TRUTH HAS FALLEN & TAKEN LIBERTY WITH IT

Is The Military-Industrial Complex Invincible?
By Kourosh Ziabari
May 16, 2014

It was more than half a century ago that the then U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower, in his farewell address to the nation, warned of the growing influence of a phenomenon that still continues to undermine and weaken the bases of American democracy: the military-industrial complex.

The military-industrial complex is a concept denoting a money-spinning and economically beneficial interaction between the war-planners and the arms industry. The government officials set the plans for a new military adventure with the apparent goal of “exporting democracy” to other countries and “liberating” them while the genuine, behind-the-scenes goal is to further some political interests and plunder the natural resources of the target country. On their part, the multinational companies get profitable and lucrative deals for manufacturing weaponry, and the whole process, which ultimately leads to unwarranted killings and irretrievable destructions, undercuts the government’s accountability before the Constitution and the international law.

To get an idea of what the military-industrial complex is, it would be helpful to take a look at the relationship between the legislative bodies of the U.S. federal government, i.e. the bicameral Congress comprised of the Senate and the House of Representatives, the arms manufacturing industry, the interest groups, political lobbies, the multinational organizations and the corporate media.

For a long time, this dreadful complex, which the only army general elected as the U.S. President has worriedly warned about, has imposed additional and unjustifiable costs on the American taxpayers. The U.S. citizens have been bearing the brunt of the government’s warmongering and bloodletting across the globe. It’s noted that the United States, since its independence, has either directly or indirectly taken part in more than 50 wars and military confrontations that have cost the lives of millions of innocent, unarmed civilians. The most recent example is the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which until the complete withdrawal of the U.S. forces in 2011, claimed around 1.5 million lives.

The American citizens, even those who usually approve of the government policies regardless of which party is in power, have always complained about the disproportionate and irrational spending of the successive administrations on militarism and wars. This concern was echoed in President Eisenhower’s farewell address delivered on January 17, 1961 where he stated, “three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.”

CONTINUE: http://www.globalresearch.ca/is-the-military-industrial-complex-invincible/5382534

Cracking The “Conspiracy Theories’” Psycholinguistic Code: The Witch Hunt against Independent Research and Analysis
By James F. Tracy
May 21, 2014

A new crusade appears to be underway to target independent research and analysis available via alternative news media. This March saw the release of “cognitive infiltration” advocate Cass Sunstein’s new book, Conspiracy Theories and Other Dangerous Ideas. In April, the confirmed federal intelligence-gathering arm, Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), released a new report, “Agenda 21: The UN, Sustainability, and Right Wing Conspiracy Theory.” Most recently, Newsweek magazine carried a cover story, titled, “The Plots to Destroy America: Conspiracy Theories Are a Clear and Present Danger.”

As its discourse suggests, this propaganda campaign is using the now familiar “conspiracy theory” label, as outlined in Central Intelligence Agency Document 1035-960, the 1967 memo laying out a strategy for CIA “media assets” to counter criticism of the Warren Commission and attack independent investigators of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. At that time the targets included attorney Mark Lane and New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, who were routinely defamed and lampooned in major US news outlets.

Declassified government documents have proven Lane and Garrison’s allegations of CIA-involvement in the assassination largely accurate. Nevertheless, the prospect of being subject to the conspiracy theorist smear remains a potent weapon for intimidating authors, journalists, and scholars from interrogating complex events, policies, and other potentially controversial subject matter.

As the title of Newsweek’s feature story indicates, a primary element of contemporary propaganda campaigns using the conspiracy theory/ist label is to suggest that citizens’ distrust of government imperatives and activities tends toward violent action. The “conspiracy theorist” term is intentionally conflated with “conspiracist,” thus linking the two in the mass mind. Images of Lee Harvey Oswald, Timothy McVeigh, and Osama bin Laden are subtly invoked when the magic terms are referenced. In reality, it is typically Western governments using their police or military who prove the foremost purveyors of violence and the threat of violence — both domestically and abroad.

In his Newsweek article, author and journalist Kurt Eichenwald selectively employs the assertions of the SPLC, Sunstein, and a handful of social scientists to postulate in Orwellian fashion that independent research and analysis of the United Nations’ Agenda 21, the anti-educational thrust of “Common Core,” the dangers of vaccine injury and water fluoridation, and September 11 — all important policies and issues worthy of serious study and concern — are a “contagion” to the body politic.

In a functioning public, honest academics and journalists would uninhibitedly delve into these and similar problems – GMOs, state-sponsored terrorism, the dangers of non-ionizing radiation – particularly since such phenomena pose grave threats to both popular sovereignty and self determination. Such intellectuals would then provide important findings to foster vigorous public debate.

Absent this, segments of the populace still capable of critical thought are inclined to access and probe information that leads them to question bureaucratic edicts and, in some cases, suggest a potentially broader political agenda. In today’s world, however, such research projects carried out by the hoi polloi that are expressly reserved for government or foundation-funded technocrats “’distort the debate that is crucial to democracy,’” says Dartmouth political scientist Brendan Nyhan.

CONTINUE: http://www.globalresearch.ca/cracking-conspiracy-theorys-psycholinguistic-code-the-witch-hunt-against-independent-research-and-analysis/5383108

The World’s Most Powerful Private Club, Bilderberg’s Silent Takeover of Britain’s $60bn Defense Budget
By Tony Gosling
May 29, 2014

Democracy had another near-fatal stroke, and the military industrial complex further tightened UK defense spending with the appointment of ex-army officer and Tory hothead Rory Stewart MP as the new chairman of Westminster’s Defence Select Committee.

Last week the Home Affairs Select Committee delivered a damning verdict on Britain’s defense and secret service oversight, on taxpayer accountability. It said the refusal of the director general of MI5, Andrew Parker, to appear before them and lack of any effective supervision was “undermining the credibility of the intelligence agencies and parliament itself.”

Surely nothing could surpass the ‘Dodgy Dossier’, the criminal conspiracy that led to the US and Britain, as the Arab League put it in 2003, to ‘Opening the Gates of Hell in Iraq’? But with Stuart’s appointment to oversee public scrutiny of UK military spending just two weeks before NATO’s political cabal of which he’s a member, the Bilderberg conference, meets in Copenhagen later this month, it is clear to those who still have eyes to see that those bloody lessons have not been learned and the worse could be yet to come.
The most powerful private club in the world

In their Christmas 1987 edition, The Economist described Bilderberg as ‘Ne Plus Ultra’ the most powerful private club in the world. Its power has certainly not diminished as the decades have rolled by and neither has its secrecy. Although it began with trades unionists and powerful people it wanted to persuade, in its final days Bilderberg has boiled down to a rotten core of bankers, royalty, arms industry, oil and media barons and Rory Stuart MP, in the tradition of Kissinger, Blair, Cameron, Osborne and Balls, has thrown his lot in with them.

In 1943, half way through the war, the US power elite saw that, barring any big surprises, Hitler was going to lose World War Two, so their ‘War And Peace Studies Group’ of the Council On Foreign Relations (CFR) quietly began to prepare the Marshall Plan for the post-war world. Alongside the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a sizable budget was set aside to fund a range of activities which would ensure Europeans didn’t vote communist and were welded economically, culturally and politically to the US for the foreseeable future.

