A little more than 2000 days later

In a world that seems to be spiraling out of control it is hard to nail down one solution or one area that could be addressed to stop the full bleed out. The Iraq war will not end and the President is opening small cracks in the door of the plans set out by the powers that be. Socially our nation is getting closer to the full split with everyone at each other’s throats because of race or religion or ethnicity. We have a daily dose of fear and we can’t find the energy to shrug it off and laugh at the people who force feed us with that tactic.

Just looking at the economic situation is enough to make the hair stand on end. Washington Mutual bank has now claimed that the housing market is in a “Near perfect storm” as one financial institution after another sounds warning sirens over the current state of the economy. The worst is yet to come and I am not certain if even the masters of this system are even in control of what will happen. When the brightest economists say they don’t know what will happen, it’s a sign we should hang on.

At this point the only optimism we can afford is the occasional “feel good story” on the evening news but even those are tainted by dark and disturbing circumstances that result in a feel good story. Finding our way through the lies and deceit of our leaders is becoming even more difficult as they no longer attempt to cover their tracks. They even swear up and down that the new bin Laden videotape is who they say he is even though the man seen in the video is obviously not bin Laden. They have pulled this trick on us before with fake OBLs who are right handed as well.

Our boogy man, our haint, our campfire story of men with hooks for hands are the creatures our leaders give to us. A generation ago it was the evil empire of communists. Two generations ago it was the Godless communists and civil rights “instigators”. Three generations ago it was, for Americans, the entire outside world, with Europe festering and Japan stomping across Asia like a machine. We are fed fear from all fronts, all the time and it’s no wonder we react the way we do.

The timing of these scares and events is always convenient for the real and puppet leaders of this country. Between the last week of August and this week, the 6th anniversary of the 911 attacks we have seen the resignation of the worst attorney general in US history. The sex scandal engulfing a senior US Senator, the release of a book that catches our President in full bald faced lies regarding the future of the Iraq war. A new OBL tape has been released and the General who is overseeing the Iraq debacle is in Washington this week to report on the status of Iraq, except he has no report.

You can rest assured that the teat suckling beasts of General Dynamics, Lockheed and every other defense contractor is out in full force too, with their lobbyists, to prod and poke Congress into seeing things their way over the so-called Global War on Terrorism. Same with the numerous private contractors like McNeil Technologies, who are making billions on their “work” in Iraq. There is still wealth and power to grab from the deserts of the Middle East for them to let it go now.

The mechanisms of war and the bottom feeders that grease the gears and supply fuel to the engines of war do not turn off so easily. The open door and blank check were laid out immediately after the 911 attacks. We are told to shut up when we dissent to the atrocities done in our name and we are targeted as un-American when we point out the reality of the situation. Words like love, understanding and compassion become the vulgar and mockable descriptions for supposed left-wing kooks who are just touchy feely freaks. You cannot even say enough is enough without being labeled, red flagged and spied upon.

Americans seem to be slowly waking from their sleep of fear but there is still a long way to go. The beast has grown to a size that is almost unimaginable and the mountain that needs to be climbed to bring this beast under control seems insurmountable. On this day before the 911 attacks, a day that we should be angry, life seems to be going on with less attention to the bigger picture than what we are giving to the smaller things. We fail to focus on the bigger forest because the trees we are looking at in the small corner of the woods are the only ones on fire.

A new day, a new spy program and another massive database to write a DTS package for.

Never be foolish enough to think that just because the feds say they are shutting down a controversial program that it means an evil entity has gone away. Take this recent piece of news from the Pentagon. The DoD has announced that it will shut down an anti-terrorist database that was associated with the TALON program. This database was criticized widely because among it’s targets were peaceful anti-war demonstrators such as the Quaker group, American Friends Service Committee.

This database isn’t simply going away, as it should be. In a perfect world the Pentagon would see the error in it’s ways of spying on the citizens they provide protection for and delete the whole database and destroy the backups, with stern warnings in place to never repeat such an awful crime against it’s own citizens. This is not the case. The DoD will simply turn the database over to the FBI to be integrated with their database system known as Guardian.

First of all we have the issue of our own military spying on, and most likely running counter-intelligence operations against it’s own citizens. Second, will the FBI weigh the DoD data after running it through many matrix’ and filtering processes? You and I know they will never do that. They’ll just import the data and be off on their fat happy way. God only knows how many alerts will be generated once they pull in the new data.

This doesn’t mean the DoD is done with you and I either. The Pentagon has said they have a new system, not necessarily a database, which will streamline their “threat reporting.” This makes me wonder how much of Poindexter’s TIA system is accessible to the DoD. Isn’t it wonderful to know that we throw insane amounts of money at the DoD so they will spy on you and I and call all of us a threat?

For the final slap in the face, a faceless Army officer speaking for the Pentagon said that the TALON database isn’t being shutdown because of “public criticism of how it was used.” That is a nice way of saying the public’s anger at such a program as TALON wasn’t something the DoD gave a fuck about. Sometimes I think the Pentagon and all the demonic generals and admirals who suck at the teat of our taxes will be delighted to turn their weapons on us.

Another day, another spy program.

Concentric rings of power

What could we expect if martial law were declared on a national scale in America? How would we react, how would it affect our lives and what could we expect on the street and cyberspace level? I’m thinking about these questions much more since the White House and the Department of Homeland Security recently denied a request by Congressman Peter DeFazio to view the secret plans already drawn up in case of a national emergency in a terrorist attack.

From looking at the way 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and major political events have been handled over the past six years I think we can draw several conclusions: 1) Restrictions would have an hierarchal structure in terms of location and the type of restrictions put into place. 2) The presence of government officials and armed forces (police, civilian or military) would be focused to specific locations. 3) Those not in the immediate area of focus would notice very little outward change in their lives and would be accepting of how it affected the few arenas of their lives; while those directly affected would see a significant change in their day to day lifestyle. 4) The media blackout would be extraordinary.

