Militarized Police Forces Attack Occupy Camps

A few thoughts on Occupy Wall Street, I've been watching it and going down there for a while now but hadn't had a chance to speak on it. By the way when I say some news media people are "ringers," I don't necessarily mean that they deliberately obfuscate, or get orders from some shadowy figure to do so. I think they'll often just have a personal investment in the system and status quo that's being critiqued/threatened, so they'll naturally--without any need to conspire--have their perception skewed by an instinct to protect the status quo they're invested in. So though it's quite possibly not their intention to play the ringer, it's the function they wind up serving nonetheless. - MUST SEE - Occupy Wall Street Outing The Media Shills, The Daily Bail

Militarized Police Forces Attack Occupy Camps

October 27, 2011

Personal Liberty Digest - Tear gas, non-lethal bullets, flash-bang grenades and arrests “under the suspicion of unlawful assembly” are now all definite realities in the streets of American cities that have been overtaken by Occupy protesters.

While their demands are ill-defined, the protesters’ fate, it seems, is sealed by the hands of officials in cities like Oakland, Calif., and Atlanta who have instructed police to conduct raids on encampments to quell the dissent.

In Oakland, a pre-dawn raid Tuesday that turned violent effectively eliminated all but a handful of protesters from areas around the city hall. Police fired upon the protesters with non-lethal bullets, and they employed the use of tear gas and flash-bang grenades to disperse protesters. Protesters reportedly attempted to fight back by lobbing glass bottles and stones at police.

Police forces in Atlanta were able to more peaceably remove protesters from Woodruff Park. In both instances, media reports indicate that police arrived in full riot gear. In Oakland there were reports of armored vehicles conducting patrols.

According to The Associated Press, most of the arrests being made are for disorderly conduct or “suspicion of unlawful assembly,” which has raised ire from some people who do not even agree with the Occupiers’ anger. One man in Atlanta, who did not give his name, arrived at the protest with a rifle in tow. He said that while he was not in agreement with the protesters’ message, he wanted to “protect their right to protest.”

Obama to the World: ‘Do as We Say, Not as We Do’ (Excerpt)

October 28, 2011

Infowars.com - ...In the US, the erosion of our basic rights provided by the Bill of Rights and US Constitution has been a long and painful process.

9-11 gave us the naziesque Patriot Acts I & II – two bills which have achieved nothing since their inception, and yet, are still as enthusiastically championed by Barack Obama as they were by GW Bush.

The anti-war demonstrations of 2003 gave us “free speech zones”, in country where freedom to assemble, where and when you want, used to be a god-given inalienable right. Now its a mere privilege.

The G20 demonstrations of 2009 gave us police brutality on a mass militarized scale, not seen before domestically. Thousands of paramilitary police where shipped in to Pittsburgh, sound canons were deployed and students were chased down, tear gassed and beaten in what came to known as forced compliance.

Even an obvious avant garde demonstration, a silent disco at the Jefferson Memorial saw police beat and injure Americans who were only trying to test the vital signs of a US Constitution in critical condition.

What elite political performers like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are really saying to the governments of Libya, and now Syria, and later to Algeria and Iran- is that you cannot put down an armed insurrection in your countries, but in the US we reserve the right to beat and shoot our own citizens, and arrested without charges- if they attempt to demonstrate in public.

In other words, “Do as we say, not as we do.”

President Obama will have the world believe that America is less brutal to its own citizens than the rest of the world, but as hundreds of thousands of people in the Occupy Movement now get their first taste of civil disobedience, it is inevitable that some will be unlucky enough to get the hard end of the state’s velvet fist. Indeed, Scott Olsen found this out the hard way in Oakland this week.

And the Occupy Movement will also learn very quickly that we cannot ignore the rights which our US political elite have been denying the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and Libya for all these years now - and expect to be afforded those same rights by the same criminal US government here at home.

We are witnessing a culture in decline - a people who for the most part, are having trouble remembering what made it unique in the first place, and so many who can think of nothing more frightening than to be called to live up to any of those ideals – who forgot what freedom actually is.

The level of Washington’s hypocrisy, its arrogance – has never been on display so vividly as it is today. It’s a clear indication of a society in decline.

What will surely accelerate this decline is a mass chunk of Americans who still to this day, remain unaware that these changes in society have even taken place. And more to the point, too many are ever willing to profit, or make their daily crust from this hyper-security police state. This is one of the signs of a civilization in decline.

Our celebrity politicians have permanently lost touch with reality, and sadly, this tribe will never come back to the source of liberty.

It’s high time for Americans to stop making excuses for the lobbyists, the wars, the pork, the bailouts- and for selling out the principles which once made it an inspiration to so many others around the world. Stop making excuses for elite bureaucrats and Wall Street tycoons.

At a watershed moment in history, it can go both ways, so you only get one shot to make it right.

Social Security Senior Tells Off Senator Simpson

The White House’s fiscal commission’s co-chairs, Erskine Bowles and former-Sen. Alan Simpson, today released their draft recommendations on how to reduce the country’s budget deficit. Their recommendations are more or less a list of the third-rail issues of American politics, including cuts in the number of federal workers; increasing the costs of participating in veterans and military health care systems; increasing the age of Social Security eligibility; and major cuts in defense and foreign policy spending. They also encompass a range of tax system reforms that have been floated by many in Washington for years to little effect, including funding tax rates reductions by eliminating many beloved credits and deductions. - Fiscal Commission Co-Chairs Simpson And Bowles Release Eye-Popping Recommendations, TPM, November 10, 2010

Social Security Senior Tells Off Senator Simpson

October 28, 2011

Colonel Sixx - Alan Simpson, Former U.S. Senator from Wyoming , and Co-Chair of Obama’s deficit commission, calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he compared “Social Security” to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats.

Here’s a response in a letter from PATTY MYERS in Montana … I think she is a little ticked off! She also tells it like it is!

“Hey Alan, let’s get a few things straight…

1. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole for FIFTY YEARS.


2. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15 years old. I am now 63).


3. My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give OUR money to a bunch of zero ambition losers in return for votes, thus bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme that would have made Bernie Madoff proud.


4. Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and your ilk pulled the proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to age 67. NOW, you and your shill commission is proposing to move the goalposts YET AGAIN.


5. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare from Day One, and now you morons propose to change the rules of the game. Why? Because you idiots mismanaged other parts of the economy to such an extent that you need to steal money from Medicare to pay the bills.


6. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes our entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why? Because you incompetent bastards spent our money so profligately that you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off YOUR debt. To add insult to injury, you label us “greedy” for calling “bullshit” on your incompetence.

Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for YOU.

1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during your pathetic 50-year political career?


2. At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the American taxpayers?


3. How much do you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?


4. What cuts in YOUR retirement and healthcare benefits are you proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or, as usual, have you exempted yourself and your political cronies?

It is you, Captain Bullshit, and your political co-conspirators called Congress who are the “greedy” ones. It is you and your fellow nutcases who have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers. And for what? Votes. That’s right, sir. You and yours have bankrupted America for the sole purpose of advancing your pathetic political careers. You know it, we know it, and you know that we know it.

And you can take that to the bank, you miserable son of a bitch.

Patty Myers
Montana

If you like the way things are in America delete this. If you agree with what a fellow Montana citizen Patty Myers says, PASS IT ON!!!!

DURING TIMES OF UNIVERSAL DECEIT, TELLING THE TRUTH BECOMES A REVOLUTIONARY ACT. - George Orwell


Transcript from Fire Dog Lake Interview with Alan Simpson

TSA Extends Its Power Beyond the Airport to the Streets of America

The TSA has been forced to fire the screener who left a lewd message in lawyer Jill Filipovic’s checked bag after conducting an inspection and finding a sex toy. After arriving at her hotel, Filipovic discovered that her bag had been searched and a TSA inspection form had been amended with the words “GET YOUR FREAK ON GIRL” written on the reverse side. “The problem with the note is that it’s representative of the bigger privacy intrusions that the U.S. government, through the TSA and other sources, levels every day,” wrote Filipovic. “The invasion is inherent to the TSA’s mission, regardless of whether a funny note is left behind — the note only serves to highlight the absurdity of all this security theater. As much as this is a funny and titillating story, when I put the note on Twitter for what I thought was a relatively limited audience I was hoping it would open up a bigger conversation about privacy rights (or lack thereof) in post-9/11 America.” [Source]

Is the TSA Screening Drivers in Tennessee? Not Anymore

The agency says it was just there for a couple of days. But you will be surprised where else they've been

October 26, 2011

AOL - Drivers in Tennessee may have been alarmed by news reports claiming the Transportation Security Administration is starting to inspect drivers on Tennessee highways, but the TSA says those stories are false.

Well, at least partially false.

The TSA was in Tennessee, the agency said Tuesday, reacting to a rash of blog posts claiming the government agency is beginning to broaden its powers. But it was only there for a couple of days, and focused its security checks on truck drivers.

"It's really startling to see how off-base some of the claims have been," the agency said on its blog.

The stories began after a local news station reported that Tennessee became the first state to invite the TSA in to do random checks on highway drivers, focusing on trucks. The TSA says agency staff came in for just three days – Oct. 18, 19 and 20 – to help the state improve communication between state, federal and local agencies during a crisis. It does not plan to stick around, and won't be setting up permanent checkpoints in the state, the TSA said.

The state set up five screening stations in various locations. In addition to this temporary event, the Tennessee highway patrol is beefing up its truck inspections, to search for bomb materials and other suspicious cargo that could be shipped via the highway.

Local broadcast news footage showed TSA officers wearing blue uniforms and yellow vests standing near trucks and talking to drivers.

"TSA officers did not physically screen drivers during this exercise, as erroneously reported," wrote Bob Burns, a social media analyst for the TSA, on the agency's blog. "The actual vehicle inspections were conducted by the Tennessee State Highway Patrol just the same as they are done every day."

TSA beyond the airport

But the TSA does in fact work outside of airport screening areas. The folks in Tennessee were from the agency's Visible Intermodal Prevention Response (VIPR) team. The VIPR team is comprised of federal air marshals, surface transportation security inspectors, transportation security officers, behavior detection officers and explosives detection canine teams.

The VIPR teams are sent into places where people travel – by bus, train, and now apparently highways – to provide a "surge" in screening from time to time. That random surge is meant to deter criminals from trying to carry out their evil deeds, because they never know when they'll be subjected to searches.

But many in the public say that by heading onto highways, TSA is expanding its powers too broadly and invasively.

"The notion of random searches spreading everywhere in American life, whether you're exercising the 'privilege' of going to a sporting event or driving down the highway, amounts to an unconstitutional surrender to terrorism in places where we've never even been hit by it," wrote Conor Friedersdorf in an article on The Atlantic's web site.

TSA leaders have argued for years that they are justified in patting down passengers, looking at semi-naked images of passengers, and confiscating hand creams and lotions because flying is a "privilege."

"I see flying as a privilege that is a public safety issue," Congressional Quarterly quoted TSA head John Pistole saying last year, when defending the new airport screening devices and advanced pat-downs the agency instituted.

But what other kinds of travel are considered a privilege?

Buses, trains and ferries

According to the TSA, buses, trains, and ferries could also be considered privileged travel. The agency was temporarily kicked out of Amtrak stations earlier this year when it screened passengers coming off a train, including patting down a 9-year-old boy.

Following the train bombings in Madrid in 2007, TSA beefed up its train station presence for a while.

Earlier that year, it had agents at the Point Judith (Block Island) ferry terminal in Rhode Island, and the Cape May-Lewes Ferry in N.J. Travelers heading to Martha's Vineyard also saw TSA agents at the ferry terminal in Massachusetts.

So it is not too far-fetched to believe the TSA could determine highway travel is another type of travel that needs to be monitored, although it could prove to be a logistical nightmare. There are thousands of trucks stops around the country.

Although you may encounter TSA on the highways one day, rest assured, there is one place the TSA has no intentions (at least not yet) of going:

"We are not getting into the business of body cavity searches," Pistole said back in 2010. "That's not where we are."

Here is the original local news story which caused the kerfuffle:

The Suburbs Are the New Slums

Suburbs: The New Slums

Two-thirds of primary cities in large metropolitan areas grew from 2000 to 2008. City growth spread and accelerated between 2006 and 2008, as many core urban areas realized a “windfall” of residents due to the impact of the housing slump on movement to the suburbs. [Source]

May 10, 2010

Gawker.com - Any good student of dialectics knew this was coming. A new report on demographic trends shows that the suburbs are slowly but surely becoming what they were expressly designed not to be: the home of the disadvantaged.

