Month: July 2013

Glenn Greenwald: NSA Congressional Hearing Canceled Due To Obama

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– Greenwald: NSA hearing canceled (Politics, July 30, 2013):

This week’s informal congressional hearing on the National Security Agency’s surveillance program has been canceled, according to The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald, who was expected to testify via satellite.

Democratic congressman Alan Grayson and a bipartisan group of congressman were expected to hear from Greenwald and other critics of the NSA’s surveillance practices on Wednesday, according to a Guardian report from last week. The meeting was not meant to be a formal committee hearing, but would take place on the Hill before a dozen members of Congress from both parties.

But Greenwald now tells POLITICO that the hearing has been canceled due to Obama’s decision to meet with House Democrats.

“Obama developed a sudden and newfound interest in House Democrats and scheduled a meeting with them for that same time,” he wrote in an email, adding that the committee was trying to re-schedule the meeting to take place before congress goes on recess.

Representatives from both the American Civil Liberties Union and the conservative Cato Institute were expected to testify, Grayson told The Guardian.

Former Assistant Secretary Of Housing Catherine Austin Fitts: Old System Struggling And Dying – The Big Question is How Violent Will Things Get? (Video)

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“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
– Benjamin Franklin

– Old System Struggling and Dying-Catherine Austin Fitts (USAWatchdog, July 31, 2013):

Money manager Catherine Austin Fitts says, “You are seeing a tug of war between the new system that’s coming up and the old system that’s struggling and dying.” Fitts explains it by saying, “Let’s pretend we have a company called USA, and we create a new company called Breakaway Civilization.  We move all of our assets out of USA and put them in Breakaway Civilization.  We leave union obligations and pension funds . . . in the old USA economy.” Fitts warns, “I think bail-ins are coming . . . the big question is not will we be able to get out insured deposits.  I think the big question is how violent will things get?” Fitts biggest worry is not financial collapse.  Fitts contends, “I don’t think the people who run the U.S. military or run the United States government are going to say we’re happy to collapse rather than go to war.  They are going to go to war.  They’re going to shake somebody down.” Fitts goes on to add, “I think gold is the greatest form of insurance you can have during this transition period.” Join Greg Hunter as he goes One-on-One with Catherine Austin Fitts of Solari.com.

U.S. Military Awarded Contracts To Taliban And Al-Qaeda In Afghanistan

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– The U.S. Military Has Awarded Contracts to Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan (Liberty Blitzkrieg, July 31, 2013):

I suppose it just wasn’t enough that our allies, “the rebels” in Syria, have significant Al-Qaeda elements to them. No, we are the USA! USA! Best country ever. Defender of human rights. City on a hill. We must do far more than that. So we did.

This story below from Bloomberg, highlights a 236-page report by the U.S. Army Suspension and Debarment Office, which shows that military contracts have been granted to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Yep, this is exactly what happens when an empire gets too big, too corrupt, and ends up in the hands of a bunch of sociopaths.

From Bloomberg:

Supporters of the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan have been getting U.S. military contracts, and American officials are citing “due process rights” as a reason not to cancel the agreements, according to an independent agency monitoring spending.

“I am deeply troubled that the U.S. military can pursue, attack, and even kill terrorists and their supporters, but that some in the U.S. government believe we cannot prevent these same people from receiving a government contract,” Sopko said.

Read moreU.S. Military Awarded Contracts To Taliban And Al-Qaeda In Afghanistan

Google Engineer Dr. Joseph Bonneau Wins Award From The NSA And Then Slams It

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Hmmh.

– Google Engineer Wins Award from the NSA and then Slams it (Liberty Blitzkrieg, July 29, 2013):

“In accepting the award I don’t condone the NSA’s surveillance. Simply put, I don’t think a free society is compatible with an organisation like the NSA in its current form.”
– Dr. Joseph Bonneau

In case you weren’t aware, Dr. Joseph Bonneau, a google engineer, received an award for the Best Scientific Cybersecurity Paper of 2012 from the National Security Agency’s first annual “Science of Security Competition” on July 19th. He experienced such mixed emotions upon its receipt that he felt the need to express them publicly in a blog post. We should all be thankful he had the courage to do so.