Let’s take a hypothetical situation where two major US cities are targeted and go from there. City A and City B suffer a man-made catastrophe and the top levels of government declare a national state of emergency. Martial law is declared throughout the United States and all of it’s territories. The exact nature of the catastrophe would be irrelevant, the focus of government response would not be assisting the victims and public at large, the focus would be on the consolidation of power and exerting control over the population.

The first step would be controlling all forms of communication in the US and it’s territories. This would mean the seizure of broadcast news in radio and television. All print media would fall into this aegis therefore all newspapers and magazines would be controlled by the government. Our electronic media would also need to be controlled and this is where it gets tricky.

To control the website content of corporate news organization would not be enough. The number of independent sources for news and access to foreign media is virtually limitless. People post and read messages on USENET, message boards and use instant messaging and text messaging for their phones. International calls are no longer the realm of large international corporations; international calling cards can be bought at the local convenience store as easily as buying a Coke. To stem this transfer of information and communication, all access to the Internet and telephones would be tightly controlled.

The Intelligence Community already resides within the Telco Hotels of the major US carriers, collecting data and voice streams as easily as we surf TV channels. They could, quite easily, gain control of the communications hubs and filter/block all electronic voice and data traffic. Control of the financial institutions would also be necessary and in the age of electronic funds transfer (EFT), this control would also be simple to implement and maintain.

With our means of communication stifled and funneled through their hands as well as our means of paying for services/goods needed by the average citizen under any circumstance, the government could create and maintain any scenario they wish to promote. With big business being joined at the hip with government and all major media in the US being controlled by big business it is not difficult to imagine their lack of outrage in such a situation. Compliance has already been bought.

Under this scenario the old lyric of “the revolution will not be televised” becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Government abuses cannot be exposed and the citizenry will have no means to know of events beyond their daily realm of living. You would, in effect, not be able to see the forest for the trees. The trees would be your neighborhood, the forest being the rest of the nation.

At this point the government could create concentric circles of control reaching out from the two cities, A and B, which are the epicenter of the event. The closest inner ring would resemble the government’s actions at the 9/11 attacks and especially New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. The second closest ring would resemble crowd control in New York City during the 2004 Republican Convention. The third outer ring would resemble the military’s use of embedded press in Iraq and and this would be closest the media would be able to access the area affected. The fourth ring would be the boundary where direct, overt and overwhelming government influence ends/begins with the rest of the nation, which would see little change in their lives other than tighter restrictions on banking and communications. Since this would be a more rural area of the nation these restrictions would be marginally recognized or noticed.

Major cities other than city A or B could be controlled in a manner I describe for the 3rd ring of control, listed below. The undeclared boundaries of urban and suburban life are easily controlled and noticeable in most major metropolitan areas via the interstate road system in the form of perimeter highways. Choke points can be established and controlled easily in this manner.

Inside the central ring, no one would be able to leave to the second ring and no one from the second ring would be able to enter, except specific government personnel. Those caught in the central ring would in all likelihood be rounded up for transportation to specific locations, such as we saw with the survivors of Katrina in New Orleans who attempted to use the Superdome and the Convention Center as their shelter. No one in the outside world or even within the second ring would be aware of the happenings and events taking place in this central ring.

The size of this central ring would most likely depend on the population density and the circumstances surrounding a disaster. A nuclear, biological or dirty bomb attack could result in a very large area being classified as a central ring area, such as an entire city. What would make the job of determining the size and shape of the central ring easier to control is the geography of the area. The more susceptible a city is to being cut off from the rest of the world, the more easy it would be to control it. Such as Manhattan (island) or San Francisco (peninsula). Cities like Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago are bordered on one side by a body of water. A city like Dallas or Denver would be difficult because of the lack of physical boundaries.

The second ring would reach beyond the first ring just far enough away to keep prying eyes from seeing what is going on inside the first ring, yet close enough to give a panoramic view of the central ring. It would provide a staging area to move specific people and equipment in and out of the first and second rings. Anyone trying to sneak in or out of the area could be rounded up easily and quickly, as travel would be completely restricted. Centers for temporary detention could be quickly and easily set up. The typical industrial areas of large cities are an example of this. There would be plenty of room for staging equipment and personnel, processing curfew violators in secret as well as being an ideal location for Command, Control and Communication (C3). Think of the Baghdad Green Zone and you have an idea of the level of security and that example also provides you with an idea of how geography can control the shape and placement of an ideal quarantine zone.

The third ring would operate under nighttime curfew restrictions with stereotypical checkpoint style monitoring of travel by citizens. Access into and out of this area would be tightly controlled on a need to travel basis. This area would operate more freely for it’s citizens as communications in and out of this zone to the rest of the nation would be tightly controlled but it would exist. Think of odd/even, travel/work days. This would be the closest the media would be allowed to get to the area in question. A certain resemblance of normalcy would be seen but with tight restrictions. This would be suburbia, the bedroom communities of the city affected. It would be white, upper middle class to middle class, predominately white collar and educated with too much to loose for speaking up, their silence and compliance would be simple and they would view it as logical and maybe patriotic.

The fourth ring would be the rest of the nation. Travel would be free and open with no restrictions. Communication would be monitored and controlled but it would be easily and freely available. The vast bulk of the US population would live in this zone. Few government officials would be needed in this area but there would be a government presence in locations such as the post office or in city hall of towns and cities across the nation.

So, what would be the purpose of such a restriction of citizens and under what conditions could this occur? Control and power are of course the main motivation for such a scenario but there is another scenario I believe we are heading into. The general attitude of the average American is quickly evolving into an angry response to what they see at the highest levels of government. No longer are we simply satisfied with electing new officials, there is a rising tide of voices wanting accountability for those who have lied to us over the last six years. These voices are becoming more and more loud and the numbers of Americans who want to see criminal charges brought up against those in power is beginning to become more mainstream.

It is obvious that those who are currently in control of this nation have no intention to leave this power behind. The powers they have granted themselves are not the sort of thing they wish to leave behind for another party or a new set of leaders. They will not relinquish their power under any circumstances, even in the slightest bit. An exit strategy from office is simply not an option for them and as the voices grow louder in dissent, the choices they have in maintaining their power grow larger. It would require only a false flag operation or the act of looking the other way when intelligence tells them an attack is imminent.

