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via Watch “Travis County District Attorney Lehmberg’s Booking” Video at Ben Swann Truth In Media Videos.
Activist Artist Michael D’Antuono Upends the Establishment
Art is not made to decorate rooms. It is an offensive weapon in the defense against the enemy – Picasso
Artist Michael D’Antuono
Activist Post
Deemed “one of the world’s most controversial artists” by more than one foreign publication, Michael D’Antuono is known for making art that challenges people to think more deeply about sociopolitical issues. His work has received high praise from fellow artists Shepard Fairey and Banksy.
In 2009 D’Antuono created a firestorm with his painting “The Truth” as seen above. The artist’s intent was to the to let the diverse interpretations of the piece expose how badly people’s political prejudice distort subjectivity and how dangerously divided we are as a nation. The piece worked too well, igniting such great protest that D’Antuono had to cancel his planned installation in New York’s Union Square Park on President Obama’s 100th day in office. The painting became an international news story with much-received hate mail. D’Antuono finally had the opportunity to exercise his first amendment right to exhibit the painting at an art exhibition in Boston in 2012. Once again the painting created a firestorm. Former Presidential candidate Herman Caine denounced the piece, and the president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights called for its removal from exhibition. Surprisingly, Glenn Beck defended the artist’s right to exhibit his art by devoting a show to it and another one with Michael as his guest.
D’Antuono’s provocative takes on racism, class warfare, the environment, corporate influence and other hot-button issues have made him the object of censorship and derision by those who want to protect the status-quo. Yet he continues to make art that speaks truth to power, perpetuating the historic role of the artist to spark social change.
Activist Post is happy to have been given the opportunity by Michael to present his paintings in our articles. Please see Michael D’Antuono at work in the video below, and visit his site at Art and Response.
Activist Artist Michael D’Antuono Upends the Establishment
Activist
Sat, 16 Aug 2014 13:25:00 GMT
Stirring The Pot: DOJ Sends ‘Marshals’ To ‘Coach’ The Protesters In Ferguson
Michael Snyder
Activist Post
Is the Obama administration looking to stir up more trouble in Ferguson? “Protest marshals” from the same Department of Justice division that organized protests against George Zimmerman in the aftermath of the shooting of Trayvon Martin have been deployed to the troubled city. It is being reported that these DOJ agents will be “conducting training” for Ferguson protesters that will focus on “best practices for participating in protests”.
Local officials in Missouri hope that this will help defuse the situation, but if history is any guide it may end up doing just the opposite. According to the head of Judicial Watch, the Community Relations Service of the Department of Justice “has a record of racially inflammatory rhetoric that is extreme in ideology and cynical in its politics”. Could these Ferguson protests ultimately be used to take us to the next level in the inflammation of racial tensions in America?
What we have seen play out in Ferguson over the past few days demonstrates so much of what is wrong in this country.
The initial rioting and looting in the city was a prime example of the extreme social decay that is eating away at the foundations of our nation. And it showed how rapidly the streets of our major cities could potentially descend into chaos.
And then the absolutely brutal response by the police was a perfect example of how our society is rapidly being transformed into a heavily militarized police state.
Now that the Obama administration is getting involved, who knows what is going to happen next.
According to the Daily Caller, two “protest marshals” have already been deployed to Ferguson so far…
Two Department of Justice “protest marshals” are in Ferguson, Mo., to help train people taking part in demonstrations over the fatal police shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
That’s according to Ferguson mayor James Knowles, who spoke with The Daily Caller Wednesday evening.
We are being told that they will be “conducting training for the groups on best practices for participating in protests”.
That sounds good, but as Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch has pointed out, this particular Department of Justice division has a troubled history…
Responding to news that the Justice Department has dispatched its Community Relations Service to the scene of racially charged unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, the head of the Washington watchdog group Judicial Watch says it’s time for a civil rights investigation of Attorney General Eric Holder’s agency.
“Eric Holder’s Justice Department is unfortunately not to be trusted on racial matters,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton in an interview with WND.
Under Holder’s leadership, he said, the department “has a record of racially inflammatory rhetoric that is extreme in ideology and cynical in its politics.”
“The idea that this Justice Department could be trusted to mediate is highly suspect,” he said.
So precisely what kind of “coaching” and “training” will these protesters be receiving?
In a previous article, I discussed how Judicial Watch has documented the fact that the Community Relations Service helped “organize and manage rallies and protests against George Zimmerman” back in 2012. This assistance also included spending quite a bit of money, arranging meetings between the NAACP and local leaders, and even providing police escorts for protesters.
Let us certainly hope that the DOJ does not choose to inflame the situation, because Ferguson is already essentially a war zone at this point.
On Wednesday night, police used smoke bombs, tear gas, flash bang grenades, rubber bullets and LRAD sound cannons against protesters. You can see footage of some of the police brutality in the video posted below…And it isn’t just “young punks” that are being brutalized. In an Instagram photo that you can view right here, you can see the gruesome wound that was created when a white female pastor was shot while she was peacefully praying.
There is no excuse for that. The whole world is watching what is going on, and they are absolutely disgusted with us.
Thankfully, the Governor of Missouri is taking charge of the situation. Governor Nixon has put the Missouri State Highway Patrol in charge, and he is promising a change in “tone”. The following comes from a CNN report…Gov. Jay Nixon said he decided to put the Missouri State Highway Patrol in charge of security because “at this particular point, the attitudes weren’t improving, and the blocks towards expression appeared to be a flashpoint.”
Lately, the community of Ferguson, which has been the scene of clashes in the wake of a weekend police shooting that left teenager Michael Brown dead, has looked “more like a war zone, and it’s not acceptable,” Nixon said.
Now, authorities — who’ve faced accusations that they’ve used excessive force in response to demonstrations — will be taking a different tack in an effort to calm tensions, officials said Thursday.
“We’re all about making sure that we allow peaceful and appropriate protests, that we use force only when necessary, that we step back a little bit and let some of the energy be felt in this region, appropriately,” Nixon said.
That sounds good, but what is going to happen if protesters start foolishly throwing Molotov cocktails once again?
Will the police be able to show restraint at that point?
And how will the Department of Justice “protest marshals” change the equation?
Will they calm things down, or will they end up inflaming the situation?
Please feel free to share what you think by posting a comment below…
Related:
The Truth About the Ferguson Riots & Martial Law
This article first appeared here at the American Dream. Michael Snyder is a writer, speaker and activist who writes and edits his own blogs The American Dream and Economic Collapse Blog. Follow him on Twitter here.
