By Chris Floyd at Empire Burlesque
Let us hear no more excuses for Barack Obama. Let us hear no more defenses, no more special pleading, no more extenuation. Let us have no more reciting of the "pressures" he is under, of the "many obstacles" that balk him in his quest to do us good, of the "bad advisers" who are swaying him to unworthy acts against his will. Let us be done at last with all these wretched lies, these complicitous self-deceptions that are facilitating atrocity and tyranny on a monstrous scale.
Barack Obama has ordered the murder of an American Citizen
, without trial, without due process, without the production of any evidence . All it takes to kill any American citizen in this way is Barack Obama's signature on a piece of paper, his arbitrary designation of the target as a "suspected terrorist." In precisely the same way -- precisely the same way -- Josef Stalin would place a mark by a name in a list of "suspected terrorists" or "counterrevolutionaries," and the bearer of that name would die. This is the system we have now, the same as the Soviets had then: a leader with the unchallengeable power to kill citizens without due process.
(C2084- the last two sentences from the previous paragraph need to be read again) In precisely the same way -- precisely the same way -- Josef Stalin would place a mark by a name in a list of "suspected terrorists" or "counterrevolutionaries," and the bearer of that name would die. This is the system we have now, the same as the Soviets had then: a leader with the unchallengeable power to kill citizens without due process.
That this power has not been used on the same scale in the American system as in the Stalinist state -- yet -- does not alter the equivalence of this governing principle. In both cases, the leader signs arbitrary death warrants; the security services carry out the task; and the 'great and good' of society accept this draconian power as necessary and right.
This is what you support when you support Barack Obama. It does not matter if you think his opponents in the factional infighting to control a bloodsoaked empire and its war machine are "worse" than he is in some measure. When you support him, when you defend him, when you excuse him, it is arbitrary murder that you are supporting. It is the absolute negation of every single principle of enlightenment and human rights professed by liberals, progressives -- indeed, by honorable people of every political stripe -- for centuries.
Read the Rest at Empire Burlesque
Friday, April 9, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Quotes From 1929-1930: Buy, Buy, Buy
By Tyler Durden at ZeroHedge.com
Courtesy of David Rosenberg, here is how the media propaganda scene looked like the last time the US stock market was about to enter a 10 year bear market culminating with world war. Hopefully all who threw their money in the market back then managed to sell at the very peak and avoided the upcoming 10+ sequential plunges in the stock market. Of course, selling at the peak is exactly what all the computers, algos, momentum chasers, primary dealers, and naive daytraders hope to do, just ahead of the flush. As usual, we wish them all the best. ~ T. Durden at ZH
From the leading economic minds of the day and the POTUS:
• “[1930 will be] a splendid employment year.” — U.S. Department of Labor, New Year’s Forecast, December 1929
• “I am convinced that through these measures, we have reestablished confidence.” — Herbert Hoover, U.S. President, December 1929.
• “While the crash only took place six months ago, I am convinced we have now passed through the worst — and with continued unity of effort we shall rapidly recover. There has been no significant bank or industrial failure. That danger, too, is safely behind us.” — Herbert Hoover, U.S. President, May 1930.
• “This is the time to buy stocks. This is the time to recall the words of the late J. P. Morgan ... that any man who is bearish on America will go broke. Within a few days there is likely to be a bear panic rather than a bull panic. Many of the low prices as a result of this hysterical selling are not likely to be reached again in many years.” — R. W. McNeel, market analyst, as quoted in the New York Herald Tribune, October 30, 1929
• “The Wall Street crash doesn't mean that there will be any general or serious business depression ... For six years American business has been diverting a substantial part of its attention, its energies and its resources on the speculative game ... Now that irrelevant, alien and hazardous adventure is over. Business has come home again, back to its job, providentially unscathed, sound in wind and limb, financially stronger than ever before.” — BusinessWeek, November 2, 1929
• “...despite its severity, we believe that the slump in stock prices will prove an intermediate movement and not the precursor of a business depression such as would entail prolonged further liquidation...” — Harvard Economic Society (HES), November 2, 1929
• “The end of the decline of the Stock Market will probably not be long, only a few more days at most.” — Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics at Yale University, November 14, 1929
• “For the immediate future, at least, the outlook (stocks) is bright.” — Irving Fisher, Ph.D. in Economics, in early 1930
• “... the outlook continues favorable...” - Harvard Economic Society Mar 29, 1930
Courtesy of David Rosenberg, here is how the media propaganda scene looked like the last time the US stock market was about to enter a 10 year bear market culminating with world war. Hopefully all who threw their money in the market back then managed to sell at the very peak and avoided the upcoming 10+ sequential plunges in the stock market. Of course, selling at the peak is exactly what all the computers, algos, momentum chasers, primary dealers, and naive daytraders hope to do, just ahead of the flush. As usual, we wish them all the best. ~ T. Durden at ZH
A good friend of ours at UBS, Robert Procaccianti, periodically emails us his pithy market thoughts, and yesterday he sent us the following. Great digging into some now infamous quotes after the 1929-30 bear market and the widespread view at the time that the worst was over because, of course, Mr. Market said so … erroneously as it turned out. ~David Rosenberg
From the leading economic minds of the day and the POTUS:
• “[1930 will be] a splendid employment year.” — U.S. Department of Labor, New Year’s Forecast, December 1929
• “I am convinced that through these measures, we have reestablished confidence.” — Herbert Hoover, U.S. President, December 1929.
• “While the crash only took place six months ago, I am convinced we have now passed through the worst — and with continued unity of effort we shall rapidly recover. There has been no significant bank or industrial failure. That danger, too, is safely behind us.” — Herbert Hoover, U.S. President, May 1930.
