Deadly Parasitic Quadrillion Dollar Derivatives

The opening of a canal in 1848 led to the birth of modern financial derivatives, and the early demise of some of the men who traded them according to Michael Durbin, author of the article, Death by Deriviatives, a damned interesting read.

Ever since 1848, when speculators--or “plungers” as they were then known--at the Chicago Board of Trade, where traders negotiated contracts for the future sale of wheat and other such goods, derivative traders have been very busy creating an intricate web of deceit. Derivative trades have grown exponentially. The scale of today’s unregulated,  off-balance sheet derivatives market, now measured in quadrillions of dollars, is too vast to comprehend as it defies anything on a human scale. It is larger than the entire global economy! How can that be? Derivative traders, essentially gamblers, can bet as much as they want. They can bet money they don’t have.

It's not only almost impossible to wrap our heads around such meaningless numbers; it is impossible to understand the sophisticated software that makes the derivative market the boundless and incomprehensible behemoth, or  mountain of "financial weapons of mass destruction" that it is.
That's because high frequency trading software executes thousands of bets per second on the future prices of everything and/or anything you can possibly think of.  Thousands of bets per second? The human mind cannot do thousands of anything per second. Not to mention, the overly complicated financial instruments--investments in investments, bets about bets--that are so complex that the "quants," the alchemists of Wall Street, themselves, the ones who designed them in the first place, can't explain or even begin to unravel.

Make no mistake, buying derivatives is not investing in anything. Not only do derivatives create nothing, they only serve to enrich-parasites- NON-producers at the expense of the people who do create real goods and services. So thank you, Alan Greenspan, for obeying your puppet-masters and legitimizing and actively promoting a huge black hole that, as far as I'm concerned, ONLY exists-black holes, that is- as an evil construct to transfer the real wealth of the people to our ruling elite.

Please, keep in mind the derivatives bubble was at the heart of the financial crash in the 2008 and the only thing that's changed since 2008 is that this huge bubble had grown exponentially.  97% of derivatives are held by the five largest, too big to fail commercial banks: JPMorgan, Bank America, Citibank, Wachovia, and HSBC. In other words, the powers that be not only refuse to put out the proverbial fire that burns beneath the financial industry that crashed our economy in 2008 they're fueling it for all its worth.

 The bottom line: it's a misleading thing to pretend that this amount of money actually exists in anything but the ever-shifting virtual world of  bits and bytes. However, the all-powerful and ever-mysterious they know the mind-blowing numbers they throw at us will...well, blow our minds and isn't that the point?

Ironically something which was created to supposedly manage risk has instead risked our ability to manage anything at all.

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Unwarranted Jurisdiction Over US? 16th Amendment and Constitutional Income.

Have We the People "elected" to leave the jurisdiction of the Constitution?  Into a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, such as a corporate reality?   If so, to be sure, we elected to do this without knowing what we were doing. 

The ratification of the 16th amendment was one of the biggest issues  in 1913 because the American people thought this federal income tax would tax the accumulated wealth of the country: basically what the Vanderbilt’s, Rockefellers, and the Morgan’s, etc--those few people who benefited from the Industrial Revolution and the monopolization of American industry-- owned,  the millions of dollars in bonds and investment on Wall Street that were generating enormous income. That and only that income  was supposed to be taxed and the American people were all for it.

In other words, the purpose of the 16th amendment was to bring tax relief to working class wage earners by taxing the top 2% (at the time, a single person making over $3,000 year or a married couple making $4,000 year.  Remember the average working family made $450 year).

So how did we go from the top 2% paying income tax to the bottom 95% paying the majority of income tax?   Well, the answer lies in who wrote the amendment, Senator Nelson W. Aldrich married to a Rockefeller, and how it was written, in vague language that could be manipulated later. And let's not forget the creation of the Federal Reserve system which, since that time has seen the value of the dollar fall by more than 98%.

Through  manipulation of the word income, and the tinkering of jurisdictional boundaries,  more and more of us were incorporated into the taxable bracket: bracket creep. However, the income tax is an indirect tax determined in the case of Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad, which means that it only taxes income that is discretionary, whereas a direct tax taxes our labor, wages and salaries, our very existence.

“In briefs and argument before the Supreme Court in the case of Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad, both Brushaber and the Government claimed that the 16th Amendment provided for a direct tax exempted from the Constitutional apportionment rule. The High Court called this claim an "erroneous assumption...wholly without foundation." Constitutional Income: Do You Have Any? by Phil Hart pp. 204-210.

The courts are not going to unravel this web of deceit because the supreme court refuses to take cases that would clarify jurisdiction and meanings related to our convoluted tax system.

Source:

In the thoroughly researched book (19,000 pages of statutes and regulations)  Constitutional Income: Do You Have Any? by Phil Hart you will read about the intent and the constitutional underpinnings of the Sixteenth Amendment, the Income Tax Amendment and how the American people are being taking advantage of by our government through making the average person pay taxes on money that is not legally taxable.