Stirring The Pot: DOJ Sends ‘Marshals’ To ‘Coach’ The Protesters In Ferguson
Activist
Fri, 15 Aug 2014 13:19:00 GMT
NH Governor Declares State Of Emergency Over “Spice” Overdoses | Ben Swann Truth In Media
NH Governor Declares State Of Emergency Over “Spice” Overdoses | Ben Swann Truth In Media.
NH Governor Declares State Of Emergency Over “Spice” Overdoses
See Video here: http://videos.benswann.com/decor/live/transparent.gif
Concord, NH- Governor Maggie Hassan (D-Exeter) declared a state of emergency last Thursday in response to dozens of reported overdoses related to synthetic marijuana, often called “spice”.
The state of emergency will be in effect for 21 days unless an order is made to end the declaration early or to extend it. About 44 people have been reported to experience adverse reactions to the product; around half of those overdoses required hospitalization.
Spice is generally marketed as potpourri or incense on their packaging and often labeled “not for consumption”, but product users commonly smoke it, ingest it or brew it into tea because the products are sprayed with synthetic cannabinoids. The synthetic compounds have been claimed to mimic the effects of marijuana, but with more dangerous and intense reactions.
According to the press release, “The declaration of a State of Emergency triggers the Department of Health and Human Services public health powers under RSA 21-P:53 or any other applicable statute to investigate, isolate or quarantine and require the destruction of the commodity in question.” The overdoses have mainly been reported in the Manchester area, and a few have been documented in Concord.
“These spice products can be treated with a variety of things, some of them are showing up with controlled substances that make them illegal, but we don’t know that that’s true for all of them,”said Hassan.
Although spice has been legal to sell, police and health officials are now searching for the “Smacked” brand of spice in bubblegum flavor. The state of emergency declaration allows for the bubblegum “Smacked” spice to be pulled from store shelves. There are several other brands and flavors of spice, but “Smacked” is the brand that officials are claiming caused the overdoses.
Manchester Police Sgt. Brian O’Keefe said that Chief David Mara is discussing with city officials the possibility of a spice ban within Manchester.
Matt Simon, New England Political Director of Marijuana Policy Project, said “It’s very important for people to understand that these drugs are not ‘synthetic marijuana.’ That’s about as accurate as calling methamphetamine ‘synthetic coffee.’ If adults could legally choose to use marijuana, it’s hard to imagine that there would be much demand for these dangerous substitutes.”
“This is just another reason to end marijuana prohibition,” said Simon.
Police in New Hampshire cities including Nashua and Manchester are checking convenience stores and gas stations for the product. A store owner in Pelham was arrested on Friday and charged with two counts of felony drug sales for selling the substance. Three stores in Manchester have been shut down after police said those stores were selling the product.
The Bitcoin Revolution with Max Keiser
RICK PERRY KILLS IT! Thrashes TX Democrats & Junk Indictment
Judge Jeanine's EPIC RANT ➡ In Favor Of Gov. Rick Perry! ➡ Indictment HOGWASH! – YouTube
» Feds React to Militarized Cops in Ferguson Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!
» Feds React to Militarized Cops in Ferguson Alex Jones’ Infowars: There’s a war on for your mind!.
FEDS REACT TO MILITARIZED COPS IN FERGUSON
Effort to end abuse will need to address entire police state
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The militarized response to protests and media coverage in Ferguson, Missouri has forced the federal government to rethink its policy of sending military hardware to police departments.
“I am deeply concerned that the deployment of military equipment and vehicles sends a conflicting message,” said Attorney General Eric Holder after police manhandled demonstrators, gassed a media crew, and used rubber bullets on protesters and journalists.
Following criticism by Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, and the introduction of legislation to curtail police militarization by Georgia Democrat Rep. Hank Johnson, Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said his committee will a design a program to determine if the Defense Department’s surplus equipment is being used appropriately.
“Our Main Streets should be a place for business, families and relaxation, not tanks and M16s,”Johnson said Thursday. “Militarizing America’s Main Streets won’t make us any safer, just more fearful and more reticent.”
Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul and others have criticized the Pentagon effort to turn domestic police forces into occupying armies.
“Big government has been at the heart of the problem,” Paul notes. “Washington has incentivized the militarization of local police precincts by using federal dollars to help municipal governments build what are essentially small armies — where police departments compete to acquire military gear that goes far beyond what most of Americans think of as law enforcement.”
“The federal government fuels this trend,” Kara Dansky, a senior counsel at the ACLU’s Center for Justice writes for The New York Times. “The police have virtually unlimited access to the U.S. military’s arsenal through what’s called the 1033 program. They also have access to billions of dollars’ worth of funding from the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, which they can use to buy military equipment from weapons manufacturers, who line their pockets with the spoils. Through these federal programs, hundreds of billions of dollars have flowed to local police departments, which have been stockpiling their arsenals with weapons designed for combat.”
Police State: Political Control
The unprecedented militarization of police is widely attributed to the so-called Drug War and, following the 9/11 attacks, the threat of terrorism. The corporate media cites both when attempting to explain why police departments are heavily militarized.
Overlooked is the fact militarized police were deployed in Ferguson in response to citizens challenging the government. Journalists and demonstrators were specifically targeted. Militarized St. Louis County police were tasked with maintaining order — not for citizens and shop owners victimized by looters — but for the state.
“Far from being a benevolent entity concerned with the well-being of its citizens, whether in matters of health, safety or security, the government is concerned with three things only: power, control and money,” writes John W. Whitehead.
“Unfortunately, the master-servant relationship that once had the government answering to ‘we the people’ has been reversed. Government agents now act as if they are the masters and we are the servants. Nowhere is this more evident than in the transformation of police officers from benevolent keepers of the peace to inflexible extensions of the military hyped up on the power of their badge.”
As Infowars and others have reported, the government is preparing for social unrest as the financial elite continue to asset strip the United States and Europe and send jobs to third world totalitarian states such as China.
Government has planned for social unrest and violence in response to the destruction of the economy and the erosion of the middle class in America. Political opposition to economic warfare waged by the elite is now considered terrorism.
Under the guise of responding to terrorism and natural disaster, the federal government has implemented a classic police state.
“Apparently, the fusion centers, militarized police, surveillance cameras and a domestic military command is not enough,” then Rep. Ron Paul wrote in 2009. “Even though we know that detention facilities are already in place, they now want to legalize the construction of FEMA camps on military installations using the ever popular excuse that the facilities are for the purposes of a national emergency. With the phony debt based economy getting worse and worse by the day, the possibility of civil unrest is becoming a greater threat to the establishment. One need only look at Iceland, Greece and other nations for what might happen in the United States next.”
