What we need is a good war

The USA/Israel war machine is gearing up for a war with Iran. The UN sanctions against Iran and the unilateral sanctions imposed by the US this week are the smokescreen out of which will appear some catastrophic event at sea, that will trigger WW3.

I hope I am wrong. But I am afraid I might be right. Paul Craig Roberts blows away the smoke to look at the possibility of world war in the near future. I wonder if we add up all the expenditures on technology to kill people, if the sum will equal or surpass the amount we spend to ensure the dignity of life. Have to be careful with this question: I might not like the answer.

Why the US can't condemn Gaza blockade

No one is really surprised at Joe Biden's response to the attack of the flotilla in international waters. Most assume this is because Israel and the USA are really grotesque Siamese twins; but there may be another reason why the US cannot condemn Israel.

The US plans a blockade of Iranian waters and currently has a nuclear submarine near the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran Detects US Nuclear Sub in Persian Gulf
(Sunday, May 30th, 2010)

According to a report released at the end of the week by Iran’s Fars News Agency, Iranian naval forces detected the presence of a US navy nuclear submarine in the Persian Gulf, in the Strait of Hormuz area. This is a critical passage, which permits 90% of the oil produced by Persian Gulf state to get to Asia, W. Europe and the United States.

In addition, Israel is also planning on stationing nuclear subs in the Persian Gulf.

Report: Israel to station nuclear missile subs off Iran

Sunday Times says Jewish state plans to deploy three submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles in Persian Gulf. According to report, decision has been taken to ensure permanent presence of at least one of vessels...

The US can hardly condemn a blockade on Gaza when it is in fact planning the same for Iran in the Persian Gulf.

While most of the world reels from the sheer brutality of Israel's actions and Israel PR desperately spins its 'we are the victims' tale of woe, the geopolitical plans of US hegemony provides a larger context from which to view this event. If the Gaza blockade stands, then the world will also permit the actions of the US/Israel in interfering with traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Freedom Flotilla must indeed be a thorn in the paw of the US in its efforts to isolate Iran via economic sanctions in the UN. I truly hope it is. The outcome of the Freedom Flotilla's efforts to break this illegal blockade will not just influence the life of Gazans. It will set the global stage for the tactics US/Israel will use in the Persian Gulf; and in this sense would quicken the pace to war.

What we permit Israel to do to Gaza now, will also be permitted against Iran in the Persian Gulf. This is why the USA CANNOT condemn Israel's interference of ships in international waters.

Iraq War Vet Commits Suicide at Ohio Military Hospital

Here is an Iraq War fatality: don't bother Googling the story for it is nowhere to be found except for the link below. Why is that I wonder. I have blogged on this subject before: The Horror: War vets 'can't turn it off'. The newscast below on Jesse Charles Huff starts at 10.20 in the Democracy Now headline news.

Iraq War Vet Commits Suicide at Ohio Military Hospital

An Iraq war veteran has committed suicide in front of a veterans hospital in Dayton, Ohio. Jesse Charles Huff shot himself with a rifle in front of the Veterans Affairs Department’s Medical Center last month. Huff had been denied unspecified treatment at the hospital just hours earlier. The father of Huff’s former roommate says he thinks Huff killed himself in part to make a statement about the inadequate medical care he received as an injured veteran. Huff was wounded by a bombing in Iraq and had been undergoing treatment for a back injury and depression.

The power you gave them...

"The power you gave them to torture me, rape me ... search me naked and to present me in court, I am dead....

I was dead the first time I was raped.

...I do not consider you a judge, a court!...

This country [USA]. Leave me alone or send me back to my country Pakistan."

-Dr. Aafia Siddiqui during court hearing Feb 2010

I do not wish to preach to the choir on the issue of Aafia Siddiqui: I have blogged several times on her plight. For those of you who are unfamiliar, click on one of the following links and read the first two paragraphs in any one. My purpose here is to get those who are too busy, just living, to ask questions about their own responsibility as to their role in creating governments who have such power and such control over the media, as to inflict upon a person, that which Aafia Siddiqui has, so far, suffered.

• Was neuroscientist Dr. Aafia Siddiqui raped and tortured at US Bagram prison?
• US 'dark side' raised in Pakistani scientist case
• Aafia Siddiqui - Again and again and again..
• Update - Aafia Siddiqui
• Aafia Siddiqui was indeed Prisoner 650

My purpose here is to present for all readers the opportunity to awaken in themselves compassion, and courage to take back the power they have given away to their repressive governments, in many countries.

If the people lead, the government must follow. -anon

Before we can run we must walk, and before we walk we must crawl. First though, we must desire to move; and if in tiny episodes of awareness and compassion, we must crawl toward controlling our governments, then I hope Aafia's story is the beginning of a beginning for more and more people. A moment of curiosity is all it takes to stir the best in human nature. All that is required is a willingness to be aware.

Today is Good Friday, the day on which Jesus was crucified. Though I do not celebrate Holy Days in the traditional sense, including Easter and Christmas, I always like to have a good think about the meaning of the event the holiday commemorates.

Many people have been crucified, physically and symbolically, through abuse of power throughout history. They lie in unknown graves,vanquished and anonymous, the pain which they suffered consigned to oblivion. They have been the victims of power weilded by those who wish to rule as much of the universe as they can manage. We shall never know them all.

If the lament of Good Friday is anything, it is the sadness we feel that Jesus, duly convicted in a court of law, was executed on Good Friday for his policy of preaching love and forgiveness. Sedition was his crime. He was convicted by the people themselves and meted the horrible death He suffered, by the people.

I think this should raise some questions in our collective psyche about the individual integrity that is required for a democracy to function for 'good' instead of 'evil'.

I hope this story of Aafia awakens in us the power we possess, unused, to create a better world for our children.


Links for Aafia's recent US trial:

Justice for Aafia

US cedes economic control to IMF

This is the news you didn't hear about from the G20 that will change the way the world operates. This is the big step toward the NWO, the one that crosses the threshold of the way it was, and the way it will be in the future.

