Octopus Confessional

Congress Approves 30,000 Spy Drones Over America As US Police State Tightens :

2012-02-09T18:02:00.000-08:00

Connect the dots; the police state is a reality, and has been since 9/11. They've been working on this long before of course, but the obvious intent, and manifestation of that intent, has been deliberate .... anyway, as the writer comments, if you're not "outraged ... you have shit for brains."Congress Approves 30,000 Spy Drones Over America As US Police State Tightens :

Once again, another shocking story that threatens the personal privacy of US citizens has been kept from us by our politicians and the mainstream media.

Did you know that a bill, HR 658, the FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act, has just passed both the House and the Senate which authorizes the use of 30,000 spy drones over America by the year 2015? Like the anti-Posse Comitatus NDAA legislation that passed in November, this bill was not widely reported by the mainstream corporate media.

Do not feel bad for not knowing about this, because, similar to the anti-Constitutional NDAA legislation, they purposefully tried to hide this from the American public. The corporate controlled mainstream media was once again complicit and was an integral accessory in this crime against “We the People.” The corporate mainstream media failed us all miserably once again.

Think about the enormity of this for a second… 30-THOUSAND drones flying overhead, surveying the US. If you divide that by 50 states, that is 600 drones per state! Most states don’t have even one-third of that in counties, so 600 drones, or more per state is a bit overwhelming. And considering that some state are very small, such as Rhode Island and Connecticut, it won’t take that many to spy on those diminutive territories, leaving far more drones to cover the larger states.

Prison Planet.com: TSA Trains Super Bowl Hot Dog Sellers To Spot Terrorists

2012-02-03T20:35:00.000-08:00

TSA and Homeland Security have been steadily and carefully doing their part in the expanding tentacles of the fascist kraken that is the new USA. Appealing to the very population they are brutally fucking --- all the while convincing the hoi poli it feels so good and is really what you want --- they started in Walmart, where propaganda videos encourage you to "say something" if you "see something." Now, hot dog vendors and the worker bees that are employed to keep the great American pastime of football; I mean, football, as in Super Bowl fucking football -- are the guardians of us all. Clever but an old tactic; give the people you're fucking the tidbits of a false authority, a faux specialness, and gently stuff them with the lie that they're helping to make us all safer. TSA Trains Super Bowl Hot Dog Sellers To Spot Terrorists:

“TSA said over 8,000 stadium vendors, parking lot attendants, shuttle bus drivers, and other transportation professionals received the agency’s First Observer training for detecting and assessing indicators and planning tactics of potential terrorist activities,” reports Government Security News.

Thanks to piglipstick for link.

Mobile surveillance | MI5 - The Security Service

2012-02-03T19:34:00.000-08:00

Saw an interesting post on Tumblr. about an "M 15 surveillance van" so I Googled such and found all kinds of things. Here's the first link that came up; notice the juxtaposition of the image that appears with article. Mobile surveillance | MI5 - The Security Service

Roseanne Barr seeks Green Party presidential nod - Yahoo! News

2012-02-02T18:19:00.000-08:00

I love Roseanne, and now she wants the presidential nomination. Finally, a candidate I can feel good about. Roseanne Barr seeks Green Party presidential nod - Yahoo! News

New audio tape sheds light on JFK assassination - Yahoo! News

2012-02-01T20:07:00.000-08:00

New audio tape sheds light on JFK assassination - Yahoo! News

From Truthout:Teachers Inject Their Own Message Into Union-Busters' Twitter Campaign | Truthout

2012-01-30T20:00:00.000-08:00

Teachers Inject Their Own Message Into Union-Busters' Twitter Campaign | Truthout

Everyone seems to get a voice on how students should be taught but the teachers themselves, who have been framed as lazy, unmotivated, self-interested slobs in desperate need of discipline from the Free Market. And in the rare moments real public schools teachers are given the microphone, they might well be fronts for Astroturf organizations like TeachPlus, non-profits underwritten by Wall Street, informed by neo-conservative economic values, and intended to undermine unions and privatize education.

Not only have corporations occupied the voices heard in the education debate, but they also have a powerful monopoly on the language we use, as Orwellian business terms – productivity (larger classes, less teachers),efficiency (less money for public schools), accountability (more high stakes standardized tests), flexibility (dismantling of unions) – become the official lexicon of status quo, pushing out real teaching terms like learning, andgrowth.

Jury finds Afghan family guilty in honor killings - Yahoo! News

2012-01-29T19:47:00.000-08:00

KINGSTON, Ontario (AP) — A jury on Sunday found three members of an Afghan family guilty of killing three teenage sisters and another woman in what the judge described as "cold-blooded, shameful murders" resulting from a "twisted concept of honor," ending a case that shocked and riveted Canadians.
Prosecutors said the defendants allegedly killed the three teenage sisters because they dishonored the family by defying its disciplinarian rules on dress, dating, socializing and using the Internet.
The jury took 15 hours to find Mohammad Shafia, 58; his wife Tooba Yahya, 42; and their son Hamed, 21, each guilty of four counts of first-degree murder. First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.

Rest of story here:Jury finds Afghan family guilty in honor killings - Yahoo! News

Drive-by Scanning: Officials Expand Use and Dose of Radiation for Security Screening - ProPublica

2012-01-27T17:51:00.000-08:00

Drive-by Scanning: Officials Expand Use and Dose of Radiation for Security Screening - ProPublica

U.S. law enforcement agencies are exposing people to radiation in more settings and in increasing doses to screen for explosives, weapons and drugs. In addition to the controversial airport body scanners [2], which are now deployed for routine screening, various X-ray devices have proliferated at the border, in prisons and on the streets of New York.
Not only have the machines become more widespread, but some of them expose people to higher doses of radiation. And agencies have pushed the boundaries of acceptable use by X-raying people covertly, according to government documents and interviews.
While airport scanners can show objects on the surface of the body, prisons have begun to use X-rays that can see through the body to detect contraband hidden in cavities. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is in the process of deploying dozens of drive-through X-ray portals to scan cars and buses at the border with their passengers still inside.
X-ray scanners have been tested at ferry crossings, for visitor entries at the Pentagon and for long-range detection of suicide bombers at special events. And drawing the ire of privacy groups, Customs and the New York Police Department have deployed unmarked X-ray vans that can drive to a location and look inside vehicles for drugs and explosives.

Discouragingly, there's more. . .

Corporate Vultures - Shows - Coast to Coast AM

2012-01-22T19:24:00.000-08:00

Corporate Vultures - Shows - Coast to Coast AM

George Knapp, my favorite C2C host, interviews Greg Palast on the thieving bastards.

Shakespeare expelled from Tucson, Arizona schools

2012-01-19T19:14:00.000-08:00

If they really were serious, they'd ban Merchant of Venice, but oh well...Shakespeare expelled from Tucson, Arizona schools

Homeland Security Shreds Constitutional Right to Anonymous Political Speech - Not to Protect Our Security - But to Monitor Dissent

2012-01-19T08:21:00.000-08:00

Homeland Security Shreds Constitutional Right to Anonymous Political Speech - Not to Protect Our Security - But to Monitor Dissent

Do you have a right to anonymous political free speech?

According to the Supreme Court, you do. According to the Department of Homeland Security, you don’t. They’ve hired General Dynamics to track U.S. citizens exercising this critical civil right.

Philip Coppens: Killing Kennedy

2012-01-16T11:04:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite researcers, Philip Coppens, on the John F. Kennedy assassination:Killing Kennedy In his article, Coppens takes a look at the conspiracy theory that Kennedy was killed because of his knowledge of UFOs -- and what he planned to do with that knowledge. Coppens has his own ideas about that, as you'll find when you read the article.

UK Think Tank: Military Should Run Schools for "Troubled" Kids

2012-01-16T07:59:00.000-08:00

This is not the first time this news item has appeared:Military should run troubled schools to prevent new generation of rioters, says think-tank - Telegraph

In September of 2011 the following item appeared in the news stream; I posted about it here at OC:

Saturday, September 3, 2011
Soldiers 'should run schools in crackdown on indiscipline' - Telegraph
Another story concerning schools and the government's agenda for students and future citizens drones: from the UK:Soldiers should run schools in crackdown on indiscipline.

Lord Guthrie said a generation of schools modelled on the Armed Forces was needed to create a culture of respect among children from the “toughest and roughest backgrounds”.
He insisted that too many schools were currently failing to address serious behavioural problems.
Plans are already being drawn up to open a state secondary school in Manchester staffed by ex-members of the Army, Navy and RAF.

List of links to related articles embedded in the piece are telling, and chilling; be sure to check them out when reading the article. Here are the titles of those articles:

* Soldiers drafted into schools in discipline crackdown 28 Feb 2011
* Ex-soldiers 'could tame rough schools' 15 Feb 2008
* Cadet forces to be expanded in state schools 27 Feb 2011
* Armed Forces personnel to go into schools, Conservatives pledge 28 Sep 2008
* Gove to remove curriculum 'straitjacket' 24 Nov 2010
* Teachers reject armed forces 'propaganda' 25 Mar 2008

Plans are being made, with the goal of ensuring students have "respect for others and the ability to listen, learn and adapt." And be taught by military personnel.

The staged events in UK schools (and elsewhere, including the U.S.) all involve the expectation of unquestioning acceptance of authority -- and not parental authority, but educators and police. They involve scare tactics, violence, and the induction of fear.

A Dead Whale in Toyko Bay

2012-01-15T12:23:00.000-08:00

A Dead Whale In Tokyo Bay

As for the dead blue whale in Tokyo Bay (see below), it probably was while still healthy...feeding somewhere between the Bering Strait and the Sea of Okhotsk, unknowingly ingesting radioactive and chemically-contaminated krill at depths of 100 meters or more. These krill are spawned over the Japan Trench were the warm Kuroshio meets the cold Liman currents.

Upon feeling strange symptoms in its gut and having difficulty in holding in air, the huge cetacean rose to the surface for easier breathing and slowly swam southward in the Liman/Oyashio Current in search of warmer waters. Once past Choshi Point, it headed toward the brackish water flowing out of Tokyo Bay in hopes of reaching the estuary of the Edo River, where it could rest in the shallow bed of running fresh water. It senses filth in the water, however, and decides to push further south in search of a cleaner river.