Ferguson televised the ugly face of militarized cops wielding flashbangs and automatic weapons. A few members of Congress say they want to put a lid on over-the-top domestic police militarization.
More than providing military freebies to cops, the federal government’s 1033 program is designed to merge and blur the distinctions between federal and state and local law enforcement. The frontline with its police in combat gear signals how far the state will go to make sure it retains control.
Short of a dedicated and large political movement to disarm the state and demilitarize the police, the global elite will continue the effort to construct and all-encompassing police state. In addition to rolling back the deployment of combat cops, this political movement needs to address the entire police state panoply — from the NSA and wholesale surveillance to the predominance of the military-industrial (and now surveillance) complex and all its facets.
It’s government re-education time again, and in an effort to support the ongoing Infowar aimed at injecting liberty and truth into the mainstream education system, the Infowars Store is having a limited time 10% discount on all items by using promo code “10”. Click here for more information.
» Report: Police Told to Stand Down During Looting in Ferguson Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!
» Report: Police Told to Stand Down During Looting in Ferguson Alex Jones’ Infowars: There’s a war on for your mind!.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIr6F7beG3U]
D23.com | Remembering Robin Williams: We've Never Had A Friend Like Him | **Homepage Features, In Memoriam
IN MEMORIAM
Remembering Robin Williams: We’ve Never Had A Friend Like Him
Like Mork, the character he first played on an episode of ABC’s Happy Days, this utterly original comic and movie star appeared on our television sets seemingly out of nowhere, almost as if from outer space. But, by 1978, when ABC’s Mork & Mindy arrived on screens, Robin Williams soared to superstardom faster than you could say “Na-Nu-Na-Nu,” “Shaz-bot,” or any of the other catchphrases the improvisational comic made part of the pop culture lexicon of the late 1970s. Within two weeks of the show’s premiere, Robin was hailed as a new star. Little could we have known that he was just getting started.
Commenting on his passing, Bob Iger, Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, said, “We’re deeply saddened by the loss of Robin Williams, a wonderfully gifted man who touched our hearts and never failed to make us laugh. An incredible actor and a comedic genius, Robin will always be remembered for bringing some of the world’s favorite characters to life, from his zany alien on ABC’s Mork & Mindy to the irascible genie in Disney’s Aladdin. He was a true Disney Legend, a beloved member of our family, and he will be sorely missed. We join Robin’s friends and fans everywhere in mourning, and offer our thoughts and condolences to his family during this difficult time.”
Robin was born in Chicago, Illinois, on July 21, 1951, the son of an automobile executive and his wife, a former model. He was raised in Chicago and Detroit, moving with his family to the San Francisco area during his last year in high school. A gifted student, Robin majored in political science at both Marin and Claremont Colleges. While at Marin, he won a scholarship to Juilliard in New York City, where he studied with the legendary John Houseman, along with Christopher Reeve, with whom he remained lifetime friends.
“I am beyond devastated,” Eric Goldberg, supervising animator of Genie in Aladdin said. “I cannot express how influential and important Robin was, and will continue to be, to me and countless other animation artists. Robin gave those of us who worked on the Genie so much humor, inspiration, and just sheer delight, that we were always spoiled for choice whenever we came back from a recording session. Like the Genie, Robin’s immense talent could not be contained in the lamp. I think we all knew, as the world does now, if there was ever a person who was tailor-made for the medium of animation, it was Robin. We have lost not just a great voice, though. We have lost a warm, human, miraculous person whose numerous and amazing talents will continue to inspire people for generations upon generations.”
Critics waxed euphoric in their attempts to describe Robin’s stand-up comedy work, a craft he turned to with vigor and perfected in the years following the conclusion of Mork & Mindy. “An outstanding lunar Wildman, out of Jonathan Winters by way of Lenny Bruce with a touch of Richard Burton thrown in,” is how one critic enthused about Robin’s performances. “An engaging, bright, and inventive actor,” said another. After taking in the sight of the deliriously manic comic’s nightclub act on an HBO special, The Hollywood Reporter characterized the incendiary performance as “unadulterated brilliance.”
Film critic Leonard Maltin stated, “I felt lucky every time I got to chat with Robin Williams, but when I once said, ‘I’d love to get inside your brain,’ he replied, ‘Leonard, you don’t want to go there.’ We’ll always be able to see him, thank goodness, but now the experience will be bittersweet.”
In 1987, Robin trained his talents on live-action and animated films and almost immediately became one of America’s biggest stars. Beginning with his Academy Award®-nominated performance as Adrian Cronauer in Touchstone Pictures’ Good Morning, Vietnam, Robin starred in an impressive string of Disney films. They included the haunting portrayal of teacher John Keating in Dead Poets Society, a hilarious voice performance as the Genie in Aladdin, and high-caliber performances in Flubber and Bicentennial Man.
“If I had only watched Robin Williams on the TV screen, in the movies or on stage, I would consider myself blessed for having simply experienced his brilliance, his joy, his humor and his heart,” composer Alan Menken says. “The fact that I had the honor of sharing the creative process with him is an honor and a privilege that I will cherish for the rest of my life.”
Along the way, Robin starred in several seminal films, including Moscow on the Hudson, for which he earned his first Golden Globe® nomination, Miramax’s Good Will Hunting, for which his nuanced role as grieving psychologist Sean Maguire earned him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and Mrs. Doubtfire, which earned him his third Golden Globe—this time for Best Actor-Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.
Robin appeared alongside Walter Cronkite in Back to Neverland, a humorous look at the animation process, for the Disney-MGM Studios Animation Tour, and provided the voice of the Timekeeper for the attraction of that name at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.
Other Disney appearances include a reprise performance as Genie in Aladdin and the King of Thieves; Hollywood Pictures’ Jack, directed by Frances Ford Coppola; and the 2009 comedy Old Dogs.
Missouri Police State; Infowars Reporter
Missouri Police State; Infowars Reporters Gassed, Shot and Blocked On Facebook – YouTube http://ow.ly/AniRL
Remembering Robin Williams
Robin Williams was a natural fit for the USO, with a magical ability to connect with every service member he met – he shook every hand, signed every autograph and lifted every spirit.
For 12 years, Robin generously gave his time to create special moments for more than 89,000 servicemen and women. His humor helped ease their loneliness, fear and uncertainty while they served to protect our freedom in remote locations far from home.
Everyone who met Robin has a special memory, and we want to share some of the amazing photos and stories from his USO tours.
Click here to see the USO’s tribute to Robin Williams, “He Brought Them Light,” and learn more about more about his dedication to our men and women in uniform.
The USO holds Robin Williams and his family in our hearts, and we thank him for all he did for those that do so much for all of us – the men and women of our Armed Forces. He will always be a part of our USO family and will be sorely missed.