When the voices in the room become a loud roar, this is when it will occur. Not a moment before or too early. Our economy is clinging to a thread and will only add to the situation when the time is ripe for the takeover. As it stands today the major lenders are announcing that the mortgage crisis is deepening as prime borrowers are now falling behind in their debt and mortgage payments. When the sub-prime market belly flopped we were told again and again that the prime market was strong and steady, that this was a simple correction. We are now seeing the tip of the iceberg as those with outstanding credit and generous incomes are falling behind as well.

A falling stock market, rising inflation, a failed housing market, a failed credit system and an overall sense of desperation will be the sign that something is on the verge of happening in this nation. When the economy is in shreds, the anger is at it’s highest and the leaders are at their most smarmy, condescending levels we can expect something to occur.

Doom and Gloom

A few odds and ends this morning to get things rolling.

In testimony before the Senate yesterday afternoon, AG Gonzales either let the cat out of the bag or opened himself up in yet another instance for a perjury charge as he admitted that the now infamous bedside visit with former AG Ashcroft was in regard to a completely different secret spying program than what the Senate was referring to. When Gonzales first addressed this issue of a spy program that needed authorization from Ashcroft during his testimony in May, I opined that the program he was referring to was not FISA and that the program was more sinister and the Senators were missing the nuance of Gonzales’ testimony. The link to that posting can be found here. I have a sneaky suspicion that Gonzales was indeed telling the truth about another spy program, if only the Senate will dig and investigate this further.

As stupid as Gonzales acts and appears to be, never underestimate his powers of deceit. This is a problem that far too many people have fallen for, underestimating the intelligence of the sociopaths who wield power in our government. Yes, their actions and words do seem incredibly moronic at times but they should not be discredited as simpletons. The harder you look, the more you can see grand design in their failures. They are pulling a trick like the Chief in One Flew Over The Cookoo’s Nest. They aren’t deaf and dumb no matter how convinced you are that its true.

More booga-booga terror scares are hitting the airwaves today with the TSA warning all of us that dry runs of terrorist attacks have been performed since September of last year. This hot on the heels of Chertof’s guts comment and an ever escalating anger and frustration by the American public regarding it’s government is drawing a false flag attack even closer. Conspiracy Theory bloggers and personalities have been posting information about the recent Presidential Directive signed into effect by Bush, which gives the Justice and Treasury Departments unprecedented authority to seize the funds of anyone who threatens the process of the war in Iraq. In other words, simply saying you are against the war can be grounds for the government to seize your bank accounts and freeze your rights to earn income or pay your bills.

Speaking of the Iraq bloodbath, that September date for evaluating the surge isn’t as solid as people thought. Word is coming out that the government wants to wait until December before addressing the success of the surge. Anyone who falls for these false deadlines and milestones needs to come over to my place and play cards with me. The intention is to never leave Iraq. Only with a complete changing of the guard in the highest levels of power will we ever leave Iraq. Threats of sanctions, censures and subpoenas won’t work with this crowd.

Even if the entire administration were replaced they have embedded so many of their version of the sleeper cell into all branches of power in Washington, we will be seeing the after effects of this administration for generations to come, if the playing field were level. Just look at the information that has come out about the rank and file employees at Justice and you will see exactly what they have wrought on this nation. The greedy and evil walk the halls of power.

All in all, it’s just a typical Wednesday in America.

Chertoff's guts

Two interesting and chilling comments have been made over the past few days regarding possible terrorist attacks. On Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told a group of people from the Chicago Tribune that he has a “gut feeling” we are about to enter a new period where terrorist attacks are likely. This past Friday, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum spoke on the Hugh Hewitt Show and said that he understands that “between now and November, a lot of things are going to happen and I believe that by this time next year, the American public’s going to have a very different view of this war.”

These comments can only be classified as one of three things. 1) Typical fear mongering that is par for the course of the current Republican leadership. 2) Signs of a possible false flag op. 3) Incredible insight.

Based on the past performance of both Chertoff and Santorum, I think the word insight does not apply to these two people. Chertoff has bungled the DHS job with the near death of New Orleans, leaky borders and the disclosure this week that a massive hole in senior leadership positions within his department exists, with a quarter of the necessary senior positions unfilled. Santorum, of the “man-on-dog sex” infamy, has been wrong on so many occasions regarding the war in Iraq and life in general that they are too numerous to mention. The short list includes his 2006 comparison of Islamic fascism to Nazism and Japanese Imperialism from World War II and his adamant claim that “hundreds of WMDs” were found in Iraq. These two lackeys have the insight of men who dig tunnels.

Sign of a possible false flag op? Possible, very much within the realm of possibility. A series of warnings given before an event could give those in power the traction they need to implement sweeping changes that would allow them to cover their tracks and put out the fires in their burning castles. With the VP’s approval ratings hovering slightly above single digits at only 13%, the rising acceptance of the American public to impeachment proceedings against the President and VP, scandal upon scandal breaking and an overall sense of anger and frustration building against the Washington elite; a terrorist attack that was “predicted” would be a relief to those in power.

Typical fear mongering? I think this pony used up its single trick a while back. The average American appears to be keyed into the strategy of scaring the living hell out of them and the effect is somewhat lukewarm right now. Even the regular Joe Six Pack on the street has begun to notice that every time something comes to light that makes the powers that be look bad; “something” seems to happen involving terrorism.

The question I have out of these two comments is who in the hell thought it would be a good idea to “tune in” Santorum to something happening? Santorum is little more than a dullard, a cheerleading parrot and a freakish example of the American Dream on acid. I wouldn’t trust his strategic thinking abilities although he is very adapt at the Republican smear job and dirty tricks. But as far as letting him in on secrets, never. So his coaching on this subject probably involves some basic direction and no specific details.

The next few months should be interesting to watch. Something is afoot in DC based on the signs we see and the recent comments regarding “chatter” and now “gut feelings”.