Bohemian Grove? What Bohemian Grove?

2012-01-14T09:29:00.000-08:00

German Grandmother Lives Money-free and Has Never Been Happier | Financially Fit - Yahoo! Shine

2012-01-10T08:42:00.000-08:00

Beautiful and brave woman: German Grandmother Lives Money-free and Has Never Been Happier

Facial Recognition: Beating Surveillance Cameras - Yahoo! News

2012-01-10T08:39:00.000-08:00

Facial Recognition: Beating Surveillance Cameras

Man with explosives detained at Texas airport - Yahoo! News

2011-12-31T15:13:00.000-08:00

Man with explosives detained at Texas airport

I always wonder about the back story in these accounts. Either the man with the explosives is incredibly stupid -- or literally psychotic -- or, it's a distraction, a set-up. With TSA, DHS, VIPER, and all the rest, the average person couldn't possibly think they'd escape the attention of security as they casually bring along "explosives in military grade wrapping."

Chilling: Mythbusters Banned From Investigating RFID Chips

2011-12-30T16:24:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure how this is legal, but since when does that stop them?

Jello-O Knows All, Sees All

2011-12-28T10:30:00.000-08:00

This is surreal. Kraft has come up with a vending machine using facial recognition to determine the age of the consumer. Want pudding or Jello? Not if you're a kid:Kraft unveils 'adults only' vending machine that scans faces to ensure children can't have free pudding The article includes the usual disclaimer that images and info are not stored.

A vending machine that gives out free puddings to adults, but none to children sounds like something dreamed up by Roald Dahl.

But the iSample machine, a collaboration between Kraft and Intel, is designed to do exactly that - and is currently under trial in Chicago and New York.

The machine uses a biometric scanner to 'read' the age and gender of people standing in front of it, and will serve adults, but refuse children.

The two machines are on trial in Chicago's Shedd Aquarium and New York's South Street Seaport.

The iSample is desgned to offer free samples of Kraft's new Temptations jelly - a dessert marketed at adults.

There's much here in terms of twilight language and symbolism, not to mention the usual NWO is coming signal blasted loud and clear.

Iso Rabins, San Francisco's Famed Forager, Targeted By Department Of Health

2011-12-27T19:45:00.000-08:00

You can't grow it yourself, at least not in your front yard, you can't fend for yourself. They just want you to buy what they grow. . .
Iso Rabins, San Francisco's Famed Forager, Targeted By Department Of Health

2011-12-25T09:55:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Brand Name Game: Blackwater changes name -- again

2011-12-13T08:09:00.000-08:00

Blackwater changed its name in 2009 to Xe, which was intentionally esoteric. Hard to know how to pronounce. Now Blackwater has changed its name from Xe to Academi:Blackwater 3.0: Rebranded ‘Academi’ Wants Back In Iraq | Common Dreams

Say goodbye to Xe. The company formerly known as Blackwater — the world’s most infamous private security corporation — has jettisoned the name it chose in its 2009 rebrand. Now the “security solutions provider” wants to wash away the taint of the 2007 Nisour Square shootings by adopting the new name “Academi.”

This new name change implies something learned, a higher institution of sacred learning and education, peaceful, -- brains, not brawn. Of course ~~Blackwater~~ Xe Academi is still in the mercenary soldier business. Nothing has changed about the agendas of the company:

Our focus is on training and security services. We’re continuing that,” new CEO Ted Wright tells Danger Room. “We’re not backing away from security services. The lion’s share of our business today is providing training for security services and [providing] security services.”

If Blackwater — sorry, Academi – was a sports franchise, you’d consider 2011 its rebuilding year. A consortium of investors close to the family of founder Erik Prince bought the company in late 2010, and spent 2011 putting together its new leadership team. It brought on board former Attorney General John Ashcroft, Bill Clinton consigliere Jack Quinn and Suzanne Folsom from the insurance giant AIG. Wright came from military-services giant KBR. Notice a pattern? All have deep experience with crisis management.

There's more, much more, in the article, including Academi's plans in Iraq.

Face Recognition Technology Comes to Malls and Nightclubs | Techland | TIME.com

2011-12-12T20:18:00.000-08:00

Face Recognition Technology Comes to Malls and Nightclubs | Techland | TIME.com

The privacy concerns around the tracking of consumers and targeted advertising online may be coming to the physical world.

At a Federal Trade Commission workshop about the privacy implications of face recognition on Thursday, all eyes were on the new “Find My Face” feature in Google+, announced at the conference. The event, however, also focused on how face detection is being used offline in “smart sign” technology and other applications.

Imagine walking past a sign at the mall that changes to display ads for products that fit just your tastes. That’s what Intel is trying to do with its “Anonymous Video Analytics” technology, which uses sensors on a digital sign to tell if a person nearby is looking at the sign, as well as their gender and approximate age. Teenage girls are shown ads for back-to-school shoe sales, while a senior man may be shown an ad for golf clubs.

Read more: http://techland.time.com/2011/12/12/face-recognition-technology-comes-to-malls-and-nightclubs/#ixzz1gNvvU3Kz

TSA To Deploy AIT Units To 16 Additional Airposts

2011-12-12T20:10:00.000-08:00

AviationNews.net

TSA Monday announced 16 airports that are set to receive recently purchased millimeter wave Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) units. The machines will be deployed with new automated target recognition (ATR) software designed to enhance privacy by eliminating passenger-specific images while improving throughput capabilities and streamlining the checkpoint screening process, the agency said.
"The deployment of this technology further strengthens security while also enhancing passenger privacy," said TSA Assistant Administrator for Security Capabilities Robin Kane. "The ability to safely detect non-metallic threats concealed under layers of clothing provides TSA Officers with an invaluable resource."

Police employ Predator drone spy planes on home front - latimes.com

2011-12-12T08:53:00.000-08:00

Police employ Predator drone spy planes on home front - latimes.com

Drones used to find unarmed residents on their 2,000 acre ranch. . .

Tennessee: Door-To-Door Assessment For Disaster Preparedness

2011-12-12T08:50:00.000-08:00

Door-To-Door Assessment For Disaster Preparedness
Tennessee is getting ready to visit residents and find out what they're up to in terms of disaster preparedness:

The door to door assessment will take place from 3:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Thursday and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday. It will be in 30 neighborhoods in Davidson County that have been randomly selected to be the target of a door to door assessment.
Saturday will be used as a backup day if the assessments are not completed by Friday.
Participants will be asked a list of 22 questions. They may include:
What is your primary way of getting information during a disaster or emergency?

What special assistance might you need from emergency responders during an emergency?

What is that state up to? Cops on the take, under the guise of participating in the War on Drugs.

Smile! As Social Control

2011-12-11T14:02:00.000-08:00

Excellent animated video on the "smile" and positive attitude propaganda put forth by the corporate world, education, you name it. Pay attention to the part about facist societies pushing the concept of optimism and positive attitudes as a form of social control. Thanks to Eric Otto on Facebook for link: RSA Animate - Smile or Die - YouTube

Three Random Shootings

2011-12-11T11:45:00.000-08:00

Three random shootings in different parts of the country and it's all coincidental. Unless you're conspiracy minded, then one has to wonder at the juxtapositions of these seeming unrelated events. All three shooters killed people they didn't know, then killed themselves. (The Hollywood shooter put himself in a suicidal position and called out for others to "kill" him.) Two of the shooters killed police and military personnel. All three men were in their twenties.

Thursday December 8th,Ross Truett Ashley, 22, shot and killed Officer Deriek Crouse who was sitting in his police vehicle at Virgina Tech. Truett's body was found a short time later with a "self inflicted gunshot wound."

Friday, December 9th, Tyler Brehm, 26 years old, opened fire at the intersection of Sunset and Vine in Hollywood, California, shooting at cars and yelling out that he "wanted to die":

"He was screaming he was going to die and that he wanted to die," Gregory Bojorquez, a photographer who captured images of the shootings aftermath, told the Los Angeles Times. (Friends say Hollywood shooter had tough breakup)

Saturday, December 10th, Skyler Barbee, 25, shot a police officer then turned the gun on himself.

| Exposing Suppressed Information

2011-12-10T17:19:00.000-08:00

New publisher of Paranoia Magazine: | Exposing Suppressed Information

White House plan to use churches, mosques, synagogues for vaccinations Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!

2011-12-09T16:27:00.000-08:00

Alex Jones shares the news that the White house might use places of worship to push vaccinations: White House plan to use churches, mosques, synagogues for vaccinations

Speaking directly to church leaders, Joshua DuBois, executive director of the White House Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnership, said:

“As trusted messengers, you’re able to spread messages and help get people vaccinated.”

Zeroing in on minorities, particularly older adults, blacks and Latinos, health officials said churches, mosques and schools are places where barriers to vaccinations can be taken down, and these minorities can be convinced to get vaccinated. Besides hosting flu shot clinics, churches can also help by putting reminders in their bulletins, and by church members personally reminding others to get their shots, officials said.

They even went so far as to encourage the churches to pay people’s insurance co-pays so they’d be more inclined to get the shots. For those who simply can’t pay anything, there’ll be 300,000 free shots given out as part of the flu vaccine crusade.

Hallmark targets newborns with vaccine shot compliance cards Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!

2011-12-09T11:18:00.000-08:00

Aside from the obvious fascist/Big Brother/Orwellian/Bladerunner global society we're increasingly living in, is the sheer surrealism of this very real state. We're living in a John Brunner novel, or Kafka landscape... here, Hallmark joins up with the Global Corporate Dr. Evil Cabal to remind us to vaccinate:Hallmark targets newborns with vaccine shot compliance cards

"Paranoia runs deep . . . " not that there's anything wrong with that.

ATS:Federal Agents Demand Customer Lists From Mormon Food Storage Facility, page 1

2011-12-09T10:55:00.000-08:00

This news from a thread on Above Top Secret:Federal Agents Demand Customer Lists From Mormon Food Storage Facility, page 1. According to this item, the Feds wanted to know who bought what in terms of food items. I find the item interesting for the obvious reasons: fascism, FEMA, DHS, water rights and control, as well as the juxtaposition of the recent news item from New Zealand concerning the right of the individual to grow his or her own food. A few links about that story: NZ Food Security , Video: NZ news.

