Newspaper de Jour

[msfreeh]

http://dailyprincetonian.com/news/2014/ ... z-61-says/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Rumsfeld '54 central in culture of torture, says Hitz

• DECEMBER 10, 2014




Donald Rumsfeld '54 came back for his 60th reunion this year.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ’54, along with form

[msfreeh]

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-change" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[msfreeh]

Logo
Politics, parapolitics, history


Lobster Issues
Sat 13 Dec 2014




Lobster Issue 68 Winter 2014

Lobster 68
Winter 2014
Download or view
As a single issue

http://www.lobster-magazine.co.uk/issue68.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mac Wallace and the finger of guilt (PDF)
by Garrick Alder
Apocryphylia (PDF)
by Simon Matthews
Is a new ‘cold war’ coming? (PDF)
by Dr T P Wilkinson
Secrecy in Britain (PDF)
by Jonathan Bloch
The View from the Bridge (PDF)
by Robin Ramsay
Updated 18 Oct 2014
Kim Besly, 1926-1996 (PDF)
by Nigel Norman
The Conspiracy and Democracy Project (PDF)
by Robin Ramsay
Chemtrails (PDF)
by T. J. Coles
Tittle Tattle (PDF)
by Tom Easton
New Labour against manufacturing (PDF)
by Robin Ramsay

Book Reviews

The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America by Gerald Horne (PDF)
reviewed by T. P. Wilkinson
Mad Mitch’s Tribal Law: Aden and the end of Empire by Aaron Edwards (PDF)
reviewed by Bernard Porter
A Cruel and Shocking Act: The Secret History of the Kennedy Assassination by Philip Shenon (PDF)
reviewed by Anthony Frewin
White House Call Girl by Phil Stanford (PDF)
reviewed by Robin Ramsay
The President and the Provocateur by Alex Cox (PDF)
reviewed by Robin Ramsay
The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 by Christopher Clark (PDF)
reviewed by Dr. T P Wilkinson
Counterinsurgency: Exposing the Myths of the New Way of War by Douglas Porch (PDF)
reviewed by John Newsinger
The Phoenix Program by Douglas Valentine (PDF)
reviewed by Dr T. P. Wilkinson
Hack Attack: How The Truth Caught Up With Rupert Murdoch by Nick Davies (PDF)
reviewed by John Newsinger
The Hawks of Peace by Dmitry Rogozin (PDF)
reviewed by Robin Ramsay
The Establishment by Owen Jones (PDF)
reviewed by Tom Easton
Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland by Anne Cadwallader (PDF)
reviewed by Robin Ramsay
Home Page | Lobster Online

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http://m.ksl.com/index/story/sid/327321 ... e_direct=y" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Indians dealing drugs

[msfreeh]

http://securitycornermexico.com/index.p ... mid%3D1225" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Paul Harvey FBI informant

[msfreeh]

http://anthraxvaccine.blogspot.jp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

after Ebola survival

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Reddy Kilowatt goes missing in NYC

http://www.climatecentral.org/news/nyc- ... ages-18453" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[msfreeh]

Friday, December 19, 2014Last Update: 2:45 PM PT
Weapons Inventor Says U.S. Ripped Him Off


http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/12/1 ... im-off.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


A man whose stealth technology and weapons inventions put him on the road to a Nobel Prize says the government declassified his patents to reap the rewards.
Physicist and engineer Frank Trunk made the allegations in a federal complaint, originally filed under seal, against U.S. Navy Secretary Raymond Mabus, Energy Secretary Dr. Ernest Moniz, Defense Secretary Charles Hagel and Michelle Lee, the deputy director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Trunk says he made his breakthroughs in 1993, filing for patents for inventions involving aircraft and ship stealth technology, submarine stealth technology and nuclear-weapon designs.
"Those applications describe fundamental breakthroughs in physics and material science that according to one senior Navy scientist 'are the sort of thing Nobel prizes are made of,'" the Dec. 8 complaint states.
Though the Office of Naval Research (ONR) classified the patents in 2000 because exposure posed a potential threat to national security, Trunk says the Navy has begun declassifying the patents and doling the information out to military contractors, all while intimidating and threatening Trunk to keep him away from the rights to his inventions - and the profits.
Trunk says the government has told him that his own inventions are now classified and that his knowledge of the very technology he conceived is a criminal offense.
"Mr. Trunk has been told that as a matter of law, technically he cannot even 'think about' or discuss with myself' the subject matter of the patent applications because of the lack of security clearance," the complaint states. "The DOE [Department of Energy] General Counsel's Office has even asked (presumably in jest) whether Mr. Trunk is now required to 'shoot himself' since he is in possession of classified information without a security clearance." (Brackets added, parentheses in original.)
An attorney with the Naval Air System Command allegedly told Trunk that "he would 'never make a penny' from his technology. He was told that his heirs might make something from it, if the government ever turned it loose, but that he would not."
But the Navy changed its tune when contractors like General Dynamics began sniffing around and requesting access to Trunk's technology, according to