• “This is the time to buy stocks. This is the time to recall the words of the late J. P. Morgan ... that any man who is bearish on America will go broke. Within a few days there is likely to be a bear panic rather than a bull panic. Many of the low prices as a result of this hysterical selling are not likely to be reached again in many years.” — R. W. McNeel, market analyst, as quoted in the New York Herald Tribune, October 30, 1929
• “The Wall Street crash doesn't mean that there will be any general or serious business depression ... For six years American business has been diverting a substantial part of its attention, its energies and its resources on the speculative game ... Now that irrelevant, alien and hazardous adventure is over. Business has come home again, back to its job, providentially unscathed, sound in wind and limb, financially stronger than ever before.” — BusinessWeek, November 2, 1929
• “...despite its severity, we believe that the slump in stock prices will prove an intermediate movement and not the precursor of a business depression such as would entail prolonged further liquidation...” — Harvard Economic Society (HES), November 2, 1929
• “The end of the decline of the Stock Market will probably not be long, only a few more days at most.” — Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics at Yale University, November 14, 1929
• “For the immediate future, at least, the outlook (stocks) is bright.” — Irving Fisher, Ph.D. in Economics, in early 1930
• “... the outlook continues favorable...” - Harvard Economic Society Mar 29, 1930
Does any of this sound familiar??
Visit Zero Hedge often, daily, for insights of economic realty. ~c2084
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Enemy of the State Prognostication by Citizen2084 – The Results
My first prognostication was last August and contained thoughts on events in of the coming year which covering 2009 and 2010. Although we are not done with the first half of 2010 it should still be interesting to review their accuracy.
The upcoming 12-18 months should be eventful.I will offer my insight on what we can expect maybe it will be helpful somehow to someone. Depending on the first prediction results you can decide how much credence to place on my thoughts, if any. Look for those predictions to follow this post.
C2084’s Prognostication for the End of 2009 into 2010 posted on August 31, 2010
1) 2009/2010 NFL season will be interrupted due to a national emergency / disaster.
Result – MISSED.
It is great to be wrong sometimes. Multiple events surfaced in 2009 with the potential impact; thank goodness they materialize. Here are a few:
• The Swine Flu Scare/Hoax
• Reports of an Israeli attack on Iran , had weather been cooperative
• X-Mas Pantie Bomber
2) Commercial real estate continues its decline and as severe as it is, the second wave of ALT –A and ARM resets will be even more dramatic then the first wave that set the housing market downward. The bottom line is national average housing prices drop an additional 30%
Result – HIT.
It isn’t a perfect hit however the reality is prices fell significantly further, and will continue. The hardest markets did meet the 30% drop and others will join in the party.
Excerpts from stories by Tyler Durden at ZERO HEDGE.com
The housing market and CRE will see no improvement anytime soon.
3) Baking holiday declared immediately after the end of 2009 that period of time we used to describe as holiday shopping. Used to. In 2009 holiday shopping will represent less than 50% of 2007 volume. Do not measure dollars spent, the inflation will hide the real impact, measure total units, items per sale.
Result-HIT.
The holiday didn’t happen but all the policy changes have been put into place. It was in the news and just like so many other “Market Signals”, joe public ignore the flashing neon warnings.
A Bank Holiday becomes unnecessary with these changes to regulation and policies. A bank holiday is used to prevent the public from taking their money out of Banks. Now that they can just say “no” we may not ever see another bank holiday. Thank goodness our government is there to assist these banking institutions from the kind of extremists that would stoop to actually asking for their money. Only an Al Qaeda terrorist would think of taking their money out of a bank.
4) By the summer of 2010 we will announce the resumption of the military draft, whether it is for a civilian duty or traditional service, it will be compulsory.
Result-MISS.
Although Obama signed a National Service bill in 2009, the spirit of this was more military. This bill does include MANDATORY service, however this is not what I had in mind and it would be dishonest to say this was accurate. It is a horrible bill none the less as community service should always be voluntary, as all aspects of life in a free society. Most do not remember that America was once a free society and you could choose how to live your live.
5) By the end of 2010 capital controls and/or price controls will be implemented in US.
Result. HIT.
Unfortunately this happened much sooner than I expected. March 18, 2010 without a mention in US propaganda outlets Obama signed into law the H.I.R.E. act. Cute freaking acronym, f or the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment, a $17.5 billion increase in government payroll largess, on page 27:
You can read it all HERE.
In summary, I think 60% accuracy is a passing grade the first Enemy of the State predictions. I will post my next prognostications shortly and welcome any thoughts/suggestions.
In liberty,
c2084
The upcoming 12-18 months should be eventful.I will offer my insight on what we can expect maybe it will be helpful somehow to someone. Depending on the first prediction results you can decide how much credence to place on my thoughts, if any. Look for those predictions to follow this post.
C2084’s Prognostication for the End of 2009 into 2010 posted on August 31, 2010
1) 2009/2010 NFL season will be interrupted due to a national emergency / disaster.
Result – MISSED.
It is great to be wrong sometimes. Multiple events surfaced in 2009 with the potential impact; thank goodness they materialize. Here are a few:
• The Swine Flu Scare/Hoax
• Reports of an Israeli attack on Iran , had weather been cooperative
• X-Mas Pantie Bomber
2) Commercial real estate continues its decline and as severe as it is, the second wave of ALT –A and ARM resets will be even more dramatic then the first wave that set the housing market downward. The bottom line is national average housing prices drop an additional 30%
Result – HIT.
It isn’t a perfect hit however the reality is prices fell significantly further, and will continue. The hardest markets did meet the 30% drop and others will join in the party.
Excerpts from stories by Tyler Durden at ZERO HEDGE.com
…Fannie Mae reported
its January total serious delinquency rate for single-family houses: the rate hit a new record of 5.54%, a jump from the December's 5.38%, and double the 2.77% in January 2009.
