Occupy shut down America's west coast ports in support of an ongoing International Longshore Workers Union battle. Picket lines in Oakland, Los Angeles, Portland and more
12 Dec 2011
Police To Use Military Laser That 'Blinds'
A shoulder-mounted laser that emits a blinding wall of light capable of repelling rioters is to be trialled by police under preparations to prevent a repeat of this summer's looting and arson.
The technology, developed by a former Royal Marine commando, temporarily impairs the vision of anyone who looks towards the source.
It has impressed a division of the Home Office which is testing a new range of devices because of the growing number of violent situations facing the police.
The developer, British-based Photonic Security Systems, hopes to offer the device to shipping companies to deter pirates. Similar devices have been used by ISAF troops in Afghanistan to protect convoys from insurgents.
The laser, resembling a rifle and known as an SMU 100, can dazzle and incapacitate targets up to 500m away with a wall of light up to three metres squared. It costs £25,000 and has an infrared scope to spot looters in poor visibility.
Looking at the intense beam causes a short-lived effect similar to staring at the sun, forcing the target to turn away.
"The system would give police an intimidating visual deterrent. If you can't look at something you can't attack it," said Paul Kerr, the firm's managing director, told The Sunday Times.
"If police spot someone trying to do something untoward, painting them with this would certainly make them think twice about it," he said. He said it could also be deployed during hostage rescues.
The Home Office has been considering new forms of non-lethal equipment since the August riots, with the limited range of tasers and CS gas leaving a "capability gap".
A Home Office spokesman said scientists at its Centre for Applied Science and Technology believe the use of lasers "has merit" and that it will be piloted by at least one police force. However, they will have to be satisfied the technology does not cause long-term health damage before it can be approved by the Home Secretary.
Other technology being studied includes 'wireless electronic interceptors' that can be fired a greater distance than Tasers, and long-range chemical irritant projectiles, the newspaper said.
The Metropolitan Police is exploring the possibility of buying three water cannons at a cost of £4m. Currently the only police force in the UK to operate water cannon is the Police Force of Northern Ireland (PSNI), which has six. Scotland Yard is also increasing the number of officers trained to fire plastic bullets, as a direct response to the riots. Source
Global currency war escalates over Euro
Press TV has talked with Max Keiser, financial analyst in Paris about the new economic treaty proposal between Germany and France to rescue the collapsing Euro and the impact this could have on other countries if approved. Source
BIS Calls for Hyperinflationary Depression?
The Bank for International Settlements Sunday issued an oblique endorsement of coordinated action by the world's largest central banks to ease funding conditions for banks. "A freezing of interbank markets in major funding currencies, as during the recent crisis, may require the ability to supply official liquidity in major currencies in an elastic manner," the BIS wrote in its regular quarterly report." – MarketWatch
Dominant Social Theme: Inflate! And everything will work out.
Free-Market Analysis: We've already indicated that we believe the Anglosphere power elite is attempting to create a kind of Great Depression in order to ease the path of world government. This squib of an article in MarketWatch (excerpted above) – unnoticed by most of the mainstream press – only reconfirms our impression.
It endorses recent "coordinated" central banking loosening. But it does more: "A freezing of interbank markets in major funding currencies, as during the recent crisis, may require the ability to supply official liquidity in major currencies in an elastic manner."
Think about that. The BIS, whatever it is, is all for printing lots of money. And the BIS is no small-time trade group. It is perhaps the most powerful (and least known) global business body in the world. Its mysteries are manifold. its workings are well-hidden.
Of course, somebody actually set up the Bank for International Settlements in the late 1930s. And since then someone has set up or helped set up about 200 central banks around the world, many of them reporting directly to the BIS.
But who? And how did it happen? Dunno.
Who speaks to the head of a state, asking him or her to set up a central bank? Dunno. Do you?
Why is that Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq have central banks when they didn't before, or not the kind they do now? Did you read about it?
Meh ... this ruinous financial system is not a plant or a tree. It did not grow spontaneously. It did not grow naturally. And we would submit to you that those who created it know what they're doing.
