Marcus Aurelius: False Embassy Threat a Preamble to War? + Syria Islam Divide Iran Nuclear Israeli Insanity RECAP Update 1.1 — More Prison Breaks?

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 05 Iran, 06 Russia, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Terrorism, 10 Transnational Crime, Corruption, Government, Idiocy, IO Deeds of War, Officers Call, Peace Intelligence
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius

The retired Marine colonel who cued me to this report opined that, “This is a hell of a lot closer to the mark than any Administration or DoS blathering.”  I would be totally unsurprised to find him 100% spot-on.  I invite your attention to the final para, highlighted.  If that is true, the (in)actions of our government may have rendered us incapable, fiscally and operationally, of effective response.  Another Task Force Smith, another Kaserine Pass could be the foreseeable result.

Unmasking the embassy threat

Embassy closures are a signal of the rapidly escalated intervention in the region by the US

There is one thing certain about the publicized threat to our embassies; it is not what it is presented to be. To accept the official explanation of a nebulous threat from al Qaeda as the reason for closing our embassies across the Middle East and North Africa is being dangerously naive and simplistic.

This is much more serious than what we are being told, but not for the reasons we are being given. We are seeing the consequences of a long running “Cold War” on two major fronts of political conflict that could escalate into military engagement with proxy nations of world super powers. The world, and life as we know it, could change in an instant should we awaken one morning to the news of bombs flying across the Middle East. That is a very real possibility, as we are now in a heightened proxy war environment. We are standing in a thick forest of dry tinder, and the smallest of sparks could ignite a conflagration the likes of which we have never before seen.

Continue reading “Marcus Aurelius: False Embassy Threat a Preamble to War? + Syria Islam Divide Iran Nuclear Israeli Insanity RECAP Update 1.1 — More Prison Breaks?”

Eagle: The Financial System Does Not Just Enable Theft, IT IS THEFT

01 Poverty, 03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 10 Transnational Crime, 11 Society, Commerce, Corruption, Government
300 Million Talons...
300 Million Talons…

The Financial System Doesn't Just Enable Theft, It Is Theft

It's not just inflation that is theft.

Charles Hugh Smith

Of Two Minds, 31 July 2013

It is painfully self-evident that our financial system doesn't just enable theft, it is theft by nature and design. If you doubt this, please follow along.Inflation is theft, but we accept inflation because we've been persuaded it benefits us. Here's the basic story: our financial system creates new credit money (i.e. debt) in quantities that are only limited by the appetites of borrowers and the value of assets they buy with freshly borrowed money.

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David Swanson: Deep Dissection of Trans-Pacific Partnership — The Most Evil Reprehensible Impeachable Act To Come Out of Washington in Recent Memory

03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Transnational Crime, 11 Society, Commerce, Corruption, Government
David Swanson
David Swanson

TPP: The Terrible Plutocratic Plan

By David Swanson

Remarks July 21, 2013 at an Occupy Harrisonburg (Va.) Event.
Make your voice heard here.

Thanks to Michael Feikema and Doug Hendren for inviting me.  Like most of you I do not spend my life studying trade agreements, but the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is disturbing enough to make me devote a little time to it, and I hope you will do the same and get your neighbors to do the same and get them to get their friends to do the same — as soon as possible.

I spend most of my time reading and writing about war and peace.  I'm in the middle of writing a book about the possibility and need to abolish war and militarism.  I hate to take a break from that.  But if we think trade and militarism are separate topics we're fooling ourselves.

New York Timescolumnist Thomas Friedman, a big fan of the supposed wonders of the hidden hand of the market economy says, “The hidden hand of the market will never work without a hidden fist. McDonald's cannot flourish without McDonnell Douglas, the designer of the U.S. Air Force F-15.  And the hidden fist that keeps the world safe for Silicon Valley's technologies to flourish is called the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.”

Continue reading “David Swanson: Deep Dissection of Trans-Pacific Partnership — The Most Evil Reprehensible Impeachable Act To Come Out of Washington in Recent Memory”

Berto Jongman: YouTube (48:52) Definitive Trial and Virtual Conviction of NSA

07 Other Atrocities, 10 Transnational Crime, Corruption, Government, Military
Berto Jongman
Berto Jongman

DEFCON 20: Bigger Monster, Weaker Chains: The National Security Agency and the Constitution”>DEFCON 20: Bigger Monster, Weaker Chains: The National Security Agency and the Constitution

Published on Nov 17, 2012

Speakers: JAMEEL JAFFER DEPUTY LEGAL DIRECTOR, AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION
WILLIAM BINNEY FORMER OFFICIAL, NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY
JAMES BAMFORD INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST
ALEX ABDO STAFF ATTORNEY, AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION

The panel will be moderated by the Deputy Director of the ACLU, Jameel Jaffer.

