Seems to be in Fascion

Recently, I've spoken with few people who are actually AFRAID to click on this blog. I suppose they believe (and perhaps its true) that the NSA, NRO, CIA, FBI or any of our 16 intelligence agencies are watching to see who reads these words and therefore can be branded "enemies of the state", or worse "Enemy Combatants" and have all of their rights immediately suspended. Ahhhh America. Land of the free, home of the brave.

Well, this won't stop me from doing anything. I firmly believe that clicking on my blog is the ultimate form or freedom and patriotism and should not in any way engender fear in the hearts of people that they are "being watched" by simply reading my little ole opinions about what really goes on in this country.

But the most alarming thing I find is the success at which the government has placed fear at the heart of free expression so that people are actually afraid to click on a site because they think the government might be monitoring. I do not espouse violence, or even an uprising against the structure... my goal is to simply inform people of the things I think they may not already know and should. Why? Well to protect their very freedom to able click on this without having their rights suspended. Seems reasonable to me.

Michael Moore said it so wonderfully in SICKO.... democratically elected governments are supposed to be AFRAID of the people.... but here in AMERICA.... (land of the free, home of the brave)... there seems to be lots of people that have little "feeling" of freedom, even less bravery and whole lot of FEAR.

I find it alarming for the simple reason that its that fear of people to speak up and act that we have seen over and over in the past which is the FOUNDATION for the rise of of Fascism. I've found many definitions of Fascism but the one I think is best (below) is because it doesn't reference what it has come BEFORE... because each fascist regine is slightly different each time, whether its Hitler, Mussolini, Pinochet or Stalin.

The 14 Characteristics of Fascism by Lawrence Britt
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
4. Supremacy of the Military
5. Rampant Sexism
6. Controlled Mass Media
7. Obsession with National Security
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined
9. Corporate Power is Protected
10. Labor Power is Suppressed
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
14. Fraudulent Elections

Wow, where we have seen all of these before?  Sounds like a history book of the Bush administration.    

To those pathetic fearful indivduals who are too afraid to read this BLOG...  Shame on you for letting this happen...
because its only the start of what your fear will lead you to do.

Why must people feel afraid of their own government when they are told  that the terrorists hate us for our
freedom?  Does anyone see anything wrong with this picture?

Sphere: Related Content

The Torture Administration

Torture!!!!!!!
I've been torturing myself over this issue for quite some time and its a welcome surprise to see that John Conyers and the House Judiciary Subcommittee is FINALLY doing its job as mandated by the Constitution and putting a check on Executive Power.

For everyone who reads this... and I know there will be untold thousands of you... pull out your calendars and mark down June 26, 2008. Why this date? Well, the two key architects of the Bush Torture Administration... under orders from the King (Vice President Dick Cheney) and his Serf (President George W. Bush) engineered a legal rationale and precedent to use torture as a means of interrogation for people being held by OUR COUNTRY for charges that have never been made public... will have to testify before the House Judiciary Committee.

As a Jew, and one who is also gay, I was brought up in a Synagogue where we were taught every Sunday that Fascism can happen anywhere at anytime... and we as Jews must never allow what happened to the Jews of Europe during the 1930's... where they were actually caught by surprise by what seems now to be an obvious set of circumstances that sealed their fate. They are just like us.

On June 26th the torture administration could begin to be exposed from within:

For Immediate Release	Contact: Jonathan Godfrey
May 7, 2008	Melanie Roussell

Washington, DC- Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers issued a subpoena to to David Addington, chief of staff to the vice president, compelling him to testify before the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties on June 26 at 10 a.m. Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General John C. Yoo, who has agreed to testify voluntarily, will testify on that day as well.


Apparently, Addington would not testify voluntarily but is expected to honor the subpoena and show up... He won't answer questions... he's not that stooopid... he knows the sharks are circling. My hope is that John Yoo, now a Professor At UC Berkeley (can someone please tell me how that happened, and how he has not had his head ripped off by the student body yet?) tells all and we have ourselves a full fledged Watergate. But this scandal will make Watergate look like a puddle next to the Atlantic Ocean if it ever breaks and I'm not sure anyone in government or media wants it to. It could bring down a lot of people.

