Purple Serf

AMTV News: Russian Incursions Into Strategic US Territory & Reddit Island's Bold Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 18:27:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

Welcome to AMTV News, I’m your host Topher Morrison. Today is Wednesday August 15th, 2012.

First up…

Russian Military Tests US Defenses, Again

A Russian nuclear-powered attack sub, likely Akula class, operated undetected for weeks in the Gulf of Mexico. This secret incursion took place at the same time Russian strategic bombers conducted a massive exercise in the arctic, which made incursions into restricted US airspace near Alaska and California in June and July. It was a move made by the Russians not seen since before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. So – in light of recent events – here’s a flashback… Just who fired, what appeared to many, including experts a missile of the coast of California in November of 2010?

European Citizenship: Death of Nations?

EuroNews

It’s described as something similar to what we have in the United States, a love of country, but an affinity for our state. In Europe freedom of travel has been energized with integration, electoral reforms allow foreigners to vote were they live and work. And a European identity is being forged, which binds under its own national anthem the peoples of Europe. What also bind Germans, for example to Greeks, are dictates from Brussles and of course soaring debt.

Reddit Island: Birth of Nations?

Gawker

It’s been dubbed ‘Nerd Island’ as Gawker editor Adrian Chen goes about slaying the ‘completely batshit insane’ plans of Libertarian tech mogul Peter Thiel and members of the social news site Reddit, known for its anti-SOPA activism. While the rest of the planet attempts to govern under one roof, Thiel as far as Chen is concerned, has ‘wasted’ part of his billion dollar fortune in the attempt to create floating city states aimed at, according to the Seasteading Institute: ‘peacefully testing new ideas for government.” Chen is more than skeptical and sees it as a veiled attempt at ‘keeping the party alive after [rich people] finish utterly pillaging all land-based civilization.’ The Reddit sub community Reddit Island similarly aims at creating, according to Chen albeit in a less caustic vein, ‘a self-sustaining libertarian technopia where download speeds are high and taxes are low.’ It’s no doubt zany, but the idea isn’t as new as it seems. A group of highly educated professionals seeking a new life far from anachronistic models and willing to risk their fortune and reputations to accomplish it is hardly novel.

Ladies and Gentlemen: Start your Engines…

‘Black Box’ Standards for Your Car

The Hill

For Americans the automobile is sacred. It is the epitome of freedom and often seen as an extension of one’s personality. Come September our cars may soon be viewed as an extension of the federal government. The National Highway Traffic Saftey Administration has green-lighted new standards for event data recorders, similar to those found in airplanes. EDRs are currently voluntary, however, recent legislation and intimate knowledge of the bureaucracy suggest the NHTSA is merely setting the stage to federally mandate a black box in every car in America.

Artificial Retina to Restore Normal Vision

Science Daily

Researchers have cracked the code to mouse and monkey retinas allowing them with a novel prosthetic device to bring sight to the blind – animals that is. Currently blind humans are offered some comfort with barely navigable implants, but this breakthrough promises to restore ‘normal vision.’ The proposed visor takes in light and an advanced chip translates the information into a code the brain uses to formulate an image. This new revolution provides hope to some 25 million people worldwide.

George Soros & Co. Flock to Gold

Zero Hedge & GoldCore

In September of 2010 billionaire fancier and social engineer George Soros said Gold is “the ultimate asset bubble” and “is certainly not safe” – this was after all when QE2 was but in its infancy. Gold, then at $1225 per ounce, has since seen a nominal high of $1920.30 in September 2011 and after a months long correction looks to be moving north once again. Eating his words Soros has more than doubled his stake in the SPDR gold trust ETF according his latest SEC filing. And Famed John Paulson’s hedge fund, managing over $21 billion, has more than 44% of its assets allocated to gold. Big money is on this precious metal especially in lieu of officially beginning QE3.

College is Dead: Peter Thiel’s Plan

CNBC

The show is called “20 Under 20” and aired for the first time on Monday…

Capturing every corner of alternative media watch AMTV News Monday – Friday. Find our in depth commentary and analysis of stories like these at GreeneWave.com, part of the AMTV Network.

AMTV News: 4th Aircraft Carrier to Gulf, Condi VP, Amerikan Incarceration & Burn Penn State

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 19:31:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

Aircraft Carrier USS John C Stennis

This is AMTV News, I’m your host Topher Morrison. Today is Finally Friday 13^th of July, 2012. Our final production video is located at the bottom of this post. Enjoy...

War drums…

US Sends 4^th Aircraft Carrier to Persian Gulf

Along with a fleet of SeaFox drone submersibles the aircraft carrier USS John C Stennis will join the Eisenhower, Lincoln and Enterprise in the Persian Gulf. It’s an unexpected show of extraordinary force and comes on the heels of a 12,000 troop, 19 nation, massive military drill imitating a Middle East invasion. US raises…Iran your bet.

Next…

Neocons Love Them Some Condoleezza Rice

Noonan, Limbaugh, Kristol

No its not a Mexican dish – it just might be the next vice president of the United States. They’ve all been floated Pawlenty, Huntsman, Christie, Haley, Jindal, Portman, Ryan and Rubio, but this looks to be their ’54 special reserve select. Eager to erase a polarizing Palin this liberal kryptonite – black, female, experienced and academic – brings back the fervor and favorability of Herman Cain with none of the baggage.

Land of the free, hu…

America #1 in Incarceration

AllGov

This is what the drug war has brought us – the prison industrial complex. Over a 30-year-period, from 1980 to 2010, the US incarceration rate has quadrupled from over half a million to over 2.2 million and leads the world in per capita incarceration 743 persons per 100,000, ahead of Rwanda and Russia. 1 in 9 state employees work in corrections to the tune of over $30,600 per inmate roughly more than what 1/3 of Americans make a year.

Here’s a lesson in futility…

Karzai: Taliban Chief Can Run For President

Dawn.com

Can’t we all just get along. After 11 years, $546 billion and over 3,000 dead soldiers in our adventure in the Graveyard of Empires President Karzai welcomes reconciliation with Mullah Omar supreme leader of the Taliban. This is what nation building looks like – a dog chasing its tail.

Next…

M2 Just Shy of $10 Trillion!

Zero Hedge

Still in shock after we learned the S&P 500 is 50% larger only because of the Federal Reserve’s printing press the M2 – the total amount of money available in the economy – is just 8 and a half billion dollars shy of 14 digits for the first time in history. Gone is the housing bubble and our confidence, going are our municipalities; coming is a world wide economic train wreck. Ground Zero is America’s Private Central Bank and everyone with a dollar to their name.

A runaway cult…

Burn Penn State Football to the Ground

Business Insider

“JoePa” over 61 years effectively became a one-man cult raising over a billion dollars for Penn State during his tenure. The institution as a result morphed into a “roque civilization with its own structure, authority, and ethical assumptions.” From the janitors to the upper echelons of PSU depravity rained for over a decade as Jerry Sandusky ensconced within the pantheon of litany lions roamed wild freely sating himself one young boy after another. Football - a base American pastime – was given precedence over innocence. Because of it – the NCAA “death penalty” should be merely the first step along the long road of repentance.

Catch my latest choice headlines on AMTV News Monday – Friday at AMTV Media and catch our in depth commentary and analysis of stories like these at GreeneWave.com part of the AMTV network.

AMTV News: State Sponsored Terror, New NSA Bogeymen & Disappearing Cities

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 19:41:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

This is AMTV News, I’m your host Topher Morrison. Today is Thursday July 12^th 2012. Our final production video can be found at the bottom of the page. The links to the various articles can be found immediately below.

If it bleeds it leads…

Washington Unleashes MEK on Iran

Global Research

Mujahadeen el-Kahlq, state department terrorist group #27, is the beneficiary of millions of dollars worth of lobbyists, public relation agents, ex office holders and training in the deserts of Nevada. Forget their atrocities against the Iranian people, soldiers, politicians and scientists – the real enemy is Amadinenijad and those crazy mullahs. After all one man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter – right?

Next…

NSA Counterpunch

Raw Story

According to NSA Geek-in-Chief, Gen. Keith Alexander you can blame hackers for “the greatest transfer of wealth in history.” He’s not joking and has obviously not been reading FOMC minutes, history of dollar devaluation or headlines. The NSA would like nothing more than have invasive legislation like CISPA pass, until then meet your new boogey man – hackers.

Shh, Don’t tell Chicken Little…

Tree Rings Prove Global Cooling

DailyMail

Looks like no ocean front property in Arizona and you can blame it all on that pesky light bulb in the sky. According to scientists rings in fossilized pine trees show we’ve been cooling for 2000 years due to increased distances between Earth and Sun and solar phases. Looks like the IPCC underestimated things. Yes, CO2 warms our planet, but there are evidently other – larger – factors to consider in climate change.

Sit down for this one…

Meet a New Reporter: Al Gorithm

AFP

Two parts engineering one part journalism and vuala – robo journalist coming to a daily near you! No coffee breaks, no compensation and no fuss. Algorithms will crunch all that raw data and spit out your story. The company responsible – Narritive Science – sound a bit Orwellian? Don’t worry it looks like they only cover sports and financials – for now.

Next…

No More Pat Downs?

Natural News

They won’t have to. The gentle souls over at the Department of Homeland security want frisk and radiate you with yet another device and log every chemical in your body. The “Picosecond Programmable Laser” will read people at the molecular level everything from semtex to THC. That’s right it can penetrate everything and everyone from 50 meters. God Bless America.

Next…

CA Cities Dropping Like Flies

StratRisks

San Bernardino’s bankruptcy falls on the heels of Stockton and Mammoth Lakes. First it was your homes and now your cities, some California cities may “cease to exist.” The city is facing an immediate cash flow issue one it apparently didn’t care to face after spending millions of tax dollars on transit projects and other none essential services.

Drum roll please…

Depopulation Nation

Activist Post

Bill and Melinda Gates are purveying their latest agenda in the name of women’s rights. They argue it’s more cost effective and easier to reduce the birthing poor – just take this pill – than it is elevating people from poverty through increasing education, reducing corruption and freeing man and market. It’s fundamentally a clash of philosophies – of prosperity versus central planning.

Catch my latest choice headlines on AMTV News Monday – Friday at AMTV Media and catch our in depth commentary and analysis of stories like these at GreeneWave.com part of the AMTV network.

AMTV News: Russia Deploys Warships to Syria

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 16:02:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

This is AMTV News, I’m your host Topher Morrison. Today is Wednesday July 11^th 2012.

If it bleeds it leads…

Russian Warships to Maneuver Near Syria

New York Times

Bashar al-Assad looks like he has a new pitbull. Protecting its last ally in the Middle East, but most importantly its access to the Mediterranean Russia is sending a flotilla of 11 Russian warships, capable of c arrying hundreds of marines to dock in the ancient port of Tartus. It is a clear message to the region and the US backing rebel forces in Syria. Washington is predictably mum, but with poker faces aplenty is it call or check?

Next…

Obama EO Grants Authority to Seize Private Communication Facilities

Electronic Privacy Information Center

Obama has done what the people’s congress could not last year because of public protest. His order grants new powers to the Department of Homeland Security, most importantly, the power to seize private facilities when necessary, effectively shutting down or limiting civilian communications. Reasoning Washington needs “at all times and under all circumstances to carry out its most critical and time sensitive missions.” Seems like a one-way street.

Here’s something interesting…

Like 3D? Imagine 6!

Before It’s News

In the latest from the people who found God in a subatomic particle, the Higgs Boson, comes a new experiment called ATLAS. The megaminds at CERN using their Large Hydron Collider believe they can view three more dimensions beyond what humans can perceive. Major surpises are yet on the horizon and possibly even more questions.

Next…

Lone Star State Top Pick for Business

CNBC

On the heels of news that every state with a Republican governor saw reductions in unemployment, Texas is lauded as the best state in America to do business in. Receiving high marks in CNBC’s grading rubric for infrastructure, tech and innovation, the third lowest cost of living, access to capital all while recovering from a severe economic slump last year. Get er done!

This is getting ridiculous…

Pentagon Considers Awarding Medals to Drone Pilots

Glenn Greenwald

The military’s gamers, sorry… drone pilots might wear flight suits to work, but they don’t need them. Spying on weddings, sorry… children…err enemy combatants thousands of miles away from harm sipping on Monster is hardly valorous so why is the Pentagon glorifying ridding a joystick? Want to award our fearless flyers? How about a new Nintendo Wii and call it a day?

This is going to get weird…

The Islamist Pyramid Scheme

Washington Times

That’s right the Arab Spring may have just been a plan to install a pyramid scheme that is to say – destroy the Great Pyramids of Giza. Recent islamist electoral victories throughout the region have spurred the less than reasonable to accomplish what Amr bin al-As, Egypt’s Muslim conqueror, could not in 640 AD. This week alone 16 ancient mausoleums were ransacked in Mali, viral video showed the Taliban stoning women again and who doesn’t remember the 1,500-year-old Buddah they razed in 2001? Time to guard the wonders of the world.