Thank you,
Brigadier General John I. Pray Jr., USAF (Ret.)
Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff, USO
USO NEWS
“He Brought Them Light’: How Robin Williams Turned his USO Tours into Personal Experiences for Troops
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
By Eric Brandner
Today, the audience gets to tell the story.
The photos of service members posing with Robin Williams flowing through social media feeds the past 24 hours say more than any condolence statement could.
There is Williams with a pair of female service members in Djibouti in 2004. Posing with a soldier after a long flight at Camp Speicher, Iraq, in 2007. Signing autographs during a holiday tour of Afghanistan in late 2010.
Those were hard times for people in uniform. But for a moment, Williams managed to make almost everyone he met in those conflict zones smile.
“There were these guys behind a fence, across a berm [and] a field, and they waved at him,” said USO Vice President of Entertainment Rachel Tischler, recalling her time with Williams during the 2007 USO Chairman’s Holiday Tour. “And he jumped across the berm and went running over to them. Obviously, our security team completely freaked out. Again – height of the war here. But he didn’t care. He just wanted to go over and shake their hands and thank them. And that is what he was like.”
A friend and entertainer to American service members around the globe, Williams was found dead in his Tiburon, California, home Monday afternoon in what the Marin County Sheriff’s Office characterized as a suspected suicide. He was 63.
Williams went on six USO tours from 2002 to 2013, including five overseas. He visited troops in 12 foreign countries, making three stops to both Iraq and Afghanistan.
See Album here: http://www.photosnack.com/FF9BC98F8D6/ptilwm9m
“There’s nothing I enjoy more than traveling with the USO and giving back to our troops in whatever way I can,” Williams said during his 2007 USO tour led by then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen. “They work hard, sacrifice a lot and deserve to be treated like the heroes they are. The very least I can do is bring a smile to their faces.”
The connections didn’t end when he left the stage. One of Williams’ legacies will be the photos with men and women in various shades of camo squinting and smiling at camera phones in the middle of the desert. He openly discussed his struggles with them, too.
“He talked to [troops] who had gone through [Alcoholics Anonymous] backstage,” said USO Senior Vice President John Hanson, who also went on the 2007 tour. “That was the most remarkable thing. It happened in Kuwait, it happened in Iraq, it happened in Afghanistan. People would seek him out and he would take the time to talk to them.”
According to Tischler, Williams was always cognizant of playing to the military audience’s shared experiences.
“What was great about him on tour was that he always took the time to sit down and talk to people about what they were going through, what life on the base was like, about personal experiences,” Tischler said. “And then he’d get on stage and he’d be telling a joke about Mexican Night in the [dining facility].
“He already put on a great show, but now it was just for the people who were there and no one else would have gotten the jokes. … It made the moment even more amazing for them because he’s talking about what they went through.
“We’d land and we had a show in five minutes and in the course of … walking to a stage, he somehow found someone and got that information and put it in a routine. It was absolutely mind-blowing.”
His fellow entertainers were impressed, too.
“His generosity of spirit was as boundless as his comedy,” comedian Lewis Black wrote on Twitter on Monday night. Black also performed on the 2007 USO Chairman’s Holiday Tour. “I will miss him terribly.”
The USO’s Entertainment team estimates Williams performed for or visited with more than 89,000 service members during his 12-plus years of volunteering.
“When our service members had the opportunity to see him in person, they knew they were seeing an icon of comedy, but it was more than that,” said John Pray, the USO’s executive vice president and chief of staff. “It was someone who actually understood their own trials and tribulations and struggles as they dealt with loneliness, fear, uncertainty and a variety of negative emotions.
“He brought them light and took them away for a period of time from those challenges and gave them a chance to recharge.”
** Read about more moments from Robin Williams’ 2007 USO tour including a touching exchange with a service member on the USO blog. **
Ron Paul and the Liberty Movement have changed the discussion in Washington, D.C.
A potential showdown this fall over the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank (or, Ex-Im Bank) could be a bellwether of just how much Ron Paul and the Liberty Movement have changed the discussion in Washington, D.C. over the past six years.
In a post titled “Welcome to Dave Brat’s America: Majority Leader-elect Kevin McCarthy says Kill the Export-Import Bank,” columnist Tim Carney, and long-time advocate for killing the Ex-Im Bank, writes:[McCarthy’s] announcement today shows a clear shift within the Republican Party against corporate welfare.
If McCarthy refuses to bring an Ex-Im renewal to the floor, the agency would expire, regardless of the actions of the Senate and the White House, both controlled by Democrats.But the fight to take down the Ex-Im Bank, a longstanding symbol of all that is wrong with crony capitalism and corporate welfare, predates Brat’s historic win over Eric Cantor, who successfully attacked the Majority Leader on those grounds.
Back in 2002, Dr. Ron Paul encouraged his colleagues to reject the Ex-Im Bank on economic, moral, and constitutional grounds.Eximbank distorts the market by allowing government bureaucrats to make economic decisions in place of individual consumers. Eximbank also violates basic principals of morality, by forcing working Americans to subsidize the trade of wealthy companies that could easily afford to subsidize their own trade, as well as subsidizing brutal governments like Red China and the Sudan. Eximbank also violates the limitations on congressional power to take the property of individual TRcitizens and use them to benefit powerful special interests.
As always, Washington, D.C. is a little slow to catch up. By late 2008, in the throws of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the American people were starting to realize the effects of crony capitalism, and began to look for answers. Many found them by reading books like Meltdown and Obamanomics, or by watching old Ron Paul floor speeches on YouTube or in CSPAN’s archives.
In 2012, Senator Rand Paul urged his colleagues to reject the Ex-Im Bank. It passed the Senate that year 78-20, and the House passed it 330-93.
If Carney’s prediction holds, it would be a huge blow to the crony capitalists and a major victory for free markets. And a sign that as Bob Dylan sang, ”For the times they are a-changin’!”
Take a moment today to contact your representative and urge them to oppose any attempt to reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank in 2014.
The post Ron Paul and the Liberty Movement have changed the discussion in Washington, D.C. appeared first on Campaign for Liberty.
Ron Paul and the Liberty Movement have changed the discussion in Washington, D.C.