…Real Pointe has just released its March CMBS delinquency data, according to which delinquencies hit an all time high 6%. Not to be ignored, according to TREPP this number is even worse, at nearly 8%, after the single biggest monthly spike in 30 day + delinquencies.
The housing market and CRE will see no improvement anytime soon.
3) Baking holiday declared immediately after the end of 2009 that period of time we used to describe as holiday shopping. Used to. In 2009 holiday shopping will represent less than 50% of 2007 volume. Do not measure dollars spent, the inflation will hide the real impact, measure total units, items per sale.
Result-HIT.
The holiday didn’t happen but all the policy changes have been put into place. It was in the news and just like so many other “Market Signals”, joe public ignore the flashing neon warnings.
CITI Group tells customers that they can ask for 7 day notice to withdraw funds. Not a money market account, or contract deposit, but 7 day wait on demand deposits.
Suspending Money Market Redemption now Legal as SEC votes 4-1.
Everbank Notifies Customers that they now have the right to close their account to protect the bank form losses. Here are some of the more concerning quotes:
“We may close your Metals Select Account at anytime upon reasonable notice to you. If we believe that it is necessary to close your account immediately in order to limit losses by you or us…we may close your account prior to providing notice to you.”
“…Notice from us to one of you is notice to all of you.”
A Bank Holiday becomes unnecessary with these changes to regulation and policies. A bank holiday is used to prevent the public from taking their money out of Banks. Now that they can just say “no” we may not ever see another bank holiday. Thank goodness our government is there to assist these banking institutions from the kind of extremists that would stoop to actually asking for their money. Only an Al Qaeda terrorist would think of taking their money out of a bank.
4) By the summer of 2010 we will announce the resumption of the military draft, whether it is for a civilian duty or traditional service, it will be compulsory.
Result-MISS.
Although Obama signed a National Service bill in 2009, the spirit of this was more military. This bill does include MANDATORY service, however this is not what I had in mind and it would be dishonest to say this was accurate. It is a horrible bill none the less as community service should always be voluntary, as all aspects of life in a free society. Most do not remember that America was once a free society and you could choose how to live your live.
5) By the end of 2010 capital controls and/or price controls will be implemented in US.
Result. HIT.
Unfortunately this happened much sooner than I expected. March 18, 2010 without a mention in US propaganda outlets Obama signed into law the H.I.R.E. act. Cute freaking acronym, f or the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment, a $17.5 billion increase in government payroll largess, on page 27:
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after chapter 3 the following new chapter:
‘‘CHAPTER 4—TAXES TO ENFORCE REPORTING ON CERTAIN FOREIGN ACCOUNTS
‘‘Sec. 1471. Withholdable payments to foreign financial institutions.
‘‘Sec. 1472. Withholdable payments to other foreign entities.
‘‘Sec. 1473. Definitions.
‘‘Sec. 1474. Special rules.
‘‘SEC. 1471. WITHHOLDABLE PAYMENTS TO FOREIGN FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any withholdable payment to a foreign financial institution which does not meet the requirements of subsection (b), the withholding agent with respect to such payment shall deduct and withhold from such payment a tax equal to 30 percent of the amount of such payment
You can read it all HERE.
In summary, I think 60% accuracy is a passing grade the first Enemy of the State predictions. I will post my next prognostications shortly and welcome any thoughts/suggestions.
In liberty,
c2084
Hoax of the Century
By Patrick J. Buchanan posted at LRC.com
With publication of “On the Origin of Species” in 1859, the hunt was on for the "missing link." Fame and fortune awaited the scientist who found the link proving Darwin right: that man evolved from a monkey.
In 1912, success! In a gravel pit near Piltdown in East Sussex, there was found the cranium of a man with the jaw of an ape.
"Darwin Theory Proved True," ran the banner headline.
Evolution skeptics were pilloried, and three English scientists were knighted for validating Piltdown Man.
It wasn't until 1953, after generations of biology students had been taught about Piltdown Man, that closer inspection discovered that the cranium belonged to a medieval Englishman, the bones had been dyed to look older and the jaw belonged to an orangutan whose teeth had been filed down to look human.
The scientific discovery of the century became the hoax of the century. But Piltdown Man was not alone. There was Nebraska Man.
In 1922, Henry Fairfield Osborn, president of the American Museum of Natural History, identified a tooth fossil found in Nebraska to be that of an "anthropoid ape." He used his discovery to mock William Jennings Bryan, newly elected to Congress, as "the most distinguished primate which the State of Nebraska has yet produced."
Invited to testify at the Scopes trial, however, Osborn begged off. For, by 1925, Nebraska Man's tooth had been traced to a wild pig, and Creationist Duane Gish, a biochemist, had remarked of Osborn's Nebraska Man, "I believe this is a case in which a scientist made a man out of a pig, and the pig made a monkey out of the scientist."
These stories are wonderfully told in Eugene Windchy's 2009 The End of Darwinism . But if Piltdown Man and his American cousin Nebraska Man were the hoaxes of the 20th century, global warming is the great hoax of the 21st. In a matter of months, what have we learned:
• In its 2007 report claiming that the Himalayan glaciers are melting, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change relied on a 1999 news story in a popular science journal, based on one interview with a little-known Indian scientist who said this was pure "speculation," not supported by any research. The IPCC also misreported the supposed date of the glaciers' meltdown as 2035. The Indian had suggested 2350.
• The IPCC report that global warming is going to kill 40 percent of the Amazon rainforest and cut African crop yields 50 percent has been found to be alarmist propaganda.
• The IPCC 2007 report declared 55 percent of Holland to be below sea level, an exaggeration of over 100 percent.
• While endless keening is heard over the Arctic ice cap, we hear almost nothing of the 2009 report of the British Antarctica Survey that the sea ice cap of Antarctica has been expanding by 100,000 square kilometers a decade for 30 years. That translates into 3,800 square miles of new Antarctic ice every year.
