IT FIGURES THAT THIS THIEF'S DEFENSE LAWYERS ARGUE OVER THE MONETARY $ VALUE OF PRECIOUS,IRREPLACEABLE PIECES OF HISTORY, INCLUDING UNKNOWN EVIDENCE ABOUT THE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION, AS A BASIS FOR ASSESSING THE SEVERITY OF THE MATTER.
(This man does not deserve a photo)
A PREVIOUS ARTICLE,RELEASED NATIONWIDE OCT. 5TH, SAID:
"Waffen had worked at the Archives for more than 40 years, most recently as the head of the Motion Picture, Sound, and Video unit, before retiring in June, according to Archives spokeswoman Susan Cooper. A 2004 New York Times articlequoted Waffen in reference to the preservation work his unit was doing on the only known audio recording of the John F. Kennedy assassination. His department also had custody of the Zapruder film, the famous 8mm color home video of the assassination..." (Ref: tbd.com)
A former National Archives employee on Tuesday admitted in federal court that he stole nearly 1,000 audio recordings and sold some on eBay.
Leslie C. Waffen, 66, who was chief of the Archives’ audiovisual holdings, pleaded guilty to embezzlement of government property. He is scheduled to be sentenced March 5 in federal court in Greenbelt.
Federal officials said Waffen sold items belonging to the Archives on eBay in September and October of last year. They said they found “documentary evidence” in Waffen’s home he had been selling items belonging to the Archives since at least August 2001.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Arun G. Rao said in court that one item sold by Waffen was an original master copy of a voice recording of Babe Ruth on a December 1937 hunting trip. The recording sold for $34.74, Rao said.
“This case is especially egregious because the defendant was a high-ranking government employee who violated his obligation to protect historical records that belong to the National Archives and Records Administration,” U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in a statement. “These items were entrusted to the National Archives to be used by all citizens, not to be auctioned for personal profit to the highest bidder.”
Authorities said a tipster led them to Waffen, who worked for the Archives for 37 years. Last October, weeks after Waffen retired from the agency,federal agents raided his Rockville home.
Rao said in court that agents seized 6,153 sound recordings from Waffen’s home, and that officials confirmed that 955 of them belonged to the National Archives.
Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero said the agency has bolstered security in its facilities. For instance, guards now check the bags of everyone — including employees — leaving the D.C. and College Park facilities, a practice that will be expanded to all Archives’ facilities nationwide, authorities said.
“I am disappointed and angered by Mr. Waffen’s violation of the trust placed in him by colleagues and the American people to safeguard our nation’s history,” Ferriero said. “It is an outrage that an employee entrusted with protecting our heritage became a threat to those holdings.”
Rao said that during sentencing, the government will argue that the recordings Waffen took are valued at at least $70,000. Waffen’s defense attorney will ague the stolen recordings are worth between $30,000 and $70,000.
The audiovisual holdings contain more than 90,000 film, sound and video recordings made by the government and private sources. many are presidential recordings, kept at presidential libraries and museums. Others are held at the Archives’ facility in College Park.
A 2004 New York Times article described Waffen’s efforts to preserve the only known audio recording of John F. Kennedy’s Assassination.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Michigan Bill Would Impose Financial Martial Law
ELECTED OFFICIALS COULD BE STRIPPED OF POWER IN TOWNS, CITIES, IN A :"FINANCIAL EMERGENCY" IN MICHIGAN -- AND AN APPOINTED REPRESENTATIVE COULD BE PUT IN CHARGE!
"...the governor could declare a “financial emergency” in towns or school districts. He could then appoint a manager to fire local elected officials, break contracts, seize and sell assets, eliminate services – and even eliminate whole cities or school districts without any public input."
Michigan lawmakers are on the verge of approving a bill that would enable the governor to appoint “emergency managers” — officials with unilateral power to make sweeping changes to cities facing financial troubles.
Under the legislation, the Michigan Messenger reports, the governor could declare a “financial emergency” in towns or school districts. He could then appoint a manager to fire local elected officials, break contracts, seize and sell assets, eliminate services – and even eliminate whole cities or school districts without any public input.
==SHADES OF HITLER! NOTE THIS PAGE FROM A TEACHER'SMANUAL ABOUT HOW HITLER USED A GENERAL LAW TO THEN SPECIFICALLY TARGET JEWS (BE SURE TI SCROLL DOWN PAST THE END OF THE PAGE TO THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE):
==BACK TO THE ARTICLE:---
The measure passed in the state Senate this week; the House passed its own version earlier. The two versions of the bill are expected to be reconciled next week, and Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has said he will sign the bill the bill into law.
Democrats and their allies are decrying the legislation as a power grab and say it’s part of a wider effort taking place in several states, such as Wisconsin, to weaken labor unions.
“It takes every decision in a city or school district and puts it in the hands of the manager, from when the streets get plowed to who plows them and how much they are paid,” said Mark Gaffney, president of the Michigan State AFL-CIO. “This is a takeover by the right wing and it’s an assault on democracy like I’ve never seen.”
U.S. Rep. John Conyers, a Democrat who represents Detroit, said in a statement that in a given city, the governor’s new “financial czar” could “force a municipality into bankruptcy, a power that will surely be used to extract further concessions from hardworking public sector workers.”
==Comment: Ever since the assassination of President John F.Kennedy, which was NOT the deed of Lee Harvey Oswald, Americans have been losing their civil rights. Michigan is in the top 10 of highest property taxes of all the states. Michigan as of Jan. 4, 2010 has the 7th highest tax rate on gasoline. Michigan has the 3rd highest business tax rate and the 6th highest unemployment tax rate in the country.===
==back to the article...==Conyers went on to say...
"It takes every decision in a city or school district and puts it in the hands of the manager, from when the streets get plowed to who plows them and how much they are paid," said Mark Gaffney, president of the Michigan State AFL-CIO. "This is a takeover by the right wing and it's an assault on democracy like I've never seen."
U.S. Rep. John Conyers, a Democrat who represents Detroit, said in a statement that in a given city, the governor's new "financial czar" could "force a municipality into bankruptcy, a power that will surely be used to extract further concessions from hardworking public sector workers."
He said the legislation raises "serious constitutional concerns." On top of that, he said, allowing an "emergency manager" to dissolve locally elected bodies "implicitly targets minority communities that are disproportionately impacted by the economic downturn, without providing meaningful support for improved economic opportunity."
Republican state Sen. Jack Brandenburg said several urban areas of the state, especially Detroit, are in "bad shape" and require "financial martial law," the Daily Tribune reports.
The emergency manager, he said, "has to have the backbone, he has to have the power, to null and void a contract." In response to concerns that local leaders will have to cede control, Brandenburg said, "I'll tell you what, I think that in a lot of these places there is no control."
An emergency manager would only be put in place if several other steps to save a city's finances failed, and Snyder has said in recent weeks that removing elected officials or breaking contracts would be a last resort for an emergency manager. In addition, the legislature would have the power to remove an emergency manager.
As the "emergency manager" bill nears final passage, state lawmakers are also considering Snyder's proposed budget, which would cut spending on schools, universities, prisons and communities, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Snyder has also proposed eliminating $1.7 billion in tax breaks for individuals while cutting $1.8 billion in taxes for businesses to spur job growth. Much of the $1.7 billion in new tax revenue would be "coming from retirees, senior citizens and the working poor," the Free Press wrote in an editorial.
...I liked some of the comments that came from this article, such as:
"Stop blaming state, federal, public employees...[who want to keep unions in place] they are the last hold out of a fair deal...you want to know what happened to America? Follow the money. There were no billionaires and gazillionaires, and the few millionaires paid 90% tax rates. So that America had the greatest public works projects in the world. Now the rich pay miniscule taxes, and they invest in slave camps overseas. You want to target the problem in America? It isn't the workers, it's the rich who have destroyed the Middle Class, and taken all the tax breaks of the past thirty years and invested it in workshops in foriegn lands. It was the rich who moved America's factories, not the workers.
===
"This story makes the Republicans look bad and next week we will read one where Dems are bad. Both are bad. they are owned by the Elite bloodlines. they are one big family. We are slaves."