CONTINUE: http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-worlds-most-powerful-private-club-bilderbergs-silent-takeover-of-britains-60bn-defense-budget/5382698

Bilderberg Agenda Revealed: Elite Desperate to Rescue Unipolar World - Anti-EU revolution, Ukraine crisis threaten to derail global government
By Paul Joseph Watson
May 28, 2014
Infowars 27 May 2014

The 2014 Bilderberg meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark is taking place amidst a climate of panic for many of the 120 globalists set to attend the secretive confab, with Russia’s intransigence on the crisis in Ukraine and the anti-EU revolution sweeping Europe posing a serious threat to the unipolar world order Bilderberg spent over 60 years helping to build.

Inside sources confirm to Infowars that the elite conference, which will take place from Thursday onwards at the five star Marriott Hotel, will center around how to derail a global political awakening that threatens to hinder Bilderberg’s long standing agenda to centralize power into a one world political federation, a goal set to be advanced with the passage of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which will undoubtedly be a central topic of discussion at this year’s meeting.

The TTIP represents an integral component of Bilderberg’s attempt to rescue the unipolar world by creating a “world company,” initially a free trade area, which would connect the United States with Europe. Just as the European Union started as a mere free trade area and was eventually transformed into a political federation which controls upwards of 50 per cent of its member states’ laws and regulations with total contempt for national sovereignty and democracy, TTIP is designed to accomplish the same goal, only on a bigger scale.

The deal is being spearheaded by Obama’s U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, a Wall Street insider and a CFR member, Bilderberg’s sister organization. Froman is simultaneously helping to build another block of this global government, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is a similar project involving Asian countries.

Given that Bilderberg schemed to create the Euro single currency as far back as 1955 (Bilderberg chairman Étienne Davignon bragged about how the Euro single currency was a brainchild of the Bilderberg in 2009 interview), the results of the European elections are sure to have stirred outright alarm amongst Bilderberg globalists who are aghast that their planned EU superstate is being eroded as a result of a populist resistance mainly centered around animosity towards uncontrolled immigration policies.

In Denmark itself, the buzz is centered around Morten Messerschmidt and the Danish People’s party, which won 27% of the vote in the Euro elections and doubled its number of MEPs. Although some are wary of Messerschmidt’s far right inclinations, his success reflects a general resentment not only in Denmark but across Europe towards immigration and the welfare state, concerns that the EU has only exasperated.

CONTINUE: http://www.globalresearch.ca/bilderberg-agenda-revealed-elite-desperate-to-rescue-unipolar-world/5384291

The Fourteen Defining Characteristics Of Fascism
By Lawrence Britt
June 08, 2014

Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism – Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic motto's, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights – Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause – The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military – Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism – The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

6. Controlled Mass Media – Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security – Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

CONTINUE: http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-fourteen-defining-characteristics-of-fascism/5386112

Strict Baltimore curfew places minors in detention centers past bedtime

June 7th/2014

BALTIMORE, MD — The City Council of Baltimore voted to create one of the most stringent government curfew systems in the nation. Under the new restrictions, youths will be legally permitted to appear in public for only a few hours per day. Police may seize them on sight and take them to detention centers where they will be interrogated by social workers. Parents face stiff fines and jail time if their children are discovered in public during curfew hours.

The ordinance passed the city council in a 13-2 vote last week, in favor of enhancing Baltimore’s curfew policies. Supporters championed it as a step forward for safety and order. But at what cost?

The restrictions can be summarized as follows:

Daytime Curfew

◾7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on weekdays — People under 16 years old subject to detention.

Evening Curfew

◾9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. any night — People under 14 years old subject to detention.
◾10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. on weekdays — People ages 14-16 subject to detention.
◾11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. on weekends and summer nights — People ages 14-16 subject to detention.

Without explicitly doing anything wrong, younger Americans can be scooped up by police officers and detained just for showing their faces in public. They will be involuntarily taken to juvenile detention centers which the city affectionately calls “connection centers.”

While the minors won’t be arrested, their parents may be. Possible penalties which may apply to parents of curfew-breaking children include $500 fines, mandatory family counseling sessions, and even up to 60 days in jail. The ordinance can be read on the Maryland ALCU’s website.

Baltimore City Councilman Carl Stokes was one of only two votes against the curfew. He described how enforcement could potentially take place: “I’m not going to stop and tell your mom. I’m not going to stop and tell your dad. I’m going to take you right over to this juvenile detention center – juvenile curfew center — whatever you want to call it. “

Once taken to the curfew centers, students will be questioned by social workers without their parents present. They will be examined for reasons to justify further government intervention in their families.

“The child will be assessed by a community connector that determines if there are educational needs, substance abuse or counseling needs,” said Angela Johnese, who works for the mayor’s office.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake says she intends to sign the city council’s bill. Eventually she would like to place a “connection center” in each of the nine police districts.

While the curfew pleases many authoritarian-minded people, there was a vocal opposition that cited a number of compelling arguments against the curfew. Citizens organized and even held rallies against the curfew law.

Marvin “Doc” Cheatham, president of the neighborhood association in Baltimore, said on behalf of the group: “What we’re fearful of is that this is going to probably widen the gap between the community and the police. And right now, it’s not that good.”

“This issue with the curfew,” Cheatham added, is that “it is wrong, it is inappropriate at this time and we do not want to criminalize our children.”

Another compelling argument came from a representative of Baltimore’s Homeless Persons Representation Project, a NPO which represents homeless persons in court. The group says that there are 2,400 homeless youth in Baltimore, and being rounded up by police for involuntary detention is unlikely to seem like an act of charity to them.

“I’m really concerned that this is going to push them farther into the shadows,” said Ingrid Lofgren, an attorney for the group. “They’re already very hard for us to connect with, and a threat of increased police contact will make them even harder to find.”

Another unintended consequence of the law is that it pushes police to profile people based simply on their appearance. This will cause police to approach and harass adults who may have a younger looking appearance; demanding that they produce an ID to prove that they are “allowed” to be out past the government-mandated bedtime. Is there any greater way exemplification of a Nanny State mentality?

Beyond the impracticality of the curfew, the enforcement difficulties, the costs, and the unintended consequences, there is the argument that it infringes on the rights and freedoms of the individuals involved. Rights do not begin arbitrarily when a person turns 18 years old. A child’s curfew is a parenting matter. Police should never be used as a substitute for mommy and daddy.

See Video on this article: http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/baltimore-curfew-law/

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As it is below; so it is above

“Getting Away with Murder”: Immunity of the US Intelligence from Criminal Prosecution
By Joachim Hagopian
June 12, 2014

With the upcoming first anniversary of investigative journalist’s Michael Hastings untimely death last June 18th, so much circumstantial evidence surrounding his so called fatal accident points more to yet another inside government job that has become notorious for murdering those who speak the shameful truth about the US government. More than any other government entity especially since 9/11, US intelligence services have enjoyed carte blanche immunity from any actual oversight (by Congress, the president, and least of all the American people) and continue to lie and get away with murder both here in the US as well as all around the world because that is how they make their living.