Whether the news is good or bad depends on one's point of view entirely: good for some, bad for others. Remember the IMF has imposed conditions of economic reforms on countries in the past that literally resulted in the death of millions in third world economies. On the other hand, the US fiscal policy will now be controlled by the IMF. One might almost guess that the consequences of the Federal Reserve's deplorably duplicitous decisions of monetary policy and how it affects common people, will now be blamed on the IMF instead of those who caused the economic collapse in the first place.

Do NOT underestimate the consequences of this unreported event at the recent G20. Those who fail to appreciate the monumental importance of this event are destined to grope in the darkness of reforms which will change the standard of living of millions: this time in the West. There is a very good reason the media did not report this event to US citizens.

The real import of the US ceding control to the IMF is yet to be disclosed.



Related

UN calls for new reserve currency

Job market in 2009 - Have a laugh

60 minutes: the next wave of US foreclosure misery

It ain't over till its over: and it ain't over by a long shot. After the alt-a and option ARMS loans implode, there awaits the commercial property bubble, credit card bubble and the final big bang of the bail out bubble.

60 Minutes reports on foreclosures in 2009 and 2010.

Part 1




Part 2

US: Despite Slump, U.S. Role as Top Arms Supplier Grows

This story only confirms what many know: the USA exports one thing - war. I am only surprised the article was not more widely read. In case you missed it, here it is. Draw your own conclusions. Cui bono? Is it the average citizen?

US: Despite Slump, U.S. Role
as Top Arms Supplier Grows

by Thom Shanker
New York Times
September 6th, 2009
Despite a recession that knocked down global arms sales last year, the United States expanded its role as the world’s leading weapons supplier, increasing its share to more than two-thirds of all foreign armaments deals, according to a new Congressional study.

The United States signed weapons agreements valued at $37.8 billion in 2008, or 68.4 percent of all business in the global arms bazaar, up significantly from American sales of $25.4 billion the year before.

Italy was a distant second, with $3.7 billion in worldwide weapons sales in 2008, while Russia was third with $3.5 billion in arms sales last year — down considerably from the $10.8 billion in weapons deals signed by Moscow in 2007.

The growth in weapons sales by the United States last year was particularly noticeable against worldwide trends. The value of global arms sales in 2008 was $55.2 billion, a drop of 7.6 percent from 2007 and the lowest total for international weapons agreements since 2005.

The increase in American weapons sales around the world “was attributable not only to major new orders from clients in the Near East and in Asia, but also to the continuation of significant equipment and support services contracts with a broad-based number of U.S. clients globally,” according to the study, titled “Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations.”

The annual report was produced by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, a division of the Library of Congress. Regarded as the most detailed collection of unclassified global arms sales data available to the general public, it was delivered to the House and Senate on Friday, ready for members’ return from the Labor Day recess.

The overall decline in weapons sales worldwide in 2008 can be explained by the reluctance of many nations to place new arms orders “in the face of the severe international recession,” wrote Richard F. Grimmett, a specialist in international security at the Congressional Research Service and author of the study.

Mr. Grimmett’s report stated that the growth of weapons sales by the United States was “extraordinary” in a time of global recession and resulted from new arms deals as well as the sustained cost of maintenance, upgrades, ammunition and spare parts to nations that bought American weapons in the past.

In the highly competitive global arms market, nations vie for both profit and political influence through weapons sales, in particular to developing nations, which remain “the primary focus of foreign arms sales activity by weapons suppliers,” according to the study.

Weapons sales to developing nations reached $42.2 billion in 2008, only a nominal increase from the $41.1 billion in 2007.

The United States was the leader not only in arms sales worldwide, but also in sales to nations in the developing world, signing $29.6 billion in weapons agreements with these nations, or 70.1 percent of all such deals.

The study found that the larger arms deals concluded by the United States with developing nations last year included a $6.5 billion air defense system for the United Arab Emirates, a $2.1 billion jet fighter deal with Morocco and a $2 billion attack helicopter agreement with Taiwan. Other large weapons agreements were reached between the United States and India, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, South Korea and Brazil.

Russia was far behind in 2008 with $3.3 billion in weapons sales to the developing world, about 7.8 percent of all such agreements. The report says that while Russia continues to have China and India as its main weapons clients, Russia’s new focus is on arms sales to Latin American nations, in particular to Venezuela.

France was third with $2.5 billion in arms sales to developing nations, or about 5.9 percent of weapons deals with these countries.

The top buyers in the developing world in 2008 were the United Arab Emirates, which signed $9.7 billion in arms deals; Saudi Arabia, which signed $8.7 billion in weapons agreements; and Morocco, with $5.4 billion in arms purchases.

The study uses figures in 2008 dollars, with amounts for previous years adjusted for inflation to give a constant financial measurement.

Unemployment USA statistics

I am not sure I could write a narrative as frightening as the statistics on unemployment and poverty tell in the following summary. Sometimes looking at the data is more alarming than a telegram from God. I only wish the stats below were compiled comparatively with other nations.

Of course as the labour supply increases, wages decrease. As wages decrease, so does purchasing power. Corporations seem well like the snakes who consume themselves.

Labor Day by the numbers

September 7, 2009 | An EPI Fact Sheet
compiled by Anna Turner

Note that all numbers are current as of September 4, 2009.

TOTAL JOBS LOST DURING THE RECESSION: 6.9 MILLION

• New jobs needed per month to keep up with population growth: 127,000
• Jobs lost in August 2009: 216,000
• Jobs needed to regain pre-recession unemployment levels: 9.4 million
• Manufacturing jobs lost since the start of the recession: 2.0 million (14.6% of sector’s jobs)
• Construction jobs lost in the recession: 1.4 million (19%, nearly one in five construction jobs)
• Mass layoffs (50 or more people by a single employer) in July 2009: 2,157; jobs lost: 206,791