In many countries, including the United States, the issue of the individual growing their own food has become increasingly dire.

Hospitals in Houston requiring unvaccinated employees to wear face masks during entire flu season if they refuse flu shot

2011-12-05T08:11:00.000-08:00

Texas hospitals have plan to force compliance from workers: get vaccinated, or wear a mask:

Hospitals in Houston requiring unvaccinated employees to wear face masks during entire flu season if they refuse flu shot

This flu hysteria stunt being promoted by MH is really nothing more than medical mafia coercion predicated on lies and pseudoscience. And the nonsensical punishment for those who refuse to comply with such nonsense is even more egregious, as it basically "brands" non-compliers as villains. Face masks, after all, do not necessarily prevent the transmission of flu -- but they sure do embarrass and ostracize those who decide to embrace health freedom of choice and think for themselves by refusing the flu shot!

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/034322_hospitals_vaccinations_face_mask.html#ixzz1fg3C8xYp

Afghan woman to be freed from jail after agreeing to marry rapist | World news | guardian.co.uk

2011-12-04T10:09:00.000-08:00

Afghan woman to be freed from jail after agreeing to marry rapist | World news | guardian.co.uk:

An Afghan woman jailed for adultery after she was raped by a relative is set to be freed – but only after agreeing to marry the man who attacked her.

The case, which has highlighted the plight of Afghan women jailed for so-called moral crimes, was to be the subject of a documentary film funded by the European Union – until diplomats censored it out of fear for the woman's welfare, and for their relations with the Afghan government.

But the decision not to broadcast the film, unintentionally led to a storm of publicity that has resulted in the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, intervening in the case of the 19-year-old woman, named Gulnaz.

And it just gets sicker, scarier, and worse from there. . .

Senators Demand the Military Lock Up American Citizens in a “Battlefield” They Define as Being Right Outside Your Window � Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties Union

2011-11-27T11:24:00.000-08:00

John McCain, among others, is behind this bill that considers the United States a "battlefield" and would allow the military to detain, without charges, without a reason, without warrants, anyone , anywhere. That anyone and anywhere includes you and me. Senators Demand the Military Lock Up American Citizens in a “Battlefield” They Define as Being Right Outside Your Window Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties Union

2011-11-26T18:02:00.000-08:00

OWS Hold Dirge for Ruined Lit

2011-11-25T10:07:00.000-08:00

Courthouse News Service:Occupy Protesters Hold Dirge for Ruined Lit

MANHATTAN (CN) - Seated before a table full of badly damaged books, Occupy Wall Street activists and their lawyers demanded that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg replace the 3,000-plus library allegedly destroyed during the Nov. 15 raid of Zuccotti Park.
One title on the list, ironically enough, is the "Bloomberg by Bloomberg" autobiography.
Former New York Civil Liberties Union head Norman Siegel declined to "entertain a hypothetical" about whether a lawsuit over the missing and destroyed books is in the works, but nevertheless invoked "Dirty Harry."
"Make my day," Siegel said.
Sprawled across the table were three beat-up Bibles and a battered book of New Testament psalms. The binding twisted down the Hindu holy book, Bhagavad Gita. Several collections of Beat poet Allen Ginsberg works and biographies were found, to quote "Howl," "in tatters."
Feminist icon Naomi Wolf's "The End of America," lamenting the decline of civil liberties, had extensive water damage and was missing its cover.
Occupy Wall Street organizers posted their complete collection on Librarything.com, which lists more than 6,000 books.

In Your Face Fakery: The Use of Terror Threats to Control

2011-11-24T10:58:00.000-08:00

I was struck by the timing of these seeming unconnected events of fake terror and hacking alerts. Industry and government are involved in two of these events that send a loud message: "Yeah, what're ya going to do about it?", while one involves a citizen who used the fear of a terror threat to get revenge. On that one, I wonder just how isolated that action was, due to the timing of these other events. Was she set up? Were we set up?

False flag events, staged invasions and disasters have been going on for some time, as I've been commenting on here and at the Orange Orb. (The UK in particular has had an interesting slew of staged events.) These often happen in schools. But these three recent news items, while all different and coming from different places share some things in common: they are fake, and they are transparent. They thumb their nose at the law, while at the same time showing us they are the ones operating the machine. And they all mention the threat of terrorism. All these years since 9/11, and the fear of terrorism is still being used to manipulate and control, and prepare us for what's to come in terms of a fascist state:

Surveillance Company Says It Sent Fake iTunes, Flash Updates - Digits - WSJ

Gamma International UK Ltd. touts its ability to send a “fake iTunes update” that can infect computers with surveillance software, according to one of the company’s marketing videos.

All of the hacking companies say they sell their tools to law enforcement and governments to help them track down criminals. People in this new industry say their tools are necessary because terrorists and criminals are communicating online and hiding behind encryption and other techniques.

Mayor Bloomberg tried to fool New Yorkers with his heavy handed attempt at a fake terror alert. This was done to distract and discredit OWS. Yesterday I posted a YouTube clip of Keith Olbermann speaking to this, here on OC.

FBI: Jilted woman sought revenge on ex-lover by calling in fake terror threat:
California woman surrendered to the FBI Wednesday on charges that she called an airline to report a fake terrorist threat hours before her ex-lover was to board an international flight, authorities said.

Temple City resident Lizet Sariol called United Airlines on Sept. 25 to say there would "be an emergency" on a Las Vegas to Paris flight, according to a criminal complaint filed by the federal government.

Prosecutors allege the 45-year-old woman was seeking revenge on a man who she'd had sexual encounters with over four meetings — and who had just unfriended her on Facebook, among other rejections.

Buffon False Flag Terror Attack in N.Y.: Olbermann Calls for Mayor Bloomberg's Resignation After Stupid Fake Threat

2011-11-23T22:58:00.000-08:00

"Paranoia runs deep . . . " not that there's anything wrong with that. Wake UP!

Trickle-down tyranny - why ordinary people in positions of local power are adopting tactics of tyrants

2011-11-23T21:43:00.000-08:00

Trickle-down tyranny - why ordinary people in positions of local power are adopting tactics of tyrants From article:

These random acts of tyranny aren't really random acts at all. They are the infantile acting-out of behaviors the childish American public has witnessed being demonstrated by their "leaders." The TSA sexually molesting air travelers isn't just a violation of fundamental human rights -- it's also a demonstration to the mindless masses that this is now "normal" behavior in society, you see.

So as the masses observe Big Government reaching down their own pants, they now get the message that it's okay to sexually molest little boys at sports stadiums, or that it's okay to take children away from parents through C.P.S. and then rape them as part of child relocation "processing" procedures.

When the American people see George Bush set up secret military prisons and condone waterboarding torture techniques, they called for Obama to stop the practice. Obama promised he would, and then not long after becoming President, he expanded Gitmo and actually presided over an increase in funding for the military and all its secret torture facilities.

The message to the American people? If Obama supports it, then torture must be okay. After all, he won a Nobel Peace Prize, so "peace" must be something that can be achieved through torture.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/034221_trickle-down_tyranny_America.html#ixzz1ebBQXI8j

H.R. 3432: And now they come for the cows

2011-11-22T08:56:00.000-08:00

Chilling. This is one more signal coming at us concerning the new fascism in America. From many seemingly unconnected points, the government-corporate entity in this country has been taking our property in a variety of ways. All these points converge. Like these horses and cows, we too are being herded: off rural properties, away from cash, into being plugged in. You're suspect if you don't have a cell phone, pay with cash, refuse to fly, protest against "smart" meters, live on undeveloped rural property in non-traditional dwellings, grow organic food (or in some cases, any food at all.) It's all about control:

H.R. 3432: And now they come for the cows The PPJ Gazette: Wild horse advocates warned that cattle and cattle ranching would be next. This wasn’t about saving the environment, or water shortages or any of the other bogus fictional “scientific” reasons for eradicating to extinction the wild horse populations. The wild horses were just the first step in a systematic decimation of the agricultural sector, including cattle ranching, in the Western states.

According to the sponsor of this bill, Rep. Adam Smith [D-WA9], grazing is “impractible” on public lands. But apparently, gas and oil drilling, mining, water diversion and theft, is not. “And for other purposes”, that ubiquitous statement attached to every piece of legislative crapola that comes out of the District of Criminals which signals the insertion of non-related issues, is the red flag that while grazing will not be allowed in perpetuity, that does not mean that other more environmentally devastating activities won’t be taking place.

"Paranoia runs deep . . . " not that there's anything wrong with that. Wake UP!

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan Admits Cities Coordinated Crackdown on Occupy Movement | capitoilette

2011-11-17T08:43:00.000-08:00

Seemd obvious right from the start, didn't it? Oakland Mayor Jean Quan Admits Cities Coordinated Crackdown on Occupy Movement | capitoilette

Deaths at Occupy camps bring pressure for shutdown - Yahoo! News

2011-11-11T22:19:00.000-08:00

I wonder at the timing of these deaths; in different parts of the country, yet on the same day:

The Oakland shooting occurred the same day a 35-year-old military veteran apparently shot himself to death in a tent at a Burlington, Vt., Occupy encampment.
On Friday, a man was found dead inside a tent at the Occupy Salt Lake City encampment, from what police said was a combination of drug use and carbon monoxide.

Deaths at Occupy camps bring pressure for shutdown - Yahoo! News

This is How They Get Away With It

2011-11-05T20:06:00.000-07:00

This is how, in part, the fascists get away with it. They slowly and consistently implement seemingly unconnected laws and mandates. Cash outlawed in Louisiana. TSA. DHS taking cash on the spot from motorists in Tennessee. So many damn crazy surreal laws and bills in the chute, every day, everywhere in America. From small towns -- Quartzite, Arizona, for example, all the way to D.C.

Meanwhile, the average person goes about their every day routine. And when those of us who follow the "real" news mention any part of what's been happening, it's us that gets that glassy eyed stare, the nervous daring of the eyes, the backing away. As if we are the problem for bringing attention to these events. We are the trouble makers, the suspect. Not the ones behind the draconian, often illegal, certainly immoral and unethical acts.

