Dubai Gold Demand Off the Charts

Dubai Gold Demand Off the Charts as Price Plunges (Liberty Blitzkrieg, June 27, 2013):

Only in the gold market does huge demand equal a price collapse!  I suppose the problem is they don’t buy Comex contracts in Dubai and India.  As I mentioned on Twitter earlier today, the pile-on from gold bears is reaching extreme proportions, something like you’d expect near a bottom.  I bought physical silver today for the first time in over a year.

From the UAE’s The National:

There is not enough space on airlines flying in to Dubai to meet the rapidly rising demand for physical gold in the emirate since the price plunged to record lows this week.

The price drop led to a rush of buyers for Dubai gold from the Middle East, South East Asia, the Balkans, Turkey and parts of Europe according to Tarek El Mdaka, the managing director of Kaloti Gold in Dubai.

“I cannot find a place for transporting gold on Emirates, on BA on Swiss Airlines this weekend,” Mr El Mdaka said. “I am shipping in one-and-a-half to two tonnes of gold every day and it is going straight out.”

Read moreDubai Gold Demand Off the Charts

Multiple Government Agencies Are Keeping Records Of Your Credit Card Transactions

Multiple Government Agencies Are Keeping Records Of Your Credit Card Transactions (Economic Collapse, June 28, 2013):

Were you under the impression that your credit card transactions are private?  If so, I am sorry to burst your bubble.  As you will see below, there are actually multiple government agencies that are gathering and storing records of your credit card transactions.  And in turn, those government agencies share that information with other government agencies that want it.  So if you are making a purchase that you don’t want anyone to know about, don’t use a credit card.  This is one of the reasons why the government hates cash so much.  It is just so hard to track.  In this day and age, the federal government seems to be absolutely obsessed with gathering as much information about all of us as it possibly can.  But there is one big problem.  What they are doing directly violates the U.S. Constitution.  For those that are not familiar with it, the following is what the Fourth Amendment actually says: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”  Unfortunately, the Fourth Amendment is essentially dead at this point.  The federal government is investigating all of us and gathering information on all of us all day, every day without end.

Many Americans have never even heard of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but Judicial Watch has discovered that they are spending millions of dollars to collect and analyze our financial transactions…

Read moreMultiple Government Agencies Are Keeping Records Of Your Credit Card Transactions

Jeb Bush To Present The “Liberty Medal” To Hillary Clinton

Jeb Bush to Present the “Liberty Medal” to Hillary Clinton (Liberty Blitzkrieg, June 27, 2013):

Yes folks this is really happening.  Don’t you just love how these crony crooks give awards to each other while the vast majority of the population can’t stand the sight of them?  So not only is Jeb Bush set to present the 2013 “Liberty Metal” to Hilary Clinton, but apparently Jeb Bush is also Chairman of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia!  In an article that gives anything The Onion has ever published a run for their money, we find out that:

via PHILLY.COM:

Hillary Rodham Clinton will receive the 2013 Liberty Medal at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Jeb Bush, the chairman of the Constitution Center, will present the award to Clinton at a ceremony scheduled for Sept. 10.

Both Clinton and Bush are potential contenders in the 2016 presidential elections, for opposing parties. But in a statement, the GOP’s Bush only accentuated the positive.

Read moreJeb Bush To Present The “Liberty Medal” To Hillary Clinton

Department of Defense Blocks Millions of Computers From Viewing Alternative News

DoD Blocks Millions of Computers From Viewing Alternative News (Activist Post, June 29, 2013):

After the initial surge of web traffic to alternative news websites following The Guardian breaking the NSA spying story, traffic has slowed considerably despite the continued interest in the NSA story as well as other alternative headlines.

This dramatic drop in traffic may be due to broad censorship by the Department of Defense on “millions of computers”.

What began as a rumor that the military brass was ordering soldiers not to view news about the whistleblower revelations that the NSA is spying on all Americans has swelled into a confirmed military-wide censorship campaign using a high-tech computer filtering system.