Tim Shoemaker
Mon, 23 Jun 2014 17:30:19 GMT
Activist Post: Elites Gather at Google Calico Life Extension Tech
Activist Post: Elites Gather at Google Camp to Discuss Calico Life Extension Tech http://ow.ly/Ajf0a
Elites Gather at Google Camp to Discuss Calico Life Extension Tech
James HallActivist PostWhen the billionaire tech jet-set decides to let down their hair, what do they talk about around the campfire? According to the New Your Times, “Google is sponsoring an elite conference this week at a golf resort in Sicily, with a guest list of chief executives, investors and celebrities, all of whom were invited to bring their families. On the agenda are high-minded discussions of global issues — along with relaxation by the Mediterranean Sea.” How quaint! . . . For the real scoop, Here’s What Went On At Google’s Exclusive Conference For The Rich And Famous In Sicily.
Sicilian blogger Tony Siino talked to an attendee about what went on, and told Business Insider via email that the conference, dubbed “The Camp,” was three-days of intellectual discussions, relaxation, and sight-seeing. According to Siino’s source, morning discussions included a wide range of topics, including how to extend human life and the design of cities of the future.
Reported by NBC local TV channel in the Bay Area has “guests include Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd C. Blankfein, executives from German and Spanish banks, Uber chief Travis Kalanick, Tesla boss Elon Musk, Comcast CEO Brian L. Roberts and Snapchat boss Evan Spiegel. Also on hand is Ben Horowitz, venture capitalist with Marc Andreessen at make-or-break Silicon Valley fund Andreessen Horowitz.”
Spending quality time with the family between sessions in the next round of tech discoveries hardly seems to be the best use of time. Yet, time may well be the ultimate objective if you can uncover the mysteries of anti-aging research. Life Extension Magazine reports that Google Life Extension is investing in a venture called California Life Company, or Calico for short, and its goal is to extend human life by 20 to 100 years.
At this point, Google is being highly secretive about their plans for Calico. All Google would reveal is that Calico will focus “in particular on the challenge of aging and associated diseases.”
Calico could produce startlingly counterintuitive breakthroughs as a result of Google’s strengths in the following areas:
- Non-commercial dedication — rather than a focus on commercial marketing of mediocre drugs as pharmaceutical companies now do.
- Vast consumer access and core data-handling skills — with unprecedented data gathering, pattern-matching, and causal-relationship detection.
- Ability to attract the brightest minds — potentially preferring to work on life-and-death problems instead of cutesy apps and games.
Further speculation in an essay – How’s Google Dabbling in Health, Life, DNA, and Immortality? – cites areas of research has cutting-edge technology pushing the limits of the wheel of life itself.
A CNN article listed a few common subjects, like cryonics (a process where the body is preserved in liquid nitrogen), cryotherapy (which exposes injured patients to very low temperatures for short periods of time), cloning and body part replacement, nanotechnology (deploying small robots to overcome the problem of incorrect DNA replication, one cause of aging), and even research into telomeres, the ends of a chromosome that protect cells against degradation.
Hidden within a “feel good” sentiment behind the altruism to elevate the life span of the human race is an unconvincing skepticism. In an article like Google Wants You to Live 170 Years, just does not seem believable to a rational observer.
What Google brings to the table is data. “Not just one set of data, multiple forms,” says Harry Glorikian, founder of life sciences consulting firm Scientia Advisors. “Search data, GPS data, all sorts of other pieces, electronic breadcrumbs that you produce all out there to get a picture of you.”
This data could be paired with each person’s genome — a partial genome can be mapped today for $99 via 23andMe (another Google investment), but many are hoping a full genome will cost as much in the next few years.
Even if such ambitious projections that life extension might become commonplace for the masses, it does not guarantee that everyone will be a candidate for future “Camp” invitations. Google hardly needs to market the secrets of the gods in order to maintain or enhance their cashflow. The Globe and Mail describes the gathering, “Like the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland – an annual gathering of the elite at a snowy ski resort – the upstart conference from Google projects an aura of exclusivity. Its existence has not previously been disclosed.”
Following the example of other enigmatic elitist stratagems, “The Camp” shows no signs of a charitable motivation when the onion is peeled. Michael Downey in the account, Google Wants To Extend Your Life laments that not enough is being done to achieve the holy grail of Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth.
Tragically, while the government spends over $3 billion annually on “health concerns” of the elderly, it operates on the assumption that aging is not a disease. Corporations lack the longer-term view needed. And extremely few of the world’s 1,426 billionaires, with a total net worth of $5.4 trillion, have included anti-aging research in their charities.
Do you really believe that the beautiful people, much less, the corporatist return-on-assets crowd, or the great democracies of the planet are eager to share any medical, genetic or nanotech leaps forward with the chattel serfs? Attending boot camp for the peasants is quite different from rubbing elbows with these Nouveau riche Sicilian Dons in the global technocratic mafia. The blueblood patricians of the banksters’ families will enlighten their newly made men into the rules and ways of the global syndicate.
The Calico family franchise promises to be more alluring than the temporary ecstasy of a drug high. Most godless souls want to live forever, since rejecting an afterlife is automatic to such atheistic masters of the universe. Google has proven to be a “New Age” android. Hence, it is natural for apps, developed to manage the life cycle, to become part of the smart set. The key question is will the source code become available to the masses, or will the elites maintain the restricted knowledge only for their devil witch coven?
Original article archived here
Poll finds Georgians against online sale
Poll finds Georgians against online sales tax bill – Atlanta Business Chronicle http://ow.ly/Ajah8
Activist Post: Investigating Gaza War Crimes
Activist Post: Investigating Gaza War Crimes http://ow.ly/AiX7D
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Investigating Gaza War Crimes
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| Dees Illustration |
Stephen Lendman
Activist Post
On August 11, Human Rights Council (HRC) President Baudelaire Ndong Ella announced the formation of an “independent, international commission of inquiry” into war crimes committed during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge.
International human rights law expert Professor William Schabas was appointed to chair a three-person panel. His special focus is genocide.
Other members include international law, criminal law, human rights and extradition law expert, Amal Alamuddin, and former UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, Doudou Diene.
Note: According to AP, Alamuddin said she’s unable to serve. Expect an alternate appointment to replace her.
The HRC “decided to establish the commission of inquiry at its twenty-first special session on 23 July 2014 to investigate all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, in the context of the military operations conducted since 13 June 2014, whether before, during or after, to establish the facts and circumstances of such violations and of the crimes perpetrated and to identify those responsible, to make recommendations, in particular on accountability measures, all with a view to avoiding and ending impunity and ensuring that those responsible are held accountable, and on ways and means to protect civilians against any further assaults.”
Schabas is a well-known Israeli critic. He praised the Goldstone Committee Operation Cast Lead report. More on it below.
Earlier, he called for putting Netanyahu and former Israeli president Shimon Peres in the dock at the International Criminal Court for committing high crimes too serious to ignore.
Israel failed to influence the commission of inquiry’s composition. In response to the appointment of Schbas, Alamuddin, and Diene, it called the panel “biased, misconceived and destructive.”