[msfreeh]

http://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/Wo ... 945697.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

looking for a good lemming

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Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service Wednesday, December 24, 2014Last Update: 9:01 AM PT
Lawyer Corners Quiet Feds on Aid to Pakistan

http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/12/2 ... kistan.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Three federal agencies must disclose their records on grants that Pakistan has received to fund media projects, says an Oregon attorney who's no stranger to the Freedom of Information Act.
Daniel Stotter filed a federal complaint Monday against the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Department of State and the Broadcasting Board of Governors, claiming that the agencies won't give up records requested under FOIA.
Stotter says he contacted the agencies back in 2007, seeking records describing "United States financial grants or funding directed to any Pakistan based media organizations for the purpose of supporting Pakistan related media projects."
Agency bureaucrats allegedly gave Stotter the run-around, while extending their own deadlines, but the Agency for International Development ultimately produced more than 200 pages of responsive documents.
The agency then ignored Stotter's appeal, he claims.
Stotter says he never received a final response from the State Department or the Broadcasting Board of Governors, though the latter charged him more than $18,000 to comb its agency for responsive records.
He wants the court to force the agencies to release all responsive records and waive the associated fees. He's also asking for a refund of the money he's already spent on agency search fees.
Stotter, a Freedom of

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http://www.latimes.com/local/california ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

DMV delays rules for driverless cars as it seeks more input on safety

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ship pollution and heart attacks


http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ ... gger-stink" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[msfreeh]

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinio ... _full_duty" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Pepper-spray trooper returns to full duty
Saturday, December 27, 2014
A state trooper on restricted duty since a cellphone video surfaced online showing him pepper-spraying a protester has been returned to full duty after repeated attempts to contact the alleged victim were unsuccessful, a spokesman said.

“The state police have consistently expressed an interest in this individual’s version of the events as well as viewing any additional video he may have from the incident. Absent his cooperation, a fair and complete assessment of the incident remains incomplete,” state police spokesman David Procopio said. “The trooper ... was recently returned to full duty. The department’s internal investigation is ongoing.”

Kin Moy, 24, told the Herald earlier this month he was filming an arrest during a peaceful Dec. 4 protest when he was pepper-sprayed by the statie. Repeated at

[msfreeh]

http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/12/30/ ... year-2014/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

DECEMBER 30, 2014

Looking on the Bright Side
10 Good Things About the Year 2014
by MEDEA BENJAMIN
It’s been a year of fervent activism on police accountability, living wages, climate change, personal freedoms, immigrant rights, an open internet and diplomacy over war. The electoral beating the Democrats received has prompted both the Administration and some spineless congresspeople to realize that support for progressive issues could reinvigorate their base —a realization that has already led to Obama’s executive action on immigration and the opening to Cuba.

So here are some of the 2014 highlights.

1. Uprising for police accountability. The movement for police accountability has swept the nation, spawning brilliant new leaders from communities most affected, giving a voice to the families who have lost loved ones and opening people’s eyes to the militarization of our police forces. It is an organic, grassroots movement destined to have a transformative impact on the struggle for racial equality. Keep an eye out in 2015 for CODEPINK’s campaign to demilitarize the police, Communities Organize to Demilitarize Enforcement.