The US News and World Report is reporting that the DoD is blocking access to all articles related to the NSA scandal from all DoD computers. The filter reportedly effects millions of computers and potentially thousands of alternative news and civil liberties websites.

According to U.S. News:

Read moreDepartment of Defense Blocks Millions of Computers From Viewing Alternative News

Record-Setting Southwest Heat Wave Turns Fatal

Record-setting Southwest heat wave turns fatal (CNN, June 30, 2013):

A series of cities are in the grip of soaring temperatures this weekend. From Phoenix, to Las Vegas, to Death Valley in California, which set a world-record high a century ago.Death Valley was the hottest spot Saturday, reaching 127 degrees, and Arizona and Nevada continued in a record-setting heat wave that is forecast to last through Tuesday.

Read moreRecord-Setting Southwest Heat Wave Turns Fatal

Texas Teen Faces 8 Years In Jail For Very Insensitive Joke On Facebook

Texas Teen Faces 8 Years in Jail for an Insensitive Joke on Facebook (Liberty Blitzkrieg, June 27, 2013):

A very disturbing pattern is becoming evident all across the nation.  For a country that has 5% of the world’s population yet 25% of the entire planet’s prisoners, we sure do seem to eager to bump that figure up even higher. My guess is the trend has a lot to do with the private prison system in the country, which means higher levels of incarceration equals higher profits.  I think it also has to do with a troubling move toward criminalizing speech and an attack on the First Amendment generally. This particular case occurred in Austin, Texas and nineteen year old Justin Carter now faces eight years in jail for an insensitive joke on Facebook. Thanks to the site Texas Prison Bid’ness, we can gain some perspective on the private prison industry in the Lone Star State:

Now, here’s the story from KHOU in Houston:

Justin Carter was 18 back in February when an online video game “League of Legends” took an ugly turn on Facebook.

Jack Carter says his son Justin and a friend got into an argument with someone on Facebook about the game and the teenager wrote a comment he now regrets.

“Someone had said something to the effect of ‘Oh you’re insane, you’re crazy, you’re messed up in the head,’ to which he replied ‘Oh yeah, I’m real messed up in the head, I’m going to go shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still, beating hearts,’ and the next two lines were lol and jk.,” said Carter.

“LOL” stands for “laughing out loud,” and “jk” means “just kidding,” but police didn’t think it was funny. Neither did a woman from Canada who saw the posting.

Justin’s dad says the woman did a Google search and found his son’s old address was near an elementary school and she called police.

Justin Carter was arrested the next month and has been jailed since March 27. He’s charged with making a terroristic threat and is facing eight years in prison, according to his dad.

Read moreTexas Teen Faces 8 Years In Jail For Very Insensitive Joke On Facebook

Bill Hicks – Outlaw Comic And Patriot (Videos)


… or just another elite puppet?


Bill Hicks – Outlaw Comic and Patriot (Veterans Today, June 29, 2013):

Comedian Bill Hicks, who died in 1994 at 32 years old, was a brilliant American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His unique comedy style and material largely consisted of general discussions about society, religion, politics, philosophy, patriotism and personal issues. He was never boring and is still more than relevant today:

I get a kick out of being an outsider constantly. It allows me to be creative. I don’t like anything in the mainstream and they don’t like me: Bill Hicks

Bill Hicks.. Do you remember him?

He was a truth teller but he did it with biting humor and satire.

It’s hard to forget him ~ particularly on Independence Day for he was in many ways, a true patriot.

Many consider him the best American humorist since Mark Twain.

He died too young of pancreatic cancer in 1994 but his work lives on.

Video: Three minutes

Were we smarter 20 years ago?

Hicks sure was. He had a way of throwing hard reality at you and making you laugh at the same time ~ similar to Mark Twain.

I really miss Bill Hicks. If you don’t know who he was, these videos will let you know. If you knew him, I know you’re clicking on these right now.

