Feds Plan to Seize Financial Records of US Mortgage Borrowers

By: Barry Donegan Jun 2, 2014
 
The Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are planning to seize financial records on mortgage borrowers for a new federal database.

Amid shocking reports that the National Security Agency has been compiling data on American citizens without a personalized warrant or probable cause, The Washington Examiner is reporting that two federal agencies are making plans to seize the private financial records of millions of American mortgage borrowers for use in a centralized database. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Housing Finance Agency currently maintain a National Mortgage Database Program which was initially designed to hold generic data about the mortgage marketplace. However, the executive branch regulatory bureaus appear to have made a policy reversal regarding the private data of citizens and are now seeking a wide range of financial and demographic data points on specific citizens for inclusion in the searchable database.
The agencies recently expressed intentions to expand the database in a posting to the Federal Register. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created by the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The bureaus claim that the personal details are necessary in order to create a report for Congress which is allegedly required under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, a bill signed into law by former President Bush that originally created the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
The database would contain records on any Americans who have taken out a single-family residential first lien loan at any time from 1998 onward. The compiled data points would be very comprehensive and would include not only financial records such as credit histories, social security numbers, reports on total assets, and credit card transactions, but also unrelated demographic data, including information on the age, race, religion, and number of residents in the household.
US Senator Rand Paul once warned that the government may be working on a database that could include financial records such as Americans’ credit card histories and pointed out that such data could be used to track citizens’ activities. “Think about your credit card records, and I tell people all the time, think about what people can know about you that might be on your Visa bill. I really think that’s personal information, and unless you are specifically named on a warrant, nobody should be looking at that,” said Senator Paul. The existence of such a database raises security concerns, as privacy advocates worry that identity thieves and hackers will target the sensitive information that is set to be collected in the database.
Such an effort to collect private data on specific citizens absent a warrant and suspicion of criminal activity violates Fourth Amendment protections. Senator Mike Crapo and Congressman Jeb Hensarling issued a letter to the directors of the FHFA and the CFPB stating that the expansion of the database “can easily be perceived as an abuse of the trust placed in your agencies by the American people.”
The Washington Examiner estimates that the policy change could affect up to 227 million Americans.
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Read more: http://benswann.com/feds-plan-to-seize-financial-records-of-us-mortgage-holders/#ixzz33WwnopvY
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10 Ways to Restore Liberty and End Tyranny in America | FTMDaily.com.

by Jerry Robinson

It is no secret that the American economy is an absolute wreck.

But our broken economy is just one symptom of a much larger malignant disease that has been growing within our nation for decades.

Those on the right of the political aisle point blame at the the current Obama administration. (After all, we all know that our nation was completely fine until somewhere around January 20, 2009.)

And naturally, those on the left of the political aisle point to Republicans as the real problem.

In the end, neither the Republicans or the Democrats have done anything to slow the demise of the Republic.

In typical Washington fashion, both parties have attempted to deny responsibility for the economic collapse of 2007-08. In reality, their inept policies are among the chief reasons for the collapse. Band-aids don’t solve heart attacks. In order to shift the direction of the American Titanic, vast and sweeping changes to Washington will be required.

Reality TV or FoxNews? There is No Escape

Meanwhile, many Americans sit silently stunned in their living rooms each night, eyes glazed to a parade of “reality” television and other mindless shows that have been written, directed, and produced under the watchful eye of the show’s sponsors. Subtle product placements are laced throughout the prime viewing hours. Each day, Americans are surrounded by a matrix of corporations, financial institutions, and advertisers. And these profit-seeking entities don’t just wantsome of your money… They want all of it. They promise good health, wealth, better looks,younger skin, and everything else that you want, yet can’t seem to afford. The corporations hound us to spend money. Millions of Americans go deeper into debt every year just to afford “Christmas.”

What gives?

Instead of finding relief in their consumption, Americans are told they must always upgrade to “the latest 2.0, no wait, its already 3.0″ version. Just like placing money on a conveyor belt that leads right into the corporate America’s pocket, Americans have vainly searching for peace and happiness in mere objects. Never before in history have so many people believed the lie that money brings happiness than in our current age. Employees work hard, earn money, and then immediately give all of their paycheck right back to corporate America. Our modern consumption trap is truly a cleverinvention and is the path to riches for those who discover it.

A smaller portion of America’s population prefers to conclude their evening with the rantings of televised actors, who make big bucks portraying themselves as objective news anchors. In what may be the ultimate irony, these Americans turn to the corporate-controlled mainstream pressfor information on today’s most pressing issues.

Turn it on for just a moment and you will quickly see that the mainstream media has sold its “soul” to the highest bidder. 90% of all of the media that enters the average American’s eyes and ears on a daily basis is concocted and spewed out from one of only six multinational corporations.

It doesn’t matter where you turn within the mainstream press, as they all have the same ultimate agenda… to transfer your money to their advertisers so that those advertisers will keep paying the bills.

The mainstream media answers solely to the corporations and the shareholders who own them. They are not looking out for you. You are their prey. As to why this simple concept has not been properly understood by the masses continues to confound me.

Corporations exert excessive and undue influence on Washington’s top decision makers. Meanwhile, the corporate-controlled mainstream media has been all but silent in the face of the federal government’s unprecedented and ongoing attack on liberty.

The long list of abuses includes: the unpatriotic Patriot Act, federally mandated healthcare, corporate bailouts, excessive taxation, and the failed war on drugs, just to name a handful.

America’s corporate-controlled media does little to inform the American people of the egregious violations on their constitutional rights and liberties.

Take My Freedoms, Just Give Me My Money

We are told by the federal government, and by the corporate-controlled media, that naked body scanners and unreasonable searches and seizures of our persons and luggage in our nation’s airports are designed for “our security.”

When the government sticks their hands down your pants and tells you its “good for you,” you know that we are nearing the end of the American experiment.

Given our current state of affairs, you would expect mass riots in the street, or at least some type of organized effort within the national media to expose the federal government’s overreach. Of course, the mainstream press is mute on the most important issues facing our nation.

And it seems Americans have become numb to the destruction of their liberties. Or perhaps they simply don’t understand the basic concept of liberty.

I am not smart enough to answer that question.

What I do know is that our current government benefit situation is unsustainable. When, not if, the government begins making cuts to the public’s benefit payments, the people will rise up.

Apparently, sticking your hands down someone’s pants is one thing, but reducing their government benefits is an entirely different matter.

(Perhaps there is logic in stripping Americans of their liberties first. This way they can more effectively mute the eventual crazed mobs protesting cuts to their entitlements. Just a thought…)

Tyranny is Not Coming… It’s Here

In addition to our economy being in shambles, and our derelict media having been sold to the highest corporate bidders, our current monetary system is unconstitutional, immoral, and entirely unsustainable.

