Good News: Jeff Olson Found Not Guilty (Of All 13 Charges) For Using Chalk On Sidewalk

Before:

California Man, Faces 13 Years In Jail For Writing Anti-Big Bank Messages In Water-Soluble Chalk (Huffington Post, June 25, 2013)


Good News! Jeff Olson Found Not Guilty for Using Chalk on Sidewalk (Liberty Blitzkrieg, June 1, 2013):

In a bit of good news, San Diego man Jeff Olson has been acquitted by a jury of his peers for the heinous transgression of using water soluble chalk to write anti-bank messages on a public sidewalk in a case I highlighted last week. While this is a favorable outcome, the simple fact that Bank of America forced the city to go after this guy for 13 years in jail is a despicable travesty of the legal system.

From ABC News 10 in San Diego:

Jeffrey Olson not guilty of all 13 charges

SAN DIEGO – A 40-year-old man was acquitted Monday of 13 misdemeanor vandalism charges that stemmed from protest messages written in chalk in front of three Bank of America branches in San Diego.

Olson could have faced up to 13 years behind bars if convicted of all counts. Jurors began deliberating Friday.

Read moreGood News: Jeff Olson Found Not Guilty (Of All 13 Charges) For Using Chalk On Sidewalk

Tennessee: Complaining About Water Quality = Terrorism

In Tennessee Complaining About Water Quality = Terrorism (Liberty Blitzkrieg, July 2, 2013):

This is a little over a week old, but I hadn’t seen it and it’s so bothersome that everyone needs to be made aware.  One of my major themes this year has been the sudden outburst of cases in which mostly young people face extremely long prison sentences for merely exercising free speech. The way that many of these charges are justified is through new sets of “anti-terrorism” laws that have been set up in municipalities across the country, and allow for harsh sentences for minor offenses.  Of course, this is merely a backdoor way to erode the First Amendment in the name of fighting the never-ending “war on terror.” A war that is supposedly against Al-Qaeda, the same folks we are actively arming in Syria.

Now from the Tennessean:

A Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation deputy director warned a group of Maury County residents that unfounded complaints about water quality could be considered an “act of terrorism.”

“We take water quality very seriously. Very, very seriously,” said Sherwin Smith, deputy director of TDEC’s Division of Water Resources, according to audio recorded by attendees. “But you need to make sure that when you make water quality complaints you have a basis, because federally, if there’s no water quality issues, that can be considered under Homeland Security an act of terrorism.”

Read moreTennessee: Complaining About Water Quality = Terrorism

Russia: Unmanned Rocket Explodes Moments After Launch, Satellites Worth $200 Million Lost

Footage of the dramatic crash:

YouTube


YouTube

Russian Unmanned Rocket Explodes Moments After Launch (ZeroHedge, July 2, 2013):

If Russia was hoping to punctuate its foreign policy victory over the US in hosting Edward Snowden and being on the list of his asylum applicants with the overnight launch of a unmanned Proton-M rocket, carrying some $200 million worth of navigation satellites, those hopes literally went up in flames when 17 seconds into the take off, an emergency switch-off of the engines led to a spectacular explosion, and sent the rocket plummeting to earth. End result: a massive blow up caught on live TV, hundreds of millions in equipment lost and 172 metric tons of highly toxic heptyl propellant raining on the ground for miles around the crash.

From Reuters:

A Russian rocket carrying three navigation satellites worth around $200 million crashed shortly after lift-off from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan on Tuesday after its engines suddenly switched off. The accident led to a large spill of heptyl, a highly toxic rocket propellant, but there were no reports of casualties or of any immediate threat to nearby settlements.

State-run Rossiya-24 television showed footage of the Proton-M booster rocket veering off course seconds after lift-off. It fell apart in flames in the air and crashed in a ball of fire near the launch pad.

Read moreRussia: Unmanned Rocket Explodes Moments After Launch, Satellites Worth $200 Million Lost

USDA Was Storing Monsanto’s Unapproved GM Wheat In Seed Vault

USDA Was Storing Monsanto’s Unapproved GM Wheat in Seed Vault (Activist Post, June 30, 2013):

How did genetically modified wheat escape and taint the fields of American farmers? The unsettling case remains unexplained, but traces back to a USDA seed vault.


Red Alert: Shocking Plane Radiation On Flight From Chile To The U.S.