You’ll be shocked at how clearly Bill Hicks saw the whole political game and how it was played ~ and that was over 20 years ago. With a few minor updates for today, he’d still be ahead of the cutting edge.

For example, Bill talks here about War, Freedom and what really makes him tick.

Video: ten minutes

Bill also thought that most of our heroes were dead ~ and that included JFK.

” I love talking about the Kennedy assassination. The reason I do is because I’m fascinated by it. I’m fascinated that our government could lie to us so blatantly, so obviously for so long, and we do absolutely nothing about it. I think that’s interesting in what is ostensibly a democracy. Sarcasm – come on in. People say “Bill, quit talking about Kennedy man. It was a long time ago, just let it go, alright? It’s a long time ago, just forget it.” I’m like, alright, then don’t bring up Jesus to me. As long as we’re talking shelf life here.” Bill Hicks

So here’s Bill talking about a favorite subject ~ the JFK assassination

Video: six minutes

And here’s what many consider the shortest and greatest political satire ever presented, regarding incoming presidents ~ Video: One minute

I left in love, in laughter, and in truth, and wherever truth, love and laughter abide, I am there in spirit : Bill Hicks

Earthquake Could Cause Los Alamos Plutonium Facility To Collapse

Earthquake Could Cause Los Alamos Plutonium Facility to Collapse (Nextgov, June 27, 2013):

An earthquake could collapse the building at Los Alamos National Laboratory, N.M., where plutonium cores of nuclear bombs are produced, releasing deadly doses of radiation, the Department of Energy’s inspector general reported on Thursday

The IG also said systems designed to suppress fires in structures that store 5,600 containers of nuclear waste suffered from numerous pipe breaks and freeze damage. Forest fires in 2000 and 2011 resulted in evacuation of the lab and the city of Los Alamos.

The National Nuclear Security Administration, which manages the lab, dismissed earthquake concerns. “There is a rare probability of a seismic event occurring in Los Alamos of sufficient magnitude to cause a significant plutonium release from PF-4,” NNSA said, referring to the plutonium facility.

Greg Mello, director of the Albuquerque-based watchdog Los Alamos Study Group, said NNSA downplayed earthquake risks.

Read moreEarthquake Could Cause Los Alamos Plutonium Facility To Collapse

Paedophile Priest ‘Exposes Satanic Vatican Rent-Boy Sex Ring’

Paedophile Priest ‘Exposes Satanic Vatican Rent-Boy Sex Ring’ (Huffington Post, June 28, 2013):

A convicted paedophile priest has claimed a gay prostitution ring has been operating within the Holy Roman Church, with clergymen hiring underage rent-boys for sex.

Don Patrizio Poggi, who served a five-year prison sentence for abusing teenage boys at his Rome parish, also told Italian authorities a former Carabinieri police officer recruited boys for nine clergymen, IBTimes reports.

Poggi told the police: “I decided to file this complaint and cooperate with the law after long reflection and after a painful history of abuse and misuse of power that I have overcome thanks to the faith that guides me.”

The 46-year-old, who has complained that the Vatican refused to reinstate him after he completed his prison sentence, added: “I feel obliged to protect the Holy Church and the Christian community since I am aware of grave facts that undermine their integrity and break canon and penal law.”

Poggi has reportedly handed the names of 20 alleged child abusers in the Roman clergy – including four serving priests and a Monsignor – to the authorities.

Read morePaedophile Priest ‘Exposes Satanic Vatican Rent-Boy Sex Ring’

EU Parliament “Shocked” At NSA “Bugging” Diplomatic Offices; Threatens Trade Talks

EU Parliament “Shocked” At NSA “Bugging” Diplomatic Offices; Threatens Trade Talks (ZeroHedge, June 30, 2013):

The president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, said he was “deeply worried and shocked about the allegations of U.S. authorities spying on EU offices” made in a report published Sunday by Der Spiegel. The latest round of NSA ‘transparency’ suggests U.S. intelligence agents bugged EU offices on both sides of the Atlantic, leaving some EU lawmakers calling for concrete sanctions against Washington – calling for an immediate investigation into the claims and suggesting that recently launched negotiations on a trans-Atlantic trade treaty should be put on hold. “If the media reports are accurate, then this recalls the methods used by enemies during the Cold War,” notes one German minister, adding that, “it is beyond comprehension that our friends in the United States see Europeans as enemies.” Schulz concludes, “It would be an extremely serious matter which will have a severe impact on EU-US relations.”

