New Content: (03/26/2008) Last Addition: (04/10/2008)
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"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, (i.e., the "business cycle") the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."
Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States 1801-1809
A prominent engineer with 55 years experience, in charge of the design of hundreds of major building projects including high rise offices, former member of the California Seismic Safety Commission and former member of the National Institute of Sciences Building Safety Council (Marx Ayres) believes that the World Trade Centers were brought down by controlled demolition (see also this)
Two professors of structural engineering at a prestigious Swiss university (Dr. Joerg Schneider and Dr. Hugo Bachmann) said that, on 9/11, World Trade Center 7 was brought down by controlled demolition (translation here)
Kamal S. Obeid, structural engineer, with a masters degree in Engineering from UC Berkeley, of Fremont, California, says:
"Photos of the steel, evidence about how the buildings collapsed, the unexplainable collapse of WTC 7, evidence of thermite in the debris as well as several other red flags, are quite troubling indications of well planned and controlled demolition" Ronald H. Brookman, structural engineer, with a masters degree in Engineering from UC Davis, of Novato California, writes:
"Why would all 110 stories drop straight down to the ground in about 10 seconds, pulverizing the contents into dust and ash - twice. Why would all 47 stories of WTC 7 fall straight down to the ground in about seven seconds the same day? It was not struck by any aircraft or engulfed in any fire. An independent investigation is justified for all three collapses including the surviving steel samples and the composition of the dust." Graham John Inman, structural engineer, of London, England, points out:
"WTC 7 Building could not have collapsed as a result of internal fire and external debris. NO plane hit this building. This is the only case of a steel frame building collapsing through fire in the world. The fire on this building was small & localized therefore what is the cause?" Paul W. Mason, structural engineer, of Melbourne, Australia, argues:
"In my view, the chances of the three buildings collapsing symmetrically into their own footprint, at freefall speed, by any other means than by controlled demolition, are so remote that there is no other plausible explanation!" Mills M. Kay Mackey, structural engineer, of Denver, Colorado, points out:
"The force from the jets and the burning fuel could not have been sufficient to make the building collapse. Why doesn't the media mention that the 11th floor was completely immolated on February 13th, 1975? It had the weight of nearly 100 stories on top of it but it did not collapse?" Haluk Akol, Structural Engineer and architect (ret.)
Charles Pegelow, structural engineer, of Houston, Texas (and see this)
Dennis Kollar, structural engineer, of West Bend, Wisconsin
Doyle Winterton, structural engineer (retired)
Michael T. Donly, P.E., structural engineer
William Rice, P.E., structural engineer, former professor of Vermont Technical College
There are many other structural engineers who have questioned the government's account in private. We support them and wish them courage to discuss these vital issues publicly.
Last Saturday our sister organization, American Congress for Truth, sent you the story below, “Jihad Comes to Wall Street.” One of our chapter leaders emailed me and asked “how serious is this?” The answer is very, very serious.
In the past two weeks I have talked to a few individuals whose organizations have been researching this issue for some time. Consider just one problem with sharia-compliant financing: the likelihood that some of our investment and banking dollars will end up in the coffers of terrorist organizations.
How? Because any financial institution that agrees to participate in such financing is facing the prospect of having to divert 2.5% to as much as 6% of its profits to Muslim charities. So what’s wrong with such “philanthropy?”
Over the past several years, three major Muslim charities in America have been shut down after investigations revealed they were funneling charitable contributions to terrorist organizations. How many more around the world are doing the same thing?
In other words, with sharia-compliant financing we might as well be taking a portion of our interest, dividends, and capital gains, and handing that money directly to terrorists.
Click on this link, http://www.terrapinn.com/2008/ifwna/, to visit a website advertising a sharia-compliant conference. Take special note of the sponsors, which include the Dow Jones and Standard and Poor’s.
Vladimir Lenin once noted that “the capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them.” Sharia-compliant financing goes one better than that – we simply give them the money to hang us.
How to stop it? Education is necessary – but not sufficient. It will take substantial, organized, grassroots pressure. A few years ago, Bank of America let it be known it was going to actively market its products to illegal immigrants, which the bank saw as an untapped market. A fierce grassroots outcry followed, and to its credit Bank of America listened and scrapped its plan.
As the ACT! for America membership and chapter network grows, we will be able to exert the level of informed, organized opposition to sharia-compliant financing that will send a clear message to financial institutions looking to cash in on the oil wealth of the Middle East: Not with our investment dollars.
This is one reason why you hear us say frequently that rolling back the tide of Islamofascism is going to take organized, informed action by a large grassroots citizen action network. Imagine a boycott by 1,000,000 ACT! for America members of a major American bank that has immersed itself in sharia-compliant financing. They’ll get the message. For as the saying goes, “if they won’t see the light, they need to feel the heat.”
Comment: The US economy has lost over 200,000 jobs since the beginning of the year. There are only about 120,000 US tech jobs being created each year which only allow employment for about 1/3rd of those that graduate. And this does not even begin to consider all of the tech workers that have been sent to the welfare lines since the "Tech Bubble" burst in early 2000. So then why does Clinton, Obama, McCain, Congress, Corporate America and Billy Boy Gates continue to insist on bringing in more H1-B's? As an emergency measure I am calling on all activists to support my write-in candidacy for President so that I can implement the "New Agenda for America" and reestablish this republic to what our Founding Fathers originally envisioned.
In the meantime you can tell DHS how disgusted you are with their decision to extend H1-B stays in the United States at the following link:
DOBBS: Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, he's been calling for more foreign workers in this country for some time. Now Bill Gates says the United States is in decline and that a wealthy China in his words is a very good thing. Gates told the meeting of the Inter American Devilment Bank in Miami, "If you care about the human condition, then a richer China is better." But Gates then said, "Economic and social advances in the rest of the world would erode U.S. dominance and he thinks that's a good thing."
Businesses looking to hire cheap labor today celebrated a victory handed to them by the Bush administration, of course. The Department of Homeland Security is now changing the rules to extend visa states to technology students. The extended stays will allow foreign students a better chance of being hired here at a time when more and more Americans are out of work. It will give as a matter of fact them more than two years to find work.
Bill Tucker has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Microsoft's Bill Gates wasn't shy making his wishes known to congress last month.
BILL GATES, MICROSOFT CHAIRMAN: There are a number of steps that congress and the white house should take to address this problem including extending the period that foreign students can work here after graduation.
TUCKER: He got his wish. The Department of Homeland Security has now announced new rules that allow foreign students graduating with degrees in science, technology, engineering and math to stay and work for 2 1/2 years after graduation. It's a move that angered Senator Charles Grassley who calls it "Corporate America's latest attempt to get around the H-1B program." Critics of the program argue that such policies undercut American graduates in those fields.
PAUL ALAMEDA, AFL-CIO: The projection is the growth in this industry is about 120,000 jobs per year and this is in the high tech meaning math and science degrees. And we're graduating in excess of 300,000 with bachelors, masters and PhD's from United States universities.
