If a person lives long enough, he can watch everyone forget everything they learned.
Everyone includes Federal Reserve Chairmen, economists, Bank of America “strategists,” and even Bloomberg.com.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke thinks he can hold down US long-term interest rates by purchasing mortgage bonds and US Treasuries. Sixty years ago the Federal Reserve understood that this was an impossible feat. After an acrimonious public dispute with the US Treasury, in 1951 the Federal Reserve forced an “Accord” on the government that eliminated the Fed’s obligation to monetize Treasury debt in order to hold down long term interest rates.
President Truman and Treasury Secretary John Snyder wanted to protect World War II bond purchasers by preventing any rise in interest rates, which would mean a decline in the price of the bonds.
The Fed understood that monetizing the debt to hold down interest rates meant loss of control over the money supply. The policy of suppressing interest rates could only work until the financial markets anticipated rising inflation and bid down the bond prices. If the Fed responded by buying more Treasuries, the money supply and inflation would rise faster.
Since Fed Chairman Bernanke announced his plan to purchase $1 trillion in mortgage and Treasury bonds in order to help the housing market with low interest rates, interest rates have risen. When will the Fed remember that printing money does not lower long-term interest rates?
According to Bloomberg (June 3), Bank of America strategists are recommending that investors buy Fannie Mae bonds because the rise in interest rates means the Fed will ramp up its purchases in order to prevent rising interest rates from adversely impacting the struggling housing market. When will financial gurus remember that printing money does not lower interest rates?
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Treasury Secretary Geithner is another economic incompetent. He told China that he stood for a “strong dollar,” but that China should let its currency appreciate relative to the dollar, which, of course, would mean a weaker dollar. He simultaneously told China that their investments in US Treasury bonds were safe.
His Chinese university audience, being economically literate, laughed at Geithner.
It apparently did not dawn on the US Treasury Secretary that if Chinese money is rising in value relative to the US dollar, the value of Chinese investments in dollar-denominated US Treasury bonds is falling.
Congressional Democrats are proving themselves to be as stupid as the Republicans. According to the Associated Press, the Democrats have reached agreement to appropriate another $100 billion to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through the end of the year.
What are the Democrats thinking? The federal budget for this year is already 50% in the red. Why add another $100 billion to the red ink, which has to be monetized, thus causing inflation, higher interest rates, and a weaker dollar.
The red ink that Washington is generating is a far greater threat to Americans than any foreign “enemies.”
The hubris is extraordinary. A bankrupt government that has to send its Treasury Secretary begging to China thinks it can spend limitless amounts in a futile effort to control the culture, mores, and political system of distant Afghanistan.
Former US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld could soon be in trouble for the role he played in human rights abuses committed in the Guantanamo prison, a United Nations expert said.
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“In a year or two, his responsibilities will be established. Wherever he goes, he will face difficulties,” Leandro Despouy, who is Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, said in Geneva today.
A US bipartisan Senate report released late last year found Mr Rumsfeld and other top administration officials responsible for abuse of Guantanamo detainees in US custody.
It said Mr Rumsfeld authorised harsh interrogation techniques on December 2, 2002 at the Guantanamo prison, although he ruled them out a month later.
Mr Despouy said the “strong resistance” put forward by the former US administration to current US president Barack Obama’s decision to close the detention centre has nothing to do with the officially cited reason of “national security” considerations.
Rather they are fearful that they may be taken to task once the detention centre is closed, said Mr Despouy.
A new infectious disease is spreading in large areas of Mainland China. Symptoms are similar to AIDS but it spreads faster between family members, even via bodily fluids like saliva. Here is more on this story.
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Mr. Lin from Yunnan Province caught a disease last May, unlike anything he had seen before.
[Mr. Lin, Yunnan Resident]: (quote1, male):
“This disease destroys immunity cells just like AIDS. The lowest amount of immunity cells of some patients is only 200, mine is 400. The doctor couldn’t find many antibodies, so he called it ‘Fear of AIDS’ disease.”
Preliminary research shows that patients have symptoms of fatigue, chronic diarrhea, swollen lymph nodes, and weakened immunity. But doctors cannot find any sign of the HIV virus.
[Mr. Xue, Hunan Resident]: (quote2, male):
“A huge number of people caught the nameless virus but the doctors cannot make a thorough check. So they make a conclusion that it’s a ‘Fear of AIDS’ disease. The symptoms are very much like those of AIDS.”