Oh how I Dream... its nice to dream that sanity will prevail someday in this country. But it won't.

John Yoo is but a pawn in a much larger game here. According to Bill Moyers ground breaking series Bill Moyers Journal of October 26, 2007, he reveals that this is but one small piece in a much larger agenda to create an imperial presidency... executed by David Addington and Dick Cheney to create a "Teflon" executive branch... one that could break the laws of this country as well as International Law and be completely safe from accountability. I urge you to either read the transcript or watch this program on PBS.com.

I certainly don't think the "smoking gun" will be revealed on June 26th. Why? The smoking gun has already been revealed and is in the public realm. The documents and testimonials of those who sat in on the meetings... according to Phillippe Sands, Author of "Torture Team, Rumsfeld Memo and The Betrayal of American Values" has laid out the case that the torture trail starts at the top. And he does a spectacular job of proving it.

The question: Will we as a country and a people, hold our the administration and their lawyers accountable for this? And if we won't, who will?

Interestingly, Phillipe has spoken with a Judge and Prosecutor of the World Court. From his article in Vanity Fair titled "The Green Light" from the May, 2008 issue (with Madonna on the cover, ugh I'm so tired of her):

The judge and prosecutor were particularly struck by the immunity from prosecution provided by the Military Commissions Act. “That is very stupid,” said the prosecutor, explaining that it would make it much easier for investigators outside the United States to argue that possible war crimes would never be addressed by the justice system in the home country—one of the trip wires enabling foreign courts to intervene. For some of those involved in the Guantánamo decisions, prudence may well dictate a more cautious approach to international travel. And for some the future may hold a tap on the shoulder.

“It’s a matter of time,” the judge observed. “These things take time.” As I gathered my papers, he looked up and said, “And then something unexpected happens, when one of these lawyers travels to the wrong place.”

Can you just envision John Yoo, David Addington, or Harriet Miers being held in a French prison on charges of Conspiracy to Undermine The Geneva Convention. Its just too good to even imagine. But let's hope that we here at home can imprison them and their comrades and hope that this very dark chapter in our history comes to a speedy end with the perpetrators safely behind bars.

To dream... the impossible dream...

Sphere: Related Content

The Spy Who Loved Being A Contractor

I get lots of questions from all kinds of people about our intelligence community. "Bruce, how many intelligence (spy) agencies do we have and do you think that's enough to keep us safe from TERROR?" Well, I tell everyone that we only have 16 intelligence services and certainly THAT'S NOT ENOUGH. I always say "You can never have too much intelligence, or too many spy agencies". I don't want to bore you with a list of all the intelligence services we have, so if you're curious, you can read all about them here.

I used to think that I was "special" because I found something out about how intelligence is gathered and reported in the United States that the U.S. Media does not say a word about. I happened upon this information about a year ago after the last fake Bin Laden video was released. Of course we never get to see the actual video... the MSM shows a picture of it and then tells us what it says. The location of the video and even the translation of the video is never sourced. (Oh, by the way, that's not journalism... that's propaganda.) The MSM always says "Intelligence Sources" and we're supposed to think "oh OK, that's secret stuff that we're not supposed to know".

Turns out there is a good reason they don't want us to know. Their intelligence sources are often privately held companies! They don't want us to know that because then the news would seem biased wouldn't it? And we all know the MSM is not biased.

Believe it or not, I came across this information from a Thai newspaper that reported that the fake Bin Laden video was translated by "IntelCenter". Who the hell is IntelCenter I thought? And why am I reading about them in a newspaper from Thailand?

Intelcenter, not to be outdone by Blackwater.... this is like a B spy movie... has an even more gruesome and stupid logo.... Scarier than even Mountain Dew!!!