Tyranny has entered our nation wearing no disguise. Forget the disguise, the tyranny that has breached America’s shores is naked.

Tyranny, under any name, should be considered unacceptable among those who have tasted freedom.

Sadly, a once “free” people appear completely unable to recognize what is happening.

For those who love liberty, the whole situation can seem utterly hopeless. But giving up is not an option. There is hope. America’s origins are uniquely tinged with the sweet fragrance of liberty and freedom. Winning the the hearts and minds of the American people, who once understood the value of personal, financial, and spiritual liberty, is a worthy goal.

Below, you will find my contribution to the discussion on restoring liberty. This brief list is just the beginning. I will be adding more over time. I encourage you to contribute your own ideas to the list by leaving them in the comment box below this post.

10 Ways to Restore Liberty and End Tyranny in America

 
Let’s be blunt: The Federal Reserve is a fraud. It is not “federal” and it has no “reserves.” It is an appalling collusion of global banking interests under the careless eye of the Congress. Despite its insistence to the contrary, the Fed weeps no tears for America’s middle class. Over the nearly ten decades of its existence, the Fed’s monetary policies have encouraged imbalances in capital allocations and malinvestment. The Fed blows bubbles and pops bubbles. It is a game to the elites. But to the average American, the Fed’s bubble cycles represent the reality of unemployment, foreclosures, bankruptcies, and homelessness. At the dizzying heights of Washington’s corrupt financial machine there appears to be little regard for the average middle-class working family.

The Fed is a leach upon the American economic system. It is an extraneous middle man. The U.S. Constitution gives the express mandate to coin the nation’s money supply to the Congress alone. No outside private banks were to be given this job. As it reads in Article I, Section VIII of the U.S. Constitution:

“The Congress shall have Power… To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;”

The Mystery of the Federal Reserve

The money creation process should be ripped from the hands of the private banking interests and rightfully restored to the Congress. The American people were never given an opportunity to vote on such a seismic policy shift, which effectively shifted control of America’s monetary system from the more accountable stewardship of public hands to the dark recesses of private hands.

The Federal Reserve is the third central bank in America’s relatively brief existence. In 1913, (on December 23, 1913 to be exact), the Congress passed the Federal Reserve Act. In one century (1913-2014), the Fed has promoted consistently destructive monetary policies.

Since its inception 100 years ago, the Fed has systematically attacked the U.S. Dollar (under the guise of “monetary policy”), destroying its value by over 90%.

Never again should our nation be held hostage by globalist banksters to whom interest must be paid on our own currency.

The Fed serves America’s wealthy investor class. The deck is stacked against America’s middle class. The future is not bright. 2014 is a year of preparation. It’s time to really begin saving money and then diversifying those savings into precious metals and stable foreign currencies. Investors should remain widely diversified. Remember, the rules of the game can change at anytime. Be prepared for anything.

ACTION POINT #1: End the Fed. Take Their Gold. Deport Their Principals.

The NSA requires little discussion. It is overly intrusive, unconstitutional, and immoral. The Fourth Amendment should be the nail in this agency’s coffin. However, it seems America wants to “debate”, not “end,” the growing police state.

The TSA is skilled in the use of bogus “security theatrics and routinely harasses and assaults American citizens, regardless of whether they are traveling to Minneapolis or Manila. Some of the TSA’s finer moments include: touching genitals (including those of children), stealing from passengers, and sleeping on the job. 90% of Americans are not pleased with the TSA’s performance. These TSA agents, and those who manage them, work for the American people. They are employees on the taxpayer’s payroll. And if 90% of Americans are displeased with their employees, they should have a right to fire them.

The National Security Agency and the Transportation Security Administration should be shut down immediately. The Federal government has clearly overreached in its efforts to keep Americans “secure.” The invasive nature of the growing police state represents a clear violation of every American’s Fourth Amendment rights, which guarantees the freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures without probable cause. Some will say that Americans who do not want to frisked can drive instead of traveling by air. I wonder if this will still be their attitude when TSA agents are frisking and taking x-ray scans of their children when they enter the school house? History is clear that governments never press the rewind button. They continue marching forth in their folly until the entire empire collapses. Excess upon excess. It is human nature.

One solution to the TSA is to privatize the airline security industry. If the masses truly desire security at the airport, then the airline industry should shoulder the cost and pass the costs on to the consumer. Besides, do we really want — or need — the Federal government stationed in every single airport across the country? Corporations would have an economic incentive to be highly selective in their hiring decisions, as a few bad employees could harm their corporate image.

If the private sector were given a chance, it would have naturally responded to growing consumer demand for greater airport security. Market signals travel the fastest within free markets. Under current government policies, free market signals are being severely stifled.

The airline industry should be in charge of securing their own airplanes. This approach would allow the free market to place checks and balances on the system and would also serve to make the actual security costs more transparent.

ACTION POINT #2: Stop the NSA and End the TSA by Privatizing Airport Security.

This law was hurriedly pushed through Congress in the wake of the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Few Congressmen had adequate time to read the bill. The attack on civil liberties that has occurred under this Act are in direct violation of the spirit of our Constitution. Put simply, the Patriot Act is unpatriotic.

And while we are on the topic of America’s growing police state, we should also defund the NSA.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTtp8KBg7hU]

ACTION POINT #3: Abolish the Patriot Act and Allow the States to Raise Militias

The income tax is an immoral form of taxation which penalizes individuals based upon their production levels. Under this system, the more you produce, the more you pay. Tax policies are designed to encourage and discourage certain types of economic behavior. Therefore, a higher tax on activity related to economic growth is illogical… if your goal is more economic growth. Governments obviously require funding and they have a wide array of taxes which they can impose – and currently do impose – to fund their activities. (i.e. user fees, excise taxes, sales taxes, etc.) The intrusive nature of the income tax, which literally rips money from the hard-earned paychecks of the working class through payroll deductions is both insulting and outrageous. End the IRS and the Income Tax immediately and force government to collect necessary taxes in a reasonable and moral manner.

ACTION POINT #4: Replace the Federal and State Income Taxes with a Nationwide Consumption Tax.

The Federal government should not be asked to define marriage. Marriage is a beautifully intimate and spiritual event that should not be dependent upon the approval or oversight of the Federal government. The Constitution does not give the Federal government the right or authority to operate as a morality police force.

If marriage must be defined by government authorities, let it occur at the State level. Each state is capable of making its own laws without being made dependent upon the Federal government for questions of intimacy and sexuality.

Instead of the Federal government acting as the morality police, let the American people craft their own laws through their respective states.

ACTION POINT #5: Allow States, not the Federal government, to decide upon issues of morality. The Federal government lacks the credibility for the job.