Defrocked and reinstated Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called HRC a “terrorists’ rights council.” His spokesman Yigal Palmer added:
If more evidence was needed to show this, the appointment of the commission’s chairman, whose opinions and positions against Israel are known to all, proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Israel cannot expect justice from such a body, and that the report has already been written and remains only to be signed.
In March 2015, the commission will submit its report. According to HRC President Ella, its mission is also “to establish the facts and circumstances of (human rights) violations and of the crimes perpetrated and to identify those responsible, to make recommendations, in particular on accountability measures, all with a view to avoiding and ending impunity and ensuring that those responsible are held accountable, and on ways and means to protect civilians against any further assaults.”
MSM scoundrels reported little or nothing about the commission’s appointment and mission. The New York Times covered it in one long paragraph only with little context.
Pro-Israeli bias is longstanding MSM policy. An attempt to downplay the potential importance of the commission’s investigation shows in failure to give it the attention it deserves.
Following Israel’s 2008-09 Operation Cast Lead, the HRC appointed the Goldstone “fact-finding mission to investigate international human rights and humanitarian law violations related to the recent conflict in the Gaza Strip.”
On September 15, 2009, the HRC released the commission’s 575-page report, titled “Human Rights in Palestine and Other Occupied Arab Territories: Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict.”
An accompanying press release said “there is evidence indicating serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law were committed by Israel during the Gaza conflict, and that Israel committed actions amounting to war crimes, and possibly crimes against humanity.”
Examples included Palestinians shot while waving white flags, arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial assassinations and using Palestinians as human shields.
According to the commission:
While the Israeli Government has sought to portray its operations as essentially a response to rocket attacks in the exercise of its right of self defence, the Mission considers the plan to have been directed, at least in part, at a different target: the people of Gaza as a whole.
Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks were minor incidents compared to Israel’s onslaught.
The Palestinian death toll exceeded 1,400. Thousands were injured.
Israeli aggression amounted to strictly prohibited collective punishment against a civilian population.
It lawlessly targeted residential neighborhoods, schools, hospitals, mosques, public buildings, factories and vital infrastructure.
It violated the principles of “distinction” between combatants and military targets v. civilians and non-military ones, as well as “proportionality” prohibiting disproportionate force likely to cause extensive damage and loss of life.
Commission findings included numerous examples of disproportionate Israeli attacks against civilians with lethal outcomes.
It called them war crimes for being unrelated to justifiable military objectives. It cited “a justice crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory that warrants action.”
It urged referral to the International Criminal Court for further action.
The Goldstone “report conclude(d) that the Israeli military operation was directed at the people of Gaza as a whole, in furtherance of an overall and continuing policy aimed at punishing the Gaza population, and in a deliberate policy of disproportionate force aimed at the civilian population.”
The destruction of food supply installations, water sanitation systems, concrete factories and residential houses was the result of a deliberate and systematic policy which has made the daily process of living, and dignified living, more difficult for the civilian population.
Repeatedly, the Israel Defense Forces failed to adequately distinguish between combatants and civilians, as the laws of war strictly require.
Pursuing justice in this case is essential because no state or armed group should be above the law.
Failure to do so “will have a deeply corrosive effect on international justice, and reveal an unacceptable hypocrisy.”
As a service to hundreds of civilians who needlessly died and for the equal application of international justice, the perpetrators of serious violations must be held to account.
On October 19, 2009, the 47-member HRC approved a resolution endorsing Israeli war crimes charges.
The vote was 25 in favor, six against (including Washington), 11 abstentions and five no-shows.
On September 21, 2010, an HRC statement said:
It was clear to the Committee that the IDF had not distinguished between civilians and civilian objects and military targets.
Both the loss of life and the damage to property were disproportionate to the harm suffered by Israel or any threatened harm. Israel’s actions could not be justified as self-defense.
The IDF was responsible for the crime of killing, wounding and terrorizing civilians (as well as) wonton(ly) destr(oying) property and that such destruction could not be justified on grounds of military necessity.
The HRC called IDF crimes so grave, “it was compelled to consider whether (genocide) had been committed.” Its conclusion was that Israel “committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and, possibly genocide in the course of Operation Cast Lead.”
This writer calls Operation Protective Edge Cast Lead on steroids. The 2008-09 war lasted 22 days – from December 27, 2008 until January 18, 2009.
Israel’s current aggression began on July 8. It remains ongoing. Shaky ceasefires interrupted hostilities briefly. A current 72-hour one continues during talks in Cairo aimed at ending conflict conditions.
A previous three-day suspension of accomplished nothing. Both sides remain at impasse. Israel wants all its demands met unconditionally.
It offers virtually nothing in return except empty promises certain to be broken. On Tuesday, Reuters quoted an unnamed Israeli official saying no progress was made during current talks.
“The gaps between the sides are big, and there is no progress in the negotiations,” he said. Hamas had no comment.
According to Maan News, a partial draft on easing Gaza’s siege was drafted. Terms include:
- Letting Gazans fish up to 12 nautical miles from shore.
- Increasing daily trucks with imported goods to 250.
- Increasing the number of monthly permits for Gazans to pass through Erez crossing to 500.
- Permitting money transfers from the West Bank to Gaza via the PA.
- Opening the Rafah crossing to Egypt.
- Freeing released prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit later rearrested.
- According to the Israeli Ynet news site, letting construction materials enter Gaza “under close supervision.”
- Prohibiting construction of a seaport to facilitate imports and exports unless Hamas and other resistance groups agreed to demilitarize.
It’s unclear how they’ll react to this proposal. It’s well short of lifting siege conditions and agreeing to other fundamental Palestinian demands.
It bears repeating what previous articles stressed. Israeli agreements aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.
Willful violations occur with disturbing regularity. Israel invents reasons to justify the unjustifiable.
Whatever comes out of Cairo talks, expect the pattern to repeat this time. Expect long sought justice to be denied.
At the same time, Israel violated ceasefire conditions by using live fire against Palestinian fishermen off southern Gaza’s coast. No injuries were reported.
On August 11, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights reported 2,008 Palestinians killed. They include 1,670 civilians (83%): 471 were children; 252 were women.
Another 8,150 Palestinians were wounded, many seriously. Other reports said up to 10,000. Thousands of houses were destroyed or damaged.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly displaced. Israel bombed and shelled their homes and neighborhoods to rubble.
It remains unaccountable for crimes of war and against humanity amounting to genocide. Goldstone’s Cast Lead report achieved nothing. Expect justice to be denied again this time.