Via The NY Post,

Senior European officials expressed concern Sunday at reports that U.S. intelligence agents bugged EU offices on both sides of the Atlantic, with some leftist lawmakers calling for concrete sanctions against Washington.

The president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, said he was “deeply worried and shocked about the allegations of U.S. authorities spying on EU offices” made in a report published Sunday by German news weekly Der Spiegel.

Read moreEU Parliament “Shocked” At NSA “Bugging” Diplomatic Offices; Threatens Trade Talks

Jim Rogers: “This Is Too Insane – And I’m Afraid We’re All Going To Suffer For The Rest Of This Decade From This Crazy, Crazy Money Printing”

Jim Rogers: “This Is Too Insane–And I’m Afraid We’re All Going To Suffer For The Rest Of This Decade” (Bull Market Thinking, June 26, 2013):

I was able to reconnect with Jim Rogers this morning out of Spain, legendary co-founder of the Quantum Fund with George Soros, author of Hot Commodities, and chairman of the private Beeland Holdings.

It was an especially powerful interview, as Jim spoke towards the relentless downward pressure on gold, the upward explosion in interest rates, central bank money printing, and how to protect yourself ahead of the disastrous times he sees coming.

When asked if we’re seeing forced liquidation leading the smash down in gold this morning, Jim said, “We certainly are. There are a lot of leveraged players who are now being forced to sell. Usually when you have this kind of forced liquidation, you’re getting closer to a bottom, maybe not the final bottom, but certainly close to a bottom. I even bought a little bit [today].”

With regard to the intense bearish news stories being published on gold, Jim suggested investors shouldn’t ”Pay [much] attention to other people. I pay attention to what’s going on…Obviously with gold collapsing I know about that—but I don’t listen to other people.”

Read moreJim Rogers: “This Is Too Insane – And I’m Afraid We’re All Going To Suffer For The Rest Of This Decade From This Crazy, Crazy Money Printing”

U.S. Senate Passes Sweeping Immigration Bill

Senate passes sweeping immigration bill (CNN, June 28, 2013):

Washington — The U.S. Senate gave final approval Thursday to a roughly 1,200-page bill that promises to overhaul immigration laws for the first time since 1986, creating a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented residents while ratcheting up security along the Mexican border.

Senators passed the sweeping legislation — initially drafted by the four Democrats and four Republicans in the chamber’s so-called “Gang of Eight” — by a 68-32 vote.

Fourteen Republicans joined a united Democratic caucus in supporting the bill, which is backed by the White House and has the potential to become the crowning legislative achievement of President Barack Obama’s second term.

In a White House statement, Obama hailed the Senate vote as “a critical step” toward fixing what he called a broken immigration system. He labeled the measure that now goes to the Republican-controlled House a compromise, adding that “we just need Congress to finish the job.”

Read moreU.S. Senate Passes Sweeping Immigration Bill

U.S. Student Loan Rates Set To Double On July 1

Related info:

Fed Shocked To Find Student Loans Used For Anything But To Learn

U.S. Student Loan Delinquency Rate Hits New Record High

The US Student Loan Bubble Broken Down By State, And Why Washington D.C. Sticks Out Like A Sore Thumb

Presenting The College Whose Graduates Have A 62% Student Loan Default Rate

Student Loan Bubble Forces Yale And Pennsylvania University To Sue Their Own Students



The interest rate on new Stafford loans is going to jump from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent Monday.

Student Loan Rates Set To Double On July 1 (NPR, June 28, 2013):

The interest rate on government-backed student loans is going to jump from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent Monday.