IT IS OUTRAGEOUS THAT CERTAIN, SELECT PRISONERS CAN BE NOT ONLY HELD INCOMMUNICADO, SO THAT EVEN THEIR ATTORNEYS CANNOT CONTACT THEM, BUT THAT THEY CAN BE HELD INDEFINITELY. BRADLEY MANNING HAS BEEN IN NERVE-WRACKING SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, SUBJECTED TO HUMILIATION, DEPRIVED OF HIS CLOTHING EVERY NIGHT, HAS NO BLANKET OR PILLOW, IS GOING TO BE CHARGED, NO DOUBT, WITH TREASON.I CONSIDER HOW LEE HARVEY OSWALD WAS TREATED, AND ASK ALL READERS TO DEMAND THAT LAWYERS AND FRIENDS HAVE ACCESS TO MANNING, THAT CLOTHING 24 HOURS A DAY BE PROVIDED FOR MANNING, AND THAT THOSE WHO CRITICIZE THE GOVERNMENT --SUCH AS P.J. CROWLEY,WILL NOT BE FORCED TO RESIGN FOR SATING THE OBVIOUS. WEAKILEAKS GETS QUOTED AGAIN AND AGAIN WHEN CRISES OCCUR. IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE WORLD IS IN THE HANDS OF THE PEOPLE,WHERE, BEFORE, WAS ONLY DARKNESS. ONLY A FEW COMPANIES OWN MOST OF THE COMMUNICATIONS OUTLETS AND MEDIA GIANTS NOW. WHEN ALL DISSENT IS QUASHED, WHAT COMES NEXT?
Washington (CNN) -- P.J. Crowley abruptly resigned Sunday as State Department spokesman over controversial comments he made about the Bradley Manning case. Sources close to the matter said the resignation, first reported by CNN, came under pressure from the White House, where officials were furious about his suggestion that the Obama administration is mistreating Manning, the Army private who is being held in solitary confinement in Quantico, Virginia, under suspicion that he leaked highly classified State Department cables to the website WikiLeaks. Speaking to a small group at MIT last week, Crowley was asked about allegations that Manning is being tortured and kicked up a firestorm by answering that what is being done to Manning by Defense Department officials "is ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid." Crowley did add that "nonetheless, Bradley Manning is in the right place" because of his alleged crimes, according to a blog post by BBC reporter Philippa Thomas, who was present at Crowley's talk. "The unauthorized disclosure of classified information is a serious crime under U.S. law," Crowley said in a statement Sunday. "My recent comments regarding the conditions of the pre-trial detention of Private First Class Bradley Manning were intended to highlight the broader, even strategic impact of discreet actions undertaken by national security agencies every day and their impact on our global standing and leadership. "The exercise of power in today's challenging times and relentless media environment must be prudent and consistent with our laws and values," Crowley said. "Given the impact of my remarks, for which I take full responsibility, I have submitted my resignation." Crowley has told friends that he is deeply concerned that mistreatment of Manning could undermine the legitimate prosecution of the young private. Crowley has also made clear he has the Obama administration's best interests at heart because he thinks any mistreatment of Manning could be damaging around the world to President Obama, who has tried to end the perception that the United States tortures prisoners. Nevertheless, Crowley's political fate was sealed Friday when Obama was asked at a White House news conference about his comments regarding Manning. Obama revealed that he had asked Pentagon officials "whether or not the procedures that have been taken in terms of (Manning's) confinement are appropriate and are meeting our basic standards." In a comment that drew howls of protest from liberals, Obama added that Pentagon officials "assure me that they are. I can't go into details about some of their concerns, but some of this has to do with Private Manning's safety as well." Manning's treatment has become a flashpoint for liberals, with Amnesty International noting he has been confined to a windowless cell for 23 hours a day, is stripped down to his boxers at night and is not given pillows or blankets. Manning's lawyer also says the young private recently had to sleep in the nude because defense officials thought there was a suicide threat and decided to take away his boxer shorts. Crowley is highly respected on foreign policy matters, dating back to his time as National Security Council spokesman under then-President Bill Clinton. He has been the Obama administration's public face on many international stories as the daily briefer at the State Department for Secretary Hillary Clinton. But he has not had a completely smooth relationship with officials in the Obama White House, and eyebrows were raised several months ago when White House aide Mike Hammer was sent over to the State Department to serve as Crowley's deputy. A senior White House official stressed that Crowley's exit was in the works for months and said the MIT incident only "hastened that departure." "Everybody likes P.J. This was more a situation where it wasn't the right fit," said the official, noting there were times when Crowley wasn't on the same page as Clinton, let alone the White House. Hammer will replace Crowley as the assistant secretary for public affairs, Clinton said in a statement Sunday. She said she accepted Crowley's resignation "with regret." "P.J. has served our nation with distinction for more than three decades, in uniform and as a civilian," she said. "His service to country is motivated by a deep devotion to public policy and public diplomacy, and I wish him the very best." A little-known factor in Crowley's comments about Manning was revealed Saturday by April Ryan, a White House correspondent for American Urban Radio who covered Crowley in the Clinton White House. Ryan wrote on Twitter that Crowley "dislikes treatment of prisoners as his father was a Prisoner of War." While it's true that Crowley's father was imprisoned during World War II, people close to him downplay that as a major factor in his comments about Manning, saying the biggest factor is simply that Crowley believes what he said. In his statement, Crowley said he leaves with "great admiration and affection" for his colleagues and "deep respect for the journalists who report on foreign policy and global developments every day, in many cases under dangerous conditions and subject to serious threats. Their efforts help make governments more responsible, accountable and transparent."
Chicago artist's protest backfires as he faces 15 years in jail... because he recorded his own arrest on video By DAILY MAIL REPORTER 24th January 2011
[NOTE BY JVB: I'M AN ARTIST---WHILE ARTISTS ARE FAMED FOR SELLING THEIR ART ALONG THE SIDEWALKS OF PARIS, NEW ORLEANS, ISTANBUL,AND EVEN ALONG THE STREETS OF LONDON--DON'T TRY IT IN CHICAGO. I SUPPOSE MARY POPPINS' ARTIST FRIEND WOULD HAVE BEEN ARRESTED FOR DRAWING CHALK PICTURES ON THE SIDEWALKS OF CHICAGO! ARTISTS' RIGHTS ARE BEING TRAMPLED BY EU REGULATIONS, TOO--HOW CAN ANYONE CREATE AN OIL PAINTING, USING THE BOLD MASTERS' OIL MEDIUMS, AS I PREFER, WHEN AN AMERICAN ARTIST IS ONLY ALLOWED 90 DAYS IN AN EU COUNTRY? EXILED OR UNESTABLISHED ARTISTS HAVE THE CHOICE OF WORKING IN ART SWEATSHOPS OR STARVING. SOME CHOICE.]
An artist who used a video camera to record being arrested by police is facing up to 15 years in prison. Chris Drew has been charged with Class 1 felony under the Eavesdropping Act in Chicago, Illinois. The bemused activist said he did not know anything about the law when he was protesting about restrictions on where artists can sell their work. Now scroll down to see the video
Activist: Chris Drew was protesting about restrictions on selling art What are you doing? He is confronted by a police officer He has resorted to civil disobedience in his fight against rules he regards as draconian – and got a friend to record his arrest on an Olympus camera. Mr Drew expected police to take him into custody before releasing him over the misdemeanour – but now he’s facing up to 15 years in jail. He will go on trial on April 4 charged with using a digital recorder to capture his arrest on December 2, 2009. He was selling silk-screened patches for $1 when he was stopped by police. Footage of the incident has been posted on YouTube.
Surrounded: Three police officers gather round while the incident is filmed on a Olympus camera Three officers surround him in the tape before he is led away across the road and put into a vehicle. The suspect told the Chicago News Cooperative: ‘I expected to be charged with a misdemeanour. ‘I didn’t know about the eavesdropping law. But when you fight for your rights, you have to expect anything. I have a ’60s bent to me. I won’t back down. I won’t be intimidated.