TUCKER: Despite there been apparent oversupply, corporate America continues to lobby to expand the H-1B program. And one former programmer who now campaigns against the program, fears it's only a matter of time before Gates gets his other wish, that caps on the H-1B visas are abolished.
A 20-year moritorium on all immigration into the United States Why Lou Dobbs Should Demand A Stop To Legal Immigration
JOHN MIANO, ATTORNEY: We have created a system in Washington you know of lobbyists and firmly entrenched politicians who in general are not working in the interests of the American peek.
TUCKER: There are now two bills in congress that would more than double the size of the H-1B program. They were introduced the day after Gates testified last month.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCKER: Now there was a 60 day period of public comment on the new rule extending foreign students' stay. The comments can be submitted at this email address, rfs.regs@dhs.gov in your subject line.
DOBBS: We'll put it on the website.
TUCKER: You're going to put it up on the website.
DOBBS: You bet.
TUCKER: All right. Look at it because you need the subject line in there.
DOBBS: I noticed it wasn't on the screen.
TUCKER: Well, no, that's fair, we should help people, if they want to submit these comments be able to put them in.
I want to make one other point, Lou, here. This optional practical training time, OPT is what it's called, has no wage provisions, no protection and no protection for U.S. students.
DOBBS: Who introduced this legislation right after Gates went in and testified?
TUCKER: Representative Gates out of Arizona.
DOBBS: Representative who?
TUCKER: Giffords out of Arizona and Lamar Smith out of Texas.
DOBBS: Lamar Smith out of Texas did that? TUCKER: Yes.
DOBBS: Lamar, you're smarter than this. This is amazing to me. This is selling out the country. This man is on -- I mean what is he thinking about? You can't imagine. He knows that seven out of the top ten companies applying for H-1B visas are Indian companies in this country for the specific purpose of bringing in cheap labor to which American corporations can outsource jobs, middle class jobs. He knows this. And he sat there with a straight face and testified before congress.
TUCKER: And said give me more. And they did.
DOBBS: Bill Gates, come on down, let's talk about this. I mean you really -- I'm afraid I'm not going to be quite in awe of you like those slobbering congressmen were there day who sat there and were in so in awe of your billionaire self. It's ridiculous, this country has got to start standing up for something and when we allow a guy who's the third richest in the world, he's basically ordering up legislation.
TUCKER: And in defiance of every piece of study that's been done in the last year, Lou, that says we are producing enough kids in math, science and technology degrees.
DOBBS: Let me be clear. I want us to graduate far more students in mathematics, far more students in natural sciences. I'm with anybody on that one. But this business is just ridiculous and for these congressmen to be going along with it; Congressman Giffords, Congressman Smith, please come down and explain how in the world a U.S. congressman can just fall in line at the beck and call of a billionaire from Bellevue. The information will be on our website. We appreciate it.
Comment: Could you even begin to imagine the following scenario. You get pulled over by a cop who subsequently finds 400 pounds of Marijuana in your car. You'd think you would probably be going straight to jail, right? Not if you are an illegal Mexican alien drug smuggler! Nope, if that is the case you would be released in time to drive back to Mexico for supper. Marijuana needs to be legalized for all adult Americans in order to destroy these Mexican drug cartels which are infiltrating southern border city governments like a cancer. And the "New Agenda for America" would do just that.
Legal Marijuana for all Adults and Medical Patients (under MERP Model)
The battle over that proposed NAFTA superhighway, the Trans Texas corridor, is intensifying and thousands of opponents protested and demonstrated over the weekend rallying on the steps of the capital in Austin. The Trans Texas corridor, the proposed superhighway that would cross from the Texas Mexico border to the Oklahoma state line and then beyond, critics say the highway threatens the sovereignty of this country as well as individual property rights. It's a crazy deal.
Coming up here next, Congressman John Culberson says many of the drug traffickers being apprehended in this country are going scot- free.
And a top Clinton advisor demoted, disclosures he was promoting a free trade deal that Senator Clinton opposes. It's just politics. Three of the countries best at politics join me here next.
Stay with us. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) DOBBS: Drug traffickers invading the Tucson, Arizona area. It is exactly that, an invasion. And it can be linked as well to simply a lack of enforcement by the U.S. attorneys' office in Tucson.
Congressman John Culberson of Texas is a strong advocate for border security. He says some of the smugglers arrested in Tucson may never go to jail. Congressman Culberson joins me now from Capitol Hill.
Congressman, good to have you here.
REP. JOHN CULBERSON (R), TEXAS: Lou, always good to be with you.
DOBBS: What is going on here that apparently in this sector of the Arizona border with Mexico, that the U.S. attorney is not prosecuting drug loads under 500 pounds?
CULBERSON: Lou, I did discover personally from visiting Tucson that the policy in the Tucson sector, the busiest on our border is that the U.S. attorney will not prosecute any smuggler carrying a load of dope less than a quarter ton. If you are arrested in Tucson by the border patrol carrying less than a quarter ton of dope, odds are you'll be home for dinner. There's a 99.6 percent release rate. No one essentially is being prosecuted in Tucson.
DOBBS: What percent?
CULBERSON: 99.6 percent release rate on all arrests by the border patrol in the Tucson sector and it's going to stop. I am on the Appropriations Subcommittee for the Department of Justice, Lou, and I am going to get them the resources and the support they need. That prosecution rate has got to be -- we need essentially Lou, a zero tolerance, prosecution rate from Brownsville to San Diego.
DOBBS: It looks like you've got a zero prosecution rate.
CULBERSON: We do. The prosecution rate in Tucson is at zero, essentially. It's everyone other than violent criminals are being turned lose and what that does to the border patrol morale, the criminals are laughing at us in Tucson.
DOBBS: Let's be real honest, Congressman, the fact is if every drug trafficker, every human smuggler in Mexico isn't laughing at the United States government, they would just be demonstrating a lack of a sense of humor, wouldn't they really?
CULBERSON: It's just unacceptable. It's dangerous for the officers; it's dangerous for this nation. The criminals are laughing at us and I'm done. I'm fed up with it and I'm working on a personal mission, Lou. I want you to know I have read "Charlie Wilson's War" and from the Appropriations Committee if Charlie Wilson can help beat the Russians; I am personally committed to seeing a zero tolerance policy rolled out from Brownsville to San Diego. And I can tell you that I've already got it done in Laredo. It's being done in Del Rio. They're arresting everybody. They're prosecuting everybody. DOBBS: Let me tell you what the U.S. attorney for the southern district of Arizona, Diane Humetewa says, she says her office is at full capacity, and goes on to say, "Arizona is not Texas and Tucson is not Del Rio. The Tucson U.S. attorney's office handles one of the highest criminal case loads in the nation; however, it is simply false that we do not charge defendants."
CULBERSON: Well, no wonder they have the highest crossings in the nation, they are not prosecuting anybody. The word got out to all the illegals and the smugglers to come to Tucson, it's open country and you can just come on in. Her excuse is just not acceptable to me, Lou. I'm going to get her the resources. There is no excuse for a .4 percent prosecution rate. If they were at 10 percent prosecution, maybe 15 percent, maybe I might listen to them about lack of resources. This is a blanket policy, turn everybody loose and it's going to stop.