Catch my latest choice headlines on AMTV News Monday – Friday at AMTV Media and catch our in depth commentary and analysis of stories like these at GreeneWave.com part of the AMTV network.

AMTV News: LIBOR Scandal, Big Drug Banks, Iran Black Market Oil

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 19:57:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

This is AMTV News, I’m your host Topher Morrison. Today is Tuesday July 10^th 2012.

Drug Cartels Launder with B of A, Again

Huffington Post

After being caught laundering $3 billion in 2006 from one branch, Bank of America officially rejoins an infamous list of big banks including Wells Fargo, Wachovia, and of course the British Crown’s original repository of opium proceeds – HSBC. These are just a few among countless others in the Laundromat of the War on Drugs. FBI affidavit submitted to a Texas federal court linked the Las Zetas Mexican drug cartel, a local racehorse business and several B of A accounts. Should any unscrupulous banking practices be exposed expect B of A to receive a slap on the wrist. In 2010 Wachovia settled a nearly $400 billion laundering binge to the tune of merely $160 million.

Bank Runners Vote With Their Wallets

Guardian

It’s been said Barclay’s LIBOR scandal was like finding your house was built on quicksand, rampant rate manipulation by the world’s leading financial institutions and yet again nobody sees a jail cell. Well, its time to stop having Tea Parties and occupying Wall Street and vote with your wallet! There has been an explosion of requests to move money from the ‘big five’ banks to smaller more responsive and hopefully more ethical alternatives like co-ops, building societies and credit unions.

The Rate Heard Round the World

CNBC

The outbreak of negative interest rates in Europe is a telltale sign the second shoe has dropped in the ongoing global financial saga, central banks don’t want you saving they want you risking your money in the markets. The negative rates is ultimately an effort to depreciate sovereign currency, driving global money parkers elsewhere and hopefully spurring exports and growth. Problem is this hurts the local banks reliant on interest from loans and savings accounts to stay afloat. This also runs the risk of competing with the biggest depreciator of them all – the Federal Reserve.

Iran’s Black Market Oil

In the face of EU sanctions Iran is still selling its oil to Europe through a private Iranian consortium. Selling up to 20% of its average volumes to privately-owned European refineries it is likely the union of exporters, under an agreement with Iran’s central bank and oil ministry, will offer minor privileges and discounts to buyers in light of international restrictions. Japan and China are also eager to bypass sanctions approving insurance and offering tankers to secure their energy. Don’t expect the transactions to be in US dollars though, which reminds me how did that work out for Hussein and Ghaddafi again?

Yes, Obamacare IS the Biggest Tax Increase in History

Reason

From Kevin Drum at Mother Jones, to Ezra Klein at the Washington Post, to Bloomberg’s Elizabeth Dwoskin, to the New Republic’s Jonathan Cohn and all the links back to Drum and Klein herd journalism of the left claims Obamacare isn’t the largest tax hike in US history, problem is – it’s the biggest tax increase in the history of the world. According to page 36 of Drum’s cited CBO analysis it’s $525 billion worth of new taxes.

Catch our in depth commentary and analysis of stories like these at GreeneWave.com part of the AMTV network.

October Surprise? Saudis Prepare for US Strike on Iran

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 05:48:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

Royal Saudi Air Force

With the financial world fundamentally in question after the recent LIBOR scandal rocked headlines, confirming once again the game is rigged, all that is left to assure laymen and markets is overt strength – a clear signal of who’s in control.

“It is already decided,” one Saudi prince told an unnamed European official, according to Debka File. When asked by the ‘European’ if America will abstain from pursing its well-rehearsed plan to overthrow Tehran, the prince said, “Anything can happen, of course. But this time we’re sure the American decision to attack is final and we are already making appropriate preparations.”

To be sure, Saudi forces have been on high alert on the Jordanian border due to the escalating violence in Syria and U.S. Naval forces have been building in the Persian Gulf in response to threats from Iran to close the vital Strait of Hormuz.

If there was any doubt that U.S. challenges in the region reflected a genuine concern over Iranian nuclear ambitions they were confirmed when the New York Times reported last week the reshaping of American force projection is “about Iran’s regional hegemonic ambitions,” according to a senior Defense Department official.

Keeping nations in their place and open for business is the crux of American foreign policy and what animates the strategy of containment around Russia, an emergent China and the renewed interest in the African continent not seen since the infamous days of Cecil Rhodes. Should these countries attempt to orchestrate their own affairs especially outside the realm of the petrodollar severe consequences abound.

Muammar Ghaddafi, for instance, on March 2^nd of 2011 threatened to expel western oil companies from Libya. March 14^th he invited their Chinese, Russian and Indian counterparts to fill their place. Shortly thereafter, on March 17^th, UN no-fly resolution 1973 was passed of which the aforementioned countries including their BRICS ally Brazil abstained.

Professor Peter Dale Scott, author of American War Machine observed the following pattern prior to the Iraqi invasion in an article from Global Research:

"As Ellen Brown has pointed out, first Iraq and then Libya decided to challenge the petrodollar system and stop selling all their oil for dollars, shortly before each country was attacked.

Kenneth Schortgen Jr., writing on Examiner.com, noted that ‘[s]ix months before the US moved into Iraq to take down Saddam Hussein, the oil nation had made the move to accept Euros instead of dollars for oil, and this became a threat to the global dominance of the dollar as the reserve currency, and its dominion as the petrodollar..’

According to a Russian article titled ‘Bombing of Lybia – Punishment for Qaddafi for His Attempt to Refuse US Dollar,’ Qaddafi made a similarly bold move: he initiated a movement to refuse the dollar and the euro, and called on Arab and African nations to use a new currency instead, the gold dinar. Qaddafi suggested establishing a united African continent, with its 200 million people using this single currency. … The initiative was viewed negatively by the USA and the European Union, with French president Nicolas Sarkozy calling Libya a threat to the financial security of mankind; but Qaddafi continued his push for the creation of a united Africa."

Libya’s huge gold stores and abundant oil supply made it a player in the region, able to chart its own course in world affairs. The Central Bank of Libya, essentially off the globalist reservation, was a prime target for takeover. Ghaddafi’s overtures to China, Russia and India merely served as the catalyst.

The last bank in the world not a part of the “hive of compliant nations” dominated by the banking cartel is the Central Bank of Iran. Unfortunately Tehran is suffering from 50% inflation rates, EU oil sanctions and earlier this year was shut out of the international bank clearing system, called SWIFT. Its central bank overseen by public office holders, unlike our privately held Federal Reserve, committed a similar transgression to that of Saddam Hussein and Muammar Ghaddafi.

“In its trade transactions with other countries, Iran does not limit itself to the U.S. dollar, and the country can pay using its own currency,” Reuters quoted central bank governor Mahmoud Bahmani as saying. “If a country should so choose, it can pay in gold and we would accept that without any reservation.” While Iran is trying to escape from the globalist choke hold, this is undoubtedly the move others have paid dearly for.

MIT professor and U.S. foreign policy expert Noam Chomsky provided his insight in an article by Dominique de Kevelioc de Bailleul at Beacon Equity Research.

“Iran broke ranks with the United States in 1979, and this is a crime for which it has to be punished,” said Chomski in a discussion with Gilbert Archcar for the book, Perilous Power. “And it goes way beyond rational state interests. As with Cuba, it’s the Mafia mentality: You can’t allow disobedience to exist; it’s too dangerous because other people might get the idea that they can be disobedient as well. So Iran’s going to have to be punished for that act of disobedience.”

The end of exclusive American dominion is at hand and with it the reign of the global petrodollar economy. China, Russia and others have been trading outside the U.S. premier world reserve currency for some time.

While the long-term trajectory of Pax Americana is obvious the wars over Iraq, Libya, Syria and coming soon Iran are the often erratic and always violent symptoms of an empire in decline. Where there was once a free market, which spurred growth, expansion and innovation have now been replaced by the narrowing objectives of the state, which have demonstrably subsumed the private interests of large multinational corporations. Its meddlesome and corrupt systems are made manifest in the energy and financial industries both of which as a result are in seemingly perpetual tumult.

AMTV News: UN Arms Treaty, China Slowdown, Syrian Show of Force

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 23:44:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

AMTV News

This is AMTV News, I’m your host Topher Morrison. Today is Monday July 9^th 2012.

Americans Up in Arms Over UN Treaty

Forbes & The New American

Meet the latest bright idea to walk out of New York, the UN’s “Small Arms Treaty.” Flanked by humanitarian rhetoric this internationalist effort is aimed at one thing, ensure the monopoly of violence stays with the governments of the world – hardly a demographic with a respectable human rights record.

The Obama administration has thrown its full support behind the treaty and therefore to subordinate the Constitution’s 2^nd Amendment guarantee and with it the police powers of the sovereign s tates: The treaty is said to impose:

- tougher licensing laws

- confiscation and destruction of weapons deemed in violation

- elimination of semi-automatics referred to prejudicially as “assault weapons”

All this backed by the same administration that signed off on the biggest weapons deal in the history of the planet to that bastion of civil rights – Saudi Arabia. July 27^th is the deadline for the treaty, any surprise it’s right before Congress’ August recess?

Would-be Terrorist Caught at Olympic Park

London Telegraph

For months the chatter about London has been of terror plots. To be sure, the Olympic grounds will be protected by the largest peacetime security operation ever seen in Britain. The heightened attention has nabbed a 24-year-old ex con rumored to have fought with Somali Al Qaeda affiliate al-Shahaab last week ending a flurry of 14 terror-related arrests across Britain – all based purely on suspicion. In a nation fearing extremists around every corner, even within it own police ranks and boasting a camera on every lamppost expect more arrests as the opening ceremonies approach and due process is eroded.

Syria’s Show of Force

Associated Press

“Naval forces conducted an operational live fire excersise on Saturday.” Launching missiles from sea and coast, helicopters and missile boats the Syrian government displayed its ability to repel foreign aggression.

Western nations have been beckoned to intervene on behalf of opposition forces who claim over 14,000 deaths since the start of the uprising, but Syria’s powerful network of allegiances stretches from Tehran to Beijing impeding political efforts at subduing Bashar al-Assad’s embattled regime and western efforts to overthrow it. Foreign intelligence services, however, are supporting a shadowy network of insurgents steadily encroaching on Damascus threatening further escalation of violence as pro-Assad forces scramble to survive.

Chinese Demand Slows, Reflecting Global Trend

Reuters

China's consumer and producer prices eased more than expected in June, inflation data on Monday showed, signaling falling demand for goods from the world's second-biggest economy. The economy overall is seeing its slowest full year of growth since 2002 – albeit at a 9.2 percent clip. Falling prices indicate not just declining input prices, but declining demand from foreign customers reflecting a weakening global economy.

Monsanto’s Full Court Press

Activist Post

Genetically modified organisms (GMO) have been linked to infertility, weight gain, organ dysfunction and the desctruction of the environment. Nearly 20 states are considering “Right to Know” legislation, forcing producers to label food containing GMOs and prohibiting false representation as “natural” or “naturally made” from appearing on such products. Monsanto and Dow ally StopCostlyFoodLabeling.com launched a campaign claiming malicious costs and warning of a legion of trial lawyers taking advantage of the system. Both claims are handily debunked, Americans have the right to know what they’re eating.

Catch our in depth commentary and analysis of stories like these at GreeneWave.com and PurpleSerf.com part of the AMTV network.

DARPA's New Mind Control Tech a “Taste of Armageddon?”

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 23:08:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

From the BBC

On Friday we briefly covered at AMTV News an intriguing new development in the realm of neuroscience and its potential commercial and most likely military applications. According to the BBC, the new project “Sentinel (SystEm for Notification of Threats Inspired by Neurally Enabled Learning)…is being touted as the world’s first ‘cognitive-neural’ binocular-threat warning system.

Sharon Weinberger explains how it works in practice:

“A high-tech camera scans a wide field of view, and then picks out potential threats based on sophisticated algorithms that mimic the human vision system. Then images of those threats are flashed in rapid succession through a viewer to the user, whose brain signals are being monitored. When the brain spots a potential threat and gives off the P300, the signal is detected and the user is visually alerted to focus on that specific image.”

The goggles were developed under a research project funded by the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). It is an initial foray into “military neuro-enhancement using what is called a brain-machine interface.” DARPA is preparing to embark on a veritable “brain race” funding similar brain-computer interface projects to help “intelligence analysts sort through satellite imagery.”

Commercial and medical applications are foreseeable including “controlling prosthetics” and for the “automotive industry” to help design safer cars. According to the chief scientist Dr. Deepak Khosla of HRL Laboratories, however, the “holy grail of course” is whether or not these technologies can be designed to “decode higher level information” – to read minds.

