The Constitution's Big Lie | Zero Hedge
Submitted by Antonius Aquinas via AntoniasAquinas.com,
One of the greatest hoaxes ever perpetrated upon Americans at the time of its telling and which is still trumpeted to this very day is the notion that the U.S. Constitution contains within its framework mechanisms which limit its power. The “separation of powers,” where power is distributed among the three branches – legislative, executive, judicial – is supposedly the primary check on the federal government’s aggrandizement.
This sacred held tenet of American political history has once again been disproved.
Last Friday (October 23), the Attorney General’s office announced that it was “closing our investigation and will not seek any criminal charges” against former Internal Revenue Service’s director of Exempt Organizations, Lois Lerner, or, for that matter, anyone else from the agency over whether they improperly targeted Tea Party members, populists, or any other groups, which voiced anti-government sentiments or views.
The Department of Justice statement read:
The probe found ‘substantial evidence of mismanagement, poor judgment and institutional inertia leading to the belief by many tax-exempt applicants that the IRS targeted them based on their political viewpoints. But poor management is not a crime.’ (My emphasis)
Incredibly, it added:
We found no evidence that any IRS official acted based on political, discriminatory, corrupt, or other inappropriate motives that would support a criminal prosecution.
That the DOJ will take no action against one of its rogue departments demonstrates the utter lawlessness and totalitarian nature of the federal government. The DOJ’s refusal to punish documented wrongdoing by the nation’s tax collection agency shows the blatant hypocrisy of Obummer, who promised that his presidency would be one of “transparency.”
It can be safely assumed that Congress will not follow up on the matter, as Darrell Issa (R-Ca.), who chaired a committee to investigate the bureau’s wrong doings, admitted that its crimes may never be known. The DOJ and Issa’s responses are quite predictable once the nature of the federal government and, for that matter, all governments are understood.
Basic political theory has shown that any state is extremely reluctant to police itself or reform unless threatened with destruction, take over, or dismemberment (secession). The Constitution has given to the federal government monopoly power where its taxing and judicial authority are supreme. It will not relinquish such a hold nor will it seek to minimize such power until it is faced with one of these threats.
While it was called a federated system at the time of its enactment and ever since by its apologists, the reality of the matter is quite different. As the Constitution explicitly states in Art. VI, Sect. 2, the central government is “the supreme law of the land.” The individual states are inferior and mere appendages to the national government – ultimate control rests in Washington.
In fact, it was the Constitution’s opponents, the much derided Antifederalists, who were the true champions of a decentralized system of government while their more celebrated opponents such as Madison, Hamilton and Jay wanted an omnipotent national state.
Thus, in the American context, the only method for those oppressed by the federal government is to either threaten or actually go through with secession. Attempts to alter its dictatorial rule through the ballot box or public protests are futile. While there will naturally be outrage at letting the IRS off the hook, focus and anger must be redirected away from participation within the current political system to that of fundamental change.
Congress’ refusal to prosecute an executive bureau that has deliberately used (and is still using) state power to oppress and harass opponents of the Obama regime demonstrates the bankruptcy of the idea that separation of power limits tyranny. Federal power and the corresponding tyranny and corruption which it has bred has never been countered by the checks and balances and separation of powers of the supposed “federal republic” created a little over two centuries ago.
Until the “big lie” of the Constitution is realized, agencies like the IRS will continue to target and tyrannize anti-government organizations, groups, and individuals. The Constitution provides no real mechanism for the redress of grievances from the subjects which it rules. Only when the breakup of the federal Union has taken place, will American liberties and freedoms be secured.
Saturday, 31 October 2015
Friday, 30 October 2015
Should We Fight for the Spratlys? – Patrick J. Buchanan - Official Website
Should We Fight for the Spratlys?
By Patrick J. Buchanan
Trailed by two Chinese warships, the guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen sailed inside the 12-nautical-mile limit of Subi Reef, a man-made island China claims as her national territory.
Beijing protested. Says China: Subi Reef and the Spratly Island chain, in a South China Sea that carries half of the world’s seaborne trade, are as much ours as the Aleutians are yours.
Beijing’s claim to the Spratlys is being contested by Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan. While Hanoi and Manila have occupied islets and built structures to back their claims, the Chinese have been more aggressive.
They have occupied rocks and reefs with troops, dredged and expanded them into artificial islands, fortified them, put up radars and are building air strips and harbors.
What the Chinese are about is easy to understand.
Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Former Australia Prime Minister Chastises EU on Securing Borders, Economic Migration; Mish for President Review
Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Former Australia Prime Minister Chastises EU on Securing Borders, Economic Migration; Mish for President Review
In a speech I almost completely agree with, former Australia prime minister Tony Abbott chastised the EU in an address at the Second Annual Margaret Thatcher Lecture in London on October 27, 2015.
Tony Abbott told the EU to shut its borders because "a country that cannot control its borders starts to lose control of itself".
The Sydney Morning Herald has the Transcript of Tony Abbott's Controversial Speech at the Margaret Thatcher Lecture. Here are a few select passages, emphasis mine.
Cont.....
In a speech I almost completely agree with, former Australia prime minister Tony Abbott chastised the EU in an address at the Second Annual Margaret Thatcher Lecture in London on October 27, 2015.
Tony Abbott told the EU to shut its borders because "a country that cannot control its borders starts to lose control of itself".
