Deadly E. Coli Was Engineered...

Deadly E. Coli Was Engineered...

Courtesy of rt.com

An outbreak of a peculiar strain of the E. coli bacteria has already taken 40 lives worldwide.
With fear that this outbreak will become a full-blown epidemic, scientists and citizens alike are wondering why this seemingly invincible strain is here and what they can do to combat it.
“If you look at it genetically…you have to come to the conclusion that this strain was exposed to eight different classes of antibiotics in its creation,” says Mike Adams, the editor-in-chief of NaturalNews.com. This creation, says Adams, is not something that happens naturally.
“This does not happen in the wild where you have a strain that is resistant,” he says. “This looks like, genetically, that it had to be engineered.”
“It is definitely not just a random accident in nature.”
With eight major antibiotics unable to cure those infected, hospitals worldwide are unable to treat patients exposed to the bacteria. Adams says up to 900 people are now facing kidney failure because there is no known antidote available.
Adams attests that the creation and spreading of the strain might be a covert case of chemical warfare. Many governments and corporations have unleashed problems in the past only so that they could release a solution in the future, says Adams. It’s just a case of a creating the problem only to “settle the solution.”
While we don’t have all the answers, Adams says it is only wise to start asking the questions. First on the list: where did this really come from?

FBI Terrifies Family With Improper Raid...

FBI Terrifies Family With Improper Raid...

Courtesy of rt.com

A simple “sorry” won’t do for a Pennsylvania family that is suing the FBI over a March 3 raid that they say violated their constitutional rights.
Gary Adams of Bellevue, PA filed suit on Tuesday against a dozen federal agents that stormed his house in a drug raid earlier this year. Adams’ attorney said in a statement that the feds "battered down the door to his home and, armed with assault rifles, stormed into his house … in a misguided attempt to serve an arrest warrant on a person who was not related to or who had ever resided with."
The FBI claims they were looking for Sondra Hunter, a former occupant of the riverside home just outside of Pittsburgh. Adams says that agents had an arrest warrant for Ms. Hunter, but lacked a search warrant to enter the premises.
In the suit filed Wednesday, Adams alleges that the raid violated both his family’s Fourth Amendment right to be free from unlawful search and seizure and their Fifth Amendment right to due process.
12 officers entered the Adams home and allegedly aimed guns at a packed household. Grandmother Denise Adams was home when the FBI barged in and says she fell to the floor.
“They had all these red dots everywhere … on the floor, on my face, on my chest. I was scared I was going to get shot,” she said at a press conference this week.
Gary Adams says the family was never offered an apology and no one offered to pay for damages to their home. Now the family is seeking more than $50,000 in damages.
“Sorry is not going to get it. I'm just truly glad I didn't have a weapon because they never identified themselves to me,” Gary Adams says.
"They had guns on my wife, my babies."
Their granddaughter Byra Adams says she was told to go outside, despite it being a cold, winter’s day in their Pennsylvania neighborhood. She says she told agents, “I don’t have any clothes on. I can’t go outside,” yet was still forced to lie down on the sidewalk outside of the home. There she worried about how her mentally challenged brother would respond inside the home.
“He was in the basement and they were going down there to get him and I didn’t know if he was going to react.”
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that neither the US Attorney's Office nor the FBI have issued a comment in response to the lawsuit.

Caught in the Net – Tweeting Arrest...

Caught in the Net – Tweeting Arrest...

Courtesy of rt.com

The FBI has accused a US citizen of using the Internet to organize protests at the September G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, setting a precedent of a social networking arrest.
In this day and age, you are either a user yourself, or you know someone who is addicted to either Facebook or Twitter – or both. Social networking sites draw millions of hits every day. But how safe are you when you say or do something on the web?

You may think there are a limited number of things you can do on the Internet that could get you in trouble. But as it turns out, in the US, the list is growing almost every day. And one man in New York has found this out the hard way.
Michael Wallschlaeger grows tomatoes up on his roof. He also has an old dog named Sahara and two turtles. He and a friend were arrested and charged by the FBI for allegedly directing protests at the G20 Summit in September.
Michael calls himself a hippie and an anarchist, and says he has gone through hell for his political beliefs.
“How much more Gestapo-like can you get, really? I think all authoritarian governments don’t like internal protesting. The whole idea of the G20 protests was an attempt to try to talk about those issues – talk about the richest people in the world getting together making decisions for the 90% of us. That’s why we were down there trying to get our voice heard to change the policies of this very elite group,” Michael says.
Michael was accused of “tweeting” the whereabouts of police officers to protesters, and informing the demonstrators about law enforcement actions. His home was raided by the FBI in search of suspicious items.
“This is one of the items of interest the FBI listed as being a concern for some reason. It’s a 1927 microscope – kinda old antique. They were also concerned about my fencing equipment and various martial arts equipment. I taught fencing in high school and gave demonstrations at elementary school, and I taught women’s self-defense classes,” Michael confessed.
One of the attorneys involved in the case, Martin Stolar, says what the authorities did was nonsense from the very beginning.
“[What Wallschlaeger did] is perfectly legal. It is exactly the same kind of speech that one would give if you’re walking down the street with somebody, in the course of a lawful demonstration, and you say ‘Hey, don’t go down that street, because the police have said “don’t go there”.’ That speech – telling somebody what to do – is totally protected. It’s not counseling a criminal act, it’s trying to avoid a criminal act,” Stolar says, concluding “So, clearly it was political.”
And although the charges against Michael and his friend were dropped later, a precedent for Internet arrests has been set for the first time in American history.

Apple Wants To Turn Off iPhone Cameras...

Apple Wants To Turn Off iPhone Cameras...

Courtesy of rt.com

Some of the newest technology out of Apple headquarters won’t be in tablet form or fit in your pocket. Rather, the computer gadget giants have filed a patent that will keep their customers from using the camera function on their own iPhones.
Apple has been working on a plan that will allow concert halls, sporting arenas and other venues to install infrared sensors that will detect iPhones going into camera mode and promptly disable the device’s ability to snap a shot or film a video. Explicitly, the patent states that it will use new technology to "capture a second image that includes an infrared signal with encoded data" and from there could shut-down a phone's recording capability or else introduce a compulsory watermark.
Other functions of the phone would not be halted upon being located by the sensors.
While Apple is working on the product to combat bootlegging concerts and other unauthorized recording, the patent also notes that the infared emitter could be used to transfer data, such as in a museum. There iPhone users can be transmitted info about exhibits straight to their phone upon entering the signal’s range.
Technology writer James Holland says, however, that implementing such a large-scale installation would be “a large undertaking.”
Holland also notes that, “a patent is just an expression of an idea, and no guarantee Apple's actually building it into the iPhone.”
The move is without a doubt a reflection of the recording industry’s continuing battle with bootleggers. Event organizers, broadcasters, performers and their parties are often allowed exclusive rights to their performances, but as unofficially-released content is leaked to YouTube, the audience can (and often) opts for free, unauthorized accounts of a live events, rather than paying promoters and groups for their own content.
And while Apple may eventually implement this technology to render recording from iPhones impossible, no other cell phone giants, including Blackberry or Android, have disclosed details of following suit.