Clubb, John Scott. "The new man on the job" 1913.
From the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog Collection:
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3b30704/

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Civilian Deaths from US Drone Attacks Much Higher than Reported

Transcript:

Paul Jay, Senior Editor, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Paul Jay in Baltimore. And welcome to this week's edition of The Porter Report with investigative journalist and historian Gareth Porter. Thanks for joining us, Gareth.

Gareth Porter, Investigative Reporter: Hi, Paul. Glad to be back again.

JAY: So what have you been working on this week?

PORTER: Well, this week I - over the weekend I just published a major investigative report on the real level of civilian casualties in U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan, as based on the actual data gathered by a Pakistani lawyer for the families of the victims of drone strikes, and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in London based on their interviews with eyewitnesses and others in the areas where the strikes take place. This is really the first effort to come up with a set of data that can be compared with the data that's been published by the New America Foundation on its website, something they call "Year of the Drone", which keeps track of every strike that is covered in the news media and keeps a running tally on casualties. And so what we can do now is see that the New America Foundation has been systematically underestimating or underplaying, underreporting the number of civilian casualties in the U.S. drone war in Pakistan over the past three years.

JAY: And what are the numbers that now - that you think are correct?

PORTER: Well, the numbers - there are a lot of numbers my piece, and in order to really boil this down to the simplest terms, what I've done is to combine all of these strikes in 24 - the data on all the strikes in 24 cases, which involved 11 strikes which the Pakistani lawyer Shahzad Akbar gathered material on and 13 strikes on which the Bureau of Investigative Journalism gathered material. And combining all that data, what we find is that the number of - the proportion, I should say, of the civilian casualties and the total casualties which was reported by the New America Foundation as being 38 percent in these 24 strikes is in fact 70 percent.That's a huge difference, an 84 percent increase in the proportion of civilians in those casualties reported in these 24 strikes. So it's really quite a major revelation. It's a major reversal, because previously civilian casualties were being reported as a fairly - certainly much less than 50 percent, and now they're much more than 50 percent of the casualties in this set of 24 strikes.

JAY: And of course that's leading to increased outrage in Pakistan.

PORTER: Well, definitely. I mean, these strikes, everybody understands that - I mean, no one denies that the drone war in Pakistan has created enormous anti-American sentiment throughout the country. And particularly, of course, in the areas where the strikes have taken place, they generate not just anger, but I think it's generally agreed that the Taliban and al-Qaeda and other groups have been able to generate more enthusiasm for support for the jihadist sentiment that they represent. So, I mean, it's - by every measure that is available, there's no question that these strikes are doing precisely the opposite of what they're supposed to do, which is allegedly to weaken the al-Qaeda hold on the territory, like North and South Waziristan, where the strikes are taking place.And what we can say, really, you know, it seems to me, is that this new set of data underlines more clearly than ever before that what's really going on is that U.S. policy on the drone war is not being guided by any objective assessment of U.S. interests, security interests or any other interests; it's being guided by the bureaucratic interests of the CIA, which is, of course, responsible for the drone war in Pakistan and elsewhere, and which has a vested interest in keeping this war going because their budget, their manpower, their mission has been built up for the past few years around the drone war in Pakistan in particular.

JAY: And in today's, Monday's Guardian, Glenn Greenwald writes that the U.S. is actually using what they call a sort of double tap - in other words, essentially, a second strike after the first drone strike, deliberately targeting rescuers, which one would think has to enhance or increase the possibilities of killing civilians.

PORTER: Right. And let me make it clear that the 13 strikes that I talked about having been researched by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism were all strikes which are precisely the ones that you were talking about. They're strikes that are targeted against either mourners at funerals of victims of previous drone strikes or striking at the rescuers of people who have been either killed or wounded in previous drone strikes. So, obviously, this is a very important category of drone strikes. And what we find is that the percentage of civilians (again, in the strikes that the Bureau of Investigative Journalism researched, based on local context, eyewitnesses and others) was much higher. It was roughly twice as high as it had been reported by the New America Foundation.

JAY: Right. And what else have you been following this week? I know you've been - written not very long ago about the debate in Israel over attacking Iran.

PORTER: Right. The story that I published last week for IPS was a story that looks at two particular interviews that were apparently given by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, in which - in the first one, on August 10, he suggests, well, what we really want, what the Netanyahu government really wants is for the United States to say publicly that if the Iranians don't shut down their nuclear program, the United States will simply destroy their entire program next spring. But he said, well, we really can't expect the Americans to do that; that's not the way things work; they can't really commit themselves to something that would be in the next administration.So then five days later, on August 15, another interview, which has all the earmarks of an Ehud Barak interview as well (they don't identify him in either one of these two interviews), says that what Israel is ready to do is to reconsider, quote-unquote, its unilateral military option of striking against Iran. If the Obama administration would simply do a couple of things, one, reiterate what Obama said in his AIPAC speech, that Israel has the right of self-defense and that the United States will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, and then, more importantly and critically, associate the United States with the Israeli red line rather than the previous Obama red line, which is that Iran may not have the capability to have a nuclear weapon, that is, the technical capability, rather than actually make the key move, which intelligence would interpret as a sign that Iran is moving toward weaponization - those are two very different red lines. And what they want - .