The Sydney Morning Herald has the Transcript of Tony Abbott's Controversial Speech at the Margaret Thatcher Lecture. Here are a few select passages, emphasis mine.
Cont.....
First They Jailed The Bankers, Now Every Icelander To Get Paid Back In Bank Sale | Zero Hedge
First They Jailed The Bankers, Now Every Icelander To Get Paid Back In Bank Sale | Zero Hedge
First, Iceland jailed its crooked bankers for their direct involvement in the financial crisis of 2008. Now, every Icelander will receive a payout for the sale of one of its three largest banks, Íslandsbanki.
If Finance Minister Bjarni Benediktsson has his way — and he likely will — Icelanders will be paid kr 30,000 after the government takes over ownership of the bank. Íslandsbanki would be second of the three largest banks under State proprietorship.
“I am saying that the government take [sic] some decided portion, 5%, and simply hand it over to the people of this country,” he stated.
Because Icelanders took control of their government, they effectively own the banks. Benediktsson believes this will bring foreign capital into the country and ultimately fuel the economy — which, incidentally, remains the only European nation to recoverfully from the 2008 crisis. Iceland even managed to pay its outstanding debt to the IMF in full — in advance of the due date.
Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson, Budget Committee vice chairperson, explained the move would facilitate the lifting of capital controls, though he wasn’t convinced State ownership would be the ideal solution. Former Finance Minister Steingrímur J. Sigfússon sided with Þórðarson, telling a radio show, “we shouldn’t lose the banks to the hands of fools” and that Iceland would benefit from a shift in focus to separate“commercial banking from investment banking.”
Plans haven’t yet been firmly set for when the takeover and subsequent payments to every person in the country will occur, but Iceland’s revolutionary approach to dealing with the international financial meltdown of 2008 certainly deserves every bit of the attention it’s garnered.
Iceland recently jailed its 26th banker — with 74 years of prison time amongst them — for causing the financial chaos. Meanwhile, U.S. banking criminals were rewarded for their fraud and market manipulation with an enormous bailout at the taxpayer’s expense.
THE SEA GYPSY PHILOSOPHER: WHAT I THINK I KNOW - TAKE TWO
THE SEA GYPSY PHILOSOPHER: WHAT I THINK I KNOW - TAKE TWO: by Ray Jason Ray on his birthday 2015 As the years thunder by, I pleasantly discover that my needs and desires keep decreasing. H...
Super Secret ISIS Video Just Revealed!! « The Burning Platform
Super Secret ISIS Video Just Revealed!! « The Burning Platform
If you don’t think this is FUCKIN HILARIOUS then you are never allowed to talk to me again!
Thursday, 29 October 2015
Dumbing Down of America? California School District to Start Handing out Cs for "Doing Absolutely Nothing at All" | The Daily Sheeple
Dumbing Down of America? California School District to Start Handing out Cs for "Doing Absolutely Nothing at All" | The Daily Sheeple
A school district north of San Francisco has decided to implement a new “grading system” that almost entirely negates the point of, well, grading systems.
Via The Daily Caller:
Under a new policy, students will be able to earn passing grades with scores of just 20 percent — and a solid C for doing absolutely nothing at all…
The Cotati-Rohnert Park grade scale deviates from the traditional, well-established A-through-F scale by distributing grades in 20-percent increments from 0 to 100 percent, and by only giving grades of F for students with scores below 20 percent.
Thus, students who receive a score of 80 will be awarded an A-. In fact, any grade from 80 to 100 will be either an A or A-. By way of comparison, most students in America who score between 80 and 85 in a given class are sent home with either a B- or a B.
An accumulated percentage of 41 percent — which merits a well-deserved grade of F across most of the country — will now warrant a C- from the Northern California school district.
A measly percentage of 20-40 warrants passing grades between D- and D+.
Along with the new scale, teachers are now required, by district-wide rule, to always give students at least a 50%, even if they never complete any work at all.
In other words, Cs for everyone! Guess no child really ever will be left behind.
So far, the scale has led to students realizing they can skate by with “massive grade inflation”. Teachers say they’re already seeing kids try way less because the kids have figured out it doesn’t matter anyway.
Why work extra hard studying for that A on a test when 80% will basically get a kid the same result?
In fact, the scale will likely quash any incentive some kids have to do anything academically in school at all period.
Talk about being dumbed down…
At that point, why grade at all? In fact, the wimpy excuse for a grading system is likely more harmful that just not giving grades in the first place.
Delivered by The Daily Sheeple
A school district north of San Francisco has decided to implement a new “grading system” that almost entirely negates the point of, well, grading systems.
Via The Daily Caller:
Under a new policy, students will be able to earn passing grades with scores of just 20 percent — and a solid C for doing absolutely nothing at all…
The Cotati-Rohnert Park grade scale deviates from the traditional, well-established A-through-F scale by distributing grades in 20-percent increments from 0 to 100 percent, and by only giving grades of F for students with scores below 20 percent.
Thus, students who receive a score of 80 will be awarded an A-. In fact, any grade from 80 to 100 will be either an A or A-. By way of comparison, most students in America who score between 80 and 85 in a given class are sent home with either a B- or a B.
An accumulated percentage of 41 percent — which merits a well-deserved grade of F across most of the country — will now warrant a C- from the Northern California school district.
A measly percentage of 20-40 warrants passing grades between D- and D+.
Along with the new scale, teachers are now required, by district-wide rule, to always give students at least a 50%, even if they never complete any work at all.