Breaking the law: Activist had set out to get in trouble ‘From the moment I comprehended these charges, I knew we had to change this law.’ Mr Drew, the founder of the Uptown Multi-Cultural Art Center, had set out to get himself arrested for selling items in the street three times before he was finally stopped by police. Under the Eavesdropping Act, which applies in 12 states, all parties must consent to a recording being made. Maryland, Illinois and Massachusetts are the only states where it is illegal to record conversations with the police. In Illinois police are currently prosecuting nine people for alleged breaches of the law. The maximum penalty is only three years behind bars for the first time the law is broken and five years if it is done again, But anyone recording a judge, attorney general, state attorney or police officer can be sent to jail for up to 15 years.
CANDIDATE AL GREEN WON IN A LANDSLIDE WITHOUT AN OFFICE, A RALLY, OR AN INTERVIEW
The General Assembly resumes its misrule of S.C. Back on the Job by Will Moredock
One more way the system has found to screw us
It's not easy to know whether our state Legislature is just plain stupid, or if there's something deeper — a genuine, intrinsic malevolence.
With regard to our current budget crisis, it's easy to believe we are looking at stupidity. Four years ago, the Republican General Assembly gave huge property tax rollbacks to some of the wealthiest residents — and biggest campaign donors — in the state. They sought to make up the difference with a hike in the sales tax. They did this even as economic advisers and tax experts warned that this was folly, that when the economy slowed down, sales tax revenues would tank.
That's exactly what has happened as South Carolina wallows in the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression. Today the state faces an $829 million budget shortfall, and this after the budget already has been slashed by $2 billion over the last two years. There is pain throughout the land as agencies reduce services, close offices, furlough workers, cut Medicaid, and even contemplate trimming 10 days off the school year.
One suspects that this is gross stupidity. After all, the anger and anguish of this poor state is aimed directly at the Lege. Our solons look helpless and stupid, and we know that was never their intention, for they are nothing if not vain. They played with fire, and they got burned — along with the rest of us.
Yes, we can mark that one up to stupidity. But the economy is not the only crisis in our state. We have a crisis of democracy, as exemplified by our broken election system. We saw this all too vividly in the Democratic primary last June, the primary in which an unemployed man who had never sought public office, who did not have a campaign staff or an office or even a computer, defeated a seasoned and well-funded political figure who had been campaigning around the state for months.
There has never been a credible explanation for Alvin Greene's 20-percentage-point victory over Vic Rawl. Cynicism about the Democratic primary was inevitable in light of several well-publicized technical and human failures since the iVotronic machines were purchased in 2004 to serve all 46 counties. Most recently, there were at least two major snafus in the 2010 general election.
In November, Colleton County reported 13,045 votes for statewide offices, though only 11,656 ballots were cast. The problem stemmed from voting machines counting 1,389 votes twice, an acknowledged problem with these machines.
In Lancaster County last fall, a Freedom of Information Act request revealed that the usual digital files resulting from an election did not in fact exist. Totaling the votes was done manually. There was a discrepancy between the database at county headquarters and the databases in the individual machines, making the automatic aggregation of votes from individual machines impossible.
These are just a couple of the problems with the iVotronic machines in recent years. In other cases, miscalibrated machines resulted in names lighting up on the touch screen that voters had not selected. Dr. Duncan Buell, chairman of the University of South Carolina Department of Computer Science and Engineering, has warned that the state's voting machines can be hacked.
There is one solution that would solve almost all the voting machine problems and go a long way toward restoring public faith in the electoral process: have the machines issue a printed record to each voter of the ballot he just cast.
"We have no ability in South Carolina to count anything except what gets stored in the memory chips of the voting machines," Buell told a Spartanburg TV station. "There is no paper record."
It just happens that there are several pieces of legislation dealing with election law that have been prefiled as the General Assembly returns to begin its 2011-2012 session. Unfortunately, giving our voting machines a paper record is not one of them.
No, our GOP Legislature is intent on passing laws to reduce opportunities for early voting and absentee voting and forcing voters to produce a photo ID to cast a ballot, even when they have a voter registration card. Research shows that all of these measures have the effect of restricting the vote, and those most often disenfranchised are the poor and the elderly. Why do the GOPers want to push through these changes in the state's election law? They say it is to prevent voter fraud, yet there have been fewer than a dozen cases of voter fraud recorded in the state in decades.
With all the election problems we face in this state, the GOPers are intent on solving a problem that does not exist, even as they disenfranchise thousands of voters in the state. That, my friends, is not stupidity. That is malevolence.
TO BE AS FAIR AS WE CAN BE, HERE IS ONE EXPLANATION OF HOW THE BIG WIN FOR 'AL'OCCURRED: Why are people over-thinking Alvin Greene’s victory in the Democratic Senatorial primary in South Carolina, where he garnered some 60 percent of the vote? Some suggest he’s a plant of Republican Senator Jim DeMint, his general election opponent, or other evil forces of the Right. Others speculate voter fraud was involved. Still others insist it’s the luck of the alphabetic draw.
Let there be no mystery about how Mr. Greene accumulated his 100,000-plus votes. Here’s the full story behind Greene’s canny three-pronged strategy to beat his well-funded primary opponent Vic Rawl.
Roughly a third of Al’s votes came from soul and pop music lovers who believed they were voting for sexy Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Al Green, nee Albert Greene. Green, who was a superstar who sold millions of records in the ’70s, also evoked sympathy from voters who remembered he was once doused by his girlfriend in a sea of boiling grits. When citizens heard Al’s signature song, Let’s Stay Together, on the radio, they took it as a compelling campaign theme. Here’s one woman’s explanation of her vote.
Candidate Alvin Greene
Another 300,000 or so votes came from Democrats convinced they were casting their ballots for the Reverend Al Green, who, in service of his ministry, recorded many Gospel hits beloved by black and white audiences alike. (Hat tip to Bob Adels.) This association had the added benefit of mitigating the damage from the prospect that Alvin Greene might be jailed for showing dirty pics to a college coed
The final chunk of pro-Greene-ers were folks who thought Rep. Al Green (D. Texas) had carpetbagged over to South Carolina to capitalize on the “If Rand Paul can be a Senator, so can I” craze. Cleverly, Alvin never staged any rallies or campaign events or gave any interviews, thus avoiding probing questions from investigative journalists about his true identity.
Though Greene wouldn’t tell post-victory interviewers how he raised the $10,500 filing fee to run in the primary, here’s the scoop on that: Every now and then Alvin gets a sizeable, misdirected royalty check meant for soul singer Al or Rev. Al, who, it turns out, are one and the same guy.
Michael Sigman
Michael Sigman is a writer/ editor, media consultant and the president of Major Songs, a music publishing company.
Crossposted from Huffington Post with the author’s permission.
I'VE SADLY LIVED LONG ENOUGH TO WATCH ALL THE ERRORS MADE, BEGINNING WITH THE GOVERNMENT'S MURDER OF JOHN F.KENNEDY, AT WHICH TIME WE GAVE BACK OUR DOLLARS TO THE FEDERAL RESERVE AND STARTED OUR WAR MACHINE THAT RUNS JUST AS DESCRIBED BELOW, WITH DEADLY AND PERMANENT CONSEQUENCES FOR AMERICA AND OUR PEOPLE.
THUS, I AGREE WITH THIS ASSESSMENT. JVB
REPRINTED FROM LEWROCKWELL.COM: The American Monkey Can't Let Go
by Fred Reed
Recently by Fred Reed: Awaiting the Storm
Pondering Whither America, I reflected on a story, probably apocryphal but which I am going to believe because I like it, about catching monkeys. Tribesmen somewhere craft a heavy pot with a hole in it large enough that a monkey could insert an open hand, but not withdraw a closed fist. They then put monkey food in the pot. The monkey reaches in, grabs the food and, refusing to let go when the hunters approach, is caught and eaten.
Here we have our politics in a paragraph. The American national monkey can’t let go. The party is over, boys and girls, but we aren’t going to adapt.
For example: When people recently found that they could no longer afford the SUVs, the McMansions, the buying of absurdities in a frenzy of competitive consumerism, they just put it on the credit card. The monkey can’t let go. And now they are screwed.
Same-same domestic policy. The US has played War-on-Drugs for half a century, with no results but to make drugs an integral part of the economy. The evils engendered are great. Yet the monkey can’t let go.
