Thursday, December 20, 2012
Friday, December 14, 2012
Thursday, December 6, 2012
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: 2013 Revolution Obama World War 3 | Trends Forecas...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: 2013 Revolution Obama World War 3 | Trends Forecas...: 2013 Revolution Obama World War 3 | Trends Forecasts and Prophecies Blog : 2013 Revolution Obama World War 3 A Lot of analysts admit that A...
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Major Stock Market Crash in December 2012 accordin...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Major Stock Market Crash in December 2012 accordin...: Major Stock Market Crash in December 2012 according to Roubini & The Prophecy of Edgar Cayce | Trends Forecasts and Prophecies Blog : Accord...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Bradley Manning: a tale of liberty lost in America...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Bradley Manning: a tale of liberty lost in America...: Bradley Manning: a tale of liberty lost in America | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | The Guardian : Over the past two and a half years, ...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: BBC News - UN internet regulation treaty talks beg...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: BBC News - UN internet regulation treaty talks beg...: BBC News - UN internet regulation treaty talks begin in Dubai A UN agency is trying to calm fears that the internet could be damaged by a c...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Lock Your Doors And Prepare To Defend Your Family
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Lock Your Doors And Prepare To Defend Your Family: Lock Your Doors And Prepare To Defend Your Family Lock Your Doors And Prepare To Defend Your Family By Michael, on December 2nd, 2012 ...
Sunday, December 2, 2012
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: ChrisInMaryville's Blog » Is Fedzilla About to Pul...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: ChrisInMaryville's Blog » Is Fedzilla About to Pul...: ChrisInMaryville's Blog » Is Fedzilla About to Pull Off a $3.5 Trillion Private Pension Heist? : A new effort by the Obama administratio...
Saturday, December 1, 2012
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FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Sorry Monsanto: Govt Admits GM Bt Cotton Crops Fai...: Sorry Monsanto: Govt Admits GM Bt Cotton Crops Fail 40% : The government of Maharashtra, a state in western India, has acknowledged for the ...
Obama "Compromise": More Spending, Higher Taxes, Unlimited Debt
Obama "Compromise": More Spending, Higher Taxes, Unlimited Debt
President Obama has hardened his views on “fiscal cliff” negotiations with congressional Republicans, with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner telling a closed-door session of congressional leaders that Obama is now demanding $50 billion in more “stimulus” spending, $1.6 trillion in higher taxes over 10 years, and presidential control over the national debt limit. Any other deal, Geithner counseled, would be vetoed and make inevitable the fiscal cliff's automatic tax increases and spending cuts on January 1.
The neoconservative magazine the Weekly Standard reported that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) laughed out loud when Geithner announced the White House's demands. After the meeting, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced that negotiators had made “no substantive progress” in the negotiations. “I’ve got to tell you, I’m disappointed in where we are and what has happened in the last couple of weeks,” Boehner told reporters. “I came here the day after the election and made it clear Republicans would put revenue on the table.... But revenue is only on the table if there are serious spending cuts as part of this agreement. It’s the spending that is out of control.”
Boehner is correct that the White House has proposed no spending cuts to close the $1.1 trillion per year spending gap in the federal budget. Obama would apply none of the tax increases to deficit reduction. Even columnists for the leftist Los Angeles Times have acknowledged that “letting the Bush-era cuts expire for the top 2% would save only about $52 billion a year, which is well short of the $4 trillion in savings over 10 years needed to stabilize the debt.” And that $52 billion is just about the same amount of new “stimulus” spending Obama has demanded in the negotiations.
President Obama has hardened his views on “fiscal cliff” negotiations with congressional Republicans, with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner telling a closed-door session of congressional leaders that Obama is now demanding $50 billion in more “stimulus” spending, $1.6 trillion in higher taxes over 10 years, and presidential control over the national debt limit. Any other deal, Geithner counseled, would be vetoed and make inevitable the fiscal cliff's automatic tax increases and spending cuts on January 1.
The neoconservative magazine the Weekly Standard reported that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) laughed out loud when Geithner announced the White House's demands. After the meeting, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced that negotiators had made “no substantive progress” in the negotiations. “I’ve got to tell you, I’m disappointed in where we are and what has happened in the last couple of weeks,” Boehner told reporters. “I came here the day after the election and made it clear Republicans would put revenue on the table.... But revenue is only on the table if there are serious spending cuts as part of this agreement. It’s the spending that is out of control.”
Boehner is correct that the White House has proposed no spending cuts to close the $1.1 trillion per year spending gap in the federal budget. Obama would apply none of the tax increases to deficit reduction. Even columnists for the leftist Los Angeles Times have acknowledged that “letting the Bush-era cuts expire for the top 2% would save only about $52 billion a year, which is well short of the $4 trillion in savings over 10 years needed to stabilize the debt.” And that $52 billion is just about the same amount of new “stimulus” spending Obama has demanded in the negotiations.
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Feinstein-Lee NDAA Amendment Passes, But Is It Eno...
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The Government Can Still Black Bag Any American « LewRockwell.com Blog
The Government Can Still Black Bag Any American « LewRockwell.com Blog
November 30, 2012
The Government Can Still Black Bag Any American
The Senate passed the much ballyhooed Feinstein-Lee amendment last night, which supposedly partially nullifies the provision in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) allowing for Americans to be kidnapped by the government and disappeared without any charge or due process. Senator Rand Paul put out a press release declaring victory. But as Congressman Justin Amash points out, the wording of the amendment effectively codifies tyranny:
(h/t Robert Wenzel)
The heart of the Feinstein amendment:I have some questions. Why are Americans who are traveling, working, living abroad left out of this legislation? Does one only have his rights when he's within the sanctified borders of the U.S.? Why is it not being argued that ALL PEOPLE have the right to due process? Why are there libertarians celebrating this passage when rather than making us more free it really only further enshrines the idea that the State grants (and denies) us our rights?
"An authorization to use military force, a declaration of war, or any similar authority shall not authorize the detention without charge or trial of a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States apprehended in the United States, UNLESS AN ACT OF CONGRESS EXPRESSLY AUTHORIZES SUCH DETENTION."Well, that Act of Congress is the 2012 NDAA, which renders the rest of the Feinstein amendment meaningless.
(h/t Robert Wenzel)
Manning Testifies About His Torture; Was it Aimed at Turning Him on Assange?
Manning Testifies About His Torture; Was it Aimed at Turning Him on Assange?
Michael Ratner is President Emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York and Chair of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights in Berlin. He is currently a legal adviser to Wikileaks and Julian Assange. He and CCR brought the first case challenging the Guantanamo detentions and continue in their efforts to close Guantanamo. He taught at Yale Law School, and Columbia Law School, and was President of the National Lawyers Guild. His current books include "Hell No: Your Right to Dissent in the Twenty-First Century America," and “ Who Killed Che? How the CIA Got Away With Murder.” NOTE: Mr. Ratner speaks on his own behalf and not for any organization with which he is affiliated.