In other words, Cs for everyone! Guess no child really ever will be left behind.
So far, the scale has led to students realizing they can skate by with “massive grade inflation”. Teachers say they’re already seeing kids try way less because the kids have figured out it doesn’t matter anyway.
Why work extra hard studying for that A on a test when 80% will basically get a kid the same result?
In fact, the scale will likely quash any incentive some kids have to do anything academically in school at all period.
Talk about being dumbed down…
At that point, why grade at all? In fact, the wimpy excuse for a grading system is likely more harmful that just not giving grades in the first place.
Delivered by The Daily Sheeple
RESOURCE CRISIS: When conspiracy is not a theory: an example of a f...
RESOURCE CRISIS: When conspiracy is not a theory: an example of a f...: The Italian attack against Greece, that started in October of 1940, was one of the greatest military blunders of history and it ma...
All Hail Our New Lord & Master - The Stock Market | Zero Hedge
All Hail Our New Lord & Master - The Stock Market | Zero Hedge
We're all minions now of the stock market.
The all-powerful Federal Reserve is mere minion of the stock market, a kitten absurdly claiming in public to be a tiger. If the market threatens to drop, the Fed quickly prostrates itself and does the bidding of its Lord and Master: "No rate hikes, minons!"
By cowering in terror of a stock market tantrum, the Fed has surrendered everything: its vaunted (and completely phony) independence; its duty (yes, go ahead and laugh) to the nation and the real economy--everything.
The Fed is nothing but an abject slave of the market. It masks its servitude with Newspeak, but the reality it has only two choices: burn the market down with a series of rate hikes or surrender completely to the market, relinquishing any pretense of power or control.
The Fed is not alone; the entire financial-political system is now beholden to the stock market.
Want to impose real restrictions on the financial sector? Forget it, Congress--the market will rebel. And if the market sags--you'll cave in like all the market's servile minions because a significant chunk of your campaign contributions come from those profiteering off the market.
Corporate America--don't dare miss your quarterly earnings number or you will suffer the wrath of a market that destroys all who don't obey its demands for short-term profits at the expense of long-term profitability. Were the management of a public company bold enough to sacrifice short-term profits for long-term growth, they wouldn't survive the market's destruction of their stock price.
The stock market now dictates fiscal and monetary policy within the Empire because the American economy has been fully financialized. Profits flow not from innovation in products and services but from the financialization of every income stream.
While definitions of financialization vary, mine is:
Financialization is the mass commodification of debt and debt-based financial instruments collaterized by previously low-risk assets, a pyramiding of risk and speculative gains that is only possible in a massive expansion of low-cost credit and leverage.
Another way to describe the same dynamics is: financialization results when leverage and information asymmetry replace innovation and productive investment as the source of wealth creation.
When the profits from financializing collateral and leveraging those bets to the hilt far exceed generating wealth by creating products and services, the economy is soon hollowed out as the perverse incentives of financialization start driving every business and political decision and strategy.
Even Darth Vader now takes orders from the stock market:
We're all minions now of the stock market. All hail our Lord and Master, the stock market.
FuhrerPrinzip - EPautos
FuhrerPrinzip - EPautos
Free people don’t look for “leadership.” But that’s what every candidate for the presidency – regardless of partei – is offering to give them.leadership lead
Such people deserve what they will get.
They have, after all asked for it.
Most Americans do not know what the German word, fuhrer means.
It does not mean “Hitler.”
It means, leader.
Hitler was Der Fuhrer; the leader.
The Germans of the Hitler era loved having a leader. Being led.
And leading, too.
They even had an expression for it: fuhrerprinzip, the leadership principle. You obeyed your superiors and your subordinates obeyed you in turn – with the leader (Der Fuhrer) at the apex of the pyramid.
Americans today are like the Germans were.
Ready for a leader.Great Dictator image
And to be led.
The one requires the other.
This sickness in man was – is – not unique to Germans. It is a canker humanity picked up somewhere from ape to now that itches and comes to the surface regularly, pustulating and red. Germans (Prussians, to be precise about it) were particularly afflicted but the disease is easily spread.
Americans – who have become today’s Prussians – positively crave leadership. Decisiveness, but nor their own. To surrender to a superior will, kind of like you-know-who’s. It explains the almost orgiastic reaction of the audiences at Trump’s events. He is cocky, belligerent, abusive. A business suited version of you-know-who. A leader. He radiates the arrogance of someone who believes he has been anointed to tell others what to do. He is a Great Man.
And the people cheer.Donald Trump Addresses GOP Lincoln Day Event In Michigan
If you listen closely, you can hear the echoes of history; the stamping of feet, the hysterical shrieks of triumph and abasement. Our savior!
Unsere fuhrer...
The others are no better, just less charismatic.
The personally unpleasant Hillary Clinton is just as ready to provide leadership. Desperate to provide it. She, like Trump, knows just what to do.
And her supporters are just as desperate as Trump’s for her to get on with the business of doing it.
Ditto the rest of them. All with “plans” and practically bursting at the seams with eagerness to get their hands on the levers and dials of state power. They each know best.
Better than you, at any rate.Big Brother Hillary
Even Rand Paul – the “Libertarian” Republican – is ready to give you all the leadership you can stand. For instance, he wants to “save” and “fix” the greatest intergenerational wealth transfer scheme ever implemented (you know, Social Security) by double-defrauding younger workers for the benefit of the greedy geezers who demand “their” Social Security payola. Both groups will be told what they’ll do – and what they’ll get. There will be not be a “no thanks, I’d rather provide for my own retirement” option. It is not open for discussion. The only debate is over what you’ll be told. Not whether you’ll be told.