This is for all those who …

… still don’t know what has been reported here since the beginning of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

… think that the Fukushima disaster is over.

… think that Fukushima is far away and doesn’t affect them.

… still trust our government & the mainstream media.

For my readers this is just a reminder to stay alert.


Shocking Plane Radiation On Flight From Chile To US (Rense, July 1, 2013):

This is STAGGERINGLY bad news and shows, clearly and positively, that Fukushima Radiation is THICK in the atmosphere above even the Southern Hemisphere. It gets worse over North America and the U.S.

Note…and note carefully – a CPM (Counts Per Minute) reading of 100 is a mandatory HAZMAT Quarantine EMERGENCY in the State of California. Get that? The shocking readings shown in the photos below are what the passengers were breathing and fully-exposed to during the flights from Chile to Atlanta and then across the US to Portland, Oregon.

Read moreRed Alert: Shocking Plane Radiation On Flight From Chile To The U.S.

Bird Flu: Arkansas Poultry Banned In Russia, Japan And Hong Kong

Bird Flu Leads to Ban on Arkansas Poultry (5News, June 26, 2013):

Arkansas poultry has been banned in Russia, Japan and Hong Kong — and in Mississippi and Georgia — after bird flu was discovered last week at a Scott County farm, a state official said Wednesday (June 26).

In addition to those places banning the sale of Arkansas poultry, China is in discussions with state officials also about a possible ban, said Preston Scroggin, director of the state Livestock and Poultry Commission.

Read moreBird Flu: Arkansas Poultry Banned In Russia, Japan And Hong Kong

Pope Francis’s ‘Gay Lobby’ Remarks Stir Up New Storm Of Vatican Gossip

Pope’s ‘gay lobby’ remarks stir up new storm of Vatican gossip (Guardian, June 30, 2013):

Pontiff’s comments spark flurry of speculation about alleged ‘bunga bunga’ scene in the Holy See

A tide of lurid speculation, questionable accusations and possible blackmail attempts is buffeting the Vatican following Pope Francis’s claim that he is preparing to tackle a gay lobby secretly at work behind the Holy See’s walls.

The new pope’s private comments to a group of visiting South American churchmen, which caused a sensation when they appeared on a religious website last week, prompted blushes in the Vatican and unleashed feverish gossip in Rome regarding the contents of a report on Vatican infighting prepared last year for Francis’s predecessor, Joseph Ratzinger.

On his retirement in February, Ratzinger handed his Argentine successor the dossier, which reportedly describes a lobby of gay, senior churchmen inside the Vatican, running a network of patronage while fighting off blackmailers.

Read morePope Francis’s ‘Gay Lobby’ Remarks Stir Up New Storm Of Vatican Gossip

The Golden Cycle – Gold Bug Bashing, 1976 Edition

The Golden Cycle (Euro Pacific Capital, July 1, 2013, by Peter Schiff):

The New York Times had the definitive take on the vicious sell off in gold. To summarize one of their articles:

Two years ago gold bugs ran wild as the price of gold rose nearly six times. But since cresting two years ago it has steadily declined, almost by half, putting the gold bugs in flight.  The most recent advisory from a leading Wall Street firm suggests that the price will continue to drift downward, and may ultimately settle 40% below current levels.

The rout says a lot about consumer confidence in the worldwide recovery. The sharply reduced rates of inflation combined with resurgence of other, more economically productive investments, such as stocks, real estate, and bank savings have combined to eliminate gold’s allure.

Although the American economy has reduced its rapid rate of recovery, it is still on a firm expansionary course. The fear that dominated two years ago has largely vanished, replaced by a recovery that has turned the gold speculators’ dreams into a nightmare.

This analysis provides a good representation of the current conventional wisdom. The only twist here is that the article from which this summary is derived appeared in the August 29, 1976 edition of The New York Times. At that time gold was preparing to embark on an historic rally that would push it up more than 700% a little over three years later. Is it possible that the history is about to repeat itself?

Read moreThe Golden Cycle – Gold Bug Bashing, 1976 Edition

Wikileaks: Statement From Edward Snowden In Moscow

Statement from Edward Snowden in Moscow (Wikileaks, July 1, 2013):

Statement from Edward Snowden in Moscow

One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth. My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others who I have never met and probably never will. I trusted them with my life and they returned that trust with a faith in me for which I will always be thankful.

On Thursday, President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic “wheeling and dealing” over my case. Yet now it is being reported that after promising not to do so, the President ordered his Vice President to pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions.