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 9.7%

• Number unemployed: 14.9 million (up from 7.5 million in December 2007)
• Underemployment rate: 16.8%; Share of workers un- or underemployed: roughly 1 in 6
• Under- and unemployed, marginally attached and involuntary part-time workers: 26.4 million
• Unemployment rate, ages 16 to 24: 18.2%
• Male unemployment: 10.9%; female unemployment: 8.2%
• White unemployment: 8.9%; black unemployment: 15.1%; Hispanic unemployment: 13%
• Unemployment rate, young college graduates: 5.9% (2nd worst on record); Worst recorded unemployment rate for young college graduates: 6.2% (1983)
• Traditional ratio of young college grads’ unemployment to overall rate: 50%; Current ratio: 70%
• Portion of unemployed who have been jobless more than six months: one third
• Average weekly unemployment benefit in July (including additional $25 per week from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act): $332

STATES WITH DOUBLE-DIGIT UNEMPLOYMENT IN JULY, 2009: 16; WHEN THIS LAST HAPPENED: 1983

• Highest unemployment rate: Michigan, 15.0%; lowest: North Dakota, 4.2%
• When California’s Hispanic unemployment surpassed black unemployment: 2nd quarter, 2009
• Projected African American unemployment for Michigan, 2nd quarter of 2010: 24.9%

INCREASE IN AVERAGE U.S. WORKER’S PRODUCTIVITY, 2000-07: 19.2%

• Decrease in all prime-aged worker’s real median weekly wages, 2000-2007: $1; Decrease for African Americans: $3
• Annual growth rate of private-sector workers’ wages, last three months: 2.6%
• Annual growth of wages in managerial, professional, and related occupations, 2009, 2nd quarter: 0%
• Annual growth rate of real (inflation-adjusted), average, hourly wages since June 2000: 0.70%*
• Ratio of average CEO’s pay to typical worker’s pay in 1979: 27 to 1; Ratio in 2007: 275 to 1

EXPECTED NEW SPENDING (12-MONTHS) FROM THE NEW $7.25 MINIMUM WAGE: $5.5 BILLION

• Share of minimum wage workers with high school diploma in 1979: 57.5%: Share in 2008: 72%
• Workers getting a raise from latest minimum wage increase: 4.5 million
• Share of affected workers with annual family income below $35,000: 57.1%; Share working at least 20 hours a week: 81.6%
• Extent to which the minimum wage’s real value is lower than in 1968: 17%

AMERICANS UNINSURED IN 2007: 45 MILLION

• Drop in children covered through parents’ employers, 2000 to 2007: 3.4 million
• Share of people under 65, with incomes in the top 20%, covered by employers in 2007: 86.4%; Share with incomes in the bottom 20%, covered by employers: 21.9%
• Share of Hispanic workers who are uninsured: 39.8%
• Percentage of under-65 Americans with employer-sponsored health insurance in 2000: 68.3%; In 2007: 62.9%
• Average monthly cost of COBRA with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act subsidy: $370; Without American Recovery and Reinvestment Act subsidy: $1,057
• Rise in out-of-pocket spending for the 1% of adults with the greatest medical expenses, 2004-2007: 42%
• Increase in health care premiums since 1999: 119%
• Amount by which U.S. private health insurance administrative costs exceeded all Canadian national health spending in 2007: $25 billion**
• Share of total U.S. health care costs paid by private insurers in 2007: 35%
• Share of total health care costs paid by U.S. government in 2007: 46%

SHARE OF PEOPLE NEAR RETIREMENT AGE WITH A 401(K) BALANCE UNDER $40,000 IN 2007: 50%

• Percentage of amount needed to maintain living standards that is held by average 401(k) participant approaching retirement: 20-40%
• Share of 401(k) assets estimated to be lost since 2007: 29%

WORKPLACES WITH NO CONTRACT MORE THAN THREE YEARS AFTER ELECTION IS WON: 25%

• Share of employers that interrogate workers in mandatory one-on-one meetings, 1999-2003: 63%; Share of employers that threaten workers in such meetings, 1999-2003: 54%
• Increase in likelihood that firm will fail if unionized: 0%
• U.S. manufacturing workers ranking on “value-added per employee,” compared to 16 nations with higher compensation: 2

ANNUALIZED RATE OF ECONOMIC CONTRACTION, 2nd QUARTER, 2009: 1%

• Likely size of this contraction without the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: 3-4%
• Jobs lost with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, 2nd quarter, 2009: 1.3 million
• Jobs that would have been lost without the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, 2nd quarter, 2009: 1.8 million at least***

* EPI analysis of CPS and BLS data
**EPI analysis of HHS CMS, OECD, and World Bank data
***Mark Zandi, Moody’s Economy.com

Will Medicare and Social Security be paid?

UPDATE 26/8/09
Markey: Medicare will take hit

While the eyse of the US populace is on the health care debate, things are happening behind the scenes with the currency. These changes may drastically reduce social security and Medicare benefits which the baby boomers are blindly relying upon in their old age.




And for those of you who prefer the less pessimistic option generally.



Care to bet your old age pension on this information?

An overview of the future

So many puzzle pieces - so little time to put them all together. If you are like me, you may find reading long tedious articles, one after another, to get an understanding of where WE are going quite a chore, necessary but laborious. Since I am dyslexic, this is an act of sheer will on my part.

Once in awhile, I find a video that makes the job of interpreting the exponentially voluminous reading material much simpler. Such is the quality of the video below. Although the speaker is not as dramatically endowed as some, the information which he discusses consolidates months of reading. And is invaluable to anyone who wishes to understand global dynamics.

I highly recommend this 1 1/2 hour video for anyone who has not the luxury of time to comb the net daily for clues as to the direction of where global government is leading. I hope you enjoy it - but I doubt you will. The prognosis is not at all optimistic for masses. The question is are we brave enough to face the reality.

VIDEO: THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS
Montreal Lecture: The Great Depression of the 21st Century

by Michel Chossudovsky

Related reading:

Global War and Dying Democracy: The Revolution of the Elites
Global Power and Global Government: Part 5
This is a 5 part series looking at the trends in globalisation. Very long but extremely worthwhile.

Global Trading Showing No Sign of Recovery

Enoughism - Or how Less is More

Ever wonder why when you have enough money, you don't have enough time to enjoy it? We seem to have the money to buy books on how to appreciate the 'now' and become happier - but not the time to actually read them and experience their promised contentment and pleasure. Time is the one essence of life which is truly limited.