Of course one could say as an opening joke that growing up in the suburbs would be a disadvantage for anyone. But now, demographics are following what common sense has long indicated. A new Brookings Institute analysis of census data shows that the era of white flight from urban areas that turned suburbs into the traditional rings of affluence around poorer cities is, for the most part, over.

Suburbs still tilt white. But, for the first time, a majority of all racial and ethnic groups in large metro areas live outside the city. Suburban Asians and Hispanics already had topped 50 percent in 2000, and blacks joined them by 2008, rising from 43 percent in those eight years.

The suburbs now have the largest poor population in the country. They are home to the vast majority of baby boomers age 55 to 64, a fast-growing group that will strain social services after the first wave of boomers turns 65 next year.

The smartest, most educated young suburbanites are fleeing for big cities. Naturally. Didn't you? They're leaving behind their parents, who make up that hefty chunk of soon-to-retire boomers.

It was inevitable that the suburbs would become more racially integrated, albeit slowly; but economic integration is happening faster than many suburban residents would probably prefer, thanks in part to the real estate market collapse which left lots and lots of suburban cookie-cutter development dream homes available at prices far, far lower than their developers had initially hoped.

So while young, mostly white suburban kids race to the cities and price out the original residents there, many of those urban minorities may find the suburbs to be more inviting and economically viable. Gentrification and degentrification—demographic groups passing each other on the highway into the city, heading in opposite directions. While bright young things head for NYC, LA, Chicago, and San Francisco, the Sun Belt and its massive tracts of sprawl stand ready, willing and able to absorb the displaced, once-urban masses of the working class.

It's as if, over the course of a generation, the stereotypical growing-up experiences of White Suburban Americans and Minority Urban Americans will totally trade places. The only difference being that now the cities will get the government money and attention they've always deserved, and the suburbs will slowly wilt into sprawling, neglected slums.

And soon, the cities will take all the water, too. Good luck, new Sun Belt suburbanites. Fill up those bathtubs.

The Suburban Slum Era Has Arrived

The Manhattan apartment vacancy rate is at its lowest level in almost five years, and "Average Manhattan rental prices are just a hair below their 2007 peaks." Yeah, nobody wants to live in the suburbs, either.

October 25, 2011

Gawker.com - It's been apparent for a number of years now that—due to widespread demographic and economic trends—the suburbs, once the idyllic home to upper middle class members and aspirants, are becoming the new slums. How's that trend developing? Just fine, thank you.

Sabrina Tavernise ventures into the suburbs and reports back: that shit is all f*cked up now. Most urban poor people are in the burbs now. Suburban poverty's up by more than 50% in the past decade. Adios, scary inner city. Hello, scary outer city.

Since 2000, the poverty roll has increased by five million in the suburbs, with large rises in metropolitan areas as different as Colorado Springs and Greensboro, N.C... Nationwide, 55 percent of the poor population in metropolitan areas is now in the suburbs, up from 49 percent.

At least it's somewhat comforting that the suburbs now suck for the kinds of concrete, measurable reasons that go in rap music lyrics, rather than for the vague, sentimental reasons that go in alternative music lyrics.

Related Stories:

• Old People Are Clogging Up the Suburbs

24-Year Old Veteran Survives Two Tours of Duty in Iraq Only to be Injured on U.S. Soil by Police During Occupy Oakland Protest

A protester shows his wound after the police shot him with a rubber bullet while he helped carry injured Marine Scott Olsen of Occupy Oakland. The bullet had to be removed from his body. The Oakland police violated their own rules, and violated the Geneva Convention against targeting wounded combatants or those attempting to render medical aid. Amnesty International has condemned the use of tear gas as well as the actions of Mayor Jean Quan of Oakland, who said the measures were justified because protesters threw rocks. The Obama administration and Eric Holder have shown no interest in investigating. [Source]

A poster at Occupy Marines Facebook makes the following comment: "You can see Scott Olsen standing, with his BACK TOWARDS THE COPS moments before being shot. Watch closely - the guy who shot him can be seen backing away from the fence and lowering his shotgun (he must have been less than 5 feet from Scott when he shot him in the head). He then goes behind two other cops and THROWS THE FLASH BANG himself at the people trying to save them. The other two cops don’t move, but this guy steps back and then forward just as the flash bang is tossed. The same guy shot him and then tossed the grenade at the people trying to save him." - Scott Olsen Was Shot In The Head Intentionally From Less Than 10 Feet By The Same Officer Who Threw The Flash Grenade (Video), The Daily Bail, The Daily Bail



The injured man is Scott Olsen, a Marine Corps veteran twice deployed to Iraq and member of Veterans for Peace. He is in the hospital now in stable but serious condition with a fractured skull, struck by a police projectile (believed to be a tear gas cannister) fired into the crowd. After protesters run to the aid of the injured Marine, Oakland Police deliberately throw a flash grenade into the crowd. Whatever you think of the Occupy movement, police behavior of this kind is criminal and should be prosecuted. - MAKE THIS GO VIRAL - Oakland Police Throw Grenade Into Crowd That Is Trying To Help Injured Protester

24 Year Old Iraq War Veteran Seriously Injured by Police During Oakland Protests

NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams
October 27, 2011

Medic Called for Iraq War Veteran Seriously Injured by Police in Oakland

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Tensions Rise at Occupy Oakland Protests

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Cell Phone Footage Changing Nature of Police Incidents

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Google Spent More Than $500 Million to Acquire Another 27 Companies During the Third Quarter of 2011

Google Paid $151 Million for Zagat in Flurry of 3Q Deals

October 25, 2011

AP - Google spent more than $500 million to acquire another 27 companies during the third quarter, ensuring this year will be busiest shopping spree in the Internet search leader's history.

The tally emerged Wednesday in a quarterly report that included another previously undisclosed nugget: Google Inc. paid $151 million in cash for the Zagat Survey, a renowned restaurant review publisher that Google bought to counter the popularity of Yelp's business rating service. The price is higher than estimated in previously published reports, which pegged the deal's value between $65 million and $125 million.

Google's latest flurry of deals raised its acquisition count to 57 companies through the first nine months of the year. That already exceeds Google's previous annual record of 48 acquisitions, reached last year.

Although Google has never completed more acquisitions in its 13-year history, the company isn't guaranteed of setting a new spending record.

Through September, Google's deals had cost a total of $1.4 billion. That's below the $1.8 billion that Google spent last year and less than the $3.2 billion it spent in 2008 buying online advertising service DoubleClick, its biggest-ever purchase and its only acquisition that year.

