Bankocracy

Turkey becomes partner of China, Russia-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

[April 2013] "China, Russia and four Central Asian nations - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - formed the SCO in 2001 as a regional security bloc to fight threats posed by radical Islam and drug trafficking from neighboring Afghanistan. Ankara began talks on joining the EU in 2005 but has only completed one of the 35 policy areas, or 'chapters', every candidate must conclude to be allowed entry due to disagreements largely over the divided island of Cyprus. While China vies with Russia and the West for access to Central Asia's vast natural resources, some analysts view the SCO as a potential counter-balance to NATO." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTurkey becomes partner of China, Russia-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

The Syria Endgame: Strategic Stage in the Pentagon’s Covert War on Iran

"Regime change in Damascus is not the only or main way for the US and its allies to prevent Syria from standing with Iran. Destabilizing Syria and neutralizing it as a failed and divided state is the key. Sectarian fighting is not a haphazard outcome of the instability in Syria, but an assisted project that the US and its allies have steadily fomented with a clear intent to balkanize the Syrian Arab Republic. Regionally, Israel above all other states has a major stake in securing this outcome. The Israelis actually have several publicly available documents, including the Yinon Plan, which outline that the destruction of Syria into a series of smaller sectarian states is one of their strategic objectives." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Syria Endgame: Strategic Stage in the Pentagon’s Covert War on Iran

Mike Gogulski: Is America still a democracy? Who cares? It’s DANGEROUS!

"If you look at the visible signs of how the country has been developing for the last 25 years, the signs of the emergence of a police state are obvious and everywhere. The Department of Homeland Security recently purchased something like one billion rounds of high-powered rifle ammunition. These are not to be used in wars. The US government has just purchased three bullets for every man, woman and child inside the country. When you add to these things the endless American wars that have been going on since 'peace' after World War II, the question becomes: 'Is America a democracy? Who cares? It’s DANGEROUS!'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMike Gogulski: Is America still a democracy? Who cares? It’s DANGEROUS!

Oppose War with Syria

"The war-making power belongs solely to Congress. It cannot be delegated to the Executive Branch, in any blanket way, through any kind of war powers act. If you fail to restrain the President, then you will be complicit in the President’s crimes. His planned actions violate the Constitution. They also break other written laws. This makes them inherently criminal. The President is trying to fix something that cannot be solved by outsiders dropping bombs. This will not protect innocent people. It will kill innocents. Their blood will be on the President’s hands, and on your hands, unless you use your powers to resist. I am doing what I can to resist. I do not want these criminal acts committed in my name." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOppose War with Syria

Obamacare is About to Get More Personal

"Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and a dozen other state attorneys general asked U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to implement more stringent privacy requirements and safeguards on these so-called navigators. Who is in charge of monitoring these navigators? Who will be liable if someone’s identity is stolen? And who is responsible for alerting the American public about fraud prevention? Bondi said that the HHS is making it easier for your private information to fall into the wrong hands by cutting back on employee background checks and eliminating a fingerprinting requirement for navigators and those that work with them." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObamacare is About to Get More Personal

Gun Bill in Missouri Would Test Limits in Nullifying U.S. Law

The Republican-controlled Missouri legislature is expected to enact a statute next month nullifying all federal gun laws in the state and making it a crime for federal agents to enforce them here. A Missourian arrested under federal firearm statutes would even be able to sue the arresting officer. The law amounts to the most far-reaching states’ rights endeavor in the country, the far edge of a growing movement known as 'nullification' in which a state defies federal power. In a letter explaining his veto, Governor Jay Nixon said the federal government’s supremacy over the states’ 'is as logically sound as it is legally well established.' When the legislature gathers again, it will seek to override his veto.

Continue ReadingGun Bill in Missouri Would Test Limits in Nullifying U.S. Law

Obama executive order to kill 110-year-old Civilian Marksmanship Program

"The Civilian Marksmanship Program was administered by the United States Army from 1916 through 1996 when it was changed to the Corporation for the Promotion of Rifle Practice & Firearms Safety, a 501(c) (3) organization federally chartered by the U.S. Congress. There are no data indicating any of the weapons involved in homicide were imported surplus military rifles. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s homicide crime statistics, rifles accounted for only 323 deaths out of 12,664 homicides in 2011, the most recent data set provided by the FBI. The rifles that the Executive Order would affect are typically from U.S. allies and are pre-Vietnam era." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama executive order to kill 110-year-old Civilian Marksmanship Program

Gangs Remain Key Unaddressed Problem in Gun Debate

"Gun homicides are overwhelmingly tied to gang violence. In fact, a staggering 80% of gun homicides are gang-related. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), gang homicides accounted for roughly 8,900 of 11,100 gun murders in both 2010 and 2011. That means that there were just 2,200 non gang-related firearm murders in both years in a country of over 300 million people and 250 million guns. Cities such as Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and New Orleans all have very high per-capita murder rates. Individual police estimates usually find at least 65% and often more than 80% of all murders in those cities are gang-related." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGangs Remain Key Unaddressed Problem in Gun Debate

Harvard Study: No Correlation Between Gun Control and Less Violent Crime

"The authors of the study conclude that the burden of proof rests on those who claim more guns equal more death and violent crime; such proponents should 'at the very least [be able] to show a large number of nations with more guns have more death and that nations that impose stringent gun controls have achieved substantial reductions in criminal violence (or suicide).' But after intense study the authors conclude 'those correlations are not observed when a large number of nations are compared around the world.' In fact, the numbers presented in the Harvard study support the contention that among the nations studied, those with more gun control tend toward higher death rates." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHarvard Study: No Correlation Between Gun Control and Less Violent Crime

Man still “smarting” from police detainment after refusing “smart meter”

"Because this man was the last holdout in this particular Guthrie neighborhood, the Guthrie Police Department sent three officers to the man’s house to protect the OG&E installer, while allegedly detaining the man, echoing a story out of Naperville, Illinois last month where two women were arrested for 'interfering with the installation process.' OK-SAFE, Inc. and Axxiom for Liberty report that the man said he was frisked and handcuffed, and would inexplicably leave no paperwork. This encounter was confirmed by Karen Kurtz, a spokesperson for OG&E. 'We did have police out at that gentleman’s residence,' Kurtz said. 'It wasn’t a show of force at all.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMan still “smarting” from police detainment after refusing “smart meter”