Leadership.
Rand also (like all the others) “stands with Israel,” the lamprey on the flanks of the American taxpayer, which he describes as “America’s longtime friend and ally.”
Because, of course, he (like they) must.
Else he (and they) will not be allowed to provide leadership.leave alone pic
Regardless, leadership we will get. Whether from Trump, Hillary, Rand, Jeb or whoever turns out to be the next avatar of the vox populi. They will natter amongst themselves, like vultures pecking at the corpse of a musk ox.
Which by the way is us.
There is no alternative to leadership in latter day Weimar America. No candidate running who not only doesn’t want to lead but also despises the idea of being followed.
The whole thing – running for office – necessarily excludes people who don’t want to perch on the corpse (so to speak) and tell you what to do … who have no interest in being told what to do. Such people have no interest in elections.
But – as in Germany all those years ago – such people are now in the minority.
The majority now wants what the Germans once wanted.
And, like them, they’re gonna get it.
But like the Germans of once-upon-a-time, they do not see themselves as the erectors of their own brick ovens (and yes, it will eventually come to that – because it must come to that). When it is all over – if it ever is – they will look back and blame the leaders. Who, they’ll moan, told them what to do.sheep barred
They were only following orders. Just doing their jobs.
They are already saying such things, without the slightest trace of historical irony.
Even the chroniclers of once-upon-a-time missed this critical point. The saltpeter without which the gunpowder can’t be made: The people who demand leadership.
The leader – brownshirted or business-suited – is a non sequitur. The hole in the dam through which the water bursts.
It is the water that decides everything.
And the pressure is building.
Free people don’t look for “leadership.” But that’s what every candidate for the presidency – regardless of partei – is offering to give them.leadership lead
Such people deserve what they will get.
They have, after all asked for it.
Most Americans do not know what the German word, fuhrer means.
It does not mean “Hitler.”
It means, leader.
Hitler was Der Fuhrer; the leader.
The Germans of the Hitler era loved having a leader. Being led.
And leading, too.
They even had an expression for it: fuhrerprinzip, the leadership principle. You obeyed your superiors and your subordinates obeyed you in turn – with the leader (Der Fuhrer) at the apex of the pyramid.
Americans today are like the Germans were.
Ready for a leader.Great Dictator image
And to be led.
The one requires the other.
This sickness in man was – is – not unique to Germans. It is a canker humanity picked up somewhere from ape to now that itches and comes to the surface regularly, pustulating and red. Germans (Prussians, to be precise about it) were particularly afflicted but the disease is easily spread.
Americans – who have become today’s Prussians – positively crave leadership. Decisiveness, but nor their own. To surrender to a superior will, kind of like you-know-who’s. It explains the almost orgiastic reaction of the audiences at Trump’s events. He is cocky, belligerent, abusive. A business suited version of you-know-who. A leader. He radiates the arrogance of someone who believes he has been anointed to tell others what to do. He is a Great Man.
And the people cheer.Donald Trump Addresses GOP Lincoln Day Event In Michigan
If you listen closely, you can hear the echoes of history; the stamping of feet, the hysterical shrieks of triumph and abasement. Our savior!
Unsere fuhrer...
The others are no better, just less charismatic.
The personally unpleasant Hillary Clinton is just as ready to provide leadership. Desperate to provide it. She, like Trump, knows just what to do.
And her supporters are just as desperate as Trump’s for her to get on with the business of doing it.
Ditto the rest of them. All with “plans” and practically bursting at the seams with eagerness to get their hands on the levers and dials of state power. They each know best.
Better than you, at any rate.Big Brother Hillary
Even Rand Paul – the “Libertarian” Republican – is ready to give you all the leadership you can stand. For instance, he wants to “save” and “fix” the greatest intergenerational wealth transfer scheme ever implemented (you know, Social Security) by double-defrauding younger workers for the benefit of the greedy geezers who demand “their” Social Security payola. Both groups will be told what they’ll do – and what they’ll get. There will be not be a “no thanks, I’d rather provide for my own retirement” option. It is not open for discussion. The only debate is over what you’ll be told. Not whether you’ll be told.
Leadership.
Rand also (like all the others) “stands with Israel,” the lamprey on the flanks of the American taxpayer, which he describes as “America’s longtime friend and ally.”
Because, of course, he (like they) must.
Else he (and they) will not be allowed to provide leadership.leave alone pic
Regardless, leadership we will get. Whether from Trump, Hillary, Rand, Jeb or whoever turns out to be the next avatar of the vox populi. They will natter amongst themselves, like vultures pecking at the corpse of a musk ox.
Which by the way is us.
There is no alternative to leadership in latter day Weimar America. No candidate running who not only doesn’t want to lead but also despises the idea of being followed.
The whole thing – running for office – necessarily excludes people who don’t want to perch on the corpse (so to speak) and tell you what to do … who have no interest in being told what to do. Such people have no interest in elections.
But – as in Germany all those years ago – such people are now in the minority.
The majority now wants what the Germans once wanted.
And, like them, they’re gonna get it.