DOBBS: All right. You also talked with Attorney General Michael Mukasey about the border patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean who are still in prison, still awaiting a decision from the appellate court, what did he have to say?
CULBERSON: Unfortunately, the attorney general would not answer my question directly. I asked him twice to please recommend to the president pardon donning Ramos and Compean for the same reason that Scooter Libby was pardoned. The sentence didn't fit the crime. These guys have suffered enough but the attorney general would not answer the question so America need to keep writing letters and phone calls to get Ramos and Compean out.
DOBBS: Can I make another proposal, a separate proposal, say to the U.S. attorney general that he should really conduct an investigation as to why this administration, this U.S. Justice Department went after these two agents instead of the drug smugglers, what about that idea?
CULBERSON: Absolutely, Lou, and justify why we are arresting border patrol agents, throwing them in jail for ten or 12 years and releasing every single criminal and illegal that crosses in the Tucson sector. Why is Tucson wide open and our border patrol agents are thrown in jail. It's not acceptable. And I'm not going to rest until that border is secure with a zero tolerance from Brownsville to San Diego. I've done it in Laredo and Brownsville is next and we'll do it sector by sector.
DOBBS: Congressman Culberson, thanks for being here. Thank you, Congressman.
I have spoken at many Hash Bash events over the years. For those that don't know, the Hash Bash is one of the longest running annual events to call for the Re-Legalization of Marijuana. It takes place on the first Saturday of April at "high noon" in front of the UofM Library. At one o'clock most people migrate to Dominick's which is about 3 blocks south.
Legal Marijuana for all Adults and Medical Patients (under MERP Model)
Up until 1997 the event was evident throughout the day as hundreds of vendors lined the streets surrounding the event. But University "head" Sue Coleman, who contributes to Chinese espionage, wanted to stop the event so she put a stop to the vending and sucked the life out of the event.
I suppose what is sad about this years event is that has now been 80 years since Marijuana first became illegal in the United States. Today over 800,000 people are unnecessarily busted annually: most for mere possession of a small amount of Marijuana.
There is some good news on the horizon. We have successfully placed a Medical Marijuana Initiative on the Michigan Presidential Ballot for this November. I am quite confident that it will pass by as least 60 percent and allow the sick to grow as many as 12 Marijuana plants to supply them with their medicine.
But what about the rest of us. When will adult Americans be afforded the right to smoke Marijuana legally, without the fear of arrest or prosecution?
Years ago I wrote "The Hemp Song" as a homage to one of the greatest speakers for the legalization of Marijuana. His name is Jack Herer and he is the author of a book on Marijuana Legalization titled, "The Emperor Wears No Clothes.' At the end of the "Hemp Song" there is a refrain which repeats over and over again with the words . . . "ReLegalize It Now!"
And over this chorus I sing the following:
Any time Any day Any time that we want it that way We don't need your drug war anymore.
The key point here is that nothing is going to change until we first change our minds, and then in turn, change our reality. But until we change the reality -- where police and lawyers continue to profit, at our expense -- the current reality will prevail. In any case voting "Yes" on Medical Marijuana this November is at least a small start towards that goal. But lets not allow this to go on for another 80 years as the first 80 was never warranted in the first place. I have always believed that it should take no more than 5 years of concerted effort to end Marijuana Prohibition in the United States.
I was also pleasantly surprised when the head of Indiana NORML, Neil Smith (skywolf64@gmail.com) asked if I would speak at the "Global Marijuana March" event in Logansport, Indiana. I had spoken there many times in the mid-90's before Rainbow Farm opened in Jones, Michigan. I told him I would not be able to make it as I was planning on speaking at the Detroit event. This event is held on the first Saturday in May: May 3rd, 2008.
Global Marijuana March: May 3rdf, 2008: Detroit Event http://www.detroitliberation.org/essentialinfo.html
Now since my "drug policy days" I have authored a larger agenda known as the "New Agenda for America." Here is a video and the first 9 "planks." I would love to challenge Obama, Clinton and McCain to debate on all of these very important "planks that I fee would benefit the American working class. And of course Marijuana Re-Legalization is included as one of the 9 initial planks:
Overview of the "New Agenda for America" The "New Agenda for America" and the 2008 Presidency
NEW AGENDA FOR AMERICA: Preliminary Planks (1) Universal Health Care for All American Citizens (2) A 20-year moratorium on all immigration into the United States (3) Legal Marijuana for all Adults and Medical Patients (4) An immediate reversal to the Offshoring and Inshoring of American Jobs (5) A strict enforcement on issues of Separation of Church and State (6) An immediate move from so-called Free Trade Agreements to Bilateral Trade agreements (7) A major R&D project to bring energy independence to the United States and the World through recycling, reuse, ending hyper-consumerism and investing in the development of sustainable energy sources (e.g., solar, photovoltaic, wind, geothermal) (8) No further ownership of US Assets (businesses, homes, ports, stock exchanges) by foreign governments or individuals! (9) Replace the Federal Reserve with a People's Reserve which allows public oversight
That's all for now.
Bruce W. Cain Editor, New Age Citizen Past Editor, New Age Patriot newagecitizenx@comcast.net
Of course this website is in bad need of a re-write. But in an interim attempt to tidy things up I have eliminated much of the redundant information that used to recur on every homepage.
For the rest of 2008 I will be focusing on the following projects:
* The "New Agenda for America" * More videos and lectures promoting the "New Agenda for America" * My Music Project "Gnostic" (coming soon) * The "Dearbornistan" Project
I encourage new visitors to: (1) Check out the "New Agenda for America", "Action Center", and "Resource Center" links to better understand the primary project for 2008 -- the "New Agenda for America and (2) go back through the homepage archives in order to get a better idea as to the focus and trajectory of the website. The "Video Archive" contains hundreds of videos relating to topics within the "New Agenda for America." These "departments" are now located at the upper right column of the homepage:
Well, we can finally watch Wilders controversial film, "Fitna." It is a rather short film at about 10 minutes in length. The film basically juxtaposes the violence, committed in the name of Islam, against intolerant verses from the Quran which call for the death of non-Muslims. The film was released on March 28th, 2008 as Wilders had promised.
Frankly, I don't see how any Muslim, unless suffering from a severe mental disorder, could find too much to get upset about. Wilders merely shows the violence propagated by Islamic Fundamentalists and then presents the verses from the Quran that appear to justify the actions. If anything they should feel shame for believing such incredible garbage for so long.
Of course the Europeans also went through a similar epiphany after putting up with an equally intolerant Catholic Church. Of course the "church" wasn't into suicide bombings at the time, but my did they know how to roast a great witch. But finally the Europeans grew tired of these hypocritical fornicators and divested them of much of their power. It required a Reformation and the Enlightenment to pull it off. It also required a lot of brave men and women.
The American people often forget what a great departure it was for our Founding Fathers to insist on a complete separation between church and state. But I think it is quite clear that they had made the correct decision. Hopefully, those of the Muslim faith, will reach the same conclusion. In the long run I can assure them that they will all be happier joining the rest of us in the Post-Enlightenment.