• Though America endured one of the worst winters ever, while the 2009 hurricane season was among the mildest, the warmers say this proves nothing. But when our winters were mild and the 2005 hurricane season brought four major storms to the U.S. coast, Katrina among them, the warmers said this validated their theory.
You can't have it both ways.
• The Climatic Research Unit at East Anglia University, which provides the scientific backup for the IPCC, apparently threw out the basic data on which it based claims of a rise in global temperatures for the century. And a hacker into its e-mail files found CRU "scientists" had squelched the publication of dissenting views.
What we learned in a year's time: Polar bears are not vanishing. Sea levels are not rising at anything like the 20-foot surge this century was to bring. Cities are not sinking. Beaches are not disappearing. Temperatures have not been rising since the late 1990s. And, in historic terms, our global warming is not at all unprecedented.
Dennis Avery of Hudson Institute wrote a decade ago that from A.D. 900 to 1300, the Earth warmed by 4 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit, a period known as the Little Climate Optimum.
How horrible was it?
"The Vikings discovered and settled Greenland around A.D. 950. Greenland was then so warm that thousands of colonists supported themselves by pasturing cattle on what is now frozen tundra. During this great global warming, Europe built the looming castles and soaring cathedrals that even today stun tourists with their size, beauty and engineering excellence. These colossal buildings required the investment of millions of man-hours – which could be spared from farming because of higher crop yields."
Today's global warming hysteria is the hoax of the 21st century. H.L. Mencken had it right:
By Patrick J. Buchanan March 2, 2010
With publication of “On the Origin of Species” in 1859, the hunt was on for the "missing link." Fame and fortune awaited the scientist who found the link proving Darwin right: that man evolved from a monkey.
In 1912, success! In a gravel pit near Piltdown in East Sussex, there was found the cranium of a man with the jaw of an ape.
"Darwin Theory Proved True," ran the banner headline.
Evolution skeptics were pilloried, and three English scientists were knighted for validating Piltdown Man.
It wasn't until 1953, after generations of biology students had been taught about Piltdown Man, that closer inspection discovered that the cranium belonged to a medieval Englishman, the bones had been dyed to look older and the jaw belonged to an orangutan whose teeth had been filed down to look human.
The scientific discovery of the century became the hoax of the century. But Piltdown Man was not alone. There was Nebraska Man.
In 1922, Henry Fairfield Osborn, president of the American Museum of Natural History, identified a tooth fossil found in Nebraska to be that of an "anthropoid ape." He used his discovery to mock William Jennings Bryan, newly elected to Congress, as "the most distinguished primate which the State of Nebraska has yet produced."
Invited to testify at the Scopes trial, however, Osborn begged off. For, by 1925, Nebraska Man's tooth had been traced to a wild pig, and Creationist Duane Gish, a biochemist, had remarked of Osborn's Nebraska Man, "I believe this is a case in which a scientist made a man out of a pig, and the pig made a monkey out of the scientist."
These stories are wonderfully told in Eugene Windchy's 2009 The End of Darwinism . But if Piltdown Man and his American cousin Nebraska Man were the hoaxes of the 20th century, global warming is the great hoax of the 21st. In a matter of months, what have we learned:
• In its 2007 report claiming that the Himalayan glaciers are melting, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change relied on a 1999 news story in a popular science journal, based on one interview with a little-known Indian scientist who said this was pure "speculation," not supported by any research. The IPCC also misreported the supposed date of the glaciers' meltdown as 2035. The Indian had suggested 2350.
• The IPCC report that global warming is going to kill 40 percent of the Amazon rainforest and cut African crop yields 50 percent has been found to be alarmist propaganda.
• The IPCC 2007 report declared 55 percent of Holland to be below sea level, an exaggeration of over 100 percent.
• While endless keening is heard over the Arctic ice cap, we hear almost nothing of the 2009 report of the British Antarctica Survey that the sea ice cap of Antarctica has been expanding by 100,000 square kilometers a decade for 30 years. That translates into 3,800 square miles of new Antarctic ice every year.
• Though America endured one of the worst winters ever, while the 2009 hurricane season was among the mildest, the warmers say this proves nothing. But when our winters were mild and the 2005 hurricane season brought four major storms to the U.S. coast, Katrina among them, the warmers said this validated their theory.
You can't have it both ways.
• The Climatic Research Unit at East Anglia University, which provides the scientific backup for the IPCC, apparently threw out the basic data on which it based claims of a rise in global temperatures for the century. And a hacker into its e-mail files found CRU "scientists" had squelched the publication of dissenting views.
What we learned in a year's time: Polar bears are not vanishing. Sea levels are not rising at anything like the 20-foot surge this century was to bring. Cities are not sinking. Beaches are not disappearing. Temperatures have not been rising since the late 1990s. And, in historic terms, our global warming is not at all unprecedented.
Dennis Avery of Hudson Institute wrote a decade ago that from A.D. 900 to 1300, the Earth warmed by 4 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit, a period known as the Little Climate Optimum.
How horrible was it?
"The Vikings discovered and settled Greenland around A.D. 950. Greenland was then so warm that thousands of colonists supported themselves by pasturing cattle on what is now frozen tundra. During this great global warming, Europe built the looming castles and soaring cathedrals that even today stun tourists with their size, beauty and engineering excellence. These colossal buildings required the investment of millions of man-hours – which could be spared from farming because of higher crop yields."
Today's global warming hysteria is the hoax of the 21st century. H.L. Mencken had it right:
"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed – and hence clamorous to be led to safety – by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
By Patrick J. Buchanan March 2, 2010
Truth Has Fallen and Has Taken Liberty with It
Media Death
By Paul Craig Roberts March 31st at Tak Mag.com
There was a time when the pen was mightier than the sword. That was a time when people believed in truth and regarded truth as an independent power and not as an auxiliary for government, class, race, ideological, personal, or financial interest.