There are only 24 hours to a day and there are only so many days to our lives. How many hours in the day do modern people spend to make money to buy things? And are these things they buy really necessary at all?

I recall a lecture in International Trade, where the instructor compared the GDP of the USA to the GDP of the Eurozone. (This was a few years ago.) Her conclusion seemed to be that more GDP is better. But after looking into the figures, I discovered that not only is the GDP of Europeans less than US GDP, but their work week was also significantly shorter. Most Europeans enjoy from 7 to 10 weeks of paid holidays from work. Yes, Europeans spend more time on leisure activities and more time with their loved ones. From my perspective, this is a healthier lifestyle: GDP does not a happy heart make.

Americans are the best 'consumers' in the world. Looking at the definition of consumerism: Consumerism is the equation of personal happiness with consumption and the purchase of material possessions. Now John Naish has brought us its antithesis, Enoughism.

Enoughism is the theory that there is a point where consumers possess everything they need, and by buying more it actually makes their life worse off. Enoughism emphasizes less spending and more restraint in buying behaviour of consumers. Unlike Consumerism which Mirriam-Webster defines as "the theory that an increasing consumption of goods is economically desirable", Enoughism is an antonym to consumerism.

It is true that if people enjoy what they have (when their necessities are provided for), that corporations will be very unhappy indeed - because their profits will shrink. The ultra rich will have to be satisfied with only 150 pairs of shoes, only 2 townhouses, only 2 Rolls Royce etc. I don't just don't give a flying fart...let them adjust. That's what we all must do if we are to create a sustainable lifestyle on earth for the future. I am not an economic commodity for the use of the elite capitalists: economies exist for the well being of people primarily, all people not just a few.

I have blogged on this issue twice recently:
To consume: the definition
Lessons from Scarcity

One thing is for sure: either we will collectively say 'enough is enough' voluntarily NOW; or future generations will be forced to exist on what is 'not enough'. I hope the conclusion we come to is that More is LESS - less happiness, less loving, and less quality living and less time for the people we love.



Related reading

The New Anti-Consumerism

Conspicuous consumption

The Century of the Self (Video)

"We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of." - Edward Bernays

To many in both politics and business, the triumph of the self is the ultimate expression of democracy, where power has finally moved to the people. Certainly the people may feel they are in charge, but are they really? The Century of the Self tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society in Britain and the United States. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests?

CFR recommends anmesty for illegal immigrants in US

Sometimes I read a news article that just doesn't fit into the puzzle of our times. Its contents seem to be non sequiturs in the current economic climate, and although the headlines are brutally honest, noone pays any heed to the contents. Such is the case with the following article. The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is advocating an amnesty for illegal workers in the USA.

Let me get this straight:

• US unemployment is skyrocketing.
• An increase in the labour force means higher unemployment, greater scarcity of jobs.
• An increase in hiring international professionals means higher unemployment.
• So the CFR recommends this?

• The US Congress has passed a rash of Draconian laws to prevent illegal immigration to the US since 911 designed to protect Americans.
• Border checks and international travel have become travellers' hell by viture of US No Fly Lists and NSA investigations of 'persons of interest'.
• Now the US wants to soften these laws? Why? The threat is gone? Tourism is in the shitter?

I don't get it. Unless this has something to do with the formation of a US-Mexico-Canada currency zone, the NAU. If this is the case, then the CFRs' amnesty on illegal aliens, and its recruitment of foreign students and tourists make much more sense.

What do you think? Have I missed a big piece of puzzle context here or do I not have the whole story? What's wrong with this picture? Maybe the CFR has had an epiphany of moral conscience? Cui bono here?

Council on Foreign Relations backs amnesty for illegals, opposes Arpaio-style raids

Phoenix Business Journal

by Mike Sunnucks Wednesday,
July 8, 2009
Source
The uber-establishment Council on Foreign Relations said Wednesday it favors granting legal status to many of the roughly 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., creating a guest worker program for low-skilled foreign workers to come and work in the U.S and opposes local police getting to conduct immigration raids.

The CFR issued an immigration policy report Wednesday that looks to lift caps on foreign university students in the U.S. and allow skilled foreign graduates to get more work visas. The international policy group also wants to create legal paths to citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already in the U.S.

The CFR also said local police should not take lead roles in immigration enforcements and workplace raids. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas have been conducting immigration raids and prosecutions against businesses hiring illegal immigrants, as well as drop-houses used by smugglers trafficking illegal immigrants into Arizona from Mexico.

The CFR report does not specifically mention Arpaio but the Valley’s sheriff is the most notable local enforcer of immigration laws in the U.S. The CFR’s recommendations on guest workers and amnesty mirror plans to be pushed in Congress this year by President Barack Obama. Arizona State university professor Raul H. Yzaguirre and former Florida governor Jeb Bush served on the CFR task force that wrote the recommendations.

The group also wants the U.S. to tweek or ease some post 9/11 security measures that have discouraged immigration and foreign tourism into the U.S. and want the U.S. government to develop new technologies to secure border areas, verify workers’ employment status and enforce immigration laws.

The New York-based CFR is a heavyweight international policy group whose members includes powerful politicians, CEOs and university presidents as well as multinational corporations, media firms and private equity firms.

The Council’s corporate members include

• Bank of America,
• Goldman Sachs,
• American Express,
• Chevron,
• ExxonMobil Corp.,
• Rothschild North America Inc.,
• News Corp.,
• General Electric,
• KBR Inc.,
• Lockheed Martin,
• Raytheon Co.,
• Soros Fund Management and Google Inc.
• U.S. Sen. John McCain,
• former Arizona governor Bruce Babbitt,
• U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano,
• Arizona State University President Michael Crow and Thunderbird School of Global Management president Angel Cabrera are Arizonans that are CFR members.

Other notable CFR members include:
• Former U.S. Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell, James Baker and Madeline Albright.
• Former U.S. Treasury secretaries Henry Paulson and Robert Rubin. • Financier George Soros and JP Morgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon.
• Former Federal Reserve Bank chairmen Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker. • Former presidents George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton and former vice president Dick Cheney.
• Media notables such as NBC’s Tom Brokaw, News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, Newsweek International editor and CNN commentator Fareed Zakaria and New York Times publisher Arthur Ochs “Punch” Sulzberger.

