RAND PAUL 2016
20 MINUTE VIDEO OF RAND PAUL AT CPAC!!!
AN ABSOLUTE MUST SEE FOR ALL LIBERTARIANS AND PEOPLE INTERESTED IN THE 2016 PRESIDENTAL ELECTION!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfw46xdBCd0
CPAC Hails ‘President Paul’
CPAC activists waited an hour-and-a-half for Senator Rand Paul after congressional votes delayed his speech, and the pent-up energy made for a rowdy welcome. “President Paul! President Paul! President Paul!” the attendees chanted in the middle of Paul’s speech after he declared America needs “a new president.”
The longtime CPAC favorite and 2016 presidential contender addressed foreign and domestic policy issues, with Paul promising to unveil a plan that would balance the budget in five years while passing “the largest tax cut in American history.” “My tax plan will get the IRS out of your life and out of the way of every job creator in America,” he said.
Paul turned to economic issues only after citing the Benghazi terrorist attacks as the centerpiece of an indictment of Hillary Clinton and a defense of his own foreign-policy ideas. Paul noted that terrorists took over Libya after Clinton backed intervening against the incumbent dictatorship. “As [Hillary Clinton] was declaring victory in Libya, Ambassador Stevens was pleading for more security,” Paul said. “Her dereliction of duty should forever preclude her from higher office. . . . It’s time for Hillary Clinton to permanently retire.”
As Paul tied the rise of terrorists in Libya to the U.S. intervention, he also argued that ISIS was empowered by a misguided decision to arm Syrian rebels. “Without question, we must now defend ourselves and American interests from this barbarous aberration; but it troubles me that we must now fight against our own weapons,” he said. “As conservatives we should not succumb to the notion that a government inept at home will somehow become successful abroad.”
(national review, feb 27th)
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/414566/cpac-hails-president-paul-joel-gehrke
OBAMA_____________________________
Obama Brags About Power Grab While Americans Debate Color of a Dress
Americans more concerned about the color of a dress which went viral than they are about Internet takeover
While the Obama administration celebrates its latest power grab, the federal takeover of the Internet and the ATF’s unlawful ammo ban, Americans are debating the color of a woman’s dress which went viral over social media.
On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission voted to declare the Internet a “public utility,” opening the door for feds to regulate on-line speech, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms announced its plan to illegally ban M855 AR-15 ammunition, and Americans are outraged – because they couldn’t decide if a dress posted on Tumblr was black and blue or white and gold.
“This is very important guys,” Alison Lynch for Metro wrote. “Are you Team Blue and Black or Team White and Gold? You need to pick a side.”
“Kimye, Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift already have.”
The news tracking web site Viral News Chart revealed that at the time of this writing, the top two “political” news articles in the past 12 hours were both about the dress, with the ammo ban coming in third.
“This dress color war is the perfect way to end a wonderful day on the Internet,” The Verge reported Thursday, the day Obamanet was born.
The Obama administration’s takeover of the Internet is particularly concerning because the FCC consulted with self-described socialist activists to develop its “Net Neutrality” program, which was largely funded by billionaire George Soros, a Nazi collaborator who is also responsible for the current war in Ukraine.
(Infowars, feb 27th)
http://www.infowars.com/obama-brags-about-power-grab-while-americans-debate-color-of-a-dress/
President Obama wants to treat marijuana like tobacco but not legalize it. Wait, what?
President Barack Obama on Thursday said he wants to treat marijuana like tobacco, which is legal. But, in a bit of a contradiction, he also suggested he opposes marijuana legalization.
In an interview with Kansas City news station KMBC, Obama said states could change their marijuana laws to discourage pot use in the same way tobacco use is discouraged:
As a general matter, I think that we have to separate out legalization — you know, there’s a lot of concern about drug abuse of any sort by our children and the general population — versus the heavy criminalization of non-violent drug offenses. And I think that a lot of states are taking a look to see, do we have proportionality in terms of how we are penalizing the recreational user? We still want to discourage that. But we’ve been able to discourage tobacco, we’ve been able to discourage a lot of other bad things that people do, through a public health approach as opposed to an incarceration approach.
The president drew a key distinction in his comments, which echo previous statements he made to CNN. He appears to support marijuana decriminalization, which would remove criminal penalties, particularly prison time, attached to the drug. But he doesn’t seem to support marijuana legalization, which would remove even misdemeanor penalties, including small fines, and potentially allow retail outlets to sell pot.
There’s an obvious contradiction in Obama’s comments: he vouches for treating marijuana like tobacco, but tobacco isn’t just decriminalized — it’s legal and sold in stores, and excluded from the federal government’s scheduling system, which evaluates drugs for medical value first and abuse potential second.
(VOX, feb 27th)
http://www.vox.com/2015/2/27/8120707/barack-obama-marijuana-legalization
VIDEO: President Obama Breaks Into Tears as He Says Goodbye to Holder
Friday, President Barack Obama spoke at the portrait unveiling ceremony for outgoing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, which led to the commander-in-chief breaking into tears that he wiped away as he finished his remarks.
The president said, “Having good men in a position of power and authority, who are willing to fight for what is right, that is a rare thing, a powerful thing. That’s something that shapes our future in ways we don’t even understand, we don’t always imagine. It made me very proud.”
(breitbart, feb 27th)
http://www.breitbart.com/video/2015/02/27/president-obama-breaks-into-tears-as-he-says-goodbye-to-holder/
Why Silicon Valley is the new revolving door for Obama staffers
In 2004, when Barack Obama was running for the U.S. Senate, he made his first visit to Google’s campus and saw firsthand how a search on the Internet worked. It left such a strong impression that he returned during his first presidential run vowing to protect the industry.
Now, near the end of his administration, the extent of Obama’s commitment to Silicon Valley has become clear. And nowhere is that more evident than net neutrality, an issue where the president pressured the government to pass regulations with major implications for how consumers experience the Internet.
The rules, passed Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission, limit Internet providers from auctioning off the fastest download speeds to the highest bidders, all but ensuring that Web firms — not cable companies — will retain control of what consumers see on their browsers. It marked a major win for Silicon Valley, an industry that has built a close relationship with the president and his staff over the last six years.
