at a candidates forum in New Hampshire.
Libya has, so far as is generally known, committed no recent offense against the United States or our NATO allies, nor threatened to do so. The African nation poses no threat to America and her interests abroad, nor has it made any assault on our nation’s honor. Yet President Barack Obama has waged an air war against Libya without any authorization by Congress, let alone a declaration of war, which power the Constitution assigns to Congress. He has gone past the time allotted by the 1973 War Powers Act for either obtaining the support of Congress or ceasing the military action.
Robert Taft died in 1953, and he took Old Guard conservatism to the grave with him. The Republicanism that survived during the Eisenhower years and after would not be called “isolationist.” Eisenhower himself mainly did the bidding of the Eastern establishment internationalists who got him the nomination at a fiercely divided Republican National Convention and won him the election over fellow global interventionist Adlai Stevenson. Richard Nixon, mentored and promoted by former New York Governor and two-time presidential loser Tom Dewey, was as thorough-going an internationalist as his Democratic opponent for President in 1960, Sen. John F. Kennedy. And while critics called Sen. Barry Goldwater, the 1964 GOP presidential candidate, a great many things, none accused him of being isolationist.
But because Ron Paul and other Republicans are moving the Republican Party once again in the direction of non-interventionism and a growing number of Americans see no rhyme or reason to be bombing Libya and want President Obama to obey the War Powers Act and the Constitution of the United States, John McCain is once again warning of the dangers of isolationism. In truth, isolationists have never been any more prevalent in the United States than the Viet Cong John McCain fought in Southeast Asia were on the streets of New York and Los Angeles. We must not be complacent about our national security. But we don’t need Sen. John Quixote of Arizona tilting at the windmills of “isolationism” he discovered with great alarm at a candidates forum in New Hampshire.
The Banksters and American Foreign Policy
How did this happen? There are two versions of this little immorality tale, one coming from the "left" and the other from the "right" (the scare-quotes are there for a reason, which I’ll get to in a moment or two).
The "left" version goes something like this:
The evil capitalists, in league with their bought-and-paid for cronies in government, destroyed and looted the economy until there was nothing left to steal. Then, when their grasping hands had reached the very bottom of the treasure chest, they dialed 911 and the emergency team (otherwise known as the US Congress) came to their rescue, doling out trillions to the looters and leaving the rest of America to pay the bill.
The "right" version goes something like the following:
Politically connected Wall Streeters, in league with their bought-and-paid-for cronies in government, destroyed and looted the economy until there was nothing left to steal. Then, when their grasping hands had reached the very bottom of the treasure chest, they dialed BIG-GOV-HELP and the feds showed up with the cash.
The first thing one notices about these two analyses, taken side by side, is their similarity: yes, the "left" blames the free market, and the "right" blames Big Government, but when you get past the blame game their descriptions of what actually happened look like veritable twins. And as much as I agree with the "right" about their proposed solution – a radical cut in government spending – it is the "left" that has the most accurate analysis of who’s to blame.
The "left" version goes something like this:
The evil capitalists, in league with their bought-and-paid for cronies in government, destroyed and looted the economy until there was nothing left to steal. Then, when their grasping hands had reached the very bottom of the treasure chest, they dialed 911 and the emergency team (otherwise known as the US Congress) came to their rescue, doling out trillions to the looters and leaving the rest of America to pay the bill.
The "right" version goes something like the following:
Politically connected Wall Streeters, in league with their bought-and-paid-for cronies in government, destroyed and looted the economy until there was nothing left to steal. Then, when their grasping hands had reached the very bottom of the treasure chest, they dialed BIG-GOV-HELP and the feds showed up with the cash.
The first thing one notices about these two analyses, taken side by side, is their similarity: yes, the "left" blames the free market, and the "right" blames Big Government, but when you get past the blame game their descriptions of what actually happened look like veritable twins. And as much as I agree with the "right" about their proposed solution – a radical cut in government spending – it is the "left" that has the most accurate analysis of who’s to blame.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Police Intelligence Analyst Fired For Blowing Whistle On False Flag Terror
A British police intelligence analyst who was asked to create a strategic assessment concerning terror threats was fired when he told his superiors that the threat of an “internal tyranny” was far greater than that of Islamic terrorism, after discovering that both 7/7 and 9/11 were false flag attacks.
Tony Farrell, who has a university degree in statistics, was employed for 12 years as a ‘Police Intelligence Analyst’ with South Yorkshire Police. His job was to provide a yearly ‘Strategic Threat Assessment Matrix’ to enable police to prioritize resources and activities. Fully expecting Farrell to regurgitate the contention that Muslim extremists posed the biggest threat, his bosses were stunned when Farrell instead reported that the 2005 London bombings were staged by British intelligence and that the official story was a “monstrous lie”.
During an hour-long interview with Richard D. Hall which was broadcast nationwide on UK television last week, Farrell revealed how one week before the 5th anniversary of 7/7 in 2010, he began researching information suggesting that the official story behind 9/11 was a total fabrication. Farrell cites the Alex Jones Show as being instrumental in his awakening to this knowledge.
After sharing his concerns with the resident police church minister, it was suggested to Farrell that he also investigate the July 2005 London bombings.
“Something he had not suspected ‘in his wildest dreams’ then started to unfold,” writes Nick Kollerstrom. “After reading much of the available but publicly-unreported witness statements and other evidence relating to 7/7, Tony found that he could only conclude that the official 7/7 narrative was ‘a monstrous lie.’ Instead of the official ‘suicide bombers’ narrative, which he and all of his colleagues had believed without question, he realized that the weight of evidence strongly points far more towards 7/7 being an event stage-managed by British intelligence than anything else.”
Tony Farrell, who has a university degree in statistics, was employed for 12 years as a ‘Police Intelligence Analyst’ with South Yorkshire Police. His job was to provide a yearly ‘Strategic Threat Assessment Matrix’ to enable police to prioritize resources and activities. Fully expecting Farrell to regurgitate the contention that Muslim extremists posed the biggest threat, his bosses were stunned when Farrell instead reported that the 2005 London bombings were staged by British intelligence and that the official story was a “monstrous lie”.
During an hour-long interview with Richard D. Hall which was broadcast nationwide on UK television last week, Farrell revealed how one week before the 5th anniversary of 7/7 in 2010, he began researching information suggesting that the official story behind 9/11 was a total fabrication. Farrell cites the Alex Jones Show as being instrumental in his awakening to this knowledge.
After sharing his concerns with the resident police church minister, it was suggested to Farrell that he also investigate the July 2005 London bombings.