The infamous Family Jewels reports see the light of day. Did hell freeze over?

The Washington Post and MSNBC are reporting that DCI Michael Hayden is about to okay the release of several hundred pages from the CIA's infamous "Family Jewels" reports. Backstory on these reports and their history can be found in the link.

This is a very curious development, especially at this critical juncture in US history. We have major Constitutional questions that the agency are a central component of in their actions in this "War on Terror". Most specifically we know some details of the extraordinary rendition program being run by the agency. Several CIA agents are currently being tried in abstentina in an Italian court for kidnapping suspected terrorists from that country.

We also have VP Cheney's foreboding comments from 2001 where he stated the US Intelligence Community would have to work in "the dark side" from that point on. If Abu Grahib, Guantanamo Bay, the spying on Americans and rendition strategies is only the tip of the iceberg, and who's to say it isn't, there could be things going on that make even the Family Jewels reports seem tame in comparison.

The timing of this release of historical info is also interesting. Perhaps the agency sees the writing is on the wall regarding their activities since 9/11/2001 and they know it will be sooner than later before the word leaks out and they wish to soften the blow by desensitizing us to what is coming? Perhaps they know a leak is in the works already? Who knows.

All that can be said is that the agency releases information of their own choice about as often as Haley's Comet swings around in view. Something is driving this release and it isn't patriotism or a belief that state secrets are damaging to a Democracy. The trick in this case is trying to understand why they want to release it.

Once the papers are released I am certainly going to have a look and I highly recommend that all Conspiracy Theory researchers and enthusiasts do the same, even if the agency or government theories are not your main subject of interest. Red herrings, misdirection, disinfo and manipulation should be things we all keep in mind while digesting the documents. Whatever reason the agency has in releasing these documents there has to be an ulterior motive and we need to step back and think of their place in the big picture.

Turkey, Kurdistan and the Bilderberg Group

A potential widening of the war in Iraq is currently underway with Turkey amasing troops, tanks and artillery on its border with Iraq. This is what happens when ancient politics and emotions are allowed to run free. Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr is now claiming that he and his forces will defend the Kurds from Turkish forces which have already been bombarding Kurdish villages after suicide attacks against Turkish forces inside Turkey.

The Al Sadr comments alone are worthy of concern for the fate of the region. Al Sadr, a Shiite, is claiming the Kurdish people to be an integral part of Iraq. These are difficult comments to dissect considering the fact that the Shia are a minority in the Kurdish culture. What is equally concerning to me is the timing of the end of the Bilderberg meeting in Istanbul with this troop buildup along the Iraq border.

Did the Bilderbergers give Ankara the green light to invade Iraq and begin what will probably be a slaughter of the Kurdish people? What will be the outcome of such a move. I think it’s easy to say that if Turkey does indeed invade the Kurdistan region we will see a major uptick in extremist attacks throughout the region, not just Iraq and Turkey.

July 22nd will be the date to keep in mind for anything happening with Turkey as this is the date of their next elections and their Parliament is currently in recess. A border skirmish or incursion in the region, such as this scenario or an escalation somewhere else such as the Syrian/Lebanon border could be the key to the next phase in the chess match being played in the region. Last summer’s action between Israel and Lebanon was a preview of what we can expect in the future.

"Our country's destiny"

Georgie Anne Geyer of The Dallas Morning News published a very well argued article on Thursday about the current state of terrorism. Included in the article was a quote from several friends of the President who claim that in a recent meeting he is beat his chest, with a wild eyed look and declaring he is the President. The mention of the President's imitation of a silverback gorilla has garnered all the attention, but there was another statement that should have rang alarms worldwide. According to these friends of Bush, the President said that he was setting Iraq up so his successor could not get out of "our country's destiny."

What sort of sneaky and evil little plan would keep us from leaving Iraq even after this President leaves office? In April I posted my thoughts on the subject that President Bush may not step down from office, as he is Constitutionally required to do at the end of this term. Since the war in Iraq is becoming less and less popular with the public each day, and the feelings of anger and being duped increase with each sunrise it is almost impossible to see how Americans would stand for such a thing, especially if there were a Democrat in the White House to match Democratic control of both houses. How would Bush setup Iraq so we would not leave after his Presidency?

There are really only a limited number of ways that this could be done. A false flag attack on US soil or a mass casualty on the troops who are deployed, in theater to Iraq, which could finger Iran or al-Qaeda would probably turn the tide of public opinion to regain support for our presence in Iraq. An outbreak of war between two gulf nations, with one of them pleading for our support could also be a possibility. The bottom line is that there are only a few reasons why Americans would stand for a continued presence in Iraq after this President leaves office.

While my theory that the President will stay in office well beyond January 2009 is an outside possibility at best and I know it’s a reaching theory with many holes, I can’t help but be amazed with how his statement and this possibility do have a point of meshing. With Bush recently signing the Natiional Security Presidential Directive/NSPD 51 and Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-20, he has yet another tool to use in doing this.

I think it would behove all of us to keep a close eye on not only the President but also to consider the possibilities of what may be in store for us in the upcoming months. This week’s TB patient saga has brought to light a glaring and inexcusable hole in the systems that are supposed to keep people on watch lists out of the country. Remember, the border guard who let the infected TB patient back into the country said he did so because the guy “looked healthy”. This event should be viewed as a Revelation of the Method in how a false flag attack could be perpetrated. The eventual patsy/fall guy could be said to have used a similar method of gaining entry to the country and we will look back at this TB event and nod our heads “yes, I remember that.” without seeing the larger, underlying setup.

When the mainstream catches on to a conspiracy theory.

First it was Kent Steadman who linked to this article, now Crook and Liars is also linking:

Bush Anoints Himself as the Insurer of Constitutional Government in Emergency

It's interesting to me that ideas which were once the domain of conspiracy theorists are now being addressed by more mainstream voices. Some highlights from the posting at progressive.org:

It defines a “catastrophic emergency” as “any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government function.”

This could mean another 9/11, or another Katrina, or a major earthquake in California, I imagine, since it says it would include “localized acts of nature, accidents, and technological or attack-related emergencies.”