But like the Germans of once-upon-a-time, they do not see themselves as the erectors of their own brick ovens (and yes, it will eventually come to that – because it must come to that). When it is all over – if it ever is – they will look back and blame the leaders. Who, they’ll moan, told them what to do.sheep barred
They were only following orders. Just doing their jobs.
They are already saying such things, without the slightest trace of historical irony.
Even the chroniclers of once-upon-a-time missed this critical point. The saltpeter without which the gunpowder can’t be made: The people who demand leadership.
The leader – brownshirted or business-suited – is a non sequitur. The hole in the dam through which the water bursts.
It is the water that decides everything.
And the pressure is building.
September 23, 2015
Waiting for Collapse: USA Debt Bombs Bursting
It’s been so easy the past 15 years for local governments in the USA, state governments, government authorities, corporations, banks, hedge funds and the US Federal government to simply say how many millions, billions or trillions of dollars they wanted, pay some high priced call accountants to fill out some paperwork with fine print and voila, millions, billions and trillions of dollars in borrowed money simply appeared. It has been that easy!
Now, the government in the USA owes $46 trillion, US corporations owe $15 trillion, US individuals owe $13 trillion plus there are $315 trillion in outstanding Wall Street derivatives. (Few Americans know what a derivative is, but we as a nation are on the hook for up to $315 trillion in additional debt because of these derivatives.) These debt figures continue to escalate with each passing month.
Detroit and Puerto Rico have only just begun the debt bombs bursting in the USA, the USA’s slow motion economic collapse. Who’s next? I’m going to tell you about some US local and state governments that have too much debt and are ripe for debt collapse along with a few US government authorities and corporations that borrowed too much money and are also ripe for debt collapse.
Cont.....
Embracing The Dark Side: A Short History Of The Pathological Neocon Quest For Empire | Zero Hedge
Embracing The Dark Side: A Short History Of The Pathological Neocon Quest For Empire | Zero Hedge
When Bill Kristol watches Star Wars movies, he roots for the Galactic Empire. The leading neocon recently caused a social mediadisturbance in the Force when he tweeted this predilection for the Dark Side following the debut of the final trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Kristol sees the Empire as basically a galaxy-wide extrapolation of what he has long wanted the US to have over the Earth: what he has termed “benevolent global hegemony.”
Kristol, founder and editor of neocon flagship magazine The Weekly Standard,responded to scandalized critics by linking to a 2002 essay from theStandard’s blog that justifies even the worst of Darth Vader’s atrocities. In “The Case for the Empire,” Jonathan V. Last made a Kristolian argument that you can’t make a “benevolent hegemony” omelet without breaking a few eggs.
And what if those broken eggs are civilians, like Luke Skywalker’s uncle and aunt who were gunned down by Imperial Stormtroopers in their home on the Middle Eastern-looking arid planet of Tatooine (filmed on location in Tunisia)? Well, as Last sincerely argued, Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru hid Luke and harbored the fugitive droids R2D2 and C3P0; so they were “traitors” who were aiding the rebellion and deserved to be field-executed.
A year after Kristol published Last’s essay, large numbers of civilians were killed by American Imperial Stormtroopers in their actual Middle Eastern arid homeland of Iraq, thanks largely in part to the direct influence of neocons like Kristol and Last.
That war was similarly justified in part by the false allegation that Iraq ruler Saddam Hussein was harboring and aiding terrorist enemies of the empire like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The civilian-slaughtering siege of Fallujah, one of the most brutal episodes of the war, was also specifically justified by the false allegation that the town was harboring Zarqawi.
In reality Hussein had put a death warrant out on Zarqawi, who was hiding from Iraq’s security forces under the protective aegis of the US Air Force in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region. It was only after the Empire precipitated the chaotic collapse of Iraq that Zarqawi’s outfit was able to thrive and evolve into Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). And after the Empire precipitated the chaotic collapse of Syria, AQI further mutated into Syrian al-Qaeda (which has conquered much of Syria) and ISIS (which has conquered much of Syria and Iraq).
And what if the “benevolent hegemony” omelet requires the breaking of “eggs” the size of whole worlds, like how high Imperial officer Wilhuff Tarkin used the Death Star to obliterate the planet Alderaan? Well, as Last sincerely argued, even Alderaan likely deserved its fate, since it may have been, “a front for Rebel activity or at least home to many more spies and insurgents…” Last contended that Princess Leia was probably lying when she told the Death Star’s commander that the planet had “no weapons.”
The Archdruid Report: The Patience of the Sea
The Archdruid Report: The Patience of the Sea: I've commented here more than once that these essays draw their inspiration from quite a variety of sources. This week’s post is no ex...
Wednesday, 28 October 2015
The Battle For America | Zero Hedge
NOAA Refuses to Hand Over Climate Change Documents to Congress | The Daily Sheeple
NOAA Refuses to Hand Over Climate Change Documents to Congress | The Daily Sheeple
Last summer, scientists published a study that challenged the notion that global warming has been slowing down in recent years. Their analysis was based on temperature data that was provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Since that time, Congressman Lamar Smith has asked NOAA for the data and internal communications that were related to the study, but they have refused to hand them over.
On October 13th, Smith filed a subpoena for the documents. The Congressman has long been skeptical of climate change, and has accused NOAA of fabricating temperature data. Smith told The Examiner that “Congress cannot do its job when agencies openly defy Congress and refuse to turn over information…When an agency decides to alter the way it has analyzed historical temperature data for the past few decades, it’s crucial to understand on what basis those decisions were made. This action has broad national and policy implications.”