With Western support and US Security Council veto power, Israel is free to commit high crimes against peace whenever it wishes with impunity.
It takes full advantage. Palestinian liberation remains an unfulfilled distant dream. Maybe some day. Not now.
Related Activist Post Article:
The ‘Legal Issue’ of Operation Cast Lead: ICC Rules That Palestinians Cannot Investigate Israeli War Crimes
Wages in U.S. Down 23 Percent Since 2008
Wages in U.S. Down 23 Percent Since 2008 http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/08/wages_in_us_down_23_percent_si.html
Higher-paying manufacturing jobs lost during the 2008 recession have been replaced by lower-wage jobs, according to a report released Monday by the United States Conference of Mayors. (Josh Anderson, New York Times file photo)
By Email the author | Follow on Twitter on August 12, 2014 at 2:29 AM
While 8.7 million jobs have been regained since the 2008 recession, they are paying much less, by an average of 23 percent, according to a report released Monday by the United States Conference of Mayors. The report comes as debate continues about income inequality in the United States. “While the economy is picking up steam, income inequality and wage gaps are an alarming trend that must be addressed,” said Conference of Mayors President Kevin Johnson, the mayor of Sacramento, Calif., in a news release. “We cannot put our heads in the sand on these issues.” The annual wage in sectors where jobs were lost, particularly in manufacturing and construction, during the recession was $61,637, but the average wage of new jobs through the second quarter of 2014 is $47,131, the report shows. It represents a loss of $93 billion in wages, according to the report. (Go below to see the full report. Mobile users can see it here.) The losses in construction and manufacturing were replaced by jobs in hospitality, health-care and administrative support. The report shows the gap between low- and higher-income households is growing and likely will continue in the future. In 2012, the latest year for which figures are available, 73 percent of metro areas had a larger share of poorer households (those making less than $35,000 per year) than upper-income households of above $75,000.
Charleston Voice: Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein
We are informed by an alert reader that Liechtenstein did not debase their own fiat currency because…the Swiss franc was their national currency.
If you know our own founding fathers, it seems Liechtenstein did too, but unlike us they benefited by implementing.
If you know our own founding fathers, it seems Liechtenstein did too, but unlike us they benefited by implementing.
August 11th, 2014 Submitted by Anthony Caprio, Daily Anarchist
The twentieth century was defined by the nation state, and the wars, which resulted from the clash of these leviathans as they competed for power and influence. The British, Soviet, American, German, Russian, Japanese, and Chinese empires all controlled nearly every square inch of the Earth at one time or another in the last century. There is one notable bastion of freedom that survived unscathed during this clash of empires, and it did so with no military. That country is Liechtenstein.
“Why have I never heard of Liechtenstein?” you ask. Well, if you went to a state sponsored school it could be that Liechtenstein existence defies most of the lessons you were taught in history class. Most of the lessons taught in public school history classes are about the importance of having a democratically elected head of state, a strong central government, a fiat currency, and a strong standing army to keep you safe from invading neighbors. Liechtenstein turns all of that conventional wisdom on its head.
Now I know I probably don’t need to say this, but Liechtenstein is not an Anarcho-Capitalist enclave. It is however a minarchist state, which has done away with it’s military. The absence of a state controlled military is essential to the existence of an Anarcho-Capitalist enclave. Most statists (even minarchists) argue that the primary role of the state is to maintain a military, which will defend the state’s national territory. If this is true, and no territory can stay free without a military, how then do they explain that Liechtenstein has remained free from invaders for over 140 years?
Liechtenstein is a tiny nation tucked between Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. The land mass is only 60 square miles, and since the 19th century its head of state has been a Prince from the House of Liechtenstein. Notice the head of state uses the title Prince, which comes from the Latin princeps, which means first citizen, not ruler.
Today Liechtenstein enjoys the worlds highest per capita GDP. The country’s wealth has been attributed to its extremely low tax burden, strong respect for property rights and fair court system.
Like Costa Rica, Liechtenstein does allow private gun ownership but the laws are much stricter than the United States. The Princes of Liechtenstein are surprisingly anti-state, which I believe accounts for much of their success. Given the Prince’s distrust of the state, perhaps it is not surprising that in 1868 Liechtenstein decided the cost of having a standing military too expensive and abolished their army. So, without an army, how did Liechtenstein survive the turbulent twentieth century?
Well, to start with Liechtenstein does not suffer from the tragedy of the commons that plagues so many of today’s nation states. All of the land in this 60 square mile country is owned by someone who is accountable for that piece of property, and has an interest in what happens to that property. Let’s take a moment to look at why this is important. In most modern nation states the government is responsible for many critical services, like national defense, transportation, and the management of natural resources. Having a large faceless collective of people managing resources means there is little in the way of accountability, and incentive to manage those resources well.
Consider the National Forest Service in the United States. For decades they carried out a policy of preventing all forest fires. This allowed brush to build up to the point where forest fires became almost impossible to stop. Private landowners and people who relied on the forest to make a living knew that forests needed controlled burns. Not only to reduce the fuel load, but to germinate seeds that need fire in order to open, and give fertilizer to grasses that need the ash. Because the National Forest Service did not rely on the forest for its livelihood, they got away with this destructive policy for decades.
In the case of Liechtenstein, the Liechtenstein family owns most of the land. Think of the implications. Would George W. Bush have launched the war in Iraq if he were spending the Bush family fortune instead of taxpayer money? Would Bill Clinton have declared any land off limits to logging in the North West if he had owned the land himself? Spending other people’s money is easy, especially when your actions have few consequences. In the case of Liechtenstein, the Prince is directly responsible, and he has a huge stake in the outcome of his decisions. So, if the army is too costly he doesn’t have the luxury of inflating the money supply to pay for it. If he inflates the money supply no one will use his fiat currency. He can’t raise taxes on the land, because his family owns most of the land. This forces the head of state to make cost effective decisions, like abolishing the army. Without an army you can neither invade another country, nor be antagonistic towards other states. You’re pretty much left with just minding your business, and as it turns out, that is a great recipe for peace.
Whether the nation of Liechtenstein realized it or not, they were following the advice of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson who called for “peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none” in his 1801 inaugural address.
Liechtenstein followed this course, and still avoided being invaded by Nazi Germany in World War Two, and even managed to get Liechtenstein passports to Jewish refugees, which likely saved their lives. Out of all the German-speaking countries in Europe only two, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, managed to stay unoccupied by Nazis. Austria’s politicians willing ceded their country to the Nazi regime. The countries antagonistic to Hitler’s Germany were overwhelmed by his military. France and Poland were run by politicians who lied to their citizens, or were just plain wrong about their countries’ defensive capabilities. Thus the average citizen of Poland or France was caught completely off guard when the blitzkriegs overwhelmed their defenses. Liechtenstein was not a vocal opponent of Hitler and his atrocities, but by remaining free, and not getting into “entangling alliances,” they managed to harbor refugees from the Nazi regime (and later the Soviet regime), and avoided the fate of their neighbors.