For those of us who have spent any length of time studying Rex 84, this new Presidential directive comes as no shock and the sweeping powers are something we foresaw many years ago. What was once a subject of "conspiracy nuts" is now being seen as a sinister and all too real possibility.

Far too often the critics of President Bush make light of his seeming lack of intelligence to give him credit for being a dangerous socio-path. Never underestimate those in seats of power, least of all, never underestimate their capabilities or their limitations. Occasionally I too wrestle with the question of what appears to be sheer incompetence and stupidity of the current administration, especially in light of failures as blatant as the Katrina debacle. Always remember that it isn't a case of incompetence or negligence, in all cases of crisis created by or exasperated by our government the crisis isn't accidental. The actions, or inaction is planned, condoned and intentional.

News tidbits from the edge of the VaTech massacre

While the mainstream media waits for it's next four wall coverage event, more tidbits of information about McNeil Technologies dribble out. McNeil Technologies is the Virginia based company that employs the sister of the VaTech shooter. McNeil has deep and longstanding connections to the US Intelligence Community.

Washingtontechnology.com is reporting that McNeil and DynCorp (both owned by Veritas Capital) have won a $4.6 billion dollar contract with the US Army to provide translation and intrpretation services in the Iraq War.

In an interesting addition to the services that McNeil Technologies provides, the Rochester Business Journal reported in April that McNeil now has a partner in providing private screening services to the Rochester Airport. McNeil's new partner in the Rochester contract is Raytheon, the multi-billion dollar US defense firm. Rochester International Airport was also one of the test platform locations for the Ingersoll Rand Schlage Recognition Systems biometric recognition program that went into effect in 2004. McNeil has been under contract to provide security and screening services to the Rochester Airport since 2002.

And in business news for Veritas Capital Management, within the past month their collection of companies has grown with the acquisition of:

Cornell Companies Inc. of Houston Texas. A multi-million dollar provider of correctional facilities services.

Vangent, Inc. Formerly known as Pearson Government Solutions, an international business services company who's clients include the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Justice and Labor; the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Has the President declared the entire US population to be enemies of the state?

A significant and terrifying revelation came to light in this week’s round of testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The revelation is subtle and nuanced and a small amount of decoding is necessary to unravel its meaning, but it is there. Former Deputy Attorney General Jim Comey testified that Chief of Staff Andrew Card and White House Counselor Alberto Gonzales attempted to trick then Attorney General John Ashcroft into reauthorizing a domestic eavesdropping program while he was hospitalized. This, of course, is what was widely reported but the details of that program and the reasons why it was not reauthorized is the actual story.

From statements made by government and White House officials from the President all the way down the chain of command, its obvious that they are talking on one level and we are listening on another. This is being brushed aside by many as classic Orwellian Doublespeak but what they say and how they parse their words, combined with their actions and those of the telecommunications industry point to a much more sinister and frightening reality.

First off, most people assume that the comments made by the President and various government officials about this situation are directly focused on the FISA and warrantless wiretap situation. In actuality, when they testify and comment to the press they are actually referring to other programs being run at this very moment. Let’s look at this item by item:

1) FISA – While the focus of the media, political and conspiracy theory commentators and the average citizen has been placed on FISA there are comments being made by those involved in this scandal that are obviously intended to divert our attention away from the authorization of wiretapping program that circumvented FISA. The question has been “why was FISA circumvented?” when the question should have been, “What program are you using that supersedes FISA and under what authorization?”

2) The AT&T/NSA collusion – No one in the government or the telecommunications industry wants us to know more about the authorization which forced the telcos to allow the US Intelligence Community to literally tap into all data and voice transmissions coming and going from US soil. They are attempting to hide something much deeper than what we see on the surface.

3) The program that the White House was trying to trick Ashcroft into authorizing is not FISA or the AT&T/NSA programs. Comey, Gonzales and Bush have admitted so by deflecting questions or giving misleading answers for.

4) The program that the White House sought approval for from Ashcroft was so illegal and so un-Constitutional that every person who refused to sign off on the program threatened to resign if it were authorized.

5) The details of this program are not yet known, but this much is known: the program was indeed authorized by someone and it allows for spying at levels far beyond what we are being told with sweeping powers far beyond the pale of any program in history.

The press and the rest of us make much of the President’s power grabbing exploits and the un-Constitutional aspects of these powers. One thing has been overlooked. In all cases a justification has been made for their legality by Bush neophytes even if the justification is flawed and self-serving. The actual legality and Constitutional standing of these authorizations have not been contested to date because we have not seen the documents that are allowing the programs in question. What we have seen in the form of FISA, the AT&T/NSA wiretapping and even with the torture authorization scandal are appearing to this blogger to be nothing more than a smokescreen. Something is peering from the cracks that are forming in this smokescreen.

My belief, based on Bush administration history is that there is a massive and all-encompassing surveillance program that has been authorized behind the FISA and AT&T/NSA programs that is beginning to be seen in pieces. The White House is desperate to maintain the FISA and AT&T/NSA facade but their actions and words hint that those two cases are not their central concern. Their actions and words are directed at a program that is sitting directly behind those two cases. This program, a Program X as it were, is so invasive and overwhelming that their greatest fear is that it’s existence will be known.

What could this program entail? At this point all we can do is guess but based on the issues at stake, the methods and means used and the severity of the fallout my guess is this:

The President has secretly declared that all Americans are potential enemies of the state and he has authorized all Intelligence Agencies of the federal government to monitor, classify and identify who we are. To expedite this process, all of the major telecommunications providers, the owners of the backbone, have been federalized. In other words, an undeclared and modified state of martial law is in effect. This explanation would cover the lengths the government has gone to in hiding the details of the FISA and AT&T/NSA scandals. It would also explain the curious Doublespeak being used in discussing these cases. What we see our government doing and what it really is doing are two different things. What we are allowed to know and what is easily discovered by investigative journalists are smokescreens to draw our attention away from what lies behind them.