Despite the subpoena, NOAA still isn’t backing down on the grounds that there is a “long-standing practice in the scientific community to protect the confidentiality of deliberative scientific discussions” and Congressman Eddie Bernice Johnson has backed them up by calling Smith’s subpoena an “illegitimate harassment of our nation’s research scientists.”
Delivered by The Daily Sheeple
Last summer, scientists published a study that challenged the notion that global warming has been slowing down in recent years. Their analysis was based on temperature data that was provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Since that time, Congressman Lamar Smith has asked NOAA for the data and internal communications that were related to the study, but they have refused to hand them over.
On October 13th, Smith filed a subpoena for the documents. The Congressman has long been skeptical of climate change, and has accused NOAA of fabricating temperature data. Smith told The Examiner that “Congress cannot do its job when agencies openly defy Congress and refuse to turn over information…When an agency decides to alter the way it has analyzed historical temperature data for the past few decades, it’s crucial to understand on what basis those decisions were made. This action has broad national and policy implications.”
Despite the subpoena, NOAA still isn’t backing down on the grounds that there is a “long-standing practice in the scientific community to protect the confidentiality of deliberative scientific discussions” and Congressman Eddie Bernice Johnson has backed them up by calling Smith’s subpoena an “illegitimate harassment of our nation’s research scientists.”
Delivered by The Daily Sheeple
Nigel Farage Rages At Modern Day "Brezhnev Doctrine" In Portugal's Democracy Crisis | Zero Hedge
Nigel Farage Rages At Modern Day "Brezhnev Doctrine" In Portugal's Democracy Crisis | Zero Hedge
Nigel Farage unleashes another of his must-watch rage-fests aimed at the collapse of democracy in Europe. Amid the stunning "democracy crisis" in Portugal, where, as we detailed here, the government has lost its majority but the anti-EU opposition is being prevented from attempting to form a coalition, Farage fumes "this is the modern day implementation of the Brezhnev Doctrine. This is exactly what happened to states living inside the USSR."
One of his best...
Transcript... (via Order-Order.com),
“This is the modern day implementation of the Brezhnev Doctrine. This is exactly what happened to states living inside the USSR . What is being made clear here with Greece and indeed with Portugal is that a country only has democratic rights if it’s in favour of the [European] project. If not, those rights are taken away.And perhaps none of this should surprises us as Mr. Juncker has told us before: there can be no democratic choice against the European treaties.And the German Finance Minister, Mr. Schäuble, has said: elections change nothing – there are rules.I think for anyone that believes in democracy, Portugal should be the final straw. It should be the warning that this project, [in order to] to protect itself and all its failings, will destroy the individual rights of peoples and of nations. My country has always believed in parliamentary democracy so strongly that twice in the last century it risked everything to fight for parliamentary democracy, not just for Britain but for the rest of Europe too. And I actually believe that for all of us that believe in democracy and want to see it reimplemented, the British referendum offers a golden opportunity.”
The opposition in Portugal might be socialists, but the country is effectively suspending democracy to prevent Eurosceptics with a massive electoral mandate from taking power.
As we concluded previously, note what's happened here. The will of the people is now being characterized as a "false signal" to "financial institutions, investors, and markets."
Antidepressant Studies Corrupted by Pharmaceutical Company Influence, Analysis Shows | The Daily Sheeple
Antidepressant Studies Corrupted by Pharmaceutical Company Influence, Analysis Shows | The Daily Sheeple
Study 329 was a clinical trial conducted in North America from 1994 to 1998 to study the efficacy of paroxetine, an SSRI antidepressantmarketed as Paxil and Seroxat, in treating depressed teenagers.
It concluded that paroxetine is “generally well tolerated and effective for major depression in adolescents.” In 2001, the study was published in theJournal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Study 329 was funded by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the drug’s manufacturer.
The company greatly exaggerated the effectiveness of the drug, and downplayed how dangerous it is for teens.
Unfortunately, Study 329 is not an outlier: drug studies have long been known to be flawed, mainly because testing is conducted by the very entities that stand to profit from sales of the medications – the drug manufacturers.
Another recent study exposed just how pervasive and serious the problem is.
Delivered by The Daily Sheeple
Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Slovenia Calls on Army, Private Security Forces, Ponders Article 222 for EU Military Aid to Halt Flow of Migrants
Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Slovenia Calls on Army, Private Security Forces, Ponders Article 222 for EU Military Aid to Halt Flow of Migrants
Slovenia has a population of 2 million people. But in the last 10 days alone, 84,000 migrants have flooded the country.
In response, Slovenia has called out the Army and private security forces to help maintain order.
That did not stem the tide, so Slovenia Considers Calling for EU Military Aid.
Slovenia, the tiny Balkan state struggling to cope with the migration crisis, has raised the idea of invoking a never-before-used “solidarity clause” in the EU treaties to formally request European aid and military support.
Ljubljana [Slovenia's capital] recently floated the option of triggering Article 222, which enables military aid to EU nations overwhelmed by disasters, according to two officials familiar with the talks.
It indicates the drastic steps under consideration to deal with a tide of asylum seekers arriving in Europe. One Slovenian government official said invoking Article 222 was a “viable option” as a last resort.
Alarmed by the potential for Slovenia pulling the bloc’s emergency cord, EU officials have sought to head off a request, in part by arranging for EU countries to provide 400 police to help Ljubljana manage the crisis.