Republicans, Democrats and the Obama administration could not agree on a plan to keep it from happening. Lawmakers say a deal is still possible after the July 4 recess. But if they don’t agree on a plan soon, 7 million students expected to take out new Stafford loans could be stuck with a much bigger bill when they start paying the money back.

Read moreU.S. Student Loan Rates Set To Double On July 1

Fed: Foreign Central Banks’ Selling U.S. Government Debt


Humor: Government Bonds

Foreign central banks’ U.S. debt holdings fall: Fed (Reuters, June 27, 2013):

Foreign central banks’ overall holdings of U.S. marketable securities at the Federal Reserve fell in the latest week, data from the U.S. central bank showed on Thursday.

The Fed said its holdings of U.S. securities kept for overseas central banks fell $29 billion in the week ended June 26, to stand at $3.3 trillion.

Read moreFed: Foreign Central Banks’ Selling U.S. Government Debt

Presenting Inflation …

Presenting Inflation… (ZeroHedge, June 29, 2013):

In the last two years, according to Intuit, Americans are reaching deeper into their pockets to cover family-related expenses. Given the current concerns over dis-inflationary pressures, we thought the following infographic might highlight just where that hidden liquidity-/credit-fueled inflation is leaking out.


Chart: Mint.com / Intuit

EU: Investors To Pay For Bank Failures

h/t by reader M.G.:

“Just saw this story on Rt.com. The new plan is for investors to rescue the crumbling banks. Brilliant. What a way to get people to stop using banks! It is beyond stupid, it is outright stealing. Here is the link. I am too angry to say any more right now. Damn these thieving bastards!”



Eurogroup President and Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem talks to journalists during a joint news conference with Portuguese Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar in Lisbon May 27, 2013.(Reuters)

Investors to pay for bank failures – EU (RT, June 27, 2013):

European Union finance chiefs agreed Thursday investors and wealthy depositors will foot the bill for bank bailouts, in a break with the past convention of burdening taxpayers.

If pursued, bailout strategy, shareholders, bondholders and depositors with more than 100,000 euro will share the financial strain of saving a bank. Deposits under 100,000 will be protected.

Read moreEU: Investors To Pay For Bank Failures

How Many Calories Does A Dollar Buy? Here Are The Highest-Calorie Items From 10 Fast-Food Chains

How Many Calories Does A Dollar Buy? (ZeroHedge, June 29, 2013):

Whether you like it or not, America, the number of calories packed into fast-food eats are getting harder to ignore. McDonald’s, Subway and Panera Bread – and as of this week, Starbucks – have already begun voluntarily posting calorie counts on their menus, ahead of an anticipated federal mandate requiring all restaurants with more than 20 locations to do so. In the interest of openness and transparency, and as Marketwatch notes, assuming for a moment that you’re less worried about your waistline than about getting the most calories for the least amount of money, here are the highest-calorie menu items at 10 of the nation’s top fast-food restaurants offers the most bang for your buck.

Via MarketWatch,

#10 Panera Bread

* Steak and white cheddar on a French baguette, 980 calories

* $1 buys 112 calories

Panera has a lot of light, healthy-sounding items on its menus but the full steak and white cheddar on a French baguette isn’t among them, tallying 980 calories and 103 grams of carbs. That accounts for nearly half the USDA’s recommended daily intake of carbs. At $8.79, you’re getting a little more than one calorie per penny.

Read moreHow Many Calories Does A Dollar Buy? Here Are The Highest-Calorie Items From 10 Fast-Food Chains

Syria: The Art Of Standing On The Right Side Of History (Veterans Today)

Syria: The Art Of Standing On The Right Side of History (Veterans Today, June 27, 2013):

The ongoing Syrian crisis will be certainly viewed by future generations as a classic example of how a completely false reality, as presented by the dominant Western political class and corporate media, has inscrutably resulted in the moral and political reinforcement of the opposing party, which was desperately defending the principles of law and justice under unprecedented pressure from a transnational party of war.