“Something he had not suspected ‘in his wildest dreams’ then started to unfold,” writes Nick Kollerstrom. “After reading much of the available but publicly-unreported witness statements and other evidence relating to 7/7, Tony found that he could only conclude that the official 7/7 narrative was ‘a monstrous lie.’ Instead of the official ‘suicide bombers’ narrative, which he and all of his colleagues had believed without question, he realized that the weight of evidence strongly points far more towards 7/7 being an event stage-managed by British intelligence than anything else.”
CFR to Thailand: Accept US-Stooge or Else
The corporate-funded, corporate-serving unelected arbiters of US domestic and foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations have recently written an article titled, "Is Thailand Headed for Another Coup? What Should the United States Do About It?" Considering Thailand is a sovereign nation, the obvious answer as to what the US should do is mind its own business. However CFR shill Joshua Kurlantzick, a "Fellow for Southeast Asia" suggests otherwise.
Kurlantzick first misleads a readership he must regard with utter contempt by stating, "Thailand's voters decisively backed the populist Puea Thai Party," in recent July elections. In reality, of the 74% of Thais that turned out to vote on July 3, only 48% actually cast votes for Peua Thai (PTP). Of all eligible voters, that is a tenuous 35% mandate, hardly what can be called "decisively backed." While Kurlantzick states, "Thaksin, who faces a jail term in Thailand on charges of corruption and has lived in exile since the coup, seems to have had his revenge: His sister, Yingluck, whom he has called “his clone,” runs Puea Thai, and she appears poised to become Thailand's first female prime minister," he utterly fails to point out how Thaksin literally runs the party by proxy from abroad, with the party's slogan being "Thaksin thinks, Peua Thai does."
Kurlantizick, to address Thailand's rejection of a US-backed convicted criminal and his illegitimate proxy-party, suggests that the US should cut its military aid to Thailand as well as applying sanctions that would cut off military transfers. He also suggests that Congress begin subjecting Thailand to the same "scrutiny' applied to other Asian nations. Kurlantzick also suggests that Thailand is drifting toward "civil war" and that "the U.S. must do its part to ensure that this doesn't come to pass."
In reality, Thaksin's proxy party failed to garner support from more than 35% of Thailand's eligible voters. In the past, Thaksin's attempts at triggering violent uprisings yielded only a small group of hardcore supporters willing to commit to such violence, augmented by a paltry 300 armed mercenaries, put down by the Thai military two years consecutively. While PTP will undoubtedly attempt to bring in more arms and spill more blood, and while CFR is clearly signaling the US elitist establishment will throw its full weight behind PTP, recent election results lays bare the true moral and political bankruptcy of Thaksin's proxy movement. Any violence they now commit to, they do so in a climate of complete illegitimacy. With revelations regarding pro-Thaksin, pro-PTP, pro-red shirt propaganda outlet "Prachatai" and their wall-to-wall United States foundation funding, Thais must decide for themselves whether they sort out their own problems inwardly and work pragmatically to improve their nation's future, or invite in the self-serving meddling of the US and their stooge Thaksin Shinwatra via his proxy party PTP.
Kurlantzick first misleads a readership he must regard with utter contempt by stating, "Thailand's voters decisively backed the populist Puea Thai Party," in recent July elections. In reality, of the 74% of Thais that turned out to vote on July 3, only 48% actually cast votes for Peua Thai (PTP). Of all eligible voters, that is a tenuous 35% mandate, hardly what can be called "decisively backed." While Kurlantzick states, "Thaksin, who faces a jail term in Thailand on charges of corruption and has lived in exile since the coup, seems to have had his revenge: His sister, Yingluck, whom he has called “his clone,” runs Puea Thai, and she appears poised to become Thailand's first female prime minister," he utterly fails to point out how Thaksin literally runs the party by proxy from abroad, with the party's slogan being "Thaksin thinks, Peua Thai does."
Kurlantizick, to address Thailand's rejection of a US-backed convicted criminal and his illegitimate proxy-party, suggests that the US should cut its military aid to Thailand as well as applying sanctions that would cut off military transfers. He also suggests that Congress begin subjecting Thailand to the same "scrutiny' applied to other Asian nations. Kurlantzick also suggests that Thailand is drifting toward "civil war" and that "the U.S. must do its part to ensure that this doesn't come to pass."
In reality, Thaksin's proxy party failed to garner support from more than 35% of Thailand's eligible voters. In the past, Thaksin's attempts at triggering violent uprisings yielded only a small group of hardcore supporters willing to commit to such violence, augmented by a paltry 300 armed mercenaries, put down by the Thai military two years consecutively. While PTP will undoubtedly attempt to bring in more arms and spill more blood, and while CFR is clearly signaling the US elitist establishment will throw its full weight behind PTP, recent election results lays bare the true moral and political bankruptcy of Thaksin's proxy movement. Any violence they now commit to, they do so in a climate of complete illegitimacy. With revelations regarding pro-Thaksin, pro-PTP, pro-red shirt propaganda outlet "Prachatai" and their wall-to-wall United States foundation funding, Thais must decide for themselves whether they sort out their own problems inwardly and work pragmatically to improve their nation's future, or invite in the self-serving meddling of the US and their stooge Thaksin Shinwatra via his proxy party PTP.
Why the US won't leave Afghanistan
It all comes back, once again, to Pipelineistan - and one of its outstanding chimeras; the Turkmenistan/Afghanistan/Pakistan (TAP) gas pipeline, also known once as the Trans-Afghan Pipeline, which might one day become TAPI if India decides to be on board.
The US corporate media simply refuses to cover what is one of the most important stories of the early 21st century.
Washington has badly wanted TAP since the mid-1990s, when the Clinton administration was negotiating with the Taliban; the talks broke down because of transit fees, even before 9/11, when the Bush administration decided to change the rhetoric from "a carpet of gold" to "a carpet of bombs".
TAP is a classic Pipelineistan gambit; the US supporting the flow of gas from Central Asia to global markets, bypassing both Iran and Russia. If it ever gets built, it will cost over $10 billion.
It needs a totally pacified Afghanistan - still another chimera - and a Pakistani government totally implicated in Afghanistan's security, still a no-no as long as Islamabad's policy is to have Afghanistan as its "strategic depth", a vassal state, in a long-term confrontation mindset against India.
It's no surprise the Pentagon and the Pakistani Army enjoy such a close working relationship. Both Washington and Islamabad regard Pashtun nationalism as an existential threat.
The US corporate media simply refuses to cover what is one of the most important stories of the early 21st century.