For a more thorough understanding of the totalitarian aspect of Islam I suggest watching the series: "Islam: What the West Should Know." You will find it midway down the "Dearbornistan" page and it is approximately 1 hour in length.
As always, I encourage you to support the "New Agenda for America." Of course one of the planks, of this agenda, insists on a 20-year moratorium on all immigration into the United States. Such a policy would go a long way in preventing an Islamic uprising from ever occurring in this country. Europe would be well-served by implementing a similar policy themselves.
Note: Please copy/paste/edit this letter and send it to all of your Congressional Representatives in both the House and Senate by using the following link:
What is it going to take before you start representing the American People? Are we going to have to "water board" you in the Potomac before you understand just how pissed off we are becoming? Just exactly what is it going to take?
Let me elaborate for a brief minute or two.
In 2006 and 2007 the American people made it clear that we didn't want Amnesty for Illegal Aliens. In March of 2007 the number of calls to Congress were so great that it brought down the phone lines at the Congressional switchboard: something that never happened before. In 2008 we began seeing actual monthly losses of American jobs for the first time in many, many years. If you didn't know it requires the addition of 250,000 jobs, each and every month, just to keep sustain current employment levels.
I kind of thought such developments would have compelled you to stop the flow of legal and illegal immigration into this country. I kind of thought that such developments would have compelled you to do something you haven't done in decades: stand up for the American Working Class.
But, with few exceptions, both the House and the Senate have done the exact opposite:
* You have sat back while the Department of Defense granted a military contract to a foreign company, Airbus, rather than give the contract to Boeing. In doing this you allowed another 43,000 American jobs to be offshored to a foreign company.
* The other week you sat uncritically as Microsoft's Bill Gates argued to lift the cap on H1-B Visas. And like a compliant dog you quickly started drafting legislation to do just that.
* In 2007 a Federal Court stopped the sending of "No Match" letters that could have freed up millions of jobs for unemployed American workers by deporting those Illegal Aliens that have chosen to brake our laws. I don't recall hearing any protest from Congress.
* In past years you have compliantly passed legislation (e.g., the Bankruptcy Bill, the Credit Bill etc.) which have destroyed the economic security of American workers. Today you allow the Federal Reserve 240 BILLION dollars to bail out Mortgage companies and Banks that had cynically promoted "sub-prime mortgages" in order to further indebt the American worker. Yet you continue to do nothing for the millions of American workers that are about to loose the most important source of security: their homes.
* Over the last 40 years you have allowed Free Trade Agreements that have destroyed our jobs, our manufacturing base and our very security as a nation. And today you are doing nothing as President Bush moves forward with the North American Union and the Trans Texas Corridor project.
Every week I dutifully go to NumbersUSA.com and send faxes, to you, in order to secure the borders, build a "real" border fence, and implement an airtight method for verifying the true citizenship of our workers. But all I see from you is someone talking out of both sides of your mouth: one answer to your corporate contributors and another answer to the American people that you are supposed to represent. Unfortunately, your actions consistently appear to favor your corporate contributors.
And this goes far beyond any one issue. You have allowed President Bush to rescind both Posse Comitatis and Habeas Corpus. You have uncritically passed the Patriot Act and are now considering a bill that could label any America a terrorist.
And finally the American People have been inundated with the biggest fraud in recent history: the 2008 Presidential Election. All 3 of the "likely" candidates -- Hillary, Obama and McCain -- have made it ultimately clear that they will go against the wishes of the American People and grant amnesty to millions of Illegal Aliens. And all 3 of them are members of the Council on Foreign Relations, which is dedicated to destroying the sovereignty of this nation.
So let me just clue you in on something important. The government may be watching the American people through the illegal diversion of our emails, phone calls and quite possibly our mail. But we are also watching you. And if you don't start representing the American People and upholding the spirit of the US Constitution . . . your day is coming.
We probably won't resort to "water boarding" but we will kick you butt out of office.
The film "Fitna" by Danish Politician Wilders is expected to stir up Islamic Fundamentalists as much as -- and possibly more than -- the cartoon of Mohammed with a Bomb on his head.
In the most recent edition of "Dearbornistan" I have gathered together plenty of articles and videos in order for my readers to better understand why any the reformation of Islam is critical to the preservation of personal liberties throughout the planet. You can find these additional materials at the following link:
Danish Politician Wilders is expected to release his critical assessment of Islam at the end of March, 2008, in a 12-minute film entitled "Fitna." I am focusing on Wilders and his 12-minute film, in this edition of "Dearbornistan", because it is a perfect example of a conflict between the United States Constitution and Islam.
In a free and enlightened society the free exchange of ideas must always be protected. And this requires that we place no limits on those freedoms. Unfortunately some radical Muslims, that I would refer to as Islamists, believe that their religion "is more equal" than other religions and deserves to be treated with greater respect than that afforded other religions. So a New York art gallery can display a picture of Jesus in a vat of urine, but no one can depict Mohammed with a Bomb on his head.
Frankly, any Muslim that really believes that should be deported from this country immediately because it is evidence that they have not truly embraced the freedoms that we require to be considered an American citizen. It is proof that they lied during their vow to uphold the US Constitution, when they became naturalized American citizens.
Through a number of incidents the world has become awakened to the very real threats and intolerance posed by radical Islamic fundamentalists:
* The murder of Van Gogh for criticizing Islam in the 10-minute film "Obsession" * The threats and violence that proceeded the publishing of the cartoon depicting Mohammed with a Bomb on his head * The death threats against author Rushdie for criticizing Islam in "The Satanic Verses." * The death threats against Wilders that requires him to have 24-hour security due to his criticism of Islam.
In all of these examples radical Islamic fundamentalists are demanding that their religion is somehow beyond criticism. And it is quite likely that Wilders film will evoke the same reaction from these throwbacks to the Dark Ages. But if we are to retain our free and enlightened society we must draw the line in the sand and firmly state that, in a free society, no individual or idea is beyond criticism. For once we allow an exception to restrict free speech, it will just be a matter of time before there is no free speech. And that can simply not be allowed to occur.
And I should emphasize that ultimately these freedoms benefit everyone: both Muslim and non-Muslim. Only a misogynistic control freak could argue this point. And of course it is these very dangerous Islamic fundamentalists that are evoking increasing concern, from both Muslims and non-Muslims, throughout the planet.
The Internet Provider, Network Solutions, recently suspended Wilders website due to pressure from Islamic extremists that are attempting to silence free speech in the United States through the mounting tactics of a "Cultural Jihad."
I talked with their spokesperson, Susan Wade (703.668.5057) today (03/26/2008) and tried to convince her that -- regardless of the fallout -- they must allow the site to resume and follow through with the release of the video. If they don't I promised a boycott of Network Solutions. She was very polite and assured me that they would allow the release as long as it didn't violate their rules. I re-empathized that -- regardless of the content -- the site must be allowed to show the video.
