How Comes This Monkey on My Back?

How Comes This Monkey on My Back?



The Heretic presents: A dark spiral into the mind from Dr Lasha Darkmoon. http://www.darkmoon.me/2010/the-monkey-on-your-back/

A Re-do from last year. It needed attention in the shadow of today's israeli posturing...

Riot Police Forcibly Evict Occupy Miami - Why Do They Not Serve & Protect The People

Riot Police Forcibly Evict Occupy Miami - Why Do They Not Serve & Protect The People - RT

U.S. Military Toxins: The Gift That Keeps on Killing

© Lucas Jackson/AFP/Getty Images
Iraqis wave as the last U.S. convoy heads
to the Kuwaiti border to leave Iraq
on Dec. 18, 2011.

U.S. Military Toxins: The Gift That Keeps on Killing by Terry J. Allen

 A tragic history of pollution continues in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hey, Iraq, don't say we never gave you anything. In addition to hundreds of thousands dead and untold injured, the United States is leaving behind enough toxic waste sites to kill your rats.

"Open-air burn pits have operated widely at military sites in Iraq and Afghanistan," the Department of Veterans Affairs notes on its website. On hundreds of camps and bases across the two countries, the U.S. military and its contractors incinerated toxic waste, including unexploded ordnance, plastics and Styrofoam, asbestos, formaldehyde, arsenic, pesticides and neurotoxins, medical waste (even amputated limbs), heavy metals and what the military refers to as "radioactive commodities." The burns have released mutagens and carcinogens, including uranium and other isotopes, volatile organic compounds, hexachlorobenzene, and, that old favorite, dioxin (aka Agent Orange).

The military pooh-poohs the problem, despite a 2009 Pentagon document noting "an estimated 11 million pounds [5,000 tonnes] of hazardous waste" produced by American troops, the Times of London reported. In any case, it says, the waste isn't all that toxic, and there is no hard evidence troops were harmed. Of course, one reason for that lack of evidence, reports the Institute of Medicine (which found 53 toxins in the air above the Balad air base alone), is that the Pentagon won't or can't document what it burned and buried, or where it did so.

The little media attention that has been paid to this massive pollution has dimly illuminated its potential impact on U.S. troops. Left in mephitic darkness are the contractors, often impoverished South Asians, who did the dirty work at the bases, as well as Iraqi civilians who live and farm nearby. The Times of London reported that "open acid canisters sit within easy reach of children, and discarded batteries lie close to irrigated farmland," causing people to sicken and rats to die "next to soiled containers."

The toxic air echoes with the Vietnam War's Agent Orange fiasco. Victims of that war's dioxin suffered for years before the United States took limited responsibility - but only for its troops, and not for the countries it poisoned.

The military's history of pollution is long and largely unmitigated by legislation, treaties or lawsuits. It stretches around the world, from bases in the Philippines to Okinawa, Kuwait to Canada, and to numerous U.S. sites as well.

Once upon a time - before 9/11 turned conspiracy theories into a self-righteous boom industry - Area 51 was an amusing Mecca for a dedicated band of tinfoil-hat nutters who fantasized about alien anal probes and insisted that the government was hiding space aliens on a secret Air Force Base in the Nevada desert.

But a real and more nefarious plot was the military's exploitation of lax regulation and worker confidentiality agreements to use Area 51 as a secret dumping/burning ground for the toxic waste shipped in from other bases.

As deaths mounted at Area 51, workers - and their widows - sued, producing evidence that the military had regularly filled football-field-sized trenches with 55-gallon drums of hazardous waste, doused them with jet fuel and set them ablaze. The lawsuit foundered on the shoals of "national security" secrecy. The military got away with murder.

Fast forward to U.S. military bases around the world that are similarly immune from effective regulation and reporting. GAO investigators charge that the military in Iraq burned prohibited substances and ignored "guidance" to monitor emissions and to analyze its waste stream.

Again, sick and dying vets, this time from Iraq and Afghanistan, are trying to trace their cancers and respiratory problems to the toxins of war. Again, the military refuses to release complete data, and claims the data show no harmful effects. Again, the assumption of culpability, and the clean-up efforts will come too little, too late.

A July article in the New England Journal of Medicine studied 80 soldiers disabled with constrictive bronchiolitis, "a very rare finding" in otherwise healthy, young non-smokers. Almost all the cases were traced to "inhalational exposures during service in Iraq and Afghanistan." The journal lamented : "This group causes particular concern, since their potential toxic exposures are shared by most personnel who were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan."

And, oh, yes, by those left to endure the predictable consequences of expedient poisoning. You're welcome, Iraq.

Anti-war groups to hit the streets

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Anti-war groups to hit the streets by John Catalinotto

The following are three important anti-imperialist events scheduled for the coming months. Workers World Party is supporting and participating in each of them. 

  Feb. 4: Emergency protest in 48 cities to stop war on Iran 

  U.S.-based anti-imperialist and anti-war organizations have called for protest demonstrations to stop U.S. aggression aimed at Iran on Feb. 4, calling it a ╴global day of action.╴ As of Jan. 29, the movement had grown to include protests in 48 U.S. cities, plus cities in five other countries.

  The demonstrators demand, in a leaflet posted on a few of the endorsing organizations╴ websites: ╴No war, no sanctions, no intervention, no assassinations against Iran.╴

  While the organizations involved have varied assessments of the Iranian government, they all see that any intervention by U.S. imperialism in the oil-rich Asian country not only threatens the Iranian people, but could also be a stepping stone to a much wider war in Asia.

  Activists in Iran are also concerned about these dangers. The Iranian organization called The House of Latin America has been contacting its friends in the Western Hemisphere to work toward actions on Feb. 4.

  Workers World spoke on Jan. 28 with Sara Flounders, co-director of the International Action Center, one of the original organizations to call for the Feb. 4 action.

  ╴The quick response to the emergency action shows deep apprehension about the threat of war,╴ said Flounders. ╴Different combinations of the endorsing groups have already called for actions in 48 cities around the United States. Each of these groups has its own political program and analysis of the world situation, but they have agreed to give priority to fighting against this new and possibly devastating war that threatens humanity.

  ╴Sometimes people in the U.S. fail to see that sanctions are in themselves an act of war. Those the U.S. and the United Nations carried out against Iraq from 1990 to 2003 cost the lives of more than 1 million Iraqis, including at least half a million children. The Iran sanction measures also impose sanctions on any country that doesn╴t go along with the U.S. blockade. This drives up oil prices and threatens to unhinge the economies of the poorest countries.

  ╴International support, considering the short time span, has been good,╴ continued the IAC leader. ╴Demonstrations are planned in Ireland, Norway, India, Bangladesh and Canada.╴

  People can follow developments on the Facebook link: No War On Iran: National Day of Action Feb 4, tinyurl.com/883f7jg. There will also be updates, giving times and places of demonstrations, at the International Action Center website: iacenter.org.

  March 23-25: UNAC national antiwar conference 

  Hundreds of anti-war activists are expected to attend the United National Antiwar Coalition╴s National Conference in Stamford, Conn., March 23-25.

  UNAC established itself as a major anti-war coalition in the summer of 2010 when 800 people gathered for a conference in Albany, N.Y. At that meeing, a large majority voted to support UNAC╴s anti-imperialist positions opposing U.S. intervention against Iran and condemning U.S. support for the Israeli settler-state.

  The group held major anti-war demonstrations, a march of 10,000 people from Union Square to downtown Manhattan on April 9 and a march of 3,000 people in San Francisco on April 10. Demonstrations were also held on the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.

  UNAC says this will be ╴a conference to challenge the wars of the 1% against the 99% abroad and at home╴ and to ╴say NO! to the NATO/G8 wars and poverty agenda.╴ (unacpeace.org) One of the main tasks of the conference will be to plan protest activities in Chicago when both NATO and the G8 are holding summits May 15-22.

  A series of workshops and plenaries at the March 23-25 conference will take up questions including the Occupy Wall Street movement, the global economic crisis, anti-Islam bigotry, the movements that sprang up in Tunisia and Egypt and spread throughout the Middle East, and U.S. intervention in many parts of the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as Latin America and Africa.

  UNAC says its conference will highlight ╴the relationship between the wars abroad and the racist war at home on the Black Community╴ and ╴the way in which mobilizing around these issues is central to effective movement building.╴

  May 19: Protest the G8 and NATO in Chicago 

  Whoever plans summits for the imperialist gangsters dominating and plundering the world decided that it was a good idea, after the October 2010 NATO summit, to hold summits for both the G8 economic centers (the old G7 plus Russia) and the NATO military powers in Chicago on May 15-22.