Washington has badly wanted TAP since the mid-1990s, when the Clinton administration was negotiating with the Taliban; the talks broke down because of transit fees, even before 9/11, when the Bush administration decided to change the rhetoric from "a carpet of gold" to "a carpet of bombs".
TAP is a classic Pipelineistan gambit; the US supporting the flow of gas from Central Asia to global markets, bypassing both Iran and Russia. If it ever gets built, it will cost over $10 billion.
It needs a totally pacified Afghanistan - still another chimera - and a Pakistani government totally implicated in Afghanistan's security, still a no-no as long as Islamabad's policy is to have Afghanistan as its "strategic depth", a vassal state, in a long-term confrontation mindset against India.
It's no surprise the Pentagon and the Pakistani Army enjoy such a close working relationship. Both Washington and Islamabad regard Pashtun nationalism as an existential threat.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
9/11 Truth Isn’t Going Away
As 9/11’s tenth anniversary approaches, the issues surrounding that seminal event are just as relevant today and a lot more urgent. Despite the change of management, we still bomb, still rendition, still torture, still illegally wiretap, still detain indefinitely without habeas corpus and without counsel, among other international crimes. These days we can add a few more items to that list like irradiate children, feel up grandma at the airport, and throw people in jail for not paying their credit card bills. Another thing we still do in America: obstruct the truth when it conflicts with the official 9/11 storyline.
“Hysteria” has been defined as a compulsion in which the actor repeats the same action over and over in the face of a negative outcome. Our politicians and civic leaders, through the mainstream media machine are hysterical on the subject of 9/11, parroting the same tired lies as if by cramming that sandwich in our faces enough of us will eventually swallow it. While we may see the pre-packaged fantasy internalized by dullards, most of us aren’t buying the government’s heroic tragedy, a fictional catalyst that has propelled the United States into war in Afghanistan, Iraq, now Libya and who knows where next. Syria? Pakistan? Yemen? Iran?
There has been much analysis of the psychological roadblocks thrown up by those who cannot or will not accept the reality of a 9/11 false flag attack on domestic soil. As described by activist Ken Jenkins, such denial may be attributed to the scale and sheer audacity of the act, the paradigm-shifting implications of 9/11, blind nationalist faith, shame on the part of those fooled, PTSD, and simple ignorance of historical precedents.[1] Factor in an embarrassing level of credulity and these elements have contributed to the thumb-sucking compliance of a population dumbed down and infantilized to the point where it believes our government has its best interests at heart.
Of course history does not support the gumdrop and gingerbread view of government to which so many folks subscribe. But the myth of America is powerful. We are the good guys, revolutionaries who threw off the yoke of British imperialism two hundred thirty-five years ago and created the Constitution, a document so powerfully associated with rebellion that the FBI identifies those who reference or defend it as domestic terrorists.
“Hysteria” has been defined as a compulsion in which the actor repeats the same action over and over in the face of a negative outcome. Our politicians and civic leaders, through the mainstream media machine are hysterical on the subject of 9/11, parroting the same tired lies as if by cramming that sandwich in our faces enough of us will eventually swallow it. While we may see the pre-packaged fantasy internalized by dullards, most of us aren’t buying the government’s heroic tragedy, a fictional catalyst that has propelled the United States into war in Afghanistan, Iraq, now Libya and who knows where next. Syria? Pakistan? Yemen? Iran?
There has been much analysis of the psychological roadblocks thrown up by those who cannot or will not accept the reality of a 9/11 false flag attack on domestic soil. As described by activist Ken Jenkins, such denial may be attributed to the scale and sheer audacity of the act, the paradigm-shifting implications of 9/11, blind nationalist faith, shame on the part of those fooled, PTSD, and simple ignorance of historical precedents.[1] Factor in an embarrassing level of credulity and these elements have contributed to the thumb-sucking compliance of a population dumbed down and infantilized to the point where it believes our government has its best interests at heart.
Of course history does not support the gumdrop and gingerbread view of government to which so many folks subscribe. But the myth of America is powerful. We are the good guys, revolutionaries who threw off the yoke of British imperialism two hundred thirty-five years ago and created the Constitution, a document so powerfully associated with rebellion that the FBI identifies those who reference or defend it as domestic terrorists.
Taliban deliver hammer blow to NATO
Spin masters from Washington to Brussels to Kabul are bound for many a sleepless night. World public opinion has been relentlessly shocked and awed by the chimera that the United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are "winning" the AfPak combo war.
Now for the facts on the ground. Immediately after the US government decided to "suspend" US$800 million in aid to the Pakistan army, Pakistan Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar told local Express TV channel, "If at all things become difficult, we will just get all our forces back" - hinting there would be no more troops from Islamabad fighting Pashtun-majority guerrillas in the tribal areas.
Mukhtar couldn't have been more explicit; "If Americans refuse to give us money, then okay ... We cannot afford to keep the military out in the mountains for such a long period."
Arguably not many Afghans will feel "the same kind of pain" when confronted by the assassination of Ahmad Wali Karzai, the president's half-brother, a major drug dealer, an asset on the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) payroll and the top powerbroker in Kandahar as head of the Kandahar provincial council.
Now for the facts on the ground. Immediately after the US government decided to "suspend" US$800 million in aid to the Pakistan army, Pakistan Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar told local Express TV channel, "If at all things become difficult, we will just get all our forces back" - hinting there would be no more troops from Islamabad fighting Pashtun-majority guerrillas in the tribal areas.
Mukhtar couldn't have been more explicit; "If Americans refuse to give us money, then okay ... We cannot afford to keep the military out in the mountains for such a long period."
Arguably not many Afghans will feel "the same kind of pain" when confronted by the assassination of Ahmad Wali Karzai, the president's half-brother, a major drug dealer, an asset on the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) payroll and the top powerbroker in Kandahar as head of the Kandahar provincial council.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
“Let’s Arm The Mexican Drug Cartels With Thousands Of Guns And Continue To Leave The Border Completely Wide Open”
How in the world are Americans living in the southwest United States supposed to sleep peacefully at night when the U.S. government has given thousands of guns to Mexican drug cartels and continues to leave the border completely wide open? The brutality and viciousness of Mexican drug cartels is almost beyond description, and yet the U.S. government has armed them to the teeth and does next to nothing to stop their incursions into U.S. territory. "Project Gunrunner" was supposed to be a U.S. government initiative to fight the flow of guns into Mexico. Instead, it has now come out that ATF agents were ordered to facilitate the acquisition of thousands of U.S. guns by Mexican drug cartels and then halt surveillance on where those guns where going. One of these operations was known as "Fast and Furious" and the revelations that are now coming out have Congress in an uproar. If the full truth about what has been going on is revealed to the American people it is going to turn Washington D.C. upside down.