The public education system is an absolute disaster. Compulsory education, which mandates homogenized curriculum, is unnatural and ineffective. The process of educating our children should be determined at the state level. Ideally, the power would flow down and ultimately reside within each locality. Privatizing education is a worthy goal, as governments should not be in the business of educating the public. It is a complete and obvious conflict of interest. And given the extremely poor results of America’s public education system over the last several decades, its failure should necessitate its demise.

ACTION POINT #6: Close the Department of Education. Support Homeschooling. Empower parents and entrepreneurs to develop learning systems that can compete against each other in the free market.

Federal drug laws are ineffective and serve only to create excessive amounts of low-level criminals, which fill our nation’s prison system. The drug war represents a major tax liability to our nation’s citizens. Each state should be allowed to determine its own drug laws without the intervention of the Federal government. While I am still not a proponent of outright legalization, except at the state leve, I think drug use should be decriminalized.

ACTION POINT #7: End the drug war. Redirect current drug law enforcement spending towards rehabilitation, prevention, education, and employment assistance programs.

Under the current system, politicians are unduly motivated and incentivized to place an inordinate amount of time and effort into their re-election efforts. This distortion of incentives can be ended by limiting the amount of time a politician can remain in office. We need term limits now.

ACTION POINT #8: Demand term limits.

All current beneficiaries should continue receiving their Social Security benefits. However, instead of continuing the ponzi scheme of funding current retiree benefits with current payroll taxes, current benefits can be funded through draconian spending cuts to the many bloated Federal programs that are ripe for the knife.

If the Senate and House of Representatives fail to act upon a plan to salvage the ailing Social Security system immediately, they should be forced to forgo their current luxurious Congressional pension plans and instead be integrated into the failing Social Security system. The best way to solve the Social Security crisis is to make the lawmakers dependent upon it themselves, just as average Americans have been forced to be. (Remember, it’s all about incentives.)

ACTION POINT #9: Create an opt-out provision in Social Security immediately.

Laws regarding abortion should not be mandated by the Federal government but instead, should originate at the state level. Each state is capable of determining its own criminal laws regarding murder, rape, etc. Why should the state be forced to take its marching orders regarding abortion from the federal government? While I am strongly pro-life, I am also a realist. You may be familiar with the saying “when you outlaw guns, only outlaws have guns.” The same applies to abortion. America cannot stop abortions. Only a truly moral people can do that.

ACTION POINT #10: Overturn Roe vs. Wade and end the Federally-mandated modern holocaust of the unborn.

This list of 10 ideas is just the beginning. What about you? Do you have any ideas on how to stop the growth of tyranny in our nation? Speak your mind in the comments box below!

Amanda Warren
Activist Post

Seattle’s new policy changes to restrict the use of excessive force have area cops in an uproar. And they are doing everything they can to reverse those changes to lift the veil of limits while exercising brute force. On Wednesday, 120 officers are plaintiffs in a new lawsuit.
So why did a policy change occur this year? By 2012, the Seattle Police Department had been under heavy federal watch after numerous incidents of using excessive force, mainly on minorities, Reuters reports. Years of excessive police force were so significant that Seattle worked out a new policy with the U.S. Department of Justice.
The lawsuit seeks to dismantle all of it. The reasons why, and what the officers want, are very telling….
According to the lawsuit, the officers find that the new policy will “unreasonably restrict and burdenPlaintiffs’ right to use force reasonably required, to protect themselves and others from apparent harm and danger.”
But the reason for any kind of a restriction in the first place was bred out of unreasonablyendangering the lives of citizens.
They want compensation and a complete policy overhaul. And get this – they call the policy “unconstitutional and beyond repair.”
Unconstitutional. Delusion much?
Along with the city of Seattle, targets of the lawsuit also include U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Mayor Ed Murray.
In keeping with a court order, presumably meant for confidentiality, Murray didn’t say much about the suit. But he did say:

The Justice Department and the federal courts say we need to deal with issues of use of force as well as other issues in our police department.

In reality, this seems to be another insider tap on the wrist, much as we have seen in Albuquerque, New Mexico. There, the APD (Another Person Dead) has “come under fire” by the Department of Justice for policy changes including a training manual that encouraged more confrontational behavior when dealing with citizens. The DOJ ultimately issued a list of “recommendations” to help the police maintain some outward semblance of accountability.
Apparently, the Police State in Seattle didn’t get that memo of behavioral protocol, and has decided to publicly state that it simply can’t do its job unless it is completely unrestrained.
http://www.activistpost.com/2014/05/seattle-cops-sue-city-for.html
Recent other articles by Amanda Warren

• How Troubled Officers Move On To Other Police Departments
• Fate Of Officer Who Shot Tied Dog And Fought Back a Smile
• Grandma Wounded By Four Bullets – Shoots Back With .45

Hey look Ma, no congressional oversight here either – – let’s become government-approved doctors and fill our pockets! Phrig those house-calls. They’re a throwback to the days when doctors had to…
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]  

Medicare Overpays $6.7 Billion in one Year for Office Visits and Evaluations, but No Action Planned to Fix Problem
noreply@blogger.com (Charleston Voice)
Sat, 31 May 2014 03:42:50 GMT

2014 Bilderberg Meeting Participant List | Public Intelligence.

BILDERBERG PARTICIPANT LISTS

2014 Bilderberg Meeting Participant List

May 31, 2014

The following press release and participants list was obtained from the official website of Bilderberg Meetings. Participant lists from nearly every Bilderberg Meeting since 1954 are also available as well as tax returns for the non-profit U.S.-based corporation American Friends of Bilderberg from 2007 – 2009, 2010,2011.

BILDERBERG MEETINGS
Copenhagen, Denmark
29 May – 1 June 2014
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

Press Release

The 62nd Bilderberg meeting is set to take place from 29 May until 1 June 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark. A total of around 140 participants from 22 countries have confirmed their attendance. As ever, a diverse group of political leaders and experts from industry, finance, academia and the media have been invited. The list of participants is available on www.bilderbergmeetings.org

The key topics for discussion this year include:

• Is the economic recovery sustainable?
• Who will pay for the demographics?
• Does privacy exist?
• How special is the relationship in intelligence sharing?
• Big shifts in technology and jobs
• The future of democracy and the middle class trap
• China’s political and economic outlook
• The new architecture of the Middle East
• Ukraine
• What next for Europe?
• Current events

Founded in 1954, Bilderberg is an annual conference designed to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. Every year, between 120-150 political leaders and experts from industry, finance, academia and the media are invited to take part in the conference. About two thirds of the participants come from Europe and the rest from North America; approximately one third from politics and government and the rest from other fields.