Apple users have often found workarounds for many of the iPhones features since it was released, too. The hacking or “jailbreaking” of devices allows users with the knowhow to unlock all features of the Apple iOS, allowing for modification and the customizing of the phone’s operating system and its capabilities. With hackers this week infiltrating the servers of both the Senate and the CIA, a new iPhone mod to combat infared sensors is presumably all too possible.
If you were to ask comedian Doug Stanhope about his thoughts on bootlegging, however, the stand-up has quite a bit to say about the negative aspects of bringing cell phones to shows. Speaking to Philadelphia Weekly earlier this year, Stanhope said,“at every show there’s some(one) with a cell phone camera putting s*** on YouTube—I’ll have people in Baltimore yelling out jokes I did in DC the night before. It could be brand new jokes.”
“Videos on YouTube, for comedy, it’s like they’re giving away the ending of the movie.”
Adds Stanhope, “another way that cell phone cameras just destroy the atmosphere is it’s live and it’s in the moment and it’s temporary. When people are…recording it … immediately you just see these…tourists of life, you know? You’re here…live, man, and you’re staring at me through a lens on a cell phone.”
Apple had filed for the patent in 2009 but word of it was only released this week.

Media Ignores Public Outrage While Protesters Camp Out In NYC...

Media Ignores Public Outrage While Protesters Camp Out In NYC...

Courtesy of rt.com

Dozens of people have been camping outside City Hall in New York to protest budget cuts that could lead to thousands of jobs lost.
Meanwhile, the mainstream media is busy covering sex scandals and murder trials, and ignoring the voice of the people. Why?
This summer the US media is buzzing with these burning-hot stories. The masterminds of big TV networks are knee-deep in this “historic” news coverage. Sexy tweets of a congressman are being stretched to the likes of the Lewinski scandal, and every detail is getting sucked out of a child’s murder case. Meanwhile, New York City has seen a small town of its own pop up a few blocks away from Wall Street in Mayor Bloomberg’s backyard.

City Hall has seen countless protesters on its doorstep since the economic collapse of 2008, but in the last several days the anger of the people has been pushing them to camp out here. They are saying this is just the beginning and they will spend day and night here until their message is heard.

A loud “no” to Bloomberg-proposed budget cuts that would throw more jobs out the window.

“End the wars, tax the rich, how we fix the deficit," they chanted.

 “The banks are sitting on trillions of dollars of our money and we’re going to stay here till we get it,” said activist Tony Murphy.

“We want to make sure we are all prepared, so here we actually have pillows,” one activist showed RT.

This resistance is inspired by global outbursts of protests over the last year.

 “Not only the government here in our country, but the governments abroad don’t seem to want to see anybody to have some kind of subsistence of living,” said student Camille Lampel.

Citizen journalists are here. The mainstream media is not.

“Once you go outside the hoard and you start covering that unions and workers are fighting against cut-backs from a powerful mayor and they want Wall Street to pay higher taxes, well, those are likely your sponsors if you are a big commercial news operation,” explained journalism Professor Jeff Cohen.

As the media treads carefully around the issues, the people’s anger is growing – so how many will be camping out here before the media is shaken out of its self-imposed oblivion to report what matters?

Congress Sues President Obama Over Libya...

Congress Sues President Obama Over Libya...

Courtesy of rt.com

Politicians from both parties came together this week to speak out against President Obama’s violation of the War Powers Act.
While the White House continues to stand on Obama’s side regarding military presence in Libya, lawmakers are calling his actions both illegal and unconstitutional and have now filed a lawsuit against the commander in chief.
According to author David Swanson, the White House makes the argument that the War Powers Act doesn’t apply or “much less the Constitution.” The president feels that the conflict in Libya is not a war, or even a skirmish that has risen to a hostile level. Swanson argues, however, that the 1973-penned bill was made to keep the US out of involvements just like this.
Swanson goes as far as to saw that those that wrote the law had the “foresight to anticipate” exactly what is going on now in North Africa.
The White House claims the US is merely helping out, but Swanson says that with drones targeting Libyan locales, the White House’s claims that this is a military operation that doesn’t rise to the level of hostilities is “absolutely absurd.”
“This was written in 1973 very intentionally and clearly to encompass all military engagements, including imminent threats of hostilities and anything that amount to hostilities,” he says.
Swanson recalls a point Representative Dennis Kucinich made earlier in the week:
“If there were 2,000 missions over the United States by a foreign nation and many of them were dropping bombs, would there be a war? Would there be hostilities?”
So far ten lawmakers have joined together to bring charges against the president, but Swanson says that’s not enough. “Senators can begin and end wars and that is what they ought to be doing,” he says.
“Congress could pass a bill through both houses denying permission to use any money from any source for a war in Libya,” Swanson says. “They could do that tomorrow but it’s not on the agenda.”

In the meantime, Democrats like Dennis Kucinich and Republicans such as Ron Paul are joining forces to make sure the president knows that—even if he is the president—he can still be guilty of breaking the law.

Iraqi Money: Biggest Theft in US History...

Iraqi Money: Biggest Theft in US History...

Courtesy of rt.com

If you’re wondering where the government is putting all of their money, so would they.
­Auditors investigating a missing $6.6 billion in cash that was airlifted to Iraq to help rebuild the country after the 2003 invasion believe the huge sum may have been stolen.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Stuart Bowen, special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, says the missing $6 billion-plus may be "the largest theft of funds in national history."

In May of 2004, the US sent 21 planeloads of cash, shrink-wrapped and hauled in C-130 Hercules cargo crafts, into Iraq. That was the plan, at least. The $12-billion haul was believed to be the biggest international cash airlift of all time, but over half of the loot disappeared. Now federal auditors are saying this might not have been just a tiny accounting error but rather a major heist.

If you’re having a hard time picturing what 21 cargo planes of cash looks like, think about this: that’s enough money to launch around ten US space shuttles. Or, as the LA Times puts it, enough money to run the Chicago Public School system for an entire year.