MICHAEL RATNER, PRESIDENT EMERITUS, CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS: And what I am also , Paul (thank you for having me) is the lawyer for Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. And that's what's important about what we're going to talk about today, which is the trial of Bradley Manning. JAY: So go ahead.RATNER: Bradley Manning, as I imagine your listeners know by this time, but is the young private first class from the Army who allegedly uploaded some 5 million documents, or some huge number, maybe not 5 million, but 3 million, to WikiLeaks that included the Iraq War logs, the "Collateral Murder" video, the State Department cables. And we're actually at the two-year anniversary of the release of the State Department cables. And they also included the Afghan War logs. He's been indicted—or, really, charged by the military court of aiding the enemy and a variety of computer charges. And we're now, over the last few months, going through pretrial proceedings regarding his treatment and other issues before the court martial begins in February. For two and a half years, he has been in custody, some 900-and-some days. He's now at Fort Meade in Maryland, close by The Real News, or at least fairly close to The Real News. And the trial I was at yesterday was the first time that Bradley Manning actually took the witness stand and testified. So it was quite a dramatic afternoon, really dramatic, because to see Bradley Manning there in his uniform get on the stand and actually testify was incredibly moving.JAY: And what was this proceeding about?RATNER: Right. The subject of this proceeding was the government or United States and military's treatment of Bradley Manning during the two and a half years he's been in custody. And it was particularly over the first year of his custody to year and a half when the allegations are that he was tortured in custody, or at least treated with cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. There's been a lot of substantiation of that treatment. The rapporteur for the United Nations, Mendez, basically said he was treated contrary to the Convention against Torture. And this was a trial in which that conduct was going to be talked about.So there I am, sitting in this courtroom, small courtroom, a dozen of military guys all in those dress blue uniforms. And we didn't know when Bradley was going to testify, because they'd had a lot of psychiatrists testify first. The main burden of the psychiatrists' testimony—this was by the defense—was that they did not recommend that Bradley Manning should be put on suicide risk or on preventive injury risk, that he should be treated like the regular population. But, in fact, for this year, he was treated as if he was a suicide risk. And because of that, he was treated very badly, and probably even worse than people put on that are treated. Normally, those treatments are for four to seven days. The psychiatrists uniformly recommended that Bradley Manning should be treated as normal in the regular population. That was disregarded both—that was disregarded at Quantico in Virginia, where he was ultimately sent for about nine months.So you're sitting there in this courtroom, and all of a sudden, unexpected, the lawyer for Bradley Manning, David Coombs, says, Bradley Manning, will you come to the witness stand? And you see Bradley Manning in his dress blue uniform, a tie, a white shirt, sit in the witness stand. Of course, he's short, 5'2" or 5'3", he's slim, but he actually looked very good. And what we expected was not what we got. What you expected about Bradley Manning, particularly after all the negative press about all his problems, all his issues, about his sexuality and the military, etc., what you got was somebody very different. He opens his mouth, and you had this confident, bright, intelligent, articulate person who could really describe what happened to him, not nervous, straightforward. And what happened to him was really outrageous. It was an essential effort to break him down as a human being. And I'll just summarize it quickly. The first two months, roughly, he was held at a military camp in Kuwait. And here's how he was held. He said he went into a tent, and there were two cages like they keep animals, each about 8-foot cubes. He was put into one of the cages. The other cage was empty. And he was essentially kept there almost the entire two months. Most of the time had to eat in those cages. And then his day was as follows. He would be awakened at 11 at night. Eleven at night to 1 p.m. in the afternoon was the time he was up, when he sat in the cage and there was some light on, or he was taken out maybe for a brief time, 20 minutes, to get some air or something. And then he was fed in the cage. That went for almost two months. He almost collapsed, had a nervous breakdown, really, almost, during that period, saw therapists, or at least—I don't know if they were therapists—saw some military people who came to attend him. But he said his entire world closed in on him. He said, I'm someone who's interested in the world; I was interested in what was happening, for example, with the oil leak by BP; I read people like Richard Dawkins. This is a 24-year-old young man, 21 or 22 at the time of these incidents, talking to us like that, but saying, my whole world collapsed and I was just a complete mess after that kind of treatment. So he's in there for almost two months. Finally, he's flown out to Quantico in Virginia, a Marine military base. When he gets on the plane, he says, I have no idea where I'm being sent; I thought it might even be Guantanamo. This all happens to give our people a timeframe. From about end of May 2010 he's in Kuwait till the end of July 2010, then goes to Quantico till probably April or so of 2011. He gets to Quantico, he's put on suicide watch, as well as on possibility of injury, as well as supermax and all this, and the conditions are terrible. And you see what happens next in the courtroom. The lawyer asks for Bradley Manning to step off the witness stand. He steps off the witness stand. And on the floor they draw out the cell with a ruler, six by eight. This is the one at Quantico, Virginia. And they show where the rack is, or a metal thing for the bed. They show the toilet and where the sink is. Then they show that there's this screen in front of it, a mesh screen that you can see out of, but all you see is a man sitting in a chair on the other side and the observation booth where he's looked at 24 hours a day. There's a bright light on him the entire 24 hours. He can't really sleep, except facing the light, because if he doesn't face the light where they can see his face across the booth, they come in and they wake him up and they turn him around. So his sleep is interrupted all the time. When he wakes up in this booth—and this went on for nine months—when he wakes up in this booth, he's not allowed to lean against a wall or lay in bed. Once he's up for "Reveille", which is 5 a.m. (at least it's during the day), he's up. Once he's up, they say he can only stand or he can sit on the bunk with his feet on the ground and cannot put his back against the wall. And he's in this for nine months.JAY: And so if he puts his back against the wall, they rush in and they force him to sit up?RATNER: Exactly right. So this, if you look at this, Paul, in a certain way, it's reminiscent of the stress positions and the other—what we call the Rumsfeld techniques that they used on Guantanamo people—you know, 24-hour light, the stress positions of standing, no communication except with his guards 'cause there's nobody near him, he's watched all the time, his meals are in the cell. And then, of course, what was really dramatic was the moment they talked about what happened when he was forced to get naked. There was a point they said, well, we're going to make him get naked, they claim because of a suicide risk. But the doctors throughout this period are saying he was normal, there was no suicide risk when he was in that prison, he was no more able to hurt himself or commit suicide than any other prisoner, and they kept telling the administrator of prison he should not be in these conditions, he should not be. If he has a problem, they're going to make it worse. JAY: Now, we've talked about this before. I mean, to what extent do you think this was carried out because they want him to turn on Assange? Otherwise, what is it they're trying to get out of him with this kind of techniques?RATNER: Yeah. I think that's what it was, because they don't have an excuse for this treatment, because you had psychiatrist after psychiatrist testifying in the last two days that he was not a suicide risk, and that you also had testimony, interestingly, from some people saying that their opinions as psychiatrists had never been disavowed or disobeyed by the head of the brig. Even though the brig commander is in command and could say, I'm not going to listen to you, this was the only time in their memory, many years of being therapists and psychiatrists, that the brig commander said, we're not going to agree with you, we have other reasons, and we're going to keep him in these conditions. So that gives, really, a lot of substance to the fact that these orders were not coming from the brig commander but were coming from somewhere on high, and that it was done for a reason, as we have said on this show, to try and break Bradley Manning. So to the extent he knows anything—which I don't think he does, but to the extent the government thinks he does—about his relationship to WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, that he will be broken and testify or give information about Julian Assange and how these documents that Bradley Manning allegedly hacked—or not hacked; he wasn't hacked—that he allegedly gave to WikiLeaks, what WikiLeaks' involvement in that was.JAY: And was—Manning's testimony was all about the conditions of being held. It didn't relate to any of the other issues of the case.RATNER: No, doesn't relate, didn't relate at all.JAY: So what does the defense hope to achieve? So if the judges decide that this in fact was cruel and inhuman punishment, then what?RATNER: You know, that's a very good question, because what the lawyer asked for is under Article 13 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which says you can't be subjected to punishment before trial. And this was obviously a form of punishment. It came out as that.And so the lawyer's asked for two things. He's asked for a dismissal of the entire case. Now, this is—look it, this is an aiding-the-enemy case, this is a case that carries a potential death penalty, certainly life imprisonment. Is the judge going to do that? You know, it's speculation, but this is obviously not the most readily accessible remedy for this violation. On the other hand, it has been done on occasion very rare that the government misconduct is so bad and that it has such dirty hands, the government, that a judge'll say, that's it, goodbye. So that's what he's ultimately asking for.But he has a second remedy, because he understands that this first remedy might be difficult for the judge. He's saying, look it, this guy may get sentenced at some point. And, in fact, there was part of a guilty plea discussed at this court hearing yesterday. And whatever sentence he gets, I want it reduced by the amount of time he spent in pretrial detention, which would be normal, but I want it reduced by ten to one. So for every day he spent in these cruel and degrading, inhumane conditions, I want ten days off his sentence. So the lawyer came up with the number 293 days, almost a year, and he says, therefore I want the sentence reduced 2,930 days, which would be, what, eight or nine years.JAY: And there's precedent for that?RATNER: I don't know. I don't know.JAY: And what happened about the guilty plea and the attempt to have some kind of negotiation?RATNER: Yeah, that's important to bring up. A few weeks ago, they offered to plead guilty to certain of the charges or reduce charges, lesser included offenses.JAY: They being Manning and his lawyer.RATNER: Yeah, Manning and his lawyer. Manning didn't say anything. It's all an offer from his lawyer, because my guess is if it's not accepted, they withdraw the offer and it's off the record and there's no admission by Manning, etc. So Manning didn't say anything. But the lawyer said, we're offering to plead guilty to these, these, these, these. And then there's been a lot of colloquy about it—is this a legitimate plea, are these lesser included?But the real point here are really two things, one, that the judge doesn't have to accept the plea, although she seemed to indicate yesterday she would consider accepting the plea, and the government doesn't have to accept the plea. If the government doesn't have to accept it, the judge can still accept the plea. The problem is the government can then still go ahead and prove its more serious case, the aiding the enemy case. So here you would have Manning pleading to, you know, passing on documents he shouldn't have passed on, but not pleading guilty to aiding the enemy or computer misuse, which are more serious, and the government's saying, well, you can plead to that, you'll get sentenced for that, but we're still going to go ahead and try and prove a bigger case. We don't know what's going on here. What the judge said is, look it, I might be willing to accept this plea. The maximum sentence I could give him for this plea, which is seven counts of various unauthorized passing on of documents, would be 14 years. So if that was the end of the case and the government said, okay, we'll take it, Manning would be subjected to 14 years in prison. That would be, I think, from the defense's point of view—I won't say ideal, 'cause there's no such thing as that. I think, you know, the ideal case would be that Manning should be acquitted in this case and the government should be tried, but that's another story. But 14 years or less than that, the judge—the maximum is 14—would be, I think, from the defense's point of view, in a case that offers life imprisonment for millions of documents that were classified, the defense may well see that as a positive development.On the other hand, they could be then pleading guilty to something, and then the government, it doesn't have to prove that initial thing anymore; it just has to prove this more difficult, serious case, in which case he could get a much longer sentence. It may also, though—it's not a jury trial. They've chosen to be tried before the judge. Manning was shown as a substantial, well-thought human being in front of that judge yesterday, articulate, smart. It may be that that's helpful, and it may also be that he's willing to plead guilty to a core part of this [incompr.] helpful and perhaps make the judge more sympathetic.JAY: Alright. Thanks for joining us, Michael. And we'll obviously—RATNER: Thank you for having me, Paul.JAY: —we'll continue following this in weekly reports. Thanks for joining us on The Real News. Don't forget we're in our year-end fundraising campaign. Every dollar you donate gets matched till we reach $100,000. The Donate button's over there somewhere. So if you click on that, we can keep doing this.
Michael Ratner is President Emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York and Chair of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights in Berlin. He is currently a legal adviser to Wikileaks and Julian Assange. He and CCR brought the first case challenging the Guantanamo detentions and continue in their efforts to close Guantanamo. He taught at Yale Law School, and Columbia Law School, and was President of the National Lawyers Guild. His current books include "Hell No: Your Right to Dissent in the Twenty-First Century America," and “ Who Killed Che? How the CIA Got Away With Murder.” NOTE: Mr. Ratner speaks on his own behalf and not for any organization with which he is affiliated.