JAY: Yeah, the Americans keep saying over and over again there's been no decision to go ahead with a weapons program. But Israel is saying that's not enough; we don't even want them to be in a position to make such a decision.

PORTER: Exactly. And the Israelis do not disagree with that intelligence finding. It's very clear that they agree with it. And what they're saying now is that nevertheless they want the United States to say, in effect, that the U.S. will attack Iran if the Iranians continue along the line of continuing to build up their uranium enrichment capabilities.

JAY: And I feel like we can't ever discuss this without reminding everyone that Israel has probably hundreds of nuclear weapons. And I guess one can draw one's own conclusions about the hypocrisy of all of this. But you and I have discussed - . Sorry. Go ahead, Gareth.

PORTER: It's not just hypocrisy. It's also, I think - the point I was trying to make in this article and previous articles is that the Israeli threat, such as it is, because it's not an explicit threat to attack Iran, but the suggestion that the Netanyahu government is seriously considering an attack on Iran in the future is really not serious. This has been, all along, a way of leveraging pressure on the United States and other countries to do more, and specifically in the case of the United States to try to push the U.S. in the direction of the demand which was outlined in that second - well, in both of those interviews that I mentioned.

JAY: Right. And you and I have talked about this before, but again, I think it bears saying again. And while all this debate and attention is on the issue of will Israel attack or not - and, of course, that's of great significance, but there's a real economic war against Iran already going on at a time when U.S. intelligence says there's no weapons program. And the sanctions are certainly a form of economic warfare.

PORTER: They are an economic warfare. And how effective they will be is still an open question very hotly debated both in Washington and elsewhere. Some people believe that the Iranians will certainly cave eventually. Maybe so, but one of the stories that has come out this week which I think is very important for people to understand is that the Iraqi government, the one that the United States put into power through its occupation of Iraq, is now being found to help Iran greatly to get around the U.S. sanctions. And this is only one of the ways in which Iran has been able to do so. So it's not at all a black-and-white case, to say the least.

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Veterans Stabbed in the Back with Secret Code Numbers that Stigmatize.

Every veteran knows what a DD-214 - discharge papers - is; it's their passport to civil life. However, it's the rare veteran who knows what a "spin code" - a false & stigmatizing secret coded number - is, of which, a veteran only has 5 years from the time of discharge, to correct (5-year statute of limitations).  But, how can one correct something they don't know exists? Moreover, why is it vital for veterans to know, and correct if wrong? Read on, and/or watch the video below.

What is the SPN/SDN (Separation Program Number) # or "spin code"? After 1980, SPN-123 changed to alphabetical, (SPD-XYZ).

On June 11, 1956, the D.O.D. ordered the military departments to begin putting a coded number on DD-214 document, which potential employers, banks...you name it, access for reference.  The code is assigned to every veteran upon being discharged from military service. This code number can say very derogatory things such as: "bed-wetter", "paranoid schizophrenic", "repeated VD", "character and behavior disorders", "unsanitary habits", "unsatisfactory handling of personal affairs" etc. despite the number of medals awarded, or that a veteran has an honorable discharge.  One of the most popular codes was SPN-265 or SDN-265, which says, unsuitability, character & behavior disorders.

"There were 5 main categories; unsuitability, unfitness, misconduct, homosexual, or, any reason based upon mental or moral issues. Then under each category, they piled on a bunch of numbers and meanings. i.e. SPN-384, Drug Abuse, Marijuana or Heroin. And get this, those veterans who signed up for "DRUG AMNESTY" you got a code number, SPN-384...you got no amnesty!"

These secret code numbers that classified veterans, branding, or black-listing a large segment of former military veterans from bank loans, employment, life insurance policies, etc., not to mention, a system that sets up dummy accounts to siphon of (steal billions of dollars) into hidden slush funds, despite the courts declaring it illegal, is still in practice today.  Our government is above the law, obviously.

The list to interpret these code numbers were/are distributed throughout corporate America, and corporations do not look past that code number when determining whether a veteran is eligible for employment.

Why are there are so many homeless Vietnam veterans, in particular? In the 1960s, 8 out of 10 veterans had a derogatory code on their DD-214. As of 1977, nearly 20 million veterans had a coded number.

Who? Why? How? Where? When? 


Who? Edwin H. Crosby III (tells his amazing story in the video below), accidentally stumbled upon this scheme while watching Walter Cronkite deliver the news in 1974. Why?  He found out that even though he had an honorable discharge, he was falsely stigmatized as "unsatisfactory handling of personal affairs". Where? How? He filed lawsuit in U.S. Federal Court, N.D. N.Y. Syracuse in January 1976, amended March 1976. This lawsuit had to do with false and stigmatizing coded number placed upon his person without his knowledge, known as a SPN code. Lawsuit went to U.S. Supreme Court on Special Order A-393 (that is the 393rd special order since this nation started)

Crosby has met with then Senator Joe Biden, and  Senator John McCain. McCain, after promising to look into the matter, never did.  In fact, he literally ran away from Crosby when he went to his office, in person, to question McCain's refusal to do what he had promised.