Google agreed to buy cell phone maker for Motorola Mobility Inc. for $12.5 billion in August, but that deal may not be completed before the end of the year. That's because the U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether the proposed takeover would stifle competition in the increasingly important mobile phone market.

Most of Google's acquisitions involve small startups that are developing promising technology or employ talented engineers.

Google snapped up the Zagat Survey because it wanted a well-known brand that would allow it to feature more restaurant recommendations and reviews on its own website instead of sending Web surfers to Yelp and other rivals.

Google tried to buy Yelp in 2009, only to be rebuffed. Yelp is now among a group of competitors trying to convince U.S. regulators that Google has abused its dominance of Internet search by highlighting its own services in its results.

After Zagat, the next-largest acquisition Google completed in the third quarter was the $114 million purchase of Daily Deals, an online discount service in Europe.

DHS Backs ‘Spy Street Lights,’ Called ‘Intellistreets,’ That Double as Sophisticated Surveillance Devices

Promo Video for DHS-Backed ‘Spy Street Lights’ Pulled From You Tube

Company gets nervous after creepy ‘Intellistreets’ concept exposed by Drudge Report

October 26, 2011

Infowars.com - The company behind a Department of Homeland Security-funded project to install street lights that double as sophisticated surveillance devices pulled its promo video for ‘Intellistreets’ from You Tube hours after our article drawing attention to the issue was linked on the popular Drudge Report website.

Having initially disabled comments on the You Tube clip, Illuminating Concepts yanked the video entirely this afternoon, presumably nervous about the negative publicity that could be generated from concerns about new high-tech street lights being used for “Homeland Security” purposes – their words, not ours.

However, having gone to the trouble of putting together a promotional video for their product, and having already started installing the system in the city of Farmington Hills, Michigan with the aid of federal funding, the fact that the company attempted to prevent people learning about the “Homeland Security” applications for the street lights speaks volumes.

If ‘Intellistreets’ is such a cutting edge concept that presents an array of wonderful benefits, as the promo video claims, then why remove it from You Tube? It’s almost like a kid getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Now that the company has tried to hide the video, it will only generate more suspicion about the true purpose behind ‘Intellistreets’ and the level of involvement on behalf of Homeland Security.

As we documented earlier today, ‘Intellistreets’ is even more frightening a concept than the DHS-funded surveillance cameras that have blanketed America. Not only does this system have video surveillance capabilities, it also includes audio sensors and speaker systems that will be used by authorities to “promote civic awareness,” presumably in the same vein as Homeland Security’s telescreens in Wal-Mart stores that feature a message from Janet Napolitano encouraging Americans to spy on each other and report suspicious activity.

Using street lights as Minority Report-style broadcasting platforms for advertising and government propaganda also dovetails with the Obama administration’s agenda to have complete control over communications by means of the Emergency Alert System and the program to have all new cell phones display mandatory “emergency” messages from the federal government by next year.

You can still watch a duplicate of the video for ‘Intellistreets’ below (until that too is pulled). The video is also still available on the company’s website.

Also available are 'Intelli Street Signs' (at 2:54 into the video): this could explain the federal mandate forcing municipalities across the U.S. to replace street signs by 2018.

Read More...

Lawmakers Consider Vehicle Mileage Tax

Big Brother Considers Tracking Drivers’ Every Move

October 26, 2011

Personal Liberty Digest - As lawmakers face the facts of soaring deficits and a mountain of Federal debt, they may opt to rethink the way that Americans pay for the roads and highways they use every day.

According to POLITICO, the Highway Trust Fund, money set aside for resurfacing and highway infrastructure, will be nearly $100 billion in the red by 2021, and the mass transit account will be about $30 billion short. The article says that because gas and diesel taxes have not been increased in two decades, the fund has lost about one-third of its purchasing power since 1992.

Reportedly, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Trucking Association and AAA have all lobbied lawmakers for an increase in fuel taxes to re-energize revenues, but Congress stands nearly unanimously against the measure. Most lawmakers say that raising fuel taxes in today’s economic climate would greatly harm businesses that rely on ground shipping services to transport goods throughout the country.

Instead of raising the price of fuel, many lawmakers support what some Americans may consider an egregious invasion of privacy to raise funding for roadway repairs. The measure would require American drivers to equip their vehicles with a GPS tracking device to measure vehicle miles traveled (VMT). The device would not only measure the number of miles traveled but also where a driver went during each trip, which route he took and the hours during which he was driving.

Some proponents of the measure say the generation raised on Facebook and Twitter — proudly posting their every move for an Internet audience — probably will not mind being tracked in their vehicles by the government.

Oakland Could be the Future of American Cities

The protesters had gathered at a downtown library, marched toward City Hall and ultimately were met by police officers in riot gear. Several small skirmishes broke out and officers cleared the area by firing tear gas. The scene has repeated itself several times since. But each time officers move to disperse the crowd, protesters quickly gather again in assemblies that authorities have declared illegal. Tensions rise as protesters edge closer to police line and climax when someone throws a bottle or rock and authorities response with volleys of gas. Police have denied reports that they used flash bang canisters to help break up the crowds, saying the loud noises came from large firecrackers thrown at police by protesters. Helicopters scanned the area late Tuesday and scores of officers wearing helmets and carrying clubs patrolled the streets. Fire crews responded to small blazes in trash containers. Protesters moved about uneasily even as one used a bull horn to express his resolve. "This movement is more than just the people versus the police," Mario Fernandez said. "It's about the people trying to have their rights to basic services." He added, "This crowd isn't going anywhere anytime soon." Acting Police Chief Howard Jordan told reporters at a late night news conference that authorities had no other choice, saying the protesters were throwing rocks and bottles at officers. "We had to deploy gas to stop the crowd," he said, according to a KCBS report. - Occupy Oakland Protest: Police Fire Tear Gas And Beanbag Rounds, Clear Out Encampment, Huffington Post, October 26, 2011



I pray that the 'powers that be' do not see this movement as an excuse to lock down the nation into martial law. - marypoppins2009, October 9, 2011, YouTube.com

The two main challenges (facing the protesters are): (1) an attempt by both the Democratic and Republican parties to co-opt it (see this, this and this); and (2) agents provocateur (see this, this and this) [and here]. [Source]

Watch Oakland Police Fire Tear Gas on Protesters

October 26, 2011

Gawker.com - A tense scene is unfolding in Oakland right now as protesters, attempting to reclaim the plaza from which they were evicted early this morning, face off with police—who've used tear gas and percussion grenades on the occupiers.