2. Historic opening with Cuba. President Obama’s announcement that the US would work to restore full diplomatic relations with Cuba for the first time in over 50 years was historic. It including a prisoner swap that led to the release of the final three members of the “Cuban 5”—a group unjustly imprisoned for trying to stop terrorist acts against Cuba. And it marks the end of Cuba policy being dominated by a small cabal of right-wing Cuban Americans. (CODEPINK is taking a delegation to Cuba for Valentines Day, learn more about it at codepink.org/cuba.)

3. Progress in talks with Iran. Iran and the six world powers announced they would extend an interim nuclear deal seven more months, and gave themselves four more months to reach a political agreement for a comprehensive nuclear accord. Despite intense opposition from the Israel lobby group AIPAC, as well as Republican and Democratic hawks, the U.S. and Iran are closer than ever to securing a historic agreement. It is a rare and commendable example of the Obama administration engaging in Middle East diplomacy instead of militarism.

4. Triumph of the fractivists. Out of a year of environmental progress ranging from the People’s Climate March to the US-China bilateral agreement on climate change, one of the most monumental victories has been in the anti-fracking movement. The New York State ban on fracking imposed by Governor Cuomo followed a long campaign waged by tireless grassroots activists. But that wasn’t the only victory. Voters in eight locales from Mendocino County, California to Athens, Ohio to Denton, Texas, won fracking bans on the ballot in the 2014 election. So did Canadian citizens in Quebec and New Brunswick. These victories have spawned a national conversation on fracking, with public support for the practice plummeting.

5. New gains for legalizing marijuana. With the majority of the country now supporting legalization, and Colorado and Washington proving that it actually works, new gains were achieved at the ballot box in Oregon, Alaska and Washington D.C. World leaders like former UN head Kofi Annan and presidents from Latin America called for an end to the drug war and for legally regulating drugs. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder continued to speak out against racist mandatory minimum drug laws and mass incarceration, while President Obama made national news declaring that marijuana is not more harmful than alcohol.

6. Massive wins for gay marriage. In decision after decision, courts in 18 states struck down gay marriage bans. It is now legal for gay couples to marry in 35 of the 50 states. A year ago, only about a third of Americans lived in states that permitted same-sex marriage. Today, nearly 65 percent of Americans do, making 2014 perhaps the biggest turning point in the history of same-sex marriage in the United States.

7. Raises for minimum wage workers. From ballot initiatives and grassroots organizing to major legislative efforts, campaigns to raise the minimum wage gained momentum across the country. Voters, cities and statehouses passedminimum wage increases. The states included Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska, New Jersey and South Dakota; cities included San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Louisville and Portland,OR. And the calls for raises came from workers themselves: Black Friday saw the largest strikes ever against Walmart, with pickets and strikes at 1,600 stores in 49 states. And on December 5, fast-food workers went on strike in 190 cities. Congress might not be able to push through national legislation, but workers and local communities are not waiting!

8. Reform of immigration policy. In November, President Obama signed an executive order stopping five million people from being deported and allowing many to work legally. While it does not offer a pathway to citizenship, it does provide relief for millions of immigrants. And it was only possible because of the sophisticated organizing and sacrifices made by so many activists in the immigrant community.

9. Release of the torture report. For years, human rights advocates have been pushing for the release of the 6,000-page torture report compiled by the Senate Intelligence Committee–against vehement opposition from the CIA. The full report remains classified, and the 600-page executive summary was redacted by the CIA itself. The public deserves to see the entire report, but the fact that any of it was released is also a tribute to Senator Dianne Feinstein and her colleagues. It marks the beginning of our nation coming to grips with this sordid page of our history. The next chapter should include accountability–bringing to justice all those who authorized and participated in these shameful acts.

10. Palestine solidarity becomes mainstream. 2014 was horrific for Palestinians, with the Israeli war against the Gaza killing nearly 2,200, mostly civilians. But the invasion spawned unprecedented international solidarity with Palestine and huge steps forward for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. BDS won the support of Christian congregations including the Presbyterian Church USA and academic groups like the American Studies Association. Activists shut down ports in California to stop the unloading of Israeli ships; they forced SodaStream to close its settlement-based factory, and the online shopping site GILT dropped AHAVA cosmetics, made in an illegal Israeli settlement in Palestine. In Europe, the movement has been hugely successful with country after country voting to recognize Palestine as a state and the European court ruling to remove Hamas from its list of terrorist organizations. Keep an eye out in 2015 for CODEPINK’s new campaign, No Open House on Stolen Land, targeting RE/MAX real estate company for selling illegal Israeli settlement homes.