Almost 40-years later, he is still fighting the battle to not only expose this fraud, but to correct this egregious injustice. Thanks to an April 2007 video, shortly thereafter, the V.A. admitted to shredding millions of documents at 42 of 57 Regional Offices.

Currently, Crosby has filed another lawsuit against the VA

On JUNE 28, 2012, in U.S. District Court, Boise, Idaho, a lawsuit was re-filed per U.S. 9th Circuit request. (case No: 12-330-CV LMB) This is a class action lawsuit against the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, the DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, and, SECRETARY of VETERANS AFFAIRS ERIC K. SHINSEKI.

The Complaint alludes to the following; Deprivation of Civil Rights, Intentional Infliction of Emotional and Physical Distress, Deprivation of Due Process and Tampering with, Obfuscation of Official Records, and, Defamation of Character, Libel, Slander, Medical Malpractice and Wrongful Death.

In a nut shell, any Veteran who has had trouble with the V.A. Medical System or, the numerous V.A. Regional Offices may JOIN this lawsuit. In less than one(1) month, we have had well over 100 JOIN. Clearly, we welcome those widows who have lost a husband via “ wrongful death “ at the hands of V.A. Medical Personnel.

For those interested in READING the full legal brief, you may go to this LINK; www.veterancourtcodes.com whereupon said BRIEF is right on the front page of this website for ALL veterans and concerned citizens to view.

If you want to join the lawsuit, download the Joinder Notice here.

Make three copies, keep one for your records, sign two copies in the presence of a notary and send the two notarized copies to the address on the form.  Read over the lawsuit carefully and start to gather the evidence for your own part of the case.

Any vet with a general or better discharge who is service-connected with the VA or who has filed a claim in the past for service connection has good cause to join in this action.

Links:

At Ft. Bragg, NC: Deprivation of Treatment Services & Medical Malpractice as "Policy"

VA Must Disclose Veteran Drug Test Documents


94-year old WWII Veteran Hopelessly Trapped in VA Claims Backlog

DOJ lawyers are as corrupt and rigged as the VA agency is itself.

How to request military service records

Access to Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF) - for the General Public

Correcting military or service records.

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California Deficit is a Big Lie

Clint Richardson, author of the Reality Blog, and producer of the documentary, Corporation Nation, which exposes the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) - the full accounting of government and its investments...the true source of financial auditing for government that's  never spoken about publicly -in his latest article, reports once again, on "the purposeful omission of massive amounts of wealth by your government". Specifically, Jerry Brown's big lie: that California's deficit is now "$15.7 billion, far greater than the original $9.2 billion estimate in January. (CNN, May 15, 2012)"

The Simple Truth

The State Government of California has $100′s of billions in liquid investments and assets, could easily pay off all of its debt tomorrow, and would have $100′s of billions left over.[...]

Richardson  explains and proves that over $577 billion in investment fund balances aren’t being reported by the California State, (California CAFR) contrary to what Jerry Brown claims in the government's latest propaganda video.

"So… is California in such a financial deficit, as the Governor and his proposed and revised budget plan so matter-of-factly states?

This is the question that we will be answering today. But in order to answer this question, we must go to the true source of financial auditing for government, the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). This report – the full accounting of government and its investments – is virtually never spoken of publicly. It is not mentioned on the nightly news. And it is not referred to when addressing the people about taxpayer issues and budgetary considerations and shortfalls. In short, this CAFR report is the Holy Grail of government accounting; very difficult to read and comprehend, and worse of all… it is hidden in plain sight."

Below, Brown addresses and purposefully lies to the people of California, threatening to cut school funding by multiple billions if the people of the State do not vote in favor of his new budget plan.

Now, the first thing that must be understood is the difference between the partial “budget report” as referred to above by the Governor, and that of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report – which is the full audit of the California government. The following paragraph is taken directly from the 2011 CAFR report, and explains this difference quite succinctly…

On page 200, the 2011 California State CAFR explains the following (emphasis mine):

“On a budgetary basis, the State’s funds are classified as either governmental cost funds or nongovernmental cost funds. The governmental cost funds include the General Fund, most of the funds that comprise the Transportation Fund, and many other funds that make up the nonmajor governmental funds reported in these financial statements. Governmental cost funds derive their revenue from taxes, licenses, and fees that support the general operations of the State. The appropriations of the budgetary basis governmental cost funds form the annual appropriated budget of the State.