This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression. Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me.

For decades the United States of America have been one of the strongest defenders of the human right to seek asylum. Sadly, this right, laid out and voted for by the U.S. in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is now being rejected by the current government of my country. The Obama administration has now adopted the strategy of using citizenship as a weapon. Although I am convicted of nothing, it has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person. Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum.

In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake. We are stateless, imprisoned, or powerless. No, the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised — and it should be.

I am unbowed in my convictions and impressed at the efforts taken by so many.

Edward Joseph Snowden

Monday 1st July 2013

Edward Snowden Appeals For Asylum To 15 Nations, Even As Putin Swears To Never Hand Him Over To US

PRISM is nothing. Reality is much, much worse. They are collecting & interpreting ALL of your data. They are getting everything. Everything out there!

And they have a plan … and you will not like it:

Main Core (The Last Roundup): A List Of Millions Of Americans That Will Be Subject To Detention During Martial Law

Is THIS The REAL Reason For The Government Spying On Americans?

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

The government is determined to keep information about its FEMA concentration camps as secret as possible.

– Judge Andrew Napolitano: NDAA ‘Indefinite Detention Bill’: Mourning The Lost Freedom in America: US Is Now A Battlefield, A Fascist Military Dictatorship, Constitution Has Been Repealed, Farewell Bill Of Rights (Video)

Jesse Ventura Conspiracy Theory: Police State (And FEMA Concentration Camps) – Full Length Video

Still think Snowden is for real?

Veil of Lies: Edward Snowden And Wikileaks (Veterans Today)

Are Whistleblowers Like Edward Snowden Sometimes ‘Too Good To Be True’? (Veterans Today)

Think again.


Snowden Appeals For Asylum To 15 Nations, Even As Putin Swears To Never Hand Him Over To US (ZeroHedge, July 1, 2013):

While the situation for Edward Snowden remains uncertain, Russian officials report that he has handed them an appeal to 15 nations for political asylum. As the LA Times reports, an official noted, “Snowden reiterated once again that he is not a traitor and explained his actions only by a desire to open the world’s eyes on the flagrant violations by US special services.” This somewhat desperate act follows what Russian officials describe as “Ecuador disavowing [Snowden’s] political protection credentials,” though we have seen nothing confirmed by Ecuador (yet) especially in light of last week’s strong anti-US rhetoric. Russia’s President Putin just proclaimed that “Snowden isn’t, has never been a Russian agent,” and added that Russia doesn’t plan to extradite anyone.

It appears that Putin wants to keep the situation somewhat civil for now…

  • *PUTIN SAYS NO INFORMATION ABOUT SNOWDEN LEAVING RUSSIA
  • *PUTIN SAYS SNOWDEN ISN’T, HASN’T EVER BEEN RUSSIAN AGENT

But perhaps this is the most telling…

Via Reuters:

Putin says if Snowden wants to stay in Russia, he must “stop his work aimed at harming our American partners”

Via The LA Times,

Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked U.S. security secrets and is now a fugitive, met Monday morning with Russian diplomatic officials and handed them an appeal to 15 countries for political asylum, a Russian Foreign Ministry official told The Times.

Read moreEdward Snowden Appeals For Asylum To 15 Nations, Even As Putin Swears To Never Hand Him Over To US

The Fed Is Paying Banks NOT To Lend 1.8 Trillion Dollars To The American People

The Federal Reserve Is Paying Banks NOT To Lend 1.8 Trillion Dollars To The American People (Economic Collapse, July 1, 2013):

Did you know that U.S. banks have more than 1.8 trillion dollars parked at the Federal Reserve and that the Fed is actually paying them not to lend that money to us?  We were always told that the goal of quantitative easing was to “help the economy”, but the truth is that the vast majority of the money that the Fed has created through quantitative easing has not even gotten into the system.  Instead, most of it is sitting at the Fed slowly earning interest for the bankers.  Back in October 2008, just as the last financial crisis was starting, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced that the Federal Reserve would start paying interest on the reserves that banks keep at the Fed.  This caused an absolute explosion in the size of these reserves.  Back in 2008, U.S. banks had less than 2 billion dollars of excess reserves parked at the Fed.  Today, they have more than 1.8 trillion.  In less than five years, the pile of excess reserves has gotten nearly 1,000 times larger.  This is utter insanity, and it will have very serious consequences down the road.