Police Brutality USA - Interactive map

Since the recent infamous Grandma tasering, I have found many incidents of similar brutality by police. The following links are VIDEOS of such events.

Girl shoes cop - Cop beats girl

Then they came for me....and there was noone...

Police Overreact with a Taser Gun - AGAIN!

Ambulance driver brutalized by police: cops did it right!

Grandma tasered update - Police: we did it right!

Grandma tasered - Unedited video from dash cam

Ambulance driver brutalized by police

SWAT bust down wrong door

I had wondered how long it would take to compile a relatively complete list of all the incidences. Luckily I found that someone has done this already and presented it neatly in an interactive map.

I spent hours examining incidences from the map - it was horrifying and enlightening to see how widespread abuse of civil rights is in the USA - and how many innocent people have been killed or irreparably damaged.

Take a look if you dare.

An interactive map of botched SWAT and paramilitary police raids, released in conjunction with the Cato policy paper "Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids," by Radley Balko.


Related:

Medals for Botched SWAT Raid Officers

Police SWAT teams: Overused?

Police Overreact with a Taser Gun - AGAIN!

Police Overreact with a Taser Gun

Eugenics comes to the USA

Yet another article confirming eugenics data being legally required of all babies born in the USA. I have blogged on this before: Baby's DNA now stored in National Database - It's the law.

Now I do not have a particular position on eugenics: I do, however, wonder why so many Americans do not know about the recently passed federal laws which mandate that all newborns will have their DNA stored in a national database. Once they find out, they can figure out what, if anything they want to do about it. At least we know Minnesota doesn't like it.

DNA databases prelude to return of eugenics?

Warning issued over 'full genomic scans' on babies

by Bob Unruh
Global Research, June 8, 2009
World Net Daily - 2009-05-02
Source
An organization that has been battling Minnesota state procedures in which DNA from every newborn is collected and warehoused says virtually all states do the same thing, and the alarming trend eventually could lead the United States back into eugenics.

The report from Twila Brase, president of the Citizens' Council on Health Care, says, "Throughout history, proponents of eugenics have focused on the reproduction of children, either through encouraging the 'healthy' to reproduce or discouraging the 'unhealthy' from procreation. This focus has been evidenced in history by 29 state sterilization laws … and the horrific Nazi campaign aimed at ridding Germany of the 'unfit' – the Jews, the physically deformed, the mentally retarded, the 'feebleminded,' the inferior, the epileptic, the deaf, the blind, 'those suffering from hereditary conditions,' the deviant 'asocial' and the politically dissident."

The report then continued, "That the focus on reproduction still exists today is more than troubling.

"The authors of a 2001 study 'were struck' by the large number of state government officials who agreed with a specific statement regarding assessment of ua child's suitability for future reproduction," the report said. "Nineteen (54 percent) of 35 … respondents who routinely provide counseling – mostly newborn genetic screening follow-up staff at state health departments across the country – thought it important when giving advice to parents to 'identify children who might be, for genetic reasons, unsuitable choices for future reproduction,'" the report said.

The concept of "identifying" those who would be "unsuitable" for reproduction is enough reason for parents to be alarmed, and people should start demanding fully informed consent requirements, Brase said.

"To protect every American's right to self-determination, genetic privacy, and DNA property rights, it is time to require informed written parent consent for all facets of the newborn genetic screening program, including storage and use of genetic test results and newborn DNA," Brase said.

She said most states do not require parental consent for newborn genetic testing now or for the government to keep the genetic results. Most states now keep DNA results for a period of time – some extending indefinitely.

"Most parents have no idea that government is doing the testing or retaining the data and DNA," the report said.

"It is important for policymakers to look beyond the current newborn screening programs which test infants for only 21 to 60-some rare genetic conditions. Supporters of newborn screening appear to be planning for full genomic scans on every baby at birth," warned Brase.

The organization's website posted a report from a new grandmother who documented the medical industry's insistence on taking that information, with or without permission.

In Minnesota, the CCHC has been battling the state Department of Health, which has been taking the DNA samples and warehousing but apparently not following "written consent requirements."

The anonymous new grandmother there wrote:

"My daughter signed a paper stating she did not want the PKU test done because of the DNA stealing (I was there when she did that). The nurse huffed out of the room saying that stuff doesn't happen. After my grandchild was born, a different nurse took the baby. My daughter her my granddaughter start crying. She found out her heel was getting pricked. My daughter became furious stating that she signed off on not getting the test. The nurse said there was nothing in her chart saying that. My daughter demanded the blood sample back. The nurse said they'd destroy it, but my daughter demanded it back and got it."

Brase's report warns the collection and assembly of DNA on an entire generation of citizens largely is unnoticed, but such newborn screening "represents the largest single application of genetic testing in medicine."

"Suppose … expanded screening of an infant reveals not a fatal and incurable disease but instead a host of genetic variants, each of which merely confers elevated risk for some condition or other," the report said. "Who is to say at what point an uncovered defect becomes serious enough to warrant preventing the birth of other children who might carry it? At what point have we crossed the line from legitimate family planning to capricious and morally dubious eugenics?"

The report said the concept that a population of people can be "improved" by eliminating those with any "defects" is relatively ignored these days. But, it said, "proponents are newborn genetic screening are moving toward eugenics – not away from it."

In the United States, it was in 1927 when the U.S. Supreme Court opined, from Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.'s pen, "It is better for all he world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime, or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind. The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the Fallopian tubes."

Even now, similar beliefs exist, the report said.

"Is it thus noteworthy that the government-funded Sickle Cell Trust in Jamaica is now providing fifth and sixth grade students with the results of their sickle cell tests on a laminated card with the hope that they will 'select partners with normal genes and avoid having a child with sickle-cell disease,'" the report said.

"Twenty states store newborn blood samples from one to 23 years," the report said. " With four million babies born each year and at least 10 states retaining newborn blood indefinitely, the repository of infant DNA is large and growing. The baby's DNA is considered state government property."

