Econocrash:
The international movement for the end of cash*
Is a cashless society inevitable?*
More US Cities Set to Enter Default Danger Zone*
Treasury Dept. Wording Could Exclude Millions from Health Care Benefits*
Wells Fargo Sued for Allowing Foreclosed Homes in Non-White Areas to Fall into Disrepair*
Berkshire Shares Down On Buffett Cancer News*
Geopolitiks:
US Troops Take Pics With Afghan Corpses. Again.*
New Afghanistan war photos part of a long, controversial tradition*
The Olympics and Social Cleansing*
Missionary Impulse: "The Crisis of Zionism" by Peter Beinart*
Argentina’s Oil Takeover Ticks Off Spain and Mexico*
Collapse of Mali a Result of Post-Qaddafi US-NATO-Moroccan Plan to Foment Revolt*
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency: Mapping Africa One Country at a Time*
Russian Bombers Exercise Near Japan Border*
US, Filipino troops start drills near disputed sea*
National Guard withdrawing 900 troops from U.S.-Mexico border*
History/Mystery:
Twilight Language: 4/19 and OKC's All Seeing Eye*
Video:
Today In History - April 19 and
April 20
Media/Memes:
Don't forget April 21st is #RecordStoreDay*
How to Enjoy Turntables Without Obsessing Over Them*
#AmericanBandstand Legend #DickClark Dies at 82*
Dick Clark dead at 82*
Twilight Language: Dick Clark and His Name Game*
Video: Dick Clark, 1929-2012*
Video: Les Elgart "Bandstand Boogie" (Original 'American Bandstand' Theme)*
Video:
The Band's Levon Helm dies at 71*
Bollywood actress Meenakshi Thapar killed by co-stars*
Shades of 1984 Emerge in Broadcast TV Copyright Flap*
Broadcasters Demand Barry Diller Explain $20.5 Million Aereo Investment*
Photo: Rihanna's naughtiest moments - and there are a lot*
4:44 Last Day on Earth – Hollywood’s Latest Propaganda ‘Masterpiece’*
Flashback: Abel Ferrara's 'Last Day on Earth'*
Creepy, Verizon-powered, android David 8 is introduced in the latest Prometheus viral video*
Video: Propaganda's founding father, Edward Bernays*
Obamessiah:
Obama, like Buffett, pays lower tax rate than his secretary*
Paying for Access to the Obama White House*
Veterans Disability Waiting List Doubles under Obama*
Romney Attacks Obama for golfing, "jetting around the world"*
Ann Romney: Our dog 'loved' being strapped to car roof*
Video: Obama talks jobs, Romney walks back from Nugent*
Labour peer Lord Ahmed denies Obama 'bounty' remarks*
Video: Rocker Ted Nugent Stands By Obama Threat*
Secret Service agents relieved of duty in Colombia amid alleged misconduct (hookers) ahead of Summit*
Obama withholds judgment in Secret Service scandal*
Obama silent on Secret Service scandal? Well, there's a first. He didn't say something like: "If I had a prostitute, she'd look Colombian."*
Secret Service agents busted because they refused to pay hooker: source*
Video Playlist: Secret Service Scandal*
Oregon Oddities:
The ship has come in for the Blazers...*
Man protests TSA, strips naked at Portland International Airport*
Man protests airport security by stripping down to birthday suit*
Video: Man strips naked at Oregon airport in TSA protest*
Oregon reacts to story alleging marijuana use by football team*
Police on alert about possible mass tagging that could happen in #Portland on Friday as part of #KONY2012*
Police State Updates:
Blackhawk Choppers Buzz Chicago Skyscrapers*
The real criminals in Tarek Mehanna case*
Homeland Security’s ‘Pre-Crime’ Screening Will Never Work*
Many of 500 Americans on No-Fly List Don’t Know Why*
Video: IRS Implements Mark of the Beast Control System*
West Virginia Worry:
Bishop of W.Va. Catholic diocese accused of abuse*
WV Catholics react to bishop abuse allegations*
Scouting A New Plan*
Manchin proposal would keep postal facilities open for 2 years*
EDITORIAL: West Virginia Needs to Try Something New to Spur our Economy*
from kurt nimmo:
Residents of Portland, Oregon, recently attended a forum on the question of whether the city should rejoin the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. The city withdrew its task force membership five years ago after the Justice Department turned down a city request for oversight over the JTTF. The decision followed revelations in 2002 that the FBI and the Portland Police kept thousands of “red squad” style police files on political activists. Since 1981, Oregon law has barred police surveillance of political groups in the absence of criminal activity... We Are Change Portland mentioned the first World Trade Center bombing during the forum with city officials and the FBI.