***

The 2014 low electoral turnout and the Democratic defeat revealed how unenthused the public is about national politics. But it also revealed the popularity of progressive ballot measures. And the campaign pushing Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders to run for President is putting populist economic issues into the national limelight and already influencing the positions of likely presidential contender Hillary Clinton. With this framework and the new energy infused into social justice and environmental activism, the progressive movement is poised to make significant gains in 2015.

Medea Benjamin is the co-founder of the peace group CODEPINK and the human rights organizations Global Exchange. She is the author of Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control.

[msfreeh]

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/clima ... 2f6dp.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Climate shift in the Pacific may accelerate global warming
Date
December 29, 2014



Climate experts are watching to see if a shift in a Pacific temperature gradient signals a period of accelerated warming is about to begin.
Climate experts are watching to see if a shift in a Pacific temperature gradient signals a period of accelerated warming is about to begin. Photo: Brianne Makin
With 2014 likely to be declared the world's hottest year on record, the last thing the planet needs is a climate shift to turbo-charge the global warming already under way.
While it's an early call, a measure of surface temperature differences in the Pacific shifted to a positive reading in the five months to November, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – the longest such run in almost 12 years.
Known as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, the El Nino-like pattern typically lasts 15-30 years and is understood to operate as an accelerator on global surface temperatures during its positive phase – and a brake during its negative phase – as the ocean takes up fluctuating amounts of the extra heat being trapped by rising greenhouse gas emissions.
"It certainly could be an early sign of a change but you'd probably want to see another year or two before it's a genuine phase shift," Matthew England, a professor at the University of NSW's Climate Change Research Centre, said. "This could be the start of another ramping up of warming."

The last positive phase of the PDO, also known as the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation, ran from about 1978 to 1998, a period of a rapid increase of surface temperatures. Since then, temperature increases have flattened out, despite an increase in greenhouse gases, as oceans have taken up more of the excess heat.
Even with the negative-PDO drag - worth about 0.2 degrees in global average air temperatures a decade - 2005 and 2010 both topped the 1998 record annual global temperatures. The first 11 months of 2014 were the warmest on record and with ocean temperatures remaining exceptionally warm, this year is very likely to set a fresh high, according to NOAA, the Bureau of Meteorology and other agencies.
In positive-PDO periods, the tropical Pacific is relatively warm and north of about 20 degrees latitude, it should be cool, said Shayne McGregor, a UNSW research fellow, said: "It's definitely consistent with what we've seen in the tropics."
"During a positive PDO phase, you'd expect temperatures to keep climbing again as they did in the 1980s and 1990s," Dr McGregor said, adding that as PDOs are measured by rolling 11-year averages, it will be a while before any shift becomes clear.
Cai Wenju, a principal scientist with the CSIRO, agreed it will take time before any index shift is clear. Still, the next positive phase would likely bring faster warming at the surface and worsening drought conditions for Australia and much the region, he said.
"When it is positive, it tends to give us less rainfall because convection is shifting away from the western Pacific," Dr Cai said, adding that floods worsen in Ecuador, Peru and elsewhere on the Pacific's eastern rim.
While 0.2 degrees either way can set new global records or stall the march higher of surface temperatures – about 0.05 currently separates the five warmest years – over the longer term, global warming will swamp even interdecadal fluctuations, Professor England said.
"If we stay with relatively flat temperatures for another five years, it means nothing for global warming projections for the end of the century," Professor England said, noting temperatures may then be 4-7 degrees hotter on current greenhouse gas trajectories.
"The chance of that tiny 0.2-degree decadal signature overwhelming the greenhouse warming becomes vanishingly small."