In our conversation I stressed the duty we all have to make sure this "cultural jihad" is not allowed to subvert our First Amendment Rights to freedom of speech. I also said we would wait one week before going forward with the boycott. Please read through the following articles to get a better understanding of the issues surrounding this possible boycott and the upcoming release of Wilders film "Fitna.".
Companies Try To Cover-Up Move To Watch Consumers Via TV's Vice President Kunkel forgets he told journalist of move to "know who was in the living room," Microsoft and TiVo have already filed similar patents to create Minority Report style invasive hell Paul Joseph Watson Prison Planet Tuesday, March 25, 2008 http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/march2008/032508_comcast_denies.htm
Comcast has denied that it is developing camera devices built in to cable boxes that monitor consumers as they enter the room, despite the fact that Vice-President Gerard Kunkel admitted to a journalist that such a move would represent a "holy grail," and rival companies like TiVo and Microsoft have already filed patents for similar technology.
A firestorm of controversy erupted last week after industry website newteevee.com carried an article by Chris Albrecht which revealed that Comcast was, "experimenting with different camera technologies built into devices so it can know who’s in your living room".
How did Albrecht know? Because Comcast's senior VP of user experience Gerard Kunkel told him during the Digital Living Room conference held in San Francisco.
"Perhaps I’ve seen Enemy of the State too many times, or perhaps I’m just naive about the depths to which Comcast currently tracks my every move," wrote Albrecht.
"The idea being that if you turn on your cable box, it recognizes you and pulls up shows already in your profile or makes recommendations. If parents are watching TV with their children, for example, parental controls could appear to block certain content from appearing on the screen. Kunkel also said this type of monitoring is the “holy grail” because it could help serve up specifically tailored ads. Yikes."
Readers responded to the article in droves and most were shocked by the proposals.
"Orwell thought that cameras in the living room would imposed on us by a fascist government. Fascism these days is dominated by corporate power guised under a mantle of legitimacy. These systems of control have been primarily put in place by willful consumption of consumer goods," wrote one.
"This is not cool, this is not fun, this is not exciting. This is invasive. They’ve been talking about this technology since the inception of cable modems, and there’s a certain amount of tracking in place already. Cameras? Too much," stated another.
Comcast responded to the article by claiming the device was, "in no way designed to – or capable of – monitoring your living room. These technologies are designed to allow simple navigation on a television set just as the Wii remote uses a camera to manage its much heralded gesture-based interactivity."
However, Albrecht shot back by pointing out that Kunkel told him the device was explicitly being designed so as to monitor who was entering the living room.
"After you granted me our initial video interview, you brought up the topic of Comcast knowing who was in the living room in a conversation between you, myself and another conference attendee," writes Albrecht.
"I actually left and came back to follow up on this point while you were talking with that same attendee. At this point, you were aware that I was a reporter and I took handwritten notes in front of you as we talked to make sure I had an accurate accounting of what you were saying," he added.
Minority Report will meet Orwell's telescreens if telecommunications giants like Comcast and Microsoft have their way.
Tracking and databasing of consumer's TV viewing habits is nothing new - for years cable box companies like TiVo have monitored behavior down to the level of what parts of shows viewers rewind or fast forward - an example being Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction during the 2003 Super Bowl half-time show.
Indeed, the monitoring of viewers for the purposes of Minority Report style commercial assaults and viewer customization has been in the works since at least early 2005.
In November 2005, TiVo applied for a patent allowing customization of TV remotes and viewing preferences via an RFID chip the consumer would attach to his or her body - which is just one step away from an embedded microchip in the body.
Microsoft has also applied for a patent that would utilize, "a camera sitting on top of a television set to detect the presence of viewers and identifying them using facial-recognition software -- or perhaps a fingerprint scanner in a remote control," according to a report from Multichannel News.
Similarly, corporations and eventually the government is planning to use microphones in the computers of an estimated 150 million-plus Internet active Americans to spy on their lifestyle choices and build psychological profiles which will be used for surveillance, invasive advertising and data mining.
In 2006, Google announced that they were developing a plan to use in-built microphones to listen in on user's background noise, be it television, music or radio - and then direct advertising at them based on their preferences.
"The idea is to use the existing PC microphone to listen to whatever is heard in the background, be it music, your phone going off or the TV turned down. The PC then identifies it, using fingerprinting, and then shows you relevant content, whether that's adverts or search results, or a chat room on the subject," reported the Register.
Last year the New York Times reported on a venture by Pudding Media, a new company founded by two former Israeli intelligence officers, to offer its customers free Internet phone service in return for their consent to have their conversations monitored for keywords upon which targeted advertising is directed.
"A conversation about movies, for example, will elicit movie reviews and ads for new films that the caller will see during the conversation. Pudding Media is working on a way to e-mail the ads and other content to the person on the other end of the call, or to show it on that person’s cellphone screen," according to the report.
If you think telesales calls and pop-ups ads are annoying, the new wave of invasive advertising will not only saturate the senses with 24/7 vapid consumerism, but it will signal the death knell for the assumption that privacy is a human right not to be infringed upon by corporations or the state.
Orwell's telescreens and Minority Report style assaults on our senses may not be born out of government coercion, but as a result of consumers willfully enslaving themselves into this matrix - all for the convenience of enhancing their consumption of programming via the one-eyed brainwashing monster in the corner of the room.
#1 No Habeas Corpus for “Any Person” #2 Bush Moves Toward Martial Law # 3 AFRICOM: US Military Control of Africa’s Resources # 4 Frenzy of Increasingly Destructive Trade Agreements #5 Human Traffic Builds US Embassy in Iraq #6 Operation FALCON Raids #7 Behind Blackwater Inc. #8 KIA: The US Neoliberal Invasion of India #9 Privatization of America’s Infrastructure # 10 Vulture Funds Threaten Poor Nations’ Debt Relief # 11 The Scam of “Reconstruction” in Afghanistan # 12 Another Massacre in Haiti by UN Troops # 13 Immigrant Roundups to Gain Cheap Labor for US Corporate Giants # 14 Impunity for US War Criminals # 15 Toxic Exposure Can Be Transmitted to Future Generations on a “Second Genetic Code” #16 No Hard Evidence Connecting Bin Laden to 9/11 # 17 Drinking Water Contaminated by Military and Corporations # 18 Mexico’s Stolen Election # 19 People’s Movement Challenges Neoliberal Agenda # 20 Terror Act Against Animal Activists # 21 US Seeks WTO Immunity for Illegal Farm Payments # 22 North Invades Mexico # 23 Feinstein’s Conflict of Interest in Iraq # 24 Media Misquotes Threat From Iran’s President # 25 Who Will Profit from Native Energy?
Several years ago, state attorneys general and others involved in consumer protection began to notice a marked increase in a range of predatory lending practices by mortgage lenders. Some were misrepresenting the terms of loans, making loans without regard to consumers' ability to repay, making loans with deceptive "teaser" rates that later ballooned astronomically, packing loans with undisclosed charges and fees, or even paying illegal kickbacks. These and other practices, we noticed, were having a devastating effect on home buyers. In addition, the widespread nature of these practices, if left unchecked, threatened our financial markets.