Causally mention to the usually friendly cashier at the local market that Louisiana outlaws cash for second hand transactions? The atmosphere in the room literally shifts. You are, simply, not believed.

Mention the thugs police in Tennessee stealing cash from citizens? After you're told that couldn't possibly be right, you're also told that, well, if it helps national security and the illegal drug traffic... as they trail off.. finding themselves lost, but ever wary of you, nonetheless...

Tell someone that there's a bill pending in Mississippi that would define a fertilized egg as a person? You don't have your facts straight, surely, you misunderstood.

I've discovered a long time ago you can only bring up one so-called "conspiracy" fact at a time. More than one and they just stop listening to you. One, and they might listen, but with a lot of raised eyebrows. When you give up and say simply, "Look it up, just Google it..." they say "Oh, I don't have time for that!" Or, "Yeah, I believe what the Internet says!"

Meanwhile, the fascists are working away, busy as little bees. Every day. From a thousand different directions. And we'll wake up and wonder: "How did I get here?"

"Paranoia runs deep . . . " not that there's anything wrong with that. Wake UP!

Victim Ordered to Pay Attacker Spousal Support - Yahoo! News

2011-11-04T20:19:00.000-07:00

I just don't know what to say sometimes. . .
Victim Ordered to Pay Attacker Spousal Support - Yahoo! News

New York City cop imprisons college student without ID for two days | The Lookout - Yahoo! News

2011-11-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

New York City cop imprisons college student without ID for two days | The Lookout - Yahoo! News

Young out of town college student, with friend, in park after park curfew in New York, arrested and spent 36 hours in more than one jail. The cop had the option to let her go, but instead, he decided to haul her off to jail.

One thing I'm confused about (beside the obvious issue of the over the top, thug like, facistic behavior of the cop in question. Whose name is Officer Durrell of the 26th district. What I'm confused about is this:

It's not against the law, of course, to be out on New York's streets without identification--but the courts can detain people without identification in jail until their arraignment in lieu of issuing them a summons.

If it's not against the law, then how, why, can it be that this happened?

Wake UP!

Daily Kos: "He has a right to speak," said the cop to the banker

2011-11-03T08:56:00.000-07:00

Bank of America doesn't get its way trying to bully peaceful protester. (So they hysterically "threaten" him with a file they busily compile on him.) Daily Kos: "He has a right to speak," said the cop to the banker

On Activist Post: Citizen Spy Recruitment Program Launches in U.S. Hotels

2011-11-03T08:39:00.000-07:00

America is a fascist state, and anyone who thinks otherwise just hasn't waked up yet. 9/11 -- in spite of what one believes about who was responsible -- was the impetus for all the illegal, immoral, and fascist actions we are now experiencing. Pay with cash? Illegal in Louisiana. Carrying around cash? It can be legally taken from you in Tennessee, Florida, and elsewhere. Look nervous? You're hauled off in the airport for questioning and searching. Miscarried? You can be arrested. And so it goes. DHS has been working hard on its "If you see something, say something" ~~campaign~~ propaganda, and now its made its way into hotels: Activist Post: Citizen Spy Recruitment Program Launches in U.S. Hotels.

All this is about control. Control of our movements. If you refuse to fly (or cannot, because you're on a "no fly" list) you're suspect. If you carry cash while traveling -- independent, say by car or RV, etc. -- you're the victim of ~~state police~~ thugs. If you want to pay with cash, well, you can't. It's all about making it harder to be off the grid, even if it's a little bit, because no one can ever truly get off the grid. If they make it hard for you, it's easier for them to control and to track. And that's what it's all about. Seemingly unrelated incidents here and there, every day, across this country, that many people just don't pay attention to. The little bit that goes by is filed under a vague "Oh, the good fight against terrorism,..." "The drug war; well we can't have that going on near our schools," "I have nothing to hide." Under the guise of feeling protected, secure, safe, we're encouraged to spy on each other. Everyone's suspect. Report to the authorities. So that not only the person you've reported is on the list, so are you.

From the Activist Post:

Homeland Security has been working closely with hotels on many levels as private partners in the war on terror, as part of the expanding If You See Something, Say Something program. Manuals such as the 84-page, Protective Measures Guide for the U.S. Lodging Industry (pdf) have been sent out to teach owners and staff how to properly spot potential terrorists. Typical suspicious behavior includes paying with cash and "insisting on privacy" among a plethora of other dangers.

Paying with cash: suspect. That's assuming the hotel even takes cash, a lot do not. The article has a video clip of the DHS propaganda campaign, which will be aired on hotel room TV sets to encourage us to snitch on each other.

"Why I'm Glad My Miscarriage Wasn't In Mississippi"

2011-11-03T07:50:00.000-07:00

It's frightening to know that this bill, that considers a fertilized egg a person, has made its way into the realm of serious consideration.Why I'm Glad My Miscarriage Wasn't In Mississippi.

I had a miscarriage in 1991. No one accused me of murder. No one arrested and jailed me on suspicion of abortion. No one charged me with endangering the miscarried fetus.

If Initiative 26 to amend the Mississippi constitution passes next week, that won’t be true for the next woman who miscarries. She will be looking over her shoulder for the police (not the anti-abortion police, the real badge-carrying kind) to question her about the circumstances and maybe arrest her if she doesn’t have a doctor who can offer a satisfactory explanation.

Think I’m exaggerating? Think again. Initiative 26 would define a fertilized egg, from the moment of conception, as a legal “person” with all the rights and legal protections of a living, breathing child. From the moment of conception. So a miscarriage would be murder, unless you could prove it was accidental. And of course, so would an abortion–at any stage, no matter how early.

WAKE UP!

Romney Supports National ID, Government Pre-Approval of Working | Cato @ Liberty

2011-11-01T20:19:00.000-07:00

Romney Supports National ID, Government Pre-Approval of Working | Cato @ Liberty

On Boing Boing: DHS seeks intelligence on "domestic threats" from Twitter traffic

2011-11-01T19:49:00.000-07:00

DHS seeks intelligence on "domestic threats" from Twitter traffic - Boing Boing
Says Department of Homeland Security Undersecretary Caryn Wagner:

Wagner said the department is establishing guidelines on gleaning information from sites such as Twitter and Facebook for law enforcement purposes. Wagner says those protocols are being developed under strict laws meant to prevent spying on U.S. citizens and protect privacy, including rules dictating the length of time the information can be stored and differences between domestic and international surveillance.
Wagner said the Homeland Security department, established after the 9/11 attacks, is not actively monitoring any social networks. But when the department receives information about a potential threat, contractors are then asked to look for certain references within "open source" information, which is available to anyone on the Internet.
The challenge, she said, is to develop guidelines for collecting and analyzing information so that it provides law enforcement officials with meaningful intelligence.
"I can post anything on Facebook, is that valid? If 20 people are tweeting the same thing, then maybe that is valid," she said. "There are just a lot of questions that we are sort of struggling with because it's a newly emerging (issue)."

Air Space - a trip through an airport detention center - Boing Boing

2011-11-01T19:03:00.000-07:00

Air Space - a trip through an airport detention center - Boing Boing
One frequent traveler's experiences with Icelandic airport security, thanks to the long arms of the U.S.A. and TSA.

Punishing Poverty - NYTimes.com

2011-11-01T14:29:00.000-07:00

Punishing Poverty - NYTimes.com

Gov. Rick Scott of Florida signed a new law in May that requires all applicants for the state’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to submit a urine sample and pass a drug test. Last week, a federal judge in Orlando temporarily enjoined enforcement of that intrusive policy on grounds it violates the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable searches.
Judge Mary Scriven, a George W. Bush appointee, correctly ruled that the state demonstrated no “special need” for an exception to the Fourth Amendment that would allow drug testing of all aid applicants without any basis for suspicion. She noted that the State Legislature, in approving the law, ignored its own study that found a lower rate of drug usage among applicants for assistance than among Florida’s population as a whole. She also pointed out that the state failed to show that drug testing saved money given the cost of administering the program, and she expressed concern that the tests were a substantial invasion of privacy because the results were available to other government agencies, including law enforcement.

2011-11-01T10:23:00.000-07:00

A blog I like very much is Mystic Politics. I stole this from over there. I hope he doesn't mind but it's so right on and John Lennon was correct, as he was about many things. And that's why he was ~~killed~~ assassinated.

How Occupy Wall Street Cost Me My Job

2011-10-30T14:54:00.000-07:00

Another journalist, Caitlin Curran, fired for her participation in OWS. How Occupy Wall Street Cost Me My Job (thanks to Mystic Politics for link.)Interesting what Curran points out about OWS becoming "mainstream":

I attempted to find others, besides myself and Simeone, who have been fired for their involvement with the Occupy movement, but wasn't able to find anyone who wanted to go on the record about it—though I did get a prompt response from Occupy Wall Street's media desk, and an e-mail from someone in Mobile, Alabama saying "Occupy Wall Street folks don't have jobs, if they did they would not be there in the middle of the work week," further proof of the national confusion over who Occupiers are.

These are issues that will become ingrained in the movement as it evolves, and that potential protesters and their employers will need to face as Occupy becomes "mainstreamed," as Katha Pollitt called it in the Nation last week. Pollitt pointed out that, just a few weeks ago the few media outlets acknowledging Occupy mostly saw it as a rag-tag collection of hippies. Now, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is saying he "can't blame" protesters for being angry, and Suze Orman is challenging its detractors, saying "to deride the movement because it has yet to formulate a well-delineated platform says plenty more about the critics than the protesters."

First, it was ridiculous comments from the confused and the disingenuous who referred to OWS as, to paraphrase, "bongo playing hippies." Then the feigned ignorance: "What do they want?" Now it's slowly becoming mainstream, which either means it will become boring and marginalized and news coverage will just go away, or the outrage over Global Corporate Fascist America and our emerging third world status, along with police brutality, will seep into the mainstream, forcing everyone to take a side and make a stand.

Panel endorses anthrax vaccine test on children

2011-10-30T11:44:00.000-07:00

Panel endorses anthrax vaccine test on children:

A key panel of government advisers Friday recommended that the federal government sponsor a controversial study to test the anthrax vaccine in children to see whether the inoculation would protect young Americans against a bioterrorist's attack.

