Bildeberg Bans Media

Anti-Bilderberg Protests? Cue the Government Hysteria

Cry me a river -

The Bandera County Sheriff's Office issued a warning Thursday to citizens about an anti-government movement known for acts of domestic terrorism.The law enforcement agency said followers of The Sovereign Citizens Movement have been known to carry out violent acts, including killing law enforcement officers and other public servants.

The sheriff's office told KSAT-12 News the warning was prompted by the recent shooting death of Bexar County Sheriff's Deputy Sgt. Kenneth Vann."We have domestic terrorism right at our doorstep," said Capt. Charlie Hicks of the Bandera County Sheriff's Office.Hicks said while there's no evidence Vann's death had any links to the Sovereign Citizens, it's the same type of crime followers are known for.

See that? "No evidence".


The Sheriff's office has zip, zero, nada on any sort of deadly antics by the shadowy Sovereign Citizens Movement. Yet here they are donning their tinfoil cap and turning the Sheriff's office into a PR front for the Department of Homeland Security. And yet people who just want to discuss alternates points of governance, no, they're the crazy ones.  But wait, it doesn't stop there -

Hicks said followers are often very vocal about their beliefs.

 "They've very serious in their beliefs, and very serious when they do go to violence," Hicks said. "They'll kill you in a New York minute."

The Real Effect
Who here is willing to bet that you, Joe Citizen, have a much, much higher statistical probability of being killed by a police officer, then by one of these Fed infiltrated "militia" groups? Yet these same offices will strip people of rights, harass, cajole, arrest, imprison and even murder in the name "protecting people". Many times with no evidence at all.

Bilderberg 2011 Attendence List

Keep in mind that some individuals sneak in without their names being on the list -


Thanks to the fantastic work of Bilderberg activists, journalists and the Swiss media, we have now been able to obtain the full official list of 2011 Bilderberg attendees. Routinely, some members request that their names be kept off the roster so there will be additional Bilderbergers in attendance.
Infowars will be on the scene identifying other attendees not on the list.

Belgium

Coene, Luc, Governor, National Bank of Belgium

Davignon, Etienne, Minister of State

Leysen, Thomas, Chairman, Umicore China

Fu, Ying, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs

Huang, Yiping, Professor of Economics, China Center for Economic Research, Peking University Denmark

Eldrup, Anders, CEO, DONG Energy

Federspiel, Ulrik, Vice President, Global Affairs, Haldor Topsøe A/S

Schütze, Peter, Member of the Executive Management, Nordea Bank AB Germany

Ackermann, Josef, Chairman of the Management Board and the Group Executive Committee, Deutsche Bank

Enders, Thomas, CEO, Airbus SAS

Löscher, Peter, President and CEO, Siemens AG

Nass, Matthias, Chief International Correspondent, Die Zeit

Steinbrück, Peer, Member of the Bundestag; Former Minister of Finance Finland

Apunen, Matti, Director, Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVA

Johansson, Ole, Chairman, Confederation of the Finnish Industries EK

Ollila, Jorma, Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell

Pentikäinen, Mikael, Publisher and Senior Editor-in-Chief, Helsingin Sanomat France

Baverez, Nicolas, Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

Bazire, Nicolas, Managing Director, Groupe Arnault /LVMH

Castries, Henri de, Chairman and CEO, AXA

Lévy, Maurice, Chairman and CEO, Publicis Groupe S.A.

Montbrial, Thierry de, President, French Institute for International Relations

Roy, Olivier, Professor of Social and Political Theory, European University Institute Great Britain

Agius, Marcus, Chairman, Barclays PLC

Flint, Douglas J., Group Chairman, HSBC Holdings

Kerr, John, Member, House of Lords; Deputy Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell

Lambert, Richard, Independent Non-Executive Director, Ernst & Young

Mandelson, Peter, Member, House of Lords; Chairman, Global Counsel

Micklethwait, John, Editor-in-Chief, The Economist

Osborne, George, Chancellor of the Exchequer

Stewart, Rory, Member of Parliament

Taylor, J. Martin, Chairman, Syngenta International AG Greece

David, George A., Chairman, Coca-Cola H.B.C. S.A.