[msfreeh]

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk ... hael-grimm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The New Yorker


DECEMBER 31, 2014
The Appalling Career of Michael Grimm
BY EVAN RATLIFF

[msfreeh]

http://earthfirstjournal.org/newswire/2 ... t-victory/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Monday, December 29th, 2014
Italy’s No-TAV Movement Heats Up with Major Sabotage and Court Victory


Advocates of the impossibly corrupt and environmentally devastating high speed rail project known as TAV that threatens to cut through the Alps received a double-blow last week in the form of a major court victory for activists, and another large-scale act of arson.

This month, six fires have been set along the TAV lines in Italy, with militant groups like Armed Operational Nuclei (NOA) calling on activists to join them in armed struggle.

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http://touch.towleroad.com/all#1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[msfreeh]

http://www.chinatopix.com/articles/3109 ... -truth.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


The pedophile prince

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see link for full story
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/01/06/ ... or-change/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

JANUARY 06, 2015

3 Bold Proposals
Harvard Law School’s Endowment as Catalyst for Change
by PETER LAVENIA
Harvard Law School is perhaps the most prestigious law school in the nation with countless (in)famous names attached to its faculty and alumni, an influence unmatched in the Obama regime, and a symbiotic relationship with the commanding heights of the corporate world. Harvard Law’s embrace of the growing business presence in higher education [1] parallels the emphasis the school places on corporate law and major firm recruiting; its current role is to produce the premiere legal guardians of international corporate control and state power. With an endowment of $1.7 billion, Harvard Law has been compensated handsomely for its role defending corporate capitalism; indeed considered as part of Harvard University’s sprawling $36.4 billion endowment empire [2] it might be seen more as a giant hedge fudge masquerading as a teaching institution rather than the reverse. The institution socializes its student body to choose big law over the public interest through crushing student debt loads, courses that focus almost exclusively on the legal problems of the wealthy, and its attachment to elite foundations and projects.

Still, Harvard Law has the potential to play a progressive role in eliminating law school debt, promoting expanded legal services for the poor and under-represented, and investing in socially conscious businesses. Yet the endowment is invested in troubling industries and does little to eliminate student debt [3] or begin to correct a broken legal system [4]. A demand for an end to Harvard Law-as-hedge-fund and corporate shill means envisioning what could be done with the vast resources available to the law school, including its students and faculty. The will to “shake up” Harvard Law School must combine with the knowledge that the administration could enact sweeping reforms to positively impact the student body, the under-represented working class and American democracy, and could do so under the current level of its endowment quite easily. Three demands should be raised: 1. An immediate end to all tuition for HLS students; 2. The establishment of community public interest lawyers paid for by Harvard in cities across the United States; 3. Investment of Harvard Law’s endowment in socially responsible businesses. How this is possible requires examining the structure of the endowment and operating revenue in order to show the ease with which a determined administration could make the changes.

As one of the thirteen major academic units within Harvard University, the Law School pools its funds with the rest of Harvard’s $36.4 billion (FY 2014) endowment [5] ; these funds are overseen by the Harvard Management Company [6], a wholly owned subsidiary of Harvard charged with supervising the university’s endowment and assets. While one might assume the majority of Harvard Law’s operating revenue would come from the endowment, this is not true – the majority is primarily from tuition, with a higher percentage (46%) used than any other unit at Harvard, versus 33% of operating revenue from the endowment [7]. In fact, tuition is currently $54,850 (2014-15) and although 80% of Harvard Law students receive some form of financial assistance, only 12% of the school’s annual grant budget covers the cost of attendance [8]. High tuition and lack of real financial aid reform has lead to the staggering $140,616 median debt load of law school students [9].

Harvard Law seemingly uses tuition to fund such a high percentage of its operating revenue so as to allow the majority of its endowment to continue to be invested at high rates of return. If it so

[msfreeh]

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/01/07/ ... rom-paris/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

JANUARY 07, 2015

They Knocked on the Wrong Door First
A Note from Paris
by ELIZABETH LENNARD
Paris.

Everyone in Paris seems absolutely horrified, especially while the killers are still at large with their Kalishnikovs! (Though here in Ivry Sur Seine it’s calm as usual: the only movement is the giant metal recycling machine and some closely watched trains.).