It is internationally that the monkey principle really bites. The country is well on its way to being a merely regional power militarily, economically, and diplomatically. Short of a miracle, short of a conceivable but unlikely catastrophe in China, Americans will soon be medium potatoes. There is nothing we can do about it, but we will bankrupt ourselves trying. We can’t let go.
If you look beyond the Reader’s Digest patriotism of Fox News, and the high-school cheerleading of little Sarah Palin, if you look beyond the national borders, all of this is obvious.
By Chinese standards, America is a small country, having a quarter of its population. Their economy grows at close to double digits. Yes, it may slow down, or it may not. Short of unforeseen disaster, the question is not whether but when the Chinese economy will dwarf the American economy. Tell me why this is not true.
All power springs from economic power. While America decays, plays, and sucks its thumb, China invests. Everywhere. There is nothing unprincipled in this. It is just intelligent commerce.
Do not underestimate these people of the epicanthic fold. I have lived among the Chinese, in Taiwan years ago. I liked them, and still do. I know them to be smart, disciplined, studious, practical – as well as nationalistic and very racially conscious. No, we do not think these attitudes proper. It doesn’t matter what we think.
Note that China has that perfect government, an intelligent dictatorship concerned with advancing the country. The American government consists of self-interested lobbies and Wall Street looters. China is run by engineers, America by lawyers. Watch.
The US is midway through an inexorable suicide. If a country does not manufacture things, it does not have an economy, and manufacturing has fled American shores. Ship-building, steel, consumer electronics, railroads: gone. You may think your HP laptop is an American product, but in all likelihood every component was made overseas and it was assembled in Taiwan.
The country as a whole, as always, looks inwards and doesn’t understand, doesn’t know what stirs without. Communism no longer protects America from Chinese competition.
America is the world’s greatest debtor nation, China the greatest creditor. We cannot possibly repay what we owe, so we must either default or inflate. If another choice exists, I am unaware of it. And yet the government spends, spends, spends, and borrows, borrows, borrows. No one is in charge. No one cares. All line their own pockets. Wait.
Rationally, this would seem a good time to let go of unaffordable luxuries. But no. The US continues to buy things it can’t pay for, to play roles it can no longer maintain, because it pains the national vanity no longer to be the biggest kid on the block. The monkey can’t let go.
The millstone around the American neck is the Pentagon. The direct cost alone of feeding the military contractors is almost mortal to a sinking economy: $720 billion this year, plus another $120 billion requested for the unending wars, plus huge black programs, the Veterans Administration, and so on. A trillion wilting green ones, call it. The more perceptive note the opportunity cost of wasting so much engineering talent, so much money for research and development, on martial zoom-wowees.
China, Russia, the Moslem world, Latin America and all the rest who detest the US must be enjoying the spectacle. Spend on, spend on, oh round-eyed fools….
Vanity. We do not garrison South Korea because Pyong Yang may send its troops across our common border into Arkansas. We do it because we think it our birthright to rule the world. The monkey cannot let go.
Our practical choice is between retracting the military or going down hard. But we cannot retract. Once you have made your economy dependent on huge unproductive expenditures, there is no quitting. It might seem wise for example to reduce the military rolls by the 30,000 troops in South Korea. But they would simply increase the rate of unemployment, already dangerously high. Since most of the military contributes nothing to the defense of the United States, releasing all unneeded soldiers into joblessness would probably precipitate an armed rebellion.
There is worse. Towns spring up around large bases to supply the troops and their families. Close the bases, and the towns die. Closing Camp Lejeune would kill Jacksonville; Fort Bragg, Fayetteville; Fort Hood, Killeen. Further, huge companies – Lockheed-Martin, much of Boeing, and dozens of others – being unable to compete in the civilian economy, have become obligate military suppliers. Cut their big programs and you unemploy tens of thousands for whom there are no civilian jobs.
The federal bureaucracy is much the same, employing vast numbers yet producing nothing. Politicians drone about wanting “smaller government.” How? Eliminate the Departments of Education, or Housing and Urban Development, or Commerce – and where do the people go?
We can pretend that the current recession is temporary, and not a manifestation of dying opulence, just as a fading beauty can pile on the make-up and hope that men don’t notice. We can spend while others grow, buy their goods on credit – for a little while longer. The monkey can’t let go.
And any who say that we ought to put our house in order and come to terms with reality? They will be said to Hate America. Well and good, until the bill comes due.
January 13, 2011
Fred Reed is author of Nekkid in Austin: Drop Your Inner Child Down a Well and A Brass Pole in Bangkok: A Thing I Aspire to Be. His latest book is Curmudgeing Through Paradise: Reports from a Fractal Dung Beetle. Visit his blog.
THE PARKLAND HOSPITAL DOCTORS SAW KENNEDY'S HEAD WOUND IN DALLAS -- CLEARLY THE RESULT OF A SHOT FROM THE FRONT (THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION FROM OSWALD'S LOCATION). THIS OBVIOUS FACT WAS COVERED UP BY THE GOVERNMENT.
AFTER WATCHING JFK II, BELOW, PLEASE VIEW THE YOUTUBE VIDEO "JFK AND LEE HARVEY OSWALD" BY LOLA4JVB4LHO.
THE FINE FILM "JFK II" TELLS US THE TRUTH.
JOHN F.KENNEDY LOST A LOT WHEN HE WAS ASSASSINATED, BUT SO DID THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND THE WORLD.
THE RESULT WAS THE VIETNAM WAR, WATERGATE, IRAN-CONTRA, THE IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN WARS, THE NINE-ELEVEN "TERRORIST" ATTACK, AND THE DEGRADATION AND DESTRUCTION OF A GREAT NATION -- THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
THE GOVERNMENT LIED ABOUT WHO DID IT. LEE HARVEY OSWALD, AN INNOCENT MAN,WAS FALSELY ACCUSED. THE BOOK ME & LEE: HOW I CAME TO KNOW,LOVE AND LOSE LEE HARVEY OSWALD REVEALS THE TRUTH ABOUT OSWALD, WHO WAS MURDERED TO STOP HIM FROM REVEALING THE TRUTH: THAT OSWALD TRIED TO SAVE KENNEDY'S LIFE.
SECRET SERVICE AGENT ABRAHAM BOLDEN HAS REVEALED, IN THE EXCELLENT BOOK BY JAMES DOUGLASS --JFK AND THE UNSPEAKABLE--WHY HE DIED AND WHY IT MATTERS -- THAT AN INFORMANT NAMED 'LEE' SAVED KENNEDY'S LIFE WITH A TIP-OFF IN CHICAGO, GIVING KENNEDY THREE MORE WEEKS OF LIFE.
THE GOVERNMENT COVERED UP THE TRUTH.
PASS THIS INFORMATION AROUND AND CONSIDER, MOST CAREFULLY, WHAT WE SHOULD DO TO GET OUR COUNTRY BACK.
WHISTLEBLOWER JEFFREY WIGAND WITH SIXTY MINUTES' MIKE WALLACE: WIGAND TESTIFIED THAT RAT POISON WAS BEING PLACED IN CIGARETTES TO MAKE THEM MORE ADDICTIVE...AND HE WAS RIGHT! SIXTY MINUTES WAS AFRAID TO RUN THE SEGMENT--AND WIGAND RECEIVED THREATS AND LOST HIS JOB. THE FILM "THE INSIDER" WITH RUSSELL CROW WAS MADE ABOUT WIGAND AND THE SUFFERINGS HE WENT THROUGH. WIGAND'S ACTIONS SAVED MANY LIVES AND EXPOSED THE FACT THAT TOBACCO INDUSTRIES WERE MAKING TOBACCO MORE ADDICTIVE, DESPITE LUNG CANCER AND OTHER DANGERS ASSOCIATED WITH SMOKING. HIS REWARD? THIS HIGHLY-PAID INDUSTRIAL CHEMIST AND SPECIALIST LOST HIS FAMILY, HIS HOME, HIS PRESTIGIOUS POSITION, RECEIVED THREATS, AND BECAME A HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY TEACHER.
BUT IT SEEMS THAT NOW WHISTLEBLOWERS SUCH AS JEFFREY WIGAND, IN THE USA, WILL LOSE THE SLIGHT PROTECTION THEY HAVE. READ THIS!!! AND ACT!!!