The affinity between the White House and the tech industry has enriched Obama’s campaigns through donations, and it has presented lucrative opportunities for staffers who leave for the private sector.
On Thursday, former White House press secretary Jay Carney joined Amazon as its senior vice president for worldwide corporate affairs. Former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe runs policy and strategy for Uber, the car service start-up. And several other former administration officials are peppered throughout Silicon Valley in various positions, lobbying on important policy issues related to taxes, consumer privacy and more.
History may view Obama as the first tech president, a leader who began his term clutching a BlackBerry and in every step along the way has embraced an industry that has evolved into a powerful force in politics and policy. In addition to net neutrality, Obama has supported immigration reforms favored by tech firms such as Facebook, Yahoo and Microsoft and decried by labor unions. He has pushed for patent reforms that Google and Apple have championed. The president even sided with the tech industry — and against dependable Democratic allies in Hollywood — to block a copyright bill in early 2012.
But Obama’s close ties with Silicon Valley have rankled some conservatives and rival businesses, who say tech companies have grown too powerful to go unchecked.
(washington post, feb 27th)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/as-obama-nears-close-of-his-tenure-commitment-to-silicon-valley-is-clear/2015/02/27/3bee8088-bc8e-11e4-bdfa-b8e8f594e6ee_story.html
Obama Judge Invites Repatriated Illegals To Return, Seek US Jobs
President Barack Obama’s government is inviting many repatriated illegal immigrants back to work in the United States under a deal approved approved this week by a federal judge.
The deal was finalized by Obama’s deputies and their ideological allies in the American Civil Liberties Union, via a courtroom negotiation under the supervision of an Obama-app0inted judge.
The deal also provided $700,000 to the ACLU for the lawyers’ fees.
The lawyers had claimed that illegals were unfairly and unlawfully pressured to sign so-called “voluntary return” documents as they were being deported. The illegals should have been invited to fight repatriation via the courts, said the lawyers’ group.
The returned illegals will likely seek jobs sought by Americans and will increase the labor supply, driving down incomes for Americans.
(daily caller, feb 27th)
http://dailycaller.com/2015/02/27/obama-judge-invites-repatriated-illegals-to-return-seek-us-jobs/
Al Sharpton Gets [closed door] Meeting With President
Al Sharpton met with the president of the United States yesterday. "President Obama met with African American civil rights and faith leaders to provide an update on the Administration’s priorities as described in the State of the Union. The meeting was also an opportunity to have a dialogue with the leaders about the issues facing their communities, including criminal justice, education, health care and economic development," the White House announced in a read-out of the meeting.
"The President highlighted the upcoming release of the report by the Task Force on 21st Century Policing, and emphasized the work of the Task Force leading to the report’s creation. The President also spoke about his efforts to work with a broad bipartisan coalition to continue to reform the criminal justice system and the significance of doing so for the country. The President noted the upcoming anniversary of the My Brother’s Keeper Initiative tomorrow and the progress made by the initiative with over 150 elected officials, cities and tribes having accepted the community challenge. The President and leaders also agreed to work together to find ways to strengthen our nation’s voting laws and reduce any barriers that prevent Americans from voting. The leaders in attendance agreed to continue their outreach to their communities and to work with the Administration on its efforts to implement its initiatives."
(weekly standard, feb 27th)
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/al-sharpton-gets-meeting-president_868395.html
CLINTON/BUSH 2016__________________________________
Hillary Clinton Exposed Part 2 – Clinton Foundation Took Millions From Countries That Also Fund ISIS
IF YOU HAVE THE TIME, CHECK OUT THIS ARTICLE. ITS BEYOND INCREDIBLE.
(liberty blitzkrieg, feb 27th)
http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2015/02/26/hilary-clinton-exposed-part-2-clinton-foundation-took-millions-from-countries-that-also-fund-isis/
Clinton foundation received up to $81m from clients of controversial HSBC bank
Leaked files from HSBC’s Swiss banking division reveal the identities of seven donors to the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation with accounts in Geneva.
They include Frank Giustra, a Canadian mining magnate and one of the foundation’s biggest financial backers, and Richard Caring, the British retail magnate who, the bank’s internal records show, used his tax-free Geneva account to transfer $1m into the New York-based foundation.
Hillary Clinton has expressed concern over growing economic inequality in the US and is expected to make the issue a cornerstone of her widely anticipated presidential campaign in 2016. However, political observers are increasingly asking whether the former secretary of state’s focus on wealth inequality sits uncomfortably with the close relationships she and her husband have nurtured with some of the world’s richest individuals.
(guardian, feb 27th)
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/10/hillary-clinton-foundation-donors-hsbc-swiss-bank
Jeb to Booing CPAC Activists: ‘I’m Marking You Down As Neutral’
CPAC activists booed Jeb Bush when Sean Hannity broached the subject of immigration in a Q&A with the former Florida governor, but Bush stood by his perceived conservative heresies on the issue, winning applause as he argued that Americans shouldn’t feel deprived of jobs by incoming immigrants. “For those who made an ‘oo’ sound — is that what it was? — I’m marking you down as neutral and I want to be your second choice,” Bush said, grinning. Asked if he still supports providing driver’s licenses and in-state tuition prices to illegal immigrants, Bush initially demurred. When Hannity circled back to those past stances, he stood by the policies — neither of which passed into law when he was in office — and noted that a conservative state legislature and governor signed an in-state tuition bill into Florida law just this year. Bush said that “first and foremost” the federal government should secure the borders, but emphasized that “there is no plan to deport 11 million people.”
(national review, feb 27th)
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/414577/jeb-booing-cpac-activists-im-marking-you-down-neutral-joel-gehrke
GLOBAL CONFLICTS__________________________________
In Midst of War, Ukraine Becomes Gateway for Jihad
“Our brothers there,” Khalid said when he heard I was going to Ukraine. “Buy a local SIM card when you get there, send me the number and then wait for someone to call you.”