The National Biodefense Science Board, which advises the federal government on issues related to bioterrorism, voted 12-1 to recommend that the Health and Human Services Department move forward with a study aimed at determining whether the vaccine is safe and effective in children and identifying the best dose. Patricia Quinlisk of the Iowa Department of Public Health, who chairs the panel, was the only dissenter.

"We need to know more about the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine as we develop plans to use the vaccine on a large number of children in the event of a bioterrorist's attack," said Ruth Berkelman of Emory University, a panel member.

What the Costumes Reveal - NYTimes.com

2011-10-29T18:20:00.000-07:00

The New York law firm of Steven J. Baum, which represents the banks who foreclose on homeowners,has an annual Halloween party. Which included, at one such party, several staff members dresses as homeless people.What the Costumes Reveal - NYTimes.com

I can’t tell you how people dressed for this year’s party, but I can tell you about last year’s.

That’s because a former employee of Steven J. Baum recently sent me snapshots of last year’s party. In an e-mail, she said that she wanted me to see them because they showed an appalling lack of compassion toward the homeowners — invariably poor and down on their luck — that the Baum firm had brought foreclosure proceedings against.

When we spoke later, she added that the snapshots are an accurate representation of the firm’s mind-set. “There is this really cavalier attitude,” she said. “It doesn’t matter that people are going to lose their homes.” Nor does the firm try to help people get mortgage modifications; the pressure, always, is to foreclose. I told her I wanted to post the photos on The Times’s Web site so that readers could see them. She agreed, but asked to remain anonymous because she said she fears retaliation.

(The usual hat tip to piglipstick for link.)

Bottom of the Heap - NYTimes.com

2011-10-29T13:44:00.000-07:00

Thirty countries rated on how they treat their poor, seniors, education, health, and other issues. The U.S. comes in 5th. We are below South Korean, Slovakia. . . welcome to the Third World, because you and I are living in it. Bottom of the Heap - NYTimes.com (thanks GK on FB for link.)

In Seattle Weekly: Obama's War on Weed

2011-10-29T13:39:00.000-07:00

Excellent article on Obama's turn around on state medical marijuana laws. Obama's War on Weed - Page 1 - News - Seattle - Seattle Weekly

Fake Event in H.S.

2011-10-24T20:54:00.000-07:00

Rick Green: Drug-sniffing dogs come to Wolcott High School, with a twist. - Courant.com

Another story of a fake event at a school. This latest took place in CT. Students were told there was an intruder in the school and they were in lock-down:

an urgent announcement crackled over the intercom: a threatening intruder was in the building and students were told to immediately take refuge in classrooms.
Doors were locked and police, with dogs, moved in. Students stayed huddled in classrooms where they were told to stay away from the windows.
But what sounded like a frightening situation was just a search for narcotics. Drug-sniffing dogs combed the school while students stayed in locked classrooms, believing that an attacker was roaming the halls.

No intruder, lock down was a drill not the real deal, and why? So students -- freaked,locked inside their building and thinking a dangerous individual was on the edge and that anything could happen at any moment -- could be saved from drugs.

The superintendent justified this by saying drills are required. True, they are. But his reasoning was, at best, disingenuous. According to this article, parents weren't notified beforehand, only shortly afterwards, and no mention of the drug search.

What astounds me is the sheer arrogance and lack of "getting it" on many school administrators. Admitting that Wolcott High School doesn't have a drug problem, one school board member said:

Bringing the dogs in "is precautionary," said school board Chairwoman Patricia Najarian, who added that she didn't see a problem with the fake intruder story.

The drug search is "something that is good to do periodically. It says we don't have drugs in the school,'' she said. "Either way it's a win-win. I know people get concerned … there seems to be an overreaction."

The Feds Will Cut Off TV and Radio on November 9th | TheBlaze.com

2011-10-24T08:17:00.000-07:00

(thanks to piglipstick for link)

If you have ever wondered about the government’s ability to control the civilian airwaves, you will have your answer on November 9th.

On that day, federal authorities are going to shut off all television and radio communications simultaneously at 2:00PM EST to complete the first ever test of the national Emergency Alert System (EAS).
This isn’t a wild conspiracy theory. The upcoming test is posted on the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau website.

The Feds Will Cut Off TV and Radio on November 9th | TheBlaze.com

From the EAS site:

Why do we need a nationwide test of the EAS?
Pursuant to the FCC’s rules, local and state components of the EAS are tested on a weekly and monthly basis, respectively. Although the EAS has been in existence for over 15 years, there has never been an end-to-end, nationwide test of the system, and we need to know that the system will work as intended should public safety officials ever need to send an alert or warning to a large region of the United States. Only a top-down, simultaneous test of all components of the EAS can provide an appropriate diagnosis of system-wide performance.

If you've been paying attention, you wont' be surprised. But if you haven't, you might be. Maybe. They're not sure:

The audio message will be the same for all EAS Participants; however, due to limitations in the EAS, the video test message scroll may not be the same or indicate that “This is a test.” This is due to the use of a “live” national code – the same code that would be used in an actual emergency. In addition, the background image that appears on video screens during an alert may indicate that “This is a test,” but in some instances there might not be an image at all.

Finally, what most Americans want to know first, how long will this test last so I can get on with things? EAS says:

We anticipate that the test will last approximately3 minutes. While state and local EAS messages are limited to 2 minutes, there is no time limit for national EAS alerts.

OWS: Homeland Security Involved in Naomi Wolf's Arrest

2011-10-22T20:44:00.000-07:00

Crackdown on medical marijuana a threat to Oregonian's liberties | Consumer | Eugene News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KVAL CBS 13

2011-10-22T13:02:00.000-07:00

Crackdown on medical marijuana a threat to Oregonian's liberties | Consumer | Eugene News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KVAL CBS 13

The U.S. Department of Justice has been cracking down on medical marijuana in a way that threatens the liberties of people in states where medical pot has been legalized. That includes Oregon.

You would think Justice has more important things to do.

Clean house, for instance. This is the agency that concocted "Fast and Furious," a scheme to allow guns to get into the hands of suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels in the hopes of catching somebody. Two of the weapons showed up at the murder of a Border Patrol agent last December.

On medical marijuana, we have a clear conflict between states and the federal government. Congress continues to classify marijuana as illegal.

But states such as Oregon and California have said it's OK for medical uses.

Instead of confronting the states, the government picks on little people.

In California, federal prosecutors have threatened to confiscate the property of people who rent to marijuana outlets.

Louisiana Law: paying with cash

2011-10-21T14:27:00.000-07:00

The Daily Reckoning details this new and insidious law: Louisiana Law
Hopefully it will be overturned.

Law Bans Cash for Second Hand Transactions - Acadiana's News Leader

2011-10-21T12:44:00.000-07:00

Scary, it's coming faster and faster. Also unbeleiveable, but true. Seems this is the last thing the state of Louisana needs, given Katrina and BP's crimes.

Cold hard cash. It's good everywhere you go, right? You can use it to pay for anything.

But that's not the case here in Louisiana now. It's a law that was passed during this year's busy legislative session.

House bill 195 basically says those who buy and sell second hand goods cannot use cash to make those transactions, and it flew so far under the radar most businesses don't even know about it.

"We're gonna lose a lot of business," says Danny Guidry, who owns the Pioneer Trading Post in Lafayette. He deals in buying and selling unique second hand items.

We don't want this cash transaction to be taken away from us. It's an everyday transaction," Guidry explains.

Guidry says, "I think everyone in this business once they find out about it. They're will definitely be a lot of uproar."

The law states those who buy or sell second hand goods are prohibited from using cash. State representative Rickey Hardy co-authored the bill.

Law Bans Cash for Second Hand Transactions - Acadiana's News Leader

NPR host’s involvement in Occupy D.C. leads to her firing from another show | The Cutline - Yahoo! News

2011-10-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

Free lancer Lisa Simeone,for NPR fired because she's taken part in OWS. NPR host’s involvement in Occupy D.C. leads to her firing from another show | The Cutline - Yahoo! News NPR justifies the firing -- I don't get it. NPR seems full of it. Article ends with a spin that "it's also true" that:

this is not Simeone's first stint as an activist. In 1994, Simeone helped organize demonstrations outside a Baltimore courthouse to protest violence against women.

Insinuating that she's just up to no good.

Simeone confirmed on Thursday that she had been fired from the "Soundprint" show; NPR is "in conversations" about her role as both "World of Opera" host and Occupy D.C. protester.

"We recently learned of World of Opera host Lisa Simeone's participation in an Occupy D.C. group," NPR communications SVP Dana Davis Rehm wrote in a memo to affiliates. "We're in conversations with WDAV about how they intend to handle this. We of course take this issue very seriously."

Your ascent to the 1% doesn’t mean the system is fair – Boing Boing

2011-10-16T19:53:00.000-07:00

Right fucking on:

Your ascent to the 1% doesn’t mean the system is fair – Boing Boing

DON’T close your Citibank account today. They’re arresting people.

2011-10-15T17:10:00.000-07:00

In this video clip, customers inside the bank are locked in and being arrested... a woman in a business suit, outside, tries to explain to the cops that she's a customer and they grab her, push her around, and it looks like they take her into the bank, where she's also arrested!

Question: NOW are you awake?
DON’T close your Citibank account today. They’re arresting people.

Daily Kos: Breaking: 30 Citibank customers arrested for closing their account

2011-10-15T17:05:00.000-07:00

Citibank customers in New York arrested for wanting to close out their accounts. How is this legal, and what were the charges? N
Daily Kos: Breaking: 30 Citibank customers arrested for closing their account

Occupy Eugene: SUV Arson a Set-up?

2011-10-14T22:49:00.000-07:00

About three blocks from my home; heard the sirens last night: Motives of SUV arson unclear | Someone sprayed a vehicle with “Occupy Eugene” graffiti and then set it on fire in a west neighborhood My first thought while reading this was that it seemed suspicious; a set-up to discredit OWS and the Eugene version. As the article noted:

But at this point, police say they don’t know who set the fire or why they did it — despite the fact that the burned sport utility vehicle was covered with miscellaneous graffiti that included an anarchist symbol and messages consistent with those of the nationwide “Occupy” movement protesting economic inequities.