  The summits were planned before the so-called debt crisis and austerity measures opened a new recession in Europe ╴ and provoked a fightback from European workers along with the rise of the ╴Indignant People╴s movement.╴ It was also long before the Occupy movement began to change the political discourse in the United States and put youth on the streets ╴ with banners and political discussion ╴ in more than 100 cities.

  By last summer anti-war forces in the U.S., many of them in UNAC, began to organize protests for that week in May. They submitted requests for permits to the Chicago police. They organized a struggle around the right to demonstrate, appealing under the name of the Coalition Against the NATO and G8 War & Poverty Agenda (CANG8).

  On Jan. 12, the City of Chicago granted the permit for suitable marches and rallies. Organizers took note, however, of a clause that allows the City to rescind the permit should there be a demand from Homeland Security to do so. CANG8 and all supporters of the right to protest say they will remain mobilized to fight for that right.

  Meanwhile, the imperialists scaled down their summits so that the G8 will meet May 19-20 and NATO May 20-21. CANG8 will hold a ╴People╴s Alternate Summit╴ on May 12-13 and a mass rally and march on May 19. The entire week will be filled with meetings and protests.

  On Jan. 25, Adbusters, the Canada-based network associated with the Occupy movement, issued Tactical Briefing #25, urging massive support for the May actions.

  Besides a growing movement within the U.S. that supports the protests in Chicago, the joint meeting of NATO and G8 has aroused international indignation. Already the organizers of the Chicago actions have opened discussions with anti-war forces in other countries to arrange solidarity actions ╴ either to participate in Chicago or to hold mass actions in their home countries.

  For more information, visit unacpeace.org, cang8.wordpress.com or iacenter.org.

  Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.

Israeli Settlements: An Obstacle to Peace

© n/a

Israeli Settlements: An Obstacle to Peace by Stephen Lendman

Netanyahu's Likud Party platform says the following about Palestinian self-determination:

Unilaterally establishing a Palestinian state "will constitute a fundamental and substantive violation of the agreements with the State of Israel and the scuttling of the Oslo and Wye accords. The government will adopt immediate stringent measures in the event of such a declaration."

In fact, on November 15, 1988, the Palestinian National Council (PNC) proclaimed an independent Palestine. At the time, Washington provisionally recognized its independence.

According to UN Charter Article 80(1), it can't reverse its position by vetoing a Security Council (SC) resolution calling for Palestine's UN admission. Doing so is illegal, subject to further SC action under the Charter's Chapter VI.

The SC only recommends admissions. The General Assembly affirms them by a two-thirds majority. An overwhelming majority of states support de jure Palestinian membership.

Abbas could have had it last fall by petitioning the General Assembly through the 1950 Uniting for Peace Resolution 377. Not doing so revealed his longtime collaborationist credentials. As a result, the issue remains in limbo.

Likud's platform said the following about settlements:

"The Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza (all Occupied Palestine) are the realization of Zionist values. Settlement of the land is a clear expression of the unassailable right of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel and constitutes an important asset in the defense of the vital interests of the State of Israel."

"The Likud will continue to strengthen and develop these communities and will prevent their uprooting."

Likud also rejects Green Line separation of Israel and Palestine. It proves it by incrementally stealing Palestinian land declared all Jerusalem sovereign Israeli territory.

Since 1967, Israel established 121 settlements. The Interior Ministry calls "communities." Another 100 unauthorized outposts exist.

In addition, Israel considers 12 annexed Jerusalem neighborhoods as settlements. Moreover, settler enclaves exist in Palestinian East Jerusalem.

Overall, Israeli occupied territory, including settlements, exceeds 40% of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Their choicest parts are colonized. Systematic land theft increases them.

Yet international law is explicit. Fourth Geneva's Article 49 states, "The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies."

Moreover, in July 2004, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled:

"Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, are illegal and an obstacle to peace and to economic and social development." In addition, they've "been established in breach of international law" on sovereign Palestinian territory.

Five rounds of Amman, Jordan Israeli/Palestinian talks ended January 25 in failure. Further meetings aren't scheduled. At issue is Netanyahu's unreasonable demands. In return, he offered nothing.

Home demolitions, land theft, dispossessions, and settlement construction continue.

It gets worse. Israel wants Green Line partitioning ended. Replacing it would be by Separation Wall annexation of 12% of Palestine when completed. Israel also wants Jordan Valley territory declared a strategic security asset. It represents one-fourth of West Bank land.

On January 28, AP said two Palestinian officials confirmed it "based on their interpretation of principles Israel presented in talks this week."

Moreover, Israel wants East Jerusalem and settlements made part of Israel. Palestinians want sovereign Palestine to include all occupied territories to their 1967 borders, including East Jerusalem as their capital. Nothing less is acceptable.

On January 27, New York Times writer Ethan Bronner headlined, "Israelis Say Settlements Must be Part of Israeli State," saying:

Israel's "approach" wants "settlement blocks to become part of Israel...." In fact, it's a demand, not an "approach." Bronner's framing is unsurprising. In March 2008, he joined Lone Star Communications' speakers bureau. It's one of Israel's leading PR firms. It arranges speaking dates for Bronner and suggests issues to discuss.

Times editors see no conflict of interest or for other writers compromising their journalistic integrity. An earlier controversy involved Bronner's son serving in Israel's military. Former Times executive editor Bill Keller backed him. Times assistant managing editor Susan Chira called his coverage "scrupulously fair...."

Others disagree based on studies showing pro-Israeli Times bias. It's how all its correspondents, op-ed and editorial writers do their jobs on all world and national issues. "Scrupulously fair" isn't in their vocabularies.

They also spurn Palestinians wanting self-determination and freedom, as well as millions of loyal supporters. None get Times or other major media print space.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

Obama administration’s sickening abuse of secrecy challenged yet again

Obama administration’s sickening abuse of secrecy challenged yet again by Madison Ruppert

Late last year I reported on how the Department of Justice refused to reveal the legal justification for the United States’ highly secretive drone-based targeted killing program in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by the New York Times.

After that failed attempt, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has stepped up to the plate in an effort to get the Obama administration to actually live up to their promises of transparency.

However, the government continues to nonsensically claim that the program is indeed so incredibly secret that they cannot even confirm or deny the existence of the program itself.

Even more illogical is that Obama himself comes out boasting about the program whenever it is politically beneficial for him to do so.

The same goes for officials from the administration who perpetually remain behind the cover of anonymity in speaking of the program while still attempting to justify it and in doing so confirming its existence.

In a typically spot-on article published today by Green Greenwald, writing for Salon, he outlines just how ludicrous this contradictory practice really is.

In the article, he even lays out what I see as Obama making the case for himself to be arrested for the same crimes as Bradley Manning.

Since Obama claimed that Bradley Manning was guilty, and that he too could be arrested for releasing classified information, while Obama himself released classified information on the drone program, it only makes sense that Obama should call for himself to be arrested.

But, of course, this will never happen and White House Press Secretary Jay Carney essentially claimed that Obama can do whatever he wants when confronted with this issue.

This represents the greater problem, which Greenwald highlights in his article: they claim secrecy to cover up their actions from legal scrutiny, while publicly boasting about the supposedly secret program whenever it is beneficial to do so.

This way they can continue to scare the world into subservience, strike fear into the hearts of innocent people across the Middle East and the world, keep killing people with no oversight whatsoever, all while never having to answer to anyone, while still being able to boast about the “success” of their efforts.

All of this can be done without any legal challenges by leveraging the supposed secrecy of the program when needed, allowing all of this to occur in plain sight while not actually having to prove that they can legally do such a thing.

Read complete article..

Comment: Here is yet another example of the terra-nepenthe at work. It can be felt by how the propaganda is delivered from the government.

Chaos and Consent: The Logistics of the One World Government

© BBC

Chaos and Consent: The Logistics of the One World Government by Laura Knight-Jadczyk

 Reading "Columnist Calls for Internet "Quality Control" to Quash Dissent sent absolute shivers up my spine. As I posted on my Facebook Wall: "Is it just me noticing the increasing lock-down, the increasing propaganda FOR lockdown and abrogation of human rights, and the masses seem to be sleep-walking through it all?"