The conference is a forum for informal discussions about major issues facing the world. The meetings are held under the Chatham House Rule, which states that participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s) nor of any other participant may be revealed.

Thanks to the private nature of the conference, the participants are not bound by the conventions of their office or by pre-agreed positions. As such, they can take time to listen, reflect and gather insights.

There is no desired outcome, no resolutions are proposed, no votes are taken, and no policy statements are issued.

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VETS AROUND THE COUNTRY DESCRIBE VA HOSPITAL EXPERIENCES

Horrible care, delays and oversights

Image Credits: Billy Hathorn / Flickr
by ASSOCIATED PRESS | MAY 31, 2014
 

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs became an explosive political story this week, culminating with the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.

The final straw appeared to be a report that described chronic wait times at the Phoenix hospital and found that about 1,700 veterans in need of care were “at risk of being lost or forgotten.” The VA and independent investigators with the Office of Inspector General are still in the process of uncovering problems at dozens of other VA facilities around the country while some lawmakers are calling for criminal probes.
As the investigations unfold, The Associated Press reached out to veterans in Arizona and several other states to recount their experiences with VA medical care. Some described delays and oversights. Others said they were pleased with their care.
Read more

Hillary Clinton is the presumptive Democratic nominee for President in 2016, but her campaign for the oval office may not be the sure thing that her supporters think it is. Hillary’s approval numbers have been steadily declining because of her lies about Benghazi.  She has been heckled at prior speeches, while receiving the “Liberty Medal“,
Related posts:

1. Pat Smith Has a “Mother’s Day” Message for Hillary Clinton [VIDEO]
2. Video: Hillary Clinton Heckled While Receiving the “Liberty Medal”
3. Shameful: Top Hillary Aide Says Benghazi Won’t Be an Issue in 2016 (Click to Watch)

BOOM: Tickets to a Hillary Speech Drop 66% Because No One Wants to Go
Ben Marquis
Sat, 31 May 2014 16:23:04 GMT

Fact Check: Clinton’s Benghazi chapter has holes

By Catherine Herridge
Published May 31, 2014
FoxNews.com

 
Excerpts of Hillary Clinton’s forthcoming memoir obtained by Politico conflict with the factual record about what happened during and after the 2012 Benghazi terror attack.
Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., who sits on the newly formed Benghazi selectcommittee and the House Intelligence Committee, told Fox News before the excerpts were released that he is concerned the administration has not fully grasped the impact of the terrorist assault.
“We know that intelligence analysts on the ground knew instantaneously that this was Al Qaeda and its affiliates who had led this attack. And yet it took an awfully long time — indeed today, it’s still not clear this administration has acknowledged the depth and the risks associated with what it means to have an Al Qaeda affiliate actually take down an American [consulate],” he said.
In the limited excerpts published Friday from Clinton’s Benghazi chapter, the former secretary of State continued to defend the administration from what she termed a “political slugfest.”
Specifically, she defended the flawed explanation — used by then-U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice five days after the attack — that an obscure anti-Islam video fueled a protest gone awry in Benghazi.
“There were scores of attackers that night, almost certainly with differing motives,” Clinton wrote, according to Politico. “It is inaccurate to state that every single one of them was influenced by this hateful video.It is equally inaccurate to state that none of them were. Both assertions deny not only the evidence but logic as well.”
Further, she reportedly wrote that Rice relied on existing intelligence in making her statements.
But former CIA deputy director Mike Morell, who now works for Clinton’s principalgatekeeper Philippe Reines at the D.C. consulting firm Beacon Global Strategies, testified in April that it was Rice who linked the video to the Benghazi attack. Morrell, who still faces allegations he misled Congress over the so-called talking points, said the video was not part of the CIA analysis as Clinton seems to suggest.
Morell told members of the House Intelligence Committee that Rice’s claims about the attacks evolving from a protest were “exactly what the talking points said, and it was exactly what the intelligence community analysts believed.”
However, he said: “When she talked about the video, my reaction was, that’s not something that the analysts have attributed this attack to.”
An independent review of more than 4,000 social media postings, conducted by a leading social media monitoring firm in December 2012, also found the YouTube video was a non-event in Benghazi.
“From the data we have, it’s hard for us to reach the conclusion that the consulate attack was motivated by the movie. Nothing in the immediate picture — surrounding the attack in Libya — suggests that,” Jeff Chapman, chief executive with Agincourt Solutions (now Babel Street), told Fox News.
Chapman said his analysts reviewed postings in Libya, including those from Benghazi, over a three-day period beginning on Sept. 11, and saw “no traffic in Benghazi in the immediate lead-up to the attack related to the anti-Islam film.”
The first reference to the anti-Islam film appears to be a retweet of a Russia Todaystory that was not posted until Sept. 12 at 9:12 a.m. local time. The translation reads, “U.S. ambassador killed in Libya during his country’s consulate in Benghazi – Russia Today http://t.co/SvAV0o7T response to the film abuser.”
In addition, the video was also described as a non-event by Greg Hicks – deputy to Ambassador Chris Stevens, who was killed in the attack — in his May 2013 congressional testimony before the House oversight committee.
Clinton went on to write: “Every step of the way, whenever something new was learned, it was quickly shared with Congress and the American people.There is a difference between getting something wrong, and committing wrong.A big difference that some have blurred to the point of casting those who made a mistake as intentionally deceitful.”
But the written testimony of Morell shows the administration continued to stick with the “hateful video” explanation long after physical evidence and other intelligence showed there was no demonstration. Morell told the House Intelligence Committee that by Sept. 18, 2012, consulate security video reviewed by the Libyans showed it was a direct assault.
Yet, a week later, before the United Nations on Sept. 25, 2012, President Obama was still relying on the flawed explanation.
“There is no speech that justifies mindless violence. There are no words that excuse the killing of innocents.There’s no video that justifies an attack on an embassy,” he said.
As part of its ongoing reporting, Fox News was first to report on Sept. 17, 2012, based on an intelligence source on the ground in Libya, that there was no protest.
Separate from the talking points, Clinton’s defense of Rice could also be problematic because Rice inaccurately stated on three network Sunday shows — ABC’s “This Week,” NBC’s “Meet the Press” and “Fox News Sunday” — that security was “strong” or “significant” at the consulate on the day of the attack.
She told “Fox News Sunday” that former Navy SEALs Ty Woods and Glen Doherty, who died in the attack, were there to “provide security,” incorrectly linking them to consulate security.
At a press conference earlier this month, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., said the administration should explain who briefed Rice on the talking points as well as the consulate’s security status, and the individual or individuals should be fired. And if nobody briefed her on that, Graham said, Rice should resign.
“They’re completely incompetent, or they were misleading her about the level of security because we were six weeks before an election, or she made it up on her own,” Graham said.
On requests for additional security, Clinton continued to insist that she never saw those cables, and the fact that they were addressed to her as secretary of State was a “procedural quirk.”
Fox News was first to report on an August 2012 State Department classified cable that said the U.S. Mission in Benghazi convened an “emergency meeting” less than a month before the assault and concluded Al Qaeda had training camps in Benghazi and the consulate could not defend against a “coordinated attack.”
The authenticity of the classified cable, addressed to the office of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has never been challenged. It was significant enough that then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey told lawmakers during congressional hearings that they were briefed on the cable’s warnings. Clinton, though, claimed it was not brought to her attention.
The cable marked “SECRET” summarized an Aug. 15, 2012 emergency meeting convened by the U.S. Mission in Benghazi. It states that the State Department’s senior security officer, also known as the RSO, did not believe the consulate could be protected.
According to a review of the cable, the Emergency Action Committee was also briefed “on the location of approximately ten Islamist militias and AQ training camps within Benghazi … these groups ran the spectrum from Islamist militias, such as the QRF Brigade and Ansar al-Sharia, to ‘Takfirist thugs.'”
In addition to describing the security situation in Benghazi as “trending negatively,” the cable said explicitly that the mission would ask for more help. The details in the cable foreshadowed the deadly attack on the U.S. compound.
While the administration’s public statements have suggested that the attack came without warning, the Aug. 16 cable undercuts those claims – as it warned the Benghazi consulate was vulnerable to attack and indicates the presence of anti-U.S. militias and Al Qaeda was well-known to the U.S. intelligence community.
The Clinton book excerpts published Friday represent a fraction of the entire Benghazi chapter, which reportedly is 34 pages long.