Miro Cerar, Slovenia’s prime minister, had warned the EU would “fall apart” unless the “unbearable” pressure was not eased promptly. His foreign minister Karl Erjavec hinted at the potential for a fence, saying “impediments” could be considered to stem the cross-border flows.
The solidarity clause states that EU member states “shall mobilise all the instruments at its disposal, including the military resources” in the event the requesting country is subject to a terrorist attack or is the victim or a man-made or natural disaster.
It has never been invoked.
Some EU officials are keen for the principle not to be tested.
Barbed exchanges between the leaders of Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia have raised concerns in Brussels that tensions could open old wounds from the bloody break-up of Yugoslavia and rekindle various territorial disputes.
Slideshow
Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission president, described the worst finger-pointing as “the politics of panic”.
Politics of Panic
In actuality, Slovenia should have panicked long ago. The EU is offering 400 police officers. Lovely. As noted earlier, 84,000 migrants flooded Slovenia, a country of 2 million, in less than two weeks.
Let's do the math on that population inflow: 84,000 / 2,000,000 is a population growth of 4.2% in 10 days.
Were the US population to grow at the same rate, the US population would grow by over 13 million, 13,393,800 to be precise.
Imagine what would happen if 13.4 million migrants flooded entry points of San Diego California, El Paso Texas, and Miami Florida in the same 10 days.
Do you think there would be panic? I sure as hell do.
By the way, there are another 2 million refugees in Turkey, many of them making their way towards the border with Greece,
Peak Merkel
This crisis will be the undoing of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. I labeled the process "Peak Merkel".
Joining me in similar analysis, Financial Times writer Gideon Rachman says The End of the Merkel Era is Within Sight.
Rachman is a lot more forgiving of her errors than I am, but his central idea is correct. I beat him to the punch by eight days with Swamped By Stupidity; Peak Merkel.
Finally, Juncker himself might be in for a bit of panic given this warning shot: Poland Elects Rightwing Eurosceptic, Anti-Immigration Government.
Mike "Mish" Shedlock
Slovenia has a population of 2 million people. But in the last 10 days alone, 84,000 migrants have flooded the country.
In response, Slovenia has called out the Army and private security forces to help maintain order.
That did not stem the tide, so Slovenia Considers Calling for EU Military Aid.
Slovenia, the tiny Balkan state struggling to cope with the migration crisis, has raised the idea of invoking a never-before-used “solidarity clause” in the EU treaties to formally request European aid and military support.
Ljubljana [Slovenia's capital] recently floated the option of triggering Article 222, which enables military aid to EU nations overwhelmed by disasters, according to two officials familiar with the talks.
It indicates the drastic steps under consideration to deal with a tide of asylum seekers arriving in Europe. One Slovenian government official said invoking Article 222 was a “viable option” as a last resort.
Alarmed by the potential for Slovenia pulling the bloc’s emergency cord, EU officials have sought to head off a request, in part by arranging for EU countries to provide 400 police to help Ljubljana manage the crisis.
Miro Cerar, Slovenia’s prime minister, had warned the EU would “fall apart” unless the “unbearable” pressure was not eased promptly. His foreign minister Karl Erjavec hinted at the potential for a fence, saying “impediments” could be considered to stem the cross-border flows.
The solidarity clause states that EU member states “shall mobilise all the instruments at its disposal, including the military resources” in the event the requesting country is subject to a terrorist attack or is the victim or a man-made or natural disaster.
It has never been invoked.
Some EU officials are keen for the principle not to be tested.
Barbed exchanges between the leaders of Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia have raised concerns in Brussels that tensions could open old wounds from the bloody break-up of Yugoslavia and rekindle various territorial disputes.
Slideshow
Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission president, described the worst finger-pointing as “the politics of panic”.
Politics of Panic
In actuality, Slovenia should have panicked long ago. The EU is offering 400 police officers. Lovely. As noted earlier, 84,000 migrants flooded Slovenia, a country of 2 million, in less than two weeks.
Let's do the math on that population inflow: 84,000 / 2,000,000 is a population growth of 4.2% in 10 days.
Were the US population to grow at the same rate, the US population would grow by over 13 million, 13,393,800 to be precise.
Imagine what would happen if 13.4 million migrants flooded entry points of San Diego California, El Paso Texas, and Miami Florida in the same 10 days.
Do you think there would be panic? I sure as hell do.
By the way, there are another 2 million refugees in Turkey, many of them making their way towards the border with Greece,
Peak Merkel
This crisis will be the undoing of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. I labeled the process "Peak Merkel".
Joining me in similar analysis, Financial Times writer Gideon Rachman says The End of the Merkel Era is Within Sight.
Rachman is a lot more forgiving of her errors than I am, but his central idea is correct. I beat him to the punch by eight days with Swamped By Stupidity; Peak Merkel.
Finally, Juncker himself might be in for a bit of panic given this warning shot: Poland Elects Rightwing Eurosceptic, Anti-Immigration Government.
Mike "Mish" Shedlock
'Celebrating' 14 Years Since America Kissed Its Freedoms Goodbye | Zero Hedge
'Celebrating' 14 Years Since America Kissed Its Freedoms Goodbye | Zero Hedge
If you haven’t already, now’s the time to get out your party hats to celebrate the 14th anniversary of the USA PATRIOT Act.