We are all casualties in the War on Drugs

One of the most simple and effective ways of controlling the thoughts and actions of the American public is, and always has been, the War on Drugs. Through this “War”, those who hold true power in this country can redirect the anger, dissatisfaction and sense of justice that the citizens become self-aware of as a collective entity every few years. This allows those in power to shape the common ideal of who is desirable and undesirable as Americans and who can be scapegoat for punishment. The most vulnerable of our society, those with little or no money and those with no political or economic leverage are the ones who are targeted for punishment.

We allow this to happen because we are conditioned to accept the jingoism of the propaganda created by our political and business leaders. The payoff we receive for unquestionably following the conditioning is the promise that someone, who is always stereotyped as less worthy and productive as the rest of us, will be ostracized from our society and incarcerated. We will be given a self-fulfilling sense of pleasure that “good” is being done for our society at large and that our self-righteousness will lead to greater safety in our own homes and for our loved ones. The beneficiaries of this propaganda are not the average citizens; the beneficiary is in fact the ones who maintain economic, political and theocratic control over America.

Poverty and lack of education are often cited as the two main causes of drug addiction. My belief is that while drug addiction is indeed a socio-economic problem, the actual root cause is hopelessness and pain. Poverty may increase the chances a person will become an addict but a lack of good paying jobs, fear of what tomorrow may bring and an ultimate sense of “giving in” to the futility of being a “tilting windmill” is what causes the impoverished to turn to drugs. The emotional pain that comes with this act of giving in is no different than what is felt by the victims of tragedy or abuse. The latter, tragedy and abuse are aspects of drug abuse that know no socio-economic boundaries.

No one aspires to be a drug addict when they are young. Addicts turn to this vice in response to what they believe about the outside world or to numb internal pain. Feeling good or better than your outlook on life is alluring, deadening pain is critical when all you feel is pain. These are traits that are shared with not only the addict but also the casual drug users who often get caught in the net of the War on Drugs. Their fate of the recreational user is the same as the addict if they do not have economic or political ties that may shield them from the full brunt on the American legislative and judicial branches.

The closed loop system of drug abuse, drug addiction, drug trafficking, drug legislation, enforcement of drug laws, state mandated drug treatment and incarceration is self-sustaining and needs little outside stimulus to maintain itself. The War on Drugs and a variety of legislative practices do not limit or reduce this system but instead cause growth of the system, which in turn increases the size and power of government as an end result. Society does not benefit from drug addiction and the War on Drugs does not benefit society either. This “War” merely marginalizes citizens and dehumanizes the victims of addiction as well as the one-off cases of individuals who self medicate for the treatment of any professionally diagnosed medical condition that decreases the quality of life of the patient.

The central method the government uses in delivering anti-drug propaganda is to demonize all drug users as deviant, dangerous and crazed. They are portrayed as immoral and outsiders of accepted society. This removes any and all sympathy the average citizen may have for the victims of drug addiction. Punishment of drug offenders satisfies the sadistic and vengeful impulses of the citizenry.

If 10 meth labs were raided in a single day, in a single state, and only 1 person was arrested for possession of the drug, the law enforcement agencies would use the single arrest of a user as justification for increasing their funds and power. The labs would be verification that their policies and laws are valid, the single drug addict would be the sign that even more needs to be done.

Law enforcement, judicial and penal systems do not grow when crime rates are down. All three of those systems need a constant rise or growth of crime to not only maintain their funding but in reality they need an increase of crime to justify what they always demand, more money. What those systems gain from the War on Drugs is far more than just public funding. What they gain is greater control of the public at large and in the end they gain a person’s money, property and life.

When a person is arrested for possession of drugs, depending on the type of drug and the amount of the drug they are arrested for, the following things occur:

1) The accused is now added to the state and local drug crime statistics.

2) The accused may try to make bail or bond out of jail, which adds money to the local bail bonding industry. If the accused does not show up for their hearings, trial dates or sentencing date the bail or bond is forfeited to the state or local coffers.

3) The accused must seek legal representation, which they may or may not be able to afford. If they can afford the legal expenses they are adding money to the local legal community. If they cannot afford representation they must petition the court, which places an added burden on the government budget.

4) If the accused is found guilty they will be paying fines, which adds to the government income. They may spend time in jail, prison or on probation and in all three cases a burden is placed on the government’s budget.

5) The guilty may have to forfeit all property they own to the government depending on the law they violated. This also adds to the government coffers when the property is auctioned to the public.

6) If the guilty receives a prison sentence there is a strong likelihood that they will be forced to provide cheap labor while incarcerated, which also adds to the government’s coffers.

7) The government will use that person’s arrest and conviction in its statistical reports for its budgets. With an increase of crime, especially targeted crime there is a corresponding demand from law enforcement to gain funding to combat that crime.

8) Once the guilty is released from prison they now have a criminal record that will adversely affect their ability to gain honest and good paying employment. This reduces the taxable income that the government can access and it can add to a burden to other government programs such as welfare if the guilty has to support a family.

9) If the guilty is desperate enough they may turn to a full time life of crime that adds to this cycle.

This doesn’t include the ancillary charges that can be brought up against most addicts and dealers. Possession of illegal weapons, tax fraud, possession of stolen goods and many other ancillary crimes are committed by both the addicts and the dealers who live in the world of drug addiction. With the rise in meth labs being raided what we also see is a number of child endangerment cases as well and homeowners and apartment managers who rent to a person who runs a meth lab on their premises are also looking at massive bills to cleanup what are now being defined by the EPA as contaminated sites.

The War on Drugs as it has been waged does not address the root causes or the prevention of drug addiction. It targets users and sellers of illicit drugs to fund it’s own goals, expand the reach of government over it’s citizens and centralize the people who benefit from the spoils of this war. Its sole purpose is to consolidate power, perpetuate itself and ignore the root causes of the war.