After being flown out of Andrews Air Force Base, US officials say the money was stored in a basement vault at one of the palaces that once belonged to Saddam Hussein, as well as some military bases. The money was apparently distributed among Iraqi ministries and contractors as part of the Development Fund for Iraq, though the Pentagon has been unable to locate the $6-billion during the last six years. They have contended that they could account for the money if given enough time to leaf through all of their records, but documentation and the denominations have yet to be located. Now auditors are thinking the money was just plain stolen.

Given a 2004 legal agreement signed by two two countries, Iraqi officials are arguing that the disappearance puts the US at fault. Now the Iraqi government is considering taking America to court to reclaim the money.

Speaking to The Guardian years earlier, a former senior official at the governing Coalition Provisional Authority made claims that he and others “played football with some of the bricks of $100 bills before delivery.”

“It was a wild-west crazy atmosphere, the likes of which none of us had ever experienced.”

African Americans Suffering Under Obama...

African Americans Suffering Under Obama...

Courtesy of rt.com

As African-American unemployment remains at over 15 percent, the Black community questions whether placing hopes on Obama was a mistake.
While the US marks Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the African-American community is knee-deep in an economic nightmare.
“There is no question that black America is worse off than it has been in at least the last 30 years,” said Glen Ford, the executive editor of the Black Agenda Report.
The official unemployment rate for African-Americans has been hovering at around 16 percent for the last year.
“Number one in high unemployment, number one in home foreclosures and number one in populating the prisons of our country,” explained renowned civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson.
Many say, if these numbers represented any other minority group, the US would be in a state of emergency.
Has it long been high time for a rescue operation for African-Americans?
A particularly poignant question now with a black president in the White House.
New York’s Harlem neighborhood is one of the places that celebrated the most, when Barack Obama stepped into the White House. But two years into the presidency, the cracks in the dream for a better life have become too wide to hide.
Extreme unemployment with resulting poverty has created a pandemic of millions who need to be helped within black America.
“It has been a nightmare looking for work,” an unemployed African-American woman commented.
Studies showed a year ago that one in six African-Americans were without jobs.
Many say racial profiling continues to be a major obstacle to winning in the job market.
“Literally hundreds of studies have shown without doubt, repeatedly, that, for example, a white man with a prison record, who applies for a job is more likely to get a call back for that job, an interview, than a black man with a college education,” explained Ford.
Experts believe that’s exactly why Obama should be putting in place specifically targeted policies.
So why isn’t he?
“It’s just a community of people that he probably believes that belong to him, will vote for him, will support him. If he is going to spend political capital, he is not going to spend it on black folk,” said New York Pastor James David Manning.
“You can say that Obama destroyed more blacks housing than the KKK would have been able to,” remarked economist Michael Hudson.
Spending money and effort on everything from saving Wall Street to endless warfare takes a lot of time.
But that’s largely been the priority during the first half of Obama’s first term.
But the clock is ticking, days and months passing. African-Americans, as well as the rest of the 40 million battling poverty across the US, remain rejected.
“If there are not more jobs made available, than he will lose a significant base of support in the African-American community, and the general community, because people will be disappointed,” said former advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Clarence B. Jones.
So the broke, disappointed and forgotten could well end up rejecting in return.

Obama Rewards Donors With Positions...

Obama Rewards Donors With Positions...

Courtesy of rt.com

If you want to work for President Barack Obama, enrolling in Secret Service school might not be the easiest way nowadays.

 It appears as if the commander in chief has put over three-quarters of the “mega donors” who forked over at least $500,000 a piece to his campaign on his payroll.
A report conducted by the Center for Public Integrity’s iWatch News found that around 80 percent of the people holding “key administration posts” under President Obama obtained mega donor status thanks to contributions they bundled for the president.
As individual contributions must be limited, “bundlers” can pool donations from other fundraisers and, as government watchdog Public Citizen puts it, can “play an enormous role in determining the success of political campaigns.” White House visitor records say that Obama met face-to-face with at least two dozen bundlers since becoming president. Around 200 of the biggest donors have been hired a little over half way through his term; 24 of those positions were ambassadorships.
And while President George W Bush also brought around the same number of bundlers on board, it took him eight years—four times what it took Obama—to get 200 donators on staff.
While this is nothing new in politics, President Obama himself campaigned on banning former lobbyists from taking roles in White House affairs. Now Donald Gips, a telecom exec who contributed over half a million to Obama when he ran, can say that he has had the role of Ambassador to South Africa and another Pennsylvania Avenue position on his resume, all since Obama entered office in 2009.
In response to the revelation, White House spokesman Eric Schultz said, "In filling these posts, the administration looks for the most qualified candidates who represent Americans from all walks of life…Being a donor does not get you a job in this administration, nor does it preclude you from getting one.”
A reporter at Politico has noticed, however, that while less than one in five of the donors that contributed $50,000 to Obama’s campaign were rewarded with a position, half of those that gave $200,000—and 80 percent of the $500,000-plus club—were rewarded.
George Washington University law professor Spencer Overton donated over half a million to Obama, and a month after he took the oath of office, Barack bestowed an $180,000-a-year job on him.
“Clearly if someone raised a million dollars for your campaign, you tend to get a phone call returned,” says Michael Caplin, who helped raise $200,000 for Obama before he became a member of the Commission on President Scholar.
“If that person is truly excellent, but also raised money for your campaign, should that disallow you to serve? … I didn’t feel like they were putting coin collectors in charge of Homeland Security,” adds Caplin.
“I haven’t seen one appointment yet where I thought, ‘Man this is embarrassing.’”

Chicago Crumbling in Poverty...

Chicago Crumbling in Poverty...