Nongovernmental cost funds consist of funds that derive their receipts from sources other than general and special taxes, licenses, fees, or state revenues and mainly represent the proprietary and fiduciary funds reported in these financial statements. Expenditures of these funds do not represent a cost of government and most of the nongovernmental cost funds are not included in the annual appropriated budget…”

And so we can see that governments participate in many business activities; and we must first and foremost understand that a large portion of liquid investment assets are held within what the government calls “non-governmental” activities, including “Enterprise Operations”. These investment assets are usually kept in what are called “Investment Funds”.

But government is only obligated (by its own law) to report what it refers to as “governmental” or “taxpayer” activities to the citizenry on its “Budget/Appropriations Report”. Tax in… Tax out…

In short, the Governor of the great corporate State of California is lying to his taxpayers through the act of omission of these CAFR facts, by only referring to a hand selected portion of that CAFR, which is called the State’s annual budget report. While this should be tried as perjury, the laws of the State/Federal government protect him from this ever happening.

To help in your understanding, let’s say that you were to have a checking account with $1,000 and a savings account with $10,000 in two different banks, and that you only reported to the government that you had $1,000 dollars as your net worth because you don’t want to use your savings account to pay bills (taxpayer obligations) to government. You’d be audited and put in a federal debtor’s prison. But for government, the simple designation of “non-governmental” or “non-taxpayer” income and investment returns allows them to hide all of this wealth from the people and the “Budget Report”, while never mentioning the funds and wealth in the CAFR report. The only difference is that government does this legally – because government makes its own laws!

Why do they do this?

The answer is simple, really… TO JUSTIFY THE CONTINUATION OF, THE RAISING OF, AND CREATION OF NEW TAXES!!!

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Ron Paul and the Multi-Trillion Dollar a Year System of Wealth Generation for the Inside Players

We've all heard, "He who controls the gold makes the rules", as well as the famous quote, “Those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it.” Yet, most of us do not fully comprehend who owns all the gold, and we're conditioned to believe that the only pertinent history is stored on our Twitter, Facebook, and/or cell phone.

Meanwhile, in our ignorance of history, without any idea who really owns all the gold, war on the middle class; war on our civil liberties; a widening inequality gap; unemployment and underemployment; Washington gridlock, and wars, proxy wars, and secret drone wars continue to escalate, supposedly on our behalf.

What's the answer? Why, Ron Paul, of course.

But, first, before settling on Ron Paul as a savior, who will deliver "We the People", from evil, don't you think it's important to understand not only history, but who really owns the gold, and its implications? Because, one thing for certain, it's not us. Over 80% of the physical gold is owned by the "ruling elite". "We the People" own less than 10%, with independent commercial interests owning the rest.

As I have posted before, here, and here,  according to the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) the Federal Reserve, despite what Ron Paul says, is already audited, and the currency is already backed, at least, in part, by gold, and, in part, by us - our labor.  Moreover, the market price of gold on the London Fixing ranges between $1600 to $1800 per oz; however, the statutory price of gold is $42.22 per fine troy ounce. As of 9/30/11, there were 261,498,900. And most importantly, the  treasury may redeem gold certificates at any time for the statutory price!

Walter Burien, in his article, SO YOU WANT A GOLD BACKED CURRENCY - THE 50-YEAR PLAN IS COMING TO A CLOSE, explains that what we are seeing at this time is the "culmination of a “50 year plan” that began in 1963 - after the assassination of JFK - when we went off the gold and silver standard...that's when the 50-year plan began. At that time, there was an organized effort to "buy all of the gold each and every year. Hundreds of tons per month as they manipulated to keep the price low."

By 1999, their stockpile of gold increased by over 20,000 tons, and continued to do so right up until 2000. By 2001, the stage was set as 9/11 created the sky-is-falling fear, aided by the 2008 financial crisis, needed so that Ron Paul's sound-bite conditioning on the importance of gold-backed currency could really take off.

This promotion by the cartel to make the public believe “it is essential to have a gold backed currency” will continue.  And according to Burien, "international circumstances will be created to bring the fear level to the brink". He goes on to say, in 2013-14, the powers that be will yield to demands for gold backed currency, which will give the cartel the liquidity to unload what they have stockpiled for half a century as the country obtains the physical gold to back the currency at 1000% + profit locked in, leaving the public as the bag-holder.

After the conversion is complete, then the collapse in gold prices begins (2015-16), with the true and real collapse of the dollar now taking place backed by the quickly diminishing value of gold. Hence, the wealth transfer to the cartel, complete.

This should come as no surprise to any of us. The 'Godfather' federal government - or in Burien's words, "wealthiest organized corporate syndicate ever known who out of self interest selectively spoon feeds the population the parameters of how and what to think due to the money involved. They have the best psychologists; market strategists; and create the curve of public opinion that money can buy" - has been making us an offer we can't refuse for quite some time, as one man summed it up so well:. 

alljammedup wrote:

"...here's my BAD dream as the owner of a small business...(speaking of the Federal Government) they'd like to make me a business offer. Seriously. This is a real offer. In fact, you really can’t turn them down, as you’ll come to understand in a moment…

Here’s the deal. You’re going to start a business or expand the one you’ve got now. It doesn’t really matter what you do or what you’re going to do. I’ll partner with you no matter what business you’re in – as long as it’s legal.