Today Americans are ruled by propaganda. Americans have little regard for truth, little access to it, and little ability to recognize it.
Truth is an unwelcome entity. It is disturbing. It is off limits. Those who speak it run the risk of being branded “anti-American,” “anti-semite” or “conspiracy theorist.”
Truth is an inconvenience for government and for the interest groups whose campaign contributions control government.
Truth is an inconvenience for prosecutors who want convictions, not the discovery of innocence or guilt.
Truth is inconvenient for ideologues.
Today many whose goal once was the discovery of truth are now paid handsomely to hide it. “Free market economists” are paid to sell offshoring to the American people. High-productivity, high value-added American jobs are denigrated as dirty, old industrial jobs. Relicts from long ago, we are best shed of them. Their place has been taken by “the New Economy,” a mythical economy that allegedly consists of high-tech white collar jobs in which Americans innovate and finance activities that occur offshore. All Americans need in order to participate in this “new economy” are finance degrees from Ivy League universities, and then they will work on Wall Street at million dollar jobs.
Economists who were once respectable took money to contribute to this myth of “the New Economy.”
And not only economists sell their souls for filthy lucre. Recently we have had reports of medical doctors who, for money, have published in peer-reviewed journals concocted “studies” that hype this or that new medicine produced by pharmaceutical companies that paid for the “studies.”
The Council of Europe is investigating big pharma’s role in hyping a false swine flu pandemic in order to gain billions of dollars in sales of the vaccine.
The media helped the US military hype its recent Marja offensive in Afghanistan, describing Marja as a city of 80,000 under Taliban control. It turns out that Marja is not urban but a collection of village farms.
And there is the global warming scandal, in which climate scientists, financed by Wall Street and corporations anxious to get their mitts on “cap and trade” and by a U.N. agency anxious to redistribute income from rich to poor countries, concocted a doomsday scenario in order to create profit in pollution.
Wherever one looks, truth has fallen to money.
Wherever money is insufficient to bury the truth, ignorance, propaganda, and short memories finish the job.
I remember when, following CIA director William Colby’s testimony before the Church Committee in the mid-1970s, presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan issued executive orders preventing the CIA and U.S. black-op groups from assassinating foreign leaders. In 2010 the US Congress was told by Dennis Blair, head of national intelligence, that the US now assassinates its own citizens in addition to foreign leaders.
When Blair told the House Intelligence Committee that US citizens no longer needed to be arrested, charged, tried, and convicted of a capital crime, just murdered on suspicion alone of being a “threat,” he wasn’t impeached. No investigation pursued. Nothing happened. There was no Church Committee. In the mid-1970s the CIA got into trouble for plots to kill Castro. Today it is American citizens who are on the hit list. Whatever objections there might be don’t carry any weight. No one in government is in any trouble over the assassination of U.S. citizens by the U.S. government.
As an economist, I am astonished that the American economics profession has no awareness whatsoever that the U.S. economy has been destroyed by the offshoring of U.S. GDP to overseas countries. U.S. corporations, in pursuit of absolute advantage or lowest labor costs and maximum CEO “performance bonuses,” have moved the production of goods and services marketed to Americans to China, India, and elsewhere abroad. When I read economists describe offshoring as free trade based on comparative advantage, I realize that there is no intelligence or integrity in the American economics profession.
Intelligence and integrity have been purchased by money. The transnational or global U.S. corporations pay multi-million dollar compensation packages to top managers, who achieve these “performance awards” by replacing U.S. labor with foreign labor. While Washington worries about “the Muslim threat,” Wall Street, U.S. corporations and “free market” shills destroy the U.S. economy and the prospects of tens of millions of Americans.
Americans, or most of them, have proved to be putty in the hands of the police state.
Americans have bought into the government’s claim that security requires the suspension of civil liberties and accountable government. Astonishingly, Americans, or most of them, believe that civil liberties, such as habeas corpus and due process, protect “terrorists,” and not themselves. Many also believe that the Constitution is a tired old document that prevents government from exercising the kind of police state powers necessary to keep Americans safe and free.
Most Americans are unlikely to hear from anyone who would tell them any different.
I was associate editor and columnist for the Wall Street Journal. I was Business Week’s first outside columnist, a position I held for 15 years. I was columnist for a decade for Scripps Howard News Service, carried in 300 newspapers. I was a columnist for the Washington Times and for newspapers in France and Italy and for a magazine in Germany. I was a contributor to the New York Times and a regular feature in the Los Angeles Times. Today I cannot publish in, or appear on, the American “mainstream media.”
Read the Rest of the Article
By Paul Craig Roberts March 31st at Tak Mag.com
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.—George Orwell
There was a time when the pen was mightier than the sword. That was a time when people believed in truth and regarded truth as an independent power and not as an auxiliary for government, class, race, ideological, personal, or financial interest.
Today Americans are ruled by propaganda. Americans have little regard for truth, little access to it, and little ability to recognize it.
Truth is an unwelcome entity. It is disturbing. It is off limits. Those who speak it run the risk of being branded “anti-American,” “anti-semite” or “conspiracy theorist.”
Truth is an inconvenience for government and for the interest groups whose campaign contributions control government.
Truth is an inconvenience for prosecutors who want convictions, not the discovery of innocence or guilt.
Truth is inconvenient for ideologues.
Today many whose goal once was the discovery of truth are now paid handsomely to hide it. “Free market economists” are paid to sell offshoring to the American people. High-productivity, high value-added American jobs are denigrated as dirty, old industrial jobs. Relicts from long ago, we are best shed of them. Their place has been taken by “the New Economy,” a mythical economy that allegedly consists of high-tech white collar jobs in which Americans innovate and finance activities that occur offshore. All Americans need in order to participate in this “new economy” are finance degrees from Ivy League universities, and then they will work on Wall Street at million dollar jobs.