Transcript
PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Paul Jay in Baltimore. And welcome to this week's version of The Ratner Report with Michael Ratner, who joins us from New York. He's the president emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights, and he's the chair of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights in Berlin. And he's also a board member of The Real News. Thanks for joining us.MICHAEL RATNER, PRESIDENT EMERITUS, CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS: And what I am also , Paul (thank you for having me) is the lawyer for Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. And that's what's important about what we're going to talk about today, which is the trial of Bradley Manning. JAY: So go ahead.RATNER: Bradley Manning, as I imagine your listeners know by this time, but is the young private first class from the Army who allegedly uploaded some 5 million documents, or some huge number, maybe not 5 million, but 3 million, to WikiLeaks that included the Iraq War logs, the "Collateral Murder" video, the State Department cables. And we're actually at the two-year anniversary of the release of the State Department cables. And they also included the Afghan War logs. He's been indicted—or, really, charged by the military court of aiding the enemy and a variety of computer charges. And we're now, over the last few months, going through pretrial proceedings regarding his treatment and other issues before the court martial begins in February. For two and a half years, he has been in custody, some 900-and-some days. He's now at Fort Meade in Maryland, close by The Real News, or at least fairly close to The Real News. And the trial I was at yesterday was the first time that Bradley Manning actually took the witness stand and testified. So it was quite a dramatic afternoon, really dramatic, because to see Bradley Manning there in his uniform get on the stand and actually testify was incredibly moving.JAY: And what was this proceeding about?RATNER: Right. The subject of this proceeding was the government or United States and military's treatment of Bradley Manning during the two and a half years he's been in custody. And it was particularly over the first year of his custody to year and a half when the allegations are that he was tortured in custody, or at least treated with cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. There's been a lot of substantiation of that treatment. The rapporteur for the United Nations, Mendez, basically said he was treated contrary to the Convention against Torture. And this was a trial in which that conduct was going to be talked about.So there I am, sitting in this courtroom, small courtroom, a dozen of military guys all in those dress blue uniforms. And we didn't know when Bradley was going to testify, because they'd had a lot of psychiatrists testify first. The main burden of the psychiatrists' testimony—this was by the defense—was that they did not recommend that Bradley Manning should be put on suicide risk or on preventive injury risk, that he should be treated like the regular population. But, in fact, for this year, he was treated as if he was a suicide risk. And because of that, he was treated very badly, and probably even worse than people put on that are treated. Normally, those treatments are for four to seven days. The psychiatrists uniformly recommended that Bradley Manning should be treated as normal in the regular population. That was disregarded both—that was disregarded at Quantico in Virginia, where he was ultimately sent for about nine months.So you're sitting there in this courtroom, and all of a sudden, unexpected, the lawyer for Bradley Manning, David Coombs, says, Bradley Manning, will you come to the witness stand? And you see Bradley Manning in his dress blue uniform, a tie, a white shirt, sit in the witness stand. Of course, he's short, 5'2" or 5'3", he's slim, but he actually looked very good. And what we expected was not what we got. What you expected about Bradley Manning, particularly after all the negative press about all his problems, all his issues, about his sexuality and the military, etc., what you got was somebody very different. He opens his mouth, and you had this confident, bright, intelligent, articulate person who could really describe what happened to him, not nervous, straightforward. And what happened to him was really outrageous. It was an essential effort to break him down as a human being. And I'll just summarize it quickly. The first two months, roughly, he was held at a military camp in Kuwait. And here's how he was held. He said he went into a tent, and there were two cages like they keep animals, each about 8-foot cubes. He was put into one of the cages. The other cage was empty. And he was essentially kept there almost the entire two months. Most of the time had to eat in those cages. And then his day was as follows. He would be awakened at 11 at night. Eleven at night to 1 p.m. in the afternoon was the time he was up, when he sat in the cage and there was some light on, or he was taken out maybe for a brief time, 20 minutes, to get some air or something. And then he was fed in the cage. That went for almost two months. He almost collapsed, had a nervous breakdown, really, almost, during that period, saw therapists, or at least—I don't know if they were therapists—saw some military people who came to attend him. But he said his entire world closed in on him. He said, I'm someone who's interested in the world; I was interested in what was happening, for example, with the oil leak by BP; I read people like Richard Dawkins. This is a 24-year-old young man, 21 or 22 at the time of these incidents, talking to us like that, but saying, my whole world collapsed and I was just a complete mess after that kind of treatment. So he's in there for almost two months. Finally, he's flown out to Quantico in Virginia, a Marine military base. When he gets on the plane, he says, I have no idea where I'm being sent; I thought it might even be Guantanamo. This all happens to give our people a timeframe. From about end of May 2010 he's in Kuwait till the end of July 2010, then goes to Quantico till probably April or so of 2011. He gets to Quantico, he's put on suicide watch, as well as on possibility of injury, as well as supermax and all this, and the conditions are terrible. And you see what happens next in the courtroom. The lawyer asks for Bradley Manning to step off the witness stand. He steps off the witness stand. And on the floor they draw out the cell with a ruler, six by eight. This is the one at Quantico, Virginia. And they show where the rack is, or a metal thing for the bed. They show the toilet and where the sink is. Then they show that there's this screen in front of it, a mesh screen that you can see out of, but all you see is a man sitting in a chair on the other side and the observation booth where he's looked at 24 hours a day. There's a bright light on him the entire 24 hours. He can't really sleep, except facing the light, because if he doesn't face the light where they can see his face across the booth, they come in and they wake him up and they turn him around. So his sleep is interrupted all the time. When he wakes up in this booth—and this went on for nine months—when he wakes up in this booth, he's not allowed to lean against a wall or lay in bed. Once he's up for "Reveille", which is 5 a.m. (at least it's during the day), he's up. Once he's up, they say he can only stand or he can sit on the bunk with his feet on the ground and cannot put his back against the wall. And he's in this for nine months.JAY: And so if he puts his back against the wall, they rush in and they force him to sit up?RATNER: Exactly right. So this, if you look at this, Paul, in a certain way, it's reminiscent of the stress positions and the other—what we call the Rumsfeld techniques that they used on Guantanamo people—you know, 24-hour light, the stress positions of standing, no communication except with his guards 'cause there's nobody near him, he's watched all the time, his meals are in the cell. And then, of course, what was really dramatic was the moment they talked about what happened when he was forced to get naked. There was a point they said, well, we're going to make him get naked, they claim because of a suicide risk. But the doctors throughout this period are saying he was normal, there was no suicide risk when he was in that prison, he was no more able to hurt himself or commit suicide than any other prisoner, and they kept telling the administrator of prison he should not be in these conditions, he should not be. If he has a problem, they're going to make it worse. JAY: Now, we've talked about this before. I mean, to what extent do you think this was carried out because they want him to turn on Assange? Otherwise, what is it they're trying to get out of him with this kind of techniques?RATNER: Yeah. I think that's what it was, because they don't have an excuse for this treatment, because you had psychiatrist after psychiatrist testifying in the last two days that he was not a suicide risk, and that you also had testimony, interestingly, from some people saying that their opinions as psychiatrists had never been disavowed or disobeyed by the head of the brig. Even though the brig commander is in command and could say, I'm not going to listen to you, this was the only time in their memory, many years of being therapists and psychiatrists, that the brig commander said, we're not going to agree with you, we have other reasons, and we're going to keep him in these conditions. So that gives, really, a lot of substance to the fact that these orders were not coming from the brig commander but were coming from somewhere on high, and that it was done for a reason, as we have said on this show, to try and break Bradley Manning. So to the extent he knows anything—which I don't think he does, but to the extent the government thinks he does—about his relationship to WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, that he will be broken and testify or give information about Julian Assange and how these documents that Bradley Manning allegedly hacked—or not hacked; he wasn't hacked—that he allegedly gave to WikiLeaks, what WikiLeaks' involvement in that was.JAY: And was—Manning's testimony was all about the conditions of being held. It didn't relate to any of the other issues of the case.RATNER: No, doesn't relate, didn't relate at all.JAY: So what does the defense hope to achieve? So if the judges decide that this in fact was cruel and inhuman punishment, then what?RATNER: You know, that's a very good question, because what the lawyer asked for is under Article 13 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which says you can't be subjected to punishment before trial. And this was obviously a form of punishment. It came out as that.And so the lawyer's asked for two things. He's asked for a dismissal of the entire case. Now, this is—look it, this is an aiding-the-enemy case, this is a case that carries a potential death penalty, certainly life imprisonment. Is the judge going to do that? You know, it's speculation, but this is obviously not the most readily accessible remedy for this violation. On the other hand, it has been done on occasion very rare that the government misconduct is so bad and that it has such dirty hands, the government, that a judge'll say, that's it, goodbye. So that's what he's ultimately asking for.But he has a second remedy, because he understands that this first remedy might be difficult for the judge. He's saying, look it, this guy may get sentenced at some point. And, in fact, there was part of a guilty plea discussed at this court hearing yesterday. And whatever sentence he gets, I want it reduced by the amount of time he spent in pretrial detention, which would be normal, but I want it reduced by ten to one. So for every day he spent in these cruel and degrading, inhumane conditions, I want ten days off his sentence. So the lawyer came up with the number 293 days, almost a year, and he says, therefore I want the sentence reduced 2,930 days, which would be, what, eight or nine years.JAY: And there's precedent for that?RATNER: I don't know. I don't know.JAY: And what happened about the guilty plea and the attempt to have some kind of negotiation?RATNER: Yeah, that's important to bring up. A few weeks ago, they offered to plead guilty to certain of the charges or reduce charges, lesser included offenses.JAY: They being Manning and his lawyer.RATNER: Yeah, Manning and his lawyer. Manning didn't say anything. It's all an offer from his lawyer, because my guess is if it's not accepted, they withdraw the offer and it's off the record and there's no admission by Manning, etc. So Manning didn't say anything. But the lawyer said, we're offering to plead guilty to these, these, these, these. And then there's been a lot of colloquy about it—is this a legitimate plea, are these lesser included?But the real point here are really two things, one, that the judge doesn't have to accept the plea, although she seemed to indicate yesterday she would consider accepting the plea, and the government doesn't have to accept the plea. If the government doesn't have to accept it, the judge can still accept the plea. The problem is the government can then still go ahead and prove its more serious case, the aiding the enemy case. So here you would have Manning pleading to, you know, passing on documents he shouldn't have passed on, but not pleading guilty to aiding the enemy or computer misuse, which are more serious, and the government's saying, well, you can plead to that, you'll get sentenced for that, but we're still going to go ahead and try and prove a bigger case. We don't know what's going on here. What the judge said is, look it, I might be willing to accept this plea. The maximum sentence I could give him for this plea, which is seven counts of various unauthorized passing on of documents, would be 14 years. So if that was the end of the case and the government said, okay, we'll take it, Manning would be subjected to 14 years in prison. That would be, I think, from the defense's point of view—I won't say ideal, 'cause there's no such thing as that. I think, you know, the ideal case would be that Manning should be acquitted in this case and the government should be tried, but that's another story. But 14 years or less than that, the judge—the maximum is 14—would be, I think, from the defense's point of view, in a case that offers life imprisonment for millions of documents that were classified, the defense may well see that as a positive development.On the other hand, they could be then pleading guilty to something, and then the government, it doesn't have to prove that initial thing anymore; it just has to prove this more difficult, serious case, in which case he could get a much longer sentence. It may also, though—it's not a jury trial. They've chosen to be tried before the judge. Manning was shown as a substantial, well-thought human being in front of that judge yesterday, articulate, smart. It may be that that's helpful, and it may also be that he's willing to plead guilty to a core part of this [incompr.] helpful and perhaps make the judge more sympathetic.JAY: Alright. Thanks for joining us, Michael. And we'll obviously—RATNER: Thank you for having me, Paul.JAY: —we'll continue following this in weekly reports. Thanks for joining us on The Real News. Don't forget we're in our year-end fundraising campaign. Every dollar you donate gets matched till we reach $100,000. The Donate button's over there somewhere. So if you click on that, we can keep doing this.