Beyond mind reading the military applications proffer “more novel use of armed drones” ultimately allowing soldiers to fight remotely and brining up a host of ethical issues over “projecting human intelligence into a device” according to Jonathan Moreno, a professor of bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania.

Should an adversary use similar technologies the dynamics of future wars, where mass armies of drones fight each other under control of distant humans, would be wildly dissimilar to today’s.

Star Trek Episode: “A Taste of Armageddon”

In Gene Roddenberry’s first Star Trek series in 1967 the original crew of the USS Enterprise visit the planet Eminiar VII whose people fight a war with a neighboring planet. However, once visiting the planet Captain James T. Kirk is warned by Eminiar leaders he should not have come because a Vendikar fusion bomb had just hit and killed a half million people. The only problem is the capitol city is in pristine order, there are no signs of war and no destruction to speak of.

The crew of the Enterprise soon finds out that the people of Eminiar VII fight a totally simulated war, but it turns out to be no mere game of intergalactic Risk. It is completely controlled by computer algorithms, which launch wargame attacks and counterattacks, then calculate the damage and select the dead. Citizens deemed as “killed” must submit themselves to real executions inside “disintegration booths” based on the results.

While our current small wars have little resemblance to the World Wars of the last century and future wars waged against emergent nations of China and Russia may resemble the Cold War – proxy war – may take on a whole new meaning as both sides employ newer and newer technologies.

I, Pet Goat II a Short Film

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 20:38:00 +0000

I, Pet Goat II by Heliofant

In the vein of Tim Burton the newest film by Louis Lefebvre and Canadian film studio Heliofant was released on New America Now. It delves into a mysterious wonderland of surrealism populated by ethereal and mythological characters. With no dialogue the creators of “I Pet Goat II” have spoken volumes. Its an amalgam of the alternative underworld, a remix of conspiracy pop culture and intrigue formed as the body of truth embodying the decline of Western civilization. Heliofant’s film is both elegant and bizarre.

The film begins showing the similar powers animating George W. Bush and Barack Obama ironically in the famous classroom of 9/11. Pulling back into a dystopic frozen netherworld towers of ice crumble in the background just as they did in New York that fateful day in 2001. The scene is lonely and isolated.

Beyond, the armies of Al-Qaeda – the CIA’s foreign legion – march on illustrating the incongruent and often abstruse “War on Terror.” Jesus makes his entrance with a burning heart drawn in powerful Dia de los Muertos style. Lefebvre illustrates modernity’s broken mind preyed upon by propaganda and social engineering. Within the frosty expanse we visit third world wars, color revolution, a dancing dervish, protests and the perpetual march of neoliberal empire.

The dystopia is finally pierced by a rising sun. Is it possibly a rebirth? There is hope that it is so, as the previous paradigm crumbles in the background. It is a poignant film describing what many already know: the threshold of change is upon us.

AMTV News, Friday July 6th 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 06:14:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

This is my new morning news show AMTV News in association with Christopher Greene from GreeneWave.com and creator of AMTV. Make sure to visit the You Tube channel, subscribe, like and of course - share!

Serf Report BETA Test

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 18:41:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

The following is a pilot of our upcoming news series at Greene Wave TV part of the AMTV Network. It will be live on You Tube at cgreene34 Monday - Friday by 10a mountain standard starting Thursday July, 5 2012. Enjoy.

Bailout for Spain & Italy is a Prelude to ‘German Empire’

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 19:05:00 +0000

Topher Morrison
PurpleSerf.com

The London Telegraph’s Bruno Waterfield breathlessly reported as many other news outlets had that “On Thursday night, Italy and Spain plunged an EU summit into disarray by threatening to block “everything” unless Germany and other eurozone countries backed their demands for help.

How much “disarray” there in fact was is debatable. Whether the “threat” to “block ‘everything’” had any real teeth or motivation is similarly – dubious. The cynicism is due to the fact that in Europe all boats rise and fall together. The German economy relies heavily on exports of which 60% comes from the Eurozone, conversely the Eurozone relies on a growing and healthy consumer base in Germany to buy their exports.

While German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her finance minister Wolfgang Scheauble have balked at mutualization of debt across the eurozone they have signaled it could become more palatable if stricter controls and robust accountability were imposed on individual countries’ spending and borrowing. Who will decide those controls and regulations will undoubtedly be heavily influenced by Europe’s largest and most healthy economy why any centralization of power may lead to a new “German Empire”.

Motivating factors, however, have seemingly come into play and begun to melt German resistance to common borrowing and other similar proposals and may even lead Germany to rethink their own constitution, which precludes them from such activities. Fox News reports many analysts:

“…think a downturn would force more Germans to recognize how much they depend on other European nations to buy their goods and support the German economy. They could become more willing to jointly accept the risks of backing weaker countries’ debts.”

Indeed as German business optimism fell in June due to a slowing in manufacturing, at the heart of their export led growth, look for more capitulation like the agreement reached on Friday to save Italy and Spain.

According to the Telegraph:

"Under the deal [reached at the EU summit on Friday], Spanish banks will be recapitalised directly by allowing a €100 billion EU bailout to transferred off Spain’s balance sheet after the European Central Bank takes over as the single currency’s banking supervisor at the end of the year."

The decision detailed in a seven-page document by the “Gang of Four” EU presidents aims at putting the Eurpoean Central Bank (ECB) at the center of a “effective single supervisory mechanism.” The summit rationalized the move: “We affirm that it is imperative to break the vicious circle between banks and sovereigns.” How yielding sweeping controls and expansive powers over to a central bank will address the underlying problem of competition, innovation and growth is not addressed in the document.

Relief for Spain was accompanied by promises to purchase Italian bonds using EU bailout funds in order to reduce Italy’s borrowing costs and to “examine the situation of the Irish financial sector” offering possible relief to Ireland by relieving the government balance sheet debt burden.

Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council of EU leaders and one of the Gang of Four who crafted the European Federation document to be formally presented in December, lauded the agreement as an important step “to reassure markets and to get again some stability around the sovereign bonds of our member states.”

He did, however, warn the new aid measures would be reserved for “countries that behave themselves” by abiding by the EU’s fiscal rules and austerity measures, but without sticks so far and bailout after bailout seemingly without end these milquetoast threats have had all the credibility of a spoiling mother. Considering the clear interdependency in the eurozone and the propensity to kick the can down the road one must wonder what “controls” and “accountability” will be incorporated later this year. But if the economic conditions worsen, especially for Germany look for more bailouts and “draconian” control measures of which all will color the character of this new economic empire.

The Obamanation Stands, 'Bitches'

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 20:51:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

Thank the Heritage Foundation and Mitt Romney not Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi – they merely took the health care handoff. While you’re at it, thank George W. Bush for wildly expanding Medicare and nominating Chief Justice John Roberts who sided Thursday with the central powers ethos of our ailing Constitution. Make no mistake the over 2,700 page Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known lovingly as Obama Care is an abomination borne of the dysfunctional marriage between Republicans and Democrats.

This is no Car Insurance

The linchpin of the entire health care reform relies on the individual mandate, the brainchild of Stuart M. Butler of the conservative Heritage Foundation. In 1989 Butler published “Assuring Affordable Health Care for All Americans,” which included a provision to “mandate all households to obtain adequate insurance.”

In 1993 amidst the Hillary Care years Republican senators Orin Hatch and Charles Grassley proposed two bills including the mandate. In 2006 then Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney was “very pleased” with his insurance mandate.

Over the last 20 years the mandate has been often rationalized as similar to requiring motorists to purchase car insurance. The major difference of course is not everybody drives.

Purchasing, leasing or borrowing a car moreover, involves a choice prior to the requirement of obtaining car insurance and even then the “minimum coverage” is designed to offset others’ costs in the result of an accident, not your own. You being a bad driver results in higher premiums, confined to you alone, not spread out over a large risk pool.

That being said, none of us were given the choice to live. Had we been notified we’d be living under the thumb of centralized medical control perhaps some of us would have taken the bus, taxi, a bike – hell maybe we would have ran and saved millions in preventive care by staying in shape.

The Fallacy of Insurance

Like football players who believe a helmet will protect them from harder and harder hits on the field and pursue that behavior until an inevitable concussion or brain damage debunks their faith the idea that insurance will always be there to protect us from our risky lifestyles is self deluding.

Millions of Americans are taking part in a revolution of nutrition and exercise nothing of, which is addressed under Obama Care. One may argue the impetus for this change was in fact rising health care costs. It was obvious to many merely pumping ourselves full of drugs at an old age at great cost was pointless and unsavory.

Our medical model is not expensive necessarily because of unscrupulous corporations, although it will be as Obama Care is implemented, but because of the treatment model rather than focusing on prevention. Our medical establishment performs wonders in the emergency room, in acute care and major surgery, but when it comes to some of the biggest killers it continues to provide little besides pain management and a fund raising bonanza for scientific research.

Real health care is a life long and dutiful process of mitigating the affects of our environment, the modern medical establishment offers next to nothing by way of prevention besides the regular check up. Traditional medical schools madate little in the way of nutritional, physical education or behavioral modification.

As we detailed in the War on Fact Expands so does Big Government, prexisting conditions are often similarly a part of risky behavior. Consider the number of women giving birth into their 40s and 50s and beyond is at record levels. This choice is generally fraught with developmental problems, birth defects and other maladies, which are then thrown into this “preexisting” category.

In recent years it has become more and more accepted that major diseases like multiple schlerosis, diabetes, cancer, etc. are a result of dietary malfeasance. While susceptibility is most assuredly genetically predetermined actually developing a disease is vastly influenced by lifestyle. The concept we are victims of our genetic baggage is in many ways a hangover from the years of eugenic theology.

On the individual level the motivation to explore healthful alternatives are sapped when faced with universal coverage. Similarly on the corporate level, if prevention is no longer a preeminent strategy, more research and development (if it gets approved) will be devoted to invasive and life numbing treatments like chemotherapy, radiation and the cornucopia of pharmaceuticals addicting swaths of the American citizenry.

Who Benefits? Not Liberals Just Insurance Companies who Wrote the Law

Sensing the prevailing winds it is of course understandable that the insurance companies injected themselves into the debate. This is what invariably happens when government decides to regulate or wholly remake one sixth of the economy. The power of central government beckons legions of lobbysists to its steps and the mantra of lobbying if you “can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” inevitably prevails.

Here are some quotes compiled by Kurt Nimmo writing for Infowars.com:

“This is a very good bill for insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies,” said Rep. Stephen Lynch, a Democrat, in 2010. “The insurers still rule,” Lynch added. “Were just pumping subsidies into the current system, but that won’t drive down costs.”

In December of 2009, Howard Dean, the former Democratic National Committee Chairman, said the legislation before Congress “is a bigger bailout for the insurance industry than AIG.” Dean characterized it as “an insurance company’s dream.”

Congressman Dennis Kucinich characterized the bill as “a bailout for insurance companies…Maybe what we’re looking at here is another way that Wall Street’s speculative engine can be fueled, this time with the help of the premiums of tens of millions of Americans,” he said.

“If a government healthcare plan materializes, it might actually generate more work for insurance companies. A new government program would probably subcontract much of its administrative work to existing insurance companies — which is what Medicare does,” writes Rick Newman for U.S. News & World Report.

Do insurance companies hate Obamacare as Democrats insist? Not at all. This bill is almost identical to the plan written by AHIP, the insurance company trade association, in 2009. The original Senate Finance Committee bill was authored by a former Wellpoint VP. Since Congress released the first of its health care bills on October 30, 2009, health care stocks have risen 28.35%.

States in a Straight Jacket

The Medicaid ruling specifically, according to Justice Kennedy’s dissent, puts states in false choice position: “States must choose between expanding Medicaid or paying huge tax sums…for the sole benefit of expanding Medicaid in other states.” The dissent also foreshadowed more friction between the states and the federal government “usher[ing] in new federalism concerns and places an unaccustomed strain upon the union.”

The union will no doubt be under increasing pressure as many of Obama Care’s provisions have yet to be made manifest. A growing body of administrative agencies including an army of IRS agents will attend to that.

Most of our laws in this country are created by these agencies, which interpret the mandate provided by congress and detail specific provisions. The Federal Register for example in a 12-month period, which ended in March of 2006 contained a breathtaking 77,537 pages including laws passed from over 319 independent and executive agencies.

Barack Obama after the passage of Obama Care tentatively created 159 new bureaucratic bodies ostensibly to encourage efficiency and cost effectiveness in the new health care system. While it most assuredly with fail in this endeavor it will be able to pass laws as most other agencies do with little impunity or oversight as the size of the executive branch and its czars continues to eclipse the elected representatives in Congress and as it will eventually the laws of the several states.