The very day 33-year old Michael Hastings died last year, he was busily contacting friends and associates including WikiLeaks to report that he was under an FBI investigation. He feared that his car had been tampered with, and even went so far as to ask a neighbor friend if he could borrow her car just hours before his death. Hastings also announced that he was about to release a major bombshell of a news story involving covert operations deployed by US intelligence agencies, specifically targeting current CIA Director John Brennan. The UK’s Daily Mirror published an August 15, 2013 article stating the CIA contractor Stratfor’s president claimed that Brennan was on a “witch hunt” for investigative journalists, which of course is consistent with the Obama administration.

Though the FBI has consistently lied in denying it was investigating Michael Hastings, in fact it had been tracking and bugging him and his every whereabouts for well over a year prior to his death. In June 2012 Hastings’ Rolling Stone article portraying former Prisoner of War (POW) Bowe Bergdahl and his family depicted a disillusioned soldier who was guilty and sick of fighting another immoral American war he wanted no part of. So he simply walked away from his unit in Afghanistan the end of June 2009 and within 24 hours was captured by the Taliban enemy. To write the article, Hastings went both to Idaho to talk to Bowe’s parents as well as to the Afghan battlefront. Despite a gag order that military command had placed on soldiers not to speak at all about the Bergdahl case, several peers in his unit did candidly talk to the reporter.

The Bergdahl affair shares some similarity with the Pat Tillman case. The patriot left a successful NFL career to voluntarily fight in Afghanistan, then once there suffered misgivings about the war and was becoming more vocal about his anti-war views. Afraid that Bush and Cheney’s poster boy for their imperialistic war might go public, speculation abounds that Pat’s death from friendly fire was actually murder to silence him for turning against the war. To make this tragedy worse, the US government proceeded to cover up and conceal the actual cause of Tillman’s death from both his family and the American public.

Several years later when the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were even more unpopular and clearly both losing causes, in its effort to avoid more bad publicity, the Obama administration did its best to once again squelch the truth behind the Bergdahl story. Prior to Hasting’s POW article, the reporter had been responsible for writing two Rolling Stone stories that resulted in the abrupt scandalous ending of one Afghanistan commander’s career in General Stanley McChrystal, and then a year later an unflattering reality check for the failed surge of the next Afghan War commander in General Petraeus, soon to be rushing off leaving his military career, war mission and losing warfront behind to become CIA Director.

As Michael Hastings was forging a very successful career in journalism, clearly he had become a painful thorn in the side of some very powerful men whose careers were damaged by the truth he revealed. On multiple occasions when Hastings interviewed military officers attached to the generals he was featuring in his articles, he heard the same comment more than once that he would be killed if they did not approve of what he wrote about them. By the time he was writing about a POW who in good conscience was ashamed to be an American refusing to participate in another immoral imperialistic war, the powerful US intelligence agencies had had enough. Already perceiving Hastings as a serious threat worthy of keeping tabs on, they launched an ongoing investigation. Then by the time the courageous young writer set his sights on investigating the very same agencies already investigating him as his next target to expose the unfavorable truth on, the US intelligence agencies most likely made the decision to silence him.

CONTINUE: http://www.globalresearch.ca/getting-away-with-murder-immunity-of-the-us-intelligence-from-criminal-prosecution/5386827

Mainstream Media and the Illusion of Debate - The Great White 'Nope' - Genevieve Jacobs, Paul Mason and Alain De Botton
By David Edwards
June 11, 2014

When corporations own the news and advertisers ‘sponsor’ the shows, journalists know they are above all answerable to the company managers and allied interests who pay their salaries. The mere public, especially voices of dissent, can be treated with indifference, even contempt. Journalists have power without responsibility, and they know it.

On March 6, the fast-talking presenter of ABC Radio Triple 6′s Mornings with Genevieve Jacobs in Canberra described the shameful suffering of indigenous Australians exposed by John Pilger’s important film, Utopia.

‘What veteran filmmaker John Pilger had to present for his film was in many ways a Third World country, a place where there is despair and dispossession, desperate injustice.’

Jacobs quoted football legend and ‘Australian of the year’, Adam Goodes, on ‘mainstream’ Australia’s response to Pilger’s film: ‘Our response, our muted response, is a disgrace. It is disturbing and hurtful that we just don’t evidently care all that much.’

Jacobs then interviewed Pilger, asking him: ‘So what does that say about the state of the national debate?’

It was a good question, one that would soon return to haunt the questioner.

Like so many journalists responding to so much serious criticism, Jacobs breezily insisted that her organisation was different, it had embraced all points of view: ‘John, that’s a debate we’re very aware of here in Canberra… I think we’re well aware of that, John!’ she told Pilger repeatedly, who exposed the usual, key flaw in the argument: ‘Intensely discussed, yes, you’re absolutely right. But discussed in the narrowest terms.’

This recalled the sublime moment when Noam Chomsky rendered a brash young Andrew Marr temporarily speechless, after the BBC interviewer had commented of the Gulf War: ‘There was a great debate about whether there should have been a negotiated settlement.’

Chomsky interrupted: ‘No, sorry, no, that’s not [the] debate…’

Jacobs, though, was insistent: ‘Certainly here in Canberra we do have that discussion vigorously and often… I have spoken to people in the studio… I think that has been widely discussed.’

Given that the issues had in fact been endlessly discussed, what on earth was the point of Pilger’s film? Jacobs asked again: ‘That’s my question though – what do you bring that is new to this?’

Pilger replied: ‘Well, have you seen the film?’

Jacobs: ‘I haven’t seen the film, but…’

Like her audience, Jacobs knew exactly what was coming next: ‘Well then, how can we…? This is the problem, you see. And forgive me for raising it. How can you have a discussion with me about a film you haven’t seen?… You say you’re having a lot of debate there, but you apparently haven’t watched the film that we’re supposed to be talking about!’

Pilger’s voice dropped and slowed as he circled the flailing interviewer like a ‘Saltie’ croc: ‘I’m giving you the opportunity to explain to me and your listeners why you haven’t, why you haven’t watched the film before you discuss with the filmmaker the film?’

Jacobs explained that she hadn’t seen the film ‘because my producer suggested to me this morning that it would be a really good idea to discuss this’. But there was no place to hide: ‘You run a programme, and with all respect to you, that’s what Adam Goodes is talking about – that people like you cannot be bothered! And that’s what he’s writing about. Don’t you find this so exquisitely ironic?’