Hardouvelis, Gikas A., Chief Economist and Head of Research, Eurobank EFG

Papaconstantinou, George, Minister of Finance

Tsoukalis, Loukas, President, ELIAMEP Grisons International Organizations

Almunia, Joaquín, Vice President, European Commission

Daele, Frans van, Chief of Staff to the President of the European Council

Kroes, Neelie, Vice President, European Commission; Commissioner for Digital Agenda

Lamy, Pascal, Director General, World Trade Organization

Rompuy, Herman van, President, European Council

Sheeran, Josette, Executive Director, United Nations World Food Programme

Solana Madariaga, Javier, President, ESADEgeo Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics

Trichet, Jean-Claude, President, European Central Bank

Zoellick, Robert B., President, The World Bank Group Ireland

Gallagher, Paul, Senior Counsel; Former Attorney General

McDowell, Michael, Senior Counsel, Law Library; Former Deputy Prime Minister

Sutherland, Peter D., Chairman, Goldman Sachs International Italy

Bernabè, Franco, CEO, Telecom Italia SpA

Elkann, John, Chairman, Fiat S.p.A.

Monti, Mario, President, Univers Commerciale Luigi Bocconi

Scaroni, Paolo, CEO, Eni S.p.A.

Tremonti, Giulio, Minister of Economy and Finance Canada

Carney, Mark J., Governor, Bank of Canada

Clark, Edmund, President and CEO, TD Bank Financial Group

McKenna, Frank, Deputy Chair, TD Bank Financial Group

Orbinksi, James, Professor of Medicine and Political Science, University of Toronto

Prichard, J. Robert S., Chair, Torys LLP

Reisman, Heather, Chair and CEO, Indigo Books & Music Inc. Center, Brookings Institution Netherlands

Bolland, Marc J., Chief Executive, Marks and Spencer Group plc

Chavannes, Marc E., Political Columnist, NRC Handelsblad; Professor of Journalism

Halberstadt, Victor, Professor of Economics, Leiden University; Former Honorary Secretary General of Bilderberg Meetings

H.M. the Queen of the Netherlands

Rosenthal, Uri, Minister of Foreign Affairs

Winter, Jaap W., Partner, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek Norway

Myklebust, Egil, Former Chairman of the Board of Directors SAS, sk Hydro ASA

H.R.H. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway

Ottersen, Ole Petter, Rector, University of Oslo

Solberg, Erna, Leader of the Conservative Party Austria

Bronner, Oscar, CEO and Publisher, Standard Medien AG

Faymann, Werner, Federal Chancellor

Rothensteiner, Walter, Chairman of the Board, Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG

Scholten, Rudolf, Member of the Board of Executive Directors, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG Portugal

Balsemão, Francisco Pinto, Chairman and CEO, IMPRESA, S.G.P.S.; Former Prime Minister

Ferreira Alves, Clara, CEO, Claref LDA; writer

Nogueira Leite, António, Member of the Board, José de Mello Investimentos, SGPS, SA Sweden

Mordashov, Alexey A., CEO, Severstal
Schweden

Bildt, Carl, Minister of Foreign Affairs

Björling, Ewa, Minister for Trade

Wallenberg, Jacob, Chairman, Investor AB Switzerland

Brabeck-Letmathe, Peter, Chairman, Nestlé S.A.

Groth, Hans, Senior Director, Healthcare Policy & Market Access, Oncology Business Unit, Pfizer Europe

Janom Steiner, Barbara, Head of the Department of Justice, Security and Health, Canton

Kudelski, André, Chairman and CEO, Kudelski Group SA

Leuthard, Doris, Federal Councillor

Schmid, Martin, President, Government of the Canton Grisons

Schweiger, Rolf, Ständerat

Soiron, Rolf, Chairman of the Board, Holcim Ltd., Lonza Ltd.

Vasella, Daniel L., Chairman, Novartis AG

Witmer, Jürg, Chairman, Givaudan SA and Clariant AG Spain

Cebrián, Juan Luis, CEO, PRISA

Cospedal, María Dolores de, Secretary General, Partido Popular

León Gross, Bernardino, Secretary General of the Spanish Presidency

Nin Génova, Juan María, President and CEO, La Caixa

H.M. Queen Sofia of Spain Turkey

Ciliv, Süreyya, CEO, Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S.

