Friday, February 25, 2011

The Year of Assange

Text with below video:
RTAmerica | Feb 24, 2011 | likes, 3 dislikes

When Julian Assange emerged less than a year ago with a "Collateral Murder" showing US troops gunning down unarmed civilians and two Reuters journalists video game-style, he was lauded as a hero of hero of transparency and a human rights defender. A nomadic computer expert with a cache of 250,000 classified cables, Assange catapulted to the front page of virtually every newspaper in the country. But today it's the political impact of the leaker—and not the leaks—that has gripped headlines as a UK court ruled to extradite Assange to Sweden to face sexual assault charges.





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[click here] for:

James Corbett interviewed on the Alex Jones Show


James Corbett, Corbett Report, Japan [info with pic, source]

[videos embedded on The Stark Raving Viking blog]

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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Lindsey Williams and a History of the Oil Robber Barons


Lindsey Williams image [found here]

Text with below video:
TheAlexJonesChannel | February 22, 2011 | likes, 13 dislikes

Alex welcomes to the show ordained Baptist minister Lindsey Williams. Lindsey will reveal on the Alex Jones Show today new groundbreaking information about the plans of the global elite. Because of the executive status accorded to him as Chaplain of the Alyeska Pipeline Company, Williams has been privy to the plans of the elite for years. Last year Williams predicted the price of oil would go up significantly and the market has since skyrocketed, most recently in response to the outbreak of engineered revolution and violence in the Middle East, developments also revealed to Williams by the global elite. Alex also covers the latest breaking news and takes your calls during the show.



Lindsey Williams Exclusive: Nwo to Target Iran & Saudi Arabi Next, Oil to Hit $200 a Barrel 1/5


2 of 5


3 of 5


4 of 5


5 of 5


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http://starkravingviking.blogspot.com/2011/02/30-ways-you-are-being-spied-on.html

http://thegetjusticecoalition.blogspot.com/2011/02/do-we-get-representation-for-our.html

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Saturday, February 19, 2011

Are Egypt Style Anti-Government Riots Imminent in US?

Text with below video:
RTAmerica | February 18, 2011 | likes, 36 dislikes

The protests that have rocked the Middle East have found their way to the Midwest, as problems from a bad global economy has sparked these demonstrations. Radio Host Alex Jones believes the protests were orchestrated by the New World Order and use this as fury in the streets to roll in another layer to the police state.



Alex Jones: NWO orchestrated protests


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http://starkravingviking.blogspot.com/2011/02/details-of-us-false-flag-attacks-in.html

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Friday, February 18, 2011

Solar Flares reported just now on CNN

I don't often watch the government propaganda news, but CNN just reported on the sun being more active. A major solar flare nearly missed the earth but still caused havoc.

The news anchor said power grids could be interrupted (or destroyed), satellites knocked out, which mean there could be major life interruptions. Imagine if vehicles wouldn't run, phones wouldn't work, there is no electricity, water and sewage systems fail, and policing, court systems, and government absolutely dependent on technology, failing.

It is possible. To hear a warning, even a gentle one, on CNN, is major.

[This] gets more of my immediate attention. But, if the puppeteers of the US Government knew something was coming, they would plan for them, not us. We to them, are expendable.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Financial Analyst Predicts World War III?

Text with below video:
TheAlexJonesChannel | February 16, 2011 | likes, 3 dislikes

Alex also welcomes back to the show trend forecaster, publisher of Trends Journal, and business consultant Gerald Celente. Alex also covers the latest news and takes your calls
http://www.trendsresearch.com/index.htm
http://www.infowars.com/
http://www.prisonplanet.tv/



Gerald Celente: "Meet The New Boss, Same as Old Boss" - Alex Jones Tv 1/2


Gerald Celente: "Meet The New Boss, Same as Old Boss" - Alex Jones Tv 2/2


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http://starkravingviking.blogspot.com/2011/02/continuing-us-war-on-pakistani-average.html


http://starkravingviking.blogspot.com/2011/02/last-word-on-overpopulation.html

http://starkravingviking.blogspot.com/2011/02/everything-is-related-sunday-update.html

http://starkravingviking.blogspot.com/2011/02/is-egypt-wake-up-call-for-us-gov.html

http://judicialmisconduct.blogspot.com/2011/02/us-put-blacks-in-prison-policy-is-now.html

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Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Recovering from Wikileaks: Reforming Information Policy

The below re-posted from [American Foreign Policy blog]:

by John Cappel

Christmas came early this year for policy wonks when Wikileaks released a treasure trove of American diplomatic cables, some of which shed new light on the current state of international relations. Commentators have endlessly debated the ethics of Julian Assange’s actions and the consequences of this release for the United States’ ability to conduct foreign policy, but the fallout over Wikileaks has largely overlooked how this incident illustrates the government’s need to seriously re-evaluate its policies on controlling information and protecting whistleblowers.