Robert’s Manufactured Opinion and Another Reason to Repeal the Income Tax

Paul D. Clement, representing Florida and 25 other states objecting to the health-care law, argued that Congress exceeded its power in passing the law, which he said compels people to buy a product. Unfortunately, this argument on whether it was within Congress’s constitutional powers to force citizens to purchase a health insurance product was in essence settled nearly a century ago after the passage of what was originally Social Security “Insurance” under President Franklin Roosevelt.

Similar opposing arguments were lain out then, were rebuffed and under the same “tax” provision as construed under the individual mandate, officially known as the “minimum coverage” provision. The main difference is Obama Care wasn’t envisaged to be a tax. Roberts did not reinterpret, but in fact manufactured a contradictory argument in the face of what Congress called a penalty, not a tax.

The Washington Post reports:

“Roberts wrote: ‘The Affordable Care Act is constitutional in part and unconstitutional in part.’ He said the individual mandate ‘cannot be upheld as an exercise of Congress’s power under the commerce clause,’ which allows Congress to regulate interstate commerce but ‘not to order individuals to engage in it.’"

Roberts added: ‘In this case, however, it is reasonable to construe what Congress has done as increasing taxes on those who have a certain amount of income, but choose to go without health insurance. Such legislation is within Congress’s power to tax.’"

Roberts therein supplied his own basis for upholding the law in absence of a similar rationalization by Congress, or argument by the deputy attorney general and contrary to the President who signed the legislation into law. According to the Post: “Neither the plaintiffs in the case nor the Obama administration had argued before the court that the individual mandate was a tax.”

Obama himself expressly refuted opponents of Obama Care who claimed that it was in fact a tax. In an ABC interview Obama emphatically declared: “I absolutely reject that it’s a tax increase.”

The Silver Lining

It may be that Obama Care will be the kick in the pants sovereign states of America need to start ignoring the federal government when it clearly exceeds it constitutional powers. States where once a part of federal decision-making, via their legislature’s appointed ambassadors, but no longer this may provide the fuel state governments need to enforce there devolved powers.

In the end Mitt Romney may be right when he defended Massachusetts’ health care reform on 10^th Amendment grounds. After all the laboratories of democracy would produce 50 different options for all of us to decide rather than the one size fits all monstrosity about to be imposed on us from Washington.

The Uncomfortable Irony

Mitt Romney today stood up and told us everything we’ve already heard over the past two and a half years: it is time to “repeal and replace.” Is it not ironic that the man who developed the blueprint for Obama Care, albeit he managed to pass it in some significantly smaller than Obama’s tome, and who was the first to nationalize health care is the only option this country has for repealing it? For now in the words of DNC executive director @patrickgaspard:

“It’s constitutional. Bitches.”

Gang of Four’s Plan to Enslave Europeans Under Economic Empire

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 01:00:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

“The euro is a protection shield against the crisis.”

—European Commission President, José Manuel Barroso, 5 February 2010

On Thursday and Friday EU leaders will meet to discuss the future of the Europe. While some compelling speculations would suggest it is merely the beginning of the end for the Eurozone, arguing that ultimately “the wealthy nations of Europe [will be] unwilling to pay for the poorer ones” it is also important to note the summit may play midwife to the birth of an abomination. It is, after all, forgivable to allow the rabble a place at the table if they pledge their financial subservience.

Dismantling the German Constitution (again)

On Tuesday the London Guardian obtained a shocking seven-page document drafted by the “gang of four” — a quartet of European presidents: Herman Van Rompuy of the European Council, Mario Draghi of the European Central Bank, José Manuel Barroso of the European commission, and Jean-Claude Juncker of the 17-country Eurogroup.

Within the seven pages there was not one mention of freedom, liberty or law, but no less than 25 times did it mention – “strength,” “strong,” and “stability.” It should be clear this federation is not meant to free the people of Europe, but to enslave it.

Ian Traynor writing for the Guardian calls it a:

“…Radical plan to turn the 17 countries of the eurozone into a full-fledged political federation within a decade in an attempt to placate the financial markets by demonstrating a political will to save the single currency in the medium-term.”

The plan quickly establishes a new European banking union, giving the European Central Bank (ECB) authority over EU banks, proposes common resolution funds for “winding up bad banks” funded by a banking levy to spare EU taxpayers and a common deposit guarantee for Europe’s savers. The EU’s new pemanent bailout fund, the European Stablility Mechanism (ESM), would provide a “fiscal backstop” for the proposed federation and recapitalization of troubled banks.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the eve of the summit echoed her fierce resistance to “mutualize” this liability across the Eurozone.

“Apart from the fact that instruments like eurobonds, eurobills, debt redemption schemes and much more are not compatible with the constitution in Germany, I consider them wrong and counterproductive.”

The question is then what conditions would need to arise that would force Merkel to undermine her constitution or change it. As Europe’s leading economy the Germans have a lot to gain were this political federation to come to fruition. Considering the rebuff is coming from a leader who backed bailouts for many nations in the first place it sounds as if Merkel is merely saving face, thereby avoiding a sticky political situation back in Berlin, but perhaps she’s just dutifully biding her time.

At the weekend Germany’s finance minister Wolfgang Scheauble proposed Germans should vote on a new constitution and argued it should be sooner rather than later. To be sure, the rest of Europe agrees with billionaire financier George Soros that action needs to be taken immediately to save the union. When Germany seizes the role it is destined to assume Soros has predicted “a German empire with the periphery as the hinterland” ahead. In order to do that, however, they'll need to abandon their constitution. The last time the Germans did so, it didn't work out that well.

Sweeping and Expansive Powers May Grow the Eurozone not Break it Up

While some are anticipating the European Union to crumble under its own weight, this author included, it may not happen now or in the near future if the central planners have their way. In fact the proposed European federation may even become larger as the “gang of four’s” draft proposes that it should extend beyond the Eurozone. Rather than spreading the wealth it seems all the One Europe crowd wants to spread the liabilities.

“An integrated financial framework should cover all EU member states, whilst allowing for specific differentiations between euro and non-euro area member states on certain parts of the new framework that are preponderantly linked to the functioning of the monetary union and the stability of the euro area rather than to the single market.”

The proposal further addresses Merkel’s mantra: “no liability without controls.” As financial, budgetary and economic frameworks come under the dominion of Brussels the powers of the EU are magnified enabling the central authority to dictate and enforce a “robust framework for budgetary discipline” subordinating national decision-making on a wide range of issues previously excluded from the EU’s purview. Changes in labor markets, taxes, budgetary allocations and civil services, will ultimately be approved by Brussels as well as control Military of the EU which eclipses in active military personnel even the United States.

Words Mean Nothing

For all of the posturing and nay saying it is prudent to remember the persistent flip flops of the European Union’s leadership. Here is a series of now ridiculous statements compiled from Open Europe by The Daily Capitalist:

“The Community shall not be liable for or assume the commitments of central governments, regional, local or other public authorities, other bodies governed by public law, or public undertakings of any Member State, without prejudice to mutual financial guarantees for the joint execution of a specific project.”

—Article 104b, Maastricht Treaty, 1992.

“We have a Treaty under which there is no possibility of paying to bailout states in difficulty.”

—German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, 1 March 2010

“[Greek Prime Minister] Papandreou has said that he didn’t want one cent. The German government will not give one cent, anyway”.

—German Economy Minister, Rainer Brüderle, 5 March 2010

Who and what to believe at this point may be a futile exercise, but it is clear the European elite wish to keep markets as “stable” as possible and their dream alive. To address fundamental issues for the long term at the expense of a few years in agony is out of the question. Equally as abhorrent to them is abandoning their failed experiment in order to do so. In the new inquisition of Europe it is heresy to speak of small states – to govern locally not globally. The fact that Greece should be the first to possibly exit the euro is nothing short of poetic justice; Western civilization owes itself to Greek city states not grand unions.

Perhaps it is something more esoteric passed down from millennia of European struggle. If in fact this modern monstrosity is achieved, albeit guaranteed to fail, and a European Superstate is constructed. German, France, Spain, Italy and possibly England in their rotating roles as Presidents of the EU will experience a kaleidoscope of empire their predecessors could not achieve through centuries of military conquest. Empowering the European people is not discussed in these machinations of ancient pedigree.

Assad: Syria Officially in State of War

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 07:44:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

Assad: "We live in a real state of war."

After over two decades of being in Western crosshairs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad declared to his new cabinet “We live in a real state of war from all angles.” He couldn’t be more right as virtually the entire northern hemisphere in one way or another converges on this ancient plot of land in the eastern Mediterranean.

No doubt due to the Turkish warplane shot down last week Tukey has moved from passive facilitator of the foreign insurrection in Syria to active aggressor and is mobilizing its military for war. On Tuesday the Times of Israel reported:

"Large numbers of Turkish troops — including at least 15 long-range artillery pieces and tanks – moved to the Syrian frontier from the eastern city of Diyarbakir. A video published by the Turkish Cihan News Agency showed Turkish tanks being transported by carrier trucks toward the frontier."

While the circumstances surrounding the downed fighter are hotly contested we must remember that truth is the first casualty of war. Who did what and when is irrelevant. To risk the peace of the entire region over one fighter jet shows the motives for war rest with NATO and its front line ally Turkey as they are obviously not in the interests of Syria or the embattled administration of al-Assad.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the “rules of engagement have changed” since the shoot-down and in caustic eloquence declared “As awe-inspiring as Turkey’s friendship is, Turkey’s wrath is equally awe-inspiring.” Erdogan alludes to a friendship with Syria, however, it would be quite disingenuous to claim that friendship ended only after last week’s incident.

Erdogan admonished Syrian authorities: “"Every military element approaching Turkey from the Syrian border and representing a security risk and danger will be assessed as a military threat and will be treated as a military target." This is quite ironic since for over a year the Syrian National Council (SNC) and Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels, peppered with foreign back terrorists, have been using the safety of the Turkish border to coordinate and launch sorties into against the Assad regime.

This was of course the plan all along. Considering Tukey’s problem with the PKK and their own brutal crack down on Kurdish separatist “terrorists” they could not very well attack Syria for justly attempting to restore order. As any fight begins with knocking the chip off the others shoulder Turkey has in effect placed it forcefully upon Syria. How is that for friendship? But why have they turned their back?

Two reasons come to mind. The first is the US government and the rest of NATO has a long standing commitment to use the lowest cost means for its designs in the Middle East, which is to say, they prefer staying out of the fight choosing to directly fund and train terrorists or coordinate its Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) proxy states to do so. Turkey, after reviewing the deep bench of NATO backed secessionist militias including Al Qaeda affiliate Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) currently consulting the FSA, Iranian MEK trained in the Nevada desert, and among others their PKK antagonists with whom they've been fighting since the 80s, Ankara is more than willing to lend a helping hand to avoid any “uprisings” of their own.

The second (probably the most compelling) motive among the Turkish elite to aid the West is to become part of the neoliberal “New Middle East,” in other words, to be a good soldier in the New World Order. Similar to jumping in a prospective gangster or taking a “young blood” out for his first drive by Syria is going to oust for the Anglo-European Empire their first Middle East dictator. Rather than pursuing economic prospects with the BRICS as priority the new and improved US-Turkish relations may bring forward the carrot of an otherwise nonexistent US-Tukey free trade zone paved in the blood of one Syrian tyrant.

The immediate feeling from new more brazen attacks on Assad's elite guards only miles away from the center of Damascus shows an increasingly emboldened rebellion and foreign insurgency. Save a decisive effort on the part of Russia, China and or Iran Syria will increasingly bear all the hallmarks of Libya. Assad's days appear numbered. Whether Libya's dystopian post-revolution will resemble Syria's is almost assured.

What We Can Learn From Greece…2500 Years Ago

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 22:17:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

Greece Lightning at the Parthenon

The recent Greek elections for better or worse signaled that Greece would remain a part of the European Union. The retired class of Greece, fearful of losing their benefits, came out en masse and voted for the “center-right” New Democratic party, the socialist Pasok party and their pro bailout platforms. The loss came at the expense of the “left” Syriza party, lead by charismatic Alexis “Sexy Lexis” Tsipras, and shook the cradle of Western Civilization out of its secessionist frenzy.

“I am relieved,” New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras told Reuters. “I am relieved for Greece and Europe…The Greek people voted today to stay on the European course and remain in the euro zone,” Samaras said in a victory speech. “There will be no more adventures, Greece’s place in Europe will not be put in doubt.”

Since the crisis began the world has been focused on the causes, but most feverishly on the countermeasures. Fans of free market have lambasted austerity alarmists like Paul Krugman for claiming “Austerity Is So Wrong” and that it’s killing the great economies of Europe. Indeed, the free marketers claim “austerity” in Greece and throughout Europe have been anything, but austere and in fact Greek leadership has made only minor cuts while raising taxes grinding the Greek economy to a halt.

“…Critics of cutting government spending in a weak economy ignore academic research showing that significant spending cuts, structural reforms to entitlements, and loosening labor regulations are proven ways to reduce debt loads and get countries moving again” writes Nick Gillespie and Jim Epstein of Reason Magazine.