Despite the undisguised skepticism voicedon the eve of the summit in Lough-Erne by some of the G8 leaders toward the Russian stance on the Syrian crisis, the talks turned to be a diplomatic victory of Putin. He stood firm in his position on Syria, while the Western leaders had to accept the obvious: there is no way to oust President Assad from his post by legal means.
The G8 summit in Lough-Erne failed to put political pressure on Bashar al-Assad for his alleged use of chemical weapons against the rebels, nor was it able to obtain Russia’s consent to additional UN Security Council actions in favor of the Syrian opposition.The tough Russian position on Syria is increasingly in step with the approaches of some sober-minded politicians in the West.
Zbignew Brzezinski, a well-known US political analyst and statesman of Polish descent, who can hardly be suspected of supporting Russian policies elsewhere, literally said in an interview with MSNBC right on the eve of the G8 summit:

The West is absolutely engaging in mass propaganda by portraying the Syrian conflict as a fight for democracy when many of the rebels want anything but. They pledge allegiance to Al-Qaeda, explicitly call for Sharia law, kill thousands of Christians, use terrorist tactics yet our corrupt media and political class pretend arming them will produce democracy.

It’s no wonder that Putin’s commitment to bringing all parties of the conflict to the negotiating table in Geneva without any preliminary conditions as well as his straightforward replies during a memorable press-conference with the British PM David Cameron, got a positive response from a wide spectrum of Western civil society.

Boris Johnson, a British Conservative and the incumbent major of London, specifically stated in an article for the Telegraph:

This is the moment for a total ceasefire, an end to the madness. It is time for the US, Russia, the EU, Turkey, Iran, Saudi and all the players to convene an intergovernmental conference to try to halt the carnage. We can’t use Syria as an arena for geopolitical point-scoring or muscle-flexing, and we won’t get a ceasefire by pressing weapons into the hands of maniacs.

His viewpoint is shared by a large number of British parliamentarians, both Conservatives and Labourites, who urge Cameron not to initiate any arm deliveries to the Syrian opposition without approval from parliament.

Gerald Warner from the Scotsman wrote last Sunday that Putin is increasingly admired in the West for his firm attitude in defense of the principles of international law in general and on the Syrian issue in particular:

The new-found admiration for Putin is rooted in an appreciation of the contrast he presents to the politically correct wimps running the European Union and the United States. Last week’s G8 photographs said it all. The posturing “statesmen” who had been ordered by PR advisers to take off their ties in a pathetic effort to appear “relevant” – a bunch of dads dancing at the school disco – invited the mockery and contempt they duly received. Putin went along with the charade; but when it came to the substance – the demand for his endorsement of the Obama/Cameron/Hollande ambition to arm al-Qaeda in Syria – the response was an uncompromising, Molotov-style “Nyet!”

Read moreSyria: The Art Of Standing On The Right Side Of History (Veterans Today)

26 U.S. Senators Accuse Government Of Using ‘Secret Law’ To Collect Americans’ Data

Senators accuse government of using ‘secret law’ to collect Americans’ data (Guardian, June 28, 2013):

A bipartisan group of 26 US senators has written to intelligence chiefs to complain that the administration is relying on a “secret body of law” to collect massive amounts of data on US citizens.

The senators accuse officials of making misleading statements and demand that the director of national intelligence James Clapper answer a series of specific questions on the scale of domestic surveillance as well as the legal justification for it.

In their strongly-worded letter to Clapper, the senators said they believed the government may be misinterpreting existing legislation to justify the sweeping collection of telephone and internet data revealed by the Guardian.

Read more26 U.S. Senators Accuse Government Of Using ‘Secret Law’ To Collect Americans’ Data

State Department Debunks Iranian Latin American Terrorism Links (Veterans Today)

State Department Debunks Iranian Latin American Terrorism Links (Veterans Today, June 28, 2013):

False anti-Iranian accusations persist. They’re longstanding. Claims about alleged nuclear bomb development don’t wash. Nor do well publicized terror attack charges.