While the scope of damage to American diplomacy will only be revealed in time, there can be no doubt that Wikileaks’ release has undermined faith in America’s ability to protect information. When a low-ranking soldier like Pfc. Bradley Manning can access 250,000 diplomatic cables and other classified materials, burn them onto CDs, and carry them out of a secure facility, there is an inherent flaw in the government’s information controls.

Manning had unrestricted access to two massive networks of all-source secret and top secret information, which is typical for someone in his job. Efforts to avoid repeating pre-9/11 failures of communication within the intelligence community and the increasing importance of broad intelligence sources to modern warfare motivated this broad access for intelligence analysts. Manning may have been able to avoid detection by merely deleting server logs recording his activities, and a system designed to identify suspicious activity on classified servers covers only 60 percent of Department of Defense computers.

The DoD now requires that information can be transferred between classified and unclassified computer systems only in a supervised setting, but the DoD and other government agencies should also expand monitoring systems to all computers handling classified information and ensure that server logs cannot be deleted. While closing the holes Manning exploited should be a first step in improving protection of classified information, anything less than a government-wide review seems unlikely to diagnose different weaknesses in classified computer systems.

In addition to raising concerns about the U.S. government’s ability to protect classified information, the Wikileaks case illustrates another serious problem with current government policy: over-classification. Many of the leaked cables merely confirmed information that was already in the public realm, thus raising an interesting question: why was the information classified in the first place? In effect, by erring on the side of caution and protecting material that posed no threat to American security or interests if publicly known, the government has damaged the credibility of its classification procedures.

Under the current system, information that would be embarrassing or unpleasantly complicating if released is placed in the same category as truly dangerous and damaging knowledge. The government also restricts access to a wide range of “controlled unclassified information,” which is not technically classified but is nonetheless restricted in its distribution because of concern over the potential security risk of its release. Misuse of classified or controlled unclassified labels feeds a public perception that the government is merely trying to restrict access to information without any good reason. This lack of public faith is illustrated by the hacker group Anonymous’ recent invocation of “freedom of information” as a rallying cry for its attacks against “enemies” of Wikileaks. If the government cannot become much more judicious in deciding what information to classify, this problem of public perception will only worsen.

Even if the government is more careful in choosing what information to protect, there will always be room for abuse of classification powers. As the release of the Pentagon Papers clearly illustrated, the government is not above drastically misleading the public on life-and-death issues. Leaks can serve as an essential tool for exposing questionable activities, bringing serious problems to light, sparking policy debate, or ensuring that citizens are capable of making informed judgments about the activities of their government. However, leaks are worrisome because what information is released is ultimately at the sole discretion of the leaker, whose judgment may not be sound.

To find a balance between a government stranglehold on information and a porous classification system prone to extensive information leaks, the federal government must address the woeful state of its systems for categorizing information, managing internal complaints, and protecting whistleblowers. The current weakness of these systems is vividly illustrated by the case of Robert MacLean, a former federal air marshal. In 2003, the TSA decided to remove air marshals from long-distance flights—the type of flights targeted by the 9/11 hijackers—in a cost-cutting measure. MacLean unsuccessfully raised concerns about this approach to TSA managers and a field agent of the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General. MacLean finally brought his case to the media, and Congressional outrage promptly led the TSA to reverse its decision. However, MacLean was fired after his release was retroactively categorized as Sensitive Security Information, a type of controlled unclassified information.

As demonstrated by MacLean’s case, the current lack of internal protections and procedures for whistleblowers makes undesirable public disclosures more likely. When higher-ranking officials seem unwilling to solve problems or actually fail to address concerns that have been raised, employees are more likely to air grievances in public. In fact, instant messaging transcripts show that Bradley Manning viewed an officer’s refusal to address abuses by Iraqi police as a major turning point in his decision to leak documents. Furthermore, when wrongdoing goes unchecked, it is likely to worsen to the point that someone will feel morally obligated to blow the whistle. Insufficient avenues and protections for whistleblowers consequently curtail internal reports of moderate wrongdoing while increasing the odds that severe abuses will be leaked to the public. If someone within the Army had listened to Bradley Manning’s concerns, 250,000 diplomatic cables might still be secure.