Right now, some of the most dangerous places to be on the face of the earth are along the U.S./Mexico border. The Mexican drug cartels are fighting a vicious war against each other and against the authorities.
The U.S. government has been supplying them with thousands of weapons.
The Obama administration loads the Mexican drug cartels with guns, leaves the border completely wide open and then talks about how we need to curtail the ability of American gun owners to defend themselves.
Right now, some of the most dangerous places to be on the face of the earth are along the U.S./Mexico border. The Mexican drug cartels are fighting a vicious war against each other and against the authorities.
The U.S. government has been supplying them with thousands of weapons.
The Obama administration loads the Mexican drug cartels with guns, leaves the border completely wide open and then talks about how we need to curtail the ability of American gun owners to defend themselves.
A Bad Mood Has Descended On World Financial Markets
Have you noticed that a really bad mood seems to have descended on world financial markets? Fear and pessimism are everywhere. The global economy never truly recovered from the financial crisis of 2008, and right now everyone is keeping their eyes open for the next "Lehman Brothers moment" that will send world financial markets into another tailspin. Investors have been very nervous for quite some time now, but this week things seem to be going to a whole new level. Fears about the spread of the debt crisis in Europe and about the failure of debt ceiling talks in the United States have really hammered global financial markets. On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 151 points. Italian stocks fared even worse. The stock market in Italy fell more than 3 percent on Monday. The stock markets in Germany and France fell more than 2 percent each. On top of everything else, the fact that protesters have stormed the U.S. embassy in Syria is causing tensions to rise significantly in the Middle East. Everywhere you turn there seems to be more bad news and large numbers of investors are getting closer to hitting the panic button. Hopefully things will cool down soon, because if not we could soon have another full-blown financial crisis on our hands.
Even many of those that have always tried to reassure us suddenly seem to be in a really bad mood.
Meanwhile, world financial markets are starting to get a little nervous about this situation. The newly elected head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, has stated that she "can't imagine for a second" that we are going to see the U.S. default on any debt. Most investors seem to agree with Lagarde for now, but if we get to August 2nd without a deal being reached things could change very quickly.
But it isn't just the debt ceiling crisis that is causing apprehension in the United States. The truth is that there are a host of indications that the U.S. economy is continuing to struggle.
Even many of those that have always tried to reassure us suddenly seem to be in a really bad mood.
Meanwhile, world financial markets are starting to get a little nervous about this situation. The newly elected head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, has stated that she "can't imagine for a second" that we are going to see the U.S. default on any debt. Most investors seem to agree with Lagarde for now, but if we get to August 2nd without a deal being reached things could change very quickly.
But it isn't just the debt ceiling crisis that is causing apprehension in the United States. The truth is that there are a host of indications that the U.S. economy is continuing to struggle.
The True Cost Of America's Wars
The medical costs are huge. "While we know how many U.S. soldiers have died in the wars (just over 6,000)," the report pointed out, "what is startling is what we don’t know about the levels of injury and illness in those who have returned from the wars. New disability claims continue to pour into the VA, with 550,000 just through last fall." This doesn't even include the thousands of deaths and injuries among quasi-military contractors. There are about as many contractors as troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It's impossible to precisely predict the interest costs on these wars. In 2010, $400 billion of our tax money went toward paying off past war debts as far back as the Korean War of the early 1950s. We'll pay war debts indefinitely because Washington is always borrowing to plan for or start new wars. So far, the U.S.-led NATO war for regime change in Libya is costing American taxpayers about a billion. The Pentagon has blueprints ready for many different kinds of future wars, from small counter-terrorism escapades, to cyberspace and outer space conflicts, to nuclear war, all the way up to World War III.
Instead of just discussing the Pentagon budget, it is essential to also consider Washington's various other "national security" budgets. That of course includes the costs of Washington's 16 different intelligence services, the percentage of the annual national debt to pay for past war expenses, Homeland Security, nuclear weapons, additional annual spending requests for Iraq and Afghan wars, military retiree pay and healthcare for vets, NASA, FBI (for its war-related military work), etc. When it's all included it comes to $1,398 trillion for fiscal 2010, according to the War Resisters League and other sources.
It's not enough just to take note of the money Washington spent on stalemated wars of imperial choice. It's fruitful to contemplate where our $5 trillion Bush-Obama war funding might have been invested instead. It could have paid for a fairly swift transition from fossil fuels to a solar-wind energy system for the entire U.S. — a prospect that will now take many decades longer, if at all, as the world gets warmer from greenhouse gases. And there probably would have been enough left to overhaul America's decaying and outdated civil infrastructure, among other projects.
It's impossible to precisely predict the interest costs on these wars. In 2010, $400 billion of our tax money went toward paying off past war debts as far back as the Korean War of the early 1950s. We'll pay war debts indefinitely because Washington is always borrowing to plan for or start new wars. So far, the U.S.-led NATO war for regime change in Libya is costing American taxpayers about a billion. The Pentagon has blueprints ready for many different kinds of future wars, from small counter-terrorism escapades, to cyberspace and outer space conflicts, to nuclear war, all the way up to World War III.
Instead of just discussing the Pentagon budget, it is essential to also consider Washington's various other "national security" budgets. That of course includes the costs of Washington's 16 different intelligence services, the percentage of the annual national debt to pay for past war expenses, Homeland Security, nuclear weapons, additional annual spending requests for Iraq and Afghan wars, military retiree pay and healthcare for vets, NASA, FBI (for its war-related military work), etc. When it's all included it comes to $1,398 trillion for fiscal 2010, according to the War Resisters League and other sources.
It's not enough just to take note of the money Washington spent on stalemated wars of imperial choice. It's fruitful to contemplate where our $5 trillion Bush-Obama war funding might have been invested instead. It could have paid for a fairly swift transition from fossil fuels to a solar-wind energy system for the entire U.S. — a prospect that will now take many decades longer, if at all, as the world gets warmer from greenhouse gases. And there probably would have been enough left to overhaul America's decaying and outdated civil infrastructure, among other projects.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Dual Citizenship -- Loyal to Whom?
Someone wrote and asked me, "Why are there Israeli- but not Mexican-American Dual Nationals?"
Well, here's my take on this. I'd also like your views and opinions.