Eugene police spokeswoman Melinda McLaughlin said it would be “unfair to blame any one group” for the arson.

“The graffiti is all over the map,” she said.

The SUV was painted with OWS type slogans, like "Oil is bad" which seems lame and clumsy. There was also an insult painted aimed at Eugene mayor Kitty Piercy, who is a liberal; the repug types don't like her at all. That insult (whatever it was, the paper did not release it) adds to my suspicions. It's illogical an OWS supporter would bash a liberal mayor,one who supports in spirit OWS. There is also the fact that the SUV wasn't recognized by anyone in the area. It just appeared. Someone commented to me after reading the article that they thought it was insurance fraud.

Occupy Eugene responded:

Occupy Eugene spokeswoman Crystal Stanford said the group is part of “a peaceful movement” that does not condone violence or property destruction.

“My first thought (upon hearing of the SUV fire) was that people would think that we were on the fringe,” Stanford said. “We’re a populist movement, and our values are consistent with the values of the everyday, normal person.”

Police to protest supporters: Honk if you'd like a ticket - seattlepi.com

2011-10-11T19:23:00.000-07:00

Yet another method of demonizing OWS supporters: giving drivers who honk in support of demonstraters a $144.00 ticket for doing so:

Police to protest supporters: Honk if you'd like a ticket - seattlepi.com: olice experimented with a new tactic Friday night as they responded to a weeklong Occupy Seattle demonstration at Westlake Park -- ticketing drivers who honked in support of protesters.

Starting at 11 p.m. Friday, police started pulling over and ticketing drivers who honked as they drove past protesters.

PJ O'Rourke Spins OWS, or, Why O'Rourke is a Throw Back Idiot

2011-10-10T08:34:00.000-07:00

I stole this from The Daily Grail, who has posted it as their quote for the day. This was the exchange between PJ O'Rourke and Alan Grayson on the Bill Mahr's show last week. It seemed to me Mahr, as well as the guests (except for Grayson) trivialized OWS -- very middle of the road. To be expected of O'Rourke of course. And dude, "bongo drums?" Are we in the 1950s?

Alan Grayson: Now let me tell you what they're talking about. They're complaining about the fact that Wall Street wrecked the economy three years ago and nobody's held responsible for that. Not a single person has been indicted or convicted for destroying twenty percent of our national net worth accumulated over the course of two centuries. They're upset about the fact that Wall Street have iron control over the economic policies of this country, and that one party is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wall Street and the other party caters to them as well. That's the real truth of the matter, as you said before. And…

PJ O'Rourke: Get the man a bongo drum, they've found their spokesman!

Alan Grayson: If I…

PJ O'Rourke: Get your shoes off, get a bongo drum, forget where to go to the bathroom, and it's yours.

Alan Grayson: If I am the spokesman for all the people who think we should not have 24 million people in this country who can't find a full time job, that we should not have 50 million people who can't see a doctor when they're sick, that we shouldn't have 47 million people of this country who need government help in order to feed themselves, and we shouldn't have 15 million families who owe more on their mortgage than the value of their home, okay, I'll be that spokesman.

Video: Alan Grayson schools P.J. O'Rourke on OccupyWallStreet.

Right Wing Media Infiltrates Occupy Wall Street To Discredit It | Care2 Causes

2011-10-10T07:35:00.000-07:00

OWS is being spun, from all sides. Even Bill Mahr was oddly middle of the road last week with his comments on OWS. Here's one more example of the MSM and conservatives attempts to control the people's perception of OWS:

Right Wing Media Infiltrates Occupy Wall Street To Discredit It | Care2 Causes: Patrick Howley is an assistant editor and set about disrupting the protest by instigating violence to discredit the movement and to presumably mine material for his column in the Spectator.

His column details how he took part in Saturday’s demonstrations at the Smithsonian Institute’s Air and Space Museum (the Spectator has now removed that column). Approximately 100 to 200 anti-war demonstrators arrived at an exhibit about the drone aircraft the American military uses for spying and even targeted killings.

Howley with others rushed the entrance of the museum despite warnings from the guards causing them to fire pepper spray to the groups. It wasn’t until bloggers at Fire Dog Lake identified Howley and labeled him an “agent provocateur” did he come clean in his column and admit the mission.

Howley’s stunt shows a few telling things about the current state of the conservative movement. One, they are terrified of legitimate political discourse, which we can assume is the natural consequence of successfully manipulating the political narrative for the past decade and more. Two, they have little, if any ethics.

Mayor Bloomberg: "We'll See" If The City Will Let Occupy Wall Street Continue - New York News - Runnin' Scared

2011-10-02T17:31:00.000-07:00

Unbelievable, how transparent the nerve. In other words, chutzpah.

"The protesters are protesting against people who make $40-50,000 a year and are struggling to make ends meet. That's the bottom line," Bloomberg said, presumably meaning service workers on Wall Street, adding that "we all" share blame for taking on too much risk, not just the financial industry.

"And people in this day and age need support for their employers. If the banks don't go out and make loans we will not come out of our economic problems, we will not have jobs so anything we can do that's responsible to help the banks do that is what we need."

Mayor Bloomberg: "We'll See" If The City Will Let Occupy Wall Street Continue - New York News - Runnin' Scared

ID Rules in New Jersey

2011-10-02T11:44:00.000-07:00

Papers Please! from Beat the Chip:

My life has been basically destroyed because I don’t have a valid state-issued photo ID.

Thanks to terrorists, it is illegal for any employer in my state to hire me.

I am a natural born citizen of the United States, born and raised in the State of New Jersey. I have lived here most of my life. I have never been convicted of a felony nor even a misdemeanor. I have never been arrested, nor even ever received so much as a parking ticket. I do not receive any funds from Welfare, Social Security, or any other government program. I am not a terrorist.

Yet, in the State of New Jersey, it is illegal for any employer to hire me, and has been for about the last 6 years.

Among this nightmare situation, this woman finds herself the subject of sexism:

Some of these documents will only be accepted for certain cases. For example, a copy of your civil marriage certificate can only be used if you are a female trying to establish the cause of the name on your birth certificate differing from your currently used name. I never changed my name when I got married, therefore I can not use my marriage certificate.

Like the author of this post, I never changed my name when I got married. You'd think retaining your maiden name in the 21st century wouldn't be an issue in the United States, but it is. (I still get a raised eyebrow or a confused reaction when some people find my last name isn't the same as my husband's.)

As is pointed out in the piece, New Jersey has the toughest, most rigid requirements to get an ID. Ones that are sexist, classist and draconian. Which is the point.

My driver's license is up for renewal this spring. I've lived in the same place for more than 15 years, worked for the same place for 10, not divorced, etc. While I don't have to go through anything close to what this woman is going through, I have to provide a birth certificate, which means I have to shell out $70.00 to get the approved one from L.A.County. Money that is a good chunk and hurts to pay but at least I can do it. What if someone doesn't have the money?

Homeland Security. Making it safer for us all.

Occupy Wall St: Parsing the Spin

2011-10-01T20:57:00.000-07:00

The Occupy Wall St. spin begins, or guess I should say, continues...on the Yahoo news page (where mindless celebrity and fashion trends stream as if of the greatest importance) this copy on the latest news from the OWT demonstrations -- which are referred to as "protests."

More than 500 arrested in Wall Street protest

Witnesses describe a chaotic scene on the Brooklyn Bridge as demonstrators block lanes during an unauthorized march.

The media has been criticized for not reporting on the protests. Further propaganda by Ms. Long by framing the criticism this way:

"There has been a growing swell of coverage in mainstream media, but there has been loud complaining the cause hasn't been championed fast enough — or in the way protesters want." [italics mine]

But that's nothing, for NPR, a station I have never loved as much as many of my liberal kin, justifies their distancing from reporting on the story:

National Public Radio, which hasn't aired stories, has fielded angry communiques demanding coverage.

"The recent protests on Wall Street did not involve large numbers of people, prominent people, a great disruption or an especially clear objective," Dick Meyer, executive editor for news, explained on NPR's website.

I'm not sure how many people constitute a "large number," or what needs to happen to be considered "a great disruption." As if either are requirements for worthiness. Michael Moore arrived on the scene but he apparently isn't considered "prominent" by NPR. As to "clear objective" -- the message, said in many ways, but of the same intent: the people are fed up with being fucked by Wall St. Which is obvious to those who feign boredom or ignorance and shamelessly present themselves as confused or mildly baffled by those who active in Occupy Wall St.

One of the main themes in this AP propaganda piece is the refrain that there is no "clear message." Ms. Long continues pushing this idea:

"You should have a clear and convincing message, and know who is going to deliver it," said the Rev. Herbert Daughtry, a longtime civil rights activist who has participated in protests for decades. "One of the reasons to get attention is to deliver the message."

Clever, citing the authority of a civil rights activist, one who's protested himself many times. Message: if the Rev. Daughtry doesn't get it, who can?

The spin is about the message, which isn't there. The message is, the message is unclear and "vague." No focus. In case you're still on the side of the protesters, consider that they are, besides being muddled, are liars. Maybe not intentionally, but if not intentional lying, then so disorganized they don't have their facts straight:

Misinformation has added to the confusion. For instance, a rumor sprang up on Twitter that the New York Police Department wanted to use tear gas on protesters — a crowd-control tactic the department doesn't use. The organizing group that calls itself Occupy Wall Street retracted the claim, one of several such retractions over the past several days. On Friday, it sent out a message that Radiohead would be performing in solidarity for the cause. (The band's management said it wasn't playing.)

The not so hidden spin: If you're disorganzied (and vague) and lie, whether it's by intent or by laziness, you can't be trusted or taken seriously.

There were "about 100" arrests, and the mace in the face spraying action by NYPD Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna is diminished by mentioning Anonymous posted personal information about Mr. Bologna.

The article winds down by seeming to be balanced, and ending with the throw away line that "even" "celebrities" (further marginalization, for Moore and Saradon are hardly celebrities on the same level as "The Housewives of I Don't Give A Fuck You Shallow Insipid Drama Queens You."

piglipstick: Here Comes The Heavy Ass Video Censorship

2011-10-01T18:42:00.000-07:00

From piglipstick: Here Comes The Heavy Ass Video Censorship. A matter of time, and it's going to get worse and more blatant.