End
DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy.FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Manning Testifies About His Torture; Was it Aimed ...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Manning Testifies About His Torture; Was it Aimed ...: Manning Testifies About His Torture; Was it Aimed at Turning Him on Assange?
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: The Yes Men Are Revolting by The Yes Men — Kicksta...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: The Yes Men Are Revolting by The Yes Men — Kicksta...: The Yes Men Are Revolting by The Yes Men — Kickstarter : Thanks to you, our campaign has been successful! You can still help make this movie...
Friday, November 30, 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
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Baja Real Estate Blog: December Is a Magical MonthAt the Rosarito Beach H...: December Is a Magical Month At the Rosarito Beach Hotel ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO---For people wanting a wonderful t...
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Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Thursday, November 8, 2012
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: 'U.S. Per Person Debt Now 35 Percent Higher than t...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: 'U.S. Per Person Debt Now 35 Percent Higher than t...: 'U.S. Per Person Debt Now 35 Percent Higher than that of Greece' 11-06-2012 • ...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Gun Stocks Surge After Obama Re-Election
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Gun Stocks Surge After Obama Re-Election: Gun Stocks Surge After Obama Re-Election Libertarian-leaning Republican Congressman Ron Paul lost his bid for the Republican presidential ...
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
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Baja Real Estate Blog: Baja Online Realty Blog Serving the Baja Californi...: Baja Online Realty Blog Serving the Baja California Real Estate Community : November at the Rosarito Beach Hotel: Special Events, Packages &...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Gold Can Save Us From Disaster - Forbes
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Gold Can Save Us From Disaster - Forbes: Gold Can Save Us From Disaster - Forbes Gold Can Save Us From Disaster This story appears in the October 22, 2012 issue of Forbes. ...
Thursday, October 11, 2012
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: The United Nations: On the Brink of Becoming a Wor...
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Thursday, October 4, 2012
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Monday, September 17, 2012
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: To President Obama: The 2nd Amendment Is About Fig...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: To President Obama: The 2nd Amendment Is About Fig...: To President Obama: The 2nd Amendment Is About Fighting Tyranny, Not Hunting Deer by Michael Hersch Soon after the Denver sh...
Recession 2013 Is On the Way; Here's What Jim Rogers Is Doing
Recession 2013 Is On the Way; Here's What Jim Rogers Is Doingf legendary investor Jim Rogers is right, not only is Recession 2013 unavoidable, it's going to be a doozy.
In recent interviews, Rogers has been predicting a 2013 recession, bowled over by a potential blowout in Europe and unsustainable spending by the U.S. government.
"Be very worried about 2013 and be very worried about 2014, because that's when the next slowdown comes," Rogers told Reuters.
And while Rogers sees no true safe havens out there, a few investments can provide some comfort – specifically, commodities in the form of agriculture, gold, and silver.
Rogers' statements usually get lots of attention, mainly because he has an uncanny tendency to be right.
Together with George Soros, he founded the Quantum Fund in the 1970s and posted returns of 4,200% over 10 years. Rogers retired in 1980 at the age of 37, but remains active as a private investor.
Back in 1999, Rogers recommended gold when it was trading at $252 and silver at $4.
We all know what happened after that.
Here's the Jim Rogers take on the economy and how to survive Recession 2013.
Elections Will End Good Times
Rogers sees the coming elections as the end of a joy ride for both Europe and the United States.
"President Obama wants to get reelected. German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to get reelected," Rogers said. That means they'll both be spending lots of public money to keep voters happy until the elections are over.
The ECB's controversial decision to purchase unlimited quantities of bonds from struggling Eurozone members indicates Merkel is ready to pull out all the stops to save the euro – and her job.
In fact, Merkel has made a sharp about face and now wants to stop Athens from leaving the Eurozone at all costs.
In recent interviews, Rogers has been predicting a 2013 recession, bowled over by a potential blowout in Europe and unsustainable spending by the U.S. government.
"Be very worried about 2013 and be very worried about 2014, because that's when the next slowdown comes," Rogers told Reuters.
And while Rogers sees no true safe havens out there, a few investments can provide some comfort – specifically, commodities in the form of agriculture, gold, and silver.
Rogers' statements usually get lots of attention, mainly because he has an uncanny tendency to be right.
Together with George Soros, he founded the Quantum Fund in the 1970s and posted returns of 4,200% over 10 years. Rogers retired in 1980 at the age of 37, but remains active as a private investor.
Back in 1999, Rogers recommended gold when it was trading at $252 and silver at $4.
We all know what happened after that.
| |
Elections Will End Good Times
Rogers sees the coming elections as the end of a joy ride for both Europe and the United States.
"President Obama wants to get reelected. German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to get reelected," Rogers said. That means they'll both be spending lots of public money to keep voters happy until the elections are over.
The ECB's controversial decision to purchase unlimited quantities of bonds from struggling Eurozone members indicates Merkel is ready to pull out all the stops to save the euro – and her job.
In fact, Merkel has made a sharp about face and now wants to stop Athens from leaving the Eurozone at all costs.
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: An Interview With Jimmy Israel (Producer Involved ...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: An Interview With Jimmy Israel (Producer Involved ...: An Interview With Jimmy Israel (Producer Involved With Mohammed Film) by Robert Wenzel : VICE has done some excellent work tracking down oth...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Get Ready for an Epic Fiat Currency Avalanche by B...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Get Ready for an Epic Fiat Currency Avalanche by B...: Get Ready for an Epic Fiat Currency Avalanche by Brandon Smith What is it that makes Keynesians so insanely self destructive...
Sunday, September 16, 2012
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Spinning Bad Financial News Into Good by Paul Crai...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Spinning Bad Financial News Into Good by Paul Crai...: Spinning Bad Financial News Into Good by Paul Craig Roberts Friday’s payroll jobs report says that 96,000 new jobs were crea...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Vote, If... by Michael S. Rozeff
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Vote, If... by Michael S. Rozeff: ote in the upcoming U.S. elections if you want to endorse, approve of, and support a power beyond your control...
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Nicolas Sarkozy Offered £200,000 Per Hour Job with Morgan Stanley - International Business Times UK
Nicolas Sarkozy Offered £200,000 Per Hour Job with Morgan Stanley - International Business Times UK: Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been offered the chance to earn £200,000 for just a single hour of work with Morgan Stanley.
If Sarkozy takes the bank's offer, revealed in French investigative weekly Le Canard Enchaine, he will receive the bumper sum for giving a 45-minute speech and posing for pictures for a further 15 minutes.
The scale of the payment reveals the lucrative avenues open to former world leaders after they leave office.
Should Sarkozy accept the job, he will be following a path well trod by former prime minister Tony Blair, who makes £2.5m a year from his role as an adviser to investment bank JP Morgan.
Sarkozy was president of France for five years, bringing in a monthly salary of £17,000, before he was defeated by socialist Francois Hollande.
French management agent Nicolas Teil of Confanim said: "[The fee] is very expensive compared to the rest of the market, but we shouldn't forget that he once directed the fifth biggest power in the world.
If Sarkozy takes the bank's offer, revealed in French investigative weekly Le Canard Enchaine, he will receive the bumper sum for giving a 45-minute speech and posing for pictures for a further 15 minutes.
The scale of the payment reveals the lucrative avenues open to former world leaders after they leave office.
Should Sarkozy accept the job, he will be following a path well trod by former prime minister Tony Blair, who makes £2.5m a year from his role as an adviser to investment bank JP Morgan.
Sarkozy was president of France for five years, bringing in a monthly salary of £17,000, before he was defeated by socialist Francois Hollande.
French management agent Nicolas Teil of Confanim said: "[The fee] is very expensive compared to the rest of the market, but we shouldn't forget that he once directed the fifth biggest power in the world.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Saturday, August 25, 2012
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: After the Storm by Jeff Thomas
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: After the Storm by Jeff Thomas: After the Storm by Jeff Thomas International Man Recently by Jeff Thomas: Ign...
chunkee-munkee: Everyday Preps by Eric Peters
chunkee-munkee: Everyday Preps by Eric Peters: Everyday Preps by Eric Peters When people talk about “preps” they’re usually talking about things like ammun...