The Occupy Oakland encampment in Frank Ogawa Plaza—renamed Oscar Grant Plaza by its new residents—was kicked out by Oakland police using smoke grenades on Tuesday morning over what authorities claimed were "sanitary and public safety concerns." At least 75 people were arrested in the process, and protesters say three were hurt.

"I think we allowed people to exercise their rights to free speech and free assembly," OPD Chief Howard Jordan told reporters.

But the Oakland movement is one of the largest in the country, and as many as 1000 occupiers met this afternoon outside the public library to begin a march back to their plaza. The police had barricaded the plaza and threatened to arrest the protesters unless they dispersed; some protesters were arrested and others were tear-gassed. The crowd appears to be moving, but it's not clear that there's a direction; we'll update this post as the situation develops.

You can watch a live helicopter feed of the demonstration on ABC 7's website here; there's another from the local CBS affiliate here. There's also this livestream from an occupier on the ground.

Update: Alternet's Josh Holland reports that 500 people have been tear-gassed; others on Twitter say flash-bangs and percussion grenades have been used as well. Live helicopter camera feeds from ABC and CBS were apparently cut off right before the police threw the gas grenades.

Police Fire Tear Gas at Protesters in Oakland, Calif.

October 26, 2011

The Lede - Police officers shot several rounds of tear gas into a crowd of hundreds of protesters from the group Occupy Oakland on Tuesday night, as the protesters tried to re-enter an area outside of City Hall that the police had cleared of their encampment earlier in the day.

“It sounded like bombs,” said Joaquin Jutt, 24, a digital animator who was among the protesters. “There was a stinging and burning in my throat, eyes and nostrils. My eyes burned like there was hot sauce in them.”

The clashes on Tuesday occurred after the police removed about 170 demonstrators early in the morning who had been staying in the area after being warned that such a camp was illegal and that they faced arrest by remaining, The Associated Press reported. City officials said 97 people were arrested in the morning raid.

The first scuffle broke out later in the day after hundreds of people made their way back to City Hall, The A.P. said, in an attempt to re-establish a presence in the area of the dispersed camp.

A video from the scene on Tuesday night (both videos below were captured by Malia Wollan, reporting for The New York Times):

The crowds dispersed after the first round of tear gas but soon returned in similar numbers, according to protesters on the scene. At around 9:30 p.m., there was a tense face-off between protesters and police officers on Broadway at 14th Street. About 100 officers, some appearing to be sheriff’s deputies, stood behind a metal barricade in full riot gear and wearing gas masks, while on the other side people pressed against the barricade, waving peace signs and chanting slogans. A few protesters hurled objects — what looked like water bottles — at the police, while over a loud speaker, officers instructed people to disperse or risk “chemical agents.”

Shortly after 9:30 p.m. the announcements stopped. Moments after, the police began sending canisters of tear gas into the crowd. Many people ran, but a few protesters wearing gas masks stayed and continued to throw things at the police. Those who had been affected by the gas coughed repeatedly and appeared to weep. Some stooped before a woman who volunteered to rinse reddened eyes.

This video shows a protester having his eyes rinsed:

KGO-TV, a local ABC television affiliate, is broadcasting a live stream of the protesters clashing with police officers.

In dramatic raw video taken at around 8 p.m. local time and posted on KGO-TV’s Web site, flashes of light and explosions can be heard as people sprint away. Smoke engulfs the scene. According to information on the station’s Web site, there was also tear gas present.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported on the initial incident:

Police gave repeated warnings to protesters to disperse from the entrance to Frank Ogawa Plaza at 14th Street and Broadway before firing several tear gas canisters into the crowd at about 7:45 p.m. Police had announced over a loudspeaker that those who refused to leave could be targeted by “chemical agents.” The evening protest started around 5 p.m., when about 400 people began marching from a public library at 14th and Madison streets toward the plaza, which police had barricaded and city officials had declared would be closed for at least several days.

“We’re going to march and reclaim what was already ours, what we call Oscar Grant Plaza and what they call City Hall,” said protester Krystof Lopaur, referring to the unarmed man shot to death by a BART police officer in January 2009.

Early on, the scene outside City Hall was largely peaceful, but it was a different story a few blocks west on Washington Street. Officers in riot gear hemmed in protesters around 6 p.m. and attempted to arrest one person, as about 50 more surrounded them shouting, “Let him go, let him go.”

Protesters threw turquoise and red paint at the riot police officers’ faces and helmets. Some led the crowd in chanting, “This is why we call you pigs.”

Others pleaded with the agitators to be peaceful and return to the march, yet some protesters tried to fight with police and were clubbed and kicked in return.

Almost simultaneous to the events in Oakland, the police in Atlanta removed protesters camped in Woodruff Park, arresting several, The Associated Press reported.

Organizers had instructed participants to be peaceful if arrests came, and most were, though police did drag out a few. Many gathered in the center of the park, locking arms, and sang “We Shall Overcome,” until police led them out, one-by-one to waiting buses. Most left on foot, handcuffed with plastic ties.

Police included SWAT teams in riot gear, dozens of officers on motorcycles and several on horseback. By about 1:30 a.m. the park was mostly cleared of protesters.

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Gingrich and Cain are Globalist Insiders Who Essentially Share the Same Political and Economic Philosophy

Global Elite Version of the Lincoln-Douglas Debate

October 25, 2011

Infowars.com - It’s a new low for the shanghaied Tea Party – a “modified Lincoln-Douglas debate” between two deep insiders, Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain. The Lincoln-Douglas debate was an 1858 effort to take presidential debates directly to the people.

Bill O’Sullivan, treasurer of Texas Tea Party Patriots, told National Review Online that the recent debates between establishment Republican contenders have been “superficial” and “frustrating.”

NRO is the online version of William F. Buckley’s National Review. The late Buckley was a “conservative” who worked for E. Howard Hunt in the CIA’s Special Activities Division responsible for covert ops.

Gingrich says that if nominated, he will challenge Obama to “seven forums akin to the Lincoln-Douglas debates — each of them three hours apiece,” reports USA Today.

Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said in January that the supposed “intellectual stimulation” of such a protracted event “would be fascinating to watch.” Steele did not specify who exactly would find three hours of establishment talking points fascinating.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is heavily steeped in the neocon faction supported by the ruling elite and is a member of a number of warmongering neocon organizations, including the American Enterprise Institute and the Hoover Institution. He participates in the “leadership council” of the Clifford May-run Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (which is linked to the CIA’s National Endowment for Democracy). Gingrich also served as a member of the Committee on the Present Danger and as an advisor to the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq.

Gingrich is a committed globalist who supported Bill Clinton’s NAFTA, the orchestrated effort to impoverish American workers by sending manufacturing jobs to third world slave labor gulags in Mexico and then China and Asia. He also supports GATT, WTO and other globalist “trade” treaties.

It is not clear what sort of “debate” would ensue between two globalist insiders who essentially share the same political and economic philosophy. Ditto the “debate” between Gingrich and Cain.

All we need to know about Herman Cain is that he is a former chairman (Omaha Branch board 1989–91), deputy chairman (1992–94) and chairman (1995–96) of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

Supposed political ”debates” between vested insiders like Gingrich and Cain are designed to establish the aura of street cred for the elite’s hand-picked candidates. It is nothing less than a public relations stunt designed to sell us the same old political snake oil, this time gussied up with nostalgia for a historical moment taken radically out of context – not that most reality-TV mesmerized Americans are even vaguely aware of the Lincoln-Douglas debate and what it represented.

Congress Considers Cuts to Military Benefits as Part of Austerity Measures for U.S.

It seems highly unlikely at this time that Congress will go through with a proposal to cut military benefits since they need the votes of the military, as well as the civil service (which are backed by powerful service organizations and unions with political connections), to ensure reelection. Instead austerity measures will be targeted at ordinary taxpayers, with a massive reduction in government spending that cuts programs which mostly benefit the middle and lower classes (the serfs that serve the public sector).

Congress Open to Cost-cutting Changes in Military Benefits; Veterans Groups Fight Back

October 22, 2011

AP - The government's promise of lifetime health care for the military's men and women is suddenly a little less sacrosanct as Congress looks to slash trillion-dollar-plus deficits.

Republicans and Democrats alike are signaling a willingness — unheard of at the height of two post-Sept. 11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — to make military retirees pay more for coverage. It's a reflection of Washington's newfound embrace of fiscal austerity and the Pentagon's push to cut health care costs that have skyrocketed from $19 billion in 2001 to $53 billion.

The numbers are daunting for a military focused on building and arming an all-volunteer force for war. The Pentagon is providing health care coverage for 3.3 million active duty personnel and their dependents and 5.5 million retirees, eligible dependents and surviving spouses. Retirees outnumber the active duty, 2.3 million to 1.4 million.

Combined with the billions in retirement pay, it's no surprise that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta recently said personnel costs have put the Pentagon "on an unsustainable course."

Yet the resistance to health care changes is fierce.

Powerful veterans groups and retired generals are mobilizing to fight any changes, arguing that Americans who were willing to die for their country should be treated differently than the average worker. The American Legion has sent a letter to every member of the House and Senate pleading with them to spare health care benefits. The Veterans of Foreign Wars has urged its 2 million members, their families and friends to contact lawmakers and deliver the same message.

The two groups were unnerved when both parties' leaders on the Senate Armed Services Committee — Carl Levin, D-Mich., and John McCain, R-Ariz. — recommended that the special deficit-cutting super committee look at raising enrollment fees and imposing restrictions on the military's health care program, known as TRICARE. Current military members would be grandfathered in.

McCain and Levin also favored creating a commission to look at military retirement benefits and make recommendations for changes.

"Any changes to TRICARE that put the burden back on the beneficiaries is not supported by the American Legion," said Peter Gaytan, the group's executive director. He wondered about future benefits for his 19-year-old nephew who heads to Afghanistan in December.

The willingness in Congress to consider cost-cutting changes to the military's entitlement programs is shared by other senators, from members of the Armed Services panel to budget-conscious lawmakers in both the Republican and Democratic ranks such as Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Mark Warner, D-Va.

"I think we have to look at whether savings can be achieved, but we have to keep our promise to people who were recruited based on those benefits, and we also ought to look at whether there's ways to improve the benefit structure," Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in an interview last week.

That prospect has Joe Davis, a spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, fearful of the next step.

"All our worries are starting to come to fruition," Davis said.

The debt accord reached this past summer between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans set in motion some $450 billion worth of cuts in projected defense spending over 10 years.

It's a reality check for the Defense Department, whose budget has nearly doubled to some $700 billion in the 10 years since the Sept. 11 terror attack. That amount doesn't include the trillion-plus spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The 12-member, bipartisan supercommittee has a mandate to come up with at least $1.2 trillion in cuts by Nov. 23. If it fails to produce a plan or Congress rejects its proposal, automatic, across-the-board cuts of $1.2 trillion kick in, half of it from defense spending.

Panetta said $600 billion more in cuts over the next decade atop the $450 billion in cuts passed this summer would represent a "doomsday" for the nation's military. Republicans and Democrats have echoed his apocalyptic warning. In their separate letters to the supercommittee, Levin and McCain said they reject any deeper cuts in overall defense spending beyond the 10-year, $450 billion cuts.

Determined to avoid spending reductions that would hit troop numbers, aircraft, ships and weapons, Levin, McCain and other lawmakers are urging budget-cutters to scrutinize the military entitlement programs.

"I think they may be facing reality and want to soften the blow some," said former Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., who served as House Armed Services chairman. "They're both very responsible when it comes to the troops."

Levin and McCain support establishing an annual enrollment fee for TRICARE for Life, the health care program that now has no fee for participation. Obama had proposed an initial annual fee of $200.

Levin said future increases in fees should be tied to the same index used to determine hikes in the TRICARE Prime program, which has the lowest out-of-pocked expenses.

McCain also urged the super committee to consider restricting working-age military retirees and their dependents from enrolling in TRICARE Prime. The retirees could still enroll in other TRICARE programs. McCain pointed out that the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that such a move would save $111 billion over 10 years.

Active-duty personnel still would be enrolled in the program automatically.

In the House, lawmakers are less inclined to make any changes in health care benefits. Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, agreed to a slight increase in TRICARE Prime fees for working-age military retirees. The fees had been unchanged for 11 years at $230 a year for an individual and $460 for a family.

Asked about the recommendations from Levin and McCain to the super committee, McKeon's office said the House has already made changes and suggested additional savings come from civilian rather military health care and retirement programs. The House vote to raise the annual TRICARE Prime fees by $2.50 for individuals and $5 for families.