Khalid, who uses a pseudonym, leads the Islamic State’s underground branch in Istanbul. He came from Syria to help control the flood of volunteers arriving in Turkey from all over the world, wanting to join the global jihad. Now, he wanted to put me in touch with Rizvan, a “brother” fighting with Muslims in Ukraine.
The “brothers” are members of ISIS and other underground Islamic organizations, men who have abandoned their own countries and cities. Often using pseudonyms and fake identities, they are working and fighting in the Middle East, Africa and the Caucasus, slipping across borders without visas. Some are fighting to create a new Caliphate — heaven on earth. Others — like Chechens, Kurds and Dagestanis — say they are fighting for freedom, independence and self-determination. They are on every continent, and in almost every country, and now they are in Ukraine, too.
In the West, most look at the war in Ukraine as simply a battle between Russian-backed separatists and the Ukrainian government. But the truth on the ground is now far more complex, particularly when it comes to the volunteer battalions fighting on the side of Ukraine. Ostensibly state-sanctioned, but not necessarily state-controlled, some have been supported by Ukrainian oligarchs, and others by private citizens. Less talked about, however, is the Dudayev battalion, named after the first president of Chechnya, Dzhokhar Dudayev, and founded by Isa Munayev, a Chechen commander who fought in two wars against Russia.
(first look, feb 26th)
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/02/26/midst-war-ukraine-becomes-gateway-europe-jihad/
China has voiced its support for Russia's handling of the Ukraine crisis, with prominent diplomat Qu Xing calling on the West to "abandon its zero-sum mentality".
According to state news agency Xinhua, the Chinese ambassador to Belgium said the West should take "the real security concerns of Russia into consideration".
Qu said the "nature and root cause" of the crisis was the "game" between Russia and western powers the United States and EU, and that a change of approach is required to resolve it.
After nearly a year of relative silence on the subject, China's intervention is striking, not least because it comes just as harsher sanctions against Moscow are being discussed.
(Indepedent, feb 27th)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-crisis-top-chinese-diplomat-backs-putin-says-west-should-abandon-zerosum-mentality-10075762.html
The stage is set for Syrian Invasion
One week ago, when reporting on the latest bizarre plan presented by the Pentagon, namely providing Syrian rebels (but only the moderate ones, not the jihadists like al Nusra, or, well, ISIS) with B-1B Bomber air support in their attacks on ISIS, when we wrote that this “means in the coming weeks and months look forward to a surge in false flag “attacks” blamed on the Assad regime, aiming to give Obama validation to expand the “War against ISIS” to include Syria’s regime as well.”
We didn’t have long to wait: in an entirely unsourced Time article written today by Aryn Baker, the Middle East Bureau Chief, the stage for the second attempt at invading Assad regime is finally set.
The article, titled “Why Bashar Assad Won’t Fight ISIS” is essentially an essay that, as the title suggests “proves” that the Syrian leader is, in fact, quite close with ISIS and derives strategis benefits from his relationship, which is why he won’t attack them, and thus by implication is just as bad as ISIS and worthy of America’s wrath.
How does Baker build up her propaganda? First, she cits a “Sunni businessman who is close to the regime but wants to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions from both ISIS supporters and the regime” and who “trades goods all over the country so his drivers have regular interactions with ISIS supporters and members in Raqqa, the ISIS stronghold in Syria, and in ISIS-controlled areas like Dier-ezzor.” According to this Syrian version of Amazon:
The regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad has long had a pragmatic approach to the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria. Even from the early days the regime purchased fuel from ISIS-controlled oil facilities, and it has maintained that relationship throughout the conflict. “Honestly speaking, the regime has always had dealings with ISIS, out of necessity.”
“Honestly speaking” of course being used quite loosely, considering that it is by now no secret that ISIS, in the words of General Wesley Clark, “got started through funding from our friends and allies“, most notably Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and according to some even the CIA is involved so, no: honestly speaking, if anything, the Assad regime has been doing its best to stay away from ISIS, which at least on paper, was created as a result of extremist Al Nusra factions, who were fighting Assad in 2013, and were funded and weaponized by the US.
Of course, none of that is mentioned. What is, however, duly emphasized is the goalseeked conclusion that Assad and the Islamic State are like two peas in a pod:
Assad does not see ISIS as his primary problem, the businessman says. “The regime fears the Free Syrian Army and the Nusra Front, not ISIS. They [the FSA and Nusra] state their goal is to remove the President. But ISIS doesn’t say that. They have never directly threatened Damascus.” As the businessman notes, the strikes on ISIS targets are minimal. “If the regime were serious about getting rid of ISIS, they would have bombed Raqqa by now. Instead they bomb other cities, where the FSA is strong.” That said, the businessman does not believe that the regime has a formal relationship with ISIS, just a pragmatic one. “The more powerful ISIS grows, the more they are useful for the regime. They make America nervous, and the Americans in turn see the regime as a kind of bulwark against ISIS.”
Actually, the “Americans” see ISIS as the perfect false flag placeholder to build up yet another case about invading Damascus, after the humiliation of the bumbled attempt to use a doctored YouTube clip showing paid actors following what the CIA guaranteed was an Assad “chemical weapon” attack as a pretext to launch an invasion on Syria in the first attempt to topple Assad. It took an escalation that involved numerous Russian ships side by side with US cruisers in the Mediterranean before John Kerry realized that building Qatar’s nat gas pipeline to Europe is not worth rising World War III over, and promptly backed off.
This time, ISIS is the bait.
Back to the Time article, where next we get the next “source” of information:
A senior Western diplomat who specializes in the Syrian civil war agrees that ISIS is seen as an asset by Assad. “They will do whatever it takes to devalue the opposition, even if it means strengthening ISIS. They know that if it comes to choosing between the black flag [of ISIS] and Damascus, the international community will choose Damascus.” And the strategy has worked extremely well. “The way it’s going now, it’s a matter of months, not even a year, that the moderate opposition is so weakened that it won’t be a factor anymore. So in just a few months from now the regime will be able to achieve its strategic goal of forcing the world to choose between Damascus and the black flags.”