Whose Interests Will the Fed Always Protect? by Gary North
Whose Interests Will the Fed Always Protect? by Gary North
Some predictions are easy. Here is mine: "The government of the United States will default on the vast bulk of its debts, which are mainly debts of Medicare, and to a far lesser extent, Social Security and the federal pension system."
This prediction is easy to make when you have Professor Lawrence Kotlikoff of Boston University doing your research for you . . . free of charge.
He and long-term financial columnist Scott Burns recently wrote an article on the unfunded liabilities of the United States government. The article is based on the figures produced by the Congressional Budget Office. Here is their assessment. Over the past year, the debt of the United States government increased from $211 trillion to $222 trillion. This is the fiscal gap.
The fiscal gap is the present value difference between projected future spending and revenue. It captures all government liabilities, whether they are official obligations to service Treasury bonds or unofficial commitments, such as paying for food stamps or buying drones.
This led to their policy analysis.
Closing the gap using taxes requires an immediate and permanent 64 percent increase in all federal taxes. Alternatively, the U.S. needs to cut, immediately and permanently, all federal purchases and transfer payments, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, by 40 percent.
This sounds good, but neither one will work. I think they know this.
Some predictions are easy. Here is mine: "The government of the United States will default on the vast bulk of its debts, which are mainly debts of Medicare, and to a far lesser extent, Social Security and the federal pension system."
This prediction is easy to make when you have Professor Lawrence Kotlikoff of Boston University doing your research for you . . . free of charge.
He and long-term financial columnist Scott Burns recently wrote an article on the unfunded liabilities of the United States government. The article is based on the figures produced by the Congressional Budget Office. Here is their assessment. Over the past year, the debt of the United States government increased from $211 trillion to $222 trillion. This is the fiscal gap.
The fiscal gap is the present value difference between projected future spending and revenue. It captures all government liabilities, whether they are official obligations to service Treasury bonds or unofficial commitments, such as paying for food stamps or buying drones.
This led to their policy analysis.
Closing the gap using taxes requires an immediate and permanent 64 percent increase in all federal taxes. Alternatively, the U.S. needs to cut, immediately and permanently, all federal purchases and transfer payments, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, by 40 percent.
This sounds good, but neither one will work. I think they know this.
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: After the Storm by Jeff Thomas
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: After the Storm by Jeff Thomas: After the Storm by Jeff Thomas : ith all the study and thought that are required to make sense out of how the Great Unraveling will play out...
Thursday, August 23, 2012
MassGOP Chair Bob Maginn and former Congressmen could face jailtime for political and financial corruption
MassGOP Chair Bob Maginn and former Congressmen could face jailtime for political and financial corruption: 08-23-2012 • .
In an explosive Complaint filed in Suffolk Superior Court that could not only take down the current MassGOP Chairman, the current MassGOP Chairman Bob Maginn and two former Congressmen, Peter Blute and Peter Torkildsen, may end up in jail for political and financial corruption.
Read Full Story
Reported by Powell Gammill
In an explosive Complaint filed in Suffolk Superior Court that could not only take down the current MassGOP Chairman, the current MassGOP Chairman Bob Maginn and two former Congressmen, Peter Blute and Peter Torkildsen, may end up in jail for political and financial corruption.
Read Full Story
Reported by Powell Gammill
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
chunkee-munkee: The Weight Loss Benefits of Hoodia Gordonii by Edw...
chunkee-munkee: The Weight Loss Benefits of Hoodia Gordonii by Edw...: The Weight Loss Benefits of Hoodia Gordonii by Edward Group Hoodia gordonii is a succulent plant native to South Africa and ...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: From the Archive, 18 August 1970: Kennedy Talked o...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: From the Archive, 18 August 1970: Kennedy Talked o...: From the Archive, 18 August 1970: Kennedy Talked of Possibility of Killing Castro President Kennedy discussed the possibilit...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: How Big Should the Banks Be? by Thomas E. Woods, J...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: How Big Should the Banks Be? by Thomas E. Woods, J...: How Big Should the Banks Be? by Thomas E. Woods, Jr. Simon Johnson has a piece at Bloomberg today that urges the Romney/Rya...
302. The U.S. of Terrorism
302. The U.S. of Terrorism: 302. The U.S. of Terrorism
On August 21, 2012, In Podcast, By editor
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Sibel Edmonds talks to Lew about the government’s attempts to stop her from telling the truth.
On August 21, 2012, In Podcast, By editor
Standard Podcast Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download
Sibel Edmonds talks to Lew about the government’s attempts to stop her from telling the truth.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
» U.S. Army To Be Used Against “Insurrectionist” Tea Party? Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!
» U.S. Army To Be Used Against “Insurrectionist” Tea Party? Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!: cademic study wargames using U.S. troops to quell revolution
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
An academic study about the future use of the military as a peacekeeping force within the United States written by a retired Army Colonel depicts a shocking scenario in which the U.S. Army is used to restore order to a town that has been seized by Tea Party “insurrectionists”.
The paper, entitled Full Spectrum Operations in the Homeland: A “Vision” of the Future, was written by Kevin Benson and Jennifer Weber. Retired Colonel Benson, a seminar leader at the University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies at Fort Leavenworth, also served with the 5th Infantry Division, the 1st Armored Division, the 1st Cavalry Division, the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, XVIII Airborne Corps and Third U.S. Army. Weber is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Kansas.
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
An academic study about the future use of the military as a peacekeeping force within the United States written by a retired Army Colonel depicts a shocking scenario in which the U.S. Army is used to restore order to a town that has been seized by Tea Party “insurrectionists”.
The paper, entitled Full Spectrum Operations in the Homeland: A “Vision” of the Future, was written by Kevin Benson and Jennifer Weber. Retired Colonel Benson, a seminar leader at the University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies at Fort Leavenworth, also served with the 5th Infantry Division, the 1st Armored Division, the 1st Cavalry Division, the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, XVIII Airborne Corps and Third U.S. Army. Weber is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Kansas.
Guest Post: Should Obama And Congress Be Arrested Under The NDAA? | ZeroHedge
Guest Post: Should Obama And Congress Be Arrested Under The NDAA? | ZeroHedge: providing material assistance to al-Qaeda is illegal under the National Defence Authorization Act (2012), and Obama and Congress are sending $25 million of aid to al-Qaeda-affiliated Syrian opposition, aren’t Congress and President Obama violating their own law? Should Obama (or at least the Justice Department) not be using “all necessary and appropriate force” including “the power to indefinitely detain” to prevent Obama and Congress from assisting al-Qaeda? Did anyone in Congress or the Obama administration even bother to read the law that they were signing? Do Federal laws no longer apply to lawmakers?
chunkee-munkee: Could pumping aerosols into the atmosphere stop gl...
chunkee-munkee: Could pumping aerosols into the atmosphere stop gl...: Could pumping aerosols into the atmosphere stop global warming? - Tehran Times : Heat waves. Drought. Storms. The extreme weather that has b...
chunkee-munkee: Sikh temple shooter was in army psychological oper...
chunkee-munkee: Sikh temple shooter was in army psychological oper...: Sikh temple shooter was in army psychological operations | Hang The Bankers | He Who Controls the Money Supply, Controls the World : Followi...
More Than 100 Million Americans Are On Welfare
More Than 100 Million Americans Are On Welfare: There are more Americans dependent on the federal government than ever before in U.S. history. According to the Survey of Income and Program Participation conducted by the U.S. Census, well over 100 million Americans are enrolled in at least one welfare program run by the federal government. Many are enrolled in more than one. That is about a third of the entire population of the country. Sadly, that figure does not even include Social Security or Medicare. Today the federal government runs almost 80 different "means-tested welfare programs", and almost all of those programs have experienced substantial growth in recent years. Yes, we will always need a "safety net" for those that cannot take care of themselves, but it is absolutely ridiculous that the federal government is financially supporting one-third of all Americans. How much farther do things really need to go before we finally admit that we have become a socialist nation? At the rate we are going, it will not be too long before half the nation is on welfare. Unfortunately, we will likely never get to that point because the gigantic debt that we are currently running up will probably destroy our financial system before that ever happens.
chunkee-munkee: Pfizer agrees to pay $60 million to settle bribery...
chunkee-munkee: Pfizer agrees to pay $60 million to settle bribery...: Pfizer agrees to pay $60 million to settle bribery charges | Marketplace.org : Jeff Horwich: Industry watchers say the drug company Pfizer h...
Captured UK Journalist - 'None Of The Rebels Were Syrian'
Captured UK Journalist - 'None Of The Rebels Were Syrian': ‘British-Born Jihadists Fighting Assad In Syria’ – Captured Photographer
Radical Islamists with ‘British accents’ are fighting alongside the Syrian terrorists says a journalist held hostage by rebels for over a week.
[...]
Oerlemans, a famous Dutch photo journalist, and John Cantlie, another photographer from the UK, were captured by a group of between 30 and 100 anti-Assad fighters when crossing the Syrian border from Turkey last week. They were then blindfolded.
“One of the black jihadists freaked out and shouted: ‘These are journalists and now they will see we are preparing an international jihad in this place.‘” Oerlemans told NRC Handelsblatt newspaper. He said that none of the fighters was Syrian.
Radical Islamists with ‘British accents’ are fighting alongside the Syrian terrorists says a journalist held hostage by rebels for over a week.
[...]
Oerlemans, a famous Dutch photo journalist, and John Cantlie, another photographer from the UK, were captured by a group of between 30 and 100 anti-Assad fighters when crossing the Syrian border from Turkey last week. They were then blindfolded.
“One of the black jihadists freaked out and shouted: ‘These are journalists and now they will see we are preparing an international jihad in this place.‘” Oerlemans told NRC Handelsblatt newspaper. He said that none of the fighters was Syrian.