But what is happening has happened before in many times and places; it's just that now it seems to be spread over the entire globe. Just so you know, I'm not one of those who is taken in by the saber-rattling war propaganda. That too, has happened before and before and before. It's a ruse, a drama played out between ostensible adversaries to keep the masses afraid and loaded with stress so that they will welcome draconian controls everywhere.

Another thing that has happened before is the end result of such dramas: mass death and destruction AKA "collateral damage". A few comments on my FB wall indicate that I am not alone in what I see. One poster wrote: "Not just sleep-walking, but sycophantically justifying their own abuse and mindlessly trying the same failed methods to "solve" it over and over. It's been said "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting it to come out different." (HB)

That's it, exactly. Psychopaths in power never seem to be able to get it that the end result is always and ever the same: the germs do not realize that they will be burned alive in the fire to which the body they have infected and killed will be consigned.

Another comment was: "This is the long-planned and meticulously coordinated recrudescence, on a global scale, of Nazism." (DST)

Exactly. And that is why I am resurrecting this topic which I wrote about back in 2008, back when Bush - remember Bush, the guy who was the puppet who got all this mess started? - was still president of the U.S. The article was focused mainly on Bush and the U.S., but since then, so many other world leaders and nations have gotten on the Totalitarian/Fascist/Nazi bandwagon that I have done a little re-working of the piece to bring it up to date.

Back then I wrote: Reading Robert Parry's When a Great Power Goes Mad gave me the shivers especially when I read:

With the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War and the grim milestone of 4,000 US dead, the nation has been awash with news retrospectives on the war and speeches by politicians, mostly offering sanitized versions of what's transpired. [...]

In the news media, there were specials, including a much-touted PBS "Frontline" two-parter on "Bush's War" which followed the mainstream line of mostly accepting the Bush administration's good intentions while blaming the disaster on policy execution - a lack of planning, bureaucratic rivalries, rash decisions and wishful thinking. [...]

Remaining outside the frame of mainstream U.S. debate was any serious examination of the [Iraq] war's fundamental illegality.

During the post-World War II trials at Nuremberg, the United States led the world in decrying aggressive war as "the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole."

Yet, "Frontline" and other mainstream U.S. news outlets shy away from this central fact of the Iraq War: by invading Iraq without the approval of the U.N. Security Council and under false pretenses, the Bush administration released upon the Iraqi people "the accumulated evil of the whole" - and committed the "supreme" war crime.

An obvious reason why the mainstream U.S. press can't handle this truth is that to do so would mean that President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, a host of other U.S. officials and even some prominent journalists could be regarded as war criminals.

To accept that reality would, in turn, create a moral imperative to take action. And that would require a great disruption in the existing U.S. power structure, which hasn't changed much since Bush won authorization from Congress in October 2002 to use force and then invaded Iraq in March 2003.

Not only are Bush and Cheney still in office - and two of the three remaining presidential candidates, John McCain and Hillary Clinton, voted for the war - but the roster of top Washington journalists remains remarkably intact from five years ago.

We realize, of course, since the above was written, that even Barack Obama - supposed to be the NKOTB who was not part of the insiders was, in fact, very much an insider and selected to carry on the Bush/Neocon/Fascist legacy. The only "change" that Obama has brought has been more of the same and worse.

It is obvious to many, though certainly not to everyone, that the World Body Social, following the Pied Pipers of the Body Politic have increasingly lost their ability to think rationally and perceive psychological reality with even a modicum of common sense. Almost the whole planet has descended into half-wittedness with its growing intellectual deficiencies and moral failings. Any group of people that can sit down and discuss the Iraq War as though it were anything other than a War Crime of the highest order, or debate whether or not waterboarding is torture, or whether or not torture is acceptable in this or that situation, has lost not only their moral compass, but their qualification as sentient beings on the evolutionary scale.

Read complete article..

Comment: Laura is well-versed in historical significance and this article is highly recommended as an analogy to our current situations. She talks about Andrew M. Lobaczewski who came out of Poland during the period surrounding Hitler and tried to share his working knowledge about psychopathy which has become valid navigation. I've added the word "Nepenthe," attached to this relative topic and as a way for truth seekers to examine its power. One example of predication can be explained as "unknown known," which is absent one element, and part of the ponerological interpretations where the monster is let loose from the arrangement. I elaborate on this in my upcoming book. Nepenthe is dangerous because it can leave the impression that apathy does not exist when this is exactly the opposite. The working element is called terra which is the driver upon the psyche legitimizing the game in the gate of hell.

FL Speaks, Reader Driven News

FL Speaks, Reader Driven News by Gordon Duff

I did an hour of radio this morning with Clay Douglas.  We were cut off.  Surprise.  Allen Rolland was the guest on Mike Harris’ radio show today.  

They were cut off.  Same thing with John Stokes.  Lee Wanta, whistleblowing former White House Intelligence Coordinator had his phones cut.

To start off, this video from Heretic Productions.  It doesn’t match my predictions but the scenario listed may very well be how far Israel is willing to go.  Thus, I feature this and strongly suggest that it be



There are things that make this seem possible.

We are seeing internet sites, key ones, freeze up or go down continually, for about 8 days now.

It is now a pattern, the United States Bureau of Crime and Privacy Violation is identifying threats and testing its ability to “pull the plug.”

A “false flag” attack would push oil to $300 plus, bankrupt the US and EU and leave Russia, China and their secret friends running the world.  Israel has always been a “stealth” member of the Soviet bloc and both hates and fears the United States.

Never, repeat NEVER, confuse Israel with an actual nation or “Jewish.”  Israel has Jews, Israel has Muslims, but Israel operates as a crime syndicate, not a nation.

America does also.

VETERANS TODAY

Few know much about who we are.  VT is “offshore,” located on servers in Latin America set up originally by US Special Forces years ago.  Our staff comes from 28 countries with those visible including every color, creed and religion imaginable but based, for the most part on either military and intelligence service or those who don’t publicly admit such.

Behind us is our readership, American, Israeli, German, British, Australian, Indian, Nigerian for big numbers.  Inside that readership are heads of groups who feed us what they can.  Intelligence agencies use VT as a “dump” into the press, keeping deniability.  Other groups continually work to lie to us, manipulate us and manage us.  We wish them luck with that and remind them how much fertile ground there is elsewhere.

Not everyone here is controlled by the editorial staff.  I agree with writers like Stephen Lendman most of the time, not always but learned to respect him.  Others, so many others, we identified early on as paid foreign agents.  They make up the vast majority of the “alternative press.”

It always starts the same, you are asked to start a charity or let someone write a book for you.  Then the money and airline tickets begins to flow.  Then you are given “talking points” on issues.  If you are “good,” more money comes in.  We went further, we began refusing advertising.  Companies like Boeing and organizations like the CIA advertise on VT by going through Google, not us.

To put some meat behind this, which I am only writing because I have 15 minutes free, let’s see what has come up.

Israeli control of the Tea Party through the Koch Brothers and Adelman, which to me are the inheritors of Arnold Rothstein, hit the surface today with the endorsement of Santorum a man his own friends claim is “subnormal.”

Iran is still raking in the oil money and laughing all the way to the bank, knowing that Israel is getting part of their profits.  We discovered the deal through someone in Ukrainian intelligence who picked this up on an intercept in October.

Signals intelligence can be so much fun.

Watching Obama run poor, worn out aircraft carriers in and out of the Gulf as part of the charade.  I was told he was threatened.  I would rather he were paid like with Clinton and the Bush family.  Bribery seems much more democratic than assassination.

We hold that proof also as those “in the know” know so very well.

Pakistan has no government.  Zardari, widower of the assassinated Bhutto is “sick” and out of the country to avoid prosecution and the President faces arrest for protecting him.  I feel sorry for the people there, they deserve to see many in their government imprisoned for life, perhaps longer.

Imran Khan, the top candidate but without enough honest friends to form a new coalition government, will be faced with hard decisions.

Afghanistan doesn’t know it yet but Khan will be able to make peace between the two nations and, eventually, settle with India over Kashmir, only if he can get his backers in other parties in line.

This will change the world.

This will also protect the women of Afghanistan from the extremist elements of the Taliban and allow a US withdrawal, which is happening as we speak, despite pronouncements, to look less like a surrender.
It was all so wrong.

Until I hear someone mention the massive heroin trade in Afghanistan, totally US sponsored, other than the Russians who talk about little else despite the total news blackout over here, I give the region no hope.  You can’t turn a nation of so many, is it 37 million, over to drug dealers and their “helpers.”