Actually, according to that logic, the “international community” will choose both Damascus and the “black flags”, in fact the community will be delighted to have the “flags” as a cover in an invasion, both air, sea and ground, toppling Assad and replacing him with yet another US-puppet regime (whose fate, following such sterling examples as Egypt, Libya and Iraq will be just spectacular), one which will be glad to accept Qatar and Syria hush money, while thousands of kilometers of pipes are laid under the territory in attempt to dethrone Gazprom as the provider of first and last resort to Europe… which as a reminder is what it is all about.
(zero hedge, feb 27th)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-02-26/stage-set-syrian-invasion
‘100yrs to repair Gaza’: Oxfam says blockade remains, aid almost non-existent
Reconstructing Gaza could take an entire century, if Israel doesn’t stop the siege, leading charity Oxfam warned. And that’s just the time frame for essential projects. The NGO’s regional director calls the situation “deplorable.”
A statement was issued by the group on Thursday, six months after the latest conflict, which saw Israel roll out Operation Protective Edge. That brought about eight weeks of bombardment, followed by a devastating ground assault.
Oxfam’s statement outlines how “the situation in Gaza is becoming increasingly desperate” and calling for the lifting of the eight-year blockade, as well as a continuation of peace talks.
“Only an end to the blockade of Gaza will ensure that people can rebuild their lives,” Regional Director Catherine Essoyan said. With it in place, the flow of construction materials in and agricultural produce out is having a crippling effect on the lives of Palestinians.
According to the NGO, new figures reveal a drop last month in construction materials, which are vital to the efforts. “Less than 0.25 percent of the truckloads of essential construction materials needed have entered Gaza in the past three months,” the statement also said.
In pure figures, over 800,000 truckloads of such materials are still required to repair the infrastructure damaged in last summer’s operation alone – Israel’s bloodiest in years – which claimed 2,200 Palestinian lives, most of them civilians.
About 100,000 of these people still live in shelters and other makeshift or temporary accommodation because of this lack of materials.
“Tens of thousands more are living in badly damaged homes,” Oxfam ads.
“Families have been living in homes without roofs, walls or windows for the past six months. Many have just six hours of electricity a day and are without running water. Every day that people are unable to build is putting more lives at risk. It is utterly deplorable that the international community is once again failing the people of Gaza when they need it most,” Essoyan continues.
A further problem concerns food.
“Exports of agricultural produce from Gaza have fallen in the last year to just 2.7 percent of the level before the blockade was imposed. Fishermen are still restricted to an enforced fishing limit of 6 nautical miles – far short of where most fish are – farmers are restricted from accessing much of the most fertile farmland.”
The charity continues to provide water, food vouchers and health services where it can.
In the meantime, no progress has been reached on a diplomatic, long-term solution to the crisis, which was supposed to take effect after the ceasefire.
As the separation between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank persists, people continue to be trapped. The same goes for the border with Egypt, which has been shut for the past two months, preventing thousands from leaving.
The organization also places blame with the Palestinian unity government, which hasn’t been able to reach a consensus and is therefore “exacerbating the situation.”
(russia today, feb 27th)
http://rt.com/news/236023-gaza-rebuild-oxfam-israel/
Poland’s largest farmer uprising ever has occurred as convoys of tractors took to the roads recently in protest of GMO infiltration and land grabs by biotech and Big Ag corporations.
More than 150 farmers blocked roadways and held numerous demonstrations in order to bring attention to the important issue of food sovereignty in Poland. Their focus is a ban on GMOs and a restoration of small farmer’s rights after decades of oppressive health and safety regulations which take rights away from small farms and give them to mono-cropping, poisoning Big Ag mega-companies.
The farmers have been stalwart – refusing to call off their demonstrations until their demands are met. Rallies and demonstrations have littered the country – in over 50 locations. Hundreds are picketing government offices in addition to the road blockades.
In the largest organized farmer’s protest the country has likely ever seen, the farmers are demanding that legislators protect the small farmer from exploitation by monopolizing companies and refuse the sell off of their country’s land to these behemoths. As the farmers point out, once the land is sold, the Big Ag model can’t be stopped, and the land is forever lost.
Read: Record GMO Farmers Switching to NON-GMO Crops in 2015
Until government officials agree to talk with the farming unions, they have vowed to keep up their efforts. Edward Kosmal, chairman of the farmers protest committee for West-Pomeranian Region said:
“We are ready for dialogue. We look forward to meeting with you, Prime Minister, and beginning a comprehensive government commitment to solving the problems of Polish agriculture. If you do not enter into a dialogue with the Union, we will be forced to step up our protests.”
(Infowars, feb 27th)
http://www.infowars.com/hundreds-of-farmers-block-roads-in-protest-of-monsantos-gmo-crops/
Details On An Alleged US-Backed Coup In Venezuela Come To Light
Having tried, and failed, to hamper Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution during Hugo Chavez’s presidency, the United States has intensified its attempts to permanently disrupt the socialist process now headed by Nicolas Maduro.
Funding Venezuela’s opposition and oligarchy — the same tactic the U.S. used to bring down Salvador Allende’s socialist government in Chile — prompted a strong statement from Maduro earlier this month: “As President, I will not permit that Venezuela suffers as Chile did in 1973.”
On Feb. 12, Venezuela’s Telesur reported that the government had thwarted a coup plot involving both civilians and members of the military. As the plot became public knowledge, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez issued a series of tweets pledging the Bolivarian National Armed Forces’ (FANB) loyalty to Maduro and the Bolivarian Revolution.
Since the riots against Maduro’s government started on Feb. 12, 2014, the U.S. has taken great pains to portray the socialist government as infringing upon human rights and attempting to strangle the Venezuelan opposition’s allegedly peaceful protests.
While Maduro has accused Vice President Joe Biden of attempting to instigate the coup, Biden’s office issued a diplomatic response reiterating allegations of human rights violations perpetrated by Maduro’s government: “President Maduro’s accusations are patently false and are clearly part of an effort to distract from the concerning situation in Venezuela, which includes repeated violations of freedom of speech, assembly, and due process.”