Justice Department drops Goldman financial crisis probe | Reuters
Justice Department drops Goldman financial crisis probe | Reuters
(Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department said it will not pursue criminal charges against Goldman Sachs Group Inc or its employees related to accusations that the firm bet against the same subprime mortgage securities it was selling to clients.
The decision not to prosecute Goldman, a firm held up by critics as a symbol of Wall Street greed during the 2007-2009 financial crisis, highlights the difficulty in prosecuting crisis-related cases.
Few expected the bank to face criminal charges, but in April 2011, U.S. Senator Carl Levin asked for a criminal investigation after the subcommittee he leads spent more than a year looking into Goldman.
The accusations were aired in a heated 2010 Congressional hearing in which Levin grilled Goldman Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein for hours about whether it was morally correct for the firm to sell its clients products described internally as "crap".
"The department and investigative agencies ultimately concluded that the burden of proof to bring a criminal case could not be met based on the law and facts as they exist at this time," the Justice Department said in a statement late on Thursday.
(Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department said it will not pursue criminal charges against Goldman Sachs Group Inc or its employees related to accusations that the firm bet against the same subprime mortgage securities it was selling to clients.
The decision not to prosecute Goldman, a firm held up by critics as a symbol of Wall Street greed during the 2007-2009 financial crisis, highlights the difficulty in prosecuting crisis-related cases.
Few expected the bank to face criminal charges, but in April 2011, U.S. Senator Carl Levin asked for a criminal investigation after the subcommittee he leads spent more than a year looking into Goldman.
The accusations were aired in a heated 2010 Congressional hearing in which Levin grilled Goldman Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein for hours about whether it was morally correct for the firm to sell its clients products described internally as "crap".
"The department and investigative agencies ultimately concluded that the burden of proof to bring a criminal case could not be met based on the law and facts as they exist at this time," the Justice Department said in a statement late on Thursday.
The Only Choice on November 6th by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
The Only Choice on November 6th by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
How does voting change the situation? Neither of the candidates for president wants to do anything about the problem. On the contrary, they want to make it worse. This is for a reason. The State owns the “democratic process” as surely as it owns the Departments of Labor and Defense and uses it in ways that benefit the State and no one else.
On the other hand, we do have the freedom not to vote. No one has yet drafted us into the voting booth. I suggest that we exercise this right not to participate. It is one of the few rights we have left. Nonparticipation sends a message that we no longer believe in the racket they have cooked up for us, and we want no part of it.
You might say that this is ineffective. But what effect does voting have? It gives them what they need most: a mandate. Nonparticipation helps deny that to them. It makes them, just on the margin, a bit more fearful that they are ruling us without our consent. This is all to the good. The government should fear the people. Not voting is a good beginning toward instilling that fear.
This year especially there is no lesser of two evils. There is socialism or fascism. The true American spirit should guide every voter to have no part of either.
The critical problem we face today is the same one all mankind has faced: the State, those monopolists who claim the right to break the laws that they make and enforce. How to restrain them is the critical problem of all sound political thinking. Making matters worse, this gang now has a monopoly on the money and the ability to print it, and they are abusing that power at our expense.
On the other hand, we do have the freedom not to vote. No one has yet drafted us into the voting booth. I suggest that we exercise this right not to participate. It is one of the few rights we have left. Nonparticipation sends a message that we no longer believe in the racket they have cooked up for us, and we want no part of it.
You might say that this is ineffective. But what effect does voting have? It gives them what they need most: a mandate. Nonparticipation helps deny that to them. It makes them, just on the margin, a bit more fearful that they are ruling us without our consent. This is all to the good. The government should fear the people. Not voting is a good beginning toward instilling that fear.This year especially there is no lesser of two evils. There is socialism or fascism. The true American spirit should guide every voter to have no part of either.
chunkee-munkee: The “Magic Herb” That Can Eliminate Sugar Cravings...
chunkee-munkee: The “Magic Herb” That Can Eliminate Sugar Cravings...: The “Magic Herb” That Can Eliminate Sugar Cravings In One Week | Natural Thyroid Treatment/Graves Disease/Hashimotos Thyroiditis hose who ...
The “Magic Herb” That Can Eliminate Sugar Cravings In One Week | Natural Thyroid Treatment/Graves Disease/Hashimotos Thyroiditis
The “Magic Herb” That Can Eliminate Sugar Cravings In One Week | Natural Thyroid Treatment/Graves
Disease/Hashimotos Thyroiditis
hose who have been reading this blog for awhile know that I’m not one to suggest that taking nutritional supplements and/or herbs alone is enough to restore one’s health back to normal. And I’m also critical with regards to companies or individuals promoting a single supplement or herb as the solution for a specific condition. One example I have given in the past is the thyroid support supplements and boosters sold on the market, and how just taking a single supplement or herb won’t cure one’s condition, and in many cases won’t even do a good job of managing the symptoms.
However, there are certain nutritional supplements and herbs which can have a profound difference when it comes to certain symptoms, which in turn can help with someone’s recovery from their thyroid disorder. In this post I’m going to discuss an herb that really does a wonderful job of eliminating a person’s sugar cravings, at least in most cases. This is an extremely important herb, as there are many people with thyroid conditions who have severe sugar cravings. And eating foods high in sugar on a frequent basis can lead to problems with the adrenal glands.
I’ve spoken about this numerous times in the past, as many people with thyroid conditions have compromised adrenal glands. And in many of these cases, the compromised adrenal glands are responsible for the thyroid condition. When this is the case, if the adrenal gland problem isn’t addressed, then there is just about no chance of restoring the person’s thyroid health back to normal. And if a person has severe sugar cravings which has led to the adrenal issues, then these cravings obviously need to be eliminated in order to fix the problem with the adrenal glands.
This is where the herb Gymnema comes into play. This is an herb that does a wonderful job of balancing the blood sugar levels. And it also is very effective in eliminating one’s sugar cravings in a short period of time. Typically people will have their sugar cravings under control within one week of taking this herb in the appropriate dosage, although for some people it does take longer.
Although this herb is very effective in most people, the quality of the herb is extremely important. I personally use the MediHerb line from Standard Process, as they have a 4 gram tablet that has worked very well for my patients. There of course are other companies which offer quality herbs, but the reason I bring up Standard Process so frequently is because they are one of the companies I have used for many years, and both myself and my patients have received excellent results while taking their nutritional supplements and herbs.
As for how many Gymnema tablets you should take each day, this is something you should discuss with a holistic doctor. To no surprise, patients who have severe sweet and carb cravings will need to take a higher dosage of this herb when compared to those people who have mild to moderate cravings.
There is also a liquid form of Gymnema, and it also is very effective. In fact, in the past I attended one of the Standard Process nutritional seminars, and the presenter told the doctors attending to swish a small amount of liquid Gymnema in our mouth for a few seconds, and then immediately gave us a grape to eat. After doing this the grape no longer tasted sweet, as it tasted bitter after consuming the liquid form of Gymnema. The tablets don’t work this way, as they don’t instantly anesthetize the taste buds, which is probably a good thing. But they still are very effective.
Can someone just avoid taking Gymnema and go “cold turkey” when it comes to consuming refined foods and sugars? Sure they can, as I don’t recommend this herb to all of my patients who have sweet and carbohydrate cravings. However, some people are unable to resist eating refined carbs and sugars and need the extra support. When I followed a natural treatment protocol I personally didn’t take Gymnema, even though I considered myself to have a sweet tooth. But I didn’t consider my sugar cravings to be too severe, and so I was able to avoid eating refined foods and sugars on my own. And eventually the changes I made in my diet, as well as other lifestyle factors, helped to balance my blood sugar levels and eliminated my sweet and carb cravings.
Disease/Hashimotos Thyroiditis
hose who have been reading this blog for awhile know that I’m not one to suggest that taking nutritional supplements and/or herbs alone is enough to restore one’s health back to normal. And I’m also critical with regards to companies or individuals promoting a single supplement or herb as the solution for a specific condition. One example I have given in the past is the thyroid support supplements and boosters sold on the market, and how just taking a single supplement or herb won’t cure one’s condition, and in many cases won’t even do a good job of managing the symptoms.
However, there are certain nutritional supplements and herbs which can have a profound difference when it comes to certain symptoms, which in turn can help with someone’s recovery from their thyroid disorder. In this post I’m going to discuss an herb that really does a wonderful job of eliminating a person’s sugar cravings, at least in most cases. This is an extremely important herb, as there are many people with thyroid conditions who have severe sugar cravings. And eating foods high in sugar on a frequent basis can lead to problems with the adrenal glands.
I’ve spoken about this numerous times in the past, as many people with thyroid conditions have compromised adrenal glands. And in many of these cases, the compromised adrenal glands are responsible for the thyroid condition. When this is the case, if the adrenal gland problem isn’t addressed, then there is just about no chance of restoring the person’s thyroid health back to normal. And if a person has severe sugar cravings which has led to the adrenal issues, then these cravings obviously need to be eliminated in order to fix the problem with the adrenal glands.
This is where the herb Gymnema comes into play. This is an herb that does a wonderful job of balancing the blood sugar levels. And it also is very effective in eliminating one’s sugar cravings in a short period of time. Typically people will have their sugar cravings under control within one week of taking this herb in the appropriate dosage, although for some people it does take longer.
Although this herb is very effective in most people, the quality of the herb is extremely important. I personally use the MediHerb line from Standard Process, as they have a 4 gram tablet that has worked very well for my patients. There of course are other companies which offer quality herbs, but the reason I bring up Standard Process so frequently is because they are one of the companies I have used for many years, and both myself and my patients have received excellent results while taking their nutritional supplements and herbs.
As for how many Gymnema tablets you should take each day, this is something you should discuss with a holistic doctor. To no surprise, patients who have severe sweet and carb cravings will need to take a higher dosage of this herb when compared to those people who have mild to moderate cravings.