Daily Show and Occupy Wall Street???

2011-09-29T08:27:00.000-07:00

I like The Daily Show and Jon Stewart; usually watch it. Past couple of weeks I haven't been paying much attention to the program however, since I've been pretty busy. The TV's been on and Stewart on the background, but that's while I've been working on projects around, and outside the house. Spouse has been paying closer attention lately than I have. But it seemed to me that Stewart hasn't addressed the "Occupy Wall Street" protests. I asked my spouse, he said he hadn't seen anything either. Either Stewart has aired segments on Occupy Wall Street and we just missed it, or, he hasn't at all. If he hasn't -- is that because Stewart's brother is Larry Leibowitz, who is Chief Operating Office of the New York Stock Exchange?

Anthony Bologna, NYPD Officer Who Pepper-Sprayed Protester, Had Role In 2004 Incidents

2011-09-29T08:20:00.000-07:00

Anthony Bologna, NYPD Officer Who Pepper-Sprayed Protester, Had Role In 2004 Incidents

FOCUS: Why I Was Maced at the Wall Street Protests

2011-09-27T18:03:00.000-07:00

FOCUS: Why I Was Maced at the Wall Street Protests

The Accent Police

2011-09-25T15:22:00.000-07:00

In Arizona, Complaints That an Accent Can Hinder a Teacher’s Career | Truthout

Eugene, OR:Cops Cite Vendors in Park for Dead Heads

2011-09-24T20:14:00.000-07:00

The city of Eugene is citing vendors in the parks: City cracks down on vendors | Police issue citations to unlicensed sellers in Alton Baker Park before the start of a Furthur concert

The crackdown on “Shakedown Street” began Friday afternoon, when Eugene police began issuing tickets to unlicensed vendors who jammed into an Alton Baker Park parking lot in advance of the band Furthur’s three-night concert series at Cuthbert Amphitheater.

“We’re not doing anything bad, we’re just trying to get by,” said Blue River resident Obidiah Cron, who received a citation charging him with violating city park rules that explicitly forbid anyone from “soliciting, selling, offering for sale, peddling, hawking, or vending any goods or services” without a permit.

Cron complained about having trouble making money on Friday, but said he was giving away his homemade trinkets while hanging out along “Shakedown Street” — the name given to crowded areas outside Grateful Dead and Furthur shows where food, clothing, artwork and other items are sold in a partylike atmosphere.

Passing time in the makeshift vending village — which on Friday afternoon was inhabited by at least 200 people and dozens of dogs — is a tradition among many Deadheads and Furthur followers.

But officials with the Eugene police and parks departments and Kesey Enterprises, which manages the city-owned amphitheater, agreed to work to prevent anything from spinning out of control this weekend outside the venue.

Context: Eugene has a high number of homeless and poor. Eugene is "hippie heaven" (not really, just looks that way, thanks to the Oregon County Fair, etc.). Eugene has been getting away with banning citizens for up to a year from the "downtown" (snort, chuckle) area for being suspicious, obnoxious, clashing with the other person's values, let alone committing crimes. (On the latter, I'm sympathetic, for there are plenty of thugs and creeps out there who seem hell bent on intentionally causing trouble and behaving in disgusting ways. However. . . ) On the downtown mall is a free speech area called Kesey Square, in honor of Oregon's Ken Kesey. Yet even Homeland Security has gotten involved in all that at times. Yes, right here in little old Eugene. Which isn't so little any more, nor so friendly, or as open to the counter culture as one would think. Recently I posted about the shut down of a concert on private land in the town of Blachy, roughly thirty miles or so from here.

Irony: "...Kesey Enterprises, which manages the city-owned amphitheater, agreed to work to prevent anything from spinning out of control this weekend outside the venue."

Kit Kesey, president of Kesey Enterprises, cited both public safety and health concerns — such as selling alcohol and food without a license — as reasons why officials decided to take measures to deal with the parking lot crowds.
“We’re just trying to manage an event properly here,” Kesey said. “I know it’s been part of the culture for a long time, but an open-air vending market is not what we want to see.”
More on Kesey Enterprises at their Facebook page.

Still ironic, but slightly understandable:
Dennis McNally, the Grateful Dead’s former publicist and band historian, said the band began supporting such crackdowns outside some concerts beginning in the late 1980s.
“Around that time, the number of people at shows who didn’t have tickets went from maybe 1,000 to somewhere closer to 5,000,” he said. “It caused an environmental overload situation at many venues.”

Coffee Sleeve | Homeland Security | See Something | The Daily Caller

2011-09-20T19:51:00.000-07:00

Homeland Security wants you to Drink Your Coffee and Look for Terrorists as their ~~promotion~~ propaganda "If you see something, say something" continues.

Big Brother is watching you while you drink your coffee, or at least imploring you to watch others while you drink your coffee.

Coffee addicts getting their morning fix may notice an advertisement on their coffee-cup sleeves with a helpful message from the Department of Homeland Security. “If you see something, say something,” the ad says. “Report unattended bags and unusual behavior to police or transit personnel.”

A DHS spokesperson said the Maryland Transit Administration started the coffee sleeve campaign. According to the sleeve, the ad was “purchased with funds provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.”

Part of the Department of Homeland Security’s guidelines for suspicious behavior include individuals “acting furtively and suspiciously” and “avoiding eye contact.” The side effects of heavy caffeine use include irritability, anxiety, tremulousness and muscle twitching.

Canada The Alarm Clock is going off !: The Convoluted case of Dillon Malanga

2011-09-16T23:22:00.000-07:00

If your school board and probation officer don't like your politics, you're in big trouble:

Canada The Alarm Clock is going off !: The Convoluted case of Dillon Malanga

Monthly Terror Drills Now Required By Law For Students Including Kindergarten And 1st Graders :

2011-09-16T23:08:00.000-07:00

Here's another item about schools and preparing students for terror: Monthly Terror Drills Now Required By Law For Students Including Kindergarten And 1st Graders. In the past, most of these stories about government sanctioned terror drills -- which took many forms -- were from the U.K. This story is from the U.S.

At first, the story seems like an alarmist piece. After all, all public schools have fire and lock down drills. A good thing, since naturally the reasonable goal is to protect children. Modeling calm behavior in the midst of risk and danger is a good thing; no one could argue that.

But then things turn ugly and the propaganda comes tumbling out loud and clear. Like the ~~drills~~ social engineering experiments in the U.K., where parents and often staff weren't notified in advance of the staged events, the following took place in New Jersey:

NJ School Shooting Drill Terrifies Teachers

About 50 teachers at a New Jersey school experienced a terrifying moment when a shooting rampage turned out to be a drill, but the teachers didn’t know it.
It happened Aug. 28 at the Phillipsburg New Jersey Early Learning Center.
A man burst into the library and started shooting. But the gun didn’t have any bullets, just blanks.
Teachers took cover under child-sized tables, crying and trembling.
“People are crying. The girl next to me is trembling and shaking. You heard people crying. You heard other people praying. It was pretty dramatic,” one teacher said.
The school district put the drill in place to test staff readiness.

To "test staff readiness" is disingenuous spin.

In this same article, I was very surprised to read about a drill that took place here in Oregon in the town of Albany, about an hour's drive from where I live:

School shooting drill gets cops, kids on same page

ALBANY, Ore. – For students, fire drills and earthquake drills are simply the norm, but on Wednesday, in a sign of the times, students in Albany took part in a school shooting drill that was very intense.
This may have been only a drill, but it’s just about as real as it gets.
“Basically, the weaponry is the same weapon we carry on duty,” said Albany Police Sgt. Travis Giboney. “However, they use a marking cartridge: kind of like a paintball, except it’s a gas-driven paint pellet.”
Source:CBS Local KVAL Channel 13

I am completely in agreement that these drills contain an agenda that is extremely insidious. However, I don't agree with HIggins' point about student safety tactics during an actual lock down:

Instinctive tactics like flight and dispersion would probably serve them better than hiding beneath desks while a shooter walks by and picks them off through a window.

Good point in many ways, but ignores developmental and age appropriate factors. However, that is not the issue here.

Be sure to watch the clip embedded in this article; chilling as to what police are being trained in these days by Lt. Col Dave Grossman, "terror expert." This is where much of what is going on in our schools comes from. Not only has Grossman trained in every state, but has also trained the Coast Guard, military branches, and the Forest Service. That last agency may seem like an odd one to include, but look into what they've been doing lately and it doesn't seem so strange. Grossman's agenda (and we have to ask -- who, or what, is he serving?) isn't limited to schools and government; he trains corporate America as well.

Related posts:
UK Teachers Tell Students WWIII Has Started

Eliciting Accurate Emotional Response in Students

Eliciting Accurate Emotional Response in Students

Quartzsite, AZ: Quartzsite fires whistleblower cops

2011-09-15T20:49:00.000-07:00

The madness of Quartzsite, Arizona:Quartzsite, AZ: Quartzsite fires whistleblower cops

I realize commenting on events in a place I've never been to has limitations, but clearly the numerous illegal and plain bizarre events in Quartzsite, Arizona seem to speak for themselves. How these people get away with these things is beyond me; from the governor on down no one seems to take responsibility and get involved, the paid authorities in Quartzsite continue to defy ethics, the law and common sense despite making the national news... at this point, you'd be tempted to think it's some sort of vast social engineering experiment.

Activist Post: Unacceptable Emotions Soon to be Analyzed in Airports

2011-09-15T20:24:00.000-07:00

Activist Post: Unacceptable Emotions Soon to be Analyzed in Airports

"Panic on the playground"

2011-09-12T21:08:00.000-07:00

Paranoia runs deep. . .

In June, police ticketed two women eating doughnuts on a bench inside one of the city’s public playgrounds; another doughnut-eating pair on a nearby bench also received tickets. The quartet, who had bought their snacks from a cramped doughnut shop across the street, had broken the same municipal law as a group of seven men who were ticketed last winter while playing chess at another playground.

Panic on the playground

Visitors to Arizona prisons hit with $25 fee�|�Truth Frequency News

2011-09-12T20:51:00.000-07:00

Seems illegal to me and it's being challenged but so far, it stands.