President Obama already made a move in the right direction on November 4th by signing Executive Order 13566, which imposes government-wide standards for controlled unclassified information. Congress also appeared on course to move towards enhancing protections for government whistleblowers after both the House and Senate passed different versions of The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2010 in December. However, since the Senate version included protections for intelligence community whistleblowers while the House version did not, a version excluding intelligence community protections was returned to the Senate for passage, where it was killed by an anonymous Senator’s hold. Ironically, critics of the bill argued that it would lead to more Wikileaks-type disclosures.

What the Wikileaks incident revealed, more than anything, is a crisis of confidence in the government’s control of information. The release itself has raised doubts among foreign partners about the United States’ ability to guard sensitive information, and the response to Wikileaks has revealed a significant number of people who believe that the American government abuses its classification powers to keep its corruption and crimes away from criticism. To regain foreign confidence, America must improve its safeguards of classified information. To restore the faith of the American public, the government must become more judicious in assigning classified or controlled unclassified information labels while enhancing internal whistleblowing procedures and protections.

If the government merely tightens its control over information, the public will become less likely to believe that the government ever has valid reasons for protecting information. In making sure that people like Bradley Manning and Julian Assange cannot ever again become the overlords of America’s classified information, the government needs to make sure that people like Robert MacLean have a way for their voice to be heard before they feel a need to go public. Failure to act will expose the United States to future disclosures that will complicate its ability to conduct foreign policy. It will take time for foreign partners’ broken confidence in the American government’s protection of information to recover, but whether it recovers quickly or continues deteriorating depends on how the government responds to its current situation.

[source of above]

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Steven G. Erickson posts on other blogs:

Video:
http://starkravingviking.blogspot.com/2011/02/last-word-on-overpopulation.html

http://judicialmisconduct.blogspot.com/2011/02/state-tries-to-turn-back-tide-of.html

http://thegetjusticecoalition.blogspot.com/2011/02/do-we-get-representation-for-our.html


Video:
http://thesrv.blogspot.com/2011/02/gen-petraeus-resigns-from-afghanistan.html

[click here] for:

Everything is Related - Sunday Update



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[click here] to go to most recent SRV blog posts, or click on top banner.



Text with video:
SvenVonErick | July 12, 2008 | likes, 0 dislikes

I ask him a question about 20 seconds in.

The topics of discussion are Phil Donahue's Documentary, "Body of War":
http://starkravingviking.blogspot.com...

Should Bush be arrested for being a war criminal and crimes against humanity?

What about Free Speech, a Free Press, the economy, and our youth not be unnecessarily harmed and killed?



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This blogger's email: stevengerickson AT Yahoo Dot Com

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Gen. Petraeus resigns from Afghanistan

Text with Below video:
RTAmerica | February 15, 2011 | likes, 1 dislikes

Gen. David Petraeus, the most celebrated American soldier of his generation, is to leave his post as commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, The (London) Times reported Tuesday. Investigative Journalist Wayne Madsen says Gen. Petraeus left Afghanistan in order to be the next Republican Presidential nominee, causing quite a stir in the race for President in 2012.





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Paul Craig Roberts on US Internet hypocrisy


Text with video:
RTAmerica | February 15, 2011 | likes, 2 dislikes

The Obama administration is trying to promote Internet freedom in countries like Iran that could be swept up by the same kind of political tumult that brought the regime in Egypt to its knees in a matter of weeks. But that is abroad, what about at home? Former Reagan Administration official Paul Craig Roberts says how does the US think it can be such a public hypocrite and have the whole world not notice!?

http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Shame-Of-Being-An-Amer-by-paul-craig-roberts-110215-364.html

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Gerald Celente on Obama's budget: "They're bankrupting the country!"


Text with video:

RTAmerica | February 15, 2011 | likes, 1 dislikes

The new US budget was revealed by President Obama calling for America to rebalance the global economy, stressing that the US cannot rely on foreign governments to finance domestic consumption. However, many point to Obama's inability to rein in spending, including Gerald Celente. He says the future will be more of the same; it's going to be more debt and placing the burden on the American people.



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[click here] for:

The Last Word on Overpopulation



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http://thesrv.blogspot.com/2010/01/anthrax-hoax.html

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Empire bases, US stretches its reach


Text with video:
RTAmerica | February 15, 2011 | likes, 3 dislikes

The United States Empire has hundreds, maybe thousands of military bases overseas and the number could continue to grow. When the US government continues to preach accountability and fiscal responsibility, should the US take some of their own advice? Author and Professor David Vine believes rather than bringing a base and economic prosperity to other countries, the US should spend the same billions of dollars campaign at home.