There is also a liquid form of Gymnema, and it also is very effective. In fact, in the past I attended one of the Standard Process nutritional seminars, and the presenter told the doctors attending to swish a small amount of liquid Gymnema in our mouth for a few seconds, and then immediately gave us a grape to eat. After doing this the grape no longer tasted sweet, as it tasted bitter after consuming the liquid form of Gymnema. The tablets don’t work this way, as they don’t instantly anesthetize the taste buds, which is probably a good thing. But they still are very effective.
Can someone just avoid taking Gymnema and go “cold turkey” when it comes to consuming refined foods and sugars? Sure they can, as I don’t recommend this herb to all of my patients who have sweet and carbohydrate cravings. However, some people are unable to resist eating refined carbs and sugars and need the extra support. When I followed a natural treatment protocol I personally didn’t take Gymnema, even though I considered myself to have a sweet tooth. But I didn’t consider my sugar cravings to be too severe, and so I was able to avoid eating refined foods and sugars on my own. And eventually the changes I made in my diet, as well as other lifestyle factors, helped to balance my blood sugar levels and eliminated my sweet and carb cravings.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Friday, August 3, 2012
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Currency Wars: CIA Advisor James Rickards Warns Am...
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chunkee-munkee: ♨ Food ⊕ World ☼ Order ♕: Digestible Microchips Em...
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The Corbett Report | Syrian Updates and Food World Order (Video)
The Corbett Report | Syrian Updates and Food World Order (Video): 3
Aug
2012
Syrian Updates and Food World Order (Video)
Posted by Corbett
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Kofi Annan steps down as the UN’s Syria ‘Peace’ Envoy as more rebel atrocities come to light and details of Obama’s secret authorization of CIA support emerge. Join us tonight on the program as James breaks down all the latest on the Syrian crisis. In the second half of the program we shift gears to cover all the latest in the Food World Order from James Evan Pilato.
Aug
2012
Syrian Updates and Food World Order (Video)
Posted by Corbett
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Kofi Annan steps down as the UN’s Syria ‘Peace’ Envoy as more rebel atrocities come to light and details of Obama’s secret authorization of CIA support emerge. Join us tonight on the program as James breaks down all the latest on the Syrian crisis. In the second half of the program we shift gears to cover all the latest in the Food World Order from James Evan Pilato.
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Presidential Appointees No Longer Need to be Confi...
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Presidential Appointees No Longer Need to be Confi...: Presidential Appointees No Longer Need to be Confirmed by Senate | Peace . Gold . Liberty | Revolution Presidential Appointees No Longer Ne...
Aussie Tycoon Wants to Clone Dinosaurs for His Real Life, Resort-Based Jurassic Park | Popular Science
Aussie Tycoon Wants to Clone Dinosaurs for His Real Life, Resort-Based Jurassic Park | Popular Science
In other billionaire news today, a controversial and ostentatious Australian is supposedly planning a real-life Jurassic Park, complete with cloned dinosaurs. Clive Palmer, who also wants to build a modern-day Titanic replica, has held talks with the scientists who cloned Dolly the sheep, reports Australia’s Sunshine Coast Daily.
Palmer, a mining magnate, owns a luxury resort on the Sunshine Coast, in southern Queensland on Australia’s Pacific side. He would put the dinosaurs in his new resort there, the Daily reports. There are no named sources in the article about this effort, however, with the newspaper citing someone “close to Palmer’s inner circle.”
Aussie Tycoon Wants to Clone Dinosaurs for His Real Life, Resort-Based Jurassic Park
Posted 08.01.2012 at 2:15 pm 17 Comments
Jurassic Park ... the ride. Wikipedia
Palmer, a mining magnate, owns a luxury resort on the Sunshine Coast, in southern Queensland on Australia’s Pacific side. He would put the dinosaurs in his new resort there, the Daily reports. There are no named sources in the article about this effort, however, with the newspaper citing someone “close to Palmer’s inner circle.”
Obama: "I Don't Believe People Should Be Able To Own Guns" - :
Obama: "I Don't Believe People Should Be Able To Own Guns" - :
(Joe Newby) On Friday, gun rights advocate John Lott told radio talk show host Laura Ingraham that Barack Obama once told him that people should not be able to own guns.
According to Lott, Obama made the statement the first time the two met.
Obama: “I Don’t Believe People Should Be Able To Own Guns”
According to Lott, Obama made the statement the first time the two met.
chunkee-munkee: Terra Forming Terra: Cancer Drug Flushes AIDS Viru...
chunkee-munkee: Terra Forming Terra: Cancer Drug Flushes AIDS Viru...: Terra Forming Terra: Cancer Drug Flushes AIDS Virus Cancer Drug Flushes AIDS Virus Early days of course, but a known drug has proven it c...
RBS ‘nationalisation’: a perfect weapon of mass distraction | A diary of deception and distortion
RBS ‘nationalisation’: a perfect weapon of mass distraction | A diary of deception and distortion
There have been some severely misleading statements in the media about Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) over the last few days – on both sides of the Pond. Some of this is down to the usual hack idleness and gullibility; but rather more of it was a campaign of carefully assembled spin and distraction. Most of these have emanated from George Osborne.
The ‘Cabinet discussion about Nationalisation’ chatter
This was simply far too convenient to be a coincidence. With a decidedly dodgey set of results due in three days time, the N word was leaked. But note also in the leaks: “George Osborne is thought to be against the idea”. The Chancellor was the source of the leak: it was his less than subtle way of suggesting he’s The One True Tory left…and capable of getting tough with banks when needs be.
Partly too, this is a struggle for supremacy between LibDem Business SecretaryVince Cable, and Tory Chancellor George Osborne. By setting these imaginary hares running, Osborne has quite specifically distanced himself from a daft idea like nationalising the rest of the bank: but knowing that people are acquainted with Cable’s desire to do just that, most observers assume it’s Vince’s idea.
There have been some severely misleading statements in the media about Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) over the last few days – on both sides of the Pond. Some of this is down to the usual hack idleness and gullibility; but rather more of it was a campaign of carefully assembled spin and distraction. Most of these have emanated from George Osborne.
The ‘Cabinet discussion about Nationalisation’ chatter
This was simply far too convenient to be a coincidence. With a decidedly dodgey set of results due in three days time, the N word was leaked. But note also in the leaks: “George Osborne is thought to be against the idea”. The Chancellor was the source of the leak: it was his less than subtle way of suggesting he’s The One True Tory left…and capable of getting tough with banks when needs be.
Partly too, this is a struggle for supremacy between LibDem Business SecretaryVince Cable, and Tory Chancellor George Osborne. By setting these imaginary hares running, Osborne has quite specifically distanced himself from a daft idea like nationalising the rest of the bank: but knowing that people are acquainted with Cable’s desire to do just that, most observers assume it’s Vince’s idea.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: Why in the World Are They Spraying?
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FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: LOCUSTA FINANCIALIS - Max Keiser
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Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
chunkee-munkee: Degenerative Disc Disease Remedies Questions
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Sunday, July 29, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
FORTIFIED FORTRESSES: End the Fed! Whether Congress Wants Us To or Not! ...
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Syria: Washington’s Latest War Crime by Paul Craig Roberts
Syria: Washington’s Latest War Crime by Paul Craig Roberts
One wonders what Syrians are thinking as “rebels” vowing to “free Syria” take the country down the same road to destruction as “rebels” in Libya. Libya, under Gaddafi a well run country whose oil revenues were shared with the Libyan people instead of monopolized by a princely class as in Saudi Arabia, now has no government and is in disarray with contending factions vying for power.
Just as no one knew who the Libyan “rebels” were, with elements of al Qaeda reportedly among them, no one knows who the Syrian “rebels” are, or indeed if they are even rebels (Antiwar.com). Some “rebels” appear to be bandit groups who seize the opportunity to loot and to rape and set themselves up as the governments of villages and towns. Others appear to be al Qaeda. (Antiwar.com)
The fact that the “rebels” are armed is an indication of interference from outside. There have been reports that Washington has ordered its Saudi and Bahrain puppet governments to supply the “rebels” with military weaponry. Some suspect that the explosion that killed the Syrian Defense Minister and the head of the government’s crisis operations was not the work of a suicide bomber but the work of a US drone or missile reminiscent of Washington’s failed attempts to murder Saddam Hussein. Regardless, Washington regarded the terror attack as a success, declaring that it showed the rebels were gaining “real momentum” and called on the Syrian government to respond to the attack by resigning. (reuters.com)
The following is from a leaked intelligence document describing a previous Western terrorist intervention in Syria just in case any reader is so naive as to think that “our government would never do that.”
One wonders what Syrians are thinking as “rebels” vowing to “free Syria” take the country down the same road to destruction as “rebels” in Libya. Libya, under Gaddafi a well run country whose oil revenues were shared with the Libyan people instead of monopolized by a princely class as in Saudi Arabia, now has no government and is in disarray with contending factions vying for power.
Just as no one knew who the Libyan “rebels” were, with elements of al Qaeda reportedly among them, no one knows who the Syrian “rebels” are, or indeed if they are even rebels (Antiwar.com). Some “rebels” appear to be bandit groups who seize the opportunity to loot and to rape and set themselves up as the governments of villages and towns. Others appear to be al Qaeda. (Antiwar.com)
The fact that the “rebels” are armed is an indication of interference from outside. There have been reports that Washington has ordered its Saudi and Bahrain puppet governments to supply the “rebels” with military weaponry. Some suspect that the explosion that killed the Syrian Defense Minister and the head of the government’s crisis operations was not the work of a suicide bomber but the work of a US drone or missile reminiscent of Washington’s failed attempts to murder Saddam Hussein. Regardless, Washington regarded the terror attack as a success, declaring that it showed the rebels were gaining “real momentum” and called on the Syrian government to respond to the attack by resigning. (reuters.com)
The following is from a leaked intelligence document describing a previous Western terrorist intervention in Syria just in case any reader is so naive as to think that “our government would never do that.”