I just got off the phone with my sister-in-law, who lives in the 11th Arr. and they have two children. The four-year-old goes to school a few blocks away from where French Prime Minister Manuel Valls lives so there’s a certain amount of “security” on his block – as she says – either that makes you feel safer or not!

There is a spontaneous gathering of journalists at the Place de la Republique going on now.

The Charlie Hebdo cartoonists are household names here: Wolinsky, Cabu, Charb.

Even if you don’t read Charlie Hebdo you saw these artists on talk shows. And everyone listened to the late Bernard Mari on the economist’s talk show on national radio Friday mornings.

I know the street where the attack occurred: you couldn’t imagine a more nondescript street in Paris. It’s tiny. My partner Ermanno (a film editor) used to edit there and I used to get my still cameras repaired there.

I heard that the assassins knocked on the wrong door at first.

Elizabeth Lennard is a photographer and film-maker living in Paris. Her films include: The Stein Family: the Making of Modern Art and Edith Wharton: the Sense of Harmony. Her latest film is Alexander Cockburn: Beat the Devil.

[msfreeh]

Dozens ill after eating Three Kings bread from cockroach-infested O.C. bakery

http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/l ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[msfreeh]

http://www.lawfulpath.com/ref/13th-amend.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


The Missing 13th Amendment
David M. Dodge, Researcher, Date 08/01/91


In the winter of 1983, archival research expert David Dodge, and former Baltimore police investigator Tom Dunn, were searching for evidence of government corruption in public records stored in the Belfast Library on the coast of Maine.
By chance, they discovered the library's oldest authentic copy of the Constitution of the United States (printed in 1825). Both men were stunned to see this document included a 13th Amendment that no longer appears on current copies of the Constitution. Moreover, after studying the Amendment's language and historical context, they realized the principle intent of this "missing" 13th Amendment was to prohibit lawyers from serving in government. So began a seven year, nationwide search for the truth surrounding the most bizarre Constitutional puzzle in American history -- the unlawful removal of a ratified Amendment from the Constitution of the United States.
Since 1983, Dodge and Dunn have uncovered additional copies of the Constitution with the "missing" 13th Amendment printed in at least eighteen separate publications by ten different states and territories over four decades from 1822 to 1860. In June of this year (1991), Dodge uncovered the evidence that this missing 13th Amendment had indeed been lawfully ratified by the state of Virginia and was therefore an authentic Amendment to the American Constitution. If the evidence is correct and no logical errors have been made, a 13th Amendment restricting lawyers from serving in government was ratified in 1819 and removed from the U.S. Constitution during the tumult of the Civil War. Since the Amendment was never lawfully repealed, it is still the Law today. The implications are enormous.
The story of this "missing" Amendment is complex and at times confusing because the political issues and vocabulary of the American Revolution were different from our own. However, there are essentially two issues:
What does the Amendment mean? and,
Was the Amendment ratified?
Before we consider the issue of ratification, we should first understand the Amendment's meaning and consequent current relevance.
MEANING of the 13th Amendment
The "missing" 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads as follows:
"If any citizen of the United States shall accept, claim, receive, or retain any title of nobility or honour, or shall without the consent of Congress, accept and retain any present, pension, office, or emolument of any kind whatever, from any emperor, king, prince, or foreign power, such person shall cease to be a citizen of the United States, and shall be incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under them, or either of them."
At the first reading, the meaning of this 13th Amendment (also called the "title of nobility" Amendment) seems obscure; unimportant. The references to "nobility," "honour," "emperor," "king," and "prince," lead us to dismiss this Amendment as a petty post-revolution act of spite directed against the British monarchy. The U.S. modern world of Lady Di and Prince Charles, make anti-royalist sentiments seem so archaic and quaint, that the Amendment can be ignored.
Not so. Consider some evidence of its historical significance:
First, "titles of nobility" were prohibited in both Article VI of the Articles of Confederation (1777) and in Article I, Sections 9 and 10 of the Constitution of the United States (1787);
Second, although already prohibited by the Constitution, an additional "title of nobility" amendment was proposed in 1789, again in 1810, and according to Dodge, finally ratified in 1819. Clearly, the founding fathers saw such a serious threat in "titles of nobility" and "honors" that anyone receiving them would forfeit their citizenship. Since the government prohibited "titles of nobility" several times over four decades, and went through the amending process (even though "titles of nobility" were already prohibited by the Constitution), it's obvious that the Amendment carried much more significance for our founding fathers than is readily apparent today.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
To understand the meaning of this "missing" 13th Amendment, we must understand its historical context -- the era surrounding the American Revolution. We tend to regard the notion of "Democracy" as benign, harmless, and politically unremarkable. But at the time of the American Revolution, King George III and the other monarchies of Europe saw Democracy as an unnatural, ungodly ideological threat, every bit as dangerously radical as Communism was once regarded by modern Western nations. Just as the 1917 Communist Revolution in Russia spawned other revolutions around the world, the American Revolution provided an example and incentive for people all over the world to overthrow their European monarchies.
Even though the Treaty of Paris ended the Revolutionary War in 1783, the simple fact of our existence threatened the monarchies. The United States stood as a heroic role model for other nations, that inspired them to also struggle against oppressive monarchies. The French Revolution (1789-1799) and the Polish national uprising (1794) were in part encouraged by the American Revolution. Though we stood like a beacon of hope for most of the world, the monarchies regarded the United States as a political typhoid Mary, the principle source of radical democracy that was destroying monarchies around the world. The monarchies must have realized that if the principle source of that infection could be destroyed, the rest of the world might avoid the contagion and the monarchies would be saved.
Their survival at stake, the monarchies sought to destroy or subvert the American system of government. Knowing they couldn't destroy us militarily, they resorted to more covert methods of political subversion, employing spies and secret agents skilled in bribery and legal deception -- it was, perhaps, the first "cold war". Since governments run on money, politicians run for money, and money is the usual enticement to commit treason, much of the monarchy's counter- revolutionary efforts emanated from English banks.
DON'T BANK ON IT (Modern Banking System)
The essence of banking was once explained by Sir Josiah Stamp, a former president of the Bank of England:
"The modern banking system manufactures money out of nothing. The process is perhaps the most astounding piece of sleight of hand that was ever invented. Banking was conceived in inequity a