That's even though surveys show one quarter of parents are unwilling to allow the government to use infant DNA information for research even with parental permission, and more than 70 percent oppose it when parents did not give permission.

Within the last month, lawsuits have been filed in both Minnesota and Texas by parents objecting to government collection and use of infant DNA.

If such information was limited to the parents, and eventually the individual person, there probably would be few complications. But the report raises the concern that's not what would happen.

"Even the baby's potential for behavioral problems and political proclivities could become a part of the government's sequenced – and recorded – findings," it said.

"It is not hard to imagine the day when any discovered but non-symptomatic condition could become a 'pre-existing condition' for which private insurers would not pay. The eugenic implications are obvious. Thus, the growing collection of genetic test results and newborn DNA could easily enable a eugenics agenda on the part of government agencies and private industry," it said.

In an interview at the time the dispute over newborns' DNA in Minnesota was heating up, Brase said it's no longer just about diabetes, asthmas and cancer.

"It's also about behavioral issues," she said.

"In England they decided they should have doctors looking for problem children, and have those children reported, and their DNA taken in case they would become criminals," she said.

In fact, published reports in the U.K. note that senior police forensics experts believe genetic samples should be studied, because it may be possible to identify potential criminals as young as age 5.

"If we have a primary means of identifying people before they offend, then in the long-term the benefits of targeting younger people are extremely large," Gary Pugh, director of forensics at Scotland Yard, was quoted saying. "You could argue the younger the better. Criminologists say some people will grow out of crime; others won't. We have to find who are possibly going to be the biggest threat to society."

The U.K. database already has 4.5 million genetic samples and reportedly is the largest in Europe, but activists want to expand it. Pugh said that it is not possible right now to demand everyone provide a DNA sample but only because of the costs and logistics.

One published report cited the Institute for Public Policy Research, which is suggesting children from 5-12 in the U.K. be targeted with cognitive behavioral therapy, and Pugh has suggested adding the children in primary schools to the database, even if they have not offended.

"Not all research is great," Brase said. "There is research that is highly objectionable into the genetic propensities of an individual. Not all research should be hailed as wonderful initiatives."

The Heartland Regional Genetics and Newborn Screening is one of the organizations that advocates more screening and research.

It proclaims in its vision statement a desire to see newborns screened for 200 conditions. It also forecasts "every student … with an individual program for education based on confidential interpretation of their family medical history, their brain imaging, their genetic predictors of best learning methods…"

Further, every individual should share information about "personal and family health histories" as well as "gene tests for recessive conditions and drug metabolism" with the "other parent of their future children."

Still further, it seeks "ecogenetic research that could improve health, lessen disability, and lower costs for sickness."

"They want to test every child for 200 conditions, take the child's history and a brain image, and genetics, and come up with a plan for that child," Brase said. "They want to learn their weaknesses and defects.

"Nobody including and especially the government should be allowed to create such extensive profiles," she said.

The next step is obvious: The government, with information about potential health weaknesses, could say to couples, "We don't want your expensive children," Brase said.
Global Research Articles by Bob Unruh

Related:

The Rabbit Hole Doesn't End Here

Enoughism - Or how Less is More

Ever wonder why when you have enough money, you don't have enough time to enjoy it? We seem to have the money to buy books on how to appreciate the 'now' and become happier - but not the time to actually read them and experience their promised contentment and pleasure. Time is the one essence of life which is truly limited.

There are only 24 hours to a day and there are only so many days to our lives. How many hours in the day do modern people spend to make money to buy things? And are these things they buy really necessary at all?

I recall a lecture in International Trade, where the instructor compared the GDP of the USA to the GDP of the Eurozone. (This was a few years ago.) Her conclusion seemed to be that more GDP is better. But after looking into the figures, I discovered that not only is the GDP of Europeans less than US GDP, but their work week was also significantly shorter. Most Europeans enjoy from 7 to 10 weeks of paid holidays from work. Yes, Europeans spend more time on leisure activities and more time with their loved ones. From my perspective, this is a healthier lifestyle: GDP does not a happy heart make.

Americans are the best 'consumers' in the world. Looking at the definition of consumerism: Consumerism is the equation of personal happiness with consumption and the purchase of material possessions. Now John Naish has brought us its antithesis, Enoughism.

Enoughism is the theory that there is a point where consumers possess everything they need, and by buying more it actually makes their life worse off. Enoughism emphasizes less spending and more restraint in buying behaviour of consumers. Unlike Consumerism which Mirriam-Webster defines as "the theory that an increasing consumption of goods is economically desirable", Enoughism is an antonym to consumerism.

It is true that if people enjoy what they have (when their necessities are provided for), that corporations will be very unhappy indeed - because their profits will shrink. The ultra rich will have to be satisfied with only 150 pairs of shoes, only 2 townhouses, only 2 Rolls Royce etc. I don't just don't give a flying fart...let them adjust. That's what we all must do if we are to create a sustainable lifestyle on earth for the future. I am not an economic commodity for the use of the elite capitalists: economies exist for the well being of people primarily, all people not just a few.

I have blogged on this issue twice recently:
To consume: the definition
Lessons from Scarcity

One thing is for sure: either we will collectively say 'enough is enough' voluntarily NOW; or future generations will be forced to exist on what is 'not enough'. I hope the conclusion we come to is that More is LESS - less happiness, less loving, and less quality living and less time for the people we love.



Related reading

The New Anti-Consumerism

Conspicuous consumption

The Century of the Self (Video)

"We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of." - Edward Bernays

To many in both politics and business, the triumph of the self is the ultimate expression of democracy, where power has finally moved to the people. Certainly the people may feel they are in charge, but are they really? The Century of the Self tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society in Britain and the United States. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests?

Ambulance driver brutalized by police

In case you have noticed yet, the Cops in the US are becoming like the Gestapo and no one is safe from their inflated sense of power and entitlement to do anything they please. I have blogged on this before, Then they came for me....and there was noone..., and now present another case. No one is safe from police brutality in the US now, not even ambulance drivers and the lives of those they are transporting to the hospital.