Spending after all is how the Greek economy got into debt 160% of their GDP in the first place is it not? Digging a deeper hole to China seems a little counterintuitive, unless you’re a Keynesian or Paul Krugman. If more spending is the answer you’re merely empowering the same people, finance oligarchs and unscrupulous politicians, who signed Greece onto fraudulent debt not merely the monies actually spent on addictive entitlements and economic relief. But what is the real cause for Europes woes, socialism or some virulent form of capitalism? Perhaps Sexy Lexis and his anti-bailout crew are right. It may be that Greece is too big.

How Peisistratos’ “Small” Banking Experiment Created Western Civilization

In Leopold Kohr’s discussion on the Breakdown of Nations notes that classicist Kathleen Freeman “has shown in a study of Greek city states that nearly all Western culture is a product of the disunited small states of ancient Greece.” This makes perfect sense if you understand the Renaissance occurred amidst the divided city-states of Italy and the neck breaking expansion of the early United States when territories, states and frontier townships formed a robust tapestry.

Peisistratos a popular tyrant who ruled Athens when it was a relatively inconsequential city-state during the 6^th century BC is a testament to Freeman’s thesis. Rather than oppress the Athenian population through violence, as we understand modern tyrants to do, Peisistratos, according to Aristotle and Herodotus, governed idyllically, and dutifully preserved the proto-democratic reforms of the Athnian statesman and lawmaker, Solon. He didn’t attempt to rout the rule of law and in fact Aristotle wrote that “his administration was temperate…and more like constitutional government than a tyranny.”

This is not necessarily a result of being a city-state as there were belligerent polities like the Spartans who cared little for innovation and comfort outside of military barracks and weaponry. It is Peisistratos’ archaic Athens, then small, which confined and focused his activities, that aided in producing an unprecedented economic expansion and provided the impetus which forged Athens the seat of power in the region it kept for thousands of years.

Today Greek politicians clamor for more money from the European Central Bank, for the Federal Reserve and its enforcers on Wall Street to streamline the effort and bless each and every step. For what? Does this put money into the hands of the people who need it or merely those who have the influence to direct where it ultimately goes? Does mere “stability” for the sake of stability produce growth? No and no.

Peisistratos created one of the world’s first micro-loan programs for those in need expanding on Solon’s accomplishments in emancipating the poor from state dependency by planting olive trees. Rather than a grain subsidy, outright entitlement or relief measure in poor harvests Peisistratos established a fund that provided easy and low interest loans for the neady – invariably the Hyperakrioi who lived in the hills.

These loans helped farmers invest in capital-intensive projects, namely olive trees and their prized oil. It also helped them purchase the tools and equipment necessary. Unlike today’s Greece Peisistratos reduced taxes while providing these low interest (free at times) loans. Duties paid at Athenian harbors and extracted from silver mines in Mount Pangaeum funded this financial operation, not printing money or borrowing from other states.

The intimacy that was commonplace in Athens over two millennia ago is not something we can find easily today under the rule of the One-Worlders those who wish to unite evermore nations under one government. Peisistratos for instance, in a famous story: “saw a farmer digging in a field of stones and asked what his income was. When the farmer replied, ‘Just so many aches and pains; and of these aches and pains Peisistratos ought to take his 10 percent,’ the tyrant remitted all taxes to the frank farmer.” Peisistratos had the benefit of living within the same community as his people, while modern rulers are ensconced in their ivory towers in Washington, Brussels and Beijing.

Athens, as a result of Peisistratos travelling courts, low taxes, inventive financing, real investment in tangible goods and the resulting wealth, produced more for Athens than just prized olive oil and agrarian revolution it laid the foundation for economic expansion. His calm and even rule enabled public projects providing evermore jobs and an economic boom, which emancipated individuals to pursue science, philosophy, literature, drama, art and architecture – the crucible of Western civilization. To be sure, Aristotle recorded the tyranny of Peisistratos as the age of Cronus, the golden age.

How will historians record our time?

Syria: The West and Gulf Allies Arming Terrorists and WMDs Return

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 18:14:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

The New York Times on Thursday came out with the shocking headline - that is if you weren't paying attention: “C.I.A. Said to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Opposition." However, rather than attempt to detail the larger context of the Syrian crisis it is obvious the author Eric Schmidt and this kingpin of the mainstream media (MSM) have merely moved on to the next chapter in Syrian propaganda in light of an increasingly astute alternative media and informed public.

When the uprising began in Janurary of 2011 during the larger Arab Spring (Arab Nightmare, whatever you’d like to call it) the media painted the Syrian uprising suffuse in glowing terms of fledgling democracy – the demonstrators could do no wrong and why would they?

The dark underbelly of the uprising, left untouched and out of regular reports by MSM journalists for over a year, is its connections with the larger geopolitical machinations of Washington and nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance. Slowly, reality set in as the actors once called “demonstrators,” changed to “protestors,” then to “activists,” then “opposition,” and “rebels” until now, peppering the rebels, it is finally being acknowledged that there is a sordid mixture of foreign back terrorists hailing from all over the region.

The Cold War II Panorama

Syria is just one piece of America’s greater hegemonic mosaic planned by realist and neoconservative cliques since the fall of the Soviet Union. It encompasses the whole of what has been envisioned as the "New Middle East," the Pacific and the rest of the world.

Syria is witnessing first hand the clash of a newly realigned international political system between the NATO alliance and its ostensible counter balance - the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The SCO, most importantly its prominent members China and Russia, is a mutual security organization and as an economic bloc of major eastern powers it is of great import. Its emerging prominence is what Paul Wolfowitz, then Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, in the ensuing years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, referred to as the “rise of the next superpower” and what the neoliberal agenda has been preparing for over two decades since.

As early as 1991 Syria was slated for regime change. In 2002, then US undersecretary of State, John Bolton added Syria to the growing “Axis of Evil.” In 2005 the Washington Post revealed that millions of dollars were funneled through various State Department proxies to Syrian political opposition groups and other endeavors including an anti-regime satellite channel, Barada TV, based in England.

The US government has also taken an active role in training activists and developing new technologies to help protect them against prosecution by authoritarian governments. In an April 2011 the French news agency AFP reported that the US government for two years budgeted $50 million dollars to train 5,000 activists from various parts of the world including Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. When these democracy cells were sent home they spread and created, what a State Department official referred to as, “ripples,” which reverberated throughout the region during the Arab Spring.

While this type of social intervention is an example of freedom of association we must remember we are not speaking of private individuals, but the fate of nations. This subversive strategy may be disagreeable to many taxpayers, it may not, and how this type of social engineering is justified under the Constitution is, if anything, unclear, unfortunately it’s also irrelevant to a certain extent because it is only one part of the larger geostrategic stratagem.

These relatively innocuous covert actions merely lay a foundation of leverage against a target government. The subsequent acts are promoted by a complicit, gullible and negligent media enamored with the idea of democratic struggle regardless of where it may lead. It is finally brought to a crescendo in the eyes of the international community and eventually acted upon by multilateral military intervention. Call it humanitarian intervention or as CNN last Thursday attempted to inject no less than five times – securing weapons of mass destruction.

Imagine for instance the Chinese handpicking the brightest and most charismatic activists among US society during Occupy Wall Street or the Tea Party Movement then training, funding and equipping them for political sabotage. It would make the Citizens United case pale in comparison.

Regardless of the merit, foreign political influence (to be distinguished from cultural, business, etc.) of any kind especially to this degree creates massive distrust and unrest and therefore opportunity for intervention and bloodshed with no guarantee a liberal democracy will replace autocratic rule.

Lack of Context

Eric Schmitt while detailing much of the dubious actions on the part of US intelligence and the Obama administration narrows the scope of the Syrian civil war within the known paradigm. Without question the goal of “regime change” is advanced. Schmidt reports for the New York Times:

“The weapons [being supplied to Syrian rebel groups] including automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition and some antitank weapons, are being funneled mostly across the Turkish border by way of a shadowy network of intermediaries including Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood and paid for by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the officials said.

The C.I.A. officers have been in southern Turkey for several weeks, in part to help keep weapons out of the hands of fighters allied with Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups, one senior American official said. The Obama administration has said it is not providing arms to the rebels, but it has also acknowledged that Syria’s neighbors would do so.”

If Libya is any indication of how the US government refuses to help “fighters allied with Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups” Syria is in big trouble. The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) ranked #28 on the US State Department’s list of terrorist organizations was the beneficiary of the NATO led no fly zone that aided opposition groups – of which LIFG (an Al Qaeda affiliate as of 2007) made up a significant part – in their deposal of dictator Muammar Ghaddafi.

Leaders of Al Qaeda affiliate LIFG have been helping the Syrian National Council and its Free Syrian Army in repeated reports since at least late last year. The US government has since the Carter administration had a dubious history of creating, funding and training known terrorist organizations. In the region the US governement was reported to have trained the Iranian Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) in the deserts of Nevada.

Schmidt's article continues:

"With Russia blocking more aggressive steps against the Assad government, the United States and its allies have instead turned to diplomacy and aiding allied efforts to arm the rebels to force Mr. Assad from power."

"Diplomacy" is evidently a catch all term, which occupies the space outside of direct military action. When Joe Sixpack thinks of diplomacy ambassadors, summits and negotiations come to mind. The problem is the US has had no official diplomatic relations with Syria since 2005, and according to the administration diplomacy, as most would understand it, will only occur after regime change.

Schmidt additionally neglects to mention Iran and China are also attempting to thwart a possible invasion and are supporting the Assad regime in kind, fearing a war would undoubtedly destabilize the region and allow western interests to set up shop for the inevitable confrontation with Iran. Syria, in other words, is the Path to Persia. Continuing:

"By helping to vet rebel groups, American intelligence operatives in Turkey hope to learn more about a growing, changing opposition network inside of Syria and to establish new ties. “C.I.A. officers are there and they are trying to make new sources and recruit people,” said one Arab intelligence official who is briefed regularly by American counterparts."

Indeed this is the endgame, “to establish new ties.” By doing so western powers can more easily back the right horse during a bid for leadership and therefore have a great influence on the decision making in any subsequent administrations. Additional support like “providing satellite imagery and other detailed intelligence on Syrian troop locations and movements” or setting “up a rudimentary intelligence service” all serve this purpose and future designs in the Middle East. And finally:

"The struggle inside Syria has the potential to intensify significantly in coming months as powerful new weapons are flowing to both the Syrian government and opposition fighters."

The “allies,” a term which is supposed to bring us back to WWII, and the new “axis” of China, Russia and Iran are playing Syria like a game of Rock’em Sock’em Robots. The thing is the Syrian people and their nation aren’t a toy and western citizens should refrain from using them as such in some vain attempt at reliving the democratic revolutions of our own past.

Global Research’s Professor Michael Chudovksy gives a comprehensive breakdown of Syria. More importantly that the "protests" was in fact an armed insurrection from the beginning:

Supremes F the FCC

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 16:37:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday against the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) policy on certain expletives over the airwaves, vacating the lower court’s decision on due process and fair notice grounds.

Airwaves? The term “airwaves” brings up old memories like the “information super highway” or pagers – mere anachronisms. Today we consume information – TV programs, movies, news – from around the world and from a variety of sources including radio (over the internet and real radio waves), streaming Netflix, a wide array of video websites, cable and satellite DVR and various on demand providers.

Amidst this constellation of choices does it make a difference what is “broadcast” TV versus any of the aforementioned forms? No. But it does to an FCC hanging on to archaic doctrine. They make it seem as if one “broadcasts” something the subject matter is endowed with all of the strength of a locomotive and the unwitting citizen memorized by the power of the medium is powerless to change the channel.

The FCC penalizes TV and radio stations for airing programs that “describe or depict sexual or excretory organs or activities” in ways that are “patently offensive.” Suffice it to say their rubric is highly subjective and the reason why this is becoming an extra ideological issue, one in which we can all agree it is time to say: F the FCC.

The Supremes avoided on Thursday the looming and larger First Amendment issues about regulating broadcast indecency in another case, Fox v. FCC. The Fox case concerned several rather hefty fines leveled against Fox and ABC in the middle of the last decade, after Cher and Nicole Richie each let a fuck fly on live television. The show NYPD Blue had the gall to allow seven seconds of ass cheeks on air.

While dickhead and bullshit statements may be allowed on news broadcasts there is no official “news exemption” according to the FCC, albeit it may satisfy the “third prong” of their obscenity test – that “[obscene] material, taken as a whole, must lack serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.” In other words, if they have their way we’ll have to continue to settle for their idea of what is of “serious value.”

Although the Supreme Court had endorsed the FCC’s authority to regulate broadcast indecency over three decades ago, the commission officially started punishing censors’ specific failures to hit the bleep button during President George W. Bush’s first term. When it was originally granted these powers content-based regulation relied on the argument that TV and radio were “uniquely pervasive” and “uniquely accessible to children.”