IS THIS THE END OF THE LINE FOR WHISTLEBLOWERS? GOD HELP US!
WITHOUT PROTECTION, CORRUPTION, WASTE,AND CRIME IN GOVERNMENT AND THE WORKPLACE CANNOT BE SAFELY REPORTED.
REF: http://www.capwiz.com/whistleblowers/issues/alert/?alertid=20736501&type=co Senate Passes Bill That Destroys Existing Whistleblower Rights The Senate passed the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (S. 372) on Friday, December, 10th, by unanimous consent. As the National Whistleblowers Center has repeatedly stated S. 372 is a bad deal for whistleblowers. There are two poison pills in the bill that fundamentally undermine the small advances in the bill. There is still time to fix the bill.
TAKE ACTION! Stop the repeal of existing whistleblower rights
For the first time ever, federal employees will not be protected for blowing the whistle on a violation of law. The excuse given to justify this dangerous rollback is that it only excludes minor violations of law. The fact is there is no such thing as a minor violation of law. Either it is violation of the law or it is not. Federal managers should not be allowed to decide what laws they can violate.
In fact, this provision overturns one of few Federal Court decisions in 30 years that ordered corrective action for a whistleblower. The provision also runs counter to every major study on how to detect fraud, including the most recent study by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. These studies have found that the best way to detect fraud is to protect whistleblowers who report even suspicious activity because it is often the suspicious activity that leads to the discovery of major fraud.
TAKE ACTION! Demand that House fix the Senate bill before final passage
The second major rollback in the Senate bill is the increased power given to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). Instead of reforming the broken MSPB, for the first time in history the Senate has given the Board the ability to summarily dismiss a whistleblowers case without ever having a hearing. The House resisted efforts in 1978 to give the MSPB this tremendous authority and should continue to do so today.
These two dangerous rollbacks in existing whistleblower protections can be fixed in the House and sent back to the Senate. We cannot allow another generation of whistleblowers to suffer. Urge the House to continue to stand up for real whistleblower protections and fix the Senate bill before passing it.
Whistleblowers were promised enhanced protections. We will not stand by silently and watch Congress destroy existing whistleblowers rights so that they can say they passed something for whistleblowers. Please help us protect whistleblowers by taking action and then passing this alert on to your friends and family. ==
Famous Whistleblowers (Ref: http://www.onlinelawyersource.com/whistleblower/famous/)
Several stories of famous whistleblowers abound in the U.S. press. Individuals who stand up and blow the whistle against companies and or government entities who have engaged in egregious law-breaking conduct are considered to be courageous and heroic by many Americans.
Famous Whistleblowers in U.S. Here is a brief list of the most famous whistleblowers in recent U.S. history, but hundreds of lesser-known or even anonymous whistleblowers have come forward to reveal wrongdoing in our workplaces and government. Their actions are just as admirable.
Frank Serpico: The first (in the late '60s) and most famous police officer to report widespread corruption in a police department (New York City's), he risked his life to come forward.
Daniel Ellsberg: He risked severe pressure and retaliation from the federal government in 1971 when he leaked the "Pentagon Papers" to The New York Times, revealing the secret pretexts for the war in Vietnam. He was a U.S. State Department analyst before becoming a whistleblower.
"Deep Throat" (now known to be the late W. Mark Felt): He gave Washington Post reporters the information about then-President Nixon's involvement in the Watergate illegalities in 1972. This whistleblowing eventually led to Nixon's resignation from office and prison terms for two members of his staff.
Karen Silkwood: In 1974, she exposed serious safety violations at her workplace, a nuclear plant in Oklahoma. The film "Silkwood" is an account of her story; her death at the wheel of her car as she was driving to meet a reporter has been alleged to be a homicide.
Jeffrey Wigand: In 1996, Wigand blew the whistle on the cigarette industry when he revealed the intentional manipulation of nicotine, known as "impact boosting," by his former employer, Brown & Williamson, in an interview on the television program 60 Minutes.
Linda Tripp: She told the Office of Independent Counsel that her friend had committed perjury — starting the whole "Monica Lewinsky affair" in 1998. The Clinton administration then leaked personal information about her, and she successfully pursued a lawsuit based on this violation of the Privacy Act of 1974.
Sherron Watkins: An Enron whistleblower and former vice president, she exposed the highly irregular accounting methods being used by the company to hide the true state of its financial affairs in 2001. Enron later filed the largest corporate bankruptcy on record — too late for investors, unfortunately.
Coleen Rowley: A special agent with the FBI, she revealed the agency's inaction and mistakes that may have allowed the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
JULIAN ASSANGE --JAILED OVER CONDOM ISSUES,EASY PREY FOR EXTRADITION TO THE U.S.A.
WIKILEAKS' FOUNDER IS IN JAIL IN LONDON OVER A CONDOMS USAGE ISSUE--NO, IT WASN'T RAPE, AS REPORTED SHAMELESSLY BY THE PRESS FOR MONTHS. A PAIR OF CONNIVING HONEYPOTS CAUGHT HIM, WHOSE LINKS TO U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCIES ARE TRACEABLE. WHAT WILL SWEDEN DO WITH ASSANGE? HAND HIM OVER TO THE U.S. AS A 'TRAITOR'? THE MEDIA ALSO SHAMELESSLY STATED THAT A MANHUNT WAS ON FOR ASSANGE, WHEN EVERYBODY OVER HERE IN EUROPE KNEW EXACTLY WHERE HE WAS LOCATED. A LIE--THAT HE WAS IN HIDING!--RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR EYES! THE MEDIA IS SO PREJUDICED THAT MY BOOK, ME & LEE: HOW I CAME TO KNOW,LOVE AND LOSE LEE HARVEY OSWALD -- A USEFUL KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION AND HOW OUR GOVERNMENT WAS ILLEGALLY OVERWHELMED IN A COUP D'ETAT-- WILL PROBABLY NEVER RECEIVE AN HONEST MAINSTREAM REVIEW. HOW COULD IT?
MEDIA BIAS -- FAILING TO SPEAK THE TRUTH DUE TO GOVERNMENT AND MONETARY PRESSURES --HAS HELPED DESTROY MY BELOVED COUNTRY. I NOTICE THAT CNN CALLS ITS NEWS SEGMENTS "THE SHOW." THE NEWS USED TO BE CALLED "A PROGRAM." NOT A "SHOW." THINK ABOUT THAT.
ASSANGE IS BEING PILLORIED FOR PROVIDING AN OUTLET FOR WHISTLEBLOWERS. AN OUTLET THAT WOULD NOT BE NECESSARY IF WE HAD A FREE PRESS. BUT WE DON'T: THE PRESS IS OWNED BY A FEW COMPANIES WITH VESTED INTERESTS IN KEEPING SECRETS.
SECRECY IS THE STUFF OF WARS, MY PEOPLE.
WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH SECRECY TO DESTROY AMERICA AND COUNTLESS INNOCENT PEOPLE ELSEWHERE OVER THE PAST DECADE.
WE HAVE SEEN THE EROSION OF FREEDOM, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND OF AMERICAN VALUES. OUR LEADERS IN BOTH 'PARTIES' HAVE BETRAYED OUR COUNTRY AND OUR GOD-GIVEN AMERICAN PRINCIPLES. THEY HAVE GROWN WEALTHY AS WE HAVE SUFFERED.
I WILL NEVER FORGET TALKING TO A POOR COUPLE IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA, WHO WERE SITTING ON THEIR PORCH STEPS, EXHAUSTED AFTER BOTH HAD PUT IN 12-HOUR WORKDAYS. THEY SADLY TOLD ME THEY WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO AFFORD TO HAVE A CHILD. THEY COULDN'T EVEN GET HEALTH INSURANCE. IF AMERICA'S EMPLOYERS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO FORCE THEIR EMPLOYEES TO WORK OVERTIME, MILLIONS OF JOBS WOULD ONCE MORE BE OPEN TO THE PEOPLE.
OF COURSE, WE WOULD ALSO HAVE TO START MANUFACTURING GOODS AGAIN, AND TAXING IMPORTS FROM CHINA AND INDIA THAT INSURE MORE MONEY FLOWS OUT OF AMERICA THAN ENTERS IT.