Even though predatory lending was becoming a national problem, the Bush administration looked the other way and did nothing to protect American homeowners. In fact, the government chose instead to align itself with the banks that were victimizing consumers.
Predatory lending was widely understood to present a looming national crisis. This threat was so clear that as New York attorney general, I joined with colleagues in the other 49 states in attempting to fill the void left by the federal government. Individually, and together, state attorneys general of both parties brought litigation or entered into settlements with many subprime lenders that were engaged in predatory lending practices. Several state legislatures, including New York's, enacted laws aimed at curbing such practices.
What did the Bush administration do in response? Did it reverse course and decide to take action to halt this burgeoning scourge? As Americans are now painfully aware, with hundreds of thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure and our markets reeling, the answer is a resounding no.
Not only did the Bush administration do nothing to protect consumers, it embarked on an aggressive and unprecedented campaign to prevent states from protecting their residents from the very problems to which the federal government was turning a blind eye.
Let me explain: The administration accomplished this feat through an obscure federal agency called the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The OCC has been in existence since the Civil War. Its mission is to ensure the fiscal soundness of national banks. For 140 years, the OCC examined the books of national banks to make sure they were balanced, an important but uncontroversial function. But a few years ago, for the first time in its history, the OCC was used as a tool against consumers.
In 2003, during the height of the predatory lending crisis, the OCC invoked a clause from the 1863 National Bank Act to issue formal opinions preempting all state predatory lending laws, thereby rendering them inoperative. The OCC also promulgated new rules that prevented states from enforcing any of their own consumer protection laws against national banks. The federal government's actions were so egregious and so unprecedented that all 50 state attorneys general, and all 50 state banking superintendents, actively fought the new rules.
But the unanimous opposition of the 50 states did not deter, or even slow, the Bush administration in its goal of protecting the banks. In fact, when my office opened an investigation of possible discrimination in mortgage lending by a number of banks, the OCC filed a federal lawsuit to stop the investigation.
Throughout our battles with the OCC and the banks, the mantra of the banks and their defenders was that efforts to curb predatory lending would deny access to credit to the very consumers the states were trying to protect. But the curbs we sought on predatory and unfair lending would have in no way jeopardized access to the legitimate credit market for appropriately priced loans. Instead, they would have stopped the scourge of predatory lending practices that have resulted in countless thousands of consumers losing their homes and put our economy in a precarious position.
When history tells the story of the subprime lending crisis and recounts its devastating effects on the lives of so many innocent homeowners, the Bush administration will not be judged favorably. The tale is still unfolding, but when the dust settles, it will be judged as a willing accomplice to the lenders who went to any lengths in their quest for profits. So willing, in fact, that it used the power of the federal government in an unprecedented assault on state legislatures, as well as on state attorneys general and anyone else on the side of consumers.
Today we are watching an amazing spectacle: Many in Congress — including allegedly labor-friendly Democrats — are pushing to increase the importation of foreign labor just as the USA slips into what may be its worst recession in decades.
Why? Because the greed of a handful of multinationals is demanding more and more access to "skilled" foreign labor.
Sure, we hear bogus "studies" that claim garden-variety foreign programmers will save the U.S. economy. But former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan recently admitted the real agenda: "Significantly opening up immigration to skilled workers … would compete with high-income people, driving more income equality." In 2007, he further opined that, "Our skilled wages are higher than anywhere in the world. If we open up a significant window for skilled (foreign) workers, that would suppress the skilled-wage level and end the concentration of income."
Thanks, Alan! Having shipped so many good jobs overseas, we now find that U.S. workers who acquire job skills are overpaid!
Since 1990, Congress has allowed U.S. and multinational businesses to use foreign "nonimmigrant" visa programs to drive down wages and displace American workers. What began as a short-term fix for a supposed "short-term" shortage of programmers has turned into another elitist feeding frenzy for greedy people at the top of the food chain.
The use of foreign workers has exploded at a time of rising economic insecurity. Since 1985, the number of foreign worker admissions has increased by 426%, while the U.S. civilian workforce has only increased by about 29%. This is a "temporary" shortage? The main culprits are the H-1B and L-1B visa programs with meaningless labor protections now filling more than a million jobs.
Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Richard Durbin, D-Ill., are making a valiant effort to curb the excesses. But as with most other bloated immigration programs that become oversubscribed, Congress' first reaction is not to eliminate the loopholes. It's to just raise the numbers.
Don't get me wrong. My organization supports competing to attract the world's best and brightest. Jacking up the level of H-1Bs won't get us there.
Dan Stein is president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which advocates reducing legal immigration levels and aggressive illegal- immigration enforcement.
If the was ever a reason to preserve Public Television it is the Frontline series. Always with the highest of standards and always exhaustive in it's coverage of contemporary issues. Their newest addition, "Bush's War" traces the Iraq War from the destruction of the the WTC on "911" to the present. And even better, you can watch it at the following link:
I guess I would be asking to much for Frontline to look into Bush's complicity in 911? But this is a good start. I recommend that everyone take the time to watch the 2-part series. And you can do so at your leisure through the link above.
As you watch this retelling of the events that led to the destruction of Iraq I want you to consider the obfuscation and deceit that led to this multi-trillion dollar debacle. Then I would ask you to read through the archives of New Age Citizen. Finally, I would ask you to consider the same deceit and obfuscation that has been used to push other Bush strategies and directives:
* The North American Union * The suspension of Habeas Corpus and Posse Commitatis * The imprisoning of Border Guards Ramos and Compeon * The Trans Texas Corridor * The failure to enforce our immigration laws * The cozy relationship with totalitarian governments such as Communist China and * The bailout of the Banks and Mortgage companies that have purposely set the American working class * The failure to do anything to preserve home ownership as housing values fall and American jobs continue to be outsourced to India/China * The recent moves by Congress to ignore the peoples calls for restrictions on immigration and instead betray us with bills calling for more H1-Bs and the granting of Amnesty to over 12 million Illegal Aliens * The extradition of Marc Emery from Canada for merely selling Marijuana seeds (which are actually legal in Canada). * The destruction of our Constitution through the Patriot Act, Executive signing statements and massive electronic surveillance of our people without warrants. * The total obfuscation of the events surrounding "911" and the very real possibility the their was government complicity involved. * The "outing" of New York's Governor Spitzer the same day that he blew the whistle on bailout of the architects of the Sub prime Mortgage bubble. * The unprecedented challenge to the 2nd Amendment currently being considered in the Supreme Court.
I believe that all of these things are related. The "plan" has been orchestrated by the CFR, the WTO, the Trilateralists and the Multi-national elites that they represent. It's origins go back at least as far as the establishment of Central Banking, with the establishment of the Federal Reserve, in 1913. The plan is to establish a totalitarian "New World Order" where much of the "first world" will be reduced to peonage in order to serve the whims of a tiny global elite.
If there was ever a time to stand up for our liberties this is it. It is the reason that I authored the "New Agenda for America" and it is the reason I still offer myself as a write-in candidate for the 2008 Presidency. Keep in mind that all 3 "likely" presidential candidates -- Clinton, Obama and McCain -- are ALL members of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and other organizations that support a Global, Totalitarian, Corporate, Fascist state.