Africa is flying apart now.  I am waiting for the French and Italians, once they get their various bankruptcies taken care of to move into Libya to push the Americans out.

For the total idiots who don’t know, the US took over in Libya in 2003.

Those who have been listening to otherwise are too stupid to live.  I could call them “Santorumites,” something like a caveman but with the strength and resolve of an abused infant.  I am unkind but honest.

President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria began cleaning house this week.  This is vital to the United States or we will be in a war that will grind America into the dust.  Nigeria is totally explosive and 200 million people.  We are underestimating it while our French and Israeli “allies” are stirring the pot as it were, pushing for civil war for profit.

Civil war there takes no trying.

As for the rest of Africa, American “aid projects” are popping up in several nations that look very much like military bases.  Who do we think we are fooling?

For those who have forgotten, the nuclear disaster in Japan is worse than ever imagined.  Every cent we can raise needs to be spent on research into cancer cures immediately.

20 years from now, half the Northern Hemisphere will be dealing with a cascade of radiation related cancers.

The research has to begin now, I don’t care if it is secret but it is so important that Russia and China are needed to begin immediate financing.

In the interim, one of the big secrets is that there is 10 times more than imagined spent on developing bioweapons.  It is making me suspicious, so suspicious that I am starting to think “X-Files.”

HERE AT HOME

Drug financed crime, a foreign invasion of unimaginable breadth and penetration, not just Mexico but the heroin flood from American territories in Central Asia and the “designer drug” revolution are the real threat to the US.

Why?

Life here has sunk to that level, even cage fighting and monster truck competitions will no longer amuse the public.  The government can no longer control us as we are all addicted to conspiracy theories and only pulling the plug on the internet can stop that.

Doing so will cause a wave of violence that our current government may not be able to survive especially since the military has now sent quiet messages that it is unwilling to enforce martial law as outlined in provisions of the NDAA 2012, the worst law America may have ever passed and that’s saying alot.

Investigate it yourself.

AMERICAN DIRECTION

I believe the current election, one where the GOP is no longer even trying, controls on the news and the utterly childish attempt to seem like we are going to war with a non-existent enemy, must I say “again,” that this can be taken as a signal of something.

I am of the belief that a transnational organized crime syndicate, of which the US government is a part, plans on risking civil war in America, a war that would divide the country into several parts as scholars have described.

In fact, more scholars believe America is destined to explode than stay together.

The problem is the timing, it seems to be racing forward.

What hasn’t been taken into account is that we have a very large population of highly trained combat veterans who no longer trust our government, who are no longer “right wing” stooges and who have much more backing within the military than guessed.

The military is in fear.  If current plans to forcibly retire so many senior people with no benefits or pensions goes forward, a revolutionary “talent bank” will be formed ready to “call” congress and stare down Washington and its cabal of petty criminals.

The boys in DC are not very bright.

It isn’t militias and “gun show patriots” that are the problem.  We have, for ten years or more, been betraying our own military, robbing our own people, and the lies we have been telling through Fox News and its friends, the New York Times, Newsweek, the Daily Beast and so many others, aren’t going to be enough.

When it hits America, it will be a bloodbath that will make the Russian revolution look like a bar mitzvah.

Israel faces exactly the same thing, a military that is sick of Tel Aviv, a corrupt government ready to collapse.
Germans are sick of having a communist agent run their country for the Russians, one so obvious it is impossible to see Merkel as anything else.   She has destroyed Germany.

You think communism is dead?  You think “we” won the Cold War?

Think again.  Look at Washington, there was a communist takeover done, as long ago predicted, under the guise of “conservatism.”

Homeland Security or the  KBG?  Can you tell the difference?  I can’t.

Martial law, police everywhere, military brought home and empowered to imprison citizens in camps, is this Russia or America?

It isn’t that “they” won the Cold War it is that “they” were always “us.”

How many consecutive wars has it been where America has fought on the wrong side, our armies against poor decent people who wanted freedom?  Did it start with Vietnam or before, 1917 or even 1898 or was it 1860?

We have had dozens of other military adventures we don’t even teach about.  All were military gangsterism for Wall Street.

Do you think you can get the truth from a history book and a university education.  Who do you think teaches at universities anyway?

Apparatchik.

Look it up.  There is no more communist an organization than an American university.

Nowhere on earth is there less freedom of speech.

DIRECTION

As mammals, or as I suspect most of us are, a semi-humorous reference to certain theories of David Ickes, we are supposed to direct our energies toward development of a civilization that will maximize opportunity for our young.

It is obvious that our last few decades have been more reptilian.

We may even be behaving like insects or arachnids.

In fact, any zoologist or academic in related studies might find even these comparisons offensive.

Then, how do we explain our behavior, our need to feed off our own young, our abandonment of natural leaders for those a more advanced society might seek to protect but certainly not allow themselves to be ruled by.

Santorum?  Romney?  Adelman?  Koch?  Even Murdoch, the clownish predator came close to being brought down by the least effective government on earth, that of the United Kingdom.

If we are humanity, then we need to think as a species, work toward our survival, toward some advancement.  We have been doing quite the opposite.

As Mr. Spock of Star Trek would state with his usual eloquence, “This is not logical.”
Thus, one might assume this as proofs.

We are no longer governed by those to whom we have given “consent,” but rather “ruled.”

Human survival is no longer considered something positive or even thought of as feasible or desirable.

We have enemies, around us, among us, even ourselves.

We can’t even define ignorance, even our “elites” have sunk that low.

And so it goes…

Occupy’s Main Point: Where is the Love?

Occupy’s Main Point: Where is the Love? by Carl Herman

 What’s wrong with the world, mama, is the 1%’s criminal wars and rapacious looting.

Occupy exposes the 1% that allows a million children to die every month from preventable poverty. Occupy documents and proves the 1%‘s  fear-mongered, unlawful, lie-started wars in nation after nation that kill millions, and now legislated with NDAA to “disappear” Americans who stand-up to their crimes. Occupy demands ending debt-damned economics and trillions of the 99%’s dollars transferred to the 1% banksters.

Occupy stands for policy and love for 100% of humanity. Love will manifest when the criminal 1% is arrested and removed from power to harm.

Columnist Calls for Internet "Quality Control" to Quash Dissent

© Google

Columnist Calls for Internet "Quality Control" to Quash Dissent by Michael Tennant

Do you think anthropogenic global warming is a hoax? Are you unconvinced that your ancestors had more in common with Cheetah than with Tarzan? Have you any doubts about the official version of how 9/11 went down? Then you, according to Evgeny Morozov, are part of a "kooky" "fringe movement" whose growth must be checked by forcing you to read "authoritative" content whenever you go looking for information on such topics on the Internet.

Morozov is a visiting scholar at Stanford University, a contributing editor to Foreign Policy magazine, and a former fellow at George Soros' Open Society Institute - in other words, a reliable bellwether of globalist establishment thinking. His musings in Slate - in which he argues that while outright censorship of the web may not be possible, getting browsers and search engines to direct people to establishment-approved opinions would be an excellent idea - offer "proof of how worried the bad guys are about popular disbelief in State pieties, and about sites ... that stoke it," Lew Rockwell averred, citing his own website as an example. The New American undoubtedly would fall under that rubric as well.

The problem, as Morozov sees it, is that people who "deny" global warming or think vaccines may cause autism - opinions that conflict with those proffered by governments, the United Nations, and other globalist organizations - can post anything they want on the Internet with "little or no quality control" over it. As a result, he says, there are "thousands of sites that undermine scientific consensus, overturn well-established facts, and promote conspiracy theories."

In addition, Morozov worries that those searching for information on a disputed topic will, because of the way search engines are structured, tend to find sites giving the politically incorrect version of events first and may never get around to reading the "authoritative" sources on the subject. "Meanwhile," he argues, "the move toward social search may further insulate regular visitors to such sites; discovering even more links found by their equally paranoid friends will hardly enlighten them."

Then comes the big question with the foreordained answer: "Is it time for some kind of a quality control system?" Morozov, not surprisingly, replies strongly in the affirmative. Since dissuading those already committed to these outré views may be impossible, he thinks "resources should go into thwarting their growth by targeting their potential - rather than existent - members." "Given that censorship of search engines is not an appealing or even particularly viable option" - note that he doesn't say he opposes censorship per se - Morozov argues for changes to browsers and search engines that would notify users that they are about to see something that the self-appointed arbiters of acceptable opinion have deemed unfit for human consumption and, if possible, direct them elsewhere.