31 MAY 2014

Episode 291 – Why We Must Oppose Bilderberg

Posted by Corbett
As the Bilderbergers gather in Denmark to discuss this year’s agenda, James Corbett presents “Why We Must Oppose Bilderberg” to the We The People Anti-Bilderberg Conference taking place in Copenhagen. Learn more about the history,aims, and goals of the Bilderberg Group, why they must be opposed, and how best to do it on this special edition of The Corbett Report podcast.
For those with limited bandwidth, CLICK HERE to download a smaller, lower file size version of this episode.
For those interested in audio quality, CLICK HERE for the highest-quality version of this episode (WARNING: very large download).
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yONSTDDNYc]

Documentation

We The People Bilderberg Counter-conference
Time Reference:
01:06
David Cameron on Transparency
Time Reference:
04:20
Hillary Clinton on Transparency
Time Reference:
04:41
Candidate Obama on Transparency
Time Reference:
05:19
Meacher on Cameron and his cabinet meeting at Bilderberg
Time Reference:
06:44
Obama and Clinton meet at Bilderberg 2008
Time Reference:
07:46
Bilderberg and The Logan Act
Time Reference:
10:37
CFR War and Peace Studies Group
Time Reference:
15:27
Dutch Prince Bernhard ‘was member of Nazi party’
Time Reference:
18:42
Prince Bernhard accused of helping Nazis flee
Time Reference:
19:31
Revealed: The secret report that shows how the Nazis planned a Fourth Reich…in the EU
Time Reference:
20:22
Information on Jozef Retinger and Bilderberg
Time Reference:
21:23
Recordings From the First Bilderberg Meeting in Oosterbeek, Netherlands, 1954
Time Reference:
23:20
Leaked meeting minutes from Bilderberg conference in September 1955
Time Reference:
24:55
Davignon spills the beans on Bilderberg and the Euro
Time Reference:
27:45
Former Nato Secretary-General Admits Bilderberg Sets Global Policy
Time Reference:
28:21
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)
Time Reference:
28:56
This Chart Shows The Bilderberg Group’s Connection To Everything In The World
Time Reference:
30:39
Information on George Ball presentation at 1968 Bilderberg (see pg. 21)
Time Reference:
31:52
Recordings From the First Bilderberg Meeting in Oosterbeek, Netherlands, 1954
Time Reference:
34:35
Westbrook Pegler writes the very first newspaper article about Bilderberg in 1957
Time Reference:
36:45
Luke Rudkowski And Dan Dicks Arrested At Bilderberg 2014
Time Reference:
37:57
Contributed by James Corbett of The Corbett Report.

Why We Must Oppose Bilderberg
Contributing Author
Sat, 31 May 2014 19:00:24 GMT

Police State High: School Bans Backpacks, Seals Lockers, Forces Bathroom Registrations

Posted on May 31, 2014 by Mac Slavo

If drones over America, heavily armed law enforcement agencies, and a massivegovernment surveillance web hasn’t yet convinced you that the United States is rapidly moving towards a police state then maybe the following report out of New York will be an eye opener.
Indoctrination centers abound across the land of the free, with high schools now taking a queue from the TSA:

A New York high school is the latest in the nation to ban backpacks following several bomb threats, and has even taken extra steps, including sealing up students’ lockers.
For the last two weeks of the school year, students at Wantagh High School — located about 34 miles east of New York City — are being forced to carry their books and belongings in plastic bags, sign in and out to use the bathroom and submit to searches when entering the building. But the sealing up of lockers took school security to a new level.

Today’s pedagogic institutions are redefining what the word freedom actually means and students are falling right into line:

“It is an inconvenience, but it’s like an airport really,” Erik Beuttenmuller, an 11th-grader at the school told Fox 5 New York.

Karl Denninger of The Market Ticker weighs in:

What are we teaching our kids when we send them to prisons for 13 years out of their lives?
Yeah, bad things happen once in a while.  But the key here is “once in a while.”  They don’t happen often, statistically-speaking, and if we actually gave a damn about what was going on in these schools and excluded the abusive “kids” who are not there to learn but rather want to raise hell and abuse others we wouldn’t be having these problems.
Instead what we do is teach our kids that mass guilt is the response to one person who does an evil thing.  Rather than punish bad acts we exercise prior restraint.  We teach our kids from the first day that there are no individual consequences and rewards, only collective ones.
And the fact is that none of this actually makes anyone safer.
What it does do is condition our kids to living in a police state.
Congratulations America, because it will be you that gets shoved in the oven.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDouNtnR_IA?feature=player_embedded]