Please take note and read the writing on the wall. The next victim may be you or someone you love. Protest before its too late. If you are not aware of the fact that Americans have no civil rights left, the time to learn about it is NOW! If you do not care, you do not deserve civil rights.

Dust-up between trooper, paramedics investigated

By MANNY GAMALLO World Staff Writer
5/28/2009
Source
PADEN — The investigation of a weekend scuffle between state troopers and paramedics who were taking a woman to the hospital has been turned over to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol's Internal Affairs Unit and a county prosecutor.

No troopers have been suspended or put on paid leave, OHP Capt. Chris West said.



West would provide no other details of the Sunday incident, nor would he release the troopers' names or their reports, citing the administrative investigation.

The case is being investigated by an Okfuskee County prosecutor in Okemah, West said.

Assistant District Attorney Maxey Reilly said she just received the report Tuesday and hasn't had time to determine what charges, if any, should be filed. She said she hopes to do so by next week.

The Creek Nation, which operates the ambulance service involved, released detailed reports filed by the two paramedics.

The incident occurred in Paden as the Creek Nation ambulance, which did not have its emergency lights or siren on, was taking a sick woman from Boley to the hospital in nearby Prague.

According to a report by paramedic Maurice White Jr., the ambulance, driven by Paul Franks, was nearing Paden when White saw a trooper's car approaching fast behind them.

White said the patrol car had its emergency lights on but that he couldn't hear a siren.

When he next noticed the patrol car, it was about three feet behind the ambulance's bumper, he said.

At that point, White told Franks to pull over to let the patrol car pass.

As the trooper passed, the ambulance received a radio transmission from the trooper, whom White quoted as telling them, "You should consider checking your rear-view mirrors."

A few blocks into Paden, White saw a trooper's car, with its lights and siren on, pull out of a side street and again race up to the ambulance, he said.

Franks pulled over, and he and White got out of the ambulance, White said.

White said the trooper had a woman in the car, so he thought at first that she was sick and that the trooper wanted them to look at her.

However, "the officer got out of his vehicle in a state of rage," White's report states.

The trooper, identified in the Creek Nation reports only as Trooper Martin, reportedly told Franks that he was going to be ticketed for failure to yield, adding, "What do you mean flipping me off?" White's report states.

White noted that when the trooper earlier advised them over the radio to check their mirrors, Franks held up his hands in surprise and that the trooper might have mistaken that for an indecent gesture.

White said he interceded, telling the trooper that they had a patient in the ambulance and were going to the hospital.

He said the trooper demanded that Franks get in the patrol car for a citation.

Again, White wrote, he told the trooper that they had a patient and that "we could continue this at the hospital."

"At this point," White continued, "I told my partner to listen to me and that we did not have time for this now."

White said the trooper then shouted at him that he was under arrest for obstructing an officer and then tried to handcuff him, resulting in a struggle.

White said he returned to the ambulance to check on the patient when another trooper, identified in White's report only as "badge 606," appeared and tried to arrest him.

The troopers finally let the ambulance go to the hospital, the report says.

Other troopers were at the hospital and told the medics they would not be arrested but that the incident would be forwarded to the district attorney for possible charges.

The Creek Nation's report noted that the patient's family was following them and that one relative had a camera and filmed the confrontation.

Double, double, toil and trouble...

'Double, double, toil and trouble: Fire, burn, and cauldron, bubble.'
-The Witches, 4.1, Macbeth

Not in eighty years have the conditions for global revolution been so ripe. A glance at the following thirteen headlines, taken together, should be enough to alarm anyone with synaptic activity that revolutionary consciousness is awakening internationally.

Why now? Because never has so much affluence been lost in the Western standard of living than in the period we are currently experiencing. And things will get worse. The rich will get richer, the poor will get poorer and the middle class is quickly disappearing.

The more protests and demonstrations, the better; the quicker the Masters of the Universe will get the message that they cannot rule people who are unwilling to be impoverished for the coffers of the Elite. Capitalism is dying an ugly death; but in the end, people will not care about ideology - they will care about the decline in the stardard of living to which they have become accustomed.

People are about to change the Darwinistic political/economic paradigm that has dominated earth for so long. And there will be blood.

Truly wise Masters of the Universe would act now to eliminate the suffering of ordinary people. However, it does seem we are ruled by madmen. Time for a challenge to the status quo; and the cauldron is seething.

Injustice boils in men's hearts as does steel in its cauldron,
ready to pour forth,white hot,
in the fullness of time. -Mother Jones

European farmers protest to demand help on milk prices

May 26, 2009

Furious farmers have blockaded roads and forced a halt to production at scores of dairies as part of Europe-wide protests designed to reverse a slump in the wholesale price of milk.

As they gathered on Monday, European Union farm ministers met to discuss the crisis, with nations divided over those wanting the quota system, set to be scrapped within six years, maintained in one form or another.

In Brussels, farm tractors blocked major roads in the city's European quarter, where police said about 900 demonstrators had rallied to make their voices heard by the agriculture ministers.

Riot police were seen trying to hold back the protesters, who converged on the Belgian capital from 10 countries, but the farmers broke through their barricade, despite receiving truncheon blows from some officers. Read entire article

FACTBOX-Trade union activity in Western Europe

May 28, 2009

Unions across Europe protesting. Read entire article

Civil Unrest

Michael C. Ruppert
27/02/09

It Seems as if The World is Holding Its Breath for Obama's change...

Already devastated by auto layoffs and other massive corporate failures, Ohio's industrial areas border and are in close proximity to Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana and Pennsylvania. Lots of kindling in those states. At the same time as Ohio is devastated by DHL, auto and other layoffs, much of the nation's high-tech wind turbine industry in Ohio is also shutting down at the same time... just when we need it. The snake eats its own tail for nutrition. It is the way money works... for now.