Before I begin I'd like to day something important. There is a new law -- the so-called "Hate Speech" law, that just passed the House and is expected to pass the Senate and become law very soon. It was originally designed to guard against discrimination of oppressed minorities but was soon recognized as a way for Israel to forever end any criticism of the state of Israel and Zionism. When it is law, this page, and many like it will be deleted from the internet as yet another mile marker of the infringement of truth and free speech by certain dual-nationals at the expense of true and patriotic Americans. Enough said.
Unless we are Native American Indians, all Americans have their origins in some other country. Both of my parents were from England. They were proud to be "British" but they were most proud of achieving their American citizenship. Sure, we had pictures of the Queen and nick-nacks with the Union Jack on them. My mother even celebrated the traditional 4 o'clock tea time and was good at making Yorkshire Pudding. In the late 60's my older brother served in the US Army and did his tour in Viet Nam. When it came down to "allegiance," we were all patriotic Americans. Period.
The word "allegiance" means that we promise loyalty. It also carries with it the expectation that this loyalty will be exclusive and unrestrained. In the case of a declared war or real threat or conflict, for example, our allegiance to America should preclude any other interest, be it another country or political ideology.
When they took their oath to become American citizens, my parents had to pledge their "allegiance" exclusively to America and renounce their allegiance to "any and all foreign governments." That included Great Britain, one of our strongest allies.
Well, here's my take on this. I'd also like your views and opinions.
Before I begin I'd like to day something important. There is a new law -- the so-called "Hate Speech" law, that just passed the House and is expected to pass the Senate and become law very soon. It was originally designed to guard against discrimination of oppressed minorities but was soon recognized as a way for Israel to forever end any criticism of the state of Israel and Zionism. When it is law, this page, and many like it will be deleted from the internet as yet another mile marker of the infringement of truth and free speech by certain dual-nationals at the expense of true and patriotic Americans. Enough said.
Unless we are Native American Indians, all Americans have their origins in some other country. Both of my parents were from England. They were proud to be "British" but they were most proud of achieving their American citizenship. Sure, we had pictures of the Queen and nick-nacks with the Union Jack on them. My mother even celebrated the traditional 4 o'clock tea time and was good at making Yorkshire Pudding. In the late 60's my older brother served in the US Army and did his tour in Viet Nam. When it came down to "allegiance," we were all patriotic Americans. Period.
The word "allegiance" means that we promise loyalty. It also carries with it the expectation that this loyalty will be exclusive and unrestrained. In the case of a declared war or real threat or conflict, for example, our allegiance to America should preclude any other interest, be it another country or political ideology.
When they took their oath to become American citizens, my parents had to pledge their "allegiance" exclusively to America and renounce their allegiance to "any and all foreign governments." That included Great Britain, one of our strongest allies.
Next Up: Pakistan
I see someone besides myself has noticed all the “leaking” going on in the upper echelons of Washington over our rocky relationship with Pakistan. Suddenly Islamabad is on the verge of being classified as part of the Axis of Evil, with the head of the joint chiefs, Admiral Mullen, openly accusing the Pakistanis of “sanctioning” the killing of a journalist, and allying with a faction of the Taliban. Since when does a military man – the titular uniformed head of the US armed force, no less – speak out on such sensitive political matters? Why, when he has the full backing of the White House – which obviously has plans for the Pakistanis.
The new accusations add fuel to the fire started by the discovery of Osama bin Laden’s Abbottabad lair, where he had been hiding for years. The Pakistan-haters in the administration – of which there seem to be plenty – were quick to draw the conclusion that he’d been hiding with the knowledge and cooperation of the Pakistani military – because of the hideout’s proximity to an elite military academy. Which is odd, since it is well known that al-Qaeda operatives were living in the US for years, undetected, as they planned the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Heck, FBI agents in the field warned Washington after one of the terrorists took flight training lessons and was reported for suspicious activities – to no avail. What if someone in Pakistan had reported similarly suspicious activity in Abbottabad to the local authorities, and no action had been taken – in the view of the anti-Pakistan crowd, wouldn’t that constitute prima facie proof of Islamabad’s guilt?
The ultimate prize for US imperialism in the Middle East – the jewel in the crown of the emerging American empire – is Iran, long the chief target of the War Party’s attention. Yet they don’t have either the resources or the political support for such an attack, and so the strategy, for the time being, is encirclement. First, Iraq and Afghanistan, buttressing the substantial US military presence in the Gulf – and now, Pakistan. (Azerbaijan, to the north, has replaced Kyrgyzstan as the main way station funneling supplies to American troops in the region.)
While keeping the heat on for a direct attack on Iran, the powerful pro-Israel lobby – the driving force behind the anti-Iran crowd – is biding its time, confident they’ll win in the end. In the meantime, they are carefully building up momentum for the final push toward war, and a key part of that is agitating for a complete break in US-Pakistan relations.
The new accusations add fuel to the fire started by the discovery of Osama bin Laden’s Abbottabad lair, where he had been hiding for years. The Pakistan-haters in the administration – of which there seem to be plenty – were quick to draw the conclusion that he’d been hiding with the knowledge and cooperation of the Pakistani military – because of the hideout’s proximity to an elite military academy. Which is odd, since it is well known that al-Qaeda operatives were living in the US for years, undetected, as they planned the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Heck, FBI agents in the field warned Washington after one of the terrorists took flight training lessons and was reported for suspicious activities – to no avail. What if someone in Pakistan had reported similarly suspicious activity in Abbottabad to the local authorities, and no action had been taken – in the view of the anti-Pakistan crowd, wouldn’t that constitute prima facie proof of Islamabad’s guilt?
The ultimate prize for US imperialism in the Middle East – the jewel in the crown of the emerging American empire – is Iran, long the chief target of the War Party’s attention. Yet they don’t have either the resources or the political support for such an attack, and so the strategy, for the time being, is encirclement. First, Iraq and Afghanistan, buttressing the substantial US military presence in the Gulf – and now, Pakistan. (Azerbaijan, to the north, has replaced Kyrgyzstan as the main way station funneling supplies to American troops in the region.)
While keeping the heat on for a direct attack on Iran, the powerful pro-Israel lobby – the driving force behind the anti-Iran crowd – is biding its time, confident they’ll win in the end. In the meantime, they are carefully building up momentum for the final push toward war, and a key part of that is agitating for a complete break in US-Pakistan relations.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
THE NEW WORLD ORDER: Why The Entire Economy Is About To Change
In a new report, Societe Generale argues that we're at the end of a cycle that began in 1980. The note is titled grandly: "A new world order, When demand overtakes supply."
At the end of the 1970s the industrialized world went looking for cheap labor and found it in Asia.