Considering there is a dizzying amount of children friendly programming and combined with the fact that nine out of 10 households are served by cable, satellite, fiber-optic TV or in a younger generation by nothing other than an internet connection it would be “unique” if a child or anyone else for that matter had access to “broadcast” TV.

Makes me feel like a song and dance:

In what will hopefully become a trend Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg concurred in the judgment.

Don’t be too optimistic though. As history has shown government agencies, especially ones with the authority to control communication have a tendency to stick around. There are forces in the American government who would love to retain the services of the FCC to monitor “chatter” across multiple mediums, regulate the internet itself through innocuous sounding terms like “net neutrality” or resurrect in a different form the now dead fairness doctrine. Keep your fucking eyes peeled.

Obama: Fast and Fhürerious

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 22:04:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

How inaccurate?

A House Oversight Committee chaired by Daryll Issa (R) has passed a rare contempt measure against embattled Attorney General Eric Holder today after months of hearings over a controversial clandestine gun walking operation by the ATF ran aground. From the Washington Post:

"The panel’s actions will be reported to the full House, where Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and GOP leaders have scheduled a floor vote for next week unless Holder hands over the documents before then. If passed by the House, the matter would then move to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Ronald C. Machen Jr., who is an employee of the Justice Department."

Holder has refused to publicly produce documents requested by the committee, but President Obama in the 11^th hour claimed executive privilege over the internal communications in question clouding the entire process with suspicion.

Republicans feel they have been “stonewalled” during the investigation of who knew what and when in the upper echelons of the Department of Justice (DOJ), while apologists of Atty Gen Holder claim it as a clear witch hunt and potentially a “never-ending process” aimed at threatening a Democratic administration during an election year.

Holder and the DOJ have thus far released over 7,600 pages of documents and 11 hearings, unfortunately it hasn’t satisfied Issa’s subpoenas. Should it? Given multiple major retractions by the DOJ over crucial elements of the case Republicans, 2^nd Amendment advocacy groups, open government activists and conservatives are chomping at the bit for resolution and Holder's job. To be sure, both sides are unanimous that the documents sought would be damning not only to Holder, but possibly the entire administration.

In a letter to the president Holder claims the internal cables and documents focus mainly on the “response to congressional oversight and related media inquiries,” in other words, the DOJ’s public relations strategy. Holder’s letter implies that internal communications did not necessarily weigh in on the moral issues at hand, which is to say, they did not address whether or not the DOJ and ATF wrestled with any constitutional or legal quandaries over flouting federal gun laws.

It is the absence of such discussion, rather focusing entirely on response, which Holder and Obama may wish to conceal. To be fair the Republicans don't seem to care even though a similar strategy was operating under George W. Bush. Therein lies the rub, this Fast and Furious scandal is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the War on Drugs and government entities circumventing law in order to uphold it and why hammering Holder is merely pruning the branches of corruption. From CNN:

“In a letter to Obama seeking the assertion of executive privilege, Holder said…that release of internal executive branch documents would have “significant, damaging consequences.”

Holder also said releasing the documents would “inhibit the candor of executive branch deliberations in the future and significantly impair the ability of the executive branch to respond independently and effectively to congressional oversight.”

Saving Eric Holder and the administration from such “damaging consequences” Obama asserted executive privilege over the documents in question. Coming from a President who has abhorred such “privilege” exhibited in previous administrations and who has promised unparalleled levels of transparency it is a startling move - that is if your new to politics.

Why So Fhürerious?

This is just the latest example of how the executive branch is becoming a dictatorship. Most of the laws, embodied in the Federal Register, are passed by executive agencies – offices occupied by unelected officials appointed by the president to govern. They are known within the Beltway as the czars.

Why a country, which heralds “democracy” ad nauseum would feel comfortable referring to its expanding politburo of czars is beyond the grasp of this author. The fact of the matter is Congress has long since abdicated its role in the creation of most of the laws in this country. Barack Obama is therefore merely an inheritor of this corrupt system similar to most dictators in the past, but he has thus far exhibited no qualms in exercising his “privileges” passed down to him – the Fast and Furious Scandal is merely the latest exhibition.

Since the beginning of the Obama presidency he’s shown to be an aggressive administrator.

Obama Care

Opposition to Obama Care was bipartisan. In order for it to be passed it was necessary for the president and congressional leaders to convince those in their own party on the fence that they would be spared some of the onerous provisions within the legislation. It is because of this arm-twisting and outright bribery that the Corn Husker Kickback and the 2^nd Louisiana Purchase are infamous. Even “socialist” Bernie Sanders (D-VT) had misgivings of the special interest written bill, which he quickly dismissed once Medicare provided $10 billion for community health centers in Vermont were slid into the legislation.

The mechanism Obama used was Kathleen Sebelius, his Health and Human Services czar, to distribute ultimately thousands of waivers, through executive fiat, to corporations and special interests. Obama has allowed thousands to escape, ad hoc what for the rest of us would be a universal mandate to purchase health insurance. Not only is the mandate unconstitutional, which the Supreme Court will undoubtedly declare this week, but the entire mammoth legislation flies in the face of transparency and the “few and defined” powers delegated to the federal government under the Constitution.

NDAA

Tucked into a routine defense authorization bill is one of the most insidious provisions in American history. The “indefinite detention” of those deemed to be terrorists by the administration and the National Security Council struck at the foundation of due process and legal mores dating back to the Magna Carta of 1250. It has met the opprobrium of civil libertarians, the American Civil Liberties Union and has recently been struck down in federal court.

Obama’s efforts to subordinate civil rights to the perpetual war on terror is borne from the corrupt system mentioned earlier exacerbated by pressures from determined and deep forces within our government and his own lack of a constitutional rudder, all the markings of a modern dictator. Today's tyrants after all don’t need to wear ridiculous costumes or black leather, they understand that when they refrain from the cartoonish people often don’t notice them.

Let us never forget that Obama “deemed” Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen born in New Mexico, a “terrorist” and without due process, formal indictment or any attempt to capture al-Awlaki summarily dispatched him along with his teenage son. Obama claimed his “due process” was protected during private deliberations within the NSC. While many now may rest easy, convinced by his words, students of history understand this is often the first act in a long tragedy.

Unconstitutional Wars

Often flying under the radar like the thousands of drones under his command, Barack Obama, has been wildly successful at dismantling the anti war movement since his inauguration. While it may have simultaneously exposed their partisan bent and ignorance to world affairs it more profoundly exposed the repulsive progressive hypocrisy and has helped plunge the American public into denial over the endless warfare being waged in the Middle East and throughout the world. Both liberals and conservatives can hardly believe that there are over 100 ways Barack Obama is just like George W. Bush.

To Bush’s credit he did seek Congressional approval for Afghanistan and Iraq, Obama saw it fit to seek international approval only when he imposed a no fly zone over Libya. Albeit the Senate passed a resolution against Libya, Obama never conceded he needed their support in spending over $1 billion in taxpayer money deposing Muammar Ghadafi. In fact Leon Panetta in shocking testimony reminded Congress he would “inform” them should international approval be acquired and force deployed in the growing Syrian civil war.

The Cult of the Presidency

When Congress becomes ineffectual “talking shops” and the people become restless for change they invariably wish for a strong and charismatic leader. Trusting in an amorphous body of representatives and or unelected judges isn’t tangible enough mankind at times, thus we’ve supercharged the office of the presidency. We’ve imbued the head of state with all the powers we believe necessary to solve the problems we ourselves have created.

From the Cato Institute’s review of The Cult of the Presidency:

“When our scholars lionize presidents who break free from constitutional restraints, when our columnists and talking heads repeatedly call upon the “commander in chief ” to dream great dreams and seek the power to achieve them—when voters look to the president for salvation from all problems great and small—should we really be surprised that the presidency has burst its constitutional bonds and grown powerful enough to threaten American liberty?”

Until we address the how all presidents have similarly run roughshod over our the Constitution we will never be able to reduce the executive office back to its proper role.

Massive War Games Planned Off Syrian Coast

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 20:08:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

Iran, Syria, Russia and China are planning the “biggest-ever wargames in the Middle East,” according to an unconfirmed report on the semi-official Iranian news site Fars News. A Syrian official denied the claims, however, China and Russia have come to the aid of both countries in recent months at the UN Security Council, vetoing military intervention in Syria and expanded sanctions on Iran.

According to the report this new axis, as it were, are preparing 90,000 troops, 400 aircraft and 1,000 tanks for the massive joint maneuvers, which are to take place along the Syrian coast within a month.

It has been recently reported that Russian armament sales will continue unabated to Syria including shipment of refurbished Cold War era attack helicopters. The shipment has been reported to have turned back off the Scotland coast after losing its insurance due to the controversial nature of its mission, however, its transponder has since been turned off and verification cannot be achieved. It is possible the armaments are still on their way to Syria.

Russia’s tacit support of the Bashar al Assad regime has the US State Department dismayed, however, in light of covert training, funding and harboring militant opposition elements in Turkey, a NATO member, the western nations are hardly blameless in the intervention. It has been reported that presumably US, UK, France, Jordan and Turkey have Special Operations Forces in Syria since at least December of 2011 training opposition forces and providing reconnaissance. Outfinanced and outgunned and fearing another Libyan style multilateral qu d’etat Iranian Quds Force and Russian SOF have also been reported providing similar assistance to the Syrian military.

Russian interests in the region center around the deep sea ports of Tartus and Latakia. In 2007 Russia endeavored to reestablish a permanent naval presence in the Mediterranean for the first time since the Cold War. Needless to say the prospect alarmed many in Washington and Tel Aviv. China has a similar and potentially sticky port access issue in Gwadar, Pakistan in a region where NATO and US forces are waging a full-blown drone war and are covertly, as in Syria, aiding opposition forces. It has been speculated that this Balochistan region could change Sino-US strategic equations significantly. An effort in Congress to drive a wedge between the region and the Pakistani government in Islamabad was shelved in February – at least for now.

The Fars News report of war games states that Russian “atomic submarines and warships, aircraft carriers and mine-clearing destroyers as well as Iranian battleships and submarines will also arrive in Syria” and that Egypt has agreed to let 12 Chinese warships cross the Suez Canal for the exercises. Considering US designs to deny Chinese naval freedom out of Pakistani ports and therefore projection into the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf China has a vested interest in aiding Russia and its claims to access the Mediterranean.

Syria meanwhile faces international pressure, predominantly from the West’s NATO member nations, to end a 15-month crackdown on local rebels trying to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad. But this is of course more than about “rebels.” The small wars of the last decade are mere peons on the grand chessboard, however, it looks as though larger pieces are being moved into place.

To understand the containment policy I invite you to read NATO's Ring of Fire: The Western Flank and Russia and its follow up The Eastern Flank, China and the Indian "Linchpin."

You may even wish to delve further into America's Pacific Century: Containing China and indulge in an informative analysis of US hegemonic machinations in a new video from Nile Bowie and Global Research TV.

The Fed Wants to Twist Again, Until the Election

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 03:14:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and the Federal Open Market Committee.

The once arcane strategy – “Operation Twist” – is evidently becoming a trusty financial tool as much as a screwdriver is to a repairman. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), charged with overseeing the buying and selling of US Treasury securities, is to meet this week and it looks like another round of Operation Twist is on the table. The FOMC’s decision whether to inject more liquidity into US markets, in an attempt to inoculate them from European debt crisis, or proceed with other more temperate measures will help influence the financial trajectory of America and with it the rest of the planet for the remainder of the year and beyond.

Operation Twist, selling short-term treasuries in order to buy longer term ones in an effort to bring down long-term yields, is one of many tools available to the Federal Reserve. In general it is more palatable than firing up the printing presses or plugging fresh zeros into the digital currency supply and then purchasing billions (or potentially trillions) in assets, which is how quantitative easing (QE) is employed and what the Wall Street Oligarchy and Gold Bugs hope occurs. It may, for the time being, be sufficient for markets to feel the Fed is doing something and therefore Twist 2.0 may be just the ticket.

In previous rounds of QE benefits were double edged, as one can never fool the markets. There was ‘good’ inflation (high prices for equities, corporate bonds, remember: will the Dow hit record high in 2011?) making the rich richer, so to speak, and then there was the collateral damage – ‘bad’ inflation via surging commodity prices – making the poor poorer. This is of course how the Fed steals for the 1% and the logic, which explains how the Fed triggered the Arab Spring.

While both QE1 and QE2 became intensely controversial Operation Twist, aside from the dubious name, looks to become the preferred method of intervention. Forbes reports on the upcoming FOMC meeting with regard to the latest limping economic numbers:

“Barclays Capital called Operation Twist ‘the most likely outcome,’ saying it would give the Fed more time to sort out whether recent softness in data is mainly ‘payback’ for hiring during a warm winter or a more prolonged slowdown. ‘If the latter is the case, then more outright asset purchases that expand the balance sheet (QE3) would become likely,’ Barclays said.”