An op-ed published in The Oregonian last week argues in favor of a resumption of FBI JTTF activities in Portland. The obviously staged Christmas tree terror plot was mentioned: “The averted attack during Portland’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony has touched off a debate about the city’s decision, six years ago, to withdraw from the task force. That withdrawal was, clearly, unwise.” The FBI orchestrated event was cooked up not only as yet another sideshow in the never-ending war against manufactured terror, but also as a stunt to frighten the people of Portland into accepting the presence of the FBI. If the FBI is allowed back into Portland, the city’s residents can expect the agency – acting as America’s political police force – to resume its effort to attack the establishment’s political enemies. The FBI does not exist to combat kidnappers and bank robbers, as advertised. It exists to neutralize and destroy all political opposition, as its former director, J. Edgar Hoover, so famously said when COINTELPRO was rolled out fifty years ago.
flashback: treebomber brings homegrown terronoia to oregon
related oregon oddities:
father-son spy drama ends with dad's 8yr sentence*
investigators 'baffled' as wheat fields wither, in umatilla county ... near the chemical weapons depot*
daryl hannah fights human trafficking deniers in oregon
video: actress rides with portland police to help fight child sex trafficking*
well, at least the dream of the 90's is alive in portlandia...
obama bypasses senate process, filling 15 posts
from nytimes:
President Obama, making a muscular show of his executive authority just one day after Congress left for spring recess, said Saturday that he would bypass the Senate and install 15 appointees, including a union lawyer whose nomination to the National Labor Relations Board was blocked last month with the help of two Democrats.
Coming on the heels of Mr. Obama’s big victory on health care legislation, Saturday’s move suggests a newly emboldened president who is unafraid to provoke a confrontation with the minority party.
Just two days ago, all 41 Senate Republicans sent Mr. Obama a letter urging him not to appoint the union lawyer, Craig Becker, during the recess. Mr. Obama’s action, in defiance of the Republicans, was hailed by union leaders, but it also seemed certain to intensify the partisan rancor that has enveloped Washington.
“The United States Senate has the responsibility to approve or disprove of my nominees,” Mr. Obama said in a statement. “But if, in the interest of scoring political points, Republicans in the Senate refuse to exercise that responsibility, I must act in the interest of the American people and exercise my authority to fill these positions on an interim basis.”
It was the first time the president has used his constitutional authority to fill vacant federal positions by making recess appointments, thus avoiding the requirement for the advice and consent of the Senate. Mr. Obama, who currently has 217 nominees pending and 77 awaiting action on the Senate floor, said Republicans had given him little choice.
obama rallies troops in afghanistan
but obama claims he's open to every good idea to stop job losses from raw replay:
One student in Allentown, Pennsylvania had a humorous question for the president Friday. “I was wondering if maybe if you checked out some of the statistics about legalizing prostitution, gambling, drugs and non-violent crime in order to stimulate some of the economy?” asked the second year college student. “I appreciate the boldness of your question. That will not be my jobs strategy,” Obama replied as the audience laughed. This video is from MSNBC’s Dr. Nancy, broadcast Dec. 4, 2009.oh, you silly boy! why would try something new? let's do the same thing over & over again and expect different results! plus, we've got a black market & prison-industrial-complex to feed. meet the new boss...
from raw replay:
ABC’s Neil Karlinsky reports that as the economy sours, Nevada brothels are seeing a surge in job applications. ABC News has more details here. This video is from ABC’s Nightline, broadcast Nov. 21, 2008.
the big apple's eyeing you
from nypost:
They're watching you. The NYPD's plan to have 5,000 cameras trained on every sidewalk crack south of Canal Street has begun in a space-age hub that will be operating by the end of the month. The "Ring of Steel" command center - which will keep 24-hour watch on high-profile targets like the World Trade Center site, the Stock Exchange and the Brooklyn Bridge - is on the 28th floor of a nondescript building at 55 Broadway. Modeled after a highly touted network in London, the $89 million Lower Manhattan Security Initiative will fight crime and terrorism by blanketing the 1.7 square miles with 500 cameras. The feds will pick up $70 million of the cost. Police intend to be using 2,000 cameras by 2009 and 3,000 by 2011. They also hope to tap into images from an additional 2,000 private cameras.id card on track says uk govtfrom zdnet:
This just in on the ongoing ID Card issue. (BTW Bruce Schneier says we shouldn't get all hot and bothered over ID cards as they are just a temporary technology before unseen biometrics take over) Here is the government release in full for you to chew over: Identity card delivery on time and on budget announces Home Secretaryfbi finds most terrorism threat reports baselessfrom reuters:
The FBI tracked about 108,000 potential terrorism threats or suspicious incidents from mid-2004 to November 2007, but most were found groundless, a Justice Department review found on Friday. The department's office of inspector general gave the figure in an audit of the FBI's terrorism case-tracking system, called Guardian, launched in 2002 after the September 11 attacks. "The FBI determined that the overwhelming majority of the threat information documented in Guardian had no nexus to terrorism. However, as a result of information reported in Guardian the FBI initiated over 600 criminal and terrorism-related investigations from October 2006 to December 2007," the inspector general's report said. The report did not discuss the result of the investigations.The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Terrorist Threat and Suspicious Incident Tracking System, Audit Report 09-02, November 2008 (
1.3mb PDF)
kbr to provide power during emergenciesfrom upi:
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has contracted KBR to provide power during emergency or disaster situations. U.S. company KBR was awarded a $75 million deal from the Army Corps or Engineers for disaster relief services. Under the contract, KBR will supply emergency power for the Western region of the United States in case of a natural or manmade disaster. KBR officials say during an emergency situation they will provide labor, transportation and equipment, among other services, to support power requirements for designated critical public facilities. "This award allows KBR the opportunity to expand our capabilities portfolio in the government and infrastructure business to include emergency response, an area of growth due to recent natural disasters," Bruce Stanski, KBR government and infrastructure president, said in a statement. "We look forward to continuing our relationship with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in this new area and are committed to providing the premier services the Army Corps has come to expect of KBR."US secret service officer arrested in hooker stingfrom wikinews:
A United States Secret Service officer has been arrested in Washington, D.C. after allegedly soliciting a prostitute for sex. The prostitute turned out to be an undercover D.C. police officer. The Secret Service officer was using his official Secret Service patrol car, which was marked, and was also in full uniform at the time of the arrest. The unnamed Secret Service officer, a sergeant, was arrested after allegedly agreeing to pay the undercover police officer US$20 to receive oral sex. After agreeing on a price, the undercover officer told the Secret Service officer to drive around the corner, where the sex act would take place. When he stopped his car, he was arrested by police officers.spitzer won't face charges for scandalfrom washington post:
Former New York governor Eliot L. Spitzer will not face criminal charges for his role in a prostitution scandal that drove him from office this year, prosecutors announced yesterday. [nov6] Investigators for the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service uncovered no evidence that Spitzer had misused public or campaign money to pay women employed by the Emperors Club VIP, a high-priced New York prostitution ring.byrd steps down as chair of appropriations committeefrom thinkprogress:
Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) announced today [nov7] that he will voluntarily step down as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Jan. 6. Byrd, who is the longest-serving senator in American history, said in a statement that he made the decision “only after much personal soul searching, and after being sure of the substantial Democratic pickup of seats in the Senate. I am now confident that stepping aside as chairman will not adversely impact my home state of West Virginia,” he said. Democrats had been hoping that Byrd would “step aside voluntarily” due concerns that he was “not up to the immense challenges he would face in that job.” Byrd will be replaced by Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI)newspapers seek gov't documents in anthrax inquiryfrom ap:
Two newspapers asked a federal judge Wednesday to make public several documents relating to a former Army scientist who was named as a person of interest in the 2001 anthrax attacks and later exonerated. The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times want the government's search warrants and supporting documents involving Stephen Hatfill, who was eventually cleared in the anthrax attacks and was awarded $5.8 million in a lawsuit accusing the Justice Department of violating his privacy. Normally, search warrants would be sealed for a person who has not been charged or indicted, lawyers said. But the public has a right to know why investigators wanted to search Hatfill's home and on what basis the courts agreed to allow those searches, the newspapers argued in U.S. District Court. "The public has a right to know why he was targeted," said Jeanette Melendez Bead, lawyer for the newspapers.new rule kicks patriot act foes 'right in the teeth'from raw story:
The Bush administration has been planning since last spring to issue a final burst of federal regulations just before leaving office. It was recently announced that over 90 new regulations would be finalized before November 22 - 60 days prior to the end of Bush's term - making them difficult, though not impossible, for President Obama to reverse. Although many of the regulations have to do with energy and the environment, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow noted on Tuesday that there's also "one that'll kick opponents of the Patriot Act right in the teeth."
from raw story:
Following the judge's lifting of a gag order, "DC Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey promised to release her phone records to selected sources. However, those records have now been posted in full to her website.
Because the website has suffered from a series of periodic outages since the records were posted Monday evening, the following message from Palfrey is being reproduced here:"I have reason to believe the disk – containing a full set of the telephone records for the 13 year operational history of 'Pamela Martin & Associates' – already has been pirated. Despite our very best intentions to maintain control of the information, our efforts seemingly have been for naught. I am concerned about manipulation of the database with false and misleading information. Even though such falsifications can be refuted in time by comparing an altered copy with the original, my attorney, Mr. Sibley and I fear that in the intervening time period, considerable damage can and will be done to the reputations of individual and entities with no connection to the business. Additionally, the overall validity of the records’ contents will be diminished when one false accusation after another begins to manifest. Therefore, to thwart any possible distorted version and to ensure the integrity of the information, the records – in their entirety – are available for downloading."
The following links to Palfrey's records may only work periodically due to site outages.
AT&T 2000, Cingular 2005, Cingular 2004-05, Sprint 1994, Sprint 1999, Sprint 2000, Sprint 2002, Sprint 2003, Sprint 2004, Sprint 2005, Sprint 2006, Sprint 1995, Sprint 1995 (2), Sprint 1996 & Sprint 1998update: flynt & palfrey target dc 'hypocrisy'from politico:
Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, already on a hunt for Washington sex scandals, has teamed up with a powerful new ally: "D.C. Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey.
It's an alignment born from coincidental interests: Flynt wants to expose Washington hypocrites, and Palfrey has a long list of people who probably qualify. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) became their first victim when a Flynt investigator linked his name and honorable title to an old telephone number on Palfrey's client list.
Vitter's exposure on Tuesday should put any other conservative Republican with sexy skeletons on notice: Start practicing your mea culpa.