As I mentioned in a previous article, Liechtenstein had a Jewish Princess up until 1938 (Hitler took power in 1933). Princess Elsa Guttman was married to Prince Franz I, the ruler of Liechtenstein. She survived the war, and expatriated to neighboring Switzerland in order put some distance between herself and the nearby Nazi State. Liechtenstein has been accused of profiteering from the sale of its passports to Jews, but consider the fate of Jews with Polish or French passports, compared to those with Liechtenstein passports. Under Liechtenstein’s comparatively free market system persecuted people were able to pay a modest price and escape the Nazi regime. Under the statist model of relying on the state for protection the Jews of the occupied countries typically lost their life and property. Liechtenstein was also instrumental in helping hundreds of Russian soldiers escape the Soviet regime at the end of World War Two.
If history has taught us anything it’s that politicians lie. If a politician is telling you something is safe, beware. I imagine that many millions of Frenchmen thought they were safe behind the Maginot line, and the Poles thought that their horseback Cavalry would defend them from the German tanks. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance, but vigilance by the individual, not the state. A standing army emboldens politicians. It encourages them to take risks, and form alliances they would otherwise avoid. It provides a false sense of security, and lures its citizens into thinking they are safe from outside enemies, and safe from their own government. Of all the nation states of Europe only a handful remained unoccupied by the Nazi’s in WWII. Three of those nations did not have a standing army: Liechtenstein, Andorra, and the Vatican City. All of the nations Hitler invaded had a standing military, or a protection agreement with a country, which had a military. Monaco for example had a protection agreement with France and was invaded by the Nazi’s. I would also like to note that the wealthy Jewish citizens of Monaco had their lives and their property taken by the Nazi’s while Liechtenstein‘s Jews remained free.
Some have made the argument that Hitler just never got around to invading Liechtenstein. An argument that seems quite ridiculous when you consider he found the time to invade three continents, and enslave millions. Yet he could not spare an afternoon to march a company (or even a platoon), and plant a Swastika in tiny Liechtenstein, which was next door? Other’s have argued that Liechtenstein owes it’s freedom to Switzerland (whose military was tiny in comparison to Germany’s). Or that Liechtenstein was somehow protected by the USA, which was thousands of miles away and didn’t send a single soldier to Liechtenstein until after the fall of the Nazi’s. I find both positions lacking in plausibility. There is no evidence that Liechtenstein ever made any protection agreements with any other nation. To claim that a benevolent state is responsible for the protection of a country that has never needed or asked for that protection is arrogant at best. I might as well claim that I am responsible for the safety of everyone who has never been attacked because I secretly watch over them. Such a claim is as ridiculous by an individual as it is by a nation. However, this narrative does play nicely into the hands of politicians trying to get more funding for their military, and adds more credibility to their war mongering.
Liechtenstein owes its freedom to following the non-aggression principle in foreign relations. It is often said that Hitler was born at Versailles. Meaning that without the treaty of Versailles after WWI that imposed crushing war reparations on the German people and led to runaway inflation, Hitler would never have come to power. Indeed Hitler gained the support he needed from the German people because he promised to regain German territory lost during WWI, and to avenge Germany’s humiliation by the Allies. Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Sweden, Andorra, and Vatican City all stayed neutral during both wars. They didn’t participate in the destruction of the German economy, so Hitler didn’t have the political capital he needed to invade them, despite their small size and weak defenses.
I’m no pacifist, although I do sympathize with that position. People do have a right to defend their lives and their property. But, is the state the best choice to provide the defense of your life and property? How often have we seen militaries that are incompetent, or just downright belligerent? Defense is always the reason given by politicians for having a standing army. Defense of life and property is arguably the most important service in the world, but given the lousy track record governments have running anything, why should anyone trust something as enormously important as defense into the hands of something as inept as a government? Especially when countries like Liechtenstein show that they can do a better job of protecting its citizens with no military than a country like France can do with one of the world’s largest militaries.
Sheriff: Illegals in military fatigues spotted in Texas
(London Daily Mail) The Sheriff leading the investigation into the brutal slaying of a Border Control Agent by two illegal immigrants has revealed local farmers in his county have reported spotting gangs of armed Mexicans ‘in military fatigues’ marching through their fields.
Sheriff Larry Spence’s department played a key role in catching Ismael Hernandez and Gustavo Tijerina after they allegedly gunned down hero officer Javier Vega Jr. in front of his mother, father, wife and three sons while they were on a family fishing trip.
Since their capture,Fox News reported that the suspects are both Mexican nationals who were in the U.S. illegally and have been deported six times between them.
Sheriff: Illegals in military fatigues spotted in Texas
-NO AUTHOR-
Fri, 08 Aug 2014 19:06:28 GMT
VIDEO: Trey Gowdy Explodes at IRS Hearing, Embarrasses a Law Professor
http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/video-trey-gowdy-explodes-irs-hearing-embarrasses-law-professor/
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) is an outspoken champion of conservative principles. (See here and here). And he has been relentless at looking for the truth about Internal Revenue Service (IRS) political hacks that used the authority of that bureaucracy to silence Tea Party conservatives.
University of Baltimore law professor Charles Tiefer was brought in by Democrats as an expert to help determine whether the House Judiciary Committee should appoint a special counsel to investigate the IRS scandal. Tiefer, who previously served as solicitor and deputy general counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives, was also recently asked by Democrats to provide a statement on House Speaker John Boehner’s lawsuit against President Obama… So he called Boehner an “embarrassing loser.”
Gowdy is not pleased about IRS’ Lois Lerner referring to conservatives as “a**holes.” And things became heated during the latest hearing about IRS abuses.
Watch (above) as Gowdy grilled during a Wednesday House hearing and made a compelling case as to why a special counsel is needed to investigate the IRS scandal. At one point, he even offered the professor some “free litigation advice” when he refused to answer one of his questions that seemed very direct and unanimous.
Some example lines:
“I really have trouble to giving you an answer except that—”
And
“Well, then you would starve to death as a lawyer if you can’t answer that question, professor!”
Clearly, Tiefer was no match for Gowdy’s legal mind and sharp intellect.
h/t: The Blaze
Read more: http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/video-trey-gowdy-explodes-irs-hearing-embarrasses-law-professor/#ixzz39BEeB76F