To be sure, as the frequency of crises increase moves like Operation Twist allow the financial engineers to manipulate the economy without having to deal with the underlying causes of addicting entitlements, long term debt and growing corporate malfeasance (got Zucked lately?) and without addressing public concern over persistent and reckless intervention. But again, nothing changes, Operation Twist is a shell game as much as everything else the Fed attempts.

The political calculation here, however, is important. Should Ben “Bubbles” Bernanke go on a printing spree, say by injecting a cool $500 billion, look for Obama to win in November. If the Fed doesn’t it may harm him according to Gary Dorsch writing for Seeking Alpha:

“Without the artificial life support of QE3, the U.S. stock market could sink ahead of the upcoming election and torpedo Mr Obama's chances. On the other hand, a $500 billion printing operation could lift the Dow Industrial above the May 1st highs, and tilt public opinion in favor of the president over his Republican challenger.”

This would undoubtedly raise Republican ire like no state recognized gay marriage or stimulus bill could and would likely fuel a harder line conservative (sound money anyone?) to take place of a lukewarm Romney in 2016. The Federal Reserve doesn’t like attention and especially the pesky kind from sound money conservatives like Ron Paul. Not doing anything that would help Obama will sap any animosity a resurgent and victorious GOP harbors for the Fed in November.

The alternative is of course, Twist 2.0 or perhaps another series of secret European loans or some derivative thereof. If the Federal Reserve can lay the economic turmoil entirely on Barack Obama’s doormat, which Republicans will happily aid, Ben Bernanke and crew are as usual in the clear. Suffice it to say that has always been the magic of the Federal Reserve – out of sight and out of mind of the electorate.

NATO's Ring of Fire: The Eastern Flank, China and the Indian "Linchpin"

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 21:09:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

Chinese President Hu Jintao

China is a poor juggernaut by most standards, albeit with extraordinary bright spots. China's rise has been steady since the days of Mao Zedong and if you ask around the developed world most will tell you they believe it's the top economic power reflecting a rising public image rather than a reality. Americans, for instance, know nearly everything is "Made in China," but most could scarcely fathom the immensity of many of its cities. In 18 years it is predicted that China will have over 221 cities boasting over 1 million residents.

China is no doubt standing tall these days and looking forward to the day when it, by objective standards, reclaims its historical role as the largest economy in the world. One of the most ancient cultures on Earth, China is ready to take a position of leadership once again and if not globally, at the very least, within the region.

It's "near peer", the United States, currently enjoying the largest and most advanced economy on Earth with commensurate hegemony, is no doubt watching these developments with much caution and anxiety.

This is a layout of just some of the players involved in the Sino-Russian
containment zone NATO and the U.S. are attempting to install.
The real containment sphere, as it were, is 4-dimensional
incorporating land, sea, air, space, and the internet.

Eastern Flank, South China Sea

China for one understands the U.S.’s “Global Force for Good” – as the Navy’s advertisement heralds - has held dominion over the Pacific since the end of World War II. The Chinese Navy has also recently recognized the Obama administration’s focus on the Pacific and away from over a decade in the Middle East.

The Taiwan Straight crisis of 1996, during the Clinton administration, provided China with an impetus for investing in “anti-access, area denial” technologies. China has since been rapidly developing its own indigenous warfare technologies to ebb American hegemony in the area and secure what it believes are traditional Chinese claims on its peripheries believed to be rich in natural resources.

To that effect China has recently tested a wide range of cutting edge armaments. The most startling development is referred to as the “Carrier Killer” – the DF-21D – designed to arc into the stratosphere and explode onto the deck of a U.S. carrier. China has also retrofitted and sea trialed a retired Russian aircraft carrier, debuted its first stealth fighter last August and overall has increased its military expenditures substantially.

Since 2002 China’s submarine fleet, according to the Rand Corporation, has increased from eight to 29. In 2006 these submarines became so quiet that one was able to surface amidst a small fleet of U.S. subs hitherto undetected, causing quite a stir. In the darkest of suspicions some have speculated whether the missile seen off the coast of Los Angeles in 2010 was an in-your-face example of this deep threat.

It was recently reported China announced how it would go to war against the U.S. fleet should it feel the need to do so. By firing multiple missiles at the same time, no doubt deploying the Carrier Killer (when it’s ready), China would prevent U.S. aircraft carriers and their fighter jets from being able to penetrate Chinese territory.

In response, the U.S. Navy is developing long-range carrier drones in the hopes of eventually providing a fleet of pilotless bombers. The U.S. military and NASA in a partial realization of that goal just test flew the Phantom Eye – “a ginormous, hydrogen powered uber-drone” able to stay in the air for 4 days at an altitude of 65,000 feet. It is not deployable from an aircraft carrier yet, but you get the picture.

Outside of direct U.S. confrontation the South China Sea is seeing an arms race reminiscent of the Cold War. It is clear China’s ravenous appetite for natural resources is whetting an appetite for military grade technology. Defense industries’ top arms dealers are hurrying to meat the demand as the nations of Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore among others were all courted recently in at an international arms expo:

Eastern Flank, The South Pacific

In the final analysis of the Eastern flank surrounding China and Russia, it is important to note that as China’s brown water navy evolves into a long range blue water force U.S. “mutual defense” treaties with the Philippines, Japan and Taiwan will overlap. But the U.S. is no longer the only player in the region, NATO has just gone global and has expanded into the Pacific, signing a partnership deal with New Zealand.

With thousands of U.S. Marines now being stationed in Australia, its Navy looking forward to access at Port Darwin in the north and more Aussie troop commitments Sec. Gen. Rassmussen’s words weigh heavy on the region. “Australia and New Zealand may be far away geographically, but they are very close to us in terms of values and commitment. Together, we will discuss how we can come even closer together.” As the Pacific becomes more crowded the opportunity for butting heads grows by leaps and bounds.

The Indian “Linchpin”

Last weekend Tim Roemer, former ambassador to India, opined in the Washington Post about the improving ties with the largest democracy on the planet – India. However, rather than elucidate his audience on the economic opportunities first he detailed the U.S. tactical relationship just three paragraphs in.

“Security cooperation has never been better. The United States and India share unprecedented amounts of highly sensitive intelligence and have started a homeland security dialogue; the United States has joined in more combined defense exercises with India than with any other ally. Defense sales are at record levels. We also have historic new collaboration on nuclear nonproliferation issues.” (emphasis supplied)

To be sure, this part of the world is swarming with American Special Forces, in fact, they are in five South Asian countries: Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives and India. The Pentagon says it is “working closely” with India’s elite units, preparing them for showdowns with Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan based militant group blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks with ties to the ubiquitous and ever resilient forever enemy – Al-Qaeda. As NATO nations withdraw troops Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta welcomes a larger role for India in Afghanistan.

As this article was being finished Leon Panetta literally took the words right off the title and affirmed everything we suspected. While virtually all available geography available is covered in the Pacific Rim the most populous nation with nearly the largest economy outside China remains at an arm’s distance. It is Panetta’s goal to change that vowing today to expand defense ties with India in order to safeguard the “crossroads” of the global economy.

“For this relationship to truly provide security for this region and for the world, we will need to deepen our defense and security cooperation. This is why I have come to India,” Mr. Panetta told an audience at the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses. While analysts see India preferring some prudent breathing room Panetta sees that the relationship “can and should become more strategic, more practical, and more collaborative.”

Considering China has claimed, at least for now, its own strategic keystone in the partnership with Pakistan and the deep port of Gwadar India might be a little more receptive to U.S. overtures. According to Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies at the Centre for Policu Research in New Delhi:

"China is trying to undercut the U.S.'s numerous interests in Pakistan…Gwadar was the linchpin of [the] 'string of pearls' strategy and the latest news adds to that. India faces a unique challenge that no other country does. Its two nuclear armed neighbors are closely aligned and are stepping up joint military programs. India will have to step up its deterrent capabilities."

As we have outlined the first chain islands nearest to China, with few exceptions, are within the U.S. envelope, however, the subcontinent is essential to full containment. Panetta said the new U.S. strategy sought to ““expand [U.S.] military partnerships and [U.S.] presence in the arc extending from the Western Pacific and East Asia into the Indian Ocean region and South Asia…Defense cooperation with India is a linchpin in this strategy.”

It surely is. Expect India to be in the news more and more.

NATO's Ring of Fire: The Western Flank and Russia

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 20:05:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

When it comes to the growth of domestic government it may be arguable that administrations of either Democrat or Republicans pursue different agendas, albeit usually revolving around the prevailing social issues of the day. When it comes to foreign affairs, however, there is a seamless continuity of agenda aimed at maintaining and growing – American hegemony.

In foreign affairs at-large this American influence leads an Anglo-European coalition through its military arm – NATO. It should be clear, however, that when NATO acts it is invariably at the behest of U.S. interests as it “contributes between one-fifth and one-quarter of NATO’s budget. In FY2010 that contribution totaled $117.8 million…But that factors only direct payments, not deployments of personnel,” reported CBS News last year. U.S. equity in NATO has been concentrated even more as European member nations’ contributions shrank by $45 billion over the past two years due to fiscal turmoil.

Nevertheless, NATO and its 28 member countries flexed their collective muscle last month during their summit in Chicago. NATO announced its first step toward implementation of a ballistic missile shield, to be deployed in four phases by about 2020, sending clear signals to those not in the Club – namely China, Russia, Iran and North Korea – that amid growing security threats NATO is ready to counter any potential aggressor. According to a statement released by NATO leaders:

"We have declared an interim ballistic missile defence capability as an initial step to establish NATO’s missile defence system, which will protect all NATO European territories, populations and forces against the increasing threats posed by the proliferation of ballistic missiles…”

Given the current threat of asymmetrical warfare from non-state actors it seems as though conventional confrontations may not be a thing of the past.

This is a layout of just some of the players involved in the Sino-Russian
containment zone NATO and the U.S. are attempting to install.
The real containment sphere, as it were, is 4-dimensional incorporating
land, sea, air, space, and the internet.

Western Flank, Europe

The U.S. and NATO now have bases and/or military operations in former Soviet spheres of influence: Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania, Estonia are among those little known. Moscow, understandably rejects the idea that the NATO missile shield in this area is merely for Iran. Russia offered to operate the missile shield jointly with NATO, but was dismissed by the alliance revealing the ruse for what it is. NATO’s secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen called Russian “concerns groundless.”

Before NATO leaders met last month Russia threatened to strike the NATO missile shield should progress continue. Despite the threats, NATO’s deputy secretary general, Alexander Vershbow, told the conference last month the shield is "not and will not be directed against Russia" and that Russia's intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) are "too fast and too sophisticated" for the planned system to intercept. If this is true, NATO countries will be even more vulnerable as Russia recently tested a new ICBM, which according to the Russian military improves its ability to overcome current or future missile defense systems.

Western Flank, The Middle East

It has been the plan since 1991, soon after the fall of the Soviet Union, to have the U.S. infiltrate – diplomatically or otherwise – its former client states right up to the Russian motherland. The plan, referred to more appropriately as a “foreign policy coup,” was revealed by Gen. Wesley Clark to an audience in California in 2007. He claims Paul Wolfowitz, then undersecretary of defense, told him that the U.S. has 5-10 years to "clean up those old Soviet client regimes, Syria, Iran, Iraq, before the next great superpower comes on to challenge us."

In 2001, the timetable was given an extension after the attacks of 9/11. While visiting the Pentagon, a classified strategy was revealed to Gen. Clark that the U.S. planed to dismantle and replace the governments of seven nations: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Iran. Other than Iran of course, five of the seven governments have already been deposed.

Somalia remains in the throws; corrupt, occupied by a coalition of African armies, fending off fundamentalist factions and offering little more than 21^st century pirates. Lebanon was coaxed into uprising in 2006 through a sophisticated “color revolution” strategy piloted successfully by the likes of the U.S. government funded National Endowment for Democracy (NED) – a sort of social CIA.

And Syria as we have documented in detail is in the midst of a dangerous foreign backed insurgency focused on delegitimizing the Syrian government in the eyes of the rest of the world. Should Syria fall, Russia will lose its only direct ports of access to the Mediterranean – Tartus and Latakia. As late as 2007 it was revealed the Russians were to re-establish a permanent naval presence in the Mediterranean through access to these new ports. Needless to say, this alarmed many in Washington and Tel Aviv.

A brief by Stratfor.com, a private U.S. intelligence firm, offered this analysis:

“A Russian naval presence off the Syrian coast could allow Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's regime to better inoculate itself against a potential attack by the US or Israel ... The Russians would be offering an attractive insurance policy."