THE GOOD, HARD-WORKING PEOPLE OF AMERICA DESERVE RESPECT,JOBS, SOCIAL SECURITY, HEALTH CARE EQUAL TO WHAT THEIR CONGRESSMEN GET--AND ABOVE ALL--THEY DESERVE TO KNOW THE TRUTH, WHICH SEEMS ONLY COMES TO THEM THROUGH SUCH SOURCES AS WIKILEAKS.
THERE ARE FEW IN GOVERNMENT WHO "TELL IT LIKE IT IS" --BUT ONE SUCH PERSON IS RON PAUL.
RON PAUL HAS THE COURAGE TO APPLAUD WHISTLEBLOWERS. HE ASKED, WHY SHOULD A WHISTLEBLOWER BE LOCKED UP FOR TELLING THE TRUTH?
RON PAUL COMES FROM HOUSTON, TEXAS--A DOCTOR WHO DECIDED TO BECOME AN ACTIVE PATRIOT --AND I VOTED FOR HIM MANY TIMES WHEN I LIVED IN HOUSTON.
HE DESERVES THE ACCLAIM HE HAS RECEIVED FOR HIS COURAGE AND INTEGRITY.
HERE'S RON PAUL'S STATEMENTS ABOUT WIKILEAKS, WHICH I THOROUGHLY APPLAUD:
"THE CHAOS [IN AFGHANISTAN] IS BECAUSE WE'RE THERE--" HE SAYS. "IT'LL STOP WHEN WE MARCH OUT." "AMERICA IS NOT ABOUT AGGRESSION..."
THE INTERNET IS FILLED WITH PEOPLE USING THE SAME WORDS-- "FED UP!" -- TO DESCRIBE THEIR ANGER AND PAIN AT GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION AND FAKERY.
MORE AND MORE, BLOGS ARE CARRYING THOSE TWO WORDS, CRYING OUT THEIR PAIN.
THE PEOPLE CRY OUT, BUT OUR CORRUPT POLITICIANS ARE IGNORING THEM.
HOW DARE "TAX CUTS" BE EXTENDED TO THE VERY RICH, UNDER THE GUISE OF "THEY WILL CREATE MORE JOBS BECAUSE THEY'LL HAVE MORE MONEY TO DO SO"!
THEY HAVE SENT AMERICAN JOBS OVERSEAS WHERE CHEAPER LABOR GIVES THEM MORE MONEY.
THEY HAVE FILLED THEIR POCKETS WITH FREE HEALTHCARE, WHILE STRIPPING THE SAME HEALTHCARE BENEFITS FROM THE PEOPLE.
THEY HAVE "BAILED OUT" BANKS FILLED WITH CORRUPTION AND FAT ON DEREGULATION, WHILE IGNORING MILLIONS OF GOOD AMERICANS WHO ARE LOSING THEIR HOMES TO THOSE SAME BANKS.
THEY WAGE WARS FOR PROFIT, SPILLING THE BLOOD OF OUR PRECIOUS TROOPS AND CREATING ENEMIES WHO HATE US.
THE PEOPLE CRY OUT AGAINST THESE ATROCITIES AND THE POLITICIANS WHO VOTE THEMSELVES RAISES, TAKE BRIBES FROM LOBBYISTS, AND WHO ARE ALLOWED TO RECEIVE ENDLESS PAYMENTS FROM BIG COMPANIES TO DO THEIR BIDDING.
FedUpUSA.org DEFINES WHAT'S HAPPENED TO US, THROUGH A MASS OF CORRUPT ACTIONS THAT ARE ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE:
Are The Federal Reserve’s Crimes Too Big To Comprehend?
Just when I thought the banksters couldn’t possibly shock me anymore… they did. We were finally granted the honor and privilege of finding out the specifics, a limited one-time Federal Reserve view, of a secret taxpayer funded “backdoor bailout” by a small group of unelected bankers. This data release reveals “emergency lending programs” that doled out $12.3 TRILLION in taxpayer money – $3.3 trillion in liquidity, $9 trillion in “other financial arrangements.”
Wait, what? Did you say $12.3 TRILLION tax dollars were thrown around in secrecy by unelected bankers… and Congress didn’t know any of the details? Yes. The Founding Fathers are rolling over in their graves. The original copy of the Constitution spontaneously burst into flames. The ghost of Tom Paine went running, stark raving mad screaming through the halls of Congress. The Federal Reserve was secretly throwing around our money in unprecedented fashion, and it wasn’t just to the usual suspects like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, etc.; it was to the entire Global Banking Cartel. To central banks throughout the world: Australia, Denmark, Japan, Mexico, Norway, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, England… To the Fed’s foreign primary dealers like Credit Suisse (Switzerland), Deutsche Bank (Germany), Royal Bank of Scotland (U.K.), Barclays (U.K.), BNP Paribas (France)… All their Ponzi players were “gifted.” All the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations got their cut. Talk about the ransacking and burning of Rome! Sayonara American middle class… If you still had any question as to whether or not the United States is now the world’s preeminent banana republic, the final verdict was just delivered and the decision was unanimous. The ayes have it. Any fairytale notions that we are living in a nation built on the rule of law and of the global economy being based on free market principles has now been exposed as just that, a fairytale. This moment is equivalent to everyone in Vatican City being told, by the Pope, that God is dead. I’ve been arguing for years that the market is rigged and that the major Wall Street firms are elaborate Ponzi schemes, as have many other people who built their beliefs on rational thought, reasoned logic and evidence. We already came to this conclusion by doing the research and connecting the dots. But now, even our strongest skeptics and the most ardent Wall Street supporters have it all laid out in front of them, on FEDERAL RESERVE SPREADSHEETS. Even the Financial Times, which named Lloyd Blankfein its 2009 person of the year, reacted by reporting this: “The initial reactions were shock at the breadth of lending, particularly to foreign firms. But the details paint a bleaker and even more disturbing picture.”
Yes, the emperor doesn’t have any clothes. God is, indeed, dead. But, for the moment at least, the illusion continues to hold power. How is this possible? To start with, as always, the US television “news” media (propaganda) networks just glossed over the whole thing – nothing to see here, just move along, back after a message from our sponsors… Other than that obvious reason, I’ve come to the realization that the Federal Reserve’s crimes are so big, so huge in scale, it is very hard for people to even wrap their head around it and comprehend what has happened here. Think about it. In just this one peek we got at its operations, we learned that the Fed doled out $12.3 trillion in near-zero interest loans, without Congressional input. The audacity and absurdity of it all is mind boggling… Based on many conversations I’ve had with people, it seems that the average person doesn’t comprehend how much a trillion dollars is, let alone 12.3 trillion. You might as well just say 12.3 gazillion, because people don’t grasp a number that large, nor do they understand what would be possible if that money was used in other ways. Can you imagine what we could do to restructure society with $12.3 trillion? Think about that… People also can’t grasp the colossal crime committed because they keep hearing the word “loans.” People think of the loans they get. You borrow money, you pay it back with interest, no big deal. That’s not what happened here. The Fed doled out $12.3 trillion in near-zero interest loans, using the American people as collateral, demanding nothing in return, other than a bunch of toxic assets in some cases. They only gave this money to a select group of insiders, at a time when very few had any money because all these same insiders and speculators crashed the system. Do you get that? The very people most responsible for crashing the system, were then rewarded with trillions of our dollars. This gave that select group of insiders unlimited power to seize control of assets and have unprecedented leverage over almost everything within their economies – crony capitalism on steroids.
