Can Americans Escape the Deception?

via: ActivistPost
by: Paul Craig Roberts
July 4, 2012

Hot Air Day is upon us. On July 4 hot air will spew forth all over the country as dignitaries deliver homilies to our “freedom and democracy” and praise “our brave troops” who are protecting our freedom by “killing them over there before they come over here.”

Not a single one of these speeches will contain one word of truth. No speaker will lament the death of the US Constitution or urge his audience to action to restore the only document that protects their liberty.

No speaker will acknowledge that in the 21st century the Bush/Obama Regime, with the complicity of the Department of Justice, federal courts, Congress, presstitute media, law schools, bar associations, and an insouciant public have murdered the Constitution in the name of the “war on terror.”

As in medieval times, American citizens can be thrown into dungeons and never accounted for. No evidence or charges need be presented to a court. No trial is required, and no conviction.

As in tyrannies, US citizens can be executed at the sole discretion of the despot in the Oval Office, who sits there drawing up lists of people to be murdered.

Protestors exercising their constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom of speech and freedom of association are attacked by armed police, beaten, tasered, tear-gassed, pepper sprayed, and arrested.

Whistleblowers who report the government’s crimes are prosecuted despite the statute that protects them.

US soldier Bradley Manning, who allegedly gave Wikileaks the documents revealing US war crimes, including the video of US soldiers in a helicopter gunship enjoying themselves murdering civilians walking along the street as if the soldiers were playing a video game, has been arrested and held in conditions of torture while the government tries to invent a case against him.

According to the US Military Code, US soldiers are required to make war crimes known. However, the law on the books provided no protection to Bradley Manning, and conservative Republicans whom I know are foaming at the mouth for Manning to be executed for letting out the truth.

The truth, what is mere truth compared to the “exceptionalism of the great american people”? America has carte blanche to do whatever it wishes to the unexceptional peoples. Manning deserves to die, they say, because he took the side of the oppressed and not the side of the amerikan oppressors.

After the Swedish prosecutorial office dropped the case against Wikileaks’ JulianAssange, ruling that the charges of rape had no foundation, another prosecutor, many believe at the urging of the US government, demanded Assange be extradited from England in order to be questioned.

Normally, extradition only applies to those who have been charged with a crime and for whom a warrant has been issued, which is most certainly not the case with Assange. But, of course, if Washington wants Assange, Washington will be sure every law is broken or bent until they get him. The Swedish puppet will do the exceptional country’s will and be paid well for its service.

Peace activists in several states had their homes invaded by FBI, computers and personal records taken, and a grand jury was convened in an attempt to indict them for supporting terrorism by their protests of Washington’s illegal wars, wars that are war crimes under the Nuremberg standard established by the US government itself.

Continue Reading At: ActivistPost.com 

Economic collapse in Greece is finally sinking into the consciousness of its citizens

via: NaturalNews
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
By: J. D. Heyes

[NaturalNews] Greek citizens may have narrowly avoided an economic catastrophe following a vote this week to remain with the euro, the fact that their country is slipping further towards a financial abyss is becoming more ingrained in their psyche.

On Sunday voters narrowly elected a center-right New Democracy Party to take the reins of power in a country that, besieged by debt and teetering on the brink of insolvency, is literally in chaos. For months now, Greece has only managed to exist, not thrive, as successive bailouts of its government by the European Central Bank (led mostly by German efforts and money) have kept Athens from tumbling headlong over an economic cliff that, frankly, its leaders should have seen coming years ago.

Even now the bailouts – once gratefully considered a lifeline – are now being panned by vast numbers of Greek leaders and citizens who abhor the fact that the money is flowing with so many strings attached. Mindful of Greece’s expensive social benefits packages for government workers and citizens alike, those who are forking over euros by the billions have only done so by insisting Athens accept some of the most restrictive austerity measures ever imposed on a government.

Those measures, more than anything, have led to Greece’s current crisis. And that’s what Sunday’s vote was about: Forging ahead as best as possible while accepting the mandatory cuts to pay and benefits, no matter how painful they are, or reject them out of hand, ditch the euro and start printing drachmas again which, according to scores of economists, would have almost instantly created a situation of hyper-inflation in Greece or hyper-devaluation of the “new” currency or more likely, both.

‘Last days of Pompeii’

Sunday’s vote – for now – removes that contingency. But there is still plenty of angst in Greece to go around. And though much, much too late, ordinary Greeks are finally seeing the whole picture. And to most Greeks, that picture is grim.

“It’s the last days of Pompeii,” Aris Chatzistefanou, a co-director of “Debtocracy,” a provocative 2011 documentary about the Greek crisis, told CNBC last week.