Courtesy of rt.com

Barack Obama has moved on from Chicago to the White House. In the meantime, his hometown has been crumbling in poverty and unemployment. RT travels to the forgotten-turned-dangerous neighborhoods of the city.
Chicago – at first glance a picture-perfect city . But what happens with a sneak peak behind the façade and a flip of the postcard?
The gap between the rich and poor in Chicago is extremely visible. Well-off neighborhoods are just a hop and skip away from places where sorrow is dense in the atmosphere on countless streets, where rows and rows of devastated homes hold thousands of people for whom every single day is a struggle.
“Most people think that’s all of Chicago – and that’s gorgeous Chicago – but there is still an 85 percent of the city that they haven’t seen”, said school teacher and activist Sati Word, roaming the streets with RT’s crew. Born and raised in the city, he works several jobs to keep up.
The city falling to its knees is a personal pain for him.
“This is a neighborhood that had factories and industry – and once industry died so did this neighborhood,” the man pointed out.
It's a pattern seen in much of Illinois. In the last decade, over 200,000 jobs in manufacturing went down the drain. Life is especially tough for Chicago’s black community.One in three African-American men in their early 20s are unemployed. Men like Chris.
“It’s been tough trying to get a job, it’s been real tough,"  says the young man.
Overall African-American joblessness in Chicago is over 20 percent – more than twice the white rate.
“There is no jobs. I don’t care what kind of education you got. Some people just don’t havea job. Can’t find anything, and that’s bad,” says middle school security guard Geraldine Anderson.
“Over on the other side of the tracks, there’s a lot of drugs. A lot of people have turned to drugs. A lot of people turned to selling drugs,” says Sati, walking the most dangerous streets in Chicago.
Locals explain – it’s done here to get by. Robbery is also at a peak.
“Trying to get something they could pawn to get money of off. Any way to make money, they’re going to do it,” said unemployed Chris Curtis.
For many, it’s a vicious circle.
Having paid for his crimes, six months out of jail, Darryl Batts is back where he started – fighting for a job.
“The government is falling short. It’s that simple. Lip service, that’s what that is. They say one thing and when it trickles down, there’s nothing there,” the former convict said.
What is there, however, is heroin use and record-high binge drinking – Chicago holds the top spot in the US.
Food pantries are working non-stop as hunger intensifies, but supplies are short.
“Oh my goodness… It’s almost to the point where it’s unexplainable. There is such an increase in demand for food for hunger in Chicago, because of the economy, being the way it is,” says food pantry director Renee White.
The number of families living in poverty now stands at an astounding 45 percent – almost half the population. Many of those going hungry are kids.
One in three children in Chicago are said to live below the poverty line.
“I am quite sure that there are homeless children in the building. You’re not supposed to let staff know if they are or not,” says third grade teacher Carolyn Harris.
Over the last year, income rates here have dropped by more than ten percent, making it harder for entire generations of families to stay afloat.
“Some are embarrassed or too proud to speak about it. It starts from the kids and goes all the way up to our seniors, and they have the same issues,” says Renee White back at the food pantry.
From young to old, the hometown of the American president is filled with sorrow that’s already too deep to ignore.

Education Officials Break Down Stockton Man’s Door...

Courtesy of News10/KXTV

STOCKTON, CA - A federal education official Wednesday morning offered little information as to why federal agents raided a Stockton man's home Tuesday.

The resident, Kenneth Wright, does not have a criminal record and he had no reason to believe why what he thought was a S.W.A.T team would be breaking down his door at 6 in the morning.

"I look out of my window and I see 15 police officers," Wright said.

As Wright came downstairs in his boxer shorts, he said the officers barged through his front door. Wright said an officer grabbed him by the neck and led him outside on his front lawn.

"He had his knee on my back and I had no idea why they were there," Wright said.

According to Wright, officers also woke his three young children, ages 3, 7, and 11, and put them in a Stockton police patrol car with him. Officers then searched his house.

"They put me in handcuffs in that hot patrol car for six hours, traumatizing my kids," Wright said.

As it turned out, the person law enforcement was looking for - Wright's estranged wife - was not there.

Wright said he later went to Stockton Mayor Ann Johnston and Stockton Police Department, but learned the city of Stockton had nothing to do with the search warrant.

U.S. Department of Education spokesman Justin Hamilton confirmed for News10 Wednesday morning federal agents with the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), not local S.W.A.T., served the search warrant. Hamilton would not say specifically why the raid took place except that it was part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

Hamilton said the search was not related to student loans in default as reported in the local media. 

OIG is a semi-independent branch of the education department that executes warrants for criminal offenses such as student aid fraud, embezzlement of federal aid and bribery, according to Hamilton. The agency serves 30 to 35 search warrants a year.  

"They busted down my door for this," Wright said. "It wasn't even me."

The Stockton Police Department said it was asked by federal agents to provide one officer and one patrol car just for a police presence when carrying out the search warrant.

Police officers did not participate in breaking Wright's door, handcuffing him, or searching his home.

"All I want is an apology for me and my kids and for them to get me a new door," Wright said.

America: Trillions Owed in Unfunded Promises...

America: Trillions Owed in Unfunded Promises...

Courtesy of rt.com

America’s federal government's financial situation deteriorated rapidly last year, sinking deeper and deeper into debt, and the United States now boasts $61.6 trillion in financial promises that are not yet paid for.
The cost is about equal to $534,000 per US household in unfunded financial obligations. Many wonder if the US will ever be able to repay its own citizens.
To make bad matters worse, a recent US Treasury report found that the US national debt will exceed the overall size of the US economy later this year for the first time since World War II. A year ago, a report by the Treasury claimed such an event could be avoidable because it was not due to take place until 2014.
Heather Cirmo from 440 Group Public Relations said the foundation of the US Economy and can only sustain so much, cuts must be made and policy changes adopted. Negotiations are needed to hammer out a new Medicare plan and other cuts to entitlements and other government spending.
To the contrary however, Dr. Caroline Heldman, a professor of political science at Occidental College argued that the biggest problem to address is not what to cut, but what to tax. The U should reestablish taxes on wealthy Americans and also address the massive expansion of unfunded US wars.
Cirmo said cuts must be made, changes must take place, no other options exist – raising taxes is simply not an option either.
“Personal sacrifices must be made,” she argued. “We have to cut programs.”
Those who make more should be cut from government programs. Cuts should be made to help America, not increased taxation, Cirmo contended.
The wealthiest Americans can afford greater taxes, Heldman argued. There is no need to supplement millionaires – they can afford to pay more.
“We need needs based programming,” she said.
Heldman and Cirmo agreed that wealthy Americans should not receive government aid, but Heldman contended that those with more should pay into the system at higher rates. Wealthy Americans can afford to pay more taxes.
While many debate cuts to social programs, defense is often overlooked by politicians,.
American defense spending is skyrocketing. Yet, most Republicans calling for cuts are ignoring the rises in military spending. Many argue cuts to the military risks national security, while others contend everything should b on the table.
“I think that’s a very noble thing to spend money on,” commented Cirmo, noting some cuts may be needed, but overall military spending is highly important.
“We spend more money on our military industrial complex that, Eisenhower warned us about 60 years ago, then all of the other advanced industrialized nations combined,” said Heldman. “We’re also spending it unconstitutionally.”
It’s important to honor military service, but spending and long-term priorities must be considered when considering the budget, she said. It is important to spend and invest legally and with the bigger long-term picture in mind.

Recession Leading to US Educational Drain...

Recession Leading to US Educational Drain...