(mint press news, feb 27th)
http://www.mintpressnews.com/details-on-an-alleged-us-backed-coup-in-venezuela-come-to-light/202549/
Venezuela’s Military Can Now Legally Use Firearms Against Demonstrators
"Even before firearms were authorized to suppress protests in #Venezuela, there were 43 deaths in February…" one activist notes
Venezuela’s Ministry of Defense has authorized the military to use firearms against demonstrators as a last resort in the demonstrations taking place in the country.
Released through a regulation published in the Official Gazette on 27 January, the measure seeks “to avoid disorder, to support the legitimately constituted authority and to reject any aggression, facing it immediately and with the necessary means”.
While some people supported the measure, opposition politicians, human rights activists and citizens condemned the announcement, especially through social networks
(globalvoicesonline.org, feb 27th)
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2015/02/26/venezuelas-military-can-now-legally-use-firearms-against-demonstrators/
POLICE STATE_______________________________
Shocking! Torture & Murder in America's Black Sites Revealed
(8 min Infowars video report of the protest outside "3379 W. Fillmore St. Chicago, IL", address of the Chicago PD black site)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lBHfN6IpCw“Say ‘Lawyer’ All You Want Motherf****r”: Detainees from Chicago’s Police “Black Site” Speak Out
It was discovered this week that the Chicago Police Department has been operating a secret “black site” facility on the city’s west side.
Inside a warehouse, Homan Square has long been the home to secretive police work. Attorneys as well as protesters, tell a tale of being systematically being denied their constitutional rights while being held.
In an eye-opening report, the Guardian blew the top right off of Pandora’s box, leaving the CPD and their media spin factory backpedaling.
Up until now, if you mentioned that the Chicago police took you to some unmarked warehouse and held you captive with no due process, people would think you were nuts. For this reason, all those who’ve been held in this repugnant secret prison, have been voiceless — until now.
The very night we reported on the Guardian’s discovery, we were contacted by one of CPD’s victims. He was held in this torturous black site not only without due process, but without food and water as well.
Another victim of Chicago’s terrorist apparatus took to Reddit to voice his experience of being inside. In his post, the man who wishes to remain anonymous for obvious reasons, spoke out about his experience inside. He was brought to Homan Square after six heavily armed police officers kicked in his door and kidnapped him for being in possession of a plant that is legal in other parts of the country.
He talks about only asking for his lawyer and not talking about anything else. He explains how this led to the staff of Homan Square replying, “you can say lawyer all you want motherf****r, you won’t see one until tomorrow.”
The anonymous poster goes on to say, “I want to state that I was not tortured, but I did hear another man in the room next to me screaming in pain asking to go to the bathroom and for water.”
The Reddit user’s description of the facility is exactly like the one given to us by a man who we’ll identify as Roger.
Roger contacted us Tuesday night after our report on Homan Square went out. His story is similar to the Reddit poster’s story, but it is far more ominous.
Roger tells us that he was in his father’s house when a swat team burst in to serve a search warrant. During the raid, one of the officers threw a flashbang grenade right by Roger’s son.
According to Roger, police claimed that a “John Doe” had tipped them off that there were drugs and guns in the house.
After searching the residence and finding no drugs nor guns, they took Roger’s father’s $6,000 tax refund which he had a receipt for.
They also took Roger.
Roger explained to the Free Thought Project how he felt on the way to Homan Square. “So they start driving down Roosevelt, they turn on to Kedzie and right onto South Homan. Then, I’m fearing, like what is this? ‘Take me to Area 4. I don’t belong here,’” Roger told the police.
Area 4 is the actual police station, but police didn’t want Roger at an actual police station. They wanted to shake him down first — off the record.
Roger told us about the “FBI and SWAT tanks on the 1st floor” that he saw as they brought him up to the now infamous second floor.
“All the way to the right is where they take people in because they got cages on the second floor. The first floor is where the SWAT and FBI tanks are,” Roger recalls.
“I was held for 24 hours,” Roger said, “My people couldn’t find me because I wasn’t in jail.”
“They kept bringing in pics of old friends of mine asking questions. But I kept to myself. I got no food and no water, and it was hot as hell. I couldn’t sleep and was hungry as hell,” Roger tells the Free Thought Project.
The next day Roger was finally taken to Area Four where he was booked on a possession charge and released. He told us that during the escapade, police put drugs in his pants pocket.
(free thought project, feb 27th)
http://thefreethoughtproject.com/say-lawyer-motherfr-detainees-chicagos-police-black-site-speak/
NYPD Quota Whistle-Blower’s Lawsuit Revived
New York City police officers have free speech rights too, just as long as they talk though civilian channels, the 2nd Circuit ruled Thursday.
The potentially groundbreaking decision allows NYPD Officer Craig Matthews to sue the department for allegedly retaliating against him after he blew the whistle on police quotas in the Bronx, implemented in 2008.
Attorneys for Matthews say the decision could also unmuzzle public employees of all stripes.
Matthews, a 17-year police veteran of the 42nd Precinct, said that he started reporting issues with the policy to his then-commander, Capt. Timothy Brugge, in early 2009.
(Courthouse news, feb 26th)
http://www.courthousenews.com/2015/02/26/nypd-quota-whistle-blowers-lawsuit-revived.htm
Video: Man Falls Asleep On Bus, Cop Pummels And Pepper Sprays Him
Video footage shows a clearly intoxicated Bernard Warren being woken by Officer Raymond Chu of SFPD. Struggling to get Warren to move, the cop becomes impatient and starts pushing Warren.
Warren, clearly not in any state to act as a threat, then tells Chu “Don’t touch me. I could beat your ass,” which immediately sets the officer into thug cop mode.
After shoving Warren off the bus, and watching him stumble away, Chu takes out his baton and charges at the homeless man, cracking him viciously in the back of the legs and sending him to the ground.
Chu then chases Warren out of shot, reportedly beating him four more times before pepper spraying him in the face.