Mac Slavo is the Editor of SHTFplan.com

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By James F. Tracy
A new crusade appears to be underway to target independent research and analysis available via alternative news media. This March saw the release of “cognitive infiltration” advocate Cass Sunstein’s new book, Conspiracy Theories and Other Dangerous Ideas. In April, the confirmed federal intelligence-gathering arm, Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), released a new report, “Agenda 21: The UN, Sustainability, and Right Wing Conspiracy Theory.” Most recently, Newsweek magazine carried a cover story, titled, “The Plots to Destroy America: Conspiracy Theories Are a Clear and Present Danger.”
As its discourse suggests, this propaganda campaign is using the now familiar “conspiracy theory” label, as outlined in Central Intelligence Agency Document 1035-960, the 1967 memo laying out a strategy for CIA “media assets” to counter criticism of the Warren Commission and attack independent investigators of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. At that time the targets included attorney Mark Lane and New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, who were routinely defamed and lampooned in major US news outlets.
Declassified government documents have proven Lane and Garrison’s allegations of CIA-involvement in the assassination largely accurate. Nevertheless, the prospect of being subject to the conspiracy theorist smear remains a potent weapon for intimidating authors, journalists, andscholars from interrogating complex events, policies, and other potentially controversial subject matter.
As the title of Newsweek’s feature story indicates, a primary element of contemporary propaganda campaigns using the conspiracy theory/ist label is to suggest that citizens’ distrust of government imperatives and activities tends toward violent action. The “conspiracy theorist” term is intentionally conflated with “conspiracist,” thus linking the two in the mass mind. Images of Lee Harvey Oswald, Timothy McVeigh, and Osama bin Laden are subtly invoked when the magic terms are referenced. In reality, it is typically Western governments using their police or military who prove the foremost purveyors of violence and the threat of violence—both domestically and abroad.
In his Newsweek article, author and journalist Kurt Eichenwald selectively employs the assertions of the SPLC, Sunstein, and a handful of social scientists to postulate in Orwellian fashion that independent research and analysis of the United Nations’ Agenda 21, the anti-educational thrust of “Common Core,” the dangers of vaccine injury and water fluoridation, and September 11—all important policies and issues worthy of serious study and concern—are a “contagion” to the body politic.
In a functioning public, honest academics and journalists would uninhibitedly delve into these and similar problems–GMOs, state-sponsored terrorism, the dangers of non-ionizing radiation– particularly since such phenomena pose grave threats to both popular sovereignty and self determination. Such intellectuals would then provide important findings to foster vigorous public debate.
Absent this, segments of the populace still capable of critical thought are inclined to access and probe information that leads them to question bureaucratic edicts and, in some cases, suggest a potentially broader political agenda. In today’s world, however, such research projects carried out by the hoi polloi that are expressly reserved for government or foundation-funded technocrats “’distort the debate that is crucial to democracy,’” says Dartmouth political scientist Brendan Nyhan.
With the above in mind, a simple yet instructive exercise in illustrating the psycholinguistic feature of the conspiracy theory propaganda technique is to replace “conspiracy theories/ists” with the phrase, “independent research and analysis,” or “independent researchers.” Let us apply this to some passages from Eichenwald’s recent Newsweek piece.
For example, “Psychological research has shown that the only trait that consistently indicates the probability someone will believe in conspiracy theories independent research and analysis is if that person believes in other conspiracy theories independent research and analysis,” Eichenwald sagely concludes.
“One of the most common ways of introducing conspiracy theories independent research and analysis is to ‘just ask questions’ about an official account,’’’ says Karen Douglas, co-editor of the British Journal of Social Psychology and a senior academic … at Britain’s University of Kent.”
In fact, substituting the phrases accordingly throughout the article significantly neutralizes its overall propagandistic effect.
Researchers agree; independent research and analysis are espoused by people at every level of society seeking ways of calming the chaos of life, sometimes by simply reinforcing convictions.
While the growth in the number of news outlets has helped spread independent research and analysis, it doesn’t compare to the impact of social media and the Internet, experts say.
9/11 conspiracy theorists independent researchers protest outside the World Trade Center in 2011 [Photo caption] “If you have social networks of people who are talking with one another, you can have independent research and analysis spread in a hurry,’’ says Cass Sunstein, a professor at Harvard Law School … “It literally is as if it was contagious.”
While some may dismiss independent researchers as ignorant or unstable, research has shown that to be false. “The idea that only dumb people believe this stuff is wrong,’’ says Dartmouth’s Nyhan.
People who more strongly believed in independent research and analysis were significantly less likely to use sunscreen or have an annual medical checkup.
According to a just-released report from the Southern Poverty Law Center, the independent research and analysis flowed in April at a hearing before Alabama’s Senate Education Committee about legislation to allow school districts to reject Common Core.
It’s true. Since September 11, 2001 the internet has increasingly allowed for everyday people to retrieve, study, and share information on important events and phenomena as never before. And as a recent study published in the prominent journal Frontiers of Psychology suggests, tendering “alternative conspiracy theories” to the government-endorsed explanations of September 11, 2001 is a sign of “individuation,” or psychological well being and contentment.
Such a condition is a clear danger to those who wish to wield uncontested political authority. Indeed, the capacity to freely disseminate and discuss knowledge of government malfeasance is the foremost counterbalance to tyranny. Since this ability cannot be readily confiscated or suppressed, it must be ridiculed, marginalized, even diagnosed as a psychiatric condition.
The recent abandonment of network neutrality may eventually further subdue the nuisance of independent research, thought, and analysis. Until then, the corporate media’s attempts to bamboozle and terrify the American public with the well-worn conspiracy theory meme will be a prevalent feature of what passes for news and commentary today.
While some may dismiss independent researchers as ignorant or unstable, research has shown that to be false. “The idea that only dumb people believe this stuff is wrong,’’ says Dartmouth’s Nyhan.
People who more strongly believed in independent research and analysis were significantly less likely to use sunscreen or have an annual medical checkup.
According to a just-released report from the Southern Poverty Law Center, the independent research and analysis flowed in April at a hearing before Alabama’s Senate Education Committee about legislation to allow school districts to reject Common Core.
It’s true. Since September 11, 2001 the internet has increasingly allowed for everyday people to retrieve, study, and share information on important events and phenomena as never before. And as a recent study published in the prominent journal Frontiers of Psychology suggests, tendering “alternative conspiracy theories” to the government-endorsed explanations of September 11, 2001 is a sign of “individuation,” or psychological well being and contentment.
Such a condition is a clear danger to those who wish to wield uncontested political authority. Indeed, the capacity to freely disseminate and discuss knowledge of government malfeasance is the foremost counterbalance to tyranny. Since this ability cannot be readily confiscated or suppressed, it must be ridiculed, marginalized, even diagnosed as a psychiatric condition.
The recent abandonment of network neutrality may eventually further subdue the nuisance of independent research, thought, and analysis. Until then, the corporate media’s attempts to bamboozle and terrify the American public with the well-worn conspiracy theory meme will be a prevalent feature of what passes for news and commentary today.
+++
http://www.globalresearch.ca/cracking-conspiracy-theorys-psycholinguistic-code-the-witch-hunt-against-independent-research-and-analysis/5383108
ZenGardner.com
The post Conspiracy Code: The Witch Hunt Against Alternative Outlets appeared first on Zen Gardner.