A prison reform group sued the corrections department, saying the fee was arbitrary, unconstitutional and amounted to a tax on an already vulnerable segment of residents. Corrections officials say the fees will ensure inmates are safe.
Since the law went into effect July 20, there has been confusion, with potential visitors wondering whether they would have to pay and why a fee for a background check would go toward building repairs. Some worried that the fee would reduce the number of visitors, essentially eliminating the kinds of family contact with prisoners that could improve the chances for rehabilitation.
Plaintiff Donna Hamm said families are already under budget constraints and must pay for multiple members and travel to sometimes remote prisons to reach inmates.
“So in essence, if this policy results in delaying or diminishing or eliminating prison visitation for anyone, the state is shooting themselves in the foot in terms of rehabilitation,” Hamm said. “That’s a very short-sighted view of public safety policy.”
The Tempe, Ariz.-based Middle Ground Prison Reform filed the lawsuit last month seeking to have the fee declared a tax and any money paid so far returned to visitors.
Arizona Department of Corrections Director Charles Ryan denied allegations that the fee actually is a tax on vulnerable groups and unconstitutional, according to court documents.

Visitors to Arizona prisons hit with $25 fees

Google Aims to Own Your Online ID

2011-09-12T20:44:00.000-07:00

They keep trying, and will keep trying, until they've won. Unless we continue to protest and get creative with our anarchy.

Google Aims to Own Your Online ID

Update:Music fest brought to a halt | After a night of partying, most attendees heed the message and file out from the remote Blachly site

2011-09-11T14:50:00.000-07:00

An update on the Blachy music festival I posted about yesterday. I commented in the first post that the granting of a restraining order seemed illegal, and the reasons why had little to do with permits and concern for public safety but quite a lot to do with control.

The following also seems illegal; as cars left the private property where the music festival was held, police harassed drivers and passengers:

Deputies stopped cars as they exited, making sure passengers were wearing seat belts and drivers were licensed and not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Deputies also issued what they said were “numerous” citations for a range of crimes and violations to departing festivalgoers.
Sheriff’s Sgt. Jon Campbell oversaw the exodus, which he said began midmorning and involved a “steady stream of cars for the last several hours.”
“For the most part, they’ve gotten the message,” Campbell said about the dispersing attendees.

What "message" is that?
It seems like searching without probable cause: "...making sure passengers were wearing seat belts and drivers were licensed and not under the influence of drugs or alcohol."

Music fest brought to a halt | After a night of partying, most attendees heed the message and file out from the remote Blachly site

On Brane Space: It's Past Time to Ditch the "9/11" Meme!

2011-09-11T13:49:00.000-07:00

A brave and excellent post from Brane Space: Brane Space: It's Past Time to Ditch the "9/11" Meme!

The post starts off with this eerily apt quote -- and it's not really so shocking who said it, given the Orwellian events in the U.S. since 9/11:

"Why of course the people don’t want war...But after all it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship ... Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they’re being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger.” - Hermann Goering, Nuremberg, 1946

Blogger is behaving very strangely today! I can't access half my blogs, it keeps getting me into a weird loop of "we don't know who you are" (I've only been blogging for what, years?) and it won't let me post a comment at other blogs, like Brane Space, which gives me a "you don't have permission to view this page" --

This is what I commented at Brane Space but don't think it went through:

A brave post, given the very meme you discuss (the quasi-religious/political aura) -- I've linked to your post.

It's pandering and manipulation as well as distraction and hypocrisy while the responders (9/11) and the troops (the aftermath of wars, that, 10 years later, we are still waging) are swept aside, their mental,physical and financial health issues ignored. Not to mention the hundreds of unanswered questions surrounding the events of that day.

In Rick Perry's Texas, Firefighters Forced To Pay For Gear, Engine Fuel

2011-09-11T10:11:00.000-07:00

In Rick Perry's Texas, Firefighters Forced To Pay For Gear, Engine Fuel:

In Texas, firefighters aren't just battling the wild fires raging around Austin and Houston. The state's first responders have also had to deal with budget cuts affecting everything from fuel purchases to hoses and air tanks.
In some cases, fire officials say, firefighters have had to pay out of pocket for basic necessities like proper protective gear and fuel to get them to the scene. One fire department that battled the blazes in Bastrop County had to pay for a hose, recalledBastrop City Fire Chief Henry Perry, speaking to The Huffington Post during a break from working the wild fires.
Earlier this week, HuffPost reported that Gov. Rick Perry, the GOP front-runner for president, had signed off on millions in firefighting cuts as part of the state's most recent budget legislation. The Texas Forest Service's funding has gone from $117.7 million in the 2010-2011 budget years to $83 million in the 2012-2013 budget years.
Severe cuts have also hit assistance grants.

Roads to festival blocked | Officials say the lack of permits makes the festival a risk for public health, safety and fire danger

2011-09-10T16:57:00.000-07:00

The small town of Blachy here in Oregon (not far from where I live in Eugene) has put on a music festival on private land for the last eleven years. This year the festival continues, sort of.

A judge granted an injunction against the festival and issued a restraining order against the festival coordinators. The reason for this injunction is because (supposedly) the festival planners don't have the permits. Roads are blocked prohibiting access to the property, which seems highly illegal. Adding to the confusion is the fact that the festival is allowed to continue -- those already on the land to attend the festival are being left alone. But if the festival is illegal due to lack of permits, why not go in there and cite the festival facilitators and or land owner under the permit laws -- why block roads?

County officials said organizers of the “Where Life Begins 2011” electronic music festival failed to obtain permits for an event that started Friday, placing attendees projected in the thousands and the general public at risk for public health, safety and fire dangers.
Roadblocks to the site went up about 7:30 p.m. Friday at Swamp Creek, Jay and Rust roads, despite passionate arguments from the event organizer, Russell Gorman of Portland, and the property owner, Brian Hamilton, that the 11-year-old festival is safe.
Capt. Bill Thompson of the Lane County Sheriff’s Office said deputies would be stationed at the roadblocks throughout the night to ensure that no more cars got into the festival. However, law enforcement agencies were reluctant to remove people and musicians who already had reached the grounds. Therefore, barring changing circumstances, Thompson said the festival itself would not be broken up.

Public safety is a concern, hence the issuing of the restraining order and go ahead to block the roads, yet the festival is allowed to continue anyway, even though the festival is a supposed hazard. The article goes on to say that the festival planners, land owner and those in attendance could be later charged with contempt.

I suspect there's more to this than concern for public safety. Sheriffs and other authorities cite several reasons for not wanting the event held: fire safety concerns, access for emergency vehicles, drinking water, sanitation, etc. But it seems odd that these factors are a concern after eleven years. The event is described by one of the event organizers:

“I would describe this event as a bunch of creative musicians connecting through their art form,” said Chet Wilson, one the event’s organizers and a Portland resident. “This is a nationally recognized event ... and a peaceful gathering of people. (Electronic dance music) started out in Europe, but it’s gaining power here. This is a movement like a new-age Woodstock.”

Some residents don't mind, after all, this is an area of "old hippies" as one person describes himself int he article. Others disagree with peace love and happiness:

I’m going to be nervous in my home for three days, scared of people wandering up to my house ... The kids don’t go down there to drink tea.”

And that last quote is the one the local paper pulled for it's headline:

The kids don’t go down there to drink tea.”— JOHN COYNE, A RESIDENT WHO LIVES NEAR FESTIVAL SITE

Which tells us everything we need to know about the agendas behind blocking the festival.

Roads to festival blocked | Officials say the lack of permits makes the festival a risk for public health, safety and fire danger

FDA Says You Have No Fundamental Right to Grow or Eat Healthy Food, It’s a Privilege | Before It's News

2011-09-10T15:50:00.000-07:00

FDA Says You Have No Fundamental Right to Grow or Eat Healthy Food, It’s a Privilege | Before It's News

That is correct. The FDA has indeed said such a thing. I'll quote from the article here:

FDA: “Plaintiffs’ assertion of a ‘fundamental right to their own bodily and physical health, which includes what foods they do and do not choose to consume for themselves and their families,’ is similarly unavailing because plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to obtain any food they wish.”

Kevin Hayden, Before It's News: I’m gonna say something real crazy here: if the above statements released by the FDA don’t freak you out, you’re clueless and a big part of the problem. The fact that they can state that all Americans don’t have a “fundamental right to their own bodily and physical health, which includes what foods they do and do not choose to consume for themselves and their families” is downright dictatorial. If the Constitution doesn’t protect us with respect to what we choose to eat or not eat, it’s a useless document…

Female Blogger Threatened With Defamation Suit For Writing About TSA 'Rape'

2011-09-07T17:45:00.000-07:00

TSA agent wants to sue Amy Alkon, victim of a pat-down for blogging about her experience. Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano, who continues the propaganda by marginalising those who call TSA, Homeland Security and "Big Sis" herself (as Matt Drudge refers to Napolitano) by dismissing those who call these entities Orwellian or Big Brother fascism:

“We want to be conscious of civil liberties and civil rights protections—and we are,”

Clearly demonstrating the belief that saying something is so, makes it so...

Fortunately Alkon has a lawyer -- Marc Randazza-- who says this is a free speech issue, which it is of course.

Female Blogger Threatened With Defamation Suit For Writing About TSA 'Rape' - Forbes

James Fox: Pretty Slick | A documentary feature on the year of the BP Oil Spill

2011-09-06T19:25:00.000-07:00

James Fox was one of the first researchers/documentarians to go directly to the Gulf during the spill (I shouldn't say "during" since it's still happening) and document what's going on. A brave thing to do, what James Fox did, and is doing...

He now has a web site devoted to the BP Spill: Pretty Slick | A documentary feature on the year of the BP Oil Spill

BP in the Gulf: 10 Mile Oil Slick; Things are Worse Than Ever

2011-09-05T15:52:00.000-07:00

American Paradox

2011-09-04T14:36:00.000-07:00

“It is a peculiarity of the development of American fascism that at the present stage it comes forward principally in the guise of an opposition to fascism, which it accuses of being an “un-American” trend imported from abroad.” – Georgi Dimitrov, in his report delivered at the Seventh World Congress of the Communist International in 1935.

Source: Technoccult