He suggests two approaches to ensuring that web searchers are not exposed to unapproved thoughts:

One is to train our browsers to flag information that may be suspicious or disputed. Thus, every time a claim like "vaccination leads to autism" appears in our browser, that sentence would be marked in red - perhaps, also accompanied by a pop-up window advising us to check a more authoritative source. The trick here is to come up with a database of disputed claims that itself would correspond to the latest consensus in modern science - a challenging goal that projects like "Dispute Finder" are tackling head on.

The second - and not necessarily mutually exclusive - option is to nudge search engines to take more responsibility for their index and exercise a heavier curatorial control in presenting search results for issues like "global warming" or "vaccination." Google already has a list of search queries that send most traffic to sites that trade in pseudoscience and conspiracy theories; why not treat them differently than normal queries? Thus, whenever users are presented with search results that are likely to send them to sites run by pseudoscientists or conspiracy theorists, Google may simply display a huge red banner asking users to exercise caution and check a previously generated list of authoritative resources before making up their minds.

Morozov admits that his suggestions "may seem paternalistic" and "might trigger conspiracy theories of [their] own - e.g., is Google shilling for Big Pharma or for Al Gore?" However, he concludes, it is "a risk worth taking as long as it can help thwart the growth of fringe movements." In fact, he adds, Google should "atone for its sins" of inventing "social search" (whereby links shared by one's friends are presented more prominently than others) by "ensur[ing] that subjects dominated by pseudoscience and conspiracy theories are given a socially responsible curated treatment."

Morozov's concerns about the Internet's openness to anti-establishment views are not new among the power elite. As far back as 1998, then-First Lady Hillary Clinton bemoaned the lack of a "gate-keeping function" that allows anyone to post anything on the web. Morozov's proposed solutions to this perceived problem are not exactly original, either, as Paul Joseph Watson observed at Infowars.com:

[Morozov's contention] represents a similar argument to Cass Sunstein's "cognitive infiltration," an effort by Obama's information czar to slap government warnings on controversial websites (including those claiming that exposure to sunlight is healthy). In a widely derided white paper, Sunstein called for political blogs to be forced to include pop ups that show "a quick argument for a competing view." He also demanded that taxes be levied on dissenting opinions and even suggested that outright bans on certain thoughts should be enforced.

Indeed, notes Watson, "Morozov's rhetoric is merely one aspect of the wider move to turn the Internet into an echo chamber of establishment propaganda." We can, therefore, expect calls for Internet censorship to continue and even become more pronounced. Many people thus have good reason to fear that the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is a back door to government censorship of the web.

Clearly the globalist establishment is running scared. As the anti-SOPA blackout and the popularity of Ron Paul attest, the Internet is enabling individuals to see through the smokescreen of propaganda emanating from Washington and to mobilize effectively against threats to their liberties. In fact, that very free flow of information on the web may be the one thing standing between the elites and their dreams of - as Watson put it - "Chinese-style thought control."

Comment: I've added Hell's Gate not that I don't like Greek, I do, but that is not the point. This is intended for the benign nature of quality that our sun provides and how this is reverted. The idea that quality could exist on its own without the sun is blasphemy which has been assigned to the thieves of consciousness. It is assumed that what is relative is also personally owned and presented as a formal denial of the association where the conspiracy occurs. Over time it was given another name by an incident with the French king Charles III because Rollo would not kiss his foot and used the phrase, "bi got." to express his feelings on the matter. They eventually called them superstitious hypocrites.

GOP Audiences Display Stockholm Syndrome

GOP Audiences Display Stockholm Syndrome by Tom Valentine

In psychology, Stockholm Syndrome is an apparently paradoxical psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and have positive feelings towards their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them.

The Federal government has been so lousy, and unconstitutional during the past decades of war and debt it is amazing that so few observe and object.

We are especially reminded of the lemming-like behavior when well-dressed, middle class, educated Americans attend the charades called “debates” played for all to see (and cringe) over our television sets.
I have already written about how the South Carolina audience actually booed the Golden Rule when Ron Paul cited it as a pillar of foreign policy.

These “shameless Republican” voters on TV, proud to be called Christian Zionists, (oxymorons) actually crucify the Prince of Peace all over again with their thoughtless cheers for more bombs and drones and shattered veterans (so they can tie a yellow ribbon on them, making themselves feel “American” for public consumption).

Allow me to puke.

Which is worse, their unthinking religiosity, or their Stockholm syndrome stupidity when they actually cheer for the corrupt, lying Neocon Newt Gingrich, a pompous self-styled historian” Who proclaimed twice that “The Palestinians are a made-up people.”

Well-read rational people know full well the history of Palestine, and the facts about “The Invention of the Jewish People. told in book form by Israeli Prof. Shlomo Sand, but never mentioned by media whores on television.

Bill Baker, wrote in “Theft of a nation”:

“A cursory examination of ancient Palestinian history shows it is apparent that the ancestors of the Palestinian Arabs of today (those still alive in the face of Israeli genocide never mentioned by the whores) were indeed living in Palestine at the same time as the ancestors of the Semitic Jews. The biblical record affirms that the Arabs and Jews were first cousins, being descendants of one common ancestor, Abraham, by his three wives Sarah, Hagar and Ketura.”

Israelites were not called Jews in ancient times, they were Habirus or Hebrew tribes which once made war against the Canaanites and Philistines (Original Palestinian tribes).

Israeli propaganda has dominated America since before that nation was carved from Palestine, or the dawn of moviemaking; if one cannot see that fact, one is blind and deaf, or else a victim of Stockholm’s famous syndrome.

The most powerful emotion for controlling people is fear. This is why our media hype phony “terrorist” scare stories, even when they are unbelievably silly. Our dictatorial Feds, for example, loudly killed the already dead Osama bin Laden.

How do they get away with this?

Americans apparently fear the loss of money and property more than they fear God, so why did it take so long for them to grasp the criminal control of all our money—The federal reserve private banker scam? Which dramatically exposed itself by crashing our economy over our pitiful heads.

And, still, the television pundits drone on and on as if the core problem is not obvious. Only a captive audience can be this ridiculously stupid—tea party my ass.

Republicans hate taxes, democrats covet the revenue. Both are selfish and have no awe of God; which is the correct way to look at the aphorism, that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.

There is no wisdom among them. (I quote myself.)

A rational person would not discard rationality in finding faith in Jesus Christ. But churches today are peopled by irrational “believers” who desire power over others in a fanciful rapture scenario that defies logic and Holy Writ. It is these lemmings most eager to bomb and kill in Jesus’ name that earn my wrath, and who are the front row of rushing lemmings cheering for the likes of Newt, Mitt, and Santorum, while hissing at Ron Paul, though their kids fervently support him.

Oxymorons all.

The jailers of these partisan hostages are the media whores whose insane bias is as bad as the inmates in the asylum.

These slobbering whores, eager to tar Ron Paul with a phony race card constantly drone on about newsletters under his imprimatur about 20 years ago. Why, I wonder don’t they play clips from his remarkable speech to the House back in 2003 where he blitzed the assholes called Neocons for what they were doing to destroy America.

The full transcript of the great speech is archived at Lewrockwell.com. Also, to have some fun watch this short clip from a popular TV show of past years: The West Wing taken from a Gilad Atzmon column.

The West Wing – Holy Land Map

Video Proof of Unjust Mass Arrest and Media Spin at Occupy Oakland 1/28/12

Video Proof of Unjust Mass Arrest and Media Spin at Occupy Oakland 1/28/12



I edited this footage and added annotations to give people an idea of what transpired, because nothing else is currently available on youtube, and at least 300 people have, in my opinion, been unjustly arrested.

First of all, This is almost entirely from the incredible footage that was recorded by OakFoSho. He filmed for about 12 hours straight Saturday, until the early morning hours on Sunday. He was always in the thick of things, and at the best place in the thick of things. Without this footage, police and media claims from this past weekend would be irrefutable. OakFoSho has stated clearly that his footage may be reused as long as proper credit is given. Please consider supporting the work he is doing, it is invaluable:

http://oakfosho.com/
twitter.com/OakFoSho
www.ustream.tv/user/OakFoSho

Second of all, I'd like to say I am extremely dismayed by the violence that occurred on Saturday. There may be a time and place for violent resistance, but we are nowhere near it. The violent and provocative actions of a small group have seriously marred, perhaps irreparably, what little credibility Occupy Oakland had left. The attempt to forcibly seize buildings, even if unused, is misguided and unhelpful.