Read moreGoogle Engineer Dr. Joseph Bonneau Wins Award From The NSA And Then Slams It

RT, July 2013: Fukushima Radiation Levels As High As 2011

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And nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care.

– Fukushima radiation levels as high as 2011 (RT, July 27, 2013):

Water samples taken at an underground passage below the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant contain alarming levels of radiation which are comparable to those taken immediately after the catastrophe.

According to a Saturday statement by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the tested water contains 2.35 billion becquerels of cesium per liter, and the radioactive water is now seeping into the sea. The findings were also evident from samples taken within a 50-meter radius around the plant.

Read moreRT, July 2013: Fukushima Radiation Levels As High As 2011

Fukushima: Nuclear Experts Blast TEPCO Over Toxic Leaks

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Foreign nuclear experts on Friday blasted the operator of Fukushima plant, with one saying its lack of transparency over toxic water leaks showed “you don’t know what you’re doing”.

– Nuke experts blast Fukushima operator over toxic leaks (Phys.org, July 26, 2013):

Foreign nuclear experts on Friday blasted the operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, with one saying its lack of transparency over toxic water leaks showed “you don’t know what you’re doing”. 

The blunt criticism comes after a litany of problems at the reactor site, which was swamped by a quake-sparked tsunami two years ago. The disaster sent reactors into meltdown and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents in the worst atomic accident in a generation.

Read moreFukushima: Nuclear Experts Blast TEPCO Over Toxic Leaks

Kyodo News, July 2013: Fukushima Trench Water Crisis Returns

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– Fukushima Trench Water Crisis Returns (Japan Times/Kyodo News, July 27, 2013):

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Saturday that the trench problem at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has cropped up again and is sending highly radioactive water into the sea.

The water in the underground passage, which runs under the turbine building of reactor 2, contains 2.35 billion becquerels of cesium per liter, roughly the same as that measured right after the crisis began in spring 2011.

The latest sample, taken Friday from a trench, contained 750 million becquerels of cesium-134, 1.6 billion becquerels of cesium-137 and 750 million becquerels of other radioactive substances, the utility said.

A sample from April 2011 contained 1.8 billion becquerels of both cesium-134 and cesium-137 per liter. Cesium has a half-life of about 30 years.

Read moreKyodo News, July 2013: Fukushima Trench Water Crisis Returns

Japan Times, July 2013: Time To Take Over Daiichi?

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And they are asking this NOW after almost 2½ years into the worst (nuclear) disaster ever?

– Time to take over Daiichi? (Japan Times, July 26, 2013):

It’s been almost 2½ years since the disaster at Fukushima No. 1 (Fukushima Daiichi) nuclear plant commenced, but the precarious condition of the nuclear plant remains a constant fixture in the news.

A sentence that has been reappearing in stories in recent months has been some variation of “the incident has brought the Fukushima plant’s vulnerable state into sharp relief” (New York Times, July 18).

The problem is that “the incident” being referred to could be one of many: a rat causing a power outage, radioactive water leaking from storage tanks, steam being emitted from one of the reactors or, most recently, confirmation by Tokyo Electric Power Co. that contaminated water is escaping into the ocean.

Read moreJapan Times, July 2013: Time To Take Over Daiichi?

But Where Does Vegan Timothy Bradley Get His Protein To Beat Boxing Champ Manny Pacquiao?

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But where does Timothy Bradley get his protein?

Captain Obvious: “From food!”

And where do ‘weak’ animals like gorillas, elephants and horses get their protein?

He doesn’t look too protein deficient, doesn’t he?