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http://thesrv.blogspot.com/2011/02/recovering-from-wikileaks-reforming.html

http://starkravingviking.blogspot.com/2010/08/federal-average-pay-123049-as-america.html

This blogger's email: stevengerickson AT yahoo Dot Com

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Saturday, February 12, 2011

Proof the Global Elite are out to kill us after ripping us off

Just under the New Hampshire coast in Massachusetts, there used to be lodging and entertainment for average people, near the ocean. The arcade, amusement park, and little beach houses for rent were all stolen from the people using Eminent Domain. Condos for the rich were built in there place. This is happening over and over, all over the US.

The elite are out to bar us from the most scenic and desirable locations. And charging us an arm and leg to visit what used to be ours. Trailer parks on the beach in the South are being torn down too. Are these people without rights that the rich can just take, tear down their homes, and displace them to what, are more and more, containment camps.

I am wondering what happened to the area that I, and Francis C. P. Knize, shot video of in Norwalk, Connecticut. If any of you reading this know, please email me at stevengerickson AT Yahoo Dot Com. Thank you.

Eminent Domain Citizen Abuse, Norwalk, CT


Text with video:
SvenVonErick | October 08, 2007 | likes, 0 dislikes

http://starkravingviking.blogspot.com...
CLICK HERE

Politicians and their connected, rich developer friends are scamming taxpayers nationwide. This man's story tells it all. Casey Onaitis of 4 Merwin St., Norwalk, CT 06850, doesn't deserve to be put out of his business. Such businesses should be passed on to family or others willing to honor traditions and honestly serving the public.

Casey's Sheet Metal Service, Inc., provides necessary custom sheet metal fabrication and other services Home Depot and other chains do not.

It is a plain shame that working people are being put out of business, put out of their homes, for a scam, a shell game.

Our heritage and history in the US is being torn down and average citizens are being ruined to make the rich richer at everyone's else's expense.

More information here:
http://starkravingviking.blogspot.com...



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Is the below video just more proof that the world corporate bankster elite are out to eliminate us after stealing all they can from us?

The World Bank, HIV/AIDS, & Fraud?


Text with video:
SvenVonErick | May 16, 2008 | likes, 1 dislikes

In Washington, DC, we had a national whistleblowers meeting on judicial misconduct, Stewart Mott House, Capitol Hill, 122 Maryland Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20002, May 15, 2008.

This is footage of the International portion involving banks, corporate executives, judges, law enforcement, and others claiming that they have judicial or sovereign immunity to be able to break laws, harm, and cause the death of people with no financial or criminal liability.

More information and video here:


http://judicialmisconduct.blogspot.co...

Part 2 of video:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=diizvo82Q5s

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Press release text from

3/19/2008
World Bank Action "Too Little, Too Late" to Correct HIV Corruption; Bank Uses CDC in Cover-Up
After nearly one year's delay, the World Bank announced last Thursday that it will further investigate disclosures involving the distribution of defective HIV/AIDS test kits, mass purchased as part of a health care project in India. GAP client Dr. Kunal Saha first informed the Bank's Department of Institutional Integrity (INT) of the use of the faulty kits in a draft report in May 2007. In the ensuing months, various World Bank officials have attempted to conceal the facts about the case, discredit Dr. Saha in both the US and India, and use the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) to cover-up fraud. Statements made by World Bank officials to the media last week about this issue were grossly misleading.

http://thesrv.blogspot.com/2008/05/wo...

"Whistle blower DC conference"

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Take Back America w/ Grand Juries


Text with video:
SvenVonErick | June 07, 2008 | likes, 0 dislikes

More info, CLICK:
http://starkravingviking.blogspot.com...

Nancy Lazaryan speaks with her co-host, from many public access broadcasts, that they have done together out of the Minneapolis, Minnesota area.

This or other video clips might be used in our "In the Interests of Justice" documentary series co-produced by Steven G. Erickson and Francis C. P. Knize.


keywords: NCMR the national conference for media reform 2008 June 6 -8 Minneapolis Minnesota MN Dan Rather Amy Goodman Phil Donahue Body of War Bill Moyers Arianna Huffington Post independent media backpack journalists documentary producers Bill O'Reilly Factor Fox News

Other videos on liveleak:
http://www.liveleak.com/user/SvenVonE...