Unaware of the nature of Saturday's protest and the violence that had happened earlier in the day, I poked my head out after getting home in the evening to see what the ruckus downtown was about. I found the evening march at 27th and Broadway, just a few blocks from where the mass arrests occurred. There were few police visible along my route there (about two minutes by bike), other than some unmarked police vans driving recklessly fast through crowded Saturday night streets. I didn't see police on foot until we were kettled, and only through very good luck was I able to avoid being arrested. After walking three blocks through my home town!

Disturbed by that incident, I returned home by about 9:00 PM, after riding past another disappointing scene at City Hall. At home I stumbled across OakFoSho's live stream, which, along with other live streamers, youtube contributors, and a little first hand experience, provide a comprehensive perspective on what had happened. While some truly lamentable crimes were committed, there is still no justification for the police tactics that were used. I believe that after the eventful morning clashes, they purposely came down hard to send a signal and get retribution. I edited this video to show the movements of protesters and police tactics in the 30 minutes leading up to the mass arrests. Check OakFoSho's Ustream for the unedited footage of the entire evening, and consider spreading this video if you agree that these arrests were unjust.

1/28/12 January

The girl killed by Barack Obama - she never saw it coming

The girl killed by Barack Obama - she never saw it coming - StopTheWarCoalition



Barack Obama says the drone attacks he authorises are targetted only at named people on a list of active terrorists who are a direct threat to America. The facts tell a different story.

US Intel Director Prepares Public for False Flag Event

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US Intel Director Prepares Public for False Flag Event by Tony Cartalluci

Desperate for war, US prepares to blame Iran for false flag attack.

"...it would be far more preferable if the United States could cite an Iranian provocation as justification for the airstrikes before launching them. Clearly, the more outrageous, the more deadly, and the more unprovoked the Iranian action, the better off the United States would be. Of course, it would be very difficult for the United States to goad Iran into such a provocation without the rest of the world recognizing this game, which would then undermine it. (One method that would have some possibility of success would be to ratchet up covert regime change efforts in the hope that Tehran would retaliate overtly, or even semi-overtly, which could then be portrayed as an unprovoked act of Iranian aggression.) "

-US foreign policy makers in the Fortune 500 funded Brookings Institution's "Which Path to Persia?" report, pages 84-85.

Considering that the Gulf of Token incident was a deliberate fabrication to escalate the Vietnam War, one many members in Congress are shown to have acknowledged and debated even at the time, or the more recent Iraqi WMD hoax, there is certainly a historical precedence to create such provocations when targeted nations refuse to provide them.

With this in mind, and noting an overt, ongoing series of bold acts of war carried out by the US and Israel inside of Iran, along with sanctions and planned blockades, also acts of war, the corporate-financier oligarchs have been confounded by what seems to be infinite Iranian patience to endure such provocations. US foreign policy makers have noted for years now that Iran in actuality poses no threat to US or Israeli national security and their acquiring of nuclear weapons serves more of a deterrence against future military incursions against the Islamic Republic by the West, than a means to launch unprovoked attacks against nations that each possess nuclear deterrents of apocalyptic scale.

While Iran endures an increasing torrent of unprovoked attacks, they steadily advance their defensive capabilities to ward off what seems like an inevitable invasion by the West, who has already invaded and occupied for years nations to its east and west on false pretenses, and have for the past year fueled foreign-funded revolutions across the Middle East and North Africa. Time is on the Iranians' side, as Western attempts to destabilize and destroy Syria drag on, and an increasing number of people around the world begin to understand the true source of instability behind the so-called "Arab Spring."

While behind closed doors US policy makers admit Iran is driven by self-preservation and protecting the influence it is steadily gaining throughout the Middle Eastern region it borders, the message they desperately seek to relate to the public is one of an irrational apocalyptic theocracy eager to usher in Armageddon.

However, reports out of the RAND corporation note that Iran has had chemical weapons in its inventory for decades, and other reports from RAND describe the strict control elite military units exercise over these weapons, making it unlikely they would end up in the hands of "terrorists." The fact that Iran's extensive chemical weapon stockpile has yet to be disseminated into the hands of non-state actors, along with the fact that these same elite units would in turn handle any Iranian nuclear weapons, lends further evidence to the conclusion that Iran is indeed driven by self-preservation.

Brookings notes on pages 24 and 25 of their "Which Path to Persia?" report, that the real threat is not the deployment of these weapons, but rather the deterrence they present, allowing Iran to counter US influence in the region without the fear of an American invasion.

Latest "Warning" of "Impending Iranian Terrorist Attack"

Despite this documented evidence, the Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. made a startling statement recently, citing an already discredited alleged "Iranian plot" involving an assassination attempt of a Saudi ambassador on US soil, that Iran is "now more willing to conduct an attack in the United States in response to real or perceived U.S. actions that threaten the regime." What Clapper describes is not in fact an impending Iranian attack, but a false flag event to be blamed on Iran to fit the criteria for a suitable justification for war, clearly defined by the Brookings Institution's report.

What is more troubling is that the Washington Post, which reported Clapper's comments, acknowledges that "a covert campaign is already underway to thwart Iran's alleged ambition to develop a nuclear weapon." And while the US has officially denied carrying out any act of violence inside of Iran, it is a matter of public record that the US State Department in conjunction with the UN is harboring a US State Dapartment listed "foreign terrorist organization," the Mujahedeen e-Khalq (MEK) in Iraq, who has for decades carried out such violent attacks within Iran. In fact, the same Brookings Institution report cited above, also proposed the use of MEK as a suitable US proxy in provoking Iran. It would turn out that the alleged "Iranian-Saudi assassination plot" cited by Clapper, was more plausibly the work of MEK, than the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

And as Al Qaeda is re-purposed for overthrowing America's enemies in Libya and Syria, with LIFG terrorist leader Abdul Belhaj (aka Abdul Hasadi) literally leading NATO-armed legionaries into battle in now two nations, the "terrorists threat" has been shifted onto Iran - the sort of conveniently timed plot twist to be expected for a "War on Terror" that is a verifiable fraud.

The Bottom Line

Iran has nothing to gain and everything to lose by attacking the United States. US policy makers have expressed a documented desire to provoke the Iranians into a war the Islamic Republic is clearly trying to avoid. The United States government is on record funding, arming, and training terrorist organizations (LIFG & MEK) on it's own "foreign terrorist organization" list, a violation of their own anti-terrorism laws. They have failed categorically to provide convincing evidence regarding the alleged "Iranian-Saudi assassination plot," more over, the evidence suggests it is instead, the latest in a long string of contrived federal entrapment cases. If an attack occurs on US soil or against US allies in the near future under these circumstances, it is most likely Clapper, General Petraeus at the CIA, and Israel's Mossad that will be to blame.

As was the case in Vietnam, and more recently the fraudulent casus belli against Iraq, the West is being led into another infinitely destructive war, jeopardizing the lives of millions, and further bankrupting already destitute nations reeling from 10 years of unending war. It is essential to raise awareness of US policy makers and their desire to provoke war with an unwilling adversary and the documented history the United States government has in manufacturing provocations when none can be goaded.

It is also important to remember that no matter how detestable our political leaders may be, there is a corporate-financier oligarchy above them pulling the strings. It is important to vote warmongers out of office, but just as important to identify the strength of the corporate-financier oligarchs that drive them and undermine them at all costs.

Tech Giants Under Fire for Conspiracy to Suppress Employee Wages

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Tech Giants Under Fire for Conspiracy to Suppress Employee Wages by Brandon Turbeville

If current events continue in their present direction, seven of the world’s largest and most influential tech companies may have to pay anywhere from 5% to 10% of the yearly earnings of tens of thousands of their employees. Not only that, but these payouts may have to be calculated all the way back to 2005.

As reported by TechCrunch, Google, Apple, Adobe, Intel, Intuit, Pixar, and Lucasfilm are now defendants in a class action lawsuit alleging that the tech giants conspired together with the purpose of violating long-standing antitrust laws in order to artificially suppress the wages of their employees.

Essentially, the lawsuit alleges that the tech companies entered into an informal (and illegal) agreement not to hire one another’s employees. In refusing to hire the workers, a cartel was formed that prevented the workers from migrating to the competition for higher wages, thus keeping the cost of hiring from the labor pool down to an artificially low level.