Because the Chinese Ministry of Health doesn’t recognize the disease, it has not carried out any investigation. However, patients feel very horrified and sad when they see their family members and friends become infected by coming into contact with their saliva or sweat.
[Mr. Chen, Shanghai Resident]: (quote3,male):
“We hope that media reports can pressure the relevant departments to pay more attention to the disease. Do not make any irresponsible conclusions and say it is caused by fear or psychological effect it is a real virus. Many doctors, including doctors from Beijing also say this is an infectious disease.”
Doctors from mainland China also believe patients might catch the disease. However, the exact number of people infected remains unknown and what the mortality rate is, and how many have died from it.
Officers are targeting children as young as 10 with the aim of placing their DNA profiles on the national database to improve their chances of solving crimes, it is claimed.
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The alleged practice is also described as part of a “long-term crime prevention strategy” to dissuade youths from committing offences in the future.
The claim comes amid widespread criticism of government proposals to store DNA profiles of innocent people, including some children, on the database for up to 12 years.
Civil liberty campaigners have condemned the tactic of as “diabolical” and said it showed contempt for children’s freedom.
A Metropolitan Police officer made the claims after figures were released showing that 386 under-18s had their DNA taken and stored by police last year in Camden, north London.
The officer said: “Have we got targets for young people who have not been arrested yet? The answer is yes. But we are not just waiting outside schools to pick them up, we are acting on intelligence.
Counterterrorism officials have stated that they believe “Al Qaeda” terrorists are seeking to align themselves with anti-government groups in the US in order to carry out mass casualty attacks.
The suggestion dovetails with recent Department of Homeland security documents that equate with violent terrorists those who champion States’ rights over the authority of the Federal government.
“Al Qaeda is looking to exploit weaknesses in U.S. border security and also is willing to ally itself with white militia groups or other anti-government entities interested in carrying out an attack inside the United States, according to counterterrorism officials…” a report by The Washington Times states.
The officials, who spoke only on the condition they not be named, have pointed to a grainy video, first aired by the Arabic news network Al Jazeera in February, of supposed veteran Al Qaeda recruiter Abdullah al-Nafisi saying that the terrorists should essentially hook up with disgruntled militia groups in the US.
“These militias even think about bombing nuclear plants within the U.S.,” al-Nafisi is quoted as saying. “May God grant them success, even though we are not white, or even close to it, right? They have plans to bomb the nuclear plant at Lake Michigan. This plant is very important. … May God grant success to one of these militia leaders, who is thinking about bombing this plant. I believe that we should devote part of our prayers to him.”
al-Nafisi also suggests that biological weapons, capable of killing hundreds of thousands, could be smuggled into the US through tunnels under the Mexican border.
Given that the government has made it clear that it sees little difference between white supremacist groups and Americans who still believe in the first and second amendments, this does not bode well.
Of course, there is no actual evidence that any militia group is plotting to blow up nuclear plants or is in league with Al-CIA-da, neither is there any credible evidence that the phantom terrorist group has the capability to carry out a mass biological attack.
No matter, what this does is continue to set the precedent for the authorities to blame the next major attack on those that disagree with their policies and the actions in the name of fighting the “war on terror”.
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From the reports of “White Al Qaeda” to “homegrown terrorists”, we have seen the emergence of an ongoing agenda to foment some kind of connection between foreign terrorists hell bent on attacking and killing Americans, and US citizens protesting and speaking out against the erosion of their constitutional rights. The prime example of this is the recently leaked DHS report, entitled Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment (PDF link).
The document characterizes concerns about the economy, unemployment, the loss of U.S. sovereignty and the move towards global government as “rightwing extremist chatter on the Internet” which itself is defined as a potential tool for terrorists to network, build bombs, and send encrypted messages to each other.
It also lists gun owners, veterans, and those opposed to abortion or immigration as potential extremists.
A footnote attached to the report by the Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis defines “rightwing extremism in the United States” as including not just racist or hate groups, but also groups that reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority.
Republican Representatives have demanded answers from the Department of Homeland Security over the origins of the report. Their demands remain unanswered.
A further disturbing DHS security document emerged last month. Entitled “Domestic Extremism Lexicon”, it shockingly lists the “alternative media” with other radical extremist groups and implies that people who disagree with the mass media’s version of events are potential domestic terrorists.