[msfreeh]

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... chdog-ipcc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[msfreeh]

see link for full story
http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/archives/10644" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


CIA Whistleblower faces the ire of an angry Justice Department over Benghazi questions
By Director on May 2, 2014




Friday, May 2, 2014: Longtime former CIA field operative turned whistleblower Robert “Tosh” Plumlee is currently in the crosshairs of a very angry Holder Justice Department for publicly posting 11 “questions” about Benghazi and the illegal weapons running operations being conducted by criminal elements within the U.S. government. Mr. Plumlee is no ordinary CIA whistleblower, however. Because of his extensive history and knowledge of the criminal infiltration into the U.S. government, their methods and operations, Mr. Plumlee has become one of the most dangerous men to the criminal cabal operating at the highest levels of the U.S. government. The Holder Justice Department and the criminal “gatekeepers” within the CIA and other government agencies desperately want him silenced—and they absolutely intend to do just that.

Against the advice of many people, from his own attorney to those who care about his welfare in the face of direct and subtle threats, and under the reported threat of subpoena by U.S. Attorney General Holder himself, Mr. Plumlee laid it all out in stunning detail on the Wednesday, April 30, 2014 edition of The Hagmann & Hagmann Report. Based on information from his deep cover sources, the questions Mr. Plumlee formulated about Benghazi leave no doubt that criminal elements that exist within the highest levels of the U.S. government were engaged in a massive weapons smuggling operation based out of Benghazi and other locations in Libya.

His disclosures, in the form of 11 questions, validate the information I provided in nearly four dozen separate reports since the 2012 attacks. They expose that the operations of the criminal cabal that were operating under diplomatic cover are in direct violation of U.S. and international law. They are, in large part, responsible for the quarter-of-a-million deaths of men, women and children in Syria and the millions of refugees. Those numbers are still climbing, and the path being laid is taking us and the world to World War III.