Obama Sidesteps Congress to Create Jobs for Veterans

Obama Takes Executive Action to Help Veterans Find Work

October 25, 2011

ABC News Blogs – A day after unveiling his “ we can’t wait” campaign, President Obama has announced another executive action intended to spur job growth, this one aimed at getting veterans back on the job.

The White House today announced new initiatives urging Community Health Centers to hire 8,000 veterans, approximately one veteran per health center, in the next three years and expand opportunities for veterans to become physician assistants.

“I think all Americans can agree that veterans shouldn’t have to fight for a job once they’ve come home from the fight overseas,” Matt Flavin, director of the Veterans, Military Families and Wounded Warrior Task Force, told reporters today. “But we’ve seen from the unemployment numbers, especially for post-9/11 veterans, that the case is too many of our veterans are having to have that fight.”

White House officials said they could not estimate how many jobs will be created through these programs.

The new orders are yet another step in the president’s plan to take executive action on his own to boost the economy without the need for congressional approval. Obama announced Monday a new housing plan to help homeowners refinance their mortgages and avoid foreclosure and is expected Wednesday to outline new rules for repaying student loans.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, however, said Republicans have already taken action to help veterans. Earlier this month, the House passed the Veterans Opportunity to Work Act, which would provide education and training benefits for service members. The legislation, which was passed with bipartisan support in the House, is pending in the Senate.

“With this important legislation waiting for Senate action, the White House cannot credibly say they are waiting on Republicans to help veterans,” a Boehner spokesman said. “In fact, here is a great example where ‘we can’t wait’ for the Senate to take up one of the many House-passed jobs bills. And it’s another reminder that there is common ground to be found between us. We just need Senate Democrats to do something.”

U.S. Government Orders 44.75 Million Doses of Antrax Vaccine

If a catastrophic earth-based event (such as an asteroid impact, or natural mega disaster) were to occur on a future date and world governments had advanced knowledge of such an event — would the populace be warned? If the event were to be too catastrophic to recover from, and people in dense population centers were left to fend for themselves — would world governments preform an extermination of some regions in advance to avoid the total mayhem of a dynamic breakdown of society into ultimate civil unrest? One must wonder… - Shepard Ambellas & Alex Thomas, U.S. Government Gears Up To Release Bio-Weapon On Civilian Populace As Doomsday Event Looms?, The Intel Hub, October 24, 2011

Anthrax Vaccine Ordered By U.S.

An influenza vaccine that protects against all pandemic strains of the infection could be developed after a volunteer in a medical study had an unusual reaction to the flu virus.

October 10, 2011

ThirdAge.com - To protect against anthrax, the U.S. government has ordered 44.75 million doses of a vaccine from a Maryland company.

Emergent BioSolutions Inc., with headquarters in Rockville, Md., said that under the $1.25 billion award it will supply its BioThrax over a period of five years, UPI.com reported.

BioThrax is the only vaccine licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to protect against anthrax infection.

"Emergent is proud to be able to contribute to the U.S. government's program of protecting the nation from the threat of anthrax," said Fuad El-Hibri, chairman and chief executive officer of Emergent BioSolutions. "This five-year award provides for uninterrupted supply of this critical bio-defense countermeasure while addressing the government's mandate to reduce spending across all programs.

"In coming to agreement, Emergent and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention worked diligently to establish business terms that incorporate substantial price concessions."

Initial deliveries are expected to begin this year. A total of 8.5 million doses scheduled to be delivered during the first contract year.

The company retains the ability to modify the timing of deliveries depending on manufacturing yields and other factors.

Last month, Emergent was a co-host for a bio-preparedness conference in France on the threat of anthrax.

"Emergent [was] pleased to co-host this conference as part of our efforts to raise global awareness of bio-preparedness," said Allen Shofe, senior vice president of corporate affairs, Emergent BioSolutions.

Grants Issued for Next-Generation Anthrax Vaccine -- False Flag to Come, Or More Wasted Money?

September 22, 2011

Activist Post - On September 20, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it had awarded millions of dollars worth of grants to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Developmental Authority (BARDA) for the purpose of supporting the “advanced development of a novel next-generation anthrax vaccine and a new type of anthrax antitoxin.”

Although the announcement has received very little attention in the media, it is nonetheless concerning to those of us who are not apt to trust that every move made by our government is for our benefit.

The agency receiving the grants, BARDA, is located within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, which itself is a division of HHS.

BARDA manages Project BioShield, which “includes the procurement and advanced development of medical countermeasures for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear agents, as well as the advanced development and procurement of medical countermeasures for pandemic influenza and other emerging infectious diseases that fall outside the auspices of Project BioShield.” BARDA also oversees the Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE).

As one can see, the research grants given to BARDA through HHS are emergency-minded in nature; the idea behind these particular contracts being the development of an anthrax vaccine or treatment in the event of an anthrax attack on the United States. The money provided to BARDA will be funneled from the agency to two vaccine companies who will actually be the ones to conduct the studies and manufacturing processes for the up and coming vaccines.

Vaxin Inc. out of Rockville, MD will receive $14.7 million over two years, with the possibility of an extension of up to four years, which would end up totaling $21.7 million if the extension is granted. Vaxin Inc. will be charged with the development and manufacture of a more expeditious anthrax vaccine. Elusys Therapeutics Inc. of Pine Brook, New Jersey, which will be tasked with developing an anthrax antitoxin, will receive $26.5 million for two years, or possibly $68.9 million for five years, upon the extension of the job.

Specifically, Vaxin will be in charge of determining whether or not the vaccine AdVAV can protect against anthrax with fewer doses than the vaccine that is currently licensed, which requires that the recipient take five doses within 18 months and annual boosters for continued protection. Elusys will evaluate the effectiveness of the drug Anthim in terms of its administration before or shortly after one’s exposure to anthrax.

Of course, anyone who has done cursory research into the safety and effectiveness of vaccines will be aware that vaccinations are neither safe nor effective. Vaccines have never been proven safe or effective by any real study that wasn’t connected to a vaccine maker or pharmaceutical company. In fact, vaccines have a history of causing severe health issues, particularly the one used to “immunize” against anthrax, and there are at least 100 compiled studies showing that.