Gülek Domac, Tayyibe, Former Minister of State

Koç, Mustafa V., Chairman, Koç Holding A.S.

Pekin, Sefika, Founding Partner, Pekin & Bayar Law Firm USA

Alexander, Keith B., Commander, USCYBERCOM; Director, National Security Agency

Altman, Roger C., Chairman, Evercore Partners Inc.

Bezos, Jeff, Founder and CEO, Amazon.com

Collins, Timothy C., CEO, Ripplewood Holdings, LLC

Feldstein, Martin S., George F. Baker Professor of Economics, Harvard University

Hoffman, Reid, Co-founder and Executive Chairman, LinkedIn

Hughes, Chris R., Co-founder, Facebook

Jacobs, Kenneth M., Chairman & CEO, Lazard

Johnson, James A., Vice Chairman, Perseus, LLC

Jordan, Jr., Vernon E., Senior Managing Director, Lazard Frères & Co. LLC

Keane, John M., Senior Partner, SCP Partners; General, US Army, Retired

Kissinger, Henry A., Chairman, Kissinger Associates, Inc.

Kleinfeld, Klaus, Chairman and CEO, Alcoa

Kravis, Henry R., Co-Chairman and co-CEO, Kohlberg Kravis, Roberts & Co.

Kravis, Marie-Josée, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, Inc.

Li, Cheng, Senior Fellow and Director of Research, John L. Thornton China Center, Brookings Institution

Mundie, Craig J., Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Microsoft Corporation

Orszag, Peter R., Vice Chairman, Citigroup Global Markets, Inc.

Perle, Richard N., Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

Rockefeller, David, Former Chairman, Chase Manhattan Bank

Rose, Charlie, Executive Editor and Anchor, Charlie Rose

Rubin, Robert E., Co-Chairman, Council on Foreign Relations; Former Secretary of the Treasury

Schmidt, Eric, Executive Chairman, Google Inc.

Steinberg, James B., Deputy Secretary of State

Thiel, Peter A., President, Clarium Capital Management, LLC

Varney, Christine A., Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust

Vaupel, James W., Founding Director, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

Warsh, Kevin, Former Governor, Federal Reserve Board

Wolfensohn, James D., Chairman, Wolfensohn & Company, LLC

Sanders' Top 10 Worst Corporate Income Tax Avoiders

War, War and More War!

What, another one? Democrats are the non-war oriented sensitive types dontcha know -

The Obama administration has intensified the American covert war in Yemen, exploiting a growing power vacuum in the country to strike at militant suspects with armed drones and fighter jets, according to American officials.

The acceleration of the American campaign in recent weeks comes amid a violent conflict in Yemen that has left the government in Sana, a United States ally, struggling to cling to power. Yemeni troops that had been battling militants linked to Al Qaeda in the south have been pulled back to the capital, and American officials see the strikes as one of the few options to keep the militants from consolidating power.

Of course this is in addition to the other war -

US military operations in Libya are on course to cost hundreds of millions of dollars more than the Pentagon estimated, according to figures obtained by the Financial Times.

Robert Gates, the outgoing secretary of defence, said last month that the Pentagon expected to spend “somewhere in the ball park of $750m” in the 2011 fiscal year as part of efforts to protect the Libyan people.

But according to a Pentagon memo which includes a detailed update on the progress and pace of operations, by mid-May US operations in Libya had cost $664m, a figure confirmed by the Department of Defence.

The Real Effect
...of course there's the other wars too. What, at least 5 now? Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Libya and Yemen. What was it that was said? Oh yeah -

 Look for continued unrest with some governments getting overthrown. But as I indicated earlier, the globalists are literally banking on this to occur. We are still not there yet though. More riots need to take place, some shots, some new faces and then, we go to war.

Ted Gunderson Former FBI Chief - Most Terror Attacks Are Committed By Our CIA And FBI

SWAT Team Enforces DoE Raid On Wrong Person

The state knows no limits -

A father was dragged from his home and handcuffed in front of his children by a SWAT team looking for his estranged wife - to collect her unpaid student loans.

A stunned Kenneth Wright had his front door kicked in by the raiding party at 6 am yesterday before being dragged onto his front porch, handcuffed and led to a police car with his three children.