These reports exist in addition to countless other documents, such as the MIAC report, intended to train police nationwide that supporters of presidential candidates Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin, and Bob Barr are “militia” influenced terrorists.
The singling out in this way of Americans who merely talk about the U.S. constitution, the loss of national sovereignty or the erosion of the Bill of Rights, should act as a wake-up call and prompt more people to expose the tyranny unfolding before their eyes.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that the nations of the Middle East shared a “deep hatred” of the United States.
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His latest salvo against Iran’s arch-foe came as US President Barack Obama arrived in Cairo to deliver a much-heralded address to the Muslim world in a bid to heal a wide breach between America and Islam.
Khamenei spoke on the occasion of the 20th death anniversary of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led a revolution in 1979 that toppled the US-backed shah and established an Islamic republic.
“The nations in the region hate the United States from the bottom of their hearts because they have seen violence, military intervention and discrimination,” Khamenei said at the mausoleum of Khomeini.
“The new US government seeks to transform this image. I say firmly, that this will not be achieved by talking, speech and slogans.
Ross Colvin and David Alexander
Reuters
June 4, 2009
President Barack Obama called for a “new beginning” in relations between the United States and the Muslim world Thursday, addressing grievances over the Arab-Israeli conflict, two U.S.-led wars and tensions over Iran.
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Speaking to the world’s more than 1 billion Muslims from Cairo, Obama pledged to pursue Palestinian statehood, said U.S. troops did not want to stay in Iraq or Afghanistan forever and offered mutual respect in dealings with long-time foe, Tehran.
His keynote speech, occasionally interrupted by shouts of “we love you,” was welcomed by some for its fresh tone after George W. Bush’s departure even as others expressed frustration that he did not outline specific steps to change U.S. policy.
“We meet at a time of tension between the United States and Muslims around the world — tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate,” Obama said in the address that included quoting Islam’s holy book, the Koran.
According to The Washington Times, U.S. counterterrorism officials have “authenticated” a video by a supposed al-Qaeda recruiter who claims he has the ability to smuggle a biological weapon into the United States via tunnels under the Mexico border. In the video, Abdullah al-Nafisi also suggests that al-Qaeda might want to collaborate with “members of native U.S. white supremacist militias who hate the federal government.”
The Department of Homeland Security’s “Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment” document conflates “white supremacists” with the militia movement, advocates of the Second Amendment, activists opposed to illegal immigration, and other loosely defined “antigovernment” groups. The Strategic Analysis Group, Homeland Environment and Threat Analysis Division of the DHS created the document during the Bush administration and it was revived by the incoming the Obama administration. Veterans in particular took exception to the report because it claims “returning military veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have joined extremist groups.”
The Abdullah al-Nafisi “recruitment” video first surfaced on the Arabic news network Al Jazeera in February and was later posted on several web sites. It was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the notorious disinformation outfit linked to Israeli intelligence. Mossad and the IDF are infamous for planting stories in the media and engaging in psychological warfare.
MEMRI concentrates primarily on discrediting Palestinian and Arab nationalists and was co-founded by the neocon Meyrav Wurmser (married to David Wurmser, Cheney’s Principal Deputy Assistant for National Security Affairs) and Colonel Yigal Carmon, formerly of Israeli military intelligence. “Besides Carmon, several MEMRI staffers are former Israeli intelligence specialists. Especially troubling are suspected links between MEMRI and the current Israeli intelligence establishment,” Lawrence Swaim of InFocus wrote in 2007.
“MEMRI is a main arm of Israeli propaganda,” explains professor Norman G. Finkelstein, a well-known scholar on Israel and Palestine. It is “a Mossad operation pretending to be a media translation service.” Vince Cannistraro, a former CIA case officer, says “they (MEMRI) are selective and act as propagandists for their political point of view, which is the extreme-right of Likud.”
The group receives funding from the usual neocon suspects, including the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, the Randolph Foundation, and the John M. Olin Foundation. In addition to the MEMRI propaganda effort, these foundations also fund the American Enterprise Institute, the Project for the New American Century, and importantly the Council on Foreign Relations. MEMRI has threatened to use “SLAPP” (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) against critics, most notably the journalist Juan Cole.
Sean Smith, a spokesman for Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, said the U.S. takes the Abdullah al-Nafisi “recruitment” video seriously. “We can never stop being vigilant while there are individuals who seek to do harm on the American people,” he said.