Warren was admitted to hospital with deep bruises on the legs and burns on the face as a result of the pepper spray. Warren was then jailed for TWO WEEKS, and only released when a judge was shown the video footage.
In the police report, Chu blatantly lied, claiming that Warren was acting violent and came at him with clenched fists.
Unsurprisingly SFPD is siding with the officer.
“Force is never a pretty sight and the officer gave orders for Mr. Warren to walk away. The officer’s report is consistent with what we see on the video,” said San Francisco Police Department Sgt. Monica Macdonald.
“Mr Warren was asked/told to leave and he returned several times and he continued to threaten to beat the office which is a crime – which you can see and hear in the video.” Macdonald added.
Warren now faces up to a year in prison on charges of threatening a police officer.
“This sort of force was totally unnecessary. It was completely over the top,” said San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, whose office is representing Warren. “If you find anyone sleeping on a bus, it’s reasonable to wake them up and ask [them] to leave. Sure, but is that reason to beat [someone] down?”
“It was clear Mr. Warren could not have carried out any sort of threat,” Adachi added. “Yet he was incarcerated for over two weeks, at a cost to taxpayers of $150 a day. Now we are dealing with costly court hearings and investigations and legal filings. It is a tremendous waste of resources because an officer lost his temper.”
(infowars, feb 27th)
http://www.infowars.com/video-man-falls-asleep-on-bus-cop-pummels-and-pepper-sprays-him/
For the past year, Braden Bunch with the Sumter County Sheriff’s office says they’ve had a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle or MRAP in their fleet.
“The beauty of having this vehicle here at the sheriff’s office is that while there are other agencies like SLED or what-have-you across the state that have these types of vehicles that could help us respond to certain situations, this gives us a quicker response time,” said Bunch.
(WLTX, feb 26th)
http://www.wltx.com/story/news/2015/02/26/sumter-mrap-training/24085903/
PRIVACY_____________________________
NSA Spying Wins Another Rubber Stamp
A federal court has again renewed an order allowing the National Security Agency to continue its bulk collection of Americans’ phone records, a decision that comes more than a year after President Obama pledged to end the controversial program.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved this week a government request to keep the NSA’s mass surveillance of U.S. phone metadata operating until June 1, coinciding with when the legal authority for the program is set to expire in Congress.
The extension is the fifth of its kind since Obama said he would effectively end the Snowden-exposed program as it currently exists during a major policy speech in January 2014. Obama and senior administration officials have repeatedly insisted that they will not act alone to end the program without Congress.
“While the administration waits for the Congress to act, it has continued to operate the program with … important modifications in place,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement released late Friday.
(national journal, feb 27th)
http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/nsa-spying-wins-another-rubber-stamp-20150227
Why your smartphone records everything you say to it
After controversy earlier this month over televisions recording owners and sending the clips to third parties, smartphone owners are now discovering that companies like Google, Apple and Microsoft are also recording voice commands and storing them for up to two years.
Modern televisions are able to change channels, alter volume or even look up information on films via voice command. But controversy erupted on internet forums earlier this month when it was noticed that the terms and conditions for some such services – invariably skipped over due to their length and impenetrable language – allow companies to send recordings of tricky commands to third parties for interpretation.
Often these recordings are not encrypted, so are potentially vulnerable to hackers, and the recordings will capture personal conversations as easily as legitimate commands.
The privacy policy for South Korean manufacturer Samsung states: “Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party.”
Now frustrated users are discovering that voice commands issued to smartphones are also being recorded and stored. And unlike relatively straightforward commands made to a television, smartphone commands could reveal information on current locations, contacts, calendar entries or finances, making any sharing more sensitive.
(telegraph, feb 27th)
http://www.infowars.com/why-your-smartphone-records-everything-you-say-to-it/
At the newly opened Epicenter office complex in central Stockholm, office workers have been opening doors and operating the photocopier with a chip implanted in their hands.
The radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip is made from Pyrex glass and contains an antenna and microchip, with no need for batteries.
Instead of using identification cards and pass codes, all the staff at companies based in the Swedish tech business incubator Epicentre are using microchips implanted into their hands to get into and around the workplace.
All each member of staff has to do is wave their hand in front of a sensor and the door opens.
(IB times, feb 27th)
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/stockholm-microchipped-office-workers-feel-very-modern-using-hand-implanted-chips-open-doors-1489739
Video: Former NSA Head Heckled After Labeling Himself ‘Unrelenting Libertarian’
Hayden’s statement came shortly after a speech by Fox News Senior Judicial Analyst Judge Andrew Naptolitano in which he repeatedly pointed to the NSA’s unabashed and unconstitutional activities surrounding dragnet surveillance.
“Let’s talk about reality. Let’s talk about facts. The judge is an unrelenting libertarian,” Hayden said to extended applause.
As the crowd continued their positive response, Hayden interrupted by stating that he himself held identical views.
“So am I,” Hayden said to audible confusion. “I’m an unrelenting libertarian who’s also responsible for four decades of his life for another important part of that document, the part that says ‘provide for the common defense.’”
Audience members immediately reacted to the claim with boos and protest, prompting one attendee to shout, “No, you’re not!” as Hayden continued his speech.
(Infowars, feb 27th)
http://www.infowars.com/video-former-nsa-head-heckled-after-labeling-himself-unrelenting-libertarian/
China censorship sweep deletes more than 60,000 Internet accounts
Some of China's largest Internet companies deleted more than 60,000 online accounts because their names did not conform to regulations due to take effect on Sunday, the top Internet regulator said.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Tencent Holdings Ltd, Baidu Inc, Sina Corp affiliate Weibo Corp and other companies deleted the accounts in a cull aimed at "rectifying" online names, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said.
The reasons for their removal included accusations of being misleading, rumor mongering, links to terrorism, or involving violence, pornography and other violations, the CAC said in a statement on its website late on Thursday.
The purge is notable as a step toward China's government locking down control over people's internet account names, an effort which censors have struggled with in the past, despite numerous efforts to introduce controls.
These failed attempts have included trying to force users to register for online services using their real names.