Jacobs instantly shut down the debate and turned to emailed comments sent in by listeners. Would these be favourable to the guest who had just sunk the host? Jacobs blurted: ‘Gus says to me, “Doesn’t ‘Triple 6′ ever get tired of having people on the radio to lecture us about how racist we are? Didn’t we say sorry? Are we going to move on?”‘

And by way of balance: ‘Rob says, “While I don’t disagree with Pilger on many issues he’s tackled over the years, his holier than thou, patronising tone alienates those who support his efforts and hardens the attitudes of those who don’t.”‘

CONTINUE: http://www.globalresearch.ca/mainstream-media-and-the-illusion-of-debate/5386603

Mystery Surrounding The Bilderberg Group Conclave
By Russ Baker
June 17, 2014
Who What Why 13 June 2014

The Bilderberg Group is so inherently bizarre that its yearly gatherings generate extreme reactions.

Those who openly profess the belief that the Bilderbergers essentially run the world pay it a whole lot of attention, usually trooping to the scene to stage colorful protests. The media, by and large, ignores it.

The Bilderberg name comes from the first such conclave, in 1954 at the Hotel de Bilderberg, in the Netherlands village of Oosterbeck. Typically, up to 150 of the most powerful people in the world get together at these conferences for an off-the-record chat. A lot of them are multinational execs and tycoons and political figures, but the invitees include journalists, academics and whoever else is considered worth talking to or listening to at the moment.

The Bilderberg Group explains on its website that: The Bilderberg conference is an annual three-day meeting designed to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. The pioneering meeting grew out of the concern expressed by leading citizens on both sides of the Atlantic that Western Europe and North America were not working together as closely as they should on issues of common interest…Through the years, the meetings have become a forum for discussion on a wide range of topics — from trade to jobs, from monetary policy to investment and from ecological challenges to the task of promoting international security. In the context of a globalized world, it is hard to think of any issue in either Europe or North America that could be tackled unilaterally.

The organization asserts that privacy is strictly for the purposes of ensuring candor, and nothing more: Thanks to the private nature of the conference, the participants are not bound by the conventions of their office or by pre-agreed positions. As such, they can take time to listen, reflect and gather insights. There is no detailed agenda, no resolutions are proposed, no votes are taken, and no policy statements are issued.

Bilderberg is governed by a Steering Committee which designates a Chairman; members are elected for a term of four years and can be re-elected. There are no other members of the Bilderberg conference. The Chair’s main responsibilities are to chair the Steering Committee and to prepare with the Steering Committee the conference program and the selection of participants. He also makes suggestions to the Steering Committee regarding its composition.

The expenses of maintaining the small secretariat of the Bilderberg meetings are covered wholly by private subscription. The hospitality costs of the annual meeting are the responsibility of the Steering Committee member(s) of the host country.

Bilderberg is considered by more than a few vocal critics as a kind of steering committee for global domination by an elite, a bit like Yale’s secret society, Skull and Bones, perhaps sans the oaths and weird induction ceremonies. It is, at minimum, an exclusive club.

Bilderberg’s current chairman is Henri de Castries, a French aristocrat. Castries lives in Paris, spends his weekends in a castle, and one week a month in the United States. He served in the French treasury, and participated in the weaning of France from a mixed economy influenced by socialism to a more purely capitalist one. He is chairman and CEO of something called the AXA Group, a global conglomerate involved largely with investments, insurance and healthcare. Its subsidiaries are around the world. In the United States, those include Equitable Life and MONY. The largest ownership stake is held by Americans; the government of Qatar has a piece too.

Others on the steering committee are from familiar names like Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Alcoa, and the corporate law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, as well as PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, the neocon former Bush official Richard Perle, along with an amalgam of public and private officials from a host of countries and entities, including a Dutch economics professor, the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the CEO of the European aerospace giant Airbus, and a vice president of the conservative Hudson Institute.

Sitting all by himself, after the Steering Committee, under the heading, Member Advisory Group, is David Rockefeller.

CONTINUE: http://www.globalresearch.ca/mystery-surrounding-the-bilderberg-group-conclave/5387324

The U.S. Supreme Court Is Marching in Lockstep with the Police State
By John W. Whitehead
June 24, 2014

“[I]f the individual is no longer to be sovereign, if the police can pick him up whenever they do not like the cut of his jib, if they can ‘seize’ and ‘search’ him in their discretion, we enter a new regime. The decision to enter it should be made only after a full debate by the people of this country.”
- U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas

The U.S. Supreme Court was intended to be an institution established to intervene and protect the people against the government and its agents when they overstep their bounds. Yet as I point out in my book A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, Americans can no longer rely on the courts to mete out justice. In the police state being erected around us, the police and other government agents can probe, poke, pinch, taser, search, seize, strip and generally manhandle anyone they see fit in almost any circumstance, all with the general blessing of the courts.

Whether it’s police officers breaking through people’s front doors and shooting them dead in their homes or strip searching innocent motorists on the side of the road, these instances of abuse are continually validated by a judicial system that kowtows to virtually every police demand, no matter how unjust, no matter how in opposition to the Constitution.

These are the hallmarks of the emerging American police state: where police officers, no longer mere servants of the people entrusted with keeping the peace, are part of an elite ruling class dependent on keeping the masses corralled, under control, and treated like suspects and enemies rather than citizens.

A review of the Supreme Court’s rulings over the past 10 years, including some critical ones this term, reveals a startling and steady trend towards pro-police state rulings by an institution concerned more with establishing order and protecting government agents than with upholding the rights enshrined in the Constitution.

Police officers can use lethal force in car chases without fear of lawsuits. In Plumhoff v. Rickard (2014), the Court declared that police officers who used deadly force to terminate a car chase were immune from a lawsuit. The officers were accused of needlessly resorting to deadly force by shooting multiple times at a man and his passenger in a stopped car, killing both individuals.

Police officers can stop cars based only on “anonymous” tips. In a 5-4 ruling in Navarette v. California (2014), the Court declared that police officers can, under the guise of “reasonable suspicion,” stop cars and question drivers based solely on anonymous tips, no matter how dubious, and whether or not they themselves witnessed any troubling behavior. This ruling came on the heels of a ruling by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in U.S. v. Westhoven that driving too carefully, with a rigid posture, taking a scenic route, and having acne are sufficient reasons for a police officer to suspect you of doing something illegal, detain you, search your car, and arrest you – even if you’ve done nothing illegal to warrant the stop in the first place.

Secret Service agents are not accountable for their actions, as long as they’re done in the name of security. In Wood v. Moss (2014), the Court granted “qualified immunity” to Secret Service officials who relocated anti-Bush protesters, despite concerns raised that the protesters’ First Amendment right to freely speak, assemble, and petition their government leaders had been violated. These decisions, part of a recent trend toward granting government officials “qualified immunity” – they are not accountable for their actions – in lawsuits over alleged constitutional violations, merely incentive government officials to violate constitutional rights without fear of repercussion.

Citizens only have a right to remain silent if they assert it. The Supreme Court ruled in Salinas v. Texas (2013) that persons who are not under arrest must specifically invoke their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination in order to avoid having their refusal to answer police questions used against them in a subsequent criminal trial. What this ruling says, essentially, is that citizens had better know what their rights are and understand when those rights are being violated, because the government is no longer going to be held responsible for informing you of those rights before violating them.