A person can provide and contribute more to the overall health of society by being a tax paying, law abiding and conscientious citizen. All people in a community share in the wealth that comes from keeping people happy and employed as the citizens will pay taxes, work to improve their standing in society, help their fellow citizens and reduce the burden of the cost of government by being model citizens. Why is the War on Drugs focused on finding the addicts, drug suppliers and drug manufacturers and “eliminating” them instead of eliminating the factors that lead it’s citizens to create and fuel the demand for drugs?

If a society were to reverse the flow of funds from the legislative, judicial, law enforcement and penal systems that drain resources and talent for this War on Drugs and direct those funds to repairing the problems that cause drug addiction what would be the end result? What would need to be addressed?

As I mentioned earlier, it is my belief that drug addiction begins in the local community. When there is little or no hope for the citizens of a local community or if there is no advocacy of people who suffer emotional trauma, those people will turn to substance abuse to deaden their sense of pain. This means that local communities must maintain a strong local economy and provide medical treatment for those people who have suffered deep emotional trauma if they wish to reduce the drug problem in their community.

Local communities are severely limited by how much money they can generate from their citizenry. Property and sales taxes, possibly a small income tax, are all they can draw from. Too much taxation and they stifle the economic viability of their community. They have necessary services that they must provide such as law enforcement, maintaining roads and utility services. This leaves little for reinvesting into the promotion of the local economy. Providing basic medical care for its citizens is out of the question under these conditions.

Under these conditions a local community would need funding from the state and federal government to provide greater economic investment opportunities and medical care for its citizens. States have a much greater reservoir of taxable resources than local governments. They can tax not only income and property but they can also tax the sales of fuels, targeted business and industrial sectors, as well as taxing the use of its road systems via tolls. The state also has the same budgetary issues of providing necessary services but its pool of taxable resources is much greater and the state can also provide basic medical care for its citizens.

To address economic growth and medical care for its citizens the state is in a much better financial position to address those needs than a local government but they still do not have the massive resources that the federal government has. Not only can the federal government collect income and property tax from its citizens it can also tax imported goods from other nations, negotiate the interest rates it must pay for loans, it can also generate funds by charging for a much wider range of services that it oversees. Telecommunications services, postal and other communication channels and medical coverage are prime examples of federal government generating income outside taxation.

Let’s suppose for a moment that the funnel of funding and disbursal of funds were aimed at state and local governments instead of keeping the pool of money at the federal level and spending it on federal programs. State and local governments could share the burden of economic growth by sharing the funds directed at them. State governments could address general and physical health concerns and the local community could be funded to address the mental health of its citizens by creating local community hospitals, hiring mental health professionals and providing both long-term and short-term assistance to its citizens. Victims of assault, natural disasters and poor upbringing could be offered high quality mental health care from professionals who live and are a part of their local community. The driving interest of improving your community and empowering your fellow citizens is a powerful lure to many and this quality can be found in teachers as well.

The local government would benefit from this by having a larger group of healthy, happy and optimistic citizens. This base of workers would in turn be appealing to private business not only because of the capability to maintain quality in the production of its goods and services, but also for the lower overhead that would arise because they would no longer need to provide or assist in the payment of health care services for its employees.

The state government would benefit because a large pool of happy, healthy and optimistic citizens contribute to the overall quality of economic selling points it can make to businesses who are considering a move to their state. The more businesses you have in your state and the more they produce, the greater the amount of money that can be generated by a state government in the form of taxes. Healthier, happier and more optimistic citizens and companies will steadily raise their incomes over their lifetime, which leads to more money generated by taxation.

The federal government benefits off this scenario by lower overall costs for medical care, a lower cost for providing social services, a lower cost in the enforcement of its laws since there would be a decrease in crime and it sees a greater tax base from which to draw from.

Addressing the root causes of addiction reduces the overall problem of drugs by taking away the demand for drugs. There would, of course, be a group of people that cannot be helped or aided no matter how much money is spent trying to help them. We as people have free will and we have to accept that some people simply would not accept help or want to change their lives. This is a fact of human nature that cannot be avoided but it should not be used as an excuse to not address the root problem. The key to this aspect of the War on Drugs is to recognize that the numbers of people who are beyond reach is small in comparison to the sheer volume of people that are swept into the net under our current policies. They, like career criminals, are a portion of society who will not change their behavior and they are a much smaller segment than we are currently dealing with.

This scenario as I described will never be addressed seriously. It may be hinted at or even discussed in a general sense, but it will not be addressed seriously at the higher levels of power in this nation. The reason is simple. The way we currently address the drug problem narrows the group of people who actually benefit short and long-term in the War on Drugs. These people bring true and pure power to the problem and sharing the benefits and wealth of the War on Drugs is not what they want. Who, then, benefits from the status quo in this war?

On the first level of the war, law enforcement gains funds and power. Law enforcement is the foot soldier and pawn of those in power. Law enforcement allegiance is bought and sold by those who wield true and pure power. In some instances the US Military is used in the same way as law enforcement in the war on drugs. They also act as a kind of canary in a coal mine when those at the top of the chain of power want something. If the ends they wish are new laws that restrict the freedoms of Americans, the means of that goal would be to make the law enforcement officials demand new laws to be enacted that they claim will make Americans safer. Use the statistics gathered from arrests to validate the point and people will fall into line when this propaganda is used.

The second level of this war is comprised of the individuals and companies who make a profit off this war. This level includes the obvious people and groups such as lawyers and corrections departments but there is an entire multi-billion dollar industry that drives this second level. That industry comprises companies such as Wackenhut and Aramark who provide outsourced services to the correctional facility industry by providing administrative, maintenance and food services to jails and prisons. Also in this level are the companies who make millions of dollars each year in the construction of new jails and prisons. This is the middle area where cash can be split, transferred and washed by those at the bottom and the top.

The third level of this war is the legislative and judicial branches of government, who provide the legal precedents, legal representation and oversee the funding for this war. These people guide the direction of the war to enhance and expand their power. They have even carried this power to the point where every citizen is considered a criminal regardless of what they actually do with their lives. All one has to do is look at the current missions of the US Intelligence Community and what it is doing in the NSA spying scandal as well as the process that the Intelligence Community uses when it accesses the private databases of companies such as ChoicePoint, to see that we all are being actively monitored in an attempt to not only catch us in the act of committing crimes but to predict when and/or if we will commit crimes.