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“In the US, there are more than 300,000 white militia members, who are calling to attack the federal government in Washington, and to banish the Arabs, the Jews, and the negroes [sic] from the US. These are racist people. They are called ‘rednecks.’ The Ku Klux Klan. They are racists,” al-Nafisi declares in a MEMRI translation. “These militias even think about bombing nuclear plants within the US. May Allah grant them success, even though we are not white, or even close to it, right? They have plans to bomb the nuclear plant at Lake Michigan. This plant is very important. It supplies electricity to all of North Africa [sic]. May Allah grant success to one of these militia leaders, who is thinking about bombing this plant. I believe that we should devote part of our prayers to him. We should pray that Allah grants him success, so he can complete this mission, and we will be able to visit him and congratulate him, Allah willing.”
Abdallah al-Nafisi’s ludicrous assertion that militia members plan to bomb U.S. nuclear plants echoes the DHS claim that the militias are dangerous and recruiting returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to engage in “antigovernment” violence by playing on “several emergent issues,” including a racist hatred of “the first African American president” and a faltering economy.
A Google search of al-Nafisi’s claim that “white supremacists” allegedly aligned with the militia movement plan to blow up U.S. nuclear plants does not return any results.
The Arab newspaper Al-Ahram has connected al-Nafisi to the Muslim Brotherhood. The “Muslim Brotherhood was created, infiltrated, or at least promoted by British Intelligence,” writes Peter D. Goodgame (The Globalists and the Islamists: Fomenting the “Clash of Civilizations” for a New World Order). In addition, the CIA funded the Muslim Brotherhood as a wedge against Arab nationalism, specifically against Gamal Abddul Nasser’s nationalist policies in Egypt (see Robert Baer, Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude, and Robert Dreyfuss, Devil’s Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam).
It is now a well-documented fact that al-Qaeda is a western intelligence operation. For a detailed explanation on how the CIA, in collaboration with Pakistan’s ISI, created the al-Qaeda myth, see Norm Dixon’s How the CIA created Osama bin Laden. The current president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, told NBC’s David Gregory last month that Osama bin Laden was an “operator” for the United States. Zardari’s claim was all but ignored by the corporate media.
“The truth is, there is no Islamic army or terrorist group called Al Qaida,” said British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook. “And any informed intelligence officer knows this. But there is a propaganda campaign to make the public believe in the presence of an identified entity representing the ‘devil’ only in order to drive the TV watcher to accept a unified international leadership for a war against terrorism. The country behind this propaganda is the US.”
In January of 2008, the al-Qaeda myth expanded to include the cooked up specter of a “white al-Qaeda.” According to the Scotsman, al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen have converted white non-Muslims. “The trend is well established in the United States. American-born Adam Gadahn is one of the FBI’s top 10 most-wanted terrorists after converting to Islam and rising through al-Qaeda’s ranks to become a prominent spokesman.” Fox News amplified this phony threat. “If they can recruit a Scandinavian, that’s the holy grail for them.” Mike Baker, a former CIA agent and professional counter-terrorism expert, told Fox. “They need people who can move around freely and do their bidding.”
Now we are told al-Qaeda may collaborate with “white supremacists” and unleash an anthrax attack on the White House lawn. It remains to be seen if the lunatic ravings of Abdullah al-Nafisi — a probable intelligence asset — will be incorporated in the emerging DHS fairy tale designed to discredit and criminalize legitimate activism in the United States.
Fox has launched a propaganda campaign on the phony threat (see video above). Glenn Beck says he has talked about the “threat” supposedly posed by “white supremacist militias” for some time. In late 2007, Beck and guest David Horowitz — a virulent Muslim hater and Zionist shill — characterized “Ron Paul supporters, libertarians and the anti-war left as terrorist sympathizers and inferred that the U.S. military should be used to silence them, parroting a talking point that traces back to a September 2006 White House directive,” according to Paul Joseph Watson. “I think it’s very significant he (Ron Paul) chose Guy Fawkes as an image,” said Horowitz. Ron Paul never made the comparison.
If the comments of DHS spokesman Sean Smith are to be taken at face value, the government is already in the process of rolling MEMRI’s blatant propaganda into the effort to characterize activism as a dire threat to the homeland.
PortalScape 