But I can’t give you any capital – you have to come up with that on your own. I won’t give you any labor – that’s definitely up to you. What I will do, however, is demand you follow all sorts of rules about what products and services you can offer, how much (and how often) you pay your employees, and where and when you’re allowed to operate your business. That’s half of your profits.

Now in return for my rules, I’m going to take roughly half of whatever you make in the business each year. Half seems fair, doesn’t it? I think so. Of course, that’s half of your profits.

You’re also going to have to pay me about 12% of whatever you decide to pay your employees because you’ve got to cover my expenses for promulgating all of the rules about who you can employ, when, where, and how. Come on, you’re my partner. It’s only “fair”.

Now…after you’ve put your hard-earned savings at risk to start this business, and after you’ve worked hard at it for a few decades (paying me my 50% or a bit more along the way each year), you might decide you’d like to cash out – to finally live the good life.

Whether or not this is “fair” – some people never can afford to retire – is a different argument. As you partner, I’m happy for you to sell whenever you’d like…because our agreement says, if you sell, you have to pay me an additional 20% of whatever the capitalized value of the business is at that time.

I know…I know… you put up all the original capital. You took all the risks. You put in all of the labor. That’s all true. But I’ve done my part, too. I’ve collected 50% of the profits each year. And I’ve always come up with more rules for you to follow each year. Therefore, I deserve another, final 20% slice of the business. Oh…and one more thing…

Even after you’ve sold the business and paid all of my fees…I’d recommend buying lots of life insurance. You see, even after you’ve been retired for years, when you die, you’ll have to pay be 50% of whatever you estate is worth.

After all, I’ve got lots of partners and not all of them are as successful as you and your family. We don’t think its “fair” for your kids to have such a big advantage. But if you buy enough life insurance, you can finance this expense for your children.

All in all, if you’re a very successful entrepreneur…if you’re one of the rare, lucky, and hard-working people who can create a new company, employ lots of people, and satisfy the public…you’ll end up paying me more than 75% of your income over your life.

Thanks so much.

I’m sure you’ll think my offer is reasonable and happily partner with me…but it doesn’t really matter how you feel about it because if you ever try to stiff me – or cheat me on any of my fees or rules- I’ll break down your door in the middle of the night, threaten you and your family with heavy, automatic weapons, and throw you in jail.

That’s how civil society is supposed to work right? This is America, isn’t it? That’s the offer America gives its entrepreneurs. And the idiots in Washington wonder why there are no new jobs…LOL.....who wants to be in business today?????

FYI...65% of new jobs were created by small businesses.

http://www.sba.gov/advo/stats/sbfaq.pdf
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Occupy Wall Street:: Astro-Turf Rallies?

Is Occupy Wall Street (OWS) the work of the Serbian contract revolution organizers, the Center for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies [C.A.N.V.A.S] and Otpor!? Is this the elite power structure replacing one corrupt system with another, even more corrupt system? Are they channeling the energy of a fed-up American public to nowhere? To usher in an even more destructive banking system?

The mainstream media's coverage of this "occupation", the lack of severe injury and/or fatalities, President Obama's endorsement, the lack of clear demands, and the services of a glitzy public relations firm makes it hard to believe otherwise.

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Extreme Weather: Natural or Nurtured?

The "historically ferocious twister" that destroyed a good part of Joplin, Missouri, leaving at least 125 dead and more than 900 people injured, with initial reports of a staggering 1,500 missing - recently whittled down to 232 missing - appears not to be the end of the nightmare for this tornado prone zone, as the ever-present threat of more tornadoes looms. The National Weather Service issued tornado watches and a series of warnings in a dozen states, stretching northwest from Texas though the Mississippi River valley to Ohio.

The sheer intensity and length of these storm fronts is unbelievable. Video captured in Joplin, Missouri appears to show the tornado triple in size in seconds. Is that normal? Or is something else going on?

Some are trying to blame human beings for this devastating extreme weather seen around the world.  Isn't that convenient?  Especially when so much profit is to be made.  The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) was formed to buy and sell carbon credits , the currency of cap-and-trade. Founder Richard Sandor estimates the climate trading market could be "a $10 trillion dollar market." Maurice Strong, Al Gore, GE, and many other 'global warming' profiteers will reap the enormous rewards should "cap and trade" legislation prevail. In fact, the United Nations is pushing Hollywood to promote this climate alarmist bullsh*t.

Moreover, guess who helped establish the market for, and became the major trader in, EPA’s $20 billion-per-year sulfur dioxide cap-and-trade program? Enron!