Economists who were once respectable took money to contribute to this myth of “the New Economy.”
And not only economists sell their souls for filthy lucre. Recently we have had reports of medical doctors who, for money, have published in peer-reviewed journals concocted “studies” that hype this or that new medicine produced by pharmaceutical companies that paid for the “studies.”
The Council of Europe is investigating big pharma’s role in hyping a false swine flu pandemic in order to gain billions of dollars in sales of the vaccine.
The media helped the US military hype its recent Marja offensive in Afghanistan, describing Marja as a city of 80,000 under Taliban control. It turns out that Marja is not urban but a collection of village farms.
And there is the global warming scandal, in which climate scientists, financed by Wall Street and corporations anxious to get their mitts on “cap and trade” and by a U.N. agency anxious to redistribute income from rich to poor countries, concocted a doomsday scenario in order to create profit in pollution.
Wherever one looks, truth has fallen to money.
Wherever money is insufficient to bury the truth, ignorance, propaganda, and short memories finish the job.
I remember when, following CIA director William Colby’s testimony before the Church Committee in the mid-1970s, presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan issued executive orders preventing the CIA and U.S. black-op groups from assassinating foreign leaders. In 2010 the US Congress was told by Dennis Blair, head of national intelligence, that the US now assassinates its own citizens in addition to foreign leaders.
“The American media does not serve the truth. It serves the government and the interest groups that empower the government.”
When Blair told the House Intelligence Committee that US citizens no longer needed to be arrested, charged, tried, and convicted of a capital crime, just murdered on suspicion alone of being a “threat,” he wasn’t impeached. No investigation pursued. Nothing happened. There was no Church Committee. In the mid-1970s the CIA got into trouble for plots to kill Castro. Today it is American citizens who are on the hit list. Whatever objections there might be don’t carry any weight. No one in government is in any trouble over the assassination of U.S. citizens by the U.S. government.
As an economist, I am astonished that the American economics profession has no awareness whatsoever that the U.S. economy has been destroyed by the offshoring of U.S. GDP to overseas countries. U.S. corporations, in pursuit of absolute advantage or lowest labor costs and maximum CEO “performance bonuses,” have moved the production of goods and services marketed to Americans to China, India, and elsewhere abroad. When I read economists describe offshoring as free trade based on comparative advantage, I realize that there is no intelligence or integrity in the American economics profession.
Intelligence and integrity have been purchased by money. The transnational or global U.S. corporations pay multi-million dollar compensation packages to top managers, who achieve these “performance awards” by replacing U.S. labor with foreign labor. While Washington worries about “the Muslim threat,” Wall Street, U.S. corporations and “free market” shills destroy the U.S. economy and the prospects of tens of millions of Americans.
Americans, or most of them, have proved to be putty in the hands of the police state.
Americans have bought into the government’s claim that security requires the suspension of civil liberties and accountable government. Astonishingly, Americans, or most of them, believe that civil liberties, such as habeas corpus and due process, protect “terrorists,” and not themselves. Many also believe that the Constitution is a tired old document that prevents government from exercising the kind of police state powers necessary to keep Americans safe and free.
Most Americans are unlikely to hear from anyone who would tell them any different.
I was associate editor and columnist for the Wall Street Journal. I was Business Week’s first outside columnist, a position I held for 15 years. I was columnist for a decade for Scripps Howard News Service, carried in 300 newspapers. I was a columnist for the Washington Times and for newspapers in France and Italy and for a magazine in Germany. I was a contributor to the New York Times and a regular feature in the Los Angeles Times. Today I cannot publish in, or appear on, the American “mainstream media.”
Read the Rest of the Article
Friday, April 2, 2010
There They Crucified Him -“Oh, but they were just following orders.”
By Laurence M. Vance
They didn’t just crucify him; they scourged him, stripped him, put a purple robe on him, put a crown of thorns on his head, mocked him, smote him with their hands, spit on him, cast lots for his garments, smote him on the head, feigned worship to him, and nailed him to a cross.
Crucifixion was an ancient, brutal, gruesome, painful, humiliating, and public method of execution. The "him" referenced above who was crucified is, of course, Jesus Christ. He was crucified even though he was declared to be without fault, not worthy of death, and a just person.
Who in the world would do such a thing? Who would nail the Son of God to a cross and crucify him?
Of all the horrible things that soldiers have done throughout history, this is certainly the most reprehensible.
Oh, but they were just following orders.
Apologists for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, most people who are indifferent to these wars, and even many of those who oppose them all generally agree on one thing: We should never condemn the soldiers; they are just following orders.
I have often been chastised, even by those who condemn the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, denounce the abuses of the U.S. government, and oppose an interventionist U.S. foreign policy, because I have criticized the institution of the military and the soldiers who mete out death and destruction on its behalf: Soldiers, I am told:
• Are trained to kill people and break things
• Are required to follow the orders of their officers
• Must never question the orders they are given
• Must follow orders to maintain discipline and effectiveness
I agree completely.
The problem here is two fold: These things are true and the people who recite them the most don’t actually believe them.
It is because these things are true of soldiers that no American should enlist in the military and fight for what Will Grigg calls "the world’s most powerful terrorist syndicate, the United States Government." When someone joins the military of a country like the United States with such an interventionist foreign policy and an empire of troops and bases that encircles the globe, he will be expected to not only uphold and maintain the policy and the empire, but carry it out and expand it by military force. When someone works for the policeman, fireman, bully, busybody, and social worker of the world – the U.S. military – he will be expected to participate in acts of military intervention.
But, some will reply in retreat, there are some things that soldiers shouldn’t do when ordered to do them by their superiors – like commit war crimes.
My point exactly.