Courtesy of rt.com

A solid college education used to be the key to getting a great job in America and was a core component of the American dream. However, the times have changed.
With the recession, the number of highly educated unemployed individuals has skyrocketed. An education has become more of a financial burden than a stepping stone into the workforce.
As educated members of society site on thousands of dollars of student debt, unable to get jobs, many are questioning the relevance of education – when often you are not even able to get a job at McDonalds.
In addition, those soon to enter college education ages are finding it increasingly hard to pay for education. Many are not capable of taking on massive amounts of debt, especially as students raise tuition rates and college fees.
With the younger generations passing on education due to the costs, the country’s potential for global market completion shifts downward.
Meanwhile, students from China, India and elsewhere are flocking to America to secure college level educations, and then returning home to invest in business.
Blogger Michael Snyder from TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com argued that college education in America is not what it used to be; in addition many students are priced out of attending most schools.
“Today’s students who are graduating at this time of the year, two0-thirds of them are coming out with student loan debt and the total of amount of student loan debt in the United States today is actually more than the total amount of credit card debt,” he said.
A lot of students are not able to get good jobs that pay well when they graduate. Many end up working hourly jobs waiting tables or working in similar roles. Others are left unemployed or bouncing from one remedial job to another.
Often students are pushed into college, told the cost is worth it. Often students assume their degree with get them a job, but in the end it is a gamble. Students assume their degree will get them a job that will pay enough so they can pay back loans – but that is not the case. Additionally, there are simply not enough jobs for all of the new graduates.
College is good for many career fields, but not all, argued Snyder. There are fields where one can excel without a degree or can earn a degree from a cheaper institution.

US economy on Verge of Great Great Depression?

US economy on Verge of Great Great Depression?

Courtesy of rt.com

World markets fall after the US economy suffered its worst day of the year on June 1 with all signs pointing to more declines over the summer.
“We’re on the verge of a great, great depression,” opined a market strategist Peter Yastrow.
The US market was hit by falls in job growth and manufacturing which in turn abolished quarter of the Dow Jones industrial average's gains for the year thus far. As the markets opened back up on June 2 investors were reluctant to take risks as more bad news regarding the US economy is expected to be released June 3.
The Dow dropped 30 points within the first 15 minutes of open trading as market watchers anxiously await the release of US government job numbers. Thus far reports indicate claims for unemployment benefits did not shrink as much as expected, causing many people to fear a labor market recover simply is not taking place.
“We've been through a couple-week period here where basically every piece of economic data has just been awful,” John Canally of LPL Financial in Boston told the Daily Mail.
Yastrow said he has witnessed “near panic” by investors unwilling to take risks in the volatile markets.
“Interest rates are amazingly low,” he told CNBC. “We’re on the verge of a great, great depression. The [Federal Reserve] knows it.”
“Almost every bit of data about the health of the US economy has disappointed expectations recently,” noted Mike Riddell of M&G Investments.
Home prices are down, foreclosures are up. Commodity prices are rising and many Americans remain unemployed, some have even exasperated their allotted unemployment benefits, leaving them with nearly no options.
A recent report by Capital Economics found drops in first quarter home prices indicated the prices had fallen by more than they did during the Great Depression.
US Treasury Bonds have now fallen to their lowest levels since December 2010. Overall doubts about Americans economic recovery have begun to surface from more analysts as new reports compound one another with dire news.
“It looks like this recovery has hit its second ‘soft patch’, which for a recovery that is less than two years old is troubling,” pointed out Paul Ashworth of Capital Economics.
Meanwhile, Moody’s Investors Service said if America’s two political parties fail to make progress on economic growth and a solution to the debt ceiling debate, it would place the US credit rating under review for a possible downgrade.
“If there is no progress on increasing the statutory debt limit in coming weeks, it expects to place the US government’s rating under review for possible downgrade,” Moody’s said.
This threat follows similar threats by Standards and Poor.
Erica Payne, the founder of The Agenda Project explained the threat may not change the debate however. Republicans are dedicated to their Tea Party agenda of not raising the debt ceiling.
“It’s hard to negotiate with a crazy person,” she said. “They fundamentally don’t understand this.”
The Tea Party has taken over the Republican agenda, they are calling on the Republicans to do the irresponsible and illogical thing, and that is to default on debt. Defaulting is not good for anyone – America or the rest of the world.
“Since the risk of continuing stalemate has grown, if progress in negotiations is not evident by the middle of July, such a rating action is likely,” Moody’s added.
The responsible thing to do is raise the ceiling, Payne argued, failing to do so will damage the economic recovery.
She said she hoped the Moody’s warning pushed for Congress to act more quickly and reach a compromise to raise the ceiling and tackle US debt concerns. Whether they will or not remains unclear.
The US government hit its $14.3 trillion borrowing limit on May 16 and now has until August 1 to solve the problem or risk defaulting on its debts.

Nanny State Betrays Decline and Fall of America...

Nanny State Betrays Decline and Fall of America...


Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com

Two more ridiculous examples of the nanny state kicking into high gear add to the overwhelming weight of evidence indicating that America is in a state of terminal decline, with an overtly authoritarian big government enforcing a command and control system at every level of society.

Government environmental permits will now be required in San Diego for any kind of fireworks display, meaning state permission will be required for fireworks at birthday parties or any other outdoor event. Small-scale gatherings would now require an “environmental assessment” before they can take place.

“According to the strictest interpretation of this, jumpy-jumps and everything else would be subject to environmental review if this ruling stands,” said lawyer Robert Howard, who represented the La Jolla Community Fireworks Foundation in the case. “It’s a breathtaking ruling.”

Meanwhile in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Albemarle Road Presbyterian Church was fined $4,000 dollars by the city government for “improperly pruning its trees.”

“I just couldn’t believe it when I heard about it,” church member Eddie Sales said. “We trim our trees back every three years all over our property, and this is the first time we have been fined.”

The church was fined $100 for each “improperly cut” branch, bring the total fine to $4,000.

“The purpose of the tree ordinance is to protect trees,” Charlotte Land Development Division’s Tom Johnson said. “Charlotte has always been known as the city of trees. When we take down trees, we need to replace these trees,” adding that people whose trees are opposite a public street or on commercial land need to apply to the government for permission to landscape their own property.

The only way the church can avoid the fine is to replace all of the trees, a bizarre demand that illustrates how the farce is about nothing else other than the government deliberately abusing its power to make an example out of the church and intimidate others into blind subservience and acceptance of any ordinance no matter how bizarre.