The key as always is to pretend that one does NOT know. The key is to create cognitive dissonance. Even today, if you asked the average person-on-the-street if the powers-that-be are trying to create a Depression (let alone a hyperinflationary one), you would get the ol' crazy look, as in ... "What is this fellow ... nuts?"
But, no, nothing nutty about it. The European Union and the euro are grinding a whole European generation into dust. China's burgeoning middle class is about to get walloped if China ends up in a proverbial hard landing, as well it might. The US has NEVER recovered from the disaster of the mid-2000s (first decade) nor shall it for the foreseeable future... Full story/source Conclusion: Can you hear the noise? It is not a train headed down the track. It is not Superman flying through the air faster than the speed of sound. It is a printing press, running hard toward ruin.
Obama: We leave Iraq with "heads held high"
President Obama marked the end of the United States' almost nine-year war in Iraq on Monday, saying at an appearance with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that the final U.S. troops leave Iraq this year "with their heads held high."
Mr. Obama is taking something of a victory lap this week for fulfilling his campaign promise to end the war, which will effectively end when the several thousand remaining troops exit the country by December 31. On Saturday, he thanked service members at the annual Army-Navy football game; on Wednesday, he and first lady Michele Obama will visit Fort Bragg in North Carolina to speak to troops about the war.
"This is a season of homecomings," Mr. Obama said Monday at the White House, flanked by al-Maliki. "Military families across America are being reunited for the holidays."
Obama: "History will judge" if Iraq was a "dumb" war
Mr. Obama's decision to end the war - in keeping with a timetable first put in place under former President George W. Bush - has been popular with the American people, with even one in two Republicans saying they approve of his handling of the issue.
Obama and al-Maliki met Monday to discuss the strategic relationship between the countries, which Mr. Obama described as an "equal partnership based on mutual interest and mutual respect." He described Iraq as "sovereign, self-reliant, and Democratic," telling the Iraqi leader, "You have a strong, enduring partner in the United States of America."
Despite the positive rhetoric from Mr. Obama, the U.S. troop withdrawal comes at a time when it is far from clear that Iraq will be able to maintain its security and a health political system - and with Iran seeking to expand its influence in Iraq and in the region as a whole. Both Iran and Iraq are majority Shiite, and there are ties between the two countries' political establishments; it is not clear whether Iraq will become a safe haven for America's enemies once the United States fully leaves the country.
Mr. Obama said Monday that "Iraq faces great challenges, but today reflects the impressive progress that Iraqis have made." He said Iraqis are "working" to build "efficient and independent and transparent" institutions.
He said "our goal is simply to make sure that Iraq succeeds," telling reporters that a successful Iraq - one that unites various ethnic groups under one government - can be a model for the entire region.
Asked if he still agrees with his onetime characterization of the Iraq war as a "dumb war," Mr. Obama responded, "History will judge the original decision to go into Iraq, but what's absolutely clear is that...what we have now achieved is an Iraq that is self-governing, that is inclusive, and that has enormous potential."
"I have no doubt that Iraq can succeed," he said, arguing the United States is leaving Iraq "responsibly."
Al-Maliki, speaking through a translator, said Iraq had established a democratic political process and "is following a foreign policy in which it does not interfere in the affairs of others and does not allow the others to intervene in its own affairs."
Though its troops are leaving the country, the United States has its largest embassy in the world in Baghdad, with more than 15,000 people stationed there - an issue the two leaders were asked about Monday. Al-Maliki said he is in discussions about the size of the U.S. embassy presence, which is a strategic resource for the United States in the region.
"We don't want to create big footprints in Iraq," Mr. Obama said - but he added that the United States wants to maintain a "very active" relationship between the two nations' militaries in terms of training and assistance.
He said the "actual size of our embassy with respect to diplomats is going to be comparable" to similar countries, but that "special security needs inside of Iraq" mean there are a larger number of people stationed at the embassy overall.
"We're only a few years removed from an active war inside of Iraq," he said, before adding of those stationed at the embassy, "I want to make sure that they come home, because they are not soldiers."
According to Businessweek, the United States has 8,000 military personnel and 5,000 contractors remaining in Iraq, all of whom are set to depart. There were approximately 300,000 Americans in the country in 2007, nearly half of whom were contractors.