You know about the law, I’m sure; passed barely six weeks after the 9/11 attacks, the USA PATRIOT Act is one of the most sweeping, liberty-destroying pieces of legislation in American history.
Remember the rule of thumb: the more high-sounding the name of a law, the more disastrous its effects. And the USA PATRIOT Act absolutely conformed.
It stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Interdict and Obstruct Terrorism.
And this name is truly disingenuous when you think about it.
Seriously, how was America to become more ‘united’ by allowing warrantless searches, vastly expanding the powers of secret courts, and completely doing away with entire sections of the Constitution?? That’s just absurd.
The name itself is a cruel joke on liberty.
At 132 pages, the USA PATRIOT Act was a pretty beefy piece of legislation. But what most people fail to realize is that the law is entirely incomprehensible.
Instead of simply stating in black & white what the new dark powers of government would be, the USA PATRIOT Act makes obscure modifications to other laws.
Here’s an example of what I’m talking about, pulled from page 20 of the text of the legislation:
Section 3123(d)(2) of title 18, United States Code, is amended (A) by inserting “or other facility” after “the line”; and (B) by striking “, or who has been ordered by the court” and inserting “or applied, or who is obligated by the order”
Is that supposed to mean anything to anyone? The language is completely mystifying.
Well, as it turns out, this precise section is part of what authorizes the government to monitor your phone and Internet communications.
This is, of course, one of the primary criticisms of the law: it was rushed through Congress before anyone had a chance to read or understand it, at a time when everyone was scared and willing to give the government any power it wanted.
The end result was a de facto Police State in the Land of the Free.
Faceless government agencies now spy on every form of communication, local police turned into federally funded paramilitary forces, and the Fourth Amendment became an endangered species.
Earlier this year, several key provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act were set to expire. It was an opportunity to take back some of the freedom that had been lost.
Yet Mr. Hope and Change himself, Barack Obama, signed multiple bills into law to extend, and even expand, the USA PATRIOT Act’s powers.
It’s amazing when you think about it: a nation that was founded on the principles of personal liberty, which fought the Nazis and built the most powerful economy in the world, is so fragile and afraid of men in caves that it cannot imagine its existence without Orwellian surveillance programs.
George W. Bush used to famously say that terrorists hated America for its freedoms.
So he and Barack Obama conveniently solved that problem by eliminating America’s freedoms.
This is life now in America 2.0; it’s not the America we once knew, and it’s time to adjust accordingly.
I invite you to listen in to today’s podcast as we discuss some of the most striking differences between now and America’s golden days.
You won’t believe what once used to be possible in the Land of the Free.
(click image for podcast)
Tuesday, 27 October 2015
Europe's On A Road To A Very Bleak Nowhere | Zero Hedge
Europe's On A Road To A Very Bleak Nowhere | Zero Hedge
On the day after a bunch of European countries headed into yet another -emergency- meeting, and as the refugee situation in Greece and the Balkans was more out of hand than ever before, not in the least because the numbers of refugees arriving from -in particular- Turkey are larger than ever, let’s reiterate what should always be the guiding principle driving the response to issues like this.
That is, the only way to approach a crisis such as this one is to put the people first. To say that whatever happens, we will do what we can, first and foremost, to not allow for people to drown, or go hungry or cold, or contract diseases. Because that contradicts our basic morals. The loss of lives and prevention of misery should be the most important thing for everyone involved, all the time, from politicians to citizens.
If we cannot approach both the issue and the people with decency and humanity, we are as lost as they are. If only because we have no claim to being treated better than we ourselves treat others. After all, if someone else’s life is neither sacred nor valuable, why should yours be?
Looking through the response across Europe to the growing numbers and the growing crisis, what’s remarkable is the difference between individual citizens and the governments that are supposed to represent them. Apart from outliers like Hungary PM Victor Urban and the ubiquitous fascist groups from Greece through Germany, citizens win hands-down and across the board when it comes to humanity.
The arguably worst record is set by the European Union, ironically the one body that claims to represent everyone in the 500 million strong continent. Individual politicians in leading nations like Germany, France and the UK are close behind. European ‘leaders’ are not looking for a European solution, they’re all only trying to deal with their own part of the problem. As long as the refugees don’t burden their nations, they’re satisfied.
After a year of increasing refugee arrivals it’s safe to say that the pan-European approach, to the extent that it can even be said to exist, is a dismal and deadly failure.
Yesterday’s ‘Balkan+’ mini-summit was no exception. The AP headline says it all: “EU Agrees To Tighten Border Controls And Slow Migrant Arrival”. Europe’s priority is not to fight or minimize the suffering, it’s to make the problems go away by making the people go away. The new deal that came out of the summit cannot possibly work because it is based on unrealistic predictions of stopping the flow of refugees.
Greece has agreed to ‘host’ 50,000 refugees, but with 10,000 arriving daily that is a meaningless number. Apart from that, this is supposed to take place in ‘holding camps’, and the term all by itself should make one shiver. The ‘hotspots’, another EU initiative, are already making the refugee situation even worse than they have been for months.
Moreover, these people don’t want to stay in Greece, because in Greece economic prospects are so bleak as to be non-existent for the simple reason that the EU itself has demolished the Greek economy. Those responsible for that demolition now seek to force Greece to keep refugees from traveling north in holding camps and severely undermanned fingerprint facilities.
Disgrace comes in spades. It was therefore good to see that Greece had the pretty perfect answer:
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