But now the boom in Asia is affecting the entire globe in ways that will bring new resource stresses.
Among the points the firm makes:
From 1980-2010 the global population grew by 2.5 billion (mostly 15-64 year olds)
2/3rds of those 15-64 year-olds came from Asia (excluding Japan)- that's a huge shift in the labor market and demand.
The industrialized world's labor force is set for a 5% decrease by 2030 - so lower productivity, and again more stresses.
Add it all up: lots more demand, and not necessarily as much supply. The shift between cycles will be "chaotic and long winded," says Societe.
At the end of the 1970s the industrialized world went looking for cheap labor and found it in Asia.
But now the boom in Asia is affecting the entire globe in ways that will bring new resource stresses.
Among the points the firm makes:
From 1980-2010 the global population grew by 2.5 billion (mostly 15-64 year olds)
2/3rds of those 15-64 year-olds came from Asia (excluding Japan)- that's a huge shift in the labor market and demand.
The industrialized world's labor force is set for a 5% decrease by 2030 - so lower productivity, and again more stresses.
Add it all up: lots more demand, and not necessarily as much supply. The shift between cycles will be "chaotic and long winded," says Societe.
Metaphors for a Post-Federal America
As Gary North has noted, the great 21st century default of the U.S. government has already started, with the raiding of federal pension funds to stay solvent a few months ago. We may recall the 2000 presidential election, when Al Gore spoke favorably about creating a social security "lockbox," even as Social Security "taxes" had been treated for years as a core part of the federal budget, simple annual "income" for the state.
Terms like "lockbox," as with the words "freedom" and "patriotism" and "progress" have been used by the state for a long time to confirm and communicate the false idea that the federal government is, and has ever been, on solid ground. Gore helped many millions of us create in our minds a vision of a social security lockbox that simply never existed, and one that could never exist, in the context of what George Ayittey described, in several of his books, "the vampire state."
Dr. Ayittey gave an impassioned and entertaining talk at TED a few years ago, entitled "Cheetahs vs. Hippos." In it, he mentions vampire states, and describes a begging bowl that leaks. While these metaphors refer to governments on the African continent, both are well-suited to 20th and early 21st Century American federalism. Ayittey speaks of unleashing the "Cheetah generation," and as a metaphor for what comes next, it is both lovely and powerful.
As we watch the Washington D.C. megalith begin to crumble, and make no mistake, we are watching this today – with its frantic decades-long construction of government facilities and monuments, combined with an even more frantic last ditch effort to control what individuals do, earn, say, and where and how they travel. And, might I remind you, all of this construction, of monuments, prisons, bases and office space (2.2 billion square feet for the U.S. military alone) and all these rules and regulations cost lots of money to be eternally loaned by we the people and from interested investors. Funny, I don’t recall signing a contract or even being asked. Perhaps that what they mean by patriotism: my country’s spending, right or wrong.
Terms like "lockbox," as with the words "freedom" and "patriotism" and "progress" have been used by the state for a long time to confirm and communicate the false idea that the federal government is, and has ever been, on solid ground. Gore helped many millions of us create in our minds a vision of a social security lockbox that simply never existed, and one that could never exist, in the context of what George Ayittey described, in several of his books, "the vampire state."
Dr. Ayittey gave an impassioned and entertaining talk at TED a few years ago, entitled "Cheetahs vs. Hippos." In it, he mentions vampire states, and describes a begging bowl that leaks. While these metaphors refer to governments on the African continent, both are well-suited to 20th and early 21st Century American federalism. Ayittey speaks of unleashing the "Cheetah generation," and as a metaphor for what comes next, it is both lovely and powerful.
As we watch the Washington D.C. megalith begin to crumble, and make no mistake, we are watching this today – with its frantic decades-long construction of government facilities and monuments, combined with an even more frantic last ditch effort to control what individuals do, earn, say, and where and how they travel. And, might I remind you, all of this construction, of monuments, prisons, bases and office space (2.2 billion square feet for the U.S. military alone) and all these rules and regulations cost lots of money to be eternally loaned by we the people and from interested investors. Funny, I don’t recall signing a contract or even being asked. Perhaps that what they mean by patriotism: my country’s spending, right or wrong.
US homes in on al-Qaeda's new head
Osama bin Laden's second-in-command Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri's succession as the new al-Qaeda chief has not only put renewed American pressure on Pakistan for "credible intelligence-sharing" about his possible whereabouts, but also raised concerns about fresh terror attacks in Pakistan, which is already struggling to balance domestic politics with a deteriorating relationship with the United States.
Well-informed diplomatic sources in Islamabad say senior American intelligence officials have sought help from their Pakistani counterparts to track down Zawahiri, thinking that he may be hiding somewhere in an urban locality of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, as had been the case with Bin Laden, who was hunted down by American raiders in Abbottabad on May 2.
Though the American raid has strained already prickly Pakistan-US ties, the Barack Obama administration is adamant to hunt down remaining al-Qaeda fugitives believed to be hiding in Pakistan, especially Zawahiri. While seeking intelligence-sharing, senior American intelligence officials have reportedly provided to their Pakistani counterparts a list of over two dozen high-value al-Qaeda and Taliban targets allegedly sheltering in Pakistan.
The list contains the names of many of those people who are on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's) list of most-wanted terror suspects, although the US Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA's) and the FBI's lists are prepared independently.
Well-informed diplomatic sources in Islamabad say senior American intelligence officials have sought help from their Pakistani counterparts to track down Zawahiri, thinking that he may be hiding somewhere in an urban locality of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, as had been the case with Bin Laden, who was hunted down by American raiders in Abbottabad on May 2.
Though the American raid has strained already prickly Pakistan-US ties, the Barack Obama administration is adamant to hunt down remaining al-Qaeda fugitives believed to be hiding in Pakistan, especially Zawahiri. While seeking intelligence-sharing, senior American intelligence officials have reportedly provided to their Pakistani counterparts a list of over two dozen high-value al-Qaeda and Taliban targets allegedly sheltering in Pakistan.
The list contains the names of many of those people who are on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's) list of most-wanted terror suspects, although the US Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA's) and the FBI's lists are prepared independently.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Major Spy Scandal Suppressed: Murdoch’s “Hackers” National Security Threat
The case in Britain, reported by the criminals themselves, yes, that’s right, the newspapers that were caught also own the news agencies that report the news. It goes further, the newspapers and news agencies responsible for the “not so innocent” and “not so limited” spying activities aren’t simply independent companies. They are owned by Rupert Murdoch and operated as part of the intelligence agencies of the State of Israel. Murdoch, an Israeli, a fact not known to many, is the most powerful media mogul in the world. His corporations own, not just Fox News, but networks, magazines, websites and newspapers around the world, the biggest, the most scandalous, the most biased and the most politically extreme.