He says he was then detained for six hours while officers looked for his wife - who no longer lives at the house.

Mr Wright was later told by Stockton police that the order to send in the SWAT team came from The U.S. Department of Education who were looking for his estranged wife to collect defaulted loan payments.

The Real Effect

America has become infatuated with power and authority and subsequently fails to define and restrain it properly. I like to use the analogy of a librarian usurping authority because most individuals are familiar with what a librarian does and the extent of her limited authority.

Let's assume that the librarian is hired by the town board to have control over the local branch of the town library. She is empowered, by the town board to oversee that particular library and assess fines to patrons of the library that use the services they provide.

At this point, we should note the extent and limitations of her powers/authority:

• She has the power to levy fines, but not to forcibly collect them.(She cannot raid your bank account)
• She has control over her branch, but if another branch opens, she cannot control the branch unless authorized to. 
• Despite the overwhelming evil of a local corporation stealing from its clients, she has no authority to raid the facility and "set things right" no matter how much it drives her batty.

In today's age, Americans view authority as being all-encompassing and pervasive. For instance, the Executive branch of the U.S. government has long run amuck via shoddily defined Departments of which the Department of Education is one. (The U.S government should have just about as much authority to have an educational department as one on the proper branding of shoes.) Yet America refuses to recognize any limits on authority because somewhere once there was an official decree. What is infinitely less important to people is whether or not said law was actually legal.

For instance, in our above example of the librarian, she could argue that with the opening of a new local branch, that under her sworn duty as a protector of the people's books, that not only does she think she should be in charge of said branch, but that she is compelled to take up such a role by virtue of her previous duty. What most people miss in this is that her authority was given to her by another and is not unlimited, else what is to prohibit her from setting up local checkpoints with her shiny new GTOs acquired by the Department of Book Enforcement and Revenue Generation. (Of course such things are necessary, why if such a Department didn't exist we would have Tanks In the Streets what with people trying to figure out just how to return their books and all that.)

Such is the nature of authority. It tends to continue until challenged, most times forcefully. Back to the raid.

As Vox points out in his column today -

1. Why is the U.S. Department of Education permitted to issue warrants or call SWAT teams?
2. Why would the SWAT team assault an individual who is not responsible for the debts?
3. Upon which specific date was America pronounced dead?

This leads us to our logical conclusions. Unchecked authority will continue to run wild until it runs smack dab into the jurisdiction of another tyrant. It is usually at this point that cordial diplomacy gives way to war. (Funny how these petty thugs always tend to end up fighting.) It is doubtless that countless hours and swaths of rain forest will be dedicated to convincing the people that not only is such a war is just, what with historical precedent and all that, but that rest assured the god of the Departments is On Their Side.

Unfunded Mandates Or How a Government Can Legally Lie to You

This is along the lines of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports that institutions dupe you with regularly -

The federal government's financial condition deteriorated rapidly last year, far beyond the $1.5 trillion in new debt taken on to finance the budget deficit, a USA TODAY analysis shows.

The government added $5.3 trillion in new financial obligations in 2010, largely for retirement programs such as Medicare and Social Security. That brings to a record $61.6 trillion the total of financial promises not paid for.

The Real Effect
Ok, let's examine this for a moment. Total US debt (excluding unfunded liabilities) is at about $15 trillion dollars. Let us assume for a moment that this is the equivalent of Joe Citizen taking out a $250,000 mortgage on a new house. True, he has a budget and that includes paying for that mortgage, groceries and other things. But Joe is 60 and in five years, he retires and his health care is going up drastically.

Unfortunately his wife Jane, has NO IDEA that Joe has not included health care in their budget. When confronted about it, Joe waxes and wanes about Jane's $20 a week trip to the store and fiscal responsibility. In short, he consoles Jane that everything is in fact alright. However, he repeatedly neglects to mention the little matter of over $1 million dollars in projected health care costs.

This assures Joe several things -

1. Joe will not be strung up by Jane until the bills hit. Which, by then he reckons he should be making double his current salary in a Depression.
2. Jane will continue to support Joe as being a "good steward" of their collective resources.
3. That in 2016, Joe better have a plane ticket to Bermuda, without Jane. 