As we have documented, a shocking acceleration of the nanny state in recent months confirms that the government has launched a total takeover of society under the pretext of keeping everyone safe, when in reality the move is a calculated coup d’état against individuality and is designed to oppress and enslave the American people.

A brief recap of recent developments confirms America’s slide into an authoritarian command and control society, where big government steps in to regulate every aspect of people’s lives.

- A school in Chicago has banned parents from giving their children packed lunches, forcing kids to eat in the cafeteria in order to “protect students from the potential for unhealthy homemade lunches”.

- Parents who attempt to take their kids out of their predatory public school system by home schooling are being spied on by authorities. A Mississippi state judge recently ordered that state officials gather the names of every single child is being home schooled in the state in order that they be kept on a list.

- Mayor Bloomberg is forcing food manufacturers in New York to reduce the amount of salt content in food under the National Salt Reduction Initiative, while at the same time spending $25 million on a program to fluoridate the water supply with a toxic waste, sodium fluoride, that contributes to lowering IQ and has been linked to cancers as well as disorders affecting teeth, bones, the brain and the thyroid gland. Food additives like aspartame and MSG, which are a far deadlier health threat than salt, are not being targeted by the government.

 Indeed, New York is the model for the rest of the country. The Department of Health has slapped strict regulations on anything deemed “risky recreational activities” conducted by programs or organizations. Wiffle ball, dodge ball, kick ball, freeze tag, red rover, frisbee tossing and tug of war have all been placed under the new rules. If an organization offers two or more recreational activities, with just one being on the “risky” list, it is deemed to be a summer camp and comes under state regulation which entails fees and the necessity to provide medical staff. “Classics like Capture the Flag, Steal the Bacon and Red Rover are also deemed dangerous in new state regulations for day camps,” reports the New York Daily News. This is all part of the process of the state replacing the parents as guardians of the children and it is designed to ensure that kids become nothing more than drug-addled, dependent slobs with no energy and no life experience, perfectly molding them to grow up as obedient, video-game playing, Clockwork Orange-style droogs.

- If your kids manage to tear themselves away from the video games in an effort to try and become young entrepreneurs by setting up a cookie stall on their own front lawn, the government won’t waste any time in slapping a ban on such activity, as happened recently in the city of Hazelwood, where two young girl scouts were told they were violating a city ordinance that prohibited “the sale of commodities” from a home. The girls were reported to the authorities by one of their own neighbors.

- The government is also busy protecting us from Thomas Edison’s iconic invention, the incandescent light bulb, by banning the traditional bulb and forcing Americans to buy mercury-filled CFL bulbsthat should be “kept as far away as possible from the human environment,” according to a new scientific study because they contain cancer-causing carcinogens.

- In their infinite wisdom, health authorities are pushing for Americans to be mass medicated against their will by putting statin drugs in the water supply, despite the fact that scientific studies have linked them to liver dysfunction, acute kidney failure, cataracts, muscle damage, depression, mood swings and memory loss.

- If any of the zombies break their conditioning and dare complain about their treatment, they are treated as criminals or terrorists. If you don’t like TSA agents putting their hands down your child’s pants or simply have an attitude deemed negative by a TSA “behavioral detection” officer, you will be subject to special harassment.

These examples barely scratch the surface of the nanny state offensive that has been launched as part of the establishment’s social engineering program.

The state is deliberately being extreme in its smothering takeover of society so as to shock and awe Americans into obeying without question. The move is akin to how a stallion horse is castrated and gelded in order to alter their behavior by making them docile.

These developments represent a total power grab on behalf of the federal government as it bids to become the supreme authority over Americans from cradle to grave. This is about a complete transformation and re-engineering of society.

It is imperative that Americans re-assert their individuality and the right to make their own choices and live their lives as they wish by resisting every encroachment the state makes as it tramples personal freedom.

Resurgence of America’s Debtor Prisons...

Resurgence of America’s Debtor Prisons...

Courtesy of rt.com

More than a third of all US states allow borrowers of money who find themselves unable to repay their debts in harsh economic times to be jailed.

US judges have signed off on over 5,000 warrants since the start of 2010 in nine US counties against debtors, The Wall Street Journal found.

“In Illinois and southwest Indiana, some judges jail debtors for missing court-ordered debt payments. In extreme cases people stay in jail until they raise a minimum payment,” the Star-Tribune reported, “In January, a judge sentenced a Kenney, Illinois, man to ‘indefinite incarceration’ until he came up with $300 towards a lumber yard debt.”

According to the Star-Tribune, the man was a self-employed roofer who had broken his neck and back on the job and filed for disability. He was unable to pay because he was unable to work to earn the money. His wife was forced to borrow the $300 on a credit card in order to free him from jail.

Bryce Covert, a senior communications officer at the Roosevelt Institute and the assistant editor of New Deal 2.0 said there is a clear jump in arrest warrants being issued to assist debt collectors by arresting Americans in debt, even though debtor prisons were outlawed years ago in the United States.

“Arrest warrants and jail time is being used as a punishment or a cohesion to get people who aren’t paying their bills or are missing court appearances to pay up,” she said.

There should be consequences and people should take responsibility for their debts, but that is not an excuse to jail people for small debts, explained Covert. The current economy has put many Americans into situations where they cannot pay their debts.

Covert pointed out that, “Throwing them in jail isn’t actually going to solve anything because you’re not able to go out and make money to pay off those debts. You’re simply languishing in a prison.”

She argued that there should be consequences, but they need to be effective and still allow the people to live and work so they can eventually pay off their debts.

In addition, the debt collection system needs to be reformed.

Many are unaware that they are being perused by debt collectors unit they are arrested. Often they are oblivious they are past due until the police show up to arrest them. Debt collectors often mail notices to old or wrong addresses or fail to call or seek out those who owe money.

Covert explained that the police have protested arguing using police resources and warrants is a waste of resources. However, little is done to address the issue because many are unaware of it. Most politicians do not pay attention to smaller issues, and government regulators are stretched so thin they are unable to quickly respond to consumer needs.

“We need a stronger regulatory system,” she argued, saying a greater focus on consumers is needed.

Too Big to Fail: A Fascist Fairy Tale

By: Jens C. Kolbjørnsen
Courtesy of infowars.com

“Fascism should rightly be called corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power.” ~ Benito Mussolini

Now that we are pushing the three years anniversary of the dramatic financial events of September 2008, it is fair to say, for anyone who has researched the subject on their own, that this movie is nothing but a popularization of the mainstream version of a crisis that only has been postponed and worsened. It portrays the criminals of the revolving door between Washington D.C. and Wall Street as heroes, without so much as touching upon the real reason for the boom and bust phenomenon.