THE ONLY fighter to beat Pacquiao in 7 years literally has no bone to pick with his vegan diet. AFP

– Bradley’s vegan diet not new among athletes (Inquirer Business, June 15, 2012):

As surprising as Timothy Bradley’s split-decision win over Filipino boxing champ Manny Pacquiao is, the former’s vegan diet (devoid of any animal protein—pork, beef, chicken and dairy) during training isn’t really new in the athletic world.

Nine-time Olympic gold medal winner and vegan Carl Lewis, who was voted “Sportsman of the Century” by the International Olympic Committee and named “Olympian of the Century” by the American Sports magazine Sports Illustrated, was quoted in chef Jannequin Bennett’s book “Very Vegetarian” that his best year of track competition was the first year he was on a vegan diet. “Moreover, by continuing to eat a vegan diet, my weight is under control, I like the way I look,” he said in the book’s introduction.

Read moreBut Where Does Vegan Timothy Bradley Get His Protein To Beat Boxing Champ Manny Pacquiao?

Bank Of England Helped Reichsbank Sell Its Nazi Gold

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– Bank Of England Helped Reichsbank Sell Its Nazi Gold (ZeroHedge, July 30, 2013):

We previously showed hard evidence of the Bank of England’s complicit hiding of the truth about the quality of Bundesbank gold stored in the Fed’s vaults. A few weeks later in a “completely unrelated” action, the Bundesbank dramatically shifted its recent stance, and demanded that its gold be repatriated into its own vaults (and we now know the impact that has had on the paper-physical paper markets). However, in yet another one of the ‘darkest episodes in central banking history’ the FT reports, the Bank of England facilitated the sale of gold that was looted by the Nazis after their invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938. Of course, judging today’s central bankers by this ethical (and potentially criminal) behavior of over 70 years ago is unfair but it is notable that the pattern of whatever-it-takes and at-all-costs decisions, coupled with pervasive opacity and stark unaccountability, appear to have been formed a long time ago.

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95-Year Old Man Tasered To Death By Police In Illinois Nursing Home

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– 95-Year Old Man Tasered to Death by Police in Illinois Nursing Home (Liberty Blitzkrieg, July 29, 2013):

It appears that the militarized police force running rampant on the streets of America just can’t handle the threats of a 95-year old man in a nursing home armed with a cane. Although it appears the officers are attempting to justify their violent and aggressive behavior by claiming he was wielding a “12 inch knife,” I would’ve thought the police are supposed to know how to deal with such situations, particularly when their assailant is basically a centenarian. This seems to be societal blowback from the Rise of the Warrior Cop, a subject I highlighted recently.

Now from UPI:

PARK FOREST, Ill., July 28 (UPI) – A 95-year-old Illinois man who allegedly confronted police officers with a knife and cane died after they shot him with a stun gun and bean bag rounds.

Read more95-Year Old Man Tasered To Death By Police In Illinois Nursing Home

44 Facts About The Death Of The Middle Class That Every American Should Know

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– 44 Facts About The Death Of The Middle Class That Every American Should Know (Economic Collapse, July 30, 2013):

What is America going to look like when the middle class is dead?  Once upon a time, the United States has the largest and most vibrant middle class in the history of the world.  When I was growing up, it seemed like almost everyone was “middle class” and it was very rare to hear of someone that was out of work.  Of course life wasn’t perfect, but most families owned a home, most families had more than one vehicle, and most families could afford nice vacations and save for retirement at the same time.  Sadly, things have dramatically changed in America since that time.  There just aren’t as many “middle class jobs” as there used to be.  In fact, just six years ago there were about six million more full-time jobs in our economy than there are right now.  Those jobs are being replaced by part-time jobs and temp jobs.  The number one employer in America today is Wal-Mart and the number two employer in America today is a temp agency (Kelly Services).  But you can’t support a family on those kinds of jobs.  We live at a time when incomes are going down but the cost of living just keeps going up.  As a result, the middle class in America is being absolutely shredded and the ranks of the poor are steadily growing.