This is similar to the situation we find ourselves today, if our government continues to lie, they will attempt to blame the subsequent default not on themselves, but on our supposed mismanagement. Of course the fix will be to continue the spending and drain whatever capital that we have left.

Fox News hacked?

A Depression? It's Nice That Someone Finally Noticed

Micro-fractures in the economy give way to larger, harder to repair ones -

"Interest rates are amazingly low and that, thanks to Ben Bernanke, is driving everything," Yastrow said. "We’re on the verge of a great, great depression. The [Federal Reserve] knows it.

The Real Effect
 Almost two years ago, I made the following predictions - 

 So what happens next?

• The US dollar is going to tank (think Iceland)

It has to. There is massive unemployment already and while the rate is slowing slightly that is hardly comforting. The U.S. bond market is going to implode resulting in the US’s first defaults.

Let's review - Note the red arrow. That was June of 2009 when that prediction was made. The red circle on the right is the recent all time low that was recently achieved.

• Banks claim ownership of 401ks and the government moves to “protect” them by seizing them.

I would assume they would be placed in a new 'secure conservatorship’.

We see evidence of that here.

• Obama loosens the unemployment restrictions so more can draw from the government and then moves the unemployed to the government ranks. At the same time, States cut off the most poor creating a "humanitarian crisis". (Think California) 

What was it, 99 weeks of unemployment? Further, Congress is eying up SNAP.

• Commercial Market collapse continues

• The second wave of the housing market collapse hits (The less risky loans start to default)

SFGate states -

“On the supply side, an assortment of factors seems poised to trigger new waves of foreclosures that will continue to bloat inventory. They include the expiration of foreclosure moratoriums, more underwater "walk-away" homeowners, pending recasts of option ARM loans, rising delinquencies in prime and Alt-A loans, and soft sales of high-end homes.”

Another chart for you, note the black arrow. (Everyone at the time was calling for an upswing in prices)

 

• Commodities surge (Massive inflation)

Gold, silver, food are surging – big banks, investment houses are purchasing now. We are now in the Inflation/Deflation death spiral.

• Unemployment highs

After the next 'wave' hits, employers will cut even deeper in an attempt to staunch the flow of red ink that will inundate most companies.

Now, I will concede that my thinking at the time was anticipating a 9 month - 1 year "upturn" and that has clocked in at about double that length.  Of course, we all know the Fed is papering over everything they can to make things appear better. What is occurring at this moment is the thin veil of scams is tearing away and people are getting wise. Once again, the question becomes exactly what is the government going to do this time? Are they going to print more or invade those to whom we owe money?

Austerity = More Money for Bankers, Less for You

Just who's paying into this system anyway -

The House Appropriations Committee today will review the fiscal year 2012 appropriations bill for the Department of Agriculture that includes $71 billion for the agency’s “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.” That’s $2 billion less than what President Obama requested but a 9 percent increase from 2011, which, critics say, is too large given the sizeable budget deficit.

A record number of Americans -- about 14 percent -- now rely on the federal government’s food stamps program and its rapid expansion in recent years has become a politically explosive topic.

More than 44.5 million Americans received SNAP benefits in March, an 11 percent increase from one year ago and nearly 61 percent higher than the same time four years ago.

Nearly 21 million households are reliant on food stamps.

The Real Effect
Consider this -

It cost taxpayers more than $68 billion last year, double the amount in 2007.

 Now compare that cost to just a few of the Federal Governments programs such as ZIRP, QE1 and 2, the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya and other such programs and you begin to see that "cutting food stamps" is not a particularly bright idea in this day and age. Further, how can we morally square paying bankers so they can afford their high class prostitutes, but we can't afford to subsidize the most basic necessity of life, food?

No, the truth becomes we can not afford either -

Even “at a time of prosperity, we have increased the amount of money we are spending for people to buy food,” said Harold Brown, an agriculture scientist and adjunct scholar at the Georgia Public Policy Foundation. “The appropriation of money by Congress has never solved poverty or the resulting problems of poverty. When President Johnson declared war on poverty a half century ago nearly, we thought we saw the end of it as far as food and nutrition goes. For the Department of Agriculture, we only saw the beginning.”