The Islamic Republic’s maliciously vilified. False accusations follow earlier ones. A disturbing pattern repeats. Iran’s sovereignty is challenged. Its independence is threatened.

Washington wants pro-Western stooges everywhere. It wants rival states eliminated. It wants unchallenged global dominance. Everything’s fair game to achieve it. Duplicitous misinformation proliferates.

Read moreState Department Debunks Iranian Latin American Terrorism Links (Veterans Today)

Veterans Today: “Infowars.com BLOCKED From Sharing on Facebook”

Infowars.com BLOCKED From Sharing on Facebook (Veterans Today, June 26, 2013):

”When they come for our guns, the time has come to use them!”–Jim Fetzer

In another stunning display of the power and arrogance of the national security state, when I attempted to “share” the below article from about a new legislative proposal for internment camps around the county, should there be an emergency need for them, I was blocked by the following notice:

What more proof do we need that we are already in the grip of the national security state, that we are no longer “the home of the brave and the land of the free” and that heavily-armed soldiers supported by light tanks and using assault weapons will soon be knocking at our door to confiscate any weapons we may have.

Permanent Link to Concentration Camps Revisited: National Emergency Centers Establishment Act 2013 Infowars.com – June 25, 2013


On Tuesday, a caller to the Alex Jones Show brought up H.R.390, the National Emergency Centers Establishment Act, introduced in the House of Representatives on January 23 of this year by Florida Democrat Alcee L. Hastings.

The bill – submitted to the Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats & Capabilities – is a reformulation of an earlier bill going by the same name, H.R. 645, introduced in 2009. That bill was referred to committee and subsequently died there.

If it had made it out of committee, the earlier legislation would direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to do the following:

Read moreVeterans Today: “Infowars.com BLOCKED From Sharing on Facebook”

Former STASI Lieutenant Colonel On NSA Surveillance: “You Know, For Us, This Would Have Been A Dream Come True”

See also:

German News Magazine DER SPIEGEL On The NSA Spying Scandal: “National Security Is At Stake”



Protestors greeted President Obama when he visited in June. They are upset over the NSA spying.

Memories of Stasi color Germans’ view of U.S. surveillance programs (McClatchy, June 26, 2013):

BERLIN — Wolfgang Schmidt was seated in Berlin’s 1,200-foot-high TV tower, one of the few remaining landmarks left from the former East Germany. Peering out over the city that lived in fear when the communist party ruled it, he pondered the magnitude of domestic spying in the United States under the Obama administration. A smile spread across his face.

“You know, for us, this would have been a dream come true,” he said, recalling the days when he was a lieutenant colonel in the defunct communist country’s secret police, the Stasi.

In those days, his department was limited to tapping 40 phones at a time, he recalled. Decide to spy on a new victim and an old one had to be dropped, because of a lack of equipment. He finds breathtaking the idea that the U.S. government receives daily reports on the cellphone usage of millions of Americans and can monitor the Internet traffic of millions more.

“So much information, on so many people,” he said.

East Germany’s Stasi has long been considered the standard of police state surveillance during the Cold War years, a monitoring regime so vile and so intrusive that agents even noted when their subjects were overheard engaging in sexual intercourse. Against that backdrop, Germans have greeted with disappointment, verging on anger, the news that somewhere in a U.S. government databank are the records of where millions of people were when they made phone calls or what video content they streamed on their computers in the privacy of their homes.

Even Schmidt, 73, who headed one of the more infamous departments in the infamous Stasi, called himself appalled. The dark side to gathering such a broad, seemingly untargeted, amount of information is obvious, he said.

“It is the height of naivete to think that once collected this information won’t be used,” he said. “This is the nature of secret government organizations. The only way to protect the people’s privacy is not to allow the government to collect their information in the first place.”

Read moreFormer STASI Lieutenant Colonel On NSA Surveillance: “You Know, For Us, This Would Have Been A Dream Come True”