"A war is ending," Mr. Obama added. "A new day is upon us. And let us never forget those who gave us this chance: the untold number of Iraqis who've given their lives; more than 1 million Americans, military and civilian, who have served in Iraq; nearly 4,500 fallen Americans who gave their last full measure of devotion; tens of thousands of wounded warriors and so many inspiring military families. They are the reason that we can stand here today. And we owe it to every single one of them, we have a moral obligation to all of them to build a future worthy of their sacrifice." Source
Angelo: Odd headline given 1,000,000 ish dead!
Man vs. Morlock
Dear Reader,
From a book written in 1955 by Milton Mayer, a reporter who studied the lives and attitudes of ordinary Germans leading up to and through the Hitler regime.
While one particular paragraph from the book has been widely quoted – you will probably recognize it – the longer excerpt reprinted below provides critical context to how everyday Germans transitioned from a civil society to a truly heinous police state, and did so with hardly a whisper.
I would like to thank fellow La Estancia de Cafayate owner Pete K. for passing the article along as I consider it to be the most powerful and important piece of writing I’ve read all year. The parallels to what happened then and what’s been going on in America and elsewhere recently sent chills down my spine and, I suspect, will do the same to you.
I hope you feel as compelled to forward this email to everyone you can think of, just as I was compelled to publish it in its entirety.
I’ll have some additional thoughts at the end of the excerpt, including on ways to protect yourself, but for now find yourself a comfortable seat and read on…
"What no one seemed to notice," said a colleague of mine, a philologist, "was the ever widening gap, after 1933, between the government and the people. Just think how very wide this gap was to begin with, here in Germany. And it became always wider. You know, it doesn’t make people close to their government to be told that this is a people’s government, a true democracy, or to be enrolled in civilian defense, or even to vote. All this has little, really nothing, to do with knowing one is governing."What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if the people could not understand it, it could not be released because of national security. And their sense of identification with Hitler, their trust in him, made it easier to widen this gap and reassured those who would otherwise have worried about it.
"This separation of government from people, this widening of the gap, took place so gradually and so insensibly, each step disguised (perhaps not even intentionally) as a temporary emergency measure or associated with true patriotic allegiance or with real social purposes. And all the crises and reforms (real reforms, too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of government growing remoter and remoter.
"You will understand me when I say that my Middle High German was my life. It was all I cared about. I was a scholar, a specialist. Then, suddenly, I was plunged into all the new activity, as the university was drawn into the new situation; meetings, conferences, interviews, ceremonies, and, above all, papers to be filled out, reports, bibliographies, lists, questionnaires. And on top of that were the demands in the community, the things in which one had to, was ‘expected to’ participate that had not been there or had not been important before. It was all rigmarole, of course, but it consumed all one’s energies, coming on top of the work one really wanted to do. You can see how easy it was, then, not to think about fundamental things. One had no time."
"Those," I said, "are the words of my friend the baker. ‘One had no time to think. There was so much going on.’"
"Your friend the baker was right," said my colleague. "The dictatorship, and the whole process of its coming into being, was above all diverting. It provided an excuse not to think for people who did not want to think anyway. I do not speak of your ‘little men,’ your baker and so on; I speak of my colleagues and myself, learned men, mind you. Most of us did not want to think about fundamental things and never had. There was no need to. Nazism gave us some dreadful, fundamental things to think about—we were decent people—and kept us so busy with continuous changes and ‘crises’ and so fascinated, yes, fascinated, by the machinations of the ‘national enemies,’ without and within, that we had no time to think about these dreadful things that were growing, little by little, all around us. Unconsciously, I suppose, we were grateful. Who wants to think?
"To live in this process is absolutely not to be able to notice it—please try to believe me—unless one has a much greater degree of political awareness, acuity, than most of us had ever had occasion to develop. Each step was so small, so inconsequential, so well explained or, on occasion, ‘regretted,’ that, unless one were detached from the whole process from the beginning, unless one understood what the whole thing was in principle, what all these ‘little measures’ that no ‘patriotic German’ could resent must some day lead to, one no more saw it developing from day to day than a farmer in his field sees the corn growing. One day it is over his head.