Thus far, one arrest is scheduled, a former reporter named Andy Coulson. Andy was supposed to be arrested in 2007 but was saved from that unpleasant fate and, instead, appointed Director of Communications for Prime Minister David Cameron. Coulson resigned in January and is expected, according to Guardian sources, to turn himself over to authorities tomorrow.
Murdoch and his Tel Aviv based associates believe tossing Andy “under a bus” will be enough. After all, Murdoch’s empire has done more to rule Britain than any government. His publications don’t just blind the British people, they go much further. This isn’t about Britain at all, it is global politics on a grand scale, showing its dirtiest underwear to the public.
Murdoch’s worldwide media empire provides mechanisms for a global Israeli intelligence operation using their vast resources to control governments, the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Greece, so many governments. Spying operations such as the one uncovered in Britain are only a part of that capability. It isn’t just news but pop culture as well, used as a weapon, a continual, unending assault on reality, on perception, on truth.
Thus far, one arrest is scheduled, a former reporter named Andy Coulson. Andy was supposed to be arrested in 2007 but was saved from that unpleasant fate and, instead, appointed Director of Communications for Prime Minister David Cameron. Coulson resigned in January and is expected, according to Guardian sources, to turn himself over to authorities tomorrow.
Murdoch and his Tel Aviv based associates believe tossing Andy “under a bus” will be enough. After all, Murdoch’s empire has done more to rule Britain than any government. His publications don’t just blind the British people, they go much further. This isn’t about Britain at all, it is global politics on a grand scale, showing its dirtiest underwear to the public.
Murdoch’s worldwide media empire provides mechanisms for a global Israeli intelligence operation using their vast resources to control governments, the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Greece, so many governments. Spying operations such as the one uncovered in Britain are only a part of that capability. It isn’t just news but pop culture as well, used as a weapon, a continual, unending assault on reality, on perception, on truth.
America, Won’t You Please Come Home?
The rebellion in Congress against US intervention in the Libyan civil war was effectively quashed by the Democrats when a majority of Republicans voted in favor of a bipartisan resolution to defund the mission, but the Democratic leadership kept enough of their caucus in line to defeat the measure. The proposed legislation, co-sponsored by Reps. Dennis “Department of Peace” Kucinich, and Justin “Tea Party” Amash, perfectly embodies the spirit of the growing left-right foreign policy alliance as expressed in a recent open letter released by Come Home America, calling for an end to our role as the world’s policeman. The letter was signed by a dizzyingly diverse range of political pundits and publicists, from Ralph Nader and Medea Benjamin to Dan McCarthy, editor of The American Conservative, as well as my reactionary self. In short, a group of people who don’t have much in common politically – except a growing sense of outrage at what is being done in our name overseas.
In making the argument that critics of the Libyan adventure want to “defend” Gadhafi, Hillary was even more explicit: “Whose side are you on?”, she shrieked. They both sound like George W. Bush and his neoconservative minions, who were constantly attacking critics of the Iraq war as being somehow sympathetic to “the terrorists.” Similarly, this liberal blogger sounds just like the neocon blogosphere (note the illustration) during the worst of the Bush era.
So it happens that opponents of US military intervention who were once labeled Nixon-hating “hippies” of the“far left,” and typified as pacifistic “peaceniks,” are now characterized as Obama-hating “far right” reactionaries. The epithets may change, but the issue isn’t going to go away – no matter how vicious the smear campaign gets. Because both the left and the right are fast waking up to the fact that they’re being taken for a ride by the War Party – which profits from empire while the rest of us pay.
That’s why Come Home America – a new left-right antiwar initiative – is vitally important. I urge my readers to sign up and get actively involved: this is the one antiwar organization I can unreservedly endorse. Chapters are springing up across the nation, and now is the time to get actively involved. Because there never was a better time for the nation to hear its message loud and clear: America, won’t you please come home?
In making the argument that critics of the Libyan adventure want to “defend” Gadhafi, Hillary was even more explicit: “Whose side are you on?”, she shrieked. They both sound like George W. Bush and his neoconservative minions, who were constantly attacking critics of the Iraq war as being somehow sympathetic to “the terrorists.” Similarly, this liberal blogger sounds just like the neocon blogosphere (note the illustration) during the worst of the Bush era.
So it happens that opponents of US military intervention who were once labeled Nixon-hating “hippies” of the“far left,” and typified as pacifistic “peaceniks,” are now characterized as Obama-hating “far right” reactionaries. The epithets may change, but the issue isn’t going to go away – no matter how vicious the smear campaign gets. Because both the left and the right are fast waking up to the fact that they’re being taken for a ride by the War Party – which profits from empire while the rest of us pay.
That’s why Come Home America – a new left-right antiwar initiative – is vitally important. I urge my readers to sign up and get actively involved: this is the one antiwar organization I can unreservedly endorse. Chapters are springing up across the nation, and now is the time to get actively involved. Because there never was a better time for the nation to hear its message loud and clear: America, won’t you please come home?
Thursday, July 7, 2011
100 Iraqi lawmakers demand departure of U.S. troops
Up to 100 Iraqi lawmakers on Monday signed a document calling on the Iraqi government to demand departure of U.S. troops from the country as scheduled by the end of 2011, the Aswat al-Iraq news agency reported.
“The legislatures have signed 100 signatures, calling on the government to demand the departure of the U.S. occupation forces, in compliance with the security agreement signed between Baghdad and Washington,” the Iraqi independent agency quoted Uday Awad, a member of the Ahrar parliamentary bloc, as saying.
Awad also said that his bloc urges other Iraqi political blocs to take similar step to practice pressure on the Iraqi government to demand a complete pullout of U.S. troops from the country, agency said on its website.
Al-Ahrar bloc is a group of Iraqi lawmakers loyal to the anti-U. S. Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The group is part of the Shiite Alliance, which includes Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s Dawa Party.
Baghdad and Washington are in debate whether the U.S. troops need to extend the presence of its troops in Iraq beyond the 2011 deadline.
U.S. military forces are to pull out completely from Iraq by the end of 2011, according to the security pact named Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which was signed late in 2008 between Baghdad and Washington.
“The legislatures have signed 100 signatures, calling on the government to demand the departure of the U.S. occupation forces, in compliance with the security agreement signed between Baghdad and Washington,” the Iraqi independent agency quoted Uday Awad, a member of the Ahrar parliamentary bloc, as saying.