The new regulations, which take on effect March 1 and will also target real-name registration, were issued by the CAC, which was formed last year and given power over all online content, something previously divided between various state ministries.
"Previously, the real-name registration system hasn't really been enforced," said Rogier Creemers, a researcher on Chinese media law at the University of Oxford. "These rules essentially impose a uniform and consolidated system for all online services requiring accounts."
The measure also reflects China's tightening control of the Internet, which has accelerated since President Xi Jinping took power in early 2013.
Weibo, the country's biggest microblog platform, will comply with the regulations and had a dedicated team to handle illegal information, including account names, a spokesman told Reuters.
(Reuters, feb 27th)
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/china-censorship-sweep-deletes-more-60-000-internet-113610173.html
U.S. GOVERNMENT_____________________
A huge bipartisan coalition came together Friday night to approve a one-week funding bill for the Homeland Security Department, preventing a partial government shutdown with just a couple of hours to spare.
Nearly every House Democrat joined most Republicans to pass the measure 357-60 after GOP leaders failed to squeeze out a short-term victory earlier Friday when the chamber rejected a three-week funding bill amid fierce opposition from conservatives, who were angered that the bill didn't include provisions defunding President Obama's immigration executive orders.
Democrats now hope the chamber will get to vote by March 6 on the Senate-passed long-term clean DHS funding bill, though Republican leaders claim no promises have been made on that front. But Speaker John Boehner will still have to cope with fallout from his own GOP troops, who are furious that he has not been able to sufficiently battle back against Obama on a variety of fronts.
(national journal, feb 27th)
http://www.nationaljournal.com/congress/republicans-homeland-security-shutdown-funding-bill-20150227
The IRS’s inspector general confirmed Thursday it is conducting a criminal investigation into how Lois G. Lerner’s emails disappeared, saying it took only two weeks for investigators to find hundreds of tapes the agency’s chief had told Congress were irretrievably destroyed.
Investigators have already scoured 744 backup tapes and gleaned 32,774 unique emails, but just two weeks ago they found an additional 424 tapes that could contain even more Lerner emails, Deputy Inspector General Timothy P. Camus told the House Oversight Committee in a rare late-night hearing meant to look into the status of the investigation.
“There is potential criminal activity,” Mr. Camus said.
He said they have also discovered the hard drives from the IRS’s email servers, but said because the drives are out of synch it’s not clear whether they will be able to recover anything from them.
(washington times, feb 26th)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/26/irs-watchdog-reveals-lois-lerner-missing-emails-no
Justice Department ramps up scrutiny of candidates and independent groups
The Justice Department is stepping up scrutiny of the increasingly cozy ties between candidates and their outside allies, a move that could jolt the freewheeling campaign-finance atmosphere ahead of the 2016 elections.
(washington post, feb 27th)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/justice-department-ramps-up-scrutiny-of-candidates-and-independent-groups/2015/02/27/f28409d8-be8e-11e4-8668-4e7ba8439ca6_story.html
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS____________________________
Walmart Begins to Sell Out of AR-15 Ammo
Panic buying causes shortages after release of ATF proposal to ban bullets
As gun shops report shortages of AR-15 ammunition following the ATF’s proposal to prohibit the sale of steel-tipped 5.56-millimeter bullets, one reader contacted us to report that his local Walmart had sold out of the ammo despite having substantial stocks just two weeks ago.
Yesterday it was revealed that the ATF intends to ban sales of the ammunition, typically used by sports shooters, in the name of protecting law enforcement officers from “the threat posed by ammunition capable of penetrating a protective vest.”
Gun stores immediately reported that people were panic buying cases of the bullets, with Ryan Cook, manager of Eagle Armory in Springfield, noting that suppliers were telling him “there was none available to order”.
It appears as though some Walmart stores are also beginning to sell out of the same ammunition.
Alex Jones Show listener Monte Bosak contacted us to relate how his local Walmart in Anchorage, AK went from having “way too much” of the ammo in question two weeks ago, according to the store clerk, to completely selling out after yesterday’s announcement.
“Two weeks ago, I purchased a thousand rounds of XM855 62 grain green tip ammo at this exact Walmart location for $350,” writes Bosak. “While purchasing, I spoke to the lady who works the gun counter and asked her if she had been selling a lot of it. $350/1k rounds is extremely cheap. She said no they hadn’t been selling much of it, and that they had many pallets in the back… “way too much” as she put it.”
“So that leads us to today (2/26/15) when the Drudge Report broke the story of the impending executive order to ban this specific ammunition. Naturally, I went straight to this Walmart after work to purchase what I could, only to find out that they had “sold out”. I spoke to the same lady behind the counter, and I spoke to a manager. Neither of which could look me square in the eye while telling me they sold out,” adds Bosak, who suspects that Walmart may even have deliberately “pulled their stock of the ammunition.”
“There’s no way possible in my mind that they sold all that ammunition,” writes Bosak.
Walmart has previously faced accusations that it has restricted ammunition sales in accordance with the Obama administration’s gun control agenda, but has denied them every time.
Shortly after the Sandy Hook massacre, reports circulated that the retail giant had stopped ordering ammunition and would not be making more sales in anticipation of expected curbs on the second amendment. Other customers reported that they were told Walmart would not stock ammunition for assault rifles, only for shotguns.
(Infowars, feb 27th)
http://www.infowars.com/report-walmart-begins-to-sell-out-of-ar-15-ammo/
Last quarter, in “This Is What Americans Spent The Most Money On In Q4” we showed that according to the first estimate of Q4 GDP data, the American consumer spent a whopping $20.4 billion in nominal dollars on healthcare, which also resulted in the biggest consumption contribution to GDP in years.
Today, following the first revision of consumer spending, we learn that in the fourth quarter Americans spent even more on healthcare, pushing the total up by $1 billion more, to a whopping $21.4 Bn, or 18% of all spending on goods and services in Q4.
This upward revision on healthcare, of which Obamacare was the primary source of mandatory spending, takes places even as the bulk of the key spending line items were revised lower following the revision.