Conspiracy Code: The Witch Hunt Against Alternative Outlets
Zen Gardner
Sat, 31 May 2014 19:10:47 GMT

BIZARRE HOMO-EROTIC PHOTO SHOOT CAUGHT ON CAMERA AT BILDERBERG HOTEL

Strange hotel room video shows group of men posing in bath robes

by PAUL JOSEPH WATSON | MAY 30, 2014
 
Infowars has obtained startling footage which shows individuals inside the Marriott Hotel, site of Bilderberg 2014, engaged in a bizarre homo-erotic hotel room photo shoot which was captured on camera.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf6oatC9oeA] The video was shot by an independent journalist from the protest area opposite the Marriott earlier this evening.
The clip shows four unidentified individuals, possibly Bilderberg security, dressed in bath robes huddling with their backs to the hotel bedroom window posing for a photograph.
A flash then goes off in the background before the group of men turn around to face the window and realize they are being recorded. The older men then disappear from the window looking sheepish as a younger man approaches the window before becoming excited and displaying a camp gesture.
The video is strange because the Bilderberg Group itself is famously publicity shy and secrecy obsessed. The idea of anyone inside the security-obsessed location posing seductively in bath robes is odd to say the least.
Although the notion of displays of homo-eroticism may seem unbelievable on the surface given Bilderberg’s serious nature, Bohemian Grove, another secretive event at which many of the same individuals are present, is renowned for similar displays of homosexual frivolity.
In 2004, leaked audiotape emerged of former U.S. President Richard Nixon discussing what took place at the Bohemian Grove retreat, an annual summer camp in California attended by global power brokers.
“The Bohemian Grove, which I attend from time to time . . . It is the most faggy goddamned thing you could ever imagine with that San Francisco crowd. I can’t shake hands with anybody from San Francisco,” said Nixon.
Infowars reporters are on the ground in Copenhagen all week covering Bilderberg 2014. Keep up to date with the latest at http://infowars.com/b/

http://www.blacklistednews.com/House_votes_to_defund_DOJ_program_that_snagged_legitimate_gun_dealers%2C_businesses/35610/0/38/38/Y/M.html The House of Representatives passed an amendment Thursday to stop all federal funding to be used for the Department of Justice’s Operation Choke Point, an anti-fraud operation that was found to be cutting off legitimate businesses from their banking lines. “This is a major victory for consumers, law-abiding businesses, and anyone who believes in due process and restraint of government encroachment,” said the Community Financial Services Association of America, a trade group opposed to the operation, in a statement Friday. “Additionally, our banking system benefits as it will not be put in the position to police customers or make judgments about the political popularity of businesses and industries.” The amendment was brought to the floor by Rep. Blane Luetkemeyer, a Republican from Missouri, who is a member of the House Financial Services Committee and is vice chairman of the House Small Business Committee. The amendment was sponsored by three democrats and two more republicans. The voice vote came as part of the debate on the annual spending bill for the Justice Department and needs Senate approval to become law. A House panel Thursday said the Obama Administration has been using Operation Choke Point to target and “choke out” businesses it finds objectionable, from gun dealers and payday lenders to drug paraphernalia sellers and porn merchants.

Snowden: “We Have a System of Pervasive, Pre-Criminal Surveillance Where the Government Wants To Watch What You’re Doing Just to See What You’re Up To, To See What You’re Thinking, Even Behind Closed Doors”

Posted on May 30, 2014 by WashingtonsBlog

Government Engaging In Pre-Crime Monitoring And Analysis

When NBC’s Brian Williams interviewed Ed Snowden in Moscow last week, one of Snowden’s most interesting statements was left on the cutting room floor.
Specifically, the following statement was cut from NBC’s broadcast Wednesday night:

Now, we have a system of pervasive, pre-criminal surveillance where the government wants to watch what you’re doing just to see what you’re up to, to see what you’re thinking, even behind closed doors.

Indeed, a government expert told the Washington Post that the government “quite literally can watch your ideas form as you type.” (And see this.) And British and U.S. intelligence agencies have been recording millions of webcam videos … many of them nude videos from inside people’s homes. Indeed, the government is spying on virtually everything we do.
Moreover, the NSA is working on building a “pre-crime” computer system that uses artificial intelligence and massive amounts of data to try to predict how every thinks and what everyone is likely to do.
As we reported last year:

The government is currently testing systems for use in public spaces which can screen for “pre-crime”. As Nature reports:

Like a lie detector, FAST measures a variety of physiological indicators, ranging from heart rate to the steadiness of a person’s gaze, to judge a subject’s state of mind. But there are major differences from the polygraph. FAST relies on non-contact sensors, so it can measure indicators as someone walks through a corridor at an airport, and it does not depend on active questioning of the subject.

CBS News points out:

FAST is designed to track and monitor, among other inputs, body movements, voice pitch changes, prosody changes (alterations in the rhythm and intonation of speech), eye movements, body heat changes, and breathing patterns. Occupation and age are also considered. A government source told CNET that blink rate and pupil variation are measured too.
A field test of FAST has been conducted in at least one undisclosed location in the northeast. “It is not an airport, but it is a large venue that is a suitable substitute for an operational setting,” DHS spokesman John Verrico toldNature.com in May.
Although DHS has publicly suggested that FAST could be used at airport checkpoints–the Transportation Security Administration is part of the department, after all–the government appears to have grander ambitions. One internal DHS document (PDF) also obtained by EPIC through the Freedom of Information Act says a mobile version of FAST “could be used at security checkpoints such as border crossings or at large public eventssuch as sporting events or conventions.”

The risk of false positives is very real. As Computer World notes:

Tom Ormerod, a psychologist in the Investigative Expertise Unit atLancaster University, UK, told Nature, “Even having an iris scan or fingerprint read at immigration is enough to raise the heart rate of most legitimate travelers.” Other critics have been concerned about “false positives.” For example, some travelers might have some of the physical responses that are supposedly signs of mal-intent if they were about to be groped by TSA agents in airport security.

Various “pre-crime” sensing devices have already been deployed in public spaces in the U.S.
The government has also worked on artificial intelligence for “pre-crime” detection on the Web. And given that programs which can figure out your emotions are being developed using your webcam, every change in facial expression could be tracked.

While the government pretends that such pre-crime monitoring is meant to prevent terrorism, the fact is that it is instead being used to crush dissent.