Life in the capital has come virtually to a standstill. The streets are less congested, sure, but because few can afford to drive. And while less trash goes to the landfill, it’s because people are consuming less because they have to.

Giorgos, a 27-year-old economics major who did not want to reveal his last name, told CNBC the sense of uncertainty is palpable.

“There is a depression in the Greek people, in all my friends,” he said, adding he has even ditched plans to open a frozen yogurt shop. “They keep saying: ‘I can’t take it. There’s depression about our jobs, depression on the news, depression about the economic situation, depression in our family, depression and fighting among friends.’”

Nothing good in the cradle of modern democracy

Fighting is right. The Financial Times reports that violence, hate, polarization, fear, resignation and despair are rife across the country. It’s so bad, in fact, that the country is developing the same characteristics of the German republic in the early 1930s, before Adolph Hitler rose to power.

“Despite the narrow victory of a centrist party in Sunday’s vote, almost every day extremist violence breaks out in Athens and beyond,” FT reported. “Neo-nazis against immigrants, anarchists and leftists. Anarchists, ultra-leftists and other fringe groups of the nationalist-populist camp against riot police, mainstream politicians, journalists, liberal intellectuals, even artists. Add to this a surge in crime and rising tolerance of violence and you have a clearer picture of today’s Athens.”

A great many of Greek parliamentarians, in fact, seem to idolize some of the great butchers of the 20th century – Hitler, Mao, Stalin and, to a lesser extent, Castro.

But what to expect from a nation once patronized by the UK and then the U.S. after World War II, that used its economic success to create one of Europe’s biggest welfare states, dominated by special interests and corrupt cronyism and that epitomizes huge debts made possible by too many promises. Sound familiar?

No, the situation is not good in the cradle of modern democracy.

Source: NaturalNews.com

Citizens organize rally to defend raw dairy farmer facing three years in prison

Natural News
Thursday, March 01, 2012
By: Ethan A. Huff

[NaturalNews] Wisconsin raw dairy farmer Vernon Hershberger has had it tough, as government tyrants in the Dairy State have repeatedly targeted him for legally supplying raw milk and other farm-fresh foods to members of a private buying club, for which he now faces a potential three-year prison term and more than $10,000 in fines. In his defense, a group of food sovereignty advocates will be holding a rally on March 2 at the Sauk County Courthouse in Baraboo, Wisc., where he is set to appear for a court hearing.

The Wisconsin Department of Agricultural Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) remains under the false assumption that it has the authority to restrict Hershberger from distributing raw milk and other raw dairy products to individuals in his community who want these items. This bloated bureaucracy has arbitrarily decided that such distribution is the equivalent of retail sales, and has proceeded to harass and tyrannize Hershberger and his family throughout the past several years, which has culminated into his arrest and upcoming trial (http://www.naturalnews.com).

So beginning at 11:00 am on the front steps of the courthouse on March 2, food freedom activists will respond to this government abuse by distributing Declaration of Food Independence pamphlets to passersby and event attendees that explains how humanity’s God-given right to food sovereignty is not a government matter. Various members of Hershberger’s buying club will also speak to the crowd about food freedom issues.

“The FDA reign of terror against family farms who are serving the needs of private buying clubs is culminating in one Wisconsin farmer facing federal charges,” said Kimberly Hartke from the Weston A. Price Foundation. “Citizens deserve the freedom to choose, and are staging an event in support of this principled farmer, Vernon Hershberger. He is being dealt with unjustly, and is standing strong with the support of the families he serves” (http://hartkeisonline.com/).

Prior to the main event, there will be a “Rights Workshop” featuring raw milk activist Max Kane; Canadian farmer and raw milk speaker Michael Schmidt; food freedom activist John Moody; author and blogger David Gumpert; dairy farmer and speaker Mel Olsen; Raw Milk Freedom Riders and Farm Food Freedom Coalition co-founder Liz Reitzip; and freedom activist and constitutional scholar Michael Badnarik. Following the workshop will be a farm food dinner.

To learn more about the Vernon Hershberger rally, visit:
http://rawmilkfreedomriders.wordpress.com/

Source: NaturalNews.com

FEMA Puts Out Contract For Emergency Camps to House “Displaced Citizens”

Solicitation calls for camps to be ready for occupancy within 72 hours

InfoWars
Paul Joseph Watson
Monday, February 27, 2012

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is looking for contractors to construct temporary emergency camps inside the United States which can be ready for occupancy within a 72 hour time period and used to house emergency responders as well as “displaced citizens”.

The National Responder Support Camp contract, posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website, calls on contractors to “provide all necessary supervision, professional staff, labor support, material, supplies and equipment as necessary to make a RSC within a disaster-impacted area anywhere within the CONUS (Continental United States) within 72 hours after notification.”