Posted below is a chart that shows the explosive growth of these excess reserves in recent years…

Read moreThe Fed Is Paying Banks NOT To Lend 1.8 Trillion Dollars To The American People

Egypt: Military Coup In 48 Hours If No Solution Found

Egyptian Military Coup In 48 Hours If No Solution Found (ZeroHedge, July 1, 2013):

The Egyptian Military just made a publc statement on Egyptian TV and it appears the country is close to another military coup:

  • *EGYPTIAN MILITARY SAYS WON’T BE PART OF POLITICS
  • *EGYPT MILITARY SAYS NATIONAL SECURITY SUBJECTED TO GRAVE DANGER
  • *EGYPTIAN MILITARY SAYS PROTESTS ‘UNPRECEDENTED’
  • *EGYPTIAN MILITARY SAYS HOMELAND FACING DIRE SITUATION
  • *EGYPT’S MILITARY SAYS WILL NOT BE PARTY TO POLITICS OR POWER
  • *EGYPT MILITARY SAYS CALLS FOR MEETING THE DEMANDS OF THE PEOPLE
  • *EGYPT MILITARY MAY HAVE TO OFFER ROADMAP AFTER 48 HOURS

In other words, do as the people want, calm this down now, or we will step in within 48 hours.

Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Headquarters Destroyed – Ministers Resign – Mohamed Morsi Still President

Flashback: The CIA’s Muslim ‘Outfit,’ – The Muslim Brotherhood (Veterans Today)

Turmoil grips Egypt as four ministers quit Morsi government (Jerusalem Post/Reuters, July 1, 2013):

Youths hurl firebombs and rocks while storming building; 16 dead, nearly 800 hurt since anti-Morsi protests began; president refuses to bow to pressure for his resignation.

Four Egyptian ministers resigned from the government on Monday, a cabinet official said, a day after protesters poured onto streets to demand President Mohamed Morsi resign.

“Four ministers presented their resignations today,” said the official, who asked not to be named. He gave no reason but the state news agency had earlier said the ministers were considering resigning in sympathy with the protesters.

The four were Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou, Communication and Information Technology Atef Helmi, Minister of State for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Hatem Bagato and Minister of State for Environmental Affairs Khaled Abdel-Aal.

The move came shortly after Egypt’s ruling Muslim Brotherhood vowed to take action in response to the ransacking of its Cairo headquarters. The building was overrun by youths after those inside were evacuated on Monday following a night of violence that killed at least seven people.


Protesters ransack headquarters in Cairo as country divided over Islamist party’s influence on President Mohamed Morsi


Protesters ransack the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in Cairo. Photograph: Khalil Hamra/AP

Egypt faces more bloodshed as Muslim Brotherhood offices torched (Guardian, July 1, 2013):

The headquarters of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood have been burned and ransacked following an all-night siege – one day after millions protested on Egypt’s streets calling for President Mohamed Morsi’s resignation.

In an episode reminiscent of the sacking of Hosni Mubarak’s political headquarters during Egypt’s 2011 uprising, around 50 anti-Brotherhood protesters spent the night attacking the compound – situated on a rocky, isolated outcrop in east Cairo – with molotov cocktails, causing a series of small fires and explosions.

With police nowhere to be seen, Brotherhood cadres returned fire, killing at least four, and injuring at least 80 – according to medics at the scene.

Both sides told the Guardian that the other had started the battle, which began at around 7pm on Sunday. It was not possible to verify either claim.

Read moreEgypt: Muslim Brotherhood Headquarters Destroyed – Ministers Resign – Mohamed Morsi Still President

36 Tough Questions About The U.S. Economy That Everyone Should Be Asking

36 Hard Questions About The U.S. Economy That The Mainstream Media Should Be Asking (Economic Collapse, June 30, 2013):

If the economy is improving, then why aren’t things getting better for most average Americans?  They tell us that the unemployment rate is going down, but the percentage of Americans that are actually working is exactly the same it was three years ago.  They tell us that American families are in better financial shape now, but real disposable income is falling rapidly.  They tell us that inflation is low, but every time we go shopping at the grocery store the prices just seem to keep going up.  They tell us that the economic crisis is over, and yet poverty and government dependence continue to explode to unprecedented heights.  There seems to be a disconnect between what the government and the media are telling us and what is actually true.  With each passing day the debt of the federal government grows larger, the financial world become even more unstable and more American families fall out of the middle class.  The same long-term economic trends that have been eating away at our economy like cancer for decades continue to ruthlessly attack the foundations of our economic system.  We are rapidly speeding toward an economic cataclysm, and yet the government and most of the media make it sound like happy days are here again.  The American people deserve better than this.  The American people deserve the truth.