This cap and trade exchange of NOx and SO2 emission allowances caused Enron’s stock to rapidly rise. It was the forerunner of today’s CO2 trading, now taken up by CCX. Enron was a promoter of the Kyoto Protocol since it would increase their profits. Enron’s Ken Lay had meetings with Clinton and Gore to try to get Kyoto promoted: “Enron officials later expressed elation at the results of the Kyoto conference. An internal memo said the Kyoto agreement, if implemented, would "do more to promote Enron's business than almost any other regulatory initiative outside of restructuring the energy and natural gas industries in Europe and the United States."”

Now, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration just published “Forensic Meteorology Solves the Mystery of Record Snows” in which they conclude that there is no human "fingerprint" that implicates human involvement in global warming, or cooling or whatever the hell is happening to the climate.

“They found no evidence — no human “fingerprints” — to implicate our involvement in the snowstorms. If global warming was the culprit, the team would have expected to find a gradual increase in heavy snowstorms in the mid-Atlantic region as temperatures rose during the past century. But historical analysis revealed no such increase in snowfall. Nor did the CSI team find any indication of an upward trend in winter precipitation along the eastern seaboard.”

So, a $10 trillion dollar market is one hell of an incentive to interfere with Mother Nature. However, is weather modification possible...now?

Weather modification will become a part of domestic and international security and could be done unilaterally... It could have offensive and defensive applications and even be used for deterrence purposes. The ability to generate precipitation, fog, and storms on earth or to modify space weather, ... and the production of artificial weather all are a part of an integrated set of technologies which can provide substantial increase in US, or degraded capability in an adversary, to achieve global awareness, reach, and power. (US Air Force. Air University of the US Air Force, AF 2025 Final Report, http://www.au.af.mil/au/2025/)

Links:


Congress has been notified about 'HAARP Rings' by constituent letter

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Government of the Antichrist, By the Antichrist, For the Antichrist.

Artist: Mr. Fish
No, I haven't lost my mind, however, this thought of the Antichrist, right here, right now, has emerged, so, instead of letting this insanity fester, I'd rather blog it out of my system. In other words, I want to broadcast my insanity, in hopes that the shame (Yes, even though I'm anonymous ...I've told a few people about this blog so that I may very well be standing naked only thinking I'm fully clothed) will allow me to exercise the power of reason once more. I'm just going to throw this line of "reasoning" out there and see if it sticks to something that prohibits this ghastly thought from returning. Here it goes:

Some, including Pope John Paul II say President George W. Bush is the Antichrist.

"...people close to the pope claim that amid these concerns, the pontiff wishes he was younger and in better health to confront the possibility that Bush may represent the person prophesized in Revelations. John Paul II has always believed the world was on the precipice of the final confrontation between Good and Evil as foretold in the New Testament."

Granted, the Pope did not utter the word, Antichrist, nevertheless, he came as close as he could without actually saying the word. Now, why would a smart, educated man like Pope John Paul II call Bush the "Antichrist", when men who appear to be far more evil - Joseph Kony, Saddam Hussein, Adolf Hitler, Idi Amin, etc. - exist and have existed for as long as man has walked the earth?

Sounds a little harsh. After all, President Bush doesn't threaten to put "we the people" through shredders, throw us in torture chambers, cut off the limbs of our children, brothers and sisters. He doesn't force us to bow down in his presence, forbid us to say nasty things about him, starve us to death or anything like that. So, how could the Pope, of all people, even consider President Bush to be the Antichrist?

While there is no question that the aforementioned men and countless others have etched the essence of their evil into existence for all eternity to gasp in horror, two questions come to mind. The first question, what is the extent of this person's power and influence? The potential magnitude of his evil doings? The second question, how conspicuous is the evil doing?

Pervasive evil is never apparent right away. In fact, many of these men charmed themselves into power, but it didn't take long for the people governed by these egregiously evil men to realize how egregiously evil they were. With the exception of Adolf Hitler, in modern history, the command these men had over others was limited to the country or nation they ruled. Their ability or capacity to perform or act effectively did not extend past their own borders for the most part.

In contrast, President Bush's power far exceeds the fifty states he was elected to lead. In addition to spreading his idea of "freedom" and "democracy" across the oil-enriched part of the globe, the President has taken it upon himself to increase the authority of the Executive Branch as much as possible. Although, the President has made some bold statements regarding his authority, he mostly operates under the radar, circumventing laws and expanding presidential power subversively, using signing statements, instead of the veto, for example.

President Bush, unlike other evildoers, wants "we the people", at least "we the people" who matter - those with any type of political clout - to live it up, have a good time, and shop until we drop. Suffering is the last thing he wants "his" people, the ones who matter, to associate with him.

And, that's the way it "appears" to most of us. If anything, President Bush may have made some mistakes, however, he was only doing his best to keep us safe and out of trouble. Maybe Bush is not the bulb with the highest wattage readily perceived by the eye, but the man's heart is in the right place. Right? Well, how about, does it exist in the first place? None of the evidence thus far suggests that President Bush has a heart.