However if forced to cancel one, the US would do far better to examine and slash corporate money troughs such as the Department of Education, the Dept. of Homeland Security and the Czars rather then cut pennies in food assistance. But that would just be asking the ruling class to give up too much cake. We wouldn't want the parasites to starve now would we?

Indiana Citizens Take Back 4th Amendment

This is exactly what we need to be doing.

Texas Republicans, Playing Inside Baseball With the TSA

The establishment spikes the anti-grope bill, despite overwhelming public support -

The man who was instrumental in working with the federal government to sabotage a bill that would have made TSA grope downs a felony in the state of Texas was Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, a former CIA agent and establishment insider considered to be the wealthiest man in Texas politics.

As we have documented, the anti-pat down bill was derailed in the Texas Senate having unanimously passed the House by 138-0 votes after the Department of Justice sent a letter threatening to impose a no fly zone over Texas and shut down Texas airports. The warning was nothing short of a federal blockade and an act of financial terrorism.

But the federal assault was aided by a traitor from within the state, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who only served to amplify the threats made by the DOJ in communicating them to members of the Senate, convincing them them to cave in and forcing the hand of Senator Dan Patrick to withdraw the bill before it could be shot down permanently.

The Real Effect
This is precisely why we must deal with individuals and not parties. Yes, a party will give you more power, but we are not looking for a raw exercise in power but a restoration of liberty. Incumbents become addicted to the perks that such a position offers and become interested in few things:

1. Reelection (Continuing power)
2. Expansion (Expanding their power)

These things are sold to us in a variety of disguises - namely safety,  security, prosperity, choice, hope, change, responsibility, etc, but they all hide behind the facade of propriety and in actuality deliver tyranny. It is because of that reason that the founders attempted to restrain not the people, but the government itself from becoming a bloated tick gorging itself on the lifeblood of the people.

And yet, despite the electorates many good and noble intentions, their results remain the same. Destruction.

Belarus Falls - Currency Devalued, Shelves Empty

Watch the banksters destroy the lower class (Pictures)-

A sharp devaluation of the Belarusian ruble has spread panic across the country, with people rushing on Wednesday to buy dollars, euros, toasters and canned goods — anything that will not lose its value as quickly as the national currency.

Belarusians swept store shelves and queued for entire days at currency exchange offices in a desperate attempt to protect their savings from the country's sinking fortunes.

President Alexander Lukashenko promised that the national currency will remain stable following the devaluation ordered a day earlier, but experts warned it will continue its nosedive if Russia doesn't provide a quick bailout.

The Real Effect

From the 2011 predictions made back in January -

• Europe detonates, especially in the east -
• Eastern Europe sinks to crisis level with reports of food shortages, rioting and widespread Depression.

and further -

Western Europe contracts massively, putting extraordinary pressure on the Euro. But the call out of Belgium isn't about revoking the Euro, rather about the preservation of the European Union and the need to 'pull together'. I would expect that we could begin to see propaganda calling for a United Europe in the face of "x" (economic crisis, terror, war). Ultimately in the endgame, foreign creditors feel the massive pinch as they try to protect their investments, but the lack of a favorable response by the people will lead to war with the far east, but not yet.

Think Greece. On a larger scale.

What we are witnessing here is the global version of the 2008 blowout where "bad paper" eats away at the real wealth of the middle and especially lower class. Here's a question for you though - What has materially changed in the last three years? Anything? We have basically blown the bubble EVEN LARGER in an attempt to stop it. 

I love how I heard the problem explained on one forum. To paraphrase - Let's see, there's a confidence issue, caused mostly in part by excess spending due to misplaced confidence and the solution to the problem is more spending due to misplaced confidence?

Abso-lute-ly BRILLIANT. Only bureaucrats could come to that conclusion. Like I stated in my 2011 predictions, this is NOT the end of the road. When a criminal is backed against a wall like this, they tend to pull out their guns.