Let’s dissect the movie scene by scene.

The introduction shows the Clinton administration repealing Glass-Steagall and how home ownership all of a sudden became a part of the American dream. How Bush Jr. meant that inflating the largest mortgage bubble in history was “good not only for the soul, but also for the pocketbooks of the country.” Several news clips are shown, none of which include the accurate warnings given by free market economists such as Peter Schiff or Jim Rogers. Surprised talking heads announce how Bear Stearns are being sold for pennies on the dollar to JP Morgan before the story kicks off in Lehman Brothers’ CEO and Chairman Dick Fuld’s office.

Fuld seems surprised with the situation of his financial Titanic, which makes little sense considering the outrageous repurchase transactions he undertook prior to September 2008 to cover for the bank’s true leverage ratio. Fuld’s scapegoat is instead the police of the markets, the short sellers!

Morally correct Hank Paulson can’t recommend private investments, when being asked by Fuld to get in touch with Warren Buffett. Paulson’s advisers work hard throughout the story, but as Dennis Kucinich has pointed out in Congress, the question is who they are working for…

Value Warren doesn’t like what he sees unfolding in the banking sector (until he gets a friendly phone call from Blankfein later in the film) and refuses to touch Lehman at the current price. Fuld jokes about how no one forced mortgages on home buyers, but we all know of one institution that highly encouraged the credit mania with artificially low interest rates for years.

During Hank and Helicopter Ben’s weekly breakfast Hank says he has just spoken to Alan Greenspan who complains about the over-supply of housing, a problem which, according to Greenspan, easily can be solved by buying up all the houses and then burning them. This is a wonderful example of the broken window fallacy these people seem to live by. Letting the artificial bubble burst would make housing affordable, but burning houses to encourage economic (GDP) “growth” is seen as a better idea.

The Bernank mostly eats porridge throughout the movie, besides claiming he has spent his entire academic career studying the great depression. The detail that not unexpectedly is missing in this Krugmanian porn flick is that the measures now being implemented are strikingly similar to the ones that accelerated the JP Morgan margin call-triggered crash of 1929 into a depression that lasted until the central planning of WWII loosened its grip of the US economy in the late forties.

Back at Lehman “it’s not just a bad quarter” and management is panicking. Dick Fuld blows the deal with potential Korean buyers by trying to convince them that the firm’s portfolio of asset backed securities isn’t as bad as it appears. Fuld calls Kashkari at the Treasury out of desperation, but refuses to listen to his advice of selling at a lower price.

The following day, Timmy Geithner is “managing” the collapse of Fannie and Freddie from the squash courts. Obama is giving empty campaign promises of stability, which in all other languages than doublespeak means further instability, saying that nationalization of the two mortgage lenders may be an option. On his trip to the Beijing Olympics, Paulson receives a warning from the Chinese that they and the Russians might trash the entire mortgage market unless the US Treasury takes action (to prop up the phony credit-based economy).

It seems this sequence is supposed to justify breathing tax payer air into the corpse that is Fannie & Freddie.

Paulson scares Bank of America by sending a message that bailing out Lehman is not an option. When telling Geithner there is no legal support for the bailout, even though they just helped Jamie Dimon pick up Bear Stearns, Geithner replies that “legally, we haven’t figured out how yet” – a statement that should make red flags fly all over the place.

The Lehman stock keeps sliding and Paulson orders the Bernank to summon all the banks’ CEOs to a lockdown meeting at the Fed, where they surely already know their way around. At the airport Hank and his team meet with Christopher Cox from the SEC who asks whose private jet they’re flying. “That’s a rental, Hank put it on his card,” is the reply from another former (current) Goldman (Government) Sachs employee. SEC asks with authority if there’s anyone in the Treasury who isn’t from Goldman, whereupon we get a reassuring: “Chairman, just to be clear, there’s no conflict of interest here, Hank sold all of his shares in Goldman before he took office. Thanks for clarifying this, script writers.

The reproduction of the infamous mahogany meeting at the Fed is as full of clichés as it was in Wall Street II and climaxes when Cox from the SEC reaches out to the banksters: “Gentlemen, you are great Americans undertaking a patriotic duty.” This statement is so laughable that even Jamie Dimon cracks up.
After BofA decides to take a stake in Merrill Lynch, it becomes evident that Lehman has to go. But there is another problem arising, namely AIG “running out of cash.” The same fear mongering we were delivered through the media is being presented here; everything from airplanes to construction projects to life insurance relies on AIG in one way or another. The world would practically freeze unless AIG gets bailed out. We’re all familiar with the billions of dollars of CDS-related obligations the insurance giant held toward Goldman. The rest is unfortunately left to speculation, as the US justice system refuses to touch GS even when being handed rock solid proof on a silver platter by Carl Levin’s recent Senate hearing.
Other critics have mentioned how Paulson is portrayed as a financial Jesus in Too Big to Fail, an image that becomes embarrassing when he nearly cries to his wife over the phone about how the fourth largest investment bank is about to go down “on his watch.” The next day however, Hank and his team celebrate how media and Congress respond to “his decision” to let Lehman go.
Now the toxic assets really hit the fan and even IMF candidate Christine Lagarde complains to poor Paulson, “how did you dear to let Lehman go.” General Electric makes it clear how business in America will shut down unless the economic overlords take action to stimulate the banks. This is the build-up to the justification of the TARP bill. Paulson’s team basically comes up with the official version of the financial crisis in less than three minutes, again without mentioning the main facilitator behind the mortgage madness. “The whole financial system?,” asks the press secretary in awe after the briefing, almost in tears. “And what do I tell them when they ask why this wasn’t regulated?” “You tell them it’s already been overregulated through price control and subsidies for decades, you ignorant economic hitwoman,” is the reply she should have gotten in the movie…
One of the most shocking statements comes from the porridge-eating Bernank on the day of introducing TARP. The breakfast club partners in crime realise they can’t keep blatantly dumping money on companies of their liking, so they have to come up with a way of doing it complicated enough for the alphabet soup illiterate public not to understand that the exact same thing is going on: “This is a democracy. We cannot be men behind the curtains pulling the strings,” says the chairman of the unconstitutional creature from Jekyll Island which, according to Greenspan himself, is above the law.

The first draft of the TARP legislation is three pages long. Way too short for lobbyists who prefer bills to be at least a couple of thousand pages, but two pages too long for Ron Paul who has suggested new legislation should be readable for the people voting on it. When it comes to the size of TARP we learn the exact calculation behind 700 billion dollars. In reality, a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com; “It’s not based on any particular data point. We just wanted to choose a really large number.”