The camps are primarily designed to house emergency responders, but will also be utilized to shelter “displaced citizens,” who will be “given the first opportunities for employment within the camp,” according to the solicitation. The camps will be able to service up to 2,000 people at one time.

As well as natural disasters, the 72-hour camps are designed to deal with terrorist attacks, National Response Framework activities of federal agencies, National Special Security Events, “or any other situation where FEMA or an agency working through FEMA needs a RSC.”

The camps will be secured with fencing and barricades that will also serve to create areas that are “off limits” to certain occupants. Entry to the camp will be controlled through a photo ID system for all occupants and visitors.

Medical treatment facilities, dining facilities, mobile showers and “morale welfare and recreation” facilities are all required as part of the contract.

FEMA’s latest efforts to satisfy the demand for emergency camps represents a continuation of preparations on behalf of the federal government to prepare for civil emergencies and potential social disorder.

Last December, Department of Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano directed ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to prepare for a mass influx of immigrants into the United States, calling for the plan to deal with the “shelter” and “processing” of large numbers of people.

In 2006, Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root was contracted by Homeland Security to build detention centers designed to deal with “an emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S,” or the rapid development of unspecified “new programs” that would require large numbers of people to be interned.

Last year we received a leaked memofrom a state government employee detailing KBR’s efforts to hire subcontractors to provide services required for temporary “emergency environment” camps located in five regions of the United States, indicating that many of the camps have now been constructed and are ready for use.

The construction of new detention camps inside the United States has provoked fears that the facilities could also be used to intern American citizens in the aftermath of a national emergency.

Rex 84, short for Readiness Exercise 1984, was established under the pretext of a “mass exodus” of illegal aliens crossing the Mexican/US border, the same pretense used in the language of the KBR request for services.

During the Iran-Contra hearings in 1987, however, it was revealed that the program was a secretive “scenario and drill” developed by the federal government to suspend the Constitution, declare martial law, assign military commanders to take over state and local governments, and detain large numbers of American citizens determined by the government to be “national security threats.”

A provision within the National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law by President Obama on New Years Eve, hands the government power to have American citizens arrested and detained without trial.

 

Utah Lawmakers Urge Congress to Repeal ‘Indefinite Detention’ Law

InfoWars
Paul Joseph Watson
Monday, February 27, 2012

Utah has become the latest state to revolt against the indefinite detention provision of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), introducing a resolution urging Congress to repeal the law that allows Americans to be incarcerated without trial.

Following in the footsteps of Virginia, which earlier this month passed a House bill that codifies noncompliance with the “kidnapping provisions” of section 1021 and 1022 of the NDAA, the resolution “expresses disapproval” of the same provisions, noting that they serve to “violate a right guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Utah Constitution.”

“Be it further resolved that the Legislature of the State of Utah, the Governor concurring therein, urges the United States Congress to repeal or clarify Sections 1021 and 1022 of the 2012 NDAA to protect the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and Utah Constitution,” states the resolution (PDF).

The NDAA bill, which was signed into law by President Obama under the radar on New Years Eve while he was on vacation in Kailua, hands the government power to “allow the military to indefinitely detain terror suspects, including American citizens arrested in the United States, without charge.”

Republican Senator Todd Weiler, the chief sponsor of the resolution, fears the indefinite detention provisions of the bill could be used against American citizens just as the Patriot Act has been used against non-terrorists, telling the Salt Lake Tribune, “I have a legitimate fear this National Defense Authorization law will do the same thing.”

Emphasizing how opposition to the indefinite detention provisions of the NDAA crosses partisan lines, both the American Civil Liberties Union and the conservative Utah Eagle Forum expressed their support for the resolution.

“Our concern is in the definition of ‘terrorist,’ ” the Eagle’s Forum’s Dalane England told the Salt Lake Tribune. “Our current administration has already called people pushing back against the current administration terrorists.”

Indeed, under the Obama administration, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the National Counterterrorism Center have jointly identified those described as “homegrown violent extremists” by characterizing criticism of government as an indication of terrorism.

In all 62 of the cases reviewed by those agencies recently, such “homegrown terrorists” were found to have “increasingly spoke out against the government” and “blamed the government for perceived problems”.

Despite Obama’s signing statement claiming he would not use the bill to detain American citizens without trial, it was the administration itself which demanded the ‘kidnapping’ provisions apply to US citizens and not merely foreign terrorists.

The anti-NDAA resolution, which is currently making its way through the Utah House, could be the precursor for a binding legislation along similar lines to the bill passed in Virginia.

According to the Tenth Amendment Center, which has been tracking the nationwide revolt against the NDAA, a total of nine states have now introduced resolutions or bills in opposition to the indefinite detention of American citizens.

Source: InfoWars.com