The National Security Agency, the largest, most powerful spy agency in the world, has taken in an estimated 15 to 20 trillion communications since 9/11, often in defiance of the Constitution and Congressional statutes. The NSA’s goal, some say, is to collect virtually all of our electronic communications to allow mass data mining reminiscent of the notorious and now reportedly-defunct program, Total Information Awareness. The limits on the agency’s authority to sweep up and analyze this information are critical to our safety and our privacy. The NSA is investing vast amounts in increasing its data storage, code-breaking and analysis capabilities, frequently claiming the investments are for foreign intelligence or “cybersecurity” purposes. However, instead of keeping its equipment trained on terrorism suspects or foreign governments, the NSA is increasingly monitoring the communications of innocent people. Longtime NSA official and whistleblower Bill Binney will join investigative journalist and NSA expert James Bamford and ACLU lawyer Alex Abdo to explore the NSA’s goals, reach, and capabilities, and the legality (or illegality) of its actions.

For more information visit: http://bit.ly/defcon20_information
To download the video visit: http://bit.ly/defcon20_videos
Playlist DEFCON 20: http://bit.ly/defcon20_playlist

Berto Jongman: Transatlantic Drug Trade — The US Market Keeps on Growing

10 Transnational Crime, IO Impotency
Berto Jongman
Berto Jongman

Transatlantic Drug Trade

Europe, Latin America and the Need to Strengthen Anti-Narcotics Cooperation

Latin American drug networks are increasing their operations in Europe, primarily because the size of the cocaine market has decreased in North America. The appropriate response, argues this briefing paper, is to further improve transatlantic counter-narcotics cooperation. That could include stronger links between anti-drugs programs, enhanced security policies and more.

>Download: English (PDF · 9 pages · 2.0 MB)

Author: Mikael Wigell, Mauricio Romero

Series: FIIA (UPI) Briefing Papers Issue: 132

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Chuck Spinney: Be Very Afraid — Obama Kept the Debt He Promised to Write Down and Now Pressure is On for Governments to Sell the Commonwealth Piece by Piece

03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Transnational Crime, 11 Society, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corruption, Government, Idiocy, Ineptitude
Chuck Spinney
Chuck Spinney

From the Bubble Economy to Debt Deflation and Privatization

Michael Hudson, Counterpunch, 2013-07-05

The Federal Reserve’s QE3 has flooded the stock and bond markets with low-interest liquidity that makes it profitable for speculators to borrow cheap and make arbitrage gains buying stocks and bonds yielding higher dividends or interest. In principle, one could borrow at 0.15 percent (one sixth of one percent) and buy up stocks, bonds and real estate throughout the world, collecting the yield differential as arbitrage. Nearly all the $800 billion of QE2 went abroad, mainly to the BRICS for high-yielding bonds (headed by Brazil’s 11% and Australia’s 5+%), with the currency inflow for this carry trade providing a foreign-exchange bonus as well.

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SchwartzReport: Only 47% of US Adults Have Full-Time Job — CAN YOU HEAR US NOW? Robert Steele Comments + REVOLUTION USA RECAP

03 Economy, 06 Family, 07 Health, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Transnational Crime, 11 Society, Corruption, Government, Idiocy, Ineptitude

schwartz reportHere is some good news and some bad news. More jobs were created, but they are generally low level jobs, and 53 per cent of adult Americans still don't have jobs. We cannot have a prosperous democracy when over half the adults don't have secure full-time employment.

Only 47% of Adults Have Full-Time Job
MIKE FLYNN – Breitbart

EXTRACT:

Of the 144 million Americans employed last month, only 116 million were working full-time. Friday's report showed that 58.7% of the civilian adult population of 245 million was working last month. Only 47% of Americans, however, had a full-time job.

Continue reading “SchwartzReport: Only 47% of US Adults Have Full-Time Job — CAN YOU HEAR US NOW? Robert Steele Comments + REVOLUTION USA RECAP”

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