But if that is so then soldiers would not be doing what they are trained to do, would not be following the orders of their superiors, would not be never questioning the orders they are given, and would not be maintaining discipline and effectiveness.
You can’t have it both ways.
And what are the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan anyway but crimes against not only the Iraqi and Afghan peoples, but also the thousands of U.S. soldiers who gave their lives in vain and for a lie.
In spite of the blame game that is played when it comes to soldiers being culpable for their actions, they are responsible and will have to answer to a higher power than their commanding officers. That higher power may be their religion, philosophy, moral code, or conscience, but unless they have made a god out of the military , it will be something.
Christ forgave those who crucified him; millions of Koreans, Vietnamese, Laotians, Cambodians, Iraqis, and Afghans killed by the U.S. military are not only not so forgiving, they never even had the chance.
"And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left."~ Luke 23:33
They didn’t just crucify him; they scourged him, stripped him, put a purple robe on him, put a crown of thorns on his head, mocked him, smote him with their hands, spit on him, cast lots for his garments, smote him on the head, feigned worship to him, and nailed him to a cross.
Crucifixion was an ancient, brutal, gruesome, painful, humiliating, and public method of execution. The "him" referenced above who was crucified is, of course, Jesus Christ. He was crucified even though he was declared to be without fault, not worthy of death, and a just person.
Who in the world would do such a thing? Who would nail the Son of God to a cross and crucify him?
“Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.”~John 19:23
Of all the horrible things that soldiers have done throughout history, this is certainly the most reprehensible.
Oh, but they were just following orders.
Apologists for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, most people who are indifferent to these wars, and even many of those who oppose them all generally agree on one thing: We should never condemn the soldiers; they are just following orders.
I have often been chastised, even by those who condemn the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, denounce the abuses of the U.S. government, and oppose an interventionist U.S. foreign policy, because I have criticized the institution of the military and the soldiers who mete out death and destruction on its behalf: Soldiers, I am told:
• Are trained to kill people and break things
• Are required to follow the orders of their officers
• Must never question the orders they are given
• Must follow orders to maintain discipline and effectiveness
I agree completely.
The problem here is two fold: These things are true and the people who recite them the most don’t actually believe them.
It is because these things are true of soldiers that no American should enlist in the military and fight for what Will Grigg calls "the world’s most powerful terrorist syndicate, the United States Government." When someone joins the military of a country like the United States with such an interventionist foreign policy and an empire of troops and bases that encircles the globe, he will be expected to not only uphold and maintain the policy and the empire, but carry it out and expand it by military force. When someone works for the policeman, fireman, bully, busybody, and social worker of the world – the U.S. military – he will be expected to participate in acts of military intervention.
But, some will reply in retreat, there are some things that soldiers shouldn’t do when ordered to do them by their superiors – like commit war crimes.
My point exactly.
But if that is so then soldiers would not be doing what they are trained to do, would not be following the orders of their superiors, would not be never questioning the orders they are given, and would not be maintaining discipline and effectiveness.
You can’t have it both ways.
And what are the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan anyway but crimes against not only the Iraqi and Afghan peoples, but also the thousands of U.S. soldiers who gave their lives in vain and for a lie.
In spite of the blame game that is played when it comes to soldiers being culpable for their actions, they are responsible and will have to answer to a higher power than their commanding officers. That higher power may be their religion, philosophy, moral code, or conscience, but unless they have made a god out of the military , it will be something.
Christ forgave those who crucified him; millions of Koreans, Vietnamese, Laotians, Cambodians, Iraqis, and Afghans killed by the U.S. military are not only not so forgiving, they never even had the chance.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Tea Party Calls Congressman “N” word and Spits on him because he was Black
This was at least the headline on a McClatchy newspaper site. For two days all we heard was how racist this was and how horrible the people are who disagree with the government.
Of course this is all false and typical propaganda.
Watch this video; it is short and pretty clear.
In Liberty – c2084
Of course this is all false and typical propaganda.
Watch this video; it is short and pretty clear.
In Liberty – c2084
Army 'Showdown' at Eligibility Corral
Joe Kovacs at WND.com
March 31, 2010
Top doctor refuses orders, tells Obama to show birth certificate – 'if you have 1'
A top-ranking, highly decorated officer in the U.S. Army says he's now refusing all orders until President Barack Obama finally releases his long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate to prove his eligibility to serve as commander in chief.
"I feel I have no choice but the distasteful one of inviting my own court martial," said Lt. Col. Terry Lakin, an active-duty flight surgeon charged with caring for Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey's pilots and air crew. "The Constitution matters. The truth matters."
"For the first time in all my years of service to our great nation, and at great peril to my career and future, I am choosing to disobey what I believe are illegal orders, including an order to deploy to Afghanistan for my second tour of duty there. I will disobey my orders to deploy because I – and I believe all servicemen and women and the American people – deserve the truth about President Obama's constitutional eligibility to the office of the presidency and the commander in chief.
"If he is ineligible, then my orders – and indeed all orders – are illegal because all orders have their origin with the commander in chief as handed down through the chain of command."
In his video message now posted on YouTube , the 18-year veteran personally pleads with the president to stop withholding the key document which would put to rest many of the doubts that continue to linger more than a year into Obama's term.
"President Obama, I ask you to respect and uphold the Constitution. Be transparent and show your honesty and integrity. Release your original, signed birth certificate, if you have one, thus proving your birth on American soil, and thus assure the American people that you are lawfully eligible to hold the office of the presidency and serve as commander in chief of the Armed Forces."
"Any reasonable person looking critically at the evidence currently in the public domain would have questions about President Obama's claim to be a natural-born citizen," Lakin continued, stating this "troubling" information has gone unanswered "because he refuses to release his original birth certificate dating from 1961 and bearing the signature of the doctor who delivered him. This burden of proof must fall upon the president."