“In order to facilitate the action of liberative (sic) forces, …a special effort should be made to eliminate certain key individuals. …[to] be accomplished early in the course of the uprising and intervention, …
Once a political decision has been reached to proceed with internal disturbances in Syria, CIA is prepared, and SIS (MI6) will attempt to mount minor sabotage and coup de main (sic) incidents within Syria, working through contacts with individuals. …Incidents should not be concentrated in Damascus …
Further: a “necessary degree of fear .. frontier incidents and (staged) border clashes”, would “provide a pretext for intervention… the CIA and SIS [MI6] should use … capabilities in both psychological and action fields to augment tension.” (Joint US-UK leaked Intelligence Document, London and Washington, 1957) (globalreasearch.ca)
The Corbett Report | While You Were Sleeping… (Video)
The Corbett Report | While You Were Sleeping… (Video): 27
Jul
2012
While You Were Sleeping… (Video)
Posted by Corbett
PlayPlay
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
While the public was distracted in the 24/7 mass media mind control of the Batman shooting incident, the world edged closer to World War III and the brink of financial armageddon. Tonight James updates you on the headlines you missed while the media had you focused on Aurora (and before it focuses you on London). In the second half of the program we’re joined by James Evan Pilato for our weekly FoodWorldOrder.com update.
CLICK HERE for the audio of this radio broadcast.
Jul
2012
While You Were Sleeping… (Video)
Posted by Corbett
PlayPlay
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
While the public was distracted in the 24/7 mass media mind control of the Batman shooting incident, the world edged closer to World War III and the brink of financial armageddon. Tonight James updates you on the headlines you missed while the media had you focused on Aurora (and before it focuses you on London). In the second half of the program we’re joined by James Evan Pilato for our weekly FoodWorldOrder.com update.
CLICK HERE for the audio of this radio broadcast.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Prison Planet.com » US government ran chemical experiments on military veterans under operations MKUltra, Bluebird and Artichoke
Prison Planet.com » US government ran chemical experiments on military veterans under operations MKUltra, Bluebird and Artichoke
The United States, for its warts, has achieved much in its short 230-plus year history. It is a benevolent world superpower, for the most part, that serves as a beacon of hope and freedom for an increasingly oppressed world, even as it serves as a guardian against tyranny for as many as half of the world’s nearly seven billion people.
But a few chapters in our history – slavery, oppression of the Native American tribes, causes of the civil rights movement, and moments of unconstitutionality on the part of our elected leaders – serve as more than simple blemishes on an otherwise admirable record of defending liberty and freedom. One such stain is the way we’ve treated some of our nation’s military veterans.
The maltreatment is summed up in a recent federal case. In late July, a group of veterans managed to win a court order forcing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to hand over a trove of documents detailing the department’s alleged Cold War-era drug experiments on Vietnam vets. What’s problematic about this case isn’t the decision – the VA owes these veterans any answers they are seeking – but the fact that the case had to be filed at all.
‘Project Paperclip’
According to court documents, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, in Oakland, Calif., said in her ruling that the documents requested by the veteran-plaintiffs were “squarely relevant” to their claim that the government, through the VA, did not adequately notify veterans of chemicals they were purposely exposed to during experimentation, and – perhaps more importantly – what effects that exposure might have had on their physical and mental health.
The United States, for its warts, has achieved much in its short 230-plus year history. It is a benevolent world superpower, for the most part, that serves as a beacon of hope and freedom for an increasingly oppressed world, even as it serves as a guardian against tyranny for as many as half of the world’s nearly seven billion people.
But a few chapters in our history – slavery, oppression of the Native American tribes, causes of the civil rights movement, and moments of unconstitutionality on the part of our elected leaders – serve as more than simple blemishes on an otherwise admirable record of defending liberty and freedom. One such stain is the way we’ve treated some of our nation’s military veterans.
The maltreatment is summed up in a recent federal case. In late July, a group of veterans managed to win a court order forcing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to hand over a trove of documents detailing the department’s alleged Cold War-era drug experiments on Vietnam vets. What’s problematic about this case isn’t the decision – the VA owes these veterans any answers they are seeking – but the fact that the case had to be filed at all.
‘Project Paperclip’
According to court documents, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, in Oakland, Calif., said in her ruling that the documents requested by the veteran-plaintiffs were “squarely relevant” to their claim that the government, through the VA, did not adequately notify veterans of chemicals they were purposely exposed to during experimentation, and – perhaps more importantly – what effects that exposure might have had on their physical and mental health.
Retirement: Surely You Jest by Gary North
Retirement: Surely You Jest by Gary North
A 90% cogent article in The New York Times discusses the utter absence of any contact with reality in most Americans' retirement plans. The numbers do not come close to adding up. The article is here.
Here are the basics. This will help you think through your situation.
Let me begin with the obvious: I am 70 years old. You are reading an article written by a man who is eight years beyond early retirement, as determined by the Social Security Administration.
At age 62, an American who has paid into Social Security can decide to begin receiving checks from Social Security. The monthly check will be below what it would be if he waits until normal retirement age, which can be up to 67 years old. By retiring at 62, the retiree's monthly benefit is reduced by anywhere from 25% to 30%.
In addition to Gary North's Reality Check, a twice-weekly eletter, I have two profit-seeking websites:
www.GaryNorth.com
www.TeaPartyEconomist.com My work day is probably longer than yours. I begin around 3 a.m., and I end at 8 p.m. I take a 20-minute nap in the afternoon.
Not all of this time is devoted to earning a living. Over half is. The other time is devoted to my calling: writing a detailed book on Christian economics. I will begin that project in one week. This week, I finish the project that I began in March of 1973: writing my economic commentary on the Bible. Volume 31 will complete it. It is scheduled to be posted next Saturday morning on my GaryNorth.com site.
As I have grown older, I have needed less sleep. I have used this extra time to increase work on my lifetime project, which I decided to pursue in 1960: developing an explicitly biblical Christian economics.
I decided at age 17 that I would not retire until I could no longer mentally do the work. So, retirement has not been a goal. I planned to avoid it.
How much money do you need to retire? The New York Times article is a good place to begin. It was written by a professor of economics who specializes in the economics of retirement.
STATISTICAL REALITY
She begins with a grim set of statistics.
Why have they been so foolish? I offer these reasons. They are not based on a scientific survey.
A 90% cogent article in The New York Times discusses the utter absence of any contact with reality in most Americans' retirement plans. The numbers do not come close to adding up. The article is here.
Here are the basics. This will help you think through your situation.
Let me begin with the obvious: I am 70 years old. You are reading an article written by a man who is eight years beyond early retirement, as determined by the Social Security Administration.
At age 62, an American who has paid into Social Security can decide to begin receiving checks from Social Security. The monthly check will be below what it would be if he waits until normal retirement age, which can be up to 67 years old. By retiring at 62, the retiree's monthly benefit is reduced by anywhere from 25% to 30%.
In addition to Gary North's Reality Check, a twice-weekly eletter, I have two profit-seeking websites:
www.TeaPartyEconomist.com
Not all of this time is devoted to earning a living. Over half is. The other time is devoted to my calling: writing a detailed book on Christian economics. I will begin that project in one week. This week, I finish the project that I began in March of 1973: writing my economic commentary on the Bible. Volume 31 will complete it. It is scheduled to be posted next Saturday morning on my GaryNorth.com site.
As I have grown older, I have needed less sleep. I have used this extra time to increase work on my lifetime project, which I decided to pursue in 1960: developing an explicitly biblical Christian economics.
I decided at age 17 that I would not retire until I could no longer mentally do the work. So, retirement has not been a goal. I planned to avoid it.
How much money do you need to retire? The New York Times article is a good place to begin. It was written by a professor of economics who specializes in the economics of retirement.
STATISTICAL REALITY
She begins with a grim set of statistics.
Seventy-five percent of Americans nearing retirement age in 2010 had less than $30,000 in their retirement accounts. The specter of downward mobility in retirement is a looming reality for both middle- and higher-income workers. Almost half of middle-class workers, 49 percent, will be poor or near poor in retirement, living on a food budget of about $5 a day.This means that a majority of Americans have not taken seriously the economics of retirement. They have not saved. They have been faithful Keynesians. They have spent. They have borrowed to finance this spending. They have been grasshoppers, not ants.
Why have they been so foolish? I offer these reasons. They are not based on a scientific survey.
All people are present-oriented. They discount the future: benefits and costs.The author of the article sets forth this sensible assessment of what it will cost upper middle class people to retire.
Americans are optimists. They believe that the costs of the future will work out automatically.
Americans are youth-oriented. They ignore old age.
Americans believe that the federal government can solve all economic problems if voters tell it to.
Americans believe that someone else owes them a comfortable retirement.
Americans do not like to look at numbers, especially economic numbers.
Americans prefer not to believe the recommendation of the Social Security Administration: the program will cover 40% of pre-retirement income. We need 70%.
Americans do not believe the federal government will go bankrupt if it does not cut Medicare costs.
To maintain living standards into old age we need roughly 20 times our annual income in financial wealth. If you earn $100,000 at retirement, you need about $2 million beyond what you will receive from Social Security. If you have an income-producing partner and a paid-off house, you need less.Got that? You need 20 times your annual income to survive in comfort. This assumes that you will leave no inheritance to your children. You and your spouse will consume all of your capital.
This number is startling in light of the stone-cold fact that most people aged 50 to 64 have nothing or next to nothing in retirement accounts and thus will rely solely on Social Security.People have not sat down with their spouses and calculated exactly what they will need to live on, beginning the day after they both retire. Why not? Because they have a pretty good idea that what they will find will smash their dreams.
If we manage to accept that our investments will likely not be enough, we usually enter another fantasy world – that of working longer. After all, people hear that 70 is the new 50, and a recent report from Boston College says that if people work until age 70, they will most likely have enough to retire on.
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