Insider Trading Bombshell: FBI/SEC Investigating Carl Icahn & Phil Mickelson

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2014 20:22 -0400

• Carl Icahn
• FBI
• Gambling
• Insider Trading
• Las Vegas
• Securities and Exchange Commission
• Twitter
• Twitter
• Wall Street Journal

Did you hear the one about the Vegas gambler, the Pro golfer, and the Wall Street insider? Straight off the pages of some Hollywood script, the Wall Street Journal reports that Federal investigators are pursuing a major insider-trading probe involving finance, gambling and sports, examining the trading of investor Carl Icahn, golfer Phil Mickelson and Las Vegas bettor William “Billy” Walters. All three men have denied any investigations or “no comment”-ed about “well timed” stock trades in Clorox in 2011 – around the time Icahn made a $10.2bn bid for the company. Mr. Walters and Mr. Mickelson, 43, play golf together; and rather comedically, Mr. Icahn said he didn’t know who Mr. Mickelson was…?

Via The Wall Street Journal,

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission are examining whether Mr. Mickelson and Mr. Walters traded illicitly on nonpublic information from Mr. Icahn about his investments in public companies, people briefed on the probe said.
Investigators are examining whether over the past three years Mr. Icahn tipped Mr. Walters—famous in Las Vegas for his sports-betting acumen—about potentially market-moving investments by Mr. Icahn’s company.
The FBI and SEC are examining whether Mr. Walters on at least one occasion passed a tip on to Mr. Mickelson, these people said, and are studying the two men’s trading patterns.

The denials were quick to come…

“We do not know of any investigation,” Mr. Icahn said on Friday. “We are always very careful to observe all legal requirements in all of our activities.” The suggestion that he was involved in improper trading, he said, was “inflammatory and speculative.”
…
“Phil is not the target of any investigation. Period,” said a lawyer for Mr. Mickelson,
…
When asked to comment about the investigation, Mr. Walters, reached by phone on Friday, said, “I don’t have any comment about anything,” and then hung up.

They kinda sorta know each other… kinda…

Mr. Icahn met Mr. Walters, 67, through a mutual acquaintance when Mr. Icahn’s company owned the Stratosphere Hotel in Las Vegas. Mr. Icahn bought the Stratosphere in 1998 and sold it along with several other properties for $1.2 billion in 2008.
The two struck up a friendship. Mr. Icahn was once an avid poker player and enjoys betting on football games. The two have spoken about stocks.
Mr. Walters and Mr. Mickelson, 43, play golf together, said people familiar with their relationship. Sometimes Mr. Walters has suggested stocks for Mr. Mickelson to consider buying, one of the people said.
Mr. Mickelson, who has one of the most loyal followings of top professional golfers, has won the prestigious Masters three times.
Mr. Icahn said he didn’t know who Mr. Mickelson was.

It seems the trades in question are focused on Clorox in 2011… (and also Dean Foods)

The government investigation began three years ago after Mr. Icahn accumulated a 9.1% stake in Clorox in February 2011, said the people briefed on the probe. On July 15, 2011, he made a $10.2 billion offer for Clorox that caused the stock to jump.
Well-timed trading around the time of his bid caught the attention of investigators, who began digging into the suspicious trading in Clorox stock, the people familiar with the probe said.

…
The investigators expanded their probe to look at trading patterns by Mr. Walters and Mr. Mickelson relating to Dean Foods Co. , said the people briefed on the probe. The FBI, following its approach to Mr. Mickelson on Thursday, expressed an interest in his trading in Dean Foods, a person familiar with the situation said.

We are sure somewhere Bill Ackman is laughing his ass off…
Cue CNBC defense… and Icahn’s twitter feed seems awkwardly quiet on the matter
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-05-30/insider-trading-bombshell-fbisec-investigating-carl-icahn-phil-mickelson

Federal judge dismisses trial, contends ATF “created fictitious crime”

5/30/14 | by Chris Eger
95 2638

U.S. District Court Judge Manuel Real dismissed the ATF’s case against three men whom he contends were enticed to commit a fictitious crime by the agency. (Photo credit: CSPAN)
A federal judge in California dismissed a case resulting from a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ investigation this month stating that the government “created the fictitious crime from whole cloth.”
U.S. District Court Judge Manuel Real heard the case involving Randy Garmon, Arturo Cortez, and Rene Flores, which included an alleged plot to rob a drug supplier’s ‘stash house,’ as USA Todayreported.
However, the house in question was the site of an ATF sting and the alleged robbers’ contact and getaway car liaison was an undercover ATF agent.
All three plead guilty after their arrest in September and were awaiting sentencing from Real, who instead, dismissed the case.
According to court transcripts, the three defendants had been recruited by confidential informants, who were given $8,600 to “convince citizens to join the government’s scheme,” in Judge Reals’ words.
He further pointed out that none of the three men had a history of being involved in matters concerning guns, tax violations, or liquor that would have brought them under the ATF’s scrutiny. This was described by the federal judge in court as,” trolling poor neighborhoods to ensure and ensnare its poor citizens.”
Judge Real dismissed the U.S Attorney’s case against the three men, “for the government’s outrageous conduct,” and ordered their release in the May 12 hearing. He found that, in his opinion, there had been no crime to charge them with in the first place.
“The government created the fictitious crime from whole cloth,” said Real.
“The government provided the location to the plan of the fictitious crime where undercover ATF Agent Carr insisted on running through a script to ensure a conspiracy had been hatched and that Carr also provided the getaway car with the fictitious conspiracy,” he explained.
The U.S. Attorney’s office filed an emergency protective notice of appeal with the U.S. Ninth Circuit of Appeals in the case, stating that the three individuals were flight risks. The 9th Circuit approved that notice and all three remain in custody while the appeal is considered and is expected this fall.
This case is the latest example in a growing list of embarrassing investigations by the agency that seem to defy common sense and endanger public safety.
In January the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the House Judiciary Committee announced that they planned to look into ATF storefront sting operations in Milwaukee and in other places around the country (Portland, Oregon; Wichita, Kansas; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Atlanta, Georgia; and Pensacola, Florida) that employed questionable practices.
This scrutiny was compounded in March when California Rep. Darrell Issa slammed the ATF’s outright refusal to cooperate with the investigation, similar to the agency’s response to the Congressional probe into Operation Fast and Furious.
That fatally-flawed gunrunning program is blamed for sending upwards of 2,000 firearms south of the border, many of which landed in the hands of known cartel operatives. At least one of those firearms linked to Fast and Furious was found at the murder scene of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
Meanwhile, Judge Real, nominated to his court in 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, has promised to “write an opinion having to deal with all the factors which were used by the government to convince these defendants to participate in a false stash house robbery.”
And when he does, Guns.com will bring it to you.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8jCYbiOZG4] Categories: Gun Laws, Politics & 2nd Amendment