Paulson tells Bernanke before meeting with the legislators that the only way the bill will go through is “to scare them shitless.” The Bernank doesn’t think this should be a problem. In Too Big to Fail, Paulson kneels before Nancy Pelosi, before having to beg the banks to receive more money. In reality, Paulson did scare members of Congress shitless and threatened with “martial law in America if this bill didn’t go through.” After the Bernank lectures the financial sub-committee about how the great depression did not play out, and after some spin management and additional fear mongering from the White house, the bill passes and Paulson saves the day, the economy and the world.

The only question left is whether the banks will start lending again, which Paulson confirms they will. In closing, we learn that after the passage of TARP, banks made fewer loans and the markets continued downwards. Unemployment rose to ten percent and millions of families lost their homes, but that in 2009, the markets stabilized and “the slide into a global depression was averted.” The biggest banks even repaid their TARP loans. In reality, all economic indicators are down, price inflation and unemployment are at record levels and the banks have ironically gotten away with the largest bank robbery in history.

 Too Big to Fail expectedly ignores most of the issues that Austrians have been pointing out all along. In addition to completely misleading the viewer when it comes to economic facts like the catastrophic consequences of monetary central planning and expansion of the money supply, the criminals behind what to most people appears to be an orchestrated bank robbery are shamelessly portrayed as heroes. I’d rather recommend picking up Meltdown by Dr. Thomas Woods for a proper understanding of the events presented in this establishment fairy tale.

Pieces of a Man: An Inward Reflection/Perspective of Gil Scott-Heron's Poetry...

Pieces of a Man: An Inward Reflection/Perspective of Gil Scott-Heron's Poetry...

I remember hearing for the first time Gil Scott-Heron's song Pieces of a Man, it struck a chord in me. I put it on repeat and listened to it well over thirty times, back to back to back. You see I come from a broken home, my father was a good man, but didn't always make the best decisions. My mother was a strong woman who fought for her man, doing everything in her power to keep our family together. But, my father was possessed by addiction. Yes, for some time of my young life, my father was a junkie, and it cost him his family and his career. I can pour my heart out to all who may read this because I am proud of my father and I love him. My father is a clean and sober man, has been for many, many years now. He is the greatest man I know and I love him dearly with all of his flaws and faults. It would be more than a decade later and through the music of Gil-Scott Heron, that I realized for a long time that my mother was looking at pieces of a man. Broken and shattered was my family, he hardly knew what he was doing, he could hardly understand, my mother, brother and sister were looking at pieces of a man. My father was always such a good man, and he was always such a strong man, but they saw him become broken pieces of a man. My mother continuously swept up the broken pieces of her man, trying in vain to put back together the pieces of her man. As my brother and sister watched our family being broken apart, they could hardly understand that our father had become pieces of a man. At times my father didn't know what he was saying, he could hardly understand that the hateful words coming from his mouth were from his own weak and broken pieces from within that had fallen off. I still remember the day that he left, the day that my mother told me my father was moving out and wouldn't be coming back. As he packed his belongings into his car, he looked at me and I got a glimpse of his his broken spirit. My father realized that my mother could no longer put him back together, unknowingly, I saw my father break apart into pieces of a man. I saw the broken pieces of what I thought was an invincible and unbreakable man... I dedicate this post to my father who has once again become a whole again, the legendary and incomparable Gil Scott-Heron who gave me some understanding. As well as all of the men and women, boys and girls whose families were and are broken because their fathers became pieces of a man......

America’s Politics of Fear...

America’s Politics of Fear...
Courtesy of rt.com

US President Barack Obama and the US Congress joined forces to successfully extend the Patriot Act until 2015, meaning broader domestic surveillance will pioneer through America for another four years.
The variety of far-reaching surveillance measures being used to collect information from most law-abiding citizens are being criticized as tools to perpetrate fear for political purposes.
The country that created Blackberry phones and gave birth to iPhones has more than 300-million wireless users. And in the name of national security, the US government will soon have a direct link to each and every hand held device.
Gathered at the scene of the September 11th terrorist attacks, Federal and New York City officials joined the presidents of the four largest wireless carriers to announce the nation's new tech tool. An alert system enabling the president and government agencies to blast every American with text messages warning of terror threats, weather disasters and kidnappings.
“It's like a police officer’s gun. It's there for a good reason. But we hope we never had to pull the trigger,” said New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
The cell phone alert system will launch in New York City and Washington, DC by the end of this year, expanding nationwide thereafter. Some carriers may allow cell phone users to opt out of receiving certain alerts, but Americans will not be allowed to opt out of the presidential texts.
Opponents say politicians are promoting more fear while providing little protection.
“Now we have a system of mandatory and inescapable alerts through every cellphone in the land. In the event that the government decides that something's happening that we ought to know about. Just as the introduction of the patriot act came after nine-eleven, this new technological invasion comes to us without any public discussion, right after the assassination of Osama Bin Laden, which has raised our terror alerts," said Mark Crispin Miller, NYU Professor and author.
He added that Americans are living in an age of creeping authoritarianism and scare tactics.
“The use of fear for any kind of government that craves any kind of control over people's lives and thoughts is that it makes people malleable. It makes people obedient. You go to any airport today and you see this in action. That people are taking off their shoes. Submitting to getting groped,” Miller commented.
Under the auspices of airport safety, babies, senior citizens and everyone in between must now endure pat-downs or pass through body scanners before boarding.
In the case Muslim-Americans, that may not be enough. Six days following the US assassination of Osama Bin Laden, four Imam's on two separate US flights were illegally kicked off planes for looking suspicious.
“You have a few hate mongers who can evoke emotions and that’s what people do. They play on people’s emotions. They play on people’s ignorance about Islam and Muslims and that’s created a climate of fear you see,” said Imam Al Amin Abdul Latif, President of the Islamic Leadership Council of NY.
In December, the department of homeland security began encouraging Americans to report suspicious activity to American largest food retailer, as Wal-Mart joined Washington’s “see something say something” campaign.The marriage between government and business has been accused of perpetuating a climate of panic and subsequent need for more surveillance.
“You need to create and enemy for people to rally around endless wars and we're spending fifty percent of our taxes on war and our national defense. When there's really no threat directly to this country. There's really a need to keep validating this spending,” said Abby Martin, journalist and founder of Media Roots.
Following the assassination of enemy number one, New York’s senior US Senator Charles Schumer called for an increase in rail safety funding and the creation of a no-ride list.
As US officials warn of more terror threats following Bin Laden's death, many Americans remain concerned, while others, are left wondering about the dangers of forsaking too much liberty for security.