CONTINUE: http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-u-s-supreme-court-is-marching-in-lockstep-with-the-police-state/5388364

Unmasking Tony Blair’s ‘Interfaith’ Crusade: Using Religious Extremism to Impose a New World Order
By Matthew Butler
June 22, 2014
consciousreporter.com

Aa sectarian violence re-erupts in war-torn Iraq, Tony Blair has again justified waging the catastrophic Iraq War.

From the pulpit of his interfaith charity, he claims religious extremism is at the root of 21st century conflict – not western wars.

Why does Blair excuse western violence while pushing an “interfaith” agenda where “religious extremists” take all the blame for global strife?

Tony Blair wants the world’s major faiths to play a role in globalization. But what role? In 2008 he founded his eponymous interfaith foundation to promote “greater knowledge and understanding between people of different faiths,” and advance education in “faith and globalization”.

The Tony Blair Faith Foundation is a charity and ostensibly benevolent. But the former UK Prime Minister’s recurrent war cries to rally western governments to the cause of fighting “religious extremism” – which he hypes as the prime source of conflict in the 21st century – reveals an agenda and thinking that is warped and not conducive to peace, and completely ignores western culpability in starting wars and fomenting extremism. Blair is taking the same agenda that ushered in an era of war last decade to another arena – that of faith – where he believes the West should fight both through force and ideology.

Given the tragic consequences of Tony Blair’s rhetoric and campaigns in the past, which he continues to justify, it is important to take a closer look at the implications of his post-politics “interfaith” crusade.

From Warmonger to Interfaith Luminary
Tony Blair is considered by many guilty of war crimes for his role in the invasion of Iraq. After George Bush, he was the most influential western leader calling for the unprovoked “pre-emptive strike” and subsequent invasion of a sovereign country based on the supposed imminent threat posed by non-existent weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) – which he told the world Iraq could deploy in just 45 minutes. The invasion and occupation led to the estimated deaths of somewhere between 100,000 and a million people. No WMDs were found and the war did nothing to make western countries safer; rather it inflamed violence, hostility and terrorism. Al Qaeda never existed in Iraq before that war, and now it does. And with renewed violence breaking out, the Iraqi people continue to suffer in the war’s wake.It is well-known now that the “intelligence” on WMDs used to justify this war of aggression was at best dubious and exaggerated and at worst a complete sham. It is also believed that Tony Blair knew, or should have known, that war would likely throw the country into chaos (the Chilcot inquiry is due to report on the decisions and policies leading up to the invasion, but it continues to be suppressed and key information is expected to be omitted).

Whatever the case, Blair is not apologetic. This month he again defended the decision to go to war in a widely republished essay posted on his website, and once again called for more use of force in Iraq and the Middle East region  to deal with religious extremists. Blair’s narrative ignores how Western Governments have encouraged extremism by waging foreign wars as well as directly supporting Islamist militias, which has gone on at least since the US armed and backed the Mujahedin in Afghanistan in the 1970s, which helped to lay the groundwork for the formation of Al Qaeda. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), responsible for the latest spiraling violence in Iraq, has also been linked to US intelligence – which has been covertly supporting Sunni extremists in Syria to fight the Assad government. Syrian extremists now threaten Iraq. Some believe a deliberate “divide and conquer” strategy is at play here with the US backing both sides in Iraq’s current fighting.

Despite the culpability of Western countries in spurring conflict and fomenting extremists, earlier this year Blair claimed religious extremism is at the root of 21-st century conflict and said a “global strategy” was needed to counter it. He also blamed the bloodshed in Iraq and Afghanistan on extremists, saying the coalition campaigns were “thwarted by religious extremism” in an attempt to exonerate himself.

CONTINUE: http://www.globalresearch.ca/unmasking-tony-blairs-interfaith-crusade-using-religious-extremism-to-impose-a-new-world-order/5388088

The European Gendarmerie Force: The Prospect of Mass Civil Unrest in Europe Mercenaries Above the Law
By Andrei Akulov
June 30, 2014

On June 27 Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova signed association agreements with the EU. The move was presented as a decisive turn for democracy and human rights. But some issues related to the decision had been purposefully kept under the radar screen. Media assured the grassroots were not adequately provided information about some crucially important aspects of the step to be taken by their respective governments that have chosen the so-called European choice.

So one day the people of those states may wake up to find themselves facing raw awakening they have never expected. True, the economic transition period from associated status to membership is not going to be a bed of roses. And there is a specific feature here – if there is any social discontent you’d better conceal it and keep mum …or else!

The European Gendarmerie Force (EUROGENFOR) is a multinational initiative of six EU Member States – France, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and Spain – established in 2006 by treaty with the aim to strengthen international crisis management capacities and contribute to the development of the Common Security and Defense Policy.

EUROGENDFOR can be considered as an integrated police tool designed to carry out police missions in different theatres, including destabilized ones, in support of the EU, the UN, the OSCE and NATO, or possible ad hoc coalitions. The main feature of this armed force is flexibility. It can intervene quickly in any high intensity conflict under any military command (formally under the control of civilians), acting jointly with other divisions or in a totally autonomous manner. It may also intervene at any time of the conflict in the initial phase to stabilize or restore the pre-existing order alongside or replacing the local police force. During the transition phase it will be called to serve a purely military mission in coordination with the local authorities, and in the final stage will facilitate the transfer of responsibilities from the military to the civilian chain of command.

The methods of intervention are the following: replacement of the local police forces in certain areas where the conduct of the normal civil activity is in crisis (read – it deprives the country of national sovereignty – author’s note) and building military facilities in an environment characterized by high levels of insecurity and crime due to the lack of an adequate rule of law (a pretext easy to invent – author’s note). There is the possible use during events considered to be particularly at risk such as the annual meetings of the G8 or the like. Once G8 has become G7 – the leading Western nations alone will decide the fate of sovereign states and make them do what they are supposed to.

The unit’s contingent is about 2,500 men able to intervene within thirty days in every corner of the world. Article 29 determined that the staff members of EUROGENFOR will not suffer any proceedings concerning the execution of a judgment against them in the host State, in the receiving State or in a case connected to the fulfillment of their service. (!) Whatever atrocity the operatives commit – no responsibility entails. So you go to Ukraine, for instance, and indiscriminately shoot around, there will be no consequences to face.

According to the Declaration of Intent and the Treaty, EUROGENDFOR is featured as an “Operational, pre-organized, robust and rapidly deployable” force contributing to the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) even when deployed under non-European Union structures.

Non-European Union – that is not full-fledged members, please take notice. Are the people of Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova well informed about it? Are they aware of these facts? Anybody took the pain to inform and explain to them what it all means in practice? Hardly so! A vitally important aspect ignored on purpose! Tricky politics!

The international police presence may be mandated to perform the full range (or just some) of the police functions, thus being entitled to executive police powers, and should therefore be armed.