A few weeks ago Detroit's Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, ended his "State of the City" speech by ranting about how he has been called "Nigger" rather frequently as of late. It seems this started happening after the people learned that he approved a 9 million dollar settlement, with 3 former Detroit Police agents, in order to cover up his affair with his "head" advisor Ms Beatty. Of course the allegation is most likely bullshit, but "playing the race card" has been a historic tradition in the City of Detroit.
But such allegations ring more hollow with each passing day. Last week the Detroit City Council, which is predominantly black, nearly unanimously called for his resignation. Then today Detroit Prosecutor Kym Worthy, also black, indicted the Mayor on 12 counts that could but him in prison for at least 15 year, if he is found guilty.
The Detroit Free Press has compiled a whole page of links regarding the history of this outrage to the citizens of Detroit. Basically, it all began when he attempted to cover up a party at the Mayor's residence where his wife apparently beat a stripper with some sort of wooden object -- quite possibly a baseball bat. And that is where things started going down hill. He fired 3 police officers, all black, who attempted to investigate the events surrounding this alleged party.
The cover up backfired when the attorneys, for the police officers, uncovered text messages confirming an affair with his "head" advisor Ms. Beatty. As things further unraveled it became glaringly clear that there was a party at the Mayor's mansion. It appears the "god fearing" mayor had been lying through his teeth all along.
But being called "nigger" -- which I believe to be a bunch of "race card" playing crap -- is now probably the least of his worries. Even the felonies may be small time concerns as things continue to unfold. Already he is accurately being called "liar." But his long time concern might just be that people are going to start calling him "murderer."
Why would you say a thing like that?
Well, one of the 3 dancers -- Tamara Greene (aka Strawberry) -- was one of the dancers at the Mayors party. She was murdered in a drive by shooting some weeks after the party. And I had also heard that one of the other "dancers" was murdered in Chicago. The more the pieces come together, the more it looks like Kwame's cover up may have involved getting rid of the dancers. In any case we need to determine who the other two dancers were and make sure that they are still alive and well.
I don't feel like spending a lot of time on this but the web of deceit all begins with the party at the Mayor's mansion: (1) the firing of the cops; (2) the murder of Tamara Greene; (3) the 9 million dollar "out of court" settlement with the fired cops; (4) the release of the Sky-Tel text messages; (5) the verification of Tamara Green filing a police report after being beaten by the Mayors wife.
Oh the wicked web we weave, when we decide we must deceive.
Frankly, Kwame lost my respect years ago when we made our first attempt to launch a "Medical Marijuana Initiative" in the City of Detroit. We had collected the required signatures, however, the Mayor found a technicality which derailed the initiative from getting on the ballot. I vividly recall telling his mother, Congresswomen Kilpatrick, that I thought this was an underhanded tactic for her son to employ. This conversation took place at a Drug Policy Conference at the UofD Law School in Detroit.
When I initially made the comment I was in the audience and she went through the roof when I exposed this truth. What she didn't know was that I was also one of the speakers at the conference. So before making my presentation I laid it all out for her. By the time I was done she looked like she might just fly through the ceiling of the lecture hall. Perhaps if she straightened him out then, as I had suggested, he may have avoided the troubles facing him today?
Well, right, I also have my doubts on that one. In any case let me make the following prediction. By the time this is all over Kwame's going to be serving jail time.
SPECIAL "CLOSED SESSION" OF U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DISCUSSED A LOT MORE THAN THE PENDING SECURITY SURVEILLANCE PROVISIONS Word has begun leaking from last nights special, closed-door session of the United States House of Representatives.
Not only did members discuss new surveillance provisions as was the publicly stated reason for the closed door session, they were also bluntly warned about:
the imminent collapse of the U.S. economy to occur by September 2008,
the imminent collapse of US federal government finances by February 2009,
the possibility of Civil War inside the USA as a result of the collapse,
advance round-ups of "insurgent U.S. citizens" likely to move against the government,
The detention of those rounded-up at "REX 84" camps constructed throughout the USA,
the possibility of retaliation against members of Congress for the collapses,
the location of "safe facilities" for members of Congress and their families to reside during expected massive civil unrest
the necessary and unavoidable merger of the United States with Canada (for its natural resources) and with Mexico (for its cheap labor pool),
the issuance of a new currency - THE AMERO - for all three nations as the proposed solution to the coming economic armageddon.
Members of Congress were FORBIDDEN to reveal what was discussed and ABC News via WCPO web site at the link below CONFIRMS congress members were FORBIDDEN to talk about it!
Comment: I am disappointed how the media overlooked the real reasons for Spitzer's firing as governor of New York. The Daly Show, Lou Dobbs and virtually all of the "insane media" were hooked by the sex scandal while largely ignoring the fact that the elite wanted to obfuscate the screwing of America through the cynical construction of "sub-prime mortgages" and the recent bail out of the perpetrators. Bruce W. Cain
While New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was paying an ‘escort’ $4,300 in a hotel room in Washington, just down the road, George Bush’s new Federal Reserve Board Chairman, Ben Bernanke, was secretly handing over $200 billion in a tryst with mortgage bank industry speculators.
Both acts were wanton, wicked and lewd. But there’s a BIG difference. The Governor was using his own checkbook. Bush’s man Bernanke was using ours.
This week, Bernanke’s Fed, for the first time in its history, loaned a selected coterie of banks one-fifth of a trillion dollars to guarantee these banks’ mortgage-backed junk bonds. The deluge of public loot was an eye-popping windfall to the very banking predators who have brought two million families to the brink of foreclosure.
Up until Wednesday, there was one single, lonely politician who stood in the way of this creepy little assignation at the bankers’ bordello: Eliot Spitzer.
Who are they kidding? Spitzer’s lynching and the bankers’ enriching are intimately tied.
How? Follow the money.
The press has swallowed Wall Street’s line that millions of US families are about to lose their homes because they bought homes they couldn’t afford or took loans too big for their wallets. Ba-LON-ey. That’s blaming the victim.
Here’s what happened. Since the Bush regime came to power, a new species of loan became the norm, the ‘sub-prime’ mortgage and its variants including loans with teeny “introductory” interest rates. From out of nowhere, a company called ‘Countrywide’ became America’s top mortgage lender, accounting for one in five home loans, a large chunk of these ‘sub-prime.’
Here’s how it worked: The Grinning Family, with US average household income, gets a $200,000 mortgage at 4% for two years. Their $955 monthly payment is 25% of their income. No problem. Their banker promises them a new mortgage, again at the cheap rate, in two years. But in two years, the promise ain’t worth a can of spam and the Grinnings are told to scram - because their house is now worth less than the mortgage. Now, the mortgage hits 9% or $1,609 plus fees to recover the “discount” they had for two years. Suddenly, payments equal 42% to 50% of pre-tax income. The Grinnings move into their Toyota.