This was a hostile world takeover orchestrated through economic attacks by a very small group of unelected global bankers. They paralyzed the system, then were given the power to recreate it according to their own desires. No free market, no democracy of any kind. All done in secrecy. In the process, they gave themselves all-time record-breaking bonuses and impoverished tens of millions of people – they have put into motion a system that will inevitably collapse again and utterly destroy the very existence of what is left of an economic middle class. That is not hyperbole. That is what happened. We are talking about trillions of dollars secretly pumped into global banks, handpicked by a small select group of bankers themselves. All for the benefit of those bankers, and at the expense of everyone else. People can’t even comprehend what that means and the severe consequences that it entails, which we have only just begun to experience. Let me sum it up for you: The American Dream is O-V-E-R. Welcome to the neo-feudal-fascist state. People throughout the world who keep using the dollar are either A) Part of the scam; B) Oblivious to reality; C) Believe that US military power will be able to maintain the value of an otherwise worthless currency; D) All of the above. No matter which way you look at it, we are all in serious trouble! If you are an elected official, (I know at least 17 of you subscribe to my newsletter) and you believe in the oath you took upon taking office, you must immediately demand a full audit of the Federal Reserve and have Ben Bernanke and the entire Federal Reserve Board detained. If you are not going to do that, you deserve to have the words “Irrelevant Puppet” tattooed across your forehead. Yes, those are obviously strong words, but they are the truth.
The Global Banking Cartel has now been so blatantly exposed, you cannot possibly get away with pretending that we live in a nation of law based on the Constitution. The jig is up. It’s been over two years now; does anyone still seriously not understand why we are in this crisis? Our economy has been looted and burnt to the ground due to the strategic, deliberate decisions made by a small group of unelected global bankers at the Federal Reserve. Do people really not get the connection here? I mean, H.E.L.L.O. Our country is run by an unelected Global Banking Cartel.
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THE PEOPLE CRY OUT--AND BELOW ARE SOME OF THEIR MESSAGES, SKIMMED FROM ACROSS THE INTERNET.
READ THESE MESSAGES -- AND CRY FOR OUR COUNTRY.
YouknowI'mright
My generation will be working ourselves to death, and when we can't work anymore I guess we'll be taken out and shot like an old swaybacked horse, and our flesh will be fed to McDonalds beef cows or used as fertilizer at Monsanto's Geneti-farms
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No wonder some people go underground disappearing from the face of earth with no track records earning their $$$ underground because the government CANNOT be trusted. A broken system = broken trust.
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didn't want to take my social security at 62 but had no choice due to unemployment. I have been looking for a job for a year and a half. I'm not one of those who fake it - I really look and network and nothing yet. Raising the $14,161.00 ceiling somewhat higher would help and if you find a full time job you can suspend your social security benefits. The only problem with that is if you do then go back to apply will it be there? These are times of major insecurity and we all are puppets and the politician fat cats don't give a crap what happens as long as they are elected and re-elected. We have GOT to start making better choices of who represents us. God Bless America!
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The Republicans and conservative parts are the servants of business (oil, coal, banks, etc) and they never cared about us. Getting rid of lobbyists would be a start and every member of the government is only allowed to accept their pay as an elected official. They can never receive any form of compensation ever, including gifts, jobs, etc to their families for 5 generation out, and 6 generation following. All compensation from companies and lobbyists to be given to the SS system to help boost it. Then all of the money "borrowed" by the government from SS has to be put back into SS with 10 % interest...
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what i have a problem with is all the money that congess has robbed from the system, by borrowing the money and never paying it back. then to add insult to injury, they have totally depleted the fund and then transferred all payments to the general fund to pay for other things not even remotely close to the true reason of our retirement funding. what i want is for congress to pay back every dime with interest that was removed in all the past years. then pass legislation to ban, by penalty, to never touch these funds again. it was never intended to be used or violated as has been done. there should never be anything new added to this fund that rubs from it, and if any changes are sought by anyone, make it manditory to be placed on a special ballot that only those paying into it are allowed to vote on. this should totally eliminate any further messing with the system; and add one more thing to the law: anyone robbing from s.s. will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. chuck
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i hate that i got sick and had to stop working i draw disability,i get 1153.00 a month and 96.00 come out of my check for medicare and so i get 1053.00 a month,the government tells me this is enough for me to leave off of for a month,by the time i pay my rent and light bill i have 53.00 left to take me to the next month,i can not afford my medicine or my co-pay to the doctors but they tell me that we do not deserve a raise this yearthis is horrible i applied for food stamps,they tell me that i am eligible for 16.00 worth wow waht a big help. i have worked all of my life and when i need help i can not get any my utilities have been turned off so many times that i cannot count. i have seen a lot of foreign people in the store with 2 or 3 carts using food stamps where is the justice help the people here first .and a lot of these people in diffrent placeses or job that can help people they are so nasty to you they make you feel so nasty that you hate to ask for help. i do not want a hand out but please help the people that really need the help like older people anddisabled. thank you so much deborah taylor
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What is it going to take to get these arrogent slime balls out of our pockets?
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Bernanke is working for a private corporation. Why is the depression systemic? Why are Americans out of work while the Federal Reserve funnels money to European interests?
What if you could see into the Matrix? Watch 'Secret of Oz,' 'Money as Debt,' and 'Creature from Jekyll Island' documentaries on youtube.
There is hope, especially here in America. History has shown that America has fought to create it’s own money for the last 300 years. In fact, in no other nation on earth has the population fought for it as successfully and with such determination over the centuries as America. All we need in the face of this oncoming first depression of the 21st century is a little education. We can make this the new civil rights movement – the new human rights movement. The big bankers now stand more exposed than ever before. Let’s use history to guide our path today.
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They promise you benefits and steal your wages, then they give you change. What a bunch of weasels. They can keep their change. This kind of deal is the reason the economy will never recover. Mistrust of government does not produce prosperity.
==== John The attack on SS has begun. Repubs will hand 700 Billion to the elite and use SS to 'pay' for it. The US is done.
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just remember that the government continues to pick the meat from your bones until their is nothing left.
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Jerry lets take all this payback bailout money - put it into SS--wait that wont work obama cant spend it on some other crap
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What about the money they (the GOVERNMENT) steals from the system to give to other countries will it ever be repayed or how about the money they steal from the notch babies ? Why do gov. workers recv. raises and then deny cost of living increases to SS recipients? Do they LIVE somewhere else?
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Lets face it, can you imagine the debt we will be in 30 plus years from now? Maybe the Chinese will give us something becuse thiere going to own most of the U.S. by then.
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you jerks in washington need to live on what i make a year.
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LarryKegel(US Army) ... We are in Afghanistan because the MIC(military-industrial-complex) in Washington is making a lot of money out of this obnoxious war which to them is a big money maker!
Whether it's about 9-11, or the roots of deception used to hide the truth from us then, that began with the government's success in creating utter confusion over the Kennedy assassination, allowing the Coup to go unnoticed and Lee Harvey Oswald to take the blame,Dr.Jim Fetzer has met these challenges head-on. He is unraveling the confusion and setting forth precisely what lies have been told to us.
Wikileaks reveal secrets the government doesn't want us to know, citing 'national security"--even though secrecy is the very foundation of economic crisis and war. Therefore, it's good news when intelligent people break through the cloaks of secrecy and reveal the truth.
This former Marine and highly regarded intellectual academician has done just that. He's the kind of man that We the People have needed for a long time. Relying not only on his own superior intellect and keen ability to discern truth from falsehood as a professor of logic, he had brought together a host of qualified professionals to examine in a professional and responsible manner the purported facts from 9-11 all the way back to the Kennedy assassination --where this pattern of deception first raised its ugly head without any remaining restraints --that led America into costly and painful wars, the destruction of the American Dream and our freedoms, and the crushing weight of economic slavery for us and our children.
The article below was published Nov. 26 in OpEd News: It's good news for anyone who wants a succinct summary of the dishonesty involved in the "government findings' involving the assassination of John F.Kennedy. We have Oliver Stone's movie,JFK, to thank for the formation of the ARRB and the release of documents originally supposed to be kept from view for 75 years. Many more need to be released as well. We cannot trust what the government will choose to release to us after we, who are witnesses, are all dead.
JFK: WHAT WE KNOW NOW
by Jim Fetzer
With the advent of the 47th observance of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, it may be appropriate to share important findings regarding what we know now about his death that we have not known in the past. Most Americans are not in the position to take on the task that serious research requires. As a former Marine Corps officer and professor of philosophy who taught logic, critical thinking, and scientific reasoning for 35 years, it was my privilege to organize a research group consisting of the best qualified individuals to ever study the case in 1992. Since then, we have published three books reporting what we have discovered- Assassination Science (1998), Murder in Dealey Plaza (2000), and The Great Zapruder Film Hoax (2003)--I have chaired or co-chaired four national meetings on this subject and produced a documentary about it. From these books and other sources I will cite, many available on the net, you can verify what I am saying about our findings.