Read Rest of Article
March 31, 2010
Top doctor refuses orders, tells Obama to show birth certificate – 'if you have 1'
A top-ranking, highly decorated officer in the U.S. Army says he's now refusing all orders until President Barack Obama finally releases his long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate to prove his eligibility to serve as commander in chief.
"I feel I have no choice but the distasteful one of inviting my own court martial," said Lt. Col. Terry Lakin, an active-duty flight surgeon charged with caring for Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey's pilots and air crew. "The Constitution matters. The truth matters."
"For the first time in all my years of service to our great nation, and at great peril to my career and future, I am choosing to disobey what I believe are illegal orders, including an order to deploy to Afghanistan for my second tour of duty there. I will disobey my orders to deploy because I – and I believe all servicemen and women and the American people – deserve the truth about President Obama's constitutional eligibility to the office of the presidency and the commander in chief.
"If he is ineligible, then my orders – and indeed all orders – are illegal because all orders have their origin with the commander in chief as handed down through the chain of command."
In his video message now posted on YouTube , the 18-year veteran personally pleads with the president to stop withholding the key document which would put to rest many of the doubts that continue to linger more than a year into Obama's term.
"President Obama, I ask you to respect and uphold the Constitution. Be transparent and show your honesty and integrity. Release your original, signed birth certificate, if you have one, thus proving your birth on American soil, and thus assure the American people that you are lawfully eligible to hold the office of the presidency and serve as commander in chief of the Armed Forces."
"Any reasonable person looking critically at the evidence currently in the public domain would have questions about President Obama's claim to be a natural-born citizen," Lakin continued, stating this "troubling" information has gone unanswered "because he refuses to release his original birth certificate dating from 1961 and bearing the signature of the doctor who delivered him. This burden of proof must fall upon the president."
Read Rest of Article
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Republicans Plan to Avoid Obamacare Repeal Demands of the American People
Infowars.com
March 31, 2010
It is not only Democrats who fear a political backlash come November. So do Republicans. “Top Republicans are increasingly worried that GOP candidates this fall might be burned by a fire that’s roaring through the conservative base: demand for the repeal of President Barack Obama’s new health care law,” reports the Associated Press
Criticizing Obamacare and the authoritarian tactics of the Democrats is one thing. Actually repealing Obamacare is quite another, according to establishment Republicans.
“Repeal is politically and legally unlikely, and grass-roots activists may feel disillusioned by a failed crusade.” In short, they may hold Republicans responsible, as they should.
“Democrats are counting on that scenario. They say more Americans will learn of the new law’s benefits over time and anger over its messy legislative pedigree will fade. For months, Democrats have eagerly catalogued Republican congressional candidates who pledge to repeal the health care law, vowing to make them pay in November,” claims the AP.
Democrats are crossing their fingers and hoping Obama’s propaganda campaign hits pay dirt. It will not. Americans are opposed to Obamacare in large numbers. Most of them realize the program will jack up the national debt and increase the power of the federal government.
“Republican leaders are stepping cautiously, wary of angering staunchly conservative voters bent on repealing the new law. In recent public comments, they have quietly played down the notion of repealing the law while emphasizing claims that it will hurt jobs, the economy and the deficit.”
In other words, Democrats and Republicans are on the same page. Republicans do not oppose an ever growing and more tyrannical federal government — so long as they are in control.
Republican strategist Kevin Madden told the AP Republican candidates should not get bogged down in the mechanics of a repeal and focus instead on issues such as costs.
Republicans have no intention of running on the fact that Obamacare is unconstitutional and needs to be repealed immediately. Instead they will pay a numbers game. It should be obvious by now that Republicans, just like their Democrat colleagues, have instructions to crank up the national debt.
A growing number of Americans understand this.
Come November, we are likely to see a fresh crop of independents running for Congress. Let’s hope most of them want to roll back the power of government and send the bankers packing.
Short of that, we will get more of the same.
March 31, 2010
It is not only Democrats who fear a political backlash come November. So do Republicans. “Top Republicans are increasingly worried that GOP candidates this fall might be burned by a fire that’s roaring through the conservative base: demand for the repeal of President Barack Obama’s new health care law,” reports the Associated Press
Criticizing Obamacare and the authoritarian tactics of the Democrats is one thing. Actually repealing Obamacare is quite another, according to establishment Republicans.
“Repeal is politically and legally unlikely, and grass-roots activists may feel disillusioned by a failed crusade.” In short, they may hold Republicans responsible, as they should.
“Democrats are counting on that scenario. They say more Americans will learn of the new law’s benefits over time and anger over its messy legislative pedigree will fade. For months, Democrats have eagerly catalogued Republican congressional candidates who pledge to repeal the health care law, vowing to make them pay in November,” claims the AP.
Democrats are crossing their fingers and hoping Obama’s propaganda campaign hits pay dirt. It will not. Americans are opposed to Obamacare in large numbers. Most of them realize the program will jack up the national debt and increase the power of the federal government.
“Republican leaders are stepping cautiously, wary of angering staunchly conservative voters bent on repealing the new law. In recent public comments, they have quietly played down the notion of repealing the law while emphasizing claims that it will hurt jobs, the economy and the deficit.”
In other words, Democrats and Republicans are on the same page. Republicans do not oppose an ever growing and more tyrannical federal government — so long as they are in control.
Republican strategist Kevin Madden told the AP Republican candidates should not get bogged down in the mechanics of a repeal and focus instead on issues such as costs.
Republicans have no intention of running on the fact that Obamacare is unconstitutional and needs to be repealed immediately. Instead they will pay a numbers game. It should be obvious by now that Republicans, just like their Democrat colleagues, have instructions to crank up the national debt.
A growing number of Americans understand this.
Come November, we are likely to see a fresh crop of independents running for Congress. Let’s hope most of them want to roll back the power of government and send the bankers packing.
Short of that, we will get more of the same.
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