Now, what kind of American is ‘sub-prime.’ Guess. No peeking. Here’s a hint: 73% of HIGH INCOME Black and Hispanic borrowers were given sub-prime loans versus 17% of similar-income Whites. Dark-skinned borrowers aren’t stupid – they had no choice. They were ‘steered’ as it’s called in the mortgage sharking business.
‘Steering,’ sub-prime loans with usurious kickers, fake inducements to over-borrow, called ‘fraudulent conveyance’ or ‘predatory lending’ under US law, were almost completely forbidden in the olden days (Clinton Administration and earlier) by federal regulators and state laws as nothing more than fancy loan-sharking.
But when the Bush regime took over, Countrywide and its banking brethren were told to party hearty – it was OK now to steer’m, fake’m, charge’m and take’m.
But there was this annoying party-pooper. The Attorney General of New York, Eliot Spitzer, who sued these guys to a fare-thee-well. Or tried to.
Instead of regulating the banks that had run amok, Bush’s regulators went on the warpath against Spitzer and states attempting to stop predatory practices. Making an unprecedented use of the legal power of “federal pre-emption,” Bush-bots ordered the states to NOT enforce their consumer protection laws.
Indeed, the feds actually filed a lawsuit to block Spitzer’s investigation of ugly racial mortgage steering. Bush’s banking buddies were especially steamed that Spitzer hammered bank practices across the nation using New York State laws.
Spitzer not only took on Countrywide, he took on their predatory enablers in the investment banking community. Behind Countrywide was the Mother Shark, its funder and now owner, Bank of America. Others joined the sharkfest: Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Citigroup’s Citibank made mortgage usury their major profit centers. They did this through a bit of financial legerdemain called “securitization.”
What that means is that they took a bunch of junk mortgages, like the Grinning’s, loans about to go down the toilet and re-packaged them into “tranches” of bonds which were stamped “AAA” - top grade - by bond rating agencies. These gold-painted turds were sold as sparkling safe investments to US school district pension funds and town governments in Finland (really).
When the housing bubble burst and the paint flaked off, investors were left with the poop and the bankers were left with bonuses. Countrywide’s top man, Angelo Mozilo, will ‘earn’ a $77 million buy-out bonus this year on top of the $656 million - over half a billion dollars – he pulled in from 1998 through 2007.
But there were rumblings that the party would soon be over. Angry regulators, burned investors and the weight of millions of homes about to be boarded up were causing the sharks to sink. Countrywide’s stock was down 50%, and Citigroup was off 38%, not pleasing to the Gulf sheiks who now control its biggest share blocks.
Then, on Wednesday of this week, the unthinkable happened. Carlyle Capital went bankrupt. Who? That’s Carlyle as in Carlyle Group. James Baker, Senior Counsel. Notable partners, former and past: George Bush, the Bin Laden family and more dictators, potentates, pirates and presidents than you can count.
The Fed had to act. Bernanke opened the vault and dumped $200 billion on the poor little suffering bankers. They got the public treasure – and got to keep the Grinning’s house. There was no ‘quid’ of a foreclosure moratorium for the ‘pro quo’ of public bailout. Not one family was saved – but not one banker was left behind.
Every mortgage sharking operation shot up in value. Mozilo’s Countrywide stock rose 17% in one day. The Citi sheiks saw their company’s stock rise $10 billion in an afternoon.
And that very same day the bail-out was decided – what a coinkydink! – the man called, ‘The Sheriff of Wall Street’ was cuffed. Spitzer was silenced.
Do I believe the banks called Justice and said, “Take him down today!” Naw, that’s not how the system works. But the big players knew that unless Spitzer was taken out, he would create enough ruckus to spoil the party. Headlines in the financial press – one was “Wall Street Declares War on Spitzer” - made clear to Bush’s enforcers at Justice who their number one target should be. And it wasn’t Bin Laden.
It was the night of February 13 when Spitzer made the bone-headed choice to order take-out in his Washington Hotel room. He had just finished signing these words for the Washington Post about predatory loans:
“Not only did the Bush administration do nothing to protect consumers, it embarked on an aggressive and unprecedented campaign to prevent states from protecting their residents from the very problems to which the federal government was turning a blind eye.”
Bush, Spitzer said right in the headline, was the “Predator Lenders’ Partner in Crime.” The President, said Spitzer, was a fugitive from justice. And Spitzer was in Washington to launch a campaign to take on the Bush regime and the biggest financial powers on the planet.
Spitzer wrote, “When history tells the story of the subprime lending crisis and recounts its devastating effects on the lives of so many innocent homeowners the Bush administration will not be judged favorably.”
But now, the Administration can rest assured that this love story – of Bush and his bankers - will not be told by history at all – now that the Sheriff of Wall Street has fallen on his own gun.
A note on “Prosecutorial Indiscretion.”
Back in the day when I was an investigator of racketeers for government, the federal prosecutor I was assisting was deciding whether to launch a case based on his negotiations for airtime with 60 Minutes. I’m not allowed to tell you the prosecutor’s name, but I want to mention he was recently seen shouting, “Florida is Rudi country! Florida is Rudi country!”
Not all crimes lead to federal bust or even public exposure. It’s up to something called “prosecutorial discretion.”
Funny thing, this ‘discretion.’ For example, Senator David Vitter, Republican of Louisiana, paid Washington DC prostitutes to put him in diapers (ewww!), yet the Senator was not exposed by the US prosecutors busting the pimp-ring that pampered him. Naming and shaming and ruining Spitzer – rarely done in these cases - was made at the ‘discretion’ of Bush’s Justice Department.
Or maybe we should say, ‘indiscretion.’
************ Greg Palast, former investigator of financial fraud, is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Armed Madhouse and The Best Democracy Money Can Buy.
I've featured some of my acoustic music from time to time but have yet to put forth any of my other compositions. Soon I will be releasing a "Raw" version of the "Gnostic" music project that will feature about half of the compositions that will appear on the final CD. You might say it is something like the Beatles "Anthology" project in reverse (minus the talent) . . . as they released early versions of their compositions after selling their CD rights to Michael Jackson. I, on the other hand, am releasing the early version first, because the final versions simply aren't completed.
"Gnostic" is philosophically parallel to the "New Agenda for America" in many ways. There is the "Hemp Song" which strongly advocates for the legalization of Marijuana. "I Know What You Want George" is a rocker which criticizes George Bush's fascist tendencies.
I know what you want George I can hear your feet outside my door I know what you want George You’d like to make us your slaves forever more
But your emperors clothes have worn away And all that’s left is a smarmy corporate whore
Your time is coming And when the people wake they foil your plan Your time is coming And when we rise we’ll take our country back
‘Cus your emperor’s clothes have worn away And the devil waves behind your back ["I Know What You Want George" by Bruce W. Cain]
"Rainbow Farm" is an instrumental homage to the massacre at that occurred at "Rainbow Farm" the week before 911. If I ever get out lecturing this year I may make an attempt to perform some acoustic versions of some of the songs. At any rate I hope to have the preliminary CD, "Gnostic: Raw," available within by the end of March.
Well that ends my housekeeping notes. Hope you appreciate the reduction in the clutter.
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