Civil unrest in Ohio could easily infect across state lines here, and cross another fault line that runs east and west, separating north from south; the Mason Dixon. Other earthquakes might be triggered. Eastward from Ohio are Pennsylvania and New Jersey. I wonder how much inter-agency advance planning DHS and FEMA have gone through so that they might operate fluidly across many borders, radio frequencies and jurisdictions. Those contingencies were planned for in the Patriot Act which congress didn't or couldn't read before voting on it. Read article

George Soros, the man who broke the Bank,
sees a global meltdown

March 28, 2009

This recession, he explains, is a “once-in-a-lifetime event”, particularly in Britain. “This is a crisis unlike any other. It’s a total collapse of the financial system with tremendous implications for everyday life. On previous occasions when you had a crisis that was threatening the system the authorities intervened and did whatever was necessary to protect the system. This time they failed.” Read entire article

California's new budget proposal
slashes welfare, releases inmates

By Kevin Yamamura
The Sacramento Bee

In California's latest doom-and-gloom announcement, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Department of Finance on Tuesday proposed closing the state's main welfare program, releasing nonviolent prisoners one year early and shuttering up to 80 percent of state parks to shrink the state's $24.3 billion budget deficit. Read entire article

Amnesty Report Warns World on Verge of Global Unrest

29 May 2009

Amnesty International released its annual report yesterday, warning that that the world is on the verge of global unrest, with existing poverty severely worsened by the international economic crisis. In every major geographic area the report details conditions relating to social and economic insecurity, poverty and deprivation, and more. Read entire article

World Bank warns of social unrest

World Bank President Robert Zoellick has warned of the destabilising effects of unemployment.

The head of the World Bank has warned that the global economic crisis could lead to serious social upheaval.

"If we do no take measures, there is a risk of a serious human and social crisis with very serious political implications," Robert Zoellick said. Read entire article

Cities across the world become platform for hundreds of thousands of protesters against Gaza fighting

11th January 2009

Cities across the world became the platform for protest on Israel's military action in Gaza today.

Organisers said more than 250,000 people marched through Spain's capital of Madrid, with other European cities including Athens, Brussels, Rome, Naples Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin also the focal points of protesters.

The protest in Madrid was the largest of demonstrations across Europe, although there were expressions of both support and opposition for the Israeli offensive in Gaza. Read article; see photos

More EU protests planned over unemployment

May 15, 2009

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Protests are expected to continue in Brussels on Friday after tens of thousands marched on the streets of Spain's capital Thursday to demand better protection for workers hit hard by the economic crisis. Thousands take part in the Madrid demonstration, organized by the European Trade Confederation.

Dressed in funeral black to mourn the estimated 4 million jobless in Spain, demonstrators had a simple message for the government: Enough corporate bailouts; it's time to focus on the workers. Read article

Up to 100,000 demonstrate in Berlin for more job protection

16.05.2009

The protests came only two weeks after massive demonstrations on May 1. Up to 100,000 protestors have marched through the heart of Berlin, demanding the government do more to protect jobs during the recession. The rally was part of a series of protests across the European Union.

Trade union officials said 100,000 people took part in Berlin's protest, while police put the total at "several tens of thousands".

The rally was organized by the Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB) as part of a series of four demonstrations across Europe with the motto "Fight the crisis. Europe needs a new social deal".

Amidst Germany's deepest recession since World War Two, unemployment has risen consecutively in the past 6 months and forecasts for the coming year are even bleaker. Demonstrators accused the government of putting big business first, and not doing enough to protect the people. Read entire article

Economic crisis damaging human rights, report says

ELITSA VUCHEVA
28.05.2009

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Human rights violations remained widespread across the world in 2008, including Europe, with the global economic crisis not only aggravating the existing problems, but creating new ones as well, human rights group Amnesty International's yearly report released on Thursday (28 May) shows.

"The global economic crisis is an explosive human rights crisis. A combination of social, economic and political problems has created a [across the world]," said Irene Khan, the group's secretary general.

"There are growing signs of political unrest and violence, adding to the global insecurity that already exists because of deadly conflicts which the international community seems unable or unwilling to resolve. In other words: we are sitting on a powder keg of inequality, injustice and insecurity, and it is about to explode," she wrote in the introduction to Amnesty's report on the situation of human rights in the world. Read article

France NATO protesters, police clash; Michelle Obama hospital visit cancelled over security worries

April 4th 2009

STRASBOURG, France — Black-clad protesters attacked police and set a customs station ablaze Saturday on a bridge linking France and Germany that served hours earlier as the backdrop for a show of unity by NATO leaders.

AP photographers saw other protesters storm a nearby Ibis hotel, setting fires and pilfering alcohol from its bar.

Stacks of old tires were also set ablaze, unleashing thick plumes of black smoke that could be seen from across the river. Near the bonfire was a sign welcoming visitors to Strasbourg.

First lady Michelle Obama and other spouses canceled a visit to a cancer hospital out of concern for security, the French president's office said. Some 1,000 protesters were staked out near the hospital they were to visit.

Some of the protesters say they want an end to war and call NATO a tool of Western imperialism. Others simply appear bent on causing chaos. Read article

Civil Unrest in America?

José Miguel Alonso Trabanco
Global Research
March 9, 2009

The only thing that can be taken for granted and that one can be sure of is that the unthinkable has now become thinkable.

Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Advisor and early supporter of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, has warned that civil unrest on American soil is a possibility that should not be dismissed. Brzezinski explains that "[the United States is] going to have millions and millions of unemployed, people really facing dire straits. And we’re going to be having that for some period of time before things hopefully improve. And at the same time there is public awareness of this extraordinary wealth that was transferred to a few individuals at levels without historical precedent in America…" Brzezinski concludes with this noteworthy remark "…hell, there could be even riots"....

Professor Michel Chossudovsky observed that the US Army 3rd Infantry’s 1st Brigade Combat Team returned from Iraq some months ago. That information is extremely disturbing because such military unit "may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control", according to official sources. Now, what scenario could possibly require the operational deployment of said units on American soil? Professor Chossudovsky puts forward an intriguing hypothesis that must be borne in mind. He argues that "Civil unrest resulting from from the financial meltdown is a distinct possibility, given the broad impacts of financial collapse on lifelong savings, pension funds, homeownership, etc". Read full article

Some day the workers will take possession of your city hall, and when we do, no child will be sacrificed on the altar of profit! -Mother Jones