The following are 36 hard questions about the U.S. economy that the mainstream media should be asking…

Read more36 Tough Questions About The U.S. Economy That Everyone Should Be Asking

Eurozone Unemployment Hits All-Time High In May (AP, July 1, 2013)

From the article:

“Whereas the youth unemployment rate for the 17-country eurozone as a whole is 23.8 percent, the proportion of Spain‘s 15-24 year olds out of work is 56.5 percent while Greece‘s stands at 59.2 percent.”


Eurozone Unemployment Hits All-Time High In May (Huffington Post/AP, July 1, 2013):

LONDON — Unemployment across the 17 European Union countries that use the euro hit another all-time high in May, official data showed Monday.

Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office, said the eurozone’s unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage point in May to 12.1 percent. April’s unemployment rate was initially estimated to be 12.2 percent, but it was revised down to 12.0 percent thanks to new data, particularly from France.

Read moreEurozone Unemployment Hits All-Time High In May (AP, July 1, 2013)

Japan Plutonium Stockpile Already Equivalent To 5,000 Nagasaki-Type Atomic Bombs, Has More Plutonium Shipments Coming In

And plutonium is the deadliest substance on the planet.


Plutonium problem lingers as mixed-oxide fuel comes to Japan (Asahi Shimbun, June 25, 2013):

A shipment of mixed-oxide fuel will arrive in Japan as early as June 27, part of the nation’s plutonium stockpile that is already equivalent to 5,000 Nagasaki-type atomic bombs.

The shipment, two years behind schedule due to the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, is expected to be used for plutonium-thermal (pluthermal) power generation, a key component of Japan’s nuclear fuel recycling program.

However, the fuel recycling program has been plagued by so many problems that the nation’s plutonium stockpile could increase further, heightening concerns in the international community about possible nuclear weapons proliferation.

The shipment from France is also creating headaches for Kansai Electric Power Co., which plans to use the fuel at its Takahama nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture, pending approval of its application to restart the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors there in early July.

Under pluthermal operations, mixed-oxide fuel, which contains plutonium extracted from spent nuclear fuel, is used in nuclear reactors.

A French company processed spent nuclear fuel from Kansai Electric into 20 mixed-oxide fuel assemblies, which contain an estimated 900 kilograms of plutonium. Kansai Electric has not disclosed how many of the fuel assemblies will be brought into the Takahama plant.

Japan currently possesses 44 tons of plutonium, according to the Atomic Energy Commission. Nine tons, including the latest shipment, are in Japan, while the remaining tons are in Britain and France, where spent fuel from Japan has been reprocessed.

Read moreJapan Plutonium Stockpile Already Equivalent To 5,000 Nagasaki-Type Atomic Bombs, Has More Plutonium Shipments Coming In

Apparently This MF Global ‘Clusterfuck’ Does Not Deserve Criminal Charges

Apparently This MF Global “Clusterfuck” Does Not Deserve Criminal Charges (ZeroHedge, July 1, 2013):

We salute the CFTC for finally, if belatedly, doing the right thing and going after Jon “the bundler” Corzine. However, we wonder, just how is the following documented exchange between Edith O’Brien, MFG’s assistant treasurer, and some MF Global employee, not considered crime-worthy by Eric Holder? Or is the US Attorney General too busy to answer, having to come up with his own alibi to avoid going to jail for lying to Congress under oath?From the MF Global Civil, not Criminal, Complaint

Just prior to 6:30 p.m. ET, O’Brien told Employee #2 on a recorded telephone line that the Firm would not be in compliance with customer segregation rules because funds were not being returned to customer segregated accounts:

O’BRIEN: It is a total clusterfuck . . . . They have to move half a billion dollars out of BONY to pay me back . . . . Tell me how much money is coming in and I will make sure it gets posted. But if you don’t tell me, then tomorrow morning I am going to have a seg problem . . . . I need the money back from the broker-dealer I already gave them. I can’t afford a seg problem.

Read moreApparently This MF Global ‘Clusterfuck’ Does Not Deserve Criminal Charges