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http://starkravingviking.blogspot.com/2011/02/is-egypt-wake-up-call-for-us-gov.html


http://starkravingviking.blogspot.com/2010/07/catch-and-release-cia-drug-smuggling.html

Steven G. Erickson's core complaints with the State of Connecticut, Police Misconduct, Judicial Misconduct, Public Corruption, Police Brutality, and living in a US Police State post 9-11:
http://judicialmisconduct.blogspot.com/2010/01/ethics-complaint.html

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Math - Archie Bunker Style

Special Interest getting US Government Censorship of Art

Art deemed too offensive for DC


Text with video:
RTAmerica | February 11, 2011 | likes, 9 dislikes

A video called offensive by conservative groups is taken out of an exhibition on display at the National Portrait Gallery. It is one incident of many in which DC lawmakers have found cause to censor art, despite the First Amendment.

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http://thegetjusticecoalition.blogspot.com/2011/02/do-we-get-representation-for-our.html

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Friday, February 11, 2011

Is Alex Jones advocating the overthrow of the US Government?

Is the Answer to 1984, 1776?

Text with video:
TheAlexJonesChannel | February 10, 2011 | likes, 14 dislikes

http://www.youtube.com/user/fosterlaff





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http://starkravingviking.blogspot.com/2011/02/celebrating-drug-lords-100th-birthday.html

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Taxpayers Getting Railroaded — Big Labor gets the Dough

The below re-posted [from here]

The Obama Administration is championing the construction and subsidization of Amtrak and high speed railroad. Not surprisingly, Big Labor is a big beneficiary of the scheme through the implementation of Project Labor Agreements that drive up the cost of construction by nearly 25% — in order to payoff the union bosses. Michelle Malkin looks at the key players that will send billions of taxpayer dollars down the tracks.

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Click image to make larger



Post with graph [found here]

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Excerpt:

Anti-union measure draws a crowd and criticism from the corner office.

Debates over right to work laws in NH have a ritual quality. There are warring statistics:

“Private sector employment grew inby 9.1 percent in right-to-work states, compared to just 3.6 percent in non-right-to-work states.”

“In the states with the ten lowest per capita incomes, right-to-work states occupy six of the top ten positions.”

And there are diametrically opposed views of union-negotiated contracts:

“That price should be shared by all employees in the workplace who enjoy the fruits of the collective bargaining agreement.”

“I am not a collectivist. I fight my own battles. I don’t need anybody to do that for me.”

Specifically, this right-to-work measure would put an end to requiring non-union employees to pay a share of the costs of collective bargaining. Such laws are on the books in 22 states, mostly in the south and Midwest. No state has gone right to work in a decade. But bills are now pending in about a dozen states, and may even be taken up in such traditional union strongholds as Ohio and Michigan. The outlook for the measure here is far from certain. With 3 to 1 Republican majorities in both chambers, chances of passage may be as good as they’ve been since 1947. That’s the year NH enacted right to work, only to repeal it two years later. Dick Bouley, who’s lobbied for the Teamsters since 1985, says things this year are touch and go.

“I think it’s a problem, no question. They have more supporters in the house. I feel very strongly the Governor will veto it should it pass, but I think it’s our job to get the best vote we can.”

And Bouley may be right about the Governor. Lynch has already written the labor committee to register his opposition to right to work. But he stopped short of promising a veto. It’s unclear how Lynch’s posture might affect the vote. What seems certain though, is that if the bill emerges from the house with anything close to a veto-proof majority, the lobbying effort -- to say nothing of the already hot rhetoric --

“This is extortion and it has to stop. “

“This is a hammer and it’s a hammer that doesn’t even hit the nail on the head.”

will only intensify. [source]




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This blogger's email: stevengerickson AT yahoo Dot Com

http://judicialmisconduct.blogspot.com/2011/02/us-president-george-w-bush-fearing.html

http://starkravingviking.blogspot.com/2009/12/government-goon-unions.html

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Saturday, February 05, 2011

Ronald Reagan C-SPAN 100th Birthday Airing

I am currently watching C-SPAN. What was aired Thursday is being re-aired.

Senator Orin Hatch from Utah was talking about General Electric and other Ronald Reagan nostalgia. It was blatant Republican propaganda, equal to the crap the Democrats spew.

It is amazing what is being said is so far from reality. If you were alive, paid attention, and knew how to decipher what is really being said when "the news" is aired. Cocaine being brought into the US by CIA and Military transport is Ronald Reagan. Word Search "Iran Contra Cocaine" not in quotes.