Similar accusations arose back in 2009 when the U.S. Department of Justice investigated  a complaint against the companies regarding antitrust violations. The DOJ investigation revealed that the companies did in fact keep “do not call” lists of names to avoid recruiting. After these findings, and the civil suit that resulted, the companies opted to settle out of court in September 2010. Obviously, a significant portion of the agreement was that the companies would stop the practice of keeping “do not call” lists.

However, the employees who suffered from the formation of the cartel are now seeking reparations. They argue that the companies are still benefiting from these practices. It is for this reason that the employees have decided to sue.

As the lawsuit states, “The DOJ has confirmed that it will not seek to compensate employees who were injured by defendants’[tech companies] agreements. Without this class action, plaintiff [employees] and members of the class will not receive compensation for their injuries, and defendants will continue to retain the benefits of their unlawful collusion.”

The lawsuit, which was filed on May 4, 2011 in the California Superior Court in Alameda County, also argues that employees are entitled to financial compensation because senior executives from the companies “entered into an interconnected web of express agreements to eliminate competition among them for skilled labor.”

Interestingly enough, because these agreements were entered into separately, it is likely that each agreement is itself a separate violation of a variety of antitrust laws like the Sherman Act, the Cartwright Act, and other California state laws. This is in addition to the fact that these agreements, as the lawsuit claims, represent an “overarching antitrust conspiracy because each was made with knowledge of the other agreements, and relied on the other agreements to achieve a common goal of reducing compensation and mobility for highly sought-after skilled tech employees.”

The history of these illegal agreements began as far back as 2005. As John Constine of TechCrunch sums up, the chronology of the agreements is thus:

January 2005 – Pixar senior executives (which include Steve Jobs) draft written terms for a no-poach agreement and send them to Lucasfilm.

May 2006 – Apple and Adobe make agreements

2006 – Apple and Google make agreement shortly after Eric Schmidt joined Apple’s board of directors.

April 2007 – Apple and Pixar make agreements.

June and September 2007 – Google enters into agreements with Intuit and Intel that are identical to the agreements between Apple and Google, Apple and Adobe, and Apple and Pixar.

Now, before one launches into a tirade of righteous anger over claims of illegality levied against the late Steve Jobs, remember that these claims are more than mere accusations.

In a leaked email exchange between Steve Jobs of Apple and Eric Schmidt of Google in 2007, evidence of a no-poaching agreement can be seen as Jobs asks Schmidt to stop the attempts by Google to hire one of Apple’s employees.

On March 7, 2007, Jobs wrote to Schmidt, “I would be very pleased if your recruiting department would stop doing this.”

Schmidt forwarded this email on, along with a message, stating, “I believe we have a policy of no recruiting from Apple and this is a direct inbound request. Can you get this stopped and let me know why this is happening? I will need to send a response back to Apple quickly so please let me know as soon as you can.”

As a result, the Google recruiter who had attempted to hire the Apple employee was fired immediately. Google’s staffing director then wrote back to Schmidt, “please extend my apologies as appropriate to Steve Jobs.” He also stressed that this was “an isolated incident.”

Another email exchange between two Google vice presidents indicated much the same attitude. In the emails, the two discuss ways “never to get into bidding wars” on talent with Schmidt and long-time Apple board member Bill Campbell both being copied on it.

However, the most damning email was one that was linked much closer to Jobs himself. In an email addressed to Jobs from the then-CEO of Palm, it was stated, “Your proposal that we agree that neither company will hire the other’s employees, regardless of the individual’s desires, is not only wrong, it is likely illegal.” Not only does this indicate that Jobs was involved in antitrust violations, or at least attempts to violate antitrust laws, it also indicates full knowledge of those violations where they exist.

Not surprisingly, all of the companies involved in the suit deny any wrongdoing.

However, as Constine wrote shortly before the hearing at which the companies attempted to have the lawsuit dismissed,

However, my research and sources indicate the defendants’ claims are false, the plaintiffs case is plausible, and so there are no grounds for dismissal. Furthermore, the only reason more evidence about the interconnection between the agreements isn’t available is because they were made so secretively.

The case should be allowed to proceed because the plaintiffs have produced 'smoking guns' indicating a deep conspiracy. Specifically, 'Do Not Cold Call' lists which defendants used to implement the agreements, and the written terms of Pixar’s agreement with Lucasfilm. These signal that today’s joint motion to dismiss the case should be denied because if discovery is permitted to continue, there’s a reasonable expectation that evidence of illegal activity will be revealed.

(...)

If the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case is denied, the case will move towards a trial by jury in June 2013. Rather than leave an assessment of damages to the judge and jury, the defendants may try to settle the case, similar to how they settled with the Department of Justice’s federal case in 2010. In the defendants lose or settle, full-time employees of the defendants could be compensated for the 10-15% of lost wages estimated by the plaintiffs’ law firm Lieff Cabraser.

Constine was absolutely correct in his prediction. Only a matter of hours after he posted his article, the judge lifted the stay of discovery and refused to dismiss the case.

After the hearing, the attorney representing the employees, Joseph R. Saveri of Lieff Cabraser, gave reporters a statement in which he assessed the possible level of damages that the workers might be compensated for. Saveri stressed that software engineers make around $100,000 a year (a conservative estimate) and that employee compensation “was suppressed between 5 and 10%.” He also stated that “tens of thousands” of employees were affected.

If Saveri’s assessment is accurate, then each of the employees involved in the suit may be entitled to anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 for each year they worked for one of these companies. Those who made more than $100,000 a year could be entitled to much more. As John Constine points out, if only 10,000 entry-level engineers are awarded damages, the damages awarded could be around $150,000,000.

Brandon Turbeville is an author out of Mullins, South Carolina. He has a Bachelor's Degree from Francis Marion University and is the author of three books, Codex Alimentarius -- The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, and Five Sense Solutions. Turbeville has published over one hundred articles dealing with a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville is available for podcast, radio, and TV interviews. Please contact us at activistpost (at) gmail.com.

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Apple Tries Damage Control after Horrific Working Conditions at its Factories Exposed

US: What Really Happened at Occupy Oakland on Saturday January 28, a Firsthand Account

© Myles Biosen

US: What Really Happened at Occupy Oakland on Saturday January 28, a Firsthand Account

 For the internet, here's a first-hand account of Occupy Oakland on 1/28/2012, because the news never tells the full story. I'll tell you about the street battle, the 300+ arrests, the vandalism, the flag burning, all in the context of my experience today. This is deeper than the headlines. No major news source can do that for you.

The stated goal for the day was to "move-in" to a large, abandoned, building to turn it into a social and political center. It is a long vacant convention center - the only people ever near there are the homeless who use the space outside the building as a bed. The building occupation also draws attention to the large number of abandoned and unused buildings in Oakland. The day started with a rally and a march to the proposed building. The police knew which building was the target, surrounded it, and used highly mobile units to try and divert the protest. After avoiding police lines, the group made it to one side of the building.

Now, this is a very large building, and we were on a road with construction fences on both sides, and a large ditch separating us from the cops. The police fired smoke grenades into the crowd as the group neared a small path around the ditch, towards the building. They declared an unlawful assembly, and this is when the crowd broke down the construction fence. A few people broke fences to escape the situation, others because they were pissed. A couple more fences were taken down then necessary, but no valuable equipment was destroyed. They only things broken were fences.

The crowd decided to continue moving, and walked up the block to a more regular street. We decided to turn left up the street, and a police line formed to stop the march. They again declared an unlawful assembly. The protesters challenged the line, marching towards the police with our own shields in front. The shields, some small and black and a few large metal sheets. The police fired tear-gas as the group approached, and shot less-than-lethal rounds at the crowd. The protesters returned one volley of firecrackers, small projectiles, and funny things like balloons. A very weak attack, 3 officers may have been hit by something but none of them got injured. Tear gas forced many people back. The protesters quickly regrouped, and pressed the line again. This time the police opened fire with flash-grenades, tear gas, paint-filled beanbag shotguns, and rubber bullets.

After the police fired heavily on the protesters, they pushed their line forward and made a few arrests. The protesters regrouped down the block and began to march the other way (followed by police), back to Oscar Grant Plaza.