Through their “gatekeepers,” a cover-up of unprecedented magnitude about what the takeover of Libya and the attack in Benghazi is really about continues. Under the direction and with the imprimatur of the highest levels of government, facilitated by the infiltrated and fully captured corporate media, the American people are being lied to, misinformed and misdirected about criminal actions that have global implications that are orchestrating a war to which we did not sign on.

The disclosures by Mr. Plumlee represent a very serious threat to the plans of the globalist war machine, and this criminal cabal is actively trying to cover it up and keep it secret from the American public and the world. This operation is, by orders of magnitude far greater than anything we have seen to date, including the operations known as Iran-Contra. Mr. Plumlee should know, for he admits and has testified before congress to transporting some 40 tons of cocaine into the U.S., while transporting tons of weapons, including automatic weapons and grenade launchers out of the U.S. into the hands of “rebels” during the Iran-Contra era.

At that time, Mr. Plumlee was told that the drug shipments coming into the U.S. were part of a drug interdiction program in the government’s war on drugs. When he learned that he was being used as a pawn in a much larger game of criminal geopolitical chess, he did what our laws required him to do; he testified about his actions and knowledge before a Congressional committee, and turned over his log books, maps and other supporting documentation so that the criminal enterprise could be exposed and stopped.

Once he provided his testimony, much of the information was immediately classified and he as gagged from talking about what he knew. Incredibly, his own testimony exceeded his security classification, which denied him access to his own records and testimony. That is one of the ways they are able to silence and bury the truth of a world that few Americans know exist.

The current plight of whistleblower Robert “Tosh” Plumlee began last October, when he posted 11 “questions” about Benghazi and the illegal arms running operations on Facebook. As quickly as they appeared in the social media stream, the CIA and the Department of Justice instructed him to remove those questions from the public domain and remain forever silent about the covert and highly illegal weapons running operations being conducted. Despite his classification as a photojournalist with Salem-News that provided him the legitimacy to report on Benghazi, he complied.

When certain revelations about Benghazi were recently made public, Mr. Plumlee knew that remaining silent was not an option. The deaths of four Americans weighed heavily on his conscience, and his own character and integrity would not allow him to be silenced, regardless of the threats to him. Accordingly, Mr. Plumlee decided to republish the 11 questions that provide insight into the activities being covertly performed by the U.S. government. His actions quickly caught the attention of the government “gatekeepers,” who are now reportedly coming at him with a vengeance to silence him and all further discussion about Benghazi.

Earlier this week, Mr. Plumlee was told by two high-level sources that a subpoena was being prepared by the Holder Justice Department, and would be soon served upon him. The purpose of such a subpoena is twofold. First, the government needs to legally silence him, which becomes automatic once he is under subpoena. Secondly, the government is desperately seeking the identity of his source(s) who provided him specific information about Benghazi. Mr. Plumlee knows what to expect as he has traveled this road during Iran-Contra. Unlike Iran-Contra, however, the stakes today are much greater, the crimes much more egregious, the death toll exponentially higher, and the political ramifications exceedingly greater than at any other time in history.

It is the sole objective of Mr. Plumlee to tell Americans, and the world, what he knows without any political spin. He wants us to know exactly what is going on under the direction of the criminal elements that exist within our government and a rogue element within the CIA operating under their authority. Before he could be served with a subpoena that is reportedly being prepared that would make it impossible for him to talk without facing prison, for this is how the government now treats whistleblowers, he laid it all out in his 90-minute interview.

For his candor and hours after the interview, he confided to me that he was informed by at least one highly placed government source that his public interview on our show was heard and documented by the Department of Justice. He was informed, as I was, that his disclosures angered the Department of Justice as well as some in the CIA hierarchy and other government offices, and that he had no “right” to discuss such matters. This, despite the inconvenient fact that he would be guilty of a felony by not disclosing illegal government operations to authorities. But when the authorities, or those we have elected to oversee and stop such egregiously illegal actions fail to do anything other than respond by asking for campaign contributions via form letters, he felt he had to go public. And so he did, with a clear conscious and without regard to the peril he now faces.

The corporate media, from MSNBC to Fox, have treated the issue of Benghazi as the “third rail” of subjects. They call it a scandal, but it’s not. It’s a crime, as is its cover-up. They have failed the American people by not hold