Richard "Dick" Cheney is as disgusting a human being as is possible in my opinion. Did Cheney make 9 billion dollars from his war corporation stock options while Vice President? If so, we know what type of crap was perpetrated and know it is still being perpetrated under Obama.

Dick Cheney can say all he wants about US President Jimmy Carter, but Carter hadn't sold his soul and the CIA, FBI, NSA, and the Military Industrial Complex couldn't operate as it had. Carter couldn't be bribed and was a truly decent human being. This blogger didn't appreciate him at the time, was leaning Republican, and believes that one can change their minds when presented with facts.

I believe Ronald Reagan was nothing more than a war and drug lord. He helped usher in the George H. W. Bush CIA dominance of the world, more so, than anytime in previous history. So now we've got what we have.

Now the US is under [armed occupation].


Treason: Obama Shuts Down Power Plants Coast to Coast


Text with video:
TheAlexJonesChannel | February 05, 2011 | likes, 24 dislikes

http://www.prisonplanet.com/fury-buil...

Fury is building over rolling nationwide blackouts triggered by the Obama administration's deliberate agenda to block the construction of new coal-fired plants, as local energy companies struggle to meet Americans' power demands amidst some of the coldest weather seen in decades.

- As we reported yesterday, four hospitals in Texas reacted furiously after they were hit with planned outages despite being promised they would be spared even as power to Super Bowl venues remains uninterrupted.

- Thousands in New Mexico have been left without natural gas as Gov. Susana Martinez on Thursday declared a state of emergency. "Due to statewide natural gas shortages, I have ordered all government agencies that do not provide essential services to shut down and all nonessential employees to stay home" on Friday, Martinez said after meeting with public safety personnel in Albuquerque," reports the Associated Press.

- Borderland residents have been asked to limit their use of natural gas as the Texas Gas Service asks that larger commercial facilities voluntarily close their doors to save supplies.

- People in Tucson have been asked to limit their use of hot water and moderate their thermostat levels to save on energy.

- Shortages of natural gas in San Diego County has forced utility companies to "cut or reduce the gas supplied to some of their largest commercial and industrial customers," reports North County Times.

- In El Paso, "Hundreds of thousands of electricity customers continue to face periodic blackouts, and nearly 900 gas customers still have no heat," reports the El Paso Times, with El Paso Electric resorting to using generators in a struggle to meet demand while still having to implement forced outages.

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The below found
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB2/nsaebb2.htm


An August, 1996, series in the San Jose Mercury News by reporter Gary Webb linked the origins of crack cocaine in California to the contras, a guerrilla force backed by the Reagan administration that attacked Nicaragua's Sandinista government during the 1980s. Webb's series, "The Dark Alliance," has been the subject of intense media debate, and has focused attention on a foreign policy drug scandal that leaves many questions unanswered.

This electronic briefing book is compiled from declassified documents obtained by the National Security Archive, including the notebooks kept by NSC aide and Iran-contra figure Oliver North, electronic mail messages written by high-ranking Reagan administration officials, memos detailing the contra war effort, and FBI and DEA reports. The documents demonstrate official knowledge of drug operations, and collaboration with and protection of known drug traffickers. Court and hearing transcripts are also included.

Special thanks to the Arca Foundation, the Ruth Mott Fund, the Samuel Rubin Foundation, and the Fund for Constitutional Government for their support.




The National Security Archive obtained the hand-written notebooks of Oliver North, the National Security Council aide who helped run the contra war and other Reagan administration covert operations, through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed in 1989. The notebooks, as well as declassified memos sent to North, record that North was repeatedly informed of contra ties to drug trafficking.

In his entry for August 9, 1985, North summarizes a meeting with Robert Owen ("Rob"), his liaison with the contras. They discuss a plane used by Mario Calero, brother of Adolfo Calero, head of the FDN, to transport supplies from New Orleans to contras in Honduras. North writes: "Honduran DC-6 which is being used for runs out of New Orleans is probably being used for drug runs into U.S." As Lorraine Adams reported in the October 22, 1994 Washington Post, there are no records that corroborate North's later assertion that he passed this intelligence on drug trafficking to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

In a July 12, 1985 entry, North noted a call from retired Air Force general Richard Secord in which the two discussed a Honduran arms warehouse from which the contras planned to purchase weapons. (The contras did eventually buy the arms, using money the Reagan administration secretly raised from Saudi Arabia.) According to the notebook, Secord told North that "14 M to finance [the arms in the warehouse] came from drugs."