CONTINUE: http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-european-gendarmerie-force-the-prospect-of-mass-civil-unrest-in-europe/5389216

Media Disinformation and “Manufactured Dissent”
Interview with Michel Chossudovsky on Checkin' It Out with Dr. James Tracy

James is joined by award-winning author and editor of Global Research.ca, Michel Chossudovsky. They discuss the phenomenon of manufactured dissent, contemporary independent news media , and the prospects available for challenging corporate media disinformation, American imperialism, and the New World Order.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNbqe_y25H8

Graham Hancock Breaks the Set on TED Censorship - Lost Civilizations & War On Consciousness
Abby Martin interviews author and philosopher, Graham Hancock, about the mysteries of ancient civilization, hidden societies from the past, censorship by TED Talks and the difficulty in getting these ideas accepted by mainstream archaeologists and historians.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BrDF5WLyQs

'The Internet’s Own Boy': Documentary about 'Hacktivist' Aaron Swartz
By Nick Barrickman
July 01, 2014
World Socialist Web Site

The Internet’s Own Boy (2014, Filmbuff/Participant Media), directed and produced by Brian Knappenberger, is a documentary film about Aaron Swartz (1986-2013), the open Internet activist and web technology prodigy who took his own life after being hounded by a vindictive criminal lawsuit orchestrated by the US federal government.

The film was recently presented at the American Film Institute’s AFI Docs film festival in the Washington, DC suburb of Silver Spring, Maryland. The film was released nationwide June 27.

The Internet’s Own Boy
In 2010, security cameras at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) caught Swartz using a laptop to download thousands of scholarly papers from the Internet subscription site JSTOR by hacking into the building’s computer system. Swartz was intending to make the documents free to all for downloading. This initiated a federal witch-hunt against Swartz, which threatened to send him to prison for nearly 50 years as well as force him to pay fines of up to $1 million for charges of wire fraud, computer fraud, unlawfully obtaining information from a protected computer, and recklessly damaging a protected computer.

This vindictive attack on Swartz, for the crime of wishing to make information widely available through the Internet, was most famously captured in a statement by US Attorney Carmen Ortiz, who said that “stealing is stealing whether you use a computer command or a crowbar, and whether you take documents, data, or dollars.”

In the film, one gets a sense of both how truly young Swartz was when he died, as well as how much he could have contributed to the world under different circumstances. Interspersed with footage of Swartz throughout his younger years are interviews with friends, associates and family, portraying the various aspects of his life and personality. Swartz’s ideals were informed by his genuine enthusiasm and preoccupation with the world around him.

At one point a clip is played of Aaron saying, “I think you should always be questioning, I take this very scientific attitude in which everything you’ve learned is just provisional, that it’s always open to recantation, refutation… I think the same thing applies to society.” (The film includes a clip relaying that a potential cure for pancreatic cancer had come about due to JSTOR documents Swartz had downloaded.)

Likewise, some of his personal achievements include co-founding the RSS web feed protocol at age 13, the creation of software company Infogami (which later merged with the link aggregator web site Reddit) before age 20, as well as his work for Condé Nast Publications, the owner of Wired magazine. Swartz would later turn his back on his career in Silicon Valley to pursue ideals closer to his heart. Swartz’s attitude toward corporate America is memorably captured by the commentary of an associate, who suggests that the young man had “climbed a mountain of XXXX” in order to “pluck a single rose, only to find that he had lost his sense of smell.”

CONTINUE: http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-internets-own-boy-documentary-about-hacktivist-aaron-swartz/5389367

BBC Reporter: Google Moving to “Suppress Legitimate Journalism” - "Right to be forgotten" ruling threatens to "curb freedom of expression"
By Paul Joseph Watson
July 04, 2014
InfoWars 3 July 2014

BBC economics editor Robert Peston warns that Google’s implementation of the controversial “right to be forgotten” ruling is working to “suppress legitimate journalism” after one of his articles about Merrill Lynch boss Stan O’Neal was scrubbed from the search engine.

A recent ruling in the European Court of Justice mandated that Google must delete “inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant” data when it receives a request to do so, which could open the floodgates for powerful individuals, corporations and institutions to hide past evidence of wrongdoing in a chilling throwback to George Orwell’s “memory hole.”

Peston complains about how Google notified the BBC that one of his 2007 articles about former Merrill Lynch boss Stan O’Neal’s role in the financial collapse had been deleted from search results for Google users in Europe.

Peston questioned how the article represented “inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant” information, stating, “There is an argument that in removing the blog, Google is confirming the fears of many in the industry that the “right to be forgotten” will be abused to curb freedom of expression and to suppress legitimate journalism that is in the public interest.”

Peston later updated his piece to note that it could have been an individual in the comments section who flagged the article for deletion by Google, a prospect that threatens even more widespread ‘disappearing’ of news articles.

CONTINUE: http://www.globalresearch.ca/bbc-reporter-google-moving-to-suppress-legitimate-journalism/5389848

Fourth of July 2014: The Erosion of Civil Liberties in America - Gallup Poll: Satisfaction With Their Freedoms Has Record Drop Among Americans
By Jonathan Turley
July 04, 2014
jonathanturley.org

We have long discussed the erosion of civil liberties in the United States, including the attacks on privacy and other rights by the Obama Administration. It appears that we are not alone in those concerns. A new Gallup poll shows a record drop in the satisfaction of Americans over their freedoms. The massive drop is matched in such countries as Egypt, Pakistan, and Venezuela.

Seventy-nine percent of US residents are satisfied with their level of freedom. That is down from 91 percent in 2006 — a 12 point drop. We were once the highest country in the world on such polls. We have now dropped to 36th place.220px-Scene_at_the_Signing_of_the_Constitution_of_the_United_States

That mirrors other studies showing the United States dropping to the same low levels on press freedoms, Internet speech, and other rights.

The White House has been adept in deflecting such criticism with a host of commentators and bloggers who deflect criticism with references to Republicans and the “red menace” or “things could be worse” spin or simply change the subject. However, the expansion of the internal security network in the United States and police powers is obviously having an impact on how Americans now view their rights. Years ago, I wrote a column entitled “10 Reasons Why The United States Is No Longer The Land of The Free.” Things have only grown worse since that column ran. The Obama Administration’s recent effort to strip citizens of privacy protections over their cellphones and records illustrates the extremism of some of these positions. That argument failed to secure a single vote on the Supreme Court for the Administration’s effort to blow a hole in American privacy protections.

The poll on the eve of the Fourth of July captures the dire condition of American civil liberties today. As I wrote years ago, Obama has been a disaster for the American civil liberties movement and the damage done under his tenure will be felt for decades. What is most distressing is that citizens see the decline but feel virtually powerless to do anything about it due to the duopoly of power in this country. Even with universal calls for change, the two parties are again recycling many of the same figures and same policies as prior years. Polls of this kind show a deep sense of dissatisfaction among Americans but also a complete lack of expression of those views through political channels. That is a dangerous situation for any political system when such widespread feelings are left unexpressed and unvented in politics. The political system seems to be operating in an increasingly unconnected and unresponsive fashion vis-a-vis the public at large. There is a sense among many that I speak to that there is a ruling elite and a vast body of the ruled — a modern equivalent to the helot class of ancient Sparta.