"How is this to be avoided, among ordinary men, even highly educated ordinary men? Frankly, I do not know. I do not see, even now. Many, many times since it all happened I have pondered that pair of great maxims, Principiis obsta and Finem respice—‘Resist the beginnings’ and ‘Consider the end.’ But one must foresee the end in order to resist, or even see, the beginnings. One must foresee the end clearly and certainly and how is this to be done, by ordinary men or even by extraordinary men? Things might have. And everyone counts on that might.
"Your ‘little men,’ your Nazi friends, were not against National Socialism in principle. Men like me, who were, are the greater offenders, not because we knew better (that would be too much to say) but because we sensed better. Pastor Niemöller spoke for the thousands and thousands of men like me when he spoke (too modestly of himself) and said that, when the Nazis attacked the Communists, he was a little uneasy, but, after all, he was not a Communist, and so he did nothing; and then they attacked the Socialists, and he was a little uneasier, but, still, he was not a Socialist, and he did nothing; and then the schools, the press, the Jews, and so on, and he was always uneasier, but still he did nothing. And then they attacked the Church, and he was a Churchman, and he did something—but then it was too late." Source/full story
Latvia’s Biggest Bank Fights Off Deposit Run…Rumours of “Imminent Collapse”
Latvia’s largest bank is scrambling to contain a run among depositors gripped by fears of the bank’s imminent collapse.
The panic among Swedish-owned Swedbank‘s depositors began Sunday after rumors spread that the financial institution was facing legal and liquidity problems in Estonia and Sweden.
Swedbank’s Latvian chief Maris Mancinskis on Monday called the rumors “absurd.” He said the bank is functioning normally and all depositors will have access to their funds via bank machines.
Mancinskis said some 10,000 Latvians withdrew over 10 million lats ($20 million) on Sunday.
Latvia’s 10th largest bank, Latvijas Krajbanka, is currently being liquidated after regulators uncovered fraud on a massive scale. Depositors were left without access to their money for days. Source
Update:Word of the day
Update:Word of the day
Pakistan to down American drones, US promises more strikes
The Pakistani military are under orders to take down any UAV they locate in the country’s air space. So far, the only drones making incursions into Pakistani skies have been US Predators used to attack Taliban insurgents.
In a speech to troops on the border, Pakistan’s Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kiani told them to use all means at their disposal to give a “shattering answer” to any aggression – whatever the price or consequences.
For his part, the Commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, American General John R. Allen, said he did not rule out the possibility of a repeat of last month’s NATO strike on Pakistani soldiers.
In a speech to troops on the border, Pakistan’s Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kiani told them to use all means at their disposal to give a “shattering answer” to any aggression – whatever the price or consequences.Bankster Banquet: Eurocrats to size up Greek gifts
Thom Yorke Plays Occupy London Gig - Occupy Radio
A little over a month after false rumors of a Radiohead concert at Occupy Wall Street brought new publicity to the protests, the band's frontman has shown up in the flesh to support the movement. Thom Yorke, Massive Attack's 3D and UNKLE producer Tim Goldsworthy put on a performance in east London last night to raise money for the worldwide Occupy demonstrations. As the Guardian reports, the event took place in the basement of an abandoned facility owned by the huge Swiss bank UBS, for an invited audience of 100.
Organizers reportedly say the concert, held as a "thank you" to the movement from the artists, will soon be released via the label Occupation Records. In a practice Radiohead popularized a few years ago with the album In Rainbows, the album will be sold on a "pay what you want" basis. The funds would go to the U.K. Occupy movement and other demonstrations globally. Watch footage from the event here.