An April 1, 1985 memo from Robert Owen (code-name: "T.C." for "The Courier") to Oliver North (code-name: "The Hammer") describes contra operations on the Southern Front. Owen tells North that FDN leader Adolfo Calero (code-name: "Sparkplug") has picked a new Southern Front commander, one of the former captains to Eden Pastora who has been paid to defect to the FDN. Owen reports that the officials in the new Southern Front FDN units include "people who are questionable because of past indiscretions," such as José Robelo, who is believed to have "potential involvement with drug running" and Sebastian Gonzalez, who is "now involved in drug running out of Panama."

On February 10, 1986, Owen ("TC") wrote North (this time as "BG," for "Blood and Guts") regarding a plane being used to carry "humanitarian aid" to the contras that was previously used to transport drugs. The plane belongs to the Miami-based company Vortex, which is run by Michael Palmer, one of the largest marijuana traffickers in the United States. Despite Palmer's long history of drug smuggling, which would soon lead to a Michigan indictment on drug charges, Palmer receives over $300,000.00 from the Nicaraguan Humanitarian Aid Office (NHAO) -- an office overseen by Oliver North, Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs Elliott Abrams, and CIA officer Alan Fiers -- to ferry supplies to the contras.

State Department contracts from February 1986 detail Palmer's work to transport material to the contras on behalf of the NHAO.




In 1987, the Senate Subcommittee on Narcotics, Terrorism and International Operations, led by Senator John Kerry, launched an investigation of allegations arising from reports, more than a decade ago, of contra-drug links. One of the incidents examined by the "Kerry Committee" was an effort to divert drug money from a counternarcotics operation to the contra war.

On July 28, 1988, two DEA agents testified before the House Subcommittee on Crime regarding a sting operation conducted against the Medellin Cartel. The two agents said that in 1985 Oliver North had wanted to take $1.5 million in Cartel bribe money that was carried by a DEA informant and give it to the contras. DEA officials rejected the idea.

The Kerry Committee report concluded that "senior U.S. policy makers were not immune to the idea that drug money was a perfect solution to the Contras' funding problems."




Manuel Noriega

In June, 1986, the New York Times published articles detailing years of Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega's collaboration with Colombian drug traffickers. Reporter Seymour Hersh wrote that Noriega "is extensively involved in illicit money laundering and drug activities," and that an unnamed White House official "said the most significant drug running in Panama was being directed by General Noriega." In August, Noriega, a long-standing U.S. intelligence asset, sent an emissary to Washington to seek assistance from the Reagan administration in rehabilitating his drug-stained reputation.

Oliver North, who met with Noriega's representative, described the meeting in an August 23, 1986 e-mail message to Reagan national security advisor John Poindexter. "You will recall that over the years Manuel Noriega in Panama and I have developed a fairly good relationship," North writes before explaining Noriega's proposal. If U.S. officials can "help clean up his image" and lift the ban on arms sales to the Panamanian Defense Force, Noriega will "'take care of' the Sandinista leadership for us."

North tells Poindexter that Noriega can assist with sabotage against the Sandinistas, and suggests paying Noriega a million dollars -- from "Project Democracy" funds raised from the sale of U.S. arms to Iran -- for the Panamanian leader's help in destroying Nicaraguan economic installations.

The same day Poindexter responds with an e-mail message authorizing North to meet secretly with Noriega. "I have nothing against him other than his illegal activities," Poindexter writes.

On the following day, August 24, North's notebook records a meeting with CIA official Duane "Dewey" Clarridge on Noriega's overture. They decided, according to this entry, to "send word back to Noriega to meet in Europe or Israel."

The CIA's Alan Fiers later recalls North's involvement with the Noriega sabotage proposal. In testimony at the 1992 trial of former CIA official Clair George, Fiers describes North's plan as it was discussed at a meeting of the Reagan administration's Restricted Interagency Group: "[North] made a very strong suggestion that . . . there needed to be a resistance presence in the western part of Nicaragua, where the resistance did not operate. And he said, 'I can arrange to have General Noriega execute some insurgent -- some operations there -- sabotage operations in that area. It will cost us about $1 million. Do we want to do it?' And there was significant silence at the table. And then I recall I said, 'No. We don't want to do that.'"

Senior officials ignored Fiers' opinion. On September 20, North informed Poindexter via e-mail that "Noriega wants to meet me in London" and that both Elliott Abrams and Secretary of State George Shultz support the initiative. Two days later, Poindexter authorized the North/Noriega meeting.