CONTINUE: http://www.globalresearch.ca/fourth-of-july-2014-the-erosion-of-civil-liberties-in-america/5389785

July 8, 2014




I learned much about (and from) Gordon on these two shows (the second one is at the bottom of the post). I'll hold off my comments, as Ginger summed things up nicely in an email she sent today.

[Ginger] "For those that do not know who Gordon Duff is .... essentially he served in Viet Nam and has since set up an online news website for other vets of war .... helping to both educate them to the truth of things and to the REAL news going on (most Americans still are not shown).

"And in following him, I have come to feel that his news, opinions and intel are the very best, due to his experience & background research. Also, he never gets temporarily hijacked like so many other well-intended others have (like say Drake did by July 2012).

"What really struck me the most about this talk story was Gordon Duff claiming . . .
1. That he has "had enough!" (of all the continuing bs still going on). And sounded like he is
about to launch something positive of his own (?).

2. That the positive militia is ready to roll now! - and just in case those still struggling to maintain control
attempt to pull out all their police state upon us - no worries - as there are now plenty positive militia now.

"Enjoy!"

--------------------------------------------------------

Video notes (from first video)
Published on Jun 4, 2014

Stew Webb & Jim Fetzer both believe this is one of Gordon Duff's best interviews! Gordon unloads on a wide range of topics. Some of the topics covered are:

The 350 stolen W54 nuclear warheads that were illegally sold out the back door when they were supposed to be destroyed by US facilities and how those weapons have been traced to Israel and were used to take down the towers during 9/11

Proof of the stolen W54 warheads through pictures of a UN recovery operation of the nuclear pits in South Africa

The nano thermite theory was a government psyop from the beginning and all who pushed it are being paid as intelligence assets including Alex Jones and many others.

How Alex Jones has been outed as controlled opposition now by pushing the Israeli Mossad asset Edward Snowden who pushes fairy tales concerning 9/11 to take blame away from the Israelis and the Bushes.

It can now be reported that the US Navy sank 2 Israeli submarines in the May 2013 time frame that were attempting to start the war with Syria. One of these submarines was sank in partial retaliation over the deliberate Israeli attack on the USS Liberty. It was reported that Israel contracted with Germany to replace the two lost submarines and paid for them with nuclear weapons.

Nuclear pits used to take down the towers were machined and modified in Israel.

Victor Booth as portrayed by Nicholas Cage in the movie "Lord of War" sold these stolen nuclear pits of the US W54 nuclear weapons.

The nuclear bombs used on 9/11 were Neutron Bombs withs 3% fission initiator that vaporized much of the buildings. Dimitri Khalezov was basically right all along and that's why his videos were taken down relentlessly when they first came out!

Russian and French Intelligence are dumping a huge amount of Intelligence files to stop the US insanity of trying to start wars in Ukraine, China, Syria, etc.

US News is now being completely fabricated by the mainstream news sources. The US has no elections and is the most corrupt country on Earth at this time. Our judges are corrupt, our law enforcement is corrupt and our government doesn't answer to the people in any way.

Gordon Duff calls on everybody to get on the winning team now or be destroyed in the future.

Gordon Duff calls on all US Citizens to quit financially supporting and sending out information from known disinformation sources in the alternative media such as Alex Jones, Glenn Beck etc or wake up in a FEMA cell wishing you would have instead pushed the articles written by VeteransToday personnel - the largest and most accurate news organization on the planet that are actually doing something about things now!

“Battling Evils and Promoting the Ultimate Good”: What would a Psychiatrist Call this? Delusions of Grandeur?
By William Blum
July 13, 2014

US Secretary of State John Kerry, July 8, 2014: “In my travels as secretary of state, I have seen as never before the thirst for American leadership in the world.”

President Barack Obama, May 28, 2014: “Here’s my bottom line, America must always lead on the world stage. If we don’t, no one else will.”

Nicholas Burns, former US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, May 8, 2014: “Where is American power and leadership when the world needs it most?”

Mitt Romney, Republican Party candidate for President, September 13, 2012: “The world needs American leadership. The Middle East needs American leadership and I intend to be a president that provides the leadership that America respects and keep us admired throughout the world.”

Paul Ryan, Congressman, Republican Party candidate for Vice President, September 12, 2012: “We need to be reminded that the world needs American leadership.”

John McCain, Senator, September 9, 2012: “The situation in Syria and elsewhere ‘cries out for American leadership’.”

Hillary Clinton, September 8, 2010: “Let me say it clearly: The United States can, must, and will lead in this new century. Indeed, the complexities and connections of today’s world have yielded a new American Moment — a moment when our global leadership is essential, even if we must often lead in new ways.”

Senator Barack Obama, April 23, 2007: “In the words of President Franklin Roosevelt, we lead the world in battling immediate evils and promoting the ultimate good. I still believe that America is the last, best hope of Earth.”

Gallup poll, 2013: Question asked: “Which country do you think is the greatest threat to peace in the world today?”

Replies:

United States 24%
Pakistan 8%
China 6%
Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea, each 5%
India, Iraq, Japan, each 4%
Syria 3%
Russia 2%
Australia, Germany, Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Korea, UK, each 1%

CONTINUE: http://www.globalresearch.ca/battling-evils-and-promoting-the-ultimate-good-what-would-a-psychiatrist-call-this-delusions-of-grandeur/5391039

Corporate “Labor Reform”: Proposals to Maximize Workplace Bullying
By Prof. James Petras
Global Research, July 13, 2014

Leading management consultants, top government officials and prominent financial journalists are proposing, what they dub, “labor reforms” as the solution for double-digit unemployment and underemployment, economic stagnation and the decline of capital investments.

“Labor Reform” as the Concentration of Power and Profits
First of all, the term “labor reform” is just a euphemism for labor regression, the reversal  of laws and practices that workers and employees secured through decades of struggle against employers.

The idea that “labor reforms” would create jobs for the unemployed has been tried and disproven over the past decade.  Throughout Europe, in particular Spain, Portugal, Greece, Ireland and France, laws facilitating firings, pay differentials between short-term and long-term contract workers and speed-ups have not reduced unemployment, which still remains at depression levels.

What neo-liberal economists and journalists call “labor market flexibility” is really all about  increasing the power of the bosses to impose reductions in wages, dominate and dictate work rules, intensify management bullying in the workplace and  fire workers without just cause or redress.  Likewise “wage flexibility” means giving management the exclusive power to unilaterally lower wages, to alter work contracts, to stratify payments between workers , to downgrade job categories in order to lower wages and to increase output, and to pit unemployed workers against employed workers, temporary workers against long-term workers.

The Consequences of “Labor Reform”:  Rising Inequalities
“Labor reforms” are not policies designed to end unemployment, encourage economic recovery and increase capital expenditure. They are not an economic strategy. The principle goal is to concentrate power in the hands of the bosses in order to lower labor costs, increase profits and double-up production from a reduced workforce.

The growing disparity of power between capital and labor resulting from “labor reforms” is the key factor producing inequality.  Neo-liberals attribute growing inequality to technological changes, ignoring the fact that it is the growing power of capital that determines how productivity gains, from the introduction of technological innovations, are distributed between capital and labor.