This research group--whose efforts continue to this day--has included three M.D.s, including one who attended the mortally wounded president and then, two days later, his alleged assassin, a world authority on the human brain who was also an expert on wound ballistics, and another who is an expert on radiation oncology and has studied the autopsy X-rays in the National Archives; three Ph.D.s, including one with a specialization in the physics of light and is the leading expert on the Zapruder film, another who is also the M.D. who is an expert on the X-rays and is the leading expert on the medical evidence, and the third a philosopher of science who has published 29 books. Others include an expert on the JFK photos and films, who testified before the House Select Committee on Assassinations when it reinvestigated the case in 1977-78, and another expert on the production/post-production of films and the technology available to alter them in November 1963.
If we use the phrase "beyond a reasonable doubt" to characterize arguments based upon logic and evidence for which there is no reasonable alternative explanation, then what we have published in these books and recent articles demonstrates beyond reasonable doubt:
* that JFK was hit at least four times (once in the back from behind; once in the throat from in front; and twice in the head, once from behind and once from in front);
* that the wound to his throat was caused by a shot that penetrated the limousine windshield, which was subsequently destroyed and replaced by a substitute windshield;
* that the shot to the back was well below the collar, entered only about as far as the second knuckle on your little finger, and evinced no point of exit from the body;
* that at least 59 witnesses reported that the limousine slowed dramatically or came to a complete halt after bullets began to be fired, which supports the conclusion that it slowed dramatically as it came to a complete halt;
* that the first shot to the head was fired from behind and entered in the vicinity of the external occipital protuberance at the back of the head;
* that the second shot to the head was fired from in front and entered in the vicinity of the right temple;
* that this second shot was fired with a frangible or "exploding" bullet that transmitted shockwaves through the brain;
* that the impact of this bullet combined with the weakening of the skull by the first shot to the head caused 1/3 to 1/2 of his brains to be blown out in Dealey Plaza at the time;
* that the massive blow-out to the back of the head was concealed by imposing a "patch" to the right lateral cranial X-ray (of the skull taken from the right side);
* that the brain had to be reconstituted since, once the defect to the skull had been "patched", there was no place for that brain matter to have gone; * that at least 59 witnesses reported that the limousine slowed dramatically or came to a complete halt after bullets began to be fired, which supports the conclusion that it slowed dramatically as it came to a complete halt;
* that the first shot to the head was fired from behind and entered in the vicinity of the external occipital protuberance at the back of the head;
* that the second shot to the head was fired from in front and entered in the vicinity of the right temple;
* that this second shot was fired with a frangible or "exploding" bullet that transmitted shockwaves through the brain;
* that the impact of this bullet combined with the weakening of the skull by the first shot to the head caused 1/3 to 1/2 of his brains to be blown out in Dealey Plaza at the time;
* that the massive blow-out to the back of the head was concealed by imposing a "patch" to the right lateral cranial X-ray (of the skull taken from the right side);
* that the brain had to be reconstituted since, once the defect to the skull had been "patched", there was no place for that brain matter to have gone;
* that the brain shown in diagrams and photographs in the National Archives cannot be the brain of John Fitzgerald Kennedy;
* that two brain examinations were conducted, the first of which was with the President's brain, the second with a substitute;
* that the autopsy report was prepared without the benefit of the autopsy photographs, which were removed by the Secret Service;
* that the photographs were subsequently altered and altered in various ways to conceal evidence of the cause of death;
* that the Zapruder film of the assassination was in the hands of the National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC) run by the CIA already the weekend of the assassination;
* that the extant "Zapruder film" has been massively edited to remove evidence of the actual cause of death, including the limousine having been brought to a halt in order to insure that the target would be killed.
A very accessible overview of these findings was presented at a national conference held at the University of North Dakota and published as Chapter 30, "Dealey Plaza Revisited: What Happened to JFK?" The studies by David W. Mantik, M.D., Ph.D., on the autopsy X-rays have been supplemented by his presentation, "The JFK Skull X-rays: Evidence for Forgery" at a national conference in Dallas in 2009. A visual tutorial introduction to the evidence that the Zapruder film has been recreated by John P. Costella, Ph.D., "The JFK Assassination Film Hoax" , explains how we know that the film is a fabrication, a finding that has been reinforced by the publication by Douglas Horne, senior analyst for military affairs for the Assassination Records Review Board, of Inside the ARRB (2009), whose key arguments about the film are summarized in an article for those who may not have time for all five volumes! Many related articles are also archived at http://assassinationscience.com and http://assassinationresearch.com .
Most of these findings were published in Murder in Dealey Plaza (2000), which benefited from the release of the first of some 60,000 documents and records that were meant to be withheld from the public by the Warren Commission for 75 years. Those whose work is brought together in this volume include the leading authority on the Secret Service (Vincent Palamara); the most knowledgeable student of the Presidential limousine (Douglas Weldon, J.D.); a leading expert on the medical evidence at Parkland and at Bethesda (Gary Aguilar, M.D.); the single most highly qualified person to ever study this case (David W. Mantik, M.D., Ph.D.); the Senior Analyst for Military Records for the ARRB (Douglas Horne); a legendary photo-analyst who advised the HSCA during its reinvestigation (Jack White); a world-famous philosopher who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950 (Bertrand Russell); a prize-winning director and playwright, who has produced a brilliant chronology (Ira David Wood III); and a philosopher of science who had then published more than 20 books and 100 articles (James H. Fetzer, Ph.D.).
Given the extraordinary character of these findings, it would be appropriate to provide reasons beyond the research itself that was published there to reassure the public that it should be taken seriously. Fortunately, this book was reviewed by George Costello for The Federal Lawyer (May 2001), pp. 52-56. This journal (formerly: The Federal Bar News and Journal) is a publication for attorneys who work for the federal government, who practice before federal agencies, or who appear before federal courts. The reviewer was honored with an award of recognition for this review of Murder in Dealey Plaza , which suggests his professional colleagues appreciated the contribution he made, which, in part, he summarized as follows: What does all of this mean? Any one of the findings summarized above would be troubling by itself. Together, these findings form a critical mass of evidence indicating that President Kennedy's autopsy was falsified, and help establish a compelling case that people within the federal government covered up evidence of frontal shots -- and hence of multiple gunmen and conspiracy in the assassination of President Kennedy. Because it pulls this evidence together in one place, Murder in Dealey Plaza is one of the most important books to date on the Kennedy assassination.
The new evidence turns the tables. No longer can defenders of the lone assassin theory hide behind the autopsy evidence and claim that it trumps all the other evidence. The weight of this other evidence now trumps the autopsy report. Lone assassin theorists must address and explain the new evidence if they wish to regain credibility. It is time for people of integrity who were involved in the official investigations -- especially the professionals -- to take a good-faith look at the new evidence and confront the likelihood that their conclusions were based on falsified data . Murder in Dealey Plaza may not be the last word on the medical evidence, but it should be the starting point for a fresh look -- not only at the medical evidence, but also at the assassination and its implications.
Those implications, I might add, are substantial in their impact upon alternative theories of the assassination. The mafia, for example, would not have been able to extend its reach into Bethesda Naval Hospital to alter X-rays under the control of medical officers of the US Navy, agents of the Secret Service, and the president's personal physician. Neither pro nor anti-Castro Cuban could have substituted another brain for that of JFK. Even if the KGB had an ability to alter films comparable to that of the CIA and Hollywood, it could not have obtained the original of the Zapruder. These findings thus indicate that at least some of those involved had to have been among the nation's highest officials, a result that receives further support from James Douglass, JFK and the Unspeakable (2008) and Phillip Nelson, LBJ: Mastermind of JFK's Assassination (2010). It is long past time that the American people are entitled to know the truth about the death of our 35th president.
Jim Fetzer, a former Marine Corps officer who earned his Ph.D. in the history and the philosophy of science, is McKnight Professor Emeritus at the Duluth campus of the University of Minnesota. He co-edits assassinationresearch.com with John Costella.