For instance, in 2005, over 1,200 military personnel who were vaccinated against anthrax before going to Iraq developed serious illnesses, and there were thousands of queries about potential side effects. Just the initial symptoms of side effects to the vaccine were diarrhea, cramping, fever, sleep and memory loss, chronic fatigue, headaches, and chest pains, not to mention the long term effects that went undetected.

True to form, both the military and the medical establishment continued to hype the shots and encourage soldiers to take them. Citing, the false-flag anthrax attacks of 2001, the anthrax vaccine was promoted as being needed “now more than ever.” For example, in typical fear-mongering fashion, Maj. Brian Blalock, public health flight commander at Nellis Air Force Base in 2005, stated that,

“We’re living in a completely different era. There are terrorists who are intent on using biological agents and there are countries that certainly have the capability.”

In 2006, the Pentagon announced that it would make the anthrax vaccine mandatory for all soldiers serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and South Korea after the FDA found the vaccines to be safe and effective. Obviously, one might be justified in asking if there has ever been a vaccine that the FDA has not found found to be safe and effective but that is another topic altogether.

Yet it should be noted that the anthrax attacks of 2001 cited by the Pentagon and its spokespeople were not the act of Muslim or domestic extremists as the American public has been hammered into believing by the corporate media and government propagandists.

Microbiologist, Dr. Bruce Ivins, the unfortunate patsy blamed for the attacks and another “lone nut” who turned up dead as a result of an apparent “suicide,” was clearly not the perpetrator of the anthrax mailings, as voluminous amounts of evidence point to his innocence as well as testimony of many credible witnesses and the Department of Justice itself have revealed. Indeed, there seems to be a much more sinister agenda in this case, but, as with the vaccine safety issue, this is also another topic which requires far too much attention to discuss within the confines of this article.

It cannot go unmentioned, however, that there were an alarming number of microbiologists who had turned up dead shortly before the anthrax event. As Dr. Francis Boyle, a former government biological weapons legislator, has stated publicly,

“Ivins is only the latest dead microbiologist. You also have to tie into this the large numbers of dead microbiologists that have appeared since around the summer before these events, when the New York Times revealed the existence of the covert anthrax weapons programs run by the CIA, and that too is in the public record.”

This is the context in which the recent HHS announcement has appeared and, upon hearing of this new push regarding anthrax and the development of new “medical countermeasures” for it, one should bear close in mind the vast and obvious government involvement in weaponized anthrax and false flag terror. As a result, one must be concerned about the potential for serious mass-scale crisis creation using these available resources and methods.

Indeed, this is not the first time BARDA has been given such a task. According to the HHS press release, the agency has been given the goal of funding the development and acquisition of two anthrax antitoxins in the past. These antitoxins are now present in the Strategic National Stockpile. In addition, BARDA’s direction over the Project BioShield operation, which goes at least as far back as 2004, was relevant to the awarding of contracts to the acquisitions of countermeasures to anthrax, smallpox, botulism, and nuclear exposure as well other bioterrorist attack-related emergency supplies.

These stated goals and developmental grants were largely a result of Barack Obama’s Executive Order 13527, which was signed on December 30, 2009. This Executive Order (EO), according to the “HHS Fiscal Year 2012: Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund – Justification of Estimates for Appropriations Committees,” makes it the policy of the federal government to plan and prepare for the timely provision of medical countermeasures to the American people in the event of a biological attack through a rapid federal response in coordination with state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments.

The policy’s goal is to mitigate illness and prevent death, sustain critical infrastructure, and complement and supplement state, local, territorial, and Tribal government medical countermeasure distribution capacity. Section 2 of the EO tasks HHS and USPS to develop a concept of operations and national postal model for other cities interested in utilizing a residential delivery system through the USPS to deliver medical countermeasures for a biological attack.

Essentially, the EO directs HHS and USPS to develop a method of distribution of “medical countermeasures” in the event of a bioterrorist attack in the United States.

Test runs for these procedures were conducted in both 2006 and 2007, as well as later in 2010. George W. Bush also signed an order to provide advance distribution of “medical countermeasures” to those letter carriers who volunteered for the program in 2008.

While one could scarcely argue that it is a bad idea to develop mechanisms for the rapid deployment of medicines and life-saving products via the Post Office or other available institutions in the event of a biological weapons attack or outbreak of a deadly disease, one must also view these EO’s and government policies with skepticism and concern. Especially when one takes into account the historical precedent set by governments (specifically the US government) in creating and exploiting just these kinds of situations.

The fact is, while these procedures appear at first glance (at least to the uninformed) to be a protective measure against foreign bioterrorism or domestically executed attacks, it is actually the US government itself that is almost always the culprit when it comes to virtually any kind of terrorism.

Whether it is the anthrax attacks mentioned above, 9/11, OKC, Swine Flu, or other more small-scale operations, it is not shoe-string extremists that have launched consecutive attacks on the United States; it is rogue elements with the US government itself.

Indeed, among those who research government false flag operations, it is well-known that there are often many potential giveaways as to their coming execution. In some instances, it is military exercises. In others, it is the implementation (or introduction) of laws or policies that would pertain to just such a situation. Therefore, when our government begins preparation for a bioterrorist attack, especially when those preparations are specific in nature, one is definitely justified in a reaction of concern in regards to what this actually means.

These new contracts for development of more advanced anthrax vaccines should cause specific concern in light of previous EO’s signed by both Bush and Obama as well as legislation designed to essentially declare Martial Law in the event of a bioterrorist attack or pandemic virus.

The EO mentioned above (Executive Order 13527) contains language regarding the escort of postal workers carrying “medical countermeasures” by law enforcement officers in order to protect them from “potentially violent crowds,” leading some to speculate as to whether or not this angry reaction would be the result of forced vaccination programs.

Interestingly enough, the Post Office has played an assisting role in the coming Martial Law program in the past. Keep in mind, USPS facilities all across the country have been constructing secretive hardened “criminal investigation rooms.” The source who revealed these room constructions also revealed plans to use these rooms in the event of Martial Law to “separate families.”

While the recent announcement of new anthrax vaccine contracts may be just another waste of taxpayer money on the faith-based scientific efforts known as vaccines, we must not be so quick to dismiss it as such without taking into account the context of these announcements. The United States government has been making plans for years regarding the final crackdown on civil liberties and the ultimate moment to fully transition to an openly authoritarian police state. A bioterrorist attack using anthrax or any other deadly or fast-spreading disease would provide the perfect pretext to do just that.

Read more here and here.