North's notebook lists details of his meeting with Noriega, which took place in a London hotel on September 22. According to the notes, the two discussed developing a commando training program in Panama, with Israeli support, for the contras and Afghani rebels. They also spoke of sabotaging major economic targets in the Managua area, including an airport, an oil refinery, and electric and telephone systems. (These plans were apparently aborted when the Iran-Contra scandal broke in November 1986.)




José Bueso Rosa

Reagan administration officials interceded on behalf of José Bueso Rosa, a Honduran general who was heavily involved with the CIA's contra operations and faced trial for his role in a massive drug shipment to the United States. In 1984 Bueso and co-conspirators hatched a plan to assassinate Honduran President Roberto Suazo Córdoba; the plot was to be financed with a $40 million cocaine shipment to the United States, which the FBI intercepted in Florida.

Declassified e-mail messages indicate that Oliver North led the behind-the-scenes effort to seek leniency for Bueso . The messages record the efforts of U.S. officials to "cabal quietly" to get Bueso off the hook, be it by "pardon, clemency, deportation, [or] reduced sentence." Eventually they succeeded in getting Bueso a short sentence in "Club Fed," a white collar prison in Florida.

The Kerry Committee report reviewed the case, and noted that the man Reagan officials aided was involved in a conspiracy that the Justice Department deemed the "most significant case of narco-terrorism yet discovered."




In February 1987 a contra sympathizer in California told the FBI he believed FDN officials were involved in the drug trade. Dennis Ainsworth, a Berkeley-based conservative activist who had supported the contra cause for years, gave a lengthy description of his suspicions to FBI agents. The bureau's debriefing says that Ainsworth agreed to be interviewed because "he has certain information in which he believes the Nicaraguan 'Contra' organization known as FDN (Frente Democrático Nacional) has become more involved in selling arms and cocaine for personal gain than in a military effort to overthrow the current Nicaraguan Sandinista Government." Ainsworth informed the FBI of his extensive contacts with various contra leaders and backers, and explained the basis for his belief that members of the FDN were trafficking in drugs.

A DEA report of February 6, 1984 indicates that a central figure in the San Jose Mercury News series was being tracked by U.S. law enforcement officials as early as 1976, when a DEA agent "identified Norwin MENESES-Canterero as a cocaine source of supply in Managua, Nicaragua." Meneses, an associate of dictator Anastasio Somoza who moved to California after the Nicaraguan revolution in 1979, was an FDN backer and large-scale cocaine trafficker.




On October 31, 1996, the Washington Post ran a follow up story to the San Jose Mercury News series titled "CIA, Contras and Drugs: Questions on Links Linger." The story drew on court testimony in 1990 of Fabio Ernesto Carrasco, a pilot for a major Columbian drug smuggler named George Morales. As a witness in a drug trial, Carrasco testified that in 1984 and 1985, he piloted planes loaded with weapons for contras operating in Costa Rica. The weapons were offloaded, and then drugs stored in military bags were put on the planes which flew to the United States. "I participated in two [flights] which involved weapons and cocaine at the same time," he told the court.

Carrasco also testified that Morales provided "several million dollars" to Octaviano Cesar and Adolfo "Popo" Chamorro, two rebel leaders working with the head of the contras' southern front, Eden Pastora. The Washington Post reported that Chamorro said he had called his CIA control officer to ask if the contras could accept money and arms from Morales, who was at the time under indictment for cocaine smuggling. "They said [Morales] was fine," Chamorro told the Post.




Peter Kornbluh's Testimony at California Congressional Inquiry (19 October 1996)

"Crack, Contras, and the CIA: The Storm Over 'Dark Alliance,'" from Columbia Journalism Review (January/February 1997)

"CIA's Challenge in South Central," from the Los Angeles Times (15 November 1996)

"The Paper Trail to the Top," from the Baltimore Sun (17 November 1996)

White House E-Mail: The Top Secret Computer Messages the Reagan/Bush White House Tried to Destroy

The Iran-Contra Scandal: the Declassified History



The National Security Archive,
The Gelman Library, George Washington University
2130 H Street, NW, Suite 701, Washington, DC 20037
Phone: 202-994-7000 / Fax: 202-994-7005
Internet: nsarchiv@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu


* * * *

American Cities Go Bust


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RTAmerica | February 04, 2011 | likes, 5 dislikes

Overdrawn American cities could face financial collapse in 2011, defaulting on hundreds of billions of dollars of borrowings and derailing the US economic recovery. But as cities are choosing between devastation and default, analysts say really it's about the fall of American cities and the coming collapse of the union.


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