So, of course I went to their website and realized that I was looking at a privately held company that produces lots of really scary news and reports and sells them. They make pretty charts with lots of logos of evil organizations bent on our destruction... and of course they sell to the media and the intelligence services the Bin Laden video translation... and we're told by the MSM that its from "intelligence sources". Here is some more information about them that is very revealing... particularly about their role in obtaining video tapes of the "terrorists" and then charging for the translation.

But these guys are just one of many. A little research and you can find so many of these private intelligence contractors, it will make your head spin.

This market was created by Ronald Reagan in 1981 by Executive Order 12333 in section 2.7: (this is scary... better not look!)
Agencies within the Intelligence Community are authorized to enter into contracts or arrangements for the provision of goods or services with private companies or institutions in the United States and need not reveal the sponsorship of such contracts or arrangements for authorized intelligence purposes. Contracts or arrangements with academic institutions may be undertaken only with the consent of appropriate officials of the institution.

The horrible truth for me is that I'm late to the party with this information. Even USA TODAY published a story about this that unfortunately didn't even make a ripple. And the most important source on the web is a Blog by R.J. Hillhouse entitled... and I love this... "The Spy Who Billed Me" that goes into vivid detail about this clandestine network and what they may be up to. (Its not pretty.)

By the way, she states that we may be have paid $60 Billion in 2005 for our 16 Intelligence Services. And lastly, I found a wonderfully informative article in Salon that talks about what we may be paying for the intelligence contractors here.

So why is this important? It may not seem obvious at first, and if I start going into detail about the nature of our Constitution and how it was designed to hold people accountable for their actions, then people would call me a conspiracy theorist and shut me off. But, the charges that Hillhouse and Salon make and even are hinted at by the USA TODAY go directly back to Step #4, Develop a Paramilitary Force that I posted yesterday about the steps toward fascism according to Naomi Wolf.

The private contractors MAY not be held accountable to the voters or to the Constitution. And that's the rub. We just might be outsourcing the primary services of government to circumvent the laws that were designed to protect our rights. Additionally, outsourcing to private contractors may allow the government cover against the international law agreements we have signed such as the Geneva Convention. This is very dangerous territory we are heading into and only an informed citizenry can shine the bright lights on what is going on and put a stop to it... we CANNOT TRUST Hillary, Barak or even John to do this job for us. We have to do this ourselves if we want to protect our democracy and turn back the speeding train that is heading toward real fascism here in America.

But first, we have to care.

Sphere: Related Content

Step #4, Develop a Paramilitary Group

I'm attaching a talk given by Naomi Wolf about her bestselling book:

The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot

In it, Naomi outlines the 10 steps that all modern democracies, or something close to democracies, have undergone to successfully install fascism. Fascism can be subtle. It can be as simple as me being too afraid to post this. It can be the fact that Naomi, by writing this book, is now on terror watch lists and is always pulled aside at airports by the TSA when traveling. Fascism is as much a state of mind, as it is a rule of law or ABSENCE OF LAW as defined by those that are theoretically "protecting" us.

The talk is long, but I have a reason that I am posting this. I find that one of her 10 steps is of particular relevance right now. Its step number 4: Develop a Paramilitary Group. For those who don't know what that is.... it is a privately paid army that works by its own rules and is paid by the state to impose the state's will on the people. A good example that those who read have heard about it is Blackwater. They are currently our private army operating primarily, but not exclusively, in Iraq at American taxpayer expense. We use the word "contractor" to connote that they make cement foundations for new buildings... but no no no... they are a private army. A good example from history is the Nazi Brownshirts. Just for kicks, I'm posting Blackwater's logo which I find particularly gruesome to the point of being funny.




The talk is worth every bit of your 45 minutes if you are interested in protecting our democracy. But in the event that you want me to do the job... stay tuned for my next post where I will reveal that there are not just simply private armies that we have... but a private intelligence network that was given life by our great and senile President Ronald Reagan in Executive Order 12333 of December 4, 1981.

Sphere: Related Content