Keep in mind, the worst kind of enemy is the deceitful kind who operates in an inconspicuous or seemingly harmless way, but in actuality, is committing atrocities that appear to be the fault of someone or something else, and all the while, laying the groundwork for that which causes harm, misfortune, and destruction to become infectious and spread sort of like a cancer or disease, without marked symptoms, but ready to become active upon the slightest unavoidable change.

The seeds have been sown, and the harm, misfortune, and destruction have more than started to spread; it's just that it hasn't spread to the people who matter, us. An infinitesimally small part of our population, our soldiers, and their families, have box seats to witness and feel the horror that is taking place under this administration. Fortunately, for President Bush, most of the horror takes place in another world as far as we're concerned...another galaxy.

A much larger part of our population also suffers the effects of this Administration's actions directly, but have no voice...the poor, the "near poor", the uninsured...the segment of the population that "doesn't matter". This part of our population is growing at an alarming rate, however, and those of us who sit back in judgment, saying they brought it upon themselves may have to think twice as they find themselves joining the ranks of the marginalized.

Combine insidious with "all powerful" and the Pope's thinking starts to make a little bit of sense. Going to war with Iraq; overturning habeas corpus; authorizing and encouraging torture; domestic spying; imprisoning over 2500 children, held since 2001 as “enemy combatants”; Katrina; denying American children health care; expanding the gap ever wider between the haves and the have not’s; simultaneously cutting funding for veterans while cutting taxes on our wealthiest citizens; his callous attitude toward capital punishment...even his AIDS plan, President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is duplicitous.

Consider this quote from President Bush's speech in November of 2001:

"This new enemy seeks to destroy our freedom and impose its views.

What are we doing over in Iraq? Our idea of freedom may not be the same as another nation...what right do we have to destroy their way of life to impose our views of freedom, democracy?

We value life; the terrorists ruthlessly destroy it.

Is sending young "men" and "women", barely out of school, over to fight a war, based on lies and greed, that is certain to either kill them, injure them beyond repair or psychologically damage them, valuing life? Is killing and injuring thousands upon thousands of innocent civilians, including children, valuing life? Is holding the record for executing the most people as Governor valuing life? Is smirking while commenting on ordering a person to death valuing life? Is letting a bunch of people drown just because they don't happen to have the right color skin, and the status and wealth of white suburban America valuing life?

We value education; the terrorists do not believe women should be educated or should have health care, or should leave their homes. We value the right to speak our minds; for the terrorists, free expression can be grounds for execution. We respect people of all faiths and welcome the free practice of religion; our enemy wants to dictate how to think and how to worship even to their fellow Muslims.

I guess No Child Left Behind is an example of the way we value education, education for the sons and daughters of the people who can afford affluent surroundings, that is. Our system of school finance is one of the most unequal among industrialized nations, having major consequences for the educational achievement of students from low-income families and "No Child Left Behind" reinforces that 100%.

This enemy tries to hide behind a peaceful faith. But those who celebrate the murder of innocent men, women, and children have no religion, have no conscience, and have no mercy.We wage a war to save civilization, itself. We did not seek it, but we must fight it -- and we will prevail."

Aha! "Celebrate" is the key word here. President Bush doesn't celebrate the murder of innocence, in public. President Bush just doesn't give a damn. He's completely indifferent.

"Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response. Indifference is not a beginning; it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor -- never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten. The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees -- not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by offering them a spark of hope is to exile them from human memory. And in denying their humanity, we betray our own.
[...]
The end of evil and the notion of redemption begins when indifference ends."-- Elie Wiesel

Well, I'm not convinced President Bush is or isn't the Antichrist because I wouldn't know the Antichrist if I tripped over him, however, I understand why Pope John Paul II wondered whether President Bush may indeed be the Antichrist. He may not be the devil or Lucifer or born of a jackel, but he stands for everything Christ condemned and brutally destroys everything Christ epitomized. I'd call that Anti-Christ, wouldn't you?

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Good Lies, Bad Lies and Body Count Lies

I am a liar, no question about it.

If you were to ask me, "Hey, I've got tickets to "Mary Poppins" on Broadway next Friday...you want to go with me?" Not wanting to risk of hurting your feelings, I would more than likely respond with a quick excuse to get me off the hook...I would rather a rock in the process of metamorphosis.

That's really presumptuous of me to assume I'm going to hurt your feelings just because I don't like "Mary Poppins" on Broadway...who cares what I like? However, I know a person or two who would take offense, either because I don't share their love of "Mary Poppins", or he or she will assume I'm trying to avoid spending time with them.

So, what's the harm? As far as I'm concerned, none, that is, unless my friend catches me hanging out at the Broadway Lounge (yes, I would be that stupid) instead of helping Great-Great-Great Uncle George schlack his wooden teeth, two states away, the first thing that popped into my mind in order to avoid watching Mary Poppins administer a spoonful of sugar.

I call the aforementioned scenario "compassionate" lying...lies that spare the feelings of others. Actually the example I just gave is more an example of "spare-me-the-guilt-trip" type of lying. Telling a toothless, wrinkled homeless woman who hasn't showered in