The War on Drugs is a facet of a much larger operation of consolidating true power into a small group of individuals. Its sole purpose is to create instability in our communities, breed paranoia and suspicion about our fellow citizens and marginalize and target a select group of our own citizens. The very select few gain in this while the vast majority of Americans pay the price. The true price is our freedom and rights.

Even if you and I take no drug stronger than aspirin, we are still a part of the War on Drugs. We pay the price with a weaker community, a weaker economy and a more powerful government. We pay the price because we are under constant surveillance by our government and its representatives. The price we pay is our freedom.

News - Get an Rx -- go into the database

One interesting piece of information that came to light as a result of the VaTech massacre is the revelation that the federal government is maintaining a database of prescription drug recipients. ABC news reported this information on their website and it has now been scrubbed. I made a screen capture of this item yesterday and will post the cap tonight in this article after I get home. (EDIT by The CT Blogger: Screen Cap has been added 4/20)

Boing Boing has a blog entry on the drug database which adds some new light on the story and it gives the conspiracy theory researcher yet one more area to look into as part of their greater research.

According to the Boing Boing posting there is a State Prescriptions Monitoring Program that has been in existence since 2003. The FAQ for this program states,

Program officials state that their systems are not used to target possible subjects of an investigation.

And this is apparently another lie since it has already been shown that the feds looked at the database to see if the shooter's name was listed. Once again, the government is caught in a lie, maybe.

I mentioned in the previous post that I thought Total Information Awareness was the source for the information reported by ABC News. This is also a strong possibility since Poindexter's dream for the program was to pump data from any and all existing means of collecting information and lace it together under the TIA blanket. So it is possible that the NASPER database was not the source of the query and instead TIA was the system that was searched. The fact that NASPER states their database will not be used to investigate is irrelevant. If another system is used to perform searches then the NASPER statement still holds true.

Never forget that the government is highly skilled at making statements that can be defined as the truth and a lie at the same time. Few people can argue over semantics the way our government can.

News - Is VP Cheney's Command Post an Airstream trailer?

Now this is an odd revelation:

http://www.thepoorman.net/2007/04/14/what-the-hell/

I wonder if it's a single or double wide? Seriously, why would the VP need an Airstream trailer on his travels? I can't imagine it's for his support staff and protective services. From what is public knowledge of the Presidential and VP entourage there hasn't been a mention of the use of a trailer.

I can't imagine the VP takes it with him for creature comforts, unless he has a DirectTV package that only tunes in Fox News http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0322061cheney1.html on all 300 channels. Cheney has always struck me as a 24/7 business sort of guy, like the Anthony Kirby character in "You Can't Take it With You", "My hobbies? Business is my hobby." Is Cheney using the Airstream as a Command Post?

Commentary - The message or the messenger?

The 9/11 truth movement has had a a major public airing following a celebrity endorsement from Rosie O'Donnell. Gaining mainstream publicity is one thing, to gain publicity when a celebrity does a verbal data dump to approximately 3.1 million daytime TV viewers is another. The fallout, as should be expected, was swift. The 9/11 truth movement followers tell us that Rosie's statements are proof that the the idea of a massive conspiracy involving the 9/11 attacks is now a mainstream idea as evidenced by her statements. The 9/11 conspiracy skeptics tell us that science debunks all of the 9/11 truth movements theories, and that O'Donnell is just an unfunny, ignorant, overweight lesbian who should be ignored.

Personal attacks are nothing new in this arena. When you prescribe to an "out in left field" idea it should be expected that scorn will follow you. In the case of O'Donnell's comments we see more than an attack against her beliefs, we see an attack against her based on personal feelings. I'll admit that I am not a fan of Rosie O'Donnell and have never watched her TV shows, personally, I find her grating. But, I think that is part of her shtick as a performer. It's a part of her delivery method as an entertainer, much like a shock jock or a blue comedian.

It's interesting to me that the debunkers, who pride themselves on their logic and adherence to science and scientific methodology would include the personal insults that are being used in debunking her statements. It's not necessary and in the long run I don't think it helps their cause. It makes O'Donnell a sympathetic individual because the attacks are so personal and so specific. Does her sexuality, weight or physical attractiveness have anything to do with the belief that 9/11 was an inside job? No. Does her pushy vocal style have anything to do with the belief that the government planned and executed the 9/11 attacks? No. Does her profession have anything to do with the belief that the NIST report on the collapse of the buildings is wrong? Well, yes, there is a connection there but the rebuttal by referencing her profession is a straw man argument. Following the argument that a non-scientist's opinion is worthless in regards to the report findings is no different than dismissing the typical registered voter's opinion if they are not a political science major.

I'm not a believer in the 9/11 truth movement. There are aspects of the 9/11 attacks which raise red flags with me but many of the pillars that the followers of the movement stand on don't jibe with me. I don't believe explosives were in Towers 1 and 2. I don't believe that a directed energy beam was used. I don't believe that thermite was used to bring down Towers 1 and 2. But there is more than enough evidence that key government officials ignored warnings and many were guilty of dereliction of duty. NORAD's response on that morning was nothing short of criminal. Trade Center 7's collapse is too convenient and unexplainable based on the reasons given for it's destruction. But I won't join the movement because of those irregularities. The tone of the attacks against O'Donnell are not surprising and they are not a sign that the 9/11 truth movement is based on scientific fallacies. The tone of the attacks is a sign that even those who pride themselves on their adherence to scientific standards are not above confusing the messenger with the message.

News - Stovepiped intelligence

Truthout.org is reporting on the cooked intelligence that led the US into war in Iraq.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040607A.shtml

The Defense Department's Inspector General has issued a report on this which backs information that many of us have known for a long time. Officials placed within the Pentagon intentionally provided the White House with false intelligence to justify the Iraq invasion. Congress may have seen the same intelligence that the White House saw but that intelligence was blatantly false.

The war on terror will be a major CT subject for many years to come.