 

Iraq, the Real Cost of War

For all of the supporters of unmitigated war out there -

According to The Department of Veterans Affairs, as of May 2007, reports in the Gulf War Veterans Information System reveal these startling numbers:

Total U.S. Military Gulf War Deaths: 73,846
* Deaths amongst Deployed: 17,847
* Deaths amongst Non-Deployed: 55,999

The stastics for non-lethal injuries are likewise staggering:

Total “Undiagnosed Illness” (UDX) claims: 14,874
Total number of disability claims filed: 1,620,906
* Disability Claims amongst Deployed: 407,911
* Disability Claims amongst Non-Deployed: 1,212,995

Percentage of combat troops that filed Disability Claims 36%

The Real Effect
This is the persistent, lasting effect of trying to carry out our foreign policy in a foreign land. Trillions of dollars spent, hundreds of thousands of our men and women either hurt or killed, diminished international respect and a depletion of any sort of moral authority we may have had.

And yet, here we are in 2011 illegally fighting in Libya -

 Britain is poised to deploy Apache helicopters against Colonel Gaddafi's forces, as Nato warplanes battered Tripoli this morning with some of the heaviest air strikes yet.

Apaches stationed onboard HMS Ocean in the Mediterranean will be sent in alongside French Tiger helicopter gunships, in a sharp escalation of the conflict that could soon see Nato troops on the ground.

The announcement follows months of heavy bombing by RAF Tornado jets, which has crippled Libya's air defences. Now the Apache helicopters will be used for pinpoint strikes in an attempt to break the stalemate in the ground war.

Not to mention Iran.

Robert Fisk Doubts Syrian Sanctions Will Work

TSA Expands Into Schools

And we wonder why homeschooling is exploding around the country -

Last week it was announced that TSA goons would conduct a grope-down of students during prom night at a Santa Fe high school. The TSA promised to move from airports into the New Mexico high school after two girls said security personnel groped them and a federal judge ruled the TSA should conduct pat-downs at dances or graduations.

See the KOAT video here.

The judge’s ruling indicates the federal government and the TSA believe they should be conducting searches. The TSA has moved from airports to train and bus stations. TSA boss Napolitano has said she envisions the agency ultimately groping citizens at malls and hotels.

The Real Effect
What's funny is not a lot of people argue with me much anymore when I state that the US is becoming a police state. The argument ends up focusing on whether or not such a move is necessary. Needless to say, the cattle car tracks don't stop here folks, rather they end much further down the line in a location quite similar to Germany circa 1943.

Obama weighs in on Israel/Palestine. Netanyahu says 'no thanks'

VIPR Teams to Take Over the Roads

It's just a matter of time before they integrate with the Sheriff's departments and begin inspecting private vehicles -

Inspectors from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are like to be more involved in roadside inspections of commercial vehicles, according to TSA officials.

Involvement in roadside inspections is part of the Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) program that was developed several years ago by TSA, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). VIPR started in the aviation sector and has now been expanded into surface transportation.

”VIPR teams can be extremely effective, serving as a visible presence that is random and unpredictable,” says William Arrington with TSA. “VIPR teams are an essential part of protecting highway transportation vehicles and other critical infrastructures.” 

Arrington adds that VIPR teams normally will be accompanied by a uniformed highway enforcement officer. VIPR team members may or may not be in uniform, but they will carry DHS credentials. 

At this time, VIPR operations are only conducted at weigh stations and rest areas, according to Arrington. However, truck stop operations are being considered. He says VIPR teams are not conducting inspections at loading locations, delivery sites, and terminals. Carriers will receive no followup or confirmation following a VIPR-involved inspection.

The Real Effect
You can always count on bureaucrat to pimp their own corner fiefdom as essential to whatever it is that they do. Question for the bureaucratically inclined - Why didn't the market set this sort of thing up ahead of time if it was so vital?

Further US Pension Raiding as the Congress Tries to Prop Up Insolvent Banks

Just who "owns" this money? Obviously not you -

Workers will be limited in tapping their 401(k) retirement plans for loans under legislation two senators introduced today that’s designed to counter the erosion of retirement assets.

“Because of the difficult economic times, more and more Americans are treating their retirement accounts as rainy day funds,” Senator Herb Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat, said in a statement today. “A 401(k) savings account should not be used as a piggy bank.”

Kohl, 76, who’s chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, introduced the “SEAL 401(k) Savings Act” with Senator Mike Enzi, 67, a Wyoming Republican. The bill would reduce the number of loans workers may take from a 401(k) and give participants more time to repay after losing a job. It will allow savers to contribute to their plan after taking a hardship withdrawal and ban debit cards linked to the accounts, according to the legislation.