In any event, the math is clear – the next time anyone asks you what Americans spent their so-called “gas savings” on in Q4, and why retail sales in the end of 2014 (and the start of 2015) were so weak, show them this chart.
(zero hedge, feb 27th)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-02-27/here-what-americans-spent-their-gas-savings
Virginia to Compensate Victims of Eugenics Sterilization Program
Anywhere between 7,300 and 8,300 people sterilized under state-sponsored law
Virginia lawmakers have approved a measure seeking to financially compensate victims of its 50-year long, state-sponsored eugenics sterilization program.
On Thursday, the Virginia General Assembly voted in favor of paying out $25,000 to each of the 11 remaining victims who were forcibly sterilized under the state’s “Eugenical Sterilization Act.”
Passed in 1924, the Act led to the involuntary sterilization of anywhere between 7,300 and 8,300 people until it was repealed in 1974, and is said to have partly inspired Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s dream to create a master race.
Under the Act, leaders of colonies and physicians at mental health institutions across the state identified individuals deemed “undesirable,” “defective” and feeble-minded and made the case to hospital boards to prevent those individuals from having children.
Victims deemed “mentally ill” and “mentally deficient” included those “afflicted with hereditary forms of insanity that are recurrent, idiocy, imbecility, feeble-mindedness or epilepsy,” according to the law.
The law protected the act of sterilizing minorities, poor whites and “mongrels,” people of non-white heritage.
“Often, ‘mongrels’ and ‘worthless’ whites were collected in ‘mountain sweeps.’ This involved a sheriff of a nearby town driving into mountain villages and forcibly removing individuals and taking them to institutions where they would only be released upon submission to sterilization,” according to a report compiled by the University of Vermont.
The proposed sterilization of Virginia resident Carrie Buck, who was deemed “feeble-minded” after having the baby of her rapist, sparked the Supreme Court case of Buck v. Bell in 1927, which established the legitimacy of the practice with the goal of eliminating “defective” individuals.
At the time, Supreme Court Justice Oliver Holmes is said to have remarked that “three generations of imbeciles are enough.”
Attempting to preserve the purity of the “American race,” the wealthy, white Virginia elite paired the Eugenical Sterilization Act with another law, the “Racial Integrity Act,” which made it “unlawful for any white person in [Virginia] to marry any [person] save a white person.” Both acts were passed on the same day.
One victim, Lewis Reynolds, 85, recounted his hardship after being sterilized to the Associated Press, saying his first wife deserted him because of his inability to have kids. Reynolds remarried, but said he and his second wife would sometimes share tears because they could never have children.
Rep. Ben Cline, a Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates and one of the sponsors of the compensation bill, said the time had long come to reimburse afflicted families.
“There was a growing consensus that we needed to act while we still had the opportunity to look these people in the eye and acknowledge the wrong that was committed against them so many years ago,” Cline said.
Virginia wasn’t the only state with a eugenics program.
“Nearly 65,000 Americans were sterilized in 33 states, including more than 20,000 in California alone,” reports the Daily Mail.
The practice of compulsory sterilization hasn’t ended either.
In 2013, it was revealed that doctors working with California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation had sterilized up to 148 women via tubal ligations between the years 2006 and 2010, with 100 more said to have taken place in the late 1990s.
Virginia is the second state to compensate victims of the eugenics program following North Carolina, which passed a similar law in 2013.
(Infowars, feb 27th)
http://www.infowars.com/virginia-to-compensate-victims-of-eugenics-sterilization-program/
Indiana may allow 'baby boxes' for surrendering newborns
On the outside, the metal box looks like an oversized bread container. But what's inside could save an abandoned newborn's life.
The box is actually a newborn incubator, or baby box, and it could be showing up soon at Indiana hospitals, fire stations, churches and selected nonprofits under legislation that would give mothers in crisis a way to surrender their children safely and anonymously.
Indiana could be the first state to allow use of the baby boxes on a broad scale to prevent dangerous abandonments of infants if the bill, which unanimously passed the House this week, clears the state Senate. Republican state Rep. Casey Cox and child-safety advocates say they're unaware of any other states that have considered the issue at the level Indiana has.
Cox says his bill is a natural progression of the "safe haven" laws that exist in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Those give parents a legal way to surrender newborns at hospitals, police stations and other facilities without fear of prosecution so long as the child hasn't been harmed.
Many children, however, never make it that far. Dawn Geras, president of the Save the Abandoned Babies Foundation in Chicago, said safe haven laws have resulted in more than 2,800 safe surrenders since 1999. But more than 1,400 other children have been found illegally abandoned, nearly two-thirds of whom died.
(AP, feb 27th)
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150227/us--baby_boxes-e57413f2de.html
The Vatican on Friday condemned the leaking of documents that according to a media report show a power struggle in the Holy See over economic reforms and excessive expenses by the cardinal charged with carrying them out.
L'Espresso magazine said it had seen minutes of meetings and emails showing mostly Italian cardinals felt that Cardinal George Pell had accumulated too much power.
Pell is an outsider brought by the pope to Rome from Australia to oversee the Vatican's often muddled finances after decades of control by Italians.
Pope Francis was given a mandate by the cardinals who elected him in 2013 to clean up after a series of financial scandals, mostly involving the Vatican bank.
Francis set up the Secretariat for the Economy last year and gave Pell, as its head, broad powers to clean up the Vatican's often troubled and murky finances and bring them in line with international standards.
"Leaking confidential documents to the media in order to stir up polemics and fuel arguments is nothing new but it is always something to be condemned and is illegal," Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said.
Lombardi said it was "normal" to have disagreements on complex financial and legal issues and condemned the article as "undignified and petty" because of its personal attack on Pell. Pell could not be reached for comment.
The "Vatileaks" scandal in 2012, in which the butler of former Pope Benedict, Francis' predecessor, was arrested for leaking the pope's private papers to the media, alleged corruption in the Holy See, something the Vatican denied.
(Reuters, feb 27th)
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/vatican-condemns-leaking-documents-showing-power-struggle-173257318.html
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