Massive Attack have been active in their support of the Occupy movement. The iconic trip-hop group even set up a SoundCloud page devoted to Occupy Radio, which includes mixes and tracks meant to back the efforts. Check out 3D's Occupy Radio mix below. UNKLE's Goldsworthy, who also performed at the event, used to be LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy's partner in the label and production duo DFA. Source
Hack'n'Slash Economics: 'Europe made fit one-size bed'
In Greek mythology, Procrustes was the son of Poseidon, God of the deep blue seas. He built an iron bed of a size that suited him, and then forced everybody who passed by his abode to lie on it. If the passerby was shorter than his bed, then Procrustes would stretch him, breaking bones, tendons and sinews until the victim fitted; if he was taller, then Procrustes would chop off feet and limbs until the victim was the "right" size...
Adrian Salbuchi, political analyst, author, speaker and commentator talks to RT about the EU summit outcome. Source
The Hidden Epidemic Destroying Your Gut Flora
Dr. Mercola Interviews Dr. Huber about GMO
Internationally renowned natural health physician and Mercola.com founder Dr. Joseph Mercola interviews Dr. Don M. Huber, one of the senior scientists in the U.S about area of science that relates to genetically modified organisms (GMO). Source/full storyBig Apple, Big Divide: Super-rich Don't See the Super-poor
North Korea is not so Isolated - Harpal Brar
Chairman of the British Communist party ( Marxist Leninist ) Harpal Brar explains some facts about North Korea. An interesting subject simply because we hear so little. Source
Felix Zulauf: Turmoil in 2012, 1 or 3 countries will leave Europe
Felix Zulauf: Founder and President of Zulauf Asset Management AG - Felix has been a member of Barron’s Roundtable for over 20 years. Felix has worked in the financial markets and asset management for almost 40 years. He started his investment career as a trader for a large Swiss Bank and eventually was with leading investment banks in New York, Zurich and in Paris. Felix always believed that the world economy and the financial markets move in cycles. That has helped him avoid all the major casualties in the financial markets since the 1973/74 bear market in equities.
'EU Uses Euro Collapse Threat To Blackmail Taxpayers'
RT: How would you grade the efforts by Merkel and Sarkozy to save the eurozone, and are they heading in the right direction?
German parliamentarian Frank Schaeffler: No, it's a project that has been designed by those at the top. The European Union needs the steps that would bolster the market economy and that would be adjusted so that they could fit into the market economy. According to the rules of the market economy, if you decide to take on the risks, you have to bear responsibility for these risks. The projects that are enforced from the top will not be able to operate under such conditions. Such projects should work from bottom up.
RT: European bureaucrats and their allies in national governments want to see more fiscal control over national governments, more control over their budgets also. How much centralization does the European Union need, in your opinion?
FS: The European Union does not need more centralization. Excessive centralization has actually been the key problem and the reason why we are facing the current crisis. The euro has been a project of the planned economy developed and enforced from the top. The members that have become part of the eurozone project are very much different from each other and cannot provide for a common homogeneous currency space. That's what has become so obvious under the present situation. Now they want to resolve the problem by introducing more centralization while centralization is the root cause of the problem. Source
Obama relies on bankrupt Jon Corzine MF Global
Bankers cost each one of us £8.40 for every £1 they produce, study shows
Rich bankers can today be exposed as a huge drain on society... costing the rest of us £8.40 for every £1 they produce. A study by think-tank the New Economics Foundation found the average banker destroys £42million a year in value while creating just £5million.
Their drain on the country is caused by the cost of bailing out banks brought to their knees by the credit crunch and the devastating impact of the crisis their recklessness caused.
Meanwhile hospital cleaners on £6.26 an hour are worth £10 for every £1 they cost because they prevent superbugs, saving the economy a fortune.
The shock figures fly in the face of claims that bankers like Barclays boss Bob Diamond – paid £4.4million in 2010/11 – are worth vast bonuses because of their contribution to the economy.
Their drain on the country is caused by the cost of bailing out banks brought to their knees by the credit crunch and the devastating impact of the crisis their recklessness caused.
NEF found that tax accountants who help the rich cut their bill were even worse value, costing us £47 for every £1 they create.
Meanwhile low-paid public sector workers like nursery workers and bin men were found to more than earn their wages.
Helen Kersley from the NEF said: “We get a huge tax contribution from the City but it pales into insignificance next to the damage from the financial crisis in terms of unemployment, bailing out banks and leaving us with a massive public debt.” Source
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