“Labor Reform” and the Astronomical Rise of Workplace Bullying
Most liberals focus on the problems of sexual harassment and intra-working class bullying.  These problems certainly require attention and correction.  But far more pervasive and with far-reaching consequential is management harassment of all workers of both genders. Because ‘labor reforms’ allow management to fire workers without due process and because union shop stewards do not exist in 88% of the private and public workplaces, management intervenes in everyday workplaces, arbitrarily increasing work assignments and downgrading work performance. And many times it does so with verbal and some times, physical abuse.  Management no longer faces workplace solidarity:  it can abuse workers, isolate and harangue them, threaten and dictate ultimatums.  Any self-defense is immediately interpreted as insubordination and the worker is fired – an example to others to unconditionally submit.  Intimidation takes the form of hiring temporary low-wage workers to compete with permanent employees, or threatening to ‘relocate’ the factory.  Macro and micro personal bullying is today an integral part of capital- labor relations.

Bullying has an economic function – it is designed to increase output, inculcate obedience and raise profits.  But management bullying has profound negative psycho-social effects on workers.  Verbal abuse, face to face intimidation, arbitrary downgrading without recourse and other everyday indignities cause depression, a loss of self-worth dignity.  This leads  to self-abuse, worker and family violence and/or a ‘chain of bullying’ of those below … children, spouses, neighbors and outsiders (immigrants).

The bullying by management does not merely express itself in victimizing workers but also in forcing them to enter in “co-operative relations” where they are supposed to “share” tasks, responsibilities and innovations, without rewards or say in the distribution of material benefits or in the shaping of workplace power relations.  It’s bad enough to be bullied and exploited, its worse to be forced to co-operate with management bullies, to smile at indignities and praise the degrading relationships.

CONTINUE: http://www.globalresearch.ca/corporate-labor-reform-proposals-to-maximize-workplace-bullying/5391120

Revelations of German Pilot: Shocking Analysis of the “Shooting Down” of Malaysian MH17. “Aircraft Was Not Hit by a Missile”
By Peter Haisenko
July 30, 2014
anderweltonline.com

The tragedy of Malaysian MH 017 continues to elude any light of clarity being cast over it.

The flight recorders are in England and are evaluated. What can come of it? Maybe more than you would assume.

Especially the voice recorder will be interesting when you look at the picture of a cockpit fragment. As an expert in aviation I closely looked at the images of the wreckage that are circulating on the Internet.

First, I was amazed at how few photos can be found from the wreckage with Google. All are in low resolution, except one: The fragment of the cockpit below the window on the pilots side. This image, however, is shocking. In Washington, you can now hear views expressed of a “potentially tragic error / accident” regarding MH 017. Given this particular cockpit image it does not surprise me at all.

Entry and exit impact holes of projectiles in the cockpit area
I recommend to click on the little picture to the left. You can download this photo as a PDF in good resolution. This is necessary, because that will allow you understand what I am describing here. The facts speak clear and loud and are beyond the realm of speculation: The cockpit shows traces of shelling! You can see the entry and exit holes. The edge of a portion of the holes is bent inwards. These are the smaller holes, round and clean, showing the entry points most likely that of a 30 millimeter caliber projectile. The edge of the other, the larger and slightly frayed exit holes showing shreds of metal pointing produced by the same caliber projectiles. Moreover, it is evident that at these exit holes of the outer layer of the double aluminum reinforced structure are shredded or bent – outwardly! Furthermore, minor cuts can be seen, all bent outward, which indicate that shrapnel had forcefully exited through the outer skin from the inside of the cockpit. The open rivets are are also bent outward.

In sifting through the available images one thing stands out: All wreckage of the sections behind the cockpit are largely intact, except for the fact that only fragments of the aircraft remained . Only the cockpit part shows these peculiar marks of destruction. This leaves the examiner with an important clue. This aircraft was not hit by a missile in the central portion. The destruction is limited to the cockpit area. Now you have to factor in that this part is constructed of specially reinforced material. This is on account of the nose of any aircraft having to withstand the impact of a large bird at high speeds. You can see in the photo, that in this area significantly stronger aluminum alloys were being installed than in the remainder of the outer skin of the fuselage. One remembers the crash of Pan Am over Lockerbie. It was a large segment of the cockpit that due to the special architecture survived the crash in one piece. In the case of flight MH 017 it becomes abundantly clear that there also an explosion took place inside the aircraft.

CONTINUE: http://www.globalresearch.ca/german-pilot-speaks-out-shocking-analysis-of-the-shooting-down-of-malaysian-mh17/5394111

Spain Takes a Giant Step Backward, Towards Its Dark Past
by Don Quijones  
December 20, 2014

Thousands of protestors, both young and old, took to the streets and central plazas of some thirty Spanish cities today to protest for the right to protest. It is a right that should be respected in any self-respecting democracy.

But not in Spain, thanks to new legislation which is on the verge of becoming law. Under the Orwellian-titled Law for Citizen Security, or more aptly named “Gag Law,” virtually all forms of political protest, including all non-violent forms, will soon be criminalized. But not with penal charges – most criminal cases brought against non-violent political demonstrators are promptly thrown out of court – but administrative ones. That way, the government can circumvent the traditional checks and balances of the criminal justice system while pocketing millions in administrative fines.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the financial sanctions the government seeks to impose (and, of course, collect upon) for acts of political protest or disobedience:

• Surrounding a government building: €30,000
• Criticizing or insulting the country, government or head of state during a protest or on social media: €30,000
• Participating in a demonstration that does not have the government’s prior approval: €100 – €1,000
• Organizing a demonstration that turns violent: €30,000
• Participating non-violently in a demonstration that gets out of control: €1,000
• Refusal to show personal documentation (I.D. card, passport) to the police: €1,000
• Uploading images of riot police in action that the government considers against their honor, intimacy or the public image of the police force: €100-€1,000.
• Taking part in a demonstration outside a political party’s headquarters on election day: €30,000-€600,000.
• Trying to prevent the forced eviction of a local resident, something that has become common practice among communities in recent years: €1,000-€30,000.

The list goes on and on while the fines rise and fall between €100 and €600,000. For the government, the sweeping new measures are all about “securing public order,” as a prerequisite for “ensuring individual liberty” – a roundabout way of saying that it is instituting a police state to protect itself.

For many Spanish people, the new law is the ultimate affront, bearing disturbing echoes of the Public Order Tribunal that Franco’s dictatorship used to try political crimes such as public criticism of the Chief of State, justice courts and government; rebellion and sedition; public disorder, illegal propaganda, and the discovery and dissemination of official state secrets.

The Ultimate Betrayal
Resurrecting the ghosts of Spain’s dark Francoist past is the ultimate refuge of a scoundrel government that has reneged on just about all of its election pledges, is mired neck-deep in just about every political corruption scandal imaginable (I wrote about it in April last year: Spain’s Descent into Banana Republicanism), and is to a great extent directly responsible for the collapse of some of Spain’s biggest savings banks.

CONTINUE: http://wolfstreet.com/2014/12/20/spain-takes-a-giant-step-backward-towards-its-dark-past/