Recognizing western efforts to deny Russia this access reveals that the Syrian “civil war” is really a microcosm – or if its allowed to succeed, a prelude – of World War III. There are no less than seven countries involved in the hostilities in one way or the other and because of it Russia has recently buttressed the Assad government and Russian strategic interests with new attack helicopters, weapons and advisors. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Pentagon, least to say, have not welcomed the move.

Western Flank, Central Eurasia

The U.S. and NATO now have bases and/or military operations Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan among other Central Asian states including Georgia where U.S. forces are training their military. While all these young, recently emancipated countries, are ostensibly democratic there has been evidence of rampant corruption, rigged elections and ethnic strife as can be expected from a region carved up quite arbitrarily.

The U.S. has nonetheless embraced whatever system these post-Communist orphans have come up with as long as they didn’t run back to a resurgent Russian Empire. Afghanistan might also be included as one of these former Soviet states, but of course only for a brief period as the USSR was rebuffed and sent packing after its botched invasion during the 1980s.

The U.S. and NATO have been in Afghanistan for over ten years now. Detractors scratch their heads and wonder why the U.S. would be sucked into another Vietnam, mired in scandal and setbacks. Some call it a quagmire, however, a sober assessment might conclude we were never intended to leave. Afghanistan, amidst this vast containment strategy is an ideal outpost. It sits atop trillions of dollars of mineral reserves, a crossroads for oil essential oil pipelines and offers a perfect peak into Russia and China.

Since NATO hasn’t been the best houseguest, killing hundreds of civilians and military personnel in the most aggressive drone war to date, Pakistan is no longer willing to serve as a NATO supply conduit. NATO and the U.S. military will now use a “reverse transit” through three former Soviet satellites (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan) to ship military equipment out of Afghanistan bypassing Pakistan altogether. The move is purportedly six times more expensive. Whether this is a bonafide exit route or merely a way of creating better partnerships closer to Russia remains to be seen.

What is clear is that Pakistan serves a similar role to China as Syria serves Russia – naval access. While many are talking about Syria few are talking about the fact the Pentagon admits the U.S. is at war in Pakistan. While the cover story is of course the favored fiction – Al-Qaeda reigns in Pakistan – groups, which are funded by staunch pro U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and UAE, the ultimate goal is denial of access as much as it is in Syria.

The Wall Street Journal reported last year that the Port of Gwadar, in coastal Balochistan region of Pakistan, is scheduled to be the latest in China’s “’String of Pearls’ wherein China has also funded construction or upgrades of ports in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar,” a stratagem aimed at strengthening economic ties, securing access to crucial resources and projecting force into the Indian Ocean, Arabian Gulf and the African Continent.

As the U.S. exits (at least publicly) its relationship with Pakistan, China is taking over. In addition to the Port of Gwadar China sees the Iran-Pakistan pipeline, the Turkmentistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline as vital to its economic health. To this end China has delivery of 50 JF-17 fighter jets, a unspecified number of 4,400 ton frigates, submariner training and possibly China’s more advanced FC-20, also known as the J10, but details are thin. In the final analysis Balochistan has been and will continue to be the victim (like Syria) of subversion, destabilization and political sabotage, "a nexus," writes Eric Draitser at Stop Imperialism, "the point at which diametrically opposing strategic interests converge." These are the typical tools of the realist school of geopolitics.

Part II will cover the South China Sea, the South Pacific and India, the Asian linchpin.

Rand Paul's Bilderberg “No Comment” and The Logan Act

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 19:35:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

Rand Paul has been under intense scrutiny, not from usual suspects, but from his father’s national base of fervent libertarians and constitutionalists. Since his controversial endorsement of Mitt Romney last week it has been all-hands-on-deck in the liberty movement. People are beginning to know a little bit more about Rand and they do not like what they see – the honeymoon is over.

While some speculate his endorsement was a way to neutralize opposition from establishment GOP, laying down goodwill for his anticipated presidential run in 2016, others wonder whether he may be positioning himself as Lady Liberty’s double agent. Ruminations aside, antennas are up and ready to analyze Rand’s next utterance.

This is one of the latest:

The secretive Bilderberg meeting concluded its most recent controversial confab earlier this month in Chantilly, Virginia. The conference welcomed its typical shadowy constellation of global elite including many from all corners of American government: NSA chief General Keith Alexander; Thomas Donilon, Obama’s National Security Adviser; former U.S. National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger; failed GOP Presidential hopeful and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman; Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.); World Bank boss Robert Zoellick; Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Co-Chair and former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and reportedly, among others, one - Mitt Romney of Massachusetts.

The “reporter” from WGCN Radio Chicago was unable to confront Sen. Paul about his endorsee’s participation in Bilderberg, but his “no comment” on whether Kerry (and by extension his new found political pal) was in violation of the Logan Act speaks volumes; specifically he didn’t say “no.” This reinforces Sen. Paul’s purported political gambit – sacrificing for a moment philosophical purity for the larger more pragmatic prize of the Presidency down the line.

Sen. Paul is no doubt familiar with his father’s position on members of the U.S. government meeting behind closed doors and discussing policy. Rep. Paul has called for investigations into public officials and their Bilderberg attendance. On talk radio he questioned Gov. Rick Perry for his participation:

“This information about him going over there and violating the Logan Act and getting involved, I’m just impressed that that’s in the ordinary media — I think that’s encouraging, too...”

While it is clear by now the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree it is also evident that Sen. Paul is not his father and may not be as eager to work outside the system as libertarian ideologues would wish him to be.

The Senator’s political nolo contendre with regard to the Logan Act thus exposes many things: his misgivings with the secretive annual meetings, his refusal to abandon a tenuous political alliance with the political establishment, but most of all his realism.

If Sen. Paul can keep his cards close, even from a once adoring alternative media and if he can weather reactionary Paulistas his options remain aplenty moving forward. To delve into an obscure and evidently toothless piece of legislation isn’t good politics and hurts him more than it would bring violators to justice.

To be sure, the Logan Act has barely seen the inside of a court room and the only times it has been mentioned is in the congressional record and referenced within Justice Sutherland’s 1936 Supreme Court opinion affirming the President as constitutional representative of the U.S. with regard to foreign nations.

The Logan Act reads, in part, as follows:

“Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.”

When Sen. George McGovern was accused of its violation in 1975 the U.S. State Department issued this statement:

“The clear intent of this provision [Logan Act] is to prohibit unauthorized persons from intervening in disputes between the United States and foreign governments. Nothing in section 953 [Logan Act], however, would appear to restrict members of the Congress from engaging in discussions with foreign officials in pursuance of their legislative duties under the Constitution…”

Nowhere in the act does it say that members of our government can’t meet with other government agents “in secret” as so many activists assert. Meeting in secret or at least without record, in and of itself, is not illegal and in fact happens regularly even outside the twenty or so elite summits that occur every year around the world.

It is interesting to note that Dr. George Logan, from whom the bill derives its name, was a pacifist who helped quell tensions when the U.S. and France fought an essentially undeclared war at sea – the Quasi War – at the end of the 1700s. When Logan returned successful partisan Federalists were unhappy he received undue adulation from the media and sought through law to “curb the temerity and impudence” of such individuals.

The question arises then: when are we to apply and not apply the Logan Act? Are we to merely call for its enforcement when it offends our egalitarian and conspicuous sensibilities? That wasn’t its intent. The Logan Act has been used in the past to threaten those who want to continue dialogue when our government has ended diplomacy. Think Jesse Jackson and his Cuban negotiations, Sen. McGovern and Stokely Carmichael in protest to Vietnam.

There is as much an opportunity for enemies of peace to use this act (if it ever saw the light of day) against those who would choose to open a back channel and avert open war, say with Iran, Syria, China, North Korea, Pakistan, or Russia as it is for those to use it against the world’s enigmatic power brokers seeking to influence our elected representatives. Something lobbyists do on a daily basis.

But, how many undeclared wars do we currently fight? If Rand Paul, or Ron Paul for that matter, were prosecuted under the Logan Act attempting to quell one of these many dubious interventions – undeclared wars – we now find ourselves apart, the irony would be overwhelming.

What activists and concerned citizens should continue to do is scrutinize and expose where the rubber meets the road, where ideas are put into action – political reform, legislation, executive orders, court decisions, administrative rules and regulations, etc.

While every decision our leaders make should be thoroughly investigated, vetted and debated, for now Rand Paul should be allotted some breathing room. He has set himself on the path for the presidency and while many wish he’d just take off where Ron left off, the princeling may not be – his thing. Rand has yet, as far as his voting record is concerned, to fall to the dark side, until then we should reserve judgment.

Hammering Holder: Pruning the Branches of Corruption

noreply@blogger.com (Purple Serf) — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 19:05:00 +0000

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

Attorney General Eric Holder, testifying before the House Committee on the Judiciary, Thursday suffered a grilling at the hands of Representatives Daryll Issa (R-CA), Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Lamar Smith (R-TX).

Before the hearing it was more than obvious that Holder, if not Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein, knew about the controversial gun-walking operation known as “Fast and Furious” prior to its involvement in the murder of U.S. Border Agent Brian A. Terry on Dec. 14^th 2010. If it wasn’t, it was made blatantly clear after Rep. Issa stacked document after document referring to the operation, all provided by law enforcement whistleblowers and dated months prior to Terry’s death.

In a less than impressive display of lawyerly maneuvering Holder claimed the document’s “emails using the words ‘Fast and Furious’ don’t refer to Operation Fast and Furious.” This has been merely the latest in a long line of stonewalling and misdirection on the part of Holder.

Part of a broader series of programs known as “Project Gunrunner” ran by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) between 2006 and 2011, spanning two administrations, Operation Fast and Furious was the largest of other known analogs like “Wide Receiver” and “White Gun.” ATF in a brazen example of state-sanctioned law breaking knowingly allowed and “encouraged” the sale of over 2000 firearms to arms traffickers working through middlemen known as “straw purchasers” on behalf of Mexican drug cartels.

Since 2006 the Mexican drug war can be described as nothing short of narco genocide claiming more than 60,000 lives leaving a trail of tears filled with endless stories of torture, bizarre gladiator kamikazes and beheadings. The tactics used by the ATF have been claimed to be an effort to stem the violence by tracking these weapons up the chain resulting in the apprehension of kingpins and ultimately the dismantling of the cartels - the mantra of all law enforcement agencies since the War on Drugs began decades ago.

There are, as you would expect, a few problems with this line of reasoning. One, the ATF has yet to be produce a mechanism by which these weapons are tracked outside of retaining the serial number and hoping they show up. Two, once a cartel is apprehended (lets say every last one of them) another cartel will simply take its place, history has shown that much is a certain. Three, and this is the kicker, why do agents of the government feel they can break the law in the service of it?

Pruning Will Only Cause it to Grow

The Fast and Furious scandal is merely an extension of the ongoing War on Drugs and just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to big government shadow war. From the CIA to the ATF every sort of deep and dubious tactic imaginable (black rendition sites, entrapments, compromised informants, etc.) is utilized to bring “evildoers” to justice regardless of the rule of law.

While some, however, have speculated it was Eric Holder and the Department of Justice’s primary intent to sabotage the 2^nd Amendment, this line of reasoning doesn’t quite satisfy the rebuttal. Project Gunrunner, after all, began under George W. Bush, hardly a liberal (well, depending on who you ask). Now, this isn’t to deny those of a liberal bent and the DOJ wouldn’t high five each other if the 2^nd Amendment were undermined in the process. What is constant from 2006 to 2011, however, is our DOJ’s disrespect for law. That much we can prove. But as I mentioned its systemic, it does not begin nor does it end with Eric Holder.

While it is necessary to rout the unscrupulous where and when they rear their ugly heads it is obvious to those of an objective inclination that conservatives are salivating over the opportunity to burn Holder as well. Holder’s allegations are most likely correct, that the passion of these hearings is most definitely politically motivated, but who cares? The real issue at hand is the slight of hand.

Buried are the stories of the FBI allowing drugs to cross the border. The press surrounding Holder and gunrunning saps the attention, which could be used to expose the DEA’s purported get-out-of-jail-free card offered to Vicente Zambada-Niebla, son of Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismail “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia. At the very least the government admitted his lawyer was a confidential informant.

While some may write this off as the necessary evils of the drug war, are we to then accept our government’s “moral ambiguity” as a fact of life? From Insight Crime:

"[T]hey hint at a deeper truth in the U.S.'s handling of the Mexican drug panorama. The border zone is filled with double agents, and often U.S. officials have to take part in morally ambiguous operations. This includes relying on informants who may continue to traffic drugs and kill people, but will still expect protection in return for their information.”

This is a cycle without end and corrupts both governments. Rather than readdressing and reforming drug laws throughout the Americas as many south of the U.S. border have offered to do, the United States government feeds the perpetual mission creep inherent within an ill-conceived tapestry of law enforcement agencies. Hammering Eric Holder is merely pruning the branches of corruption.