All of this occurred during the day, but it was that street battle that set the tone for the police response later in the evening. After taking a break in Oscar Grant Plaza, feeding everyone and resting, the group headed out for their evening march. Around 5pm, the group took to the street at 14th and Broadway and began a First-amendment sanctioned march around the city. The police response was very aggressive.

About 15 minutes into the march, the police attempted to kettle the protesters. This march was entirely non-violent; nobody threw s@#t at the cops and an unlawful assembly was never declared. . This is a very important detail. The march was 1000+ strong, conservatively. The police were very mobile, using 25+ rented 10seater vans to bring the 'troops' to the march.

For their first attempt at a kettle, the cops charged the group with police lines from the front and back. They ran towards us aggressively. Us being 1000+ peaceful marching protesters. The group was forced to move up a side street. The police moved quickly to surround the entire area; they formed a line on every street that the side street connected to. Police state status: very efficient. They kettled almost the entire protest in the park near the Fox theater. AFTERWARDS, as in after they surrounded everyone, they declared it to be an unlawful assembly BUT OFFERED NO EXIT ROUTE. Gas was used, could of been tear or smoke gas.

The crowd then broke down a fence that was on one side of the kettle, and 1000 people ran across a field escaping a police kettle and embarrassing the entire police force. It was literally a massive jailbreak from a kettle. The group re-took Telegraph ave. and left the police way behind.

At this point, I was on edge because I knew the police were not f@#king around tonight. Because of the incident earlier in the day, I realized they were effectively treating the peaceful march as a riot. There was not rioting, or intentions to riot, just dancing, optimism, hope, and walking. But clearly the police thought differently, and I knew they would try to trap us again without warning. From the moment I saw riot police running towards are march from both directions, I knew the constitution would not apply in Oakland tonight. The police made that very clear. My friends thought differently, thinking that they would not be arrested for marching. They are currently in jail.

The second, and successful, kettle occurred as the protest was headed back up Broadway, at Broadway and 24th. Again, the police appeared quickly in front of the crowd, as well as a line behind the crowd. This time there was no side street. A few people attempted to escape into the YMCA; some mis-infonformed [sic} news reports claim that the YMCA got 'occupied'. Around 300 people were trapped, mostly young people. At this point I had fallen behind the line of riot police in back of the crowd, and when the kettle was sprung I was on the other side of the police line. I have a policy of avoiding arrest, but I feel like I've been striped of some dignity. I've seen some s@#t go down in oaktown, but I've always avoided arrest because it was easy.

Most mass arrests occur when people choose to break the law (like occupying Bank of America in downtown SF and pitching a tent to send a statement to UC Regent Monica Lozano on BofA's board - respect). At 'unlawfully assemblies', people are usually extracted by a quick attack of 5+ cops, and their often 'targets' (previously-identified and profiled protesters). If the crowd is too large, they use tear-gas.

Tonight was different. When I fell behind the group, I knew they were going to arrest a very large number of peaceful protesters without declaring an unlawful assembly at the location. And then they did. I thought this s@#t was reserved for G20's and WTO meetings. I felt shame for being intimidated away from my rights. 'Unlawful assemblies' feel like a boot stomp on the first amendment, but this was like them wiping their a@# with the constitution and force feeding it to me. 300+ were arrested, corralled below the YMCA @ 23rd and Broadway. The only announcement that was made was one I've never heard before:

"You are under arrest. Submit to your arrest."

The 300 protesters were then arrested, one by one. They were ziptied and sat in rows while they waited to be processed. OPD set up an entire processing station behind police lines, where they searched and identified every protester. They were slowly loaded onto buses, including local public AC transit buses. This took about 4 or 5 hours.

Outside the police lines, things were still happening. A group that escaped the trap decided to head back to Oscar Grant Plaza. I do not know how, but they opened the front door to city hall and occupied the building. Opened, as in no window smashing. The move was not meant to be an occupation but more of a show of solidarity to the 300 arrested protesters down the street. When all the people being arrested heard the news, they let out a big cheer...

..At this point I ran to Oscar Grant Plaza. When I arrived there were only 8 riot cops guarding the open front door, but more arrived very quickly. No one was inside the building anymore, but many had gathered in the Plaza. Someone burned an American Flag in front of city hall. I've seen the same guy do it before; frankly he's weird and it's kind of his thing.

One thing to note is the police arrested to wrong part of the protest. Most people arrested were young peaceful types. Aggressive protesters, and anyone with a record, are usually very good at avoiding arrest. Point being, back at the plaza opportunists began their work. I saw some young 'jugalos' spray-painting a wall with "jugalos for life" s@# and then take photos next to it. They were just young and stupid kids; some good protesters cleaned it up later in the night. Some CBS and FOX news crews forced to leave the scene, with people spanking their van. They had already gotten the footage of someone burning an American Flag in front of city hall, so their work was done. The crowd was angry about what happened, and milling around the plaza and downtown area. At one point, the first of the 9 busloads of protesters drove past 14th and Broadway. People cheered for the ones inside, and chased it down, slamming on the sides of the bus. None of the other buses came past the plaza. There is about 30 police in the immediate area, 20 in front of city hall and 10 near 14th and broadway. Clearly they were stretched thin, and did not expect the city hall incident. Mutual aid been called it; I saw cops from Oakland, Alameda County Sheriff, Pleasanton, and Berkeley.

I walked back down to the 300 arrests in progress to try and get some information or spot my friends, but all I could do was wait and watch from behind the police line. My phone died. Not much happened, a lot of waiting and talking with people who also had friends on the other side. People included one French women who talked about how in France this would never be tolerated, and a teacher of one of Oakland's 10 schools being closed who was out on his birthday 'for the kids'. Eventually, I decided I needed to charge my phone, get on the internet, and figure out where and when my friends will be released. Siting down on BART was great after a long day of walking.

I got home and viewed OakfoSho and PunkboyinSf on Ustream to stay posted. OakFoSho filmed the entire arrest from above, I was able to look for my friends from his stream. All props to that guy. I saw that with the new development at Oscar Grant Plaza, they had to call in mutual aid from San Francisco, Marin, and San Mateo. They declared the 14th and Broadway an unlawful assembly and slowly dispersed the dwindling crowd. No tear gas this time!

Now that this incident is on-record, I'm gonna get a little sleep, then go pick up my friends from jail.

If you only remember one detail be it this: Tonight's mass arrest occurred without a dispersal order. No law was broken. The only order given was: "You are under arrest. Submit to your arrest." 300 peaceful protesters walking down a street were trapped and arrested unlawfully.

A note about police militarization: I saw some big guns and scary gear tonight. Alameda County Sheriff seems to have an endless budget for that s@#t. But tonight I saw something much scarier, that I've never seen before. First, I saw that the police have a printed profile books of protesters. I saw a cop flipping through pictures with descriptions, talking about who on their list they've seen today. When resting in Oscar Grant Plaza, a cop was filming the plaza from a rooftop in an adjacent building. They're always filming, some have cameras on their bodies now, but this was clear spying and sophisticated intelligence gathering and analysis. Second, a very large tank on wheels, with a water cannon on top, rolled on scene. Someone said it was called a "grizzly", but I can't find a photo anywhere. help? It was massive, and I stood right next to it before they brought it behind police lines. It was a hardcore, modern urban tank. The police are funded and prepared to use a water cannon on protesters, if need be. Know that.

The thing about Occupy, and especially Occupy Oakland, is it refuses to exclude. We are the 99%, and we mean it. The homeless and disenfranchised were welcome in the camp from day 1. The crime rate in Downtown Oakland went down, and some people finally had a safe place to sleep. Idealistic youth, google techies, students, teachers, parents, children, poor, homeless, workers, all coming together. It rekindled hope for a lot of people. Occupy changed the conversation. The idea is more important than any one protest. An idea cannot be stopped. It is no longer about occupations; instead, it's about bringing people together. The 99%, all with their own problems and concerns, have brought their collective attention to the root of the forces preventing them from making a better world.

A lot of the people arrested today were my peers...a lot of young people and students. For us, the occupy movement can't be diminished or co-opted...it's bigger than occupy. I will seek the changes I marched for tonight until I win or die. It is the task of my generation, worldwide, to return power to the people. Governments around the world are quickly realizing that our generation will not back down. This is bigger than 'occupy', this is bigger than one country, one problem, or one protest. The people want their world back. We are fighting for our future, and we are winning.

Edit:
Forgot to add this context - The Oakland PD will soon be taken over by the Feds because of their poor conduct and inability to change.