Awad also said that his bloc urges other Iraqi political blocs to take similar step to practice pressure on the Iraqi government to demand a complete pullout of U.S. troops from the country, agency said on its website.
Al-Ahrar bloc is a group of Iraqi lawmakers loyal to the anti-U. S. Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The group is part of the Shiite Alliance, which includes Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s Dawa Party.
Baghdad and Washington are in debate whether the U.S. troops need to extend the presence of its troops in Iraq beyond the 2011 deadline.
U.S. military forces are to pull out completely from Iraq by the end of 2011, according to the security pact named Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which was signed late in 2008 between Baghdad and Washington.
The “War On Terror” Is A $6 Trillion Racket, Exceeding The Total Cost Of World War II
When you breakdown the spending on the War on Terror, you see hundreds of billions of dollars in shocking fraud and waste across the board. When it comes to fraud, a Defense Department report revealed:
“The military paid a total of $285 billion to more than 100 contractors between 2007 and ’09, even though those same companies were defrauding taxpayers in the same period… What’s perhaps most shocking is that billions of dollars went to contractors who had been either suspended or debarred for misusing taxpayer funds. The Pentagon also spent $270 billion on 91 contractors involved in civil fraud cases… Another $682 million went to 30 contractors convicted of criminal fraud.”
There have also been several cases where billions of dollars have gone missing. To name one recent revelation, the Federal Reserve shipped between $6.6 billion to $18.7 billion to Iraq for reconstruction that was stolen. The reason there is such discrepancy in the amount stolen in this case is due to the fact that the New York Federal Reserve is refusing to disclose the total amount. This is just one of several cases where billions of dollars in aide to Iraq and Afghanistan have gone missing. Not to mention the obscene and exorbitant fees charged by many private military companies. Earlier this year, the Congressional Commission on Wartime Contracting revealed that “tens of billions of dollars” have been wasted on private military contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan – and the amount spent on private contracting has dramatically increased during the Obama Administration.
When it comes to shocking examples of waste, it costs the military in Afghanistan $400 for a gallon gas, and the Marines alone use 800,000 gallons a day. Another report reveals that the military spends $20.2 billion a year on air conditioning. That’s $20.2 billion a year on AC. There are more absurdities in military spending than you can imagine. The list goes on and on.
“The military paid a total of $285 billion to more than 100 contractors between 2007 and ’09, even though those same companies were defrauding taxpayers in the same period… What’s perhaps most shocking is that billions of dollars went to contractors who had been either suspended or debarred for misusing taxpayer funds. The Pentagon also spent $270 billion on 91 contractors involved in civil fraud cases… Another $682 million went to 30 contractors convicted of criminal fraud.”
There have also been several cases where billions of dollars have gone missing. To name one recent revelation, the Federal Reserve shipped between $6.6 billion to $18.7 billion to Iraq for reconstruction that was stolen. The reason there is such discrepancy in the amount stolen in this case is due to the fact that the New York Federal Reserve is refusing to disclose the total amount. This is just one of several cases where billions of dollars in aide to Iraq and Afghanistan have gone missing. Not to mention the obscene and exorbitant fees charged by many private military companies. Earlier this year, the Congressional Commission on Wartime Contracting revealed that “tens of billions of dollars” have been wasted on private military contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan – and the amount spent on private contracting has dramatically increased during the Obama Administration.
When it comes to shocking examples of waste, it costs the military in Afghanistan $400 for a gallon gas, and the Marines alone use 800,000 gallons a day. Another report reveals that the military spends $20.2 billion a year on air conditioning. That’s $20.2 billion a year on AC. There are more absurdities in military spending than you can imagine. The list goes on and on.
Palestinian people power could it be a game-changer?
Because Israel’s leaders prefer land to peace and there’s nothing any American president can do about that so long as the Zionist lobby and its stooges in Congress call the shots on U.S. policy for Israel/Palestine, it’s obvious that the Palestinians have nothing to gain, only more to lose, from politics and diplomacy. So what, really, can they do themselves to press their claim for an acceptable minimum amount of justice? (By definition an acceptable minimum amount of justice requires a complete end to Israel’s 1967 occupation with provision for Jerusalem to be an open, undivided city and the capital of two states).
Way back in the early 1980's, Major General (then retired) Shlomo Gazit, the best and the brightest of Israel’s former Directors of Military Intelligence, said the following to me in a private conversation. “If we (Israel’s Jews) had been the Palestinians, we’d have had our mini state long ago.” He meant that they would have played the terror card. Simply stated (he knew he didn’t have to spell it out to me), they would bombed Israeli government offices and commercial centres and properties of all kinds and blasted transport and other communication facilities to cause maximum disruption and destruction.
And they would have done so knowing that their terrorism, provided it was ruthless enough and sustained, would be effective, would eventually cause many Israeli Jews to say to their government, “We’ve had enough, do a deal with the Palestinians.” (They would also have had the evidence of their own experience to go on. In 1947/48, mainly by terrorism, they drove out first the occupying British and then about 800,000 Arabs).
Though all governments deny it, a truth is that terrorism does work provided it is ruthless enough and sustained. And there’s no mystery about why. In many countries, especially those in which citizens are free to express their thoughts and feelings (the so-called democracies), there are limits to the amount terror-created disruption and mayhem the soft underbelly of public opinion will tolerate. All politicians know this.
Way back in the early 1980's, Major General (then retired) Shlomo Gazit, the best and the brightest of Israel’s former Directors of Military Intelligence, said the following to me in a private conversation. “If we (Israel’s Jews) had been the Palestinians, we’d have had our mini state long ago.” He meant that they would have played the terror card. Simply stated (he knew he didn’t have to spell it out to me), they would bombed Israeli government offices and commercial centres and properties of all kinds and blasted transport and other communication facilities to cause maximum disruption and destruction.
And they would have done so knowing that their terrorism, provided it was ruthless enough and sustained, would be effective, would eventually cause many Israeli Jews to say to their government, “We’ve had enough, do a deal with the Palestinians.” (They would also have had the evidence of their own experience to go on. In 1947/48, mainly by terrorism, they drove out first the occupying British and then about 800,000 Arabs).
Though all governments deny it, a truth is that terrorism does work provided it is ruthless enough and sustained. And there’s no mystery about why. In many countries, especially those in which citizens are free to express their thoughts and feelings (the so-called democracies), there are limits to the amount terror-created disruption and mayhem the soft underbelly of public opinion will tolerate. All politicians know this.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)