The following are 44 facts about the death of the middle class that every American should know…

Read more44 Facts About The Death Of The Middle Class That Every American Should Know

Bradley Manning Not Guilty Of Aiding The Enemy, … FACES Up TO 136 YEARS IN JAIL On Other Charges

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H/t reader M.G.:

“On a related story, Bradley Manning. US media isn’t even mentioning the outcome of the kangaroo court. The 24/7 cable TV news that isn’t is covering tabloid, and financials, no real news. OH, and Obama is making another of his speeches…….sickening.

The Guardian is also covering the story, it will take a full month before all the charges are added up for final sentencing………it is a total outrage. Americans are not even told any longer, and many are too stupid to research online.”


US Army Private First Class Bradley Manning leaves a military court facility after hearing his verdict in the trial at Fort Meade, Maryland on July 30, 2013

– Manning not guilty of aiding the enemy, faces 130+ yrs in jail on other charges (RT, July 30, 2013):

A US military judge has found Army private Bradley Manning “not guilty” of aiding the enemy. However, he was found guilty of 20 remaining charges, meaning that he still faces the possibility of up to 136 years behind bars. Sentencing begins tomorrow.

Sitting in the military courtroom at Fort Meade, Md., Colonel Denise Lind delivered her verdict shortly after 1 p.m. EDT on Tuesday. Manning had chosen to put all his faith in the judge, rather than a panel of his peers – a risky gamble that initially seemed to pay off for the 25-year-old Army intelligence analyst – the charge could have carried a life sentence without parole.

Read moreBradley Manning Not Guilty Of Aiding The Enemy, … FACES Up TO 136 YEARS IN JAIL On Other Charges

Navy Seal’s Father: Obama ‘Set Up My Son To Be Executed!’ (Video)

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YouTube

Description:

Aired on July 24, 2013 – On The Savage Nation with Michael Savage – Charles Strange Father of Navy SEAL Michael Strange Calls Revealing Suspicious Details of Son’s Death – Team 6 —-THEY SET UP MY SON TO BE EXECUTED!

See also:

– U.S. Government’s Secret Move To Hide Files On The Osama Bin Laden Raid

– US Navy Seal Commander, Who Killed Osama Bin Laden, Commits ‘Apparent Suicide’ In Afghanistan

– UNBELIEVABLE: ‘More Than 20 Navy SEALS From The Unit That Killed Osama Bin Laden’ Die In Helicopter Crash

Edward Snowden’s NOT The Story … The Fate Of The Internet Is

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– Edward Snowden’s not the story. The fate of the internet is (Guardian, July 28, 2013):

The press has lost the plot over the Snowden revelations. The fact is that the net is finished as a global network and that US firms’ cloud services cannot be trusted

Repeat after me: Edward Snowden is not the story. The story is what he has revealed about the hidden wiring of our networked world. This insight seems to have escaped most of the world’s mainstream media, for reasons that escape me but would not have surprised Evelyn Waugh, whose contempt for journalists was one of his few endearing characteristics. The obvious explanations are: incorrigible ignorance; the imperative to personalise stories; or gullibility in swallowing US government spin, which brands Snowden as a spy rather than a whistleblower.

Read moreEdward Snowden’s NOT The Story … The Fate Of The Internet Is

AND NOW: U.S. Government ‘Rewrites’ 84 Years Of Economic History This Week

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– The Government “Revises” 84 Years Of Economic History This Week (ZeroHedge, July 29, 2013):

Don’t like how high debt-to-GDP figures are? Revise ’em. Unhappy at the post-‘recovery’ growth rates? Revise ’em. Disappointed at the pace of economic improvement in the last decade or two compared to the rest of the world? Revise ’em. This week “we are essentially rewriting economic history” as the BEA is set to revise GDP data from as far back as 1929. The ‘adjustments’ to account for intangibles (that best known of micro- accounting fudge factors) and as we noted previously in great detail, will increase GDP by around $500 billion. Of course, these changes are defended aggressively (just as the hedonic adjustments to inflation calculations ‘make perfect sense’) as GDP will now reflect spending on research, development, and copyrights as investment – and reflect pension deficits for the first time (think of all that potential future GDP from massive pension deficits now). With Q2 GDP growth estimates set for a dismal 1.1%, expectations are for the short-term economic data to be revised upwards (and with any luck the great recession never happened at all).

Via WSJ,

US economic history will be rewritten this week, as the most far-reaching methodological changes in years will add the equivalent of a country the size of Belgium to output in the world’s largest economy.

Read moreAND NOW: U.S. Government ‘Rewrites’ 84 Years Of Economic History This Week

Chart Of The Day: Monthly Home Payment Soars 40% To 2008 Levels

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– Chart Of The Day: Monthly Home Payment Soars 40% To 2008 Levels (ZeroHedge, July 29, 2013):

The following chart from Credit Suisse fully explains why the US housing “recovery” has just ground to a halt: in a few short weeks, US housing affordability (a topic we first covered a month ago) has collapsed as a result of the monthly payment on the median home sold soaring by nearly 40% from under $800 to just shy of $1100, a level not seen since 2008. Now if only US personal incomes would keep pace, instead of doing this…

Cyprus 37.5% Depositor Haircut Upgraded To 47.5% Brazilian Wax

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– Cyprus 37.5% Depositor Haircut Upgraded To 47.5% Brazilian Wax (ZeroHedge, July 29, 2013):

Once upon a time (in April), a few weeks after reversing its initial disastrous decision to haircut all deposits (including insured ones) the Troika slammed large Cypriot depositors (read evil Russian oligarchs) with a “bail-in” template, soon coming to all insolvent European nations, that included not only a forced assignment of equity in broke Cypriot banks, but far more importantly a haircut that amounted to 37.5% of deposits over €100,000. Since then a few things have happened in Cyprus, neither of them good, i.e., an a record collapse in bank deposits despite capital controls and a record crash in the local real estate market.The confluence of both these events meant that as bank liabilities shrank (deposits), asset fair values (home mortgages) collapsed even faster. Which, as we warned in March, would entail bigger and more aggressive deposit haircuts, and ultimately: another bailout of Cyprus (something the president floated but promptly denied upon rejection by Merkel ahead of her September elections). Today, we learn that while the inevitable next bailout of Cyprus is still on the table, the deposit “haircut” just upgraded to an aggravated Brazilian wax, as the 37.5% gentle trim initially proposed was revised to 47.5%.

InCyprus reports:

The Finance Ministry and the Troika appeared to be converging on an agreement on the haircut of uninsured deposits over 100,000 euros in the Bank of Cyprus at 47.5%.

Read moreCyprus 37.5% Depositor Haircut Upgraded To 47.5% Brazilian Wax

Alarming Number Of US Citizens Face Poverty, 80% Suffer Joblessness

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– Alarming number of US citizens face poverty, 80% suffer joblessness – report (RT, July 29, 2013):

Four out of five US adults come to grips with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least some parts of their lives. Over 41 percent of the nation’s poor are whites, according to a new report.

In 2011, 46.2 million people in the US were living in poverty and the nation’s official poverty rate was 15 percent, up from 14.3 percent in 2009, according to the US Census Bureau. That figure appears to be the highest number seen in the 52 years for which poverty estimates have been recorded.

Although poverty rates for blacks and Hispanics are proportionately nearly three times higher, by absolute numbers the predominant face of the poor is white, the latest report shows. Economic insecurity among whites is said to be more common than is shown in the government’s poverty data, engulfing over 76 percent of white adults by the time they turn 60, according to a new economic gauge being published next year by Oxford University Press.

Read moreAlarming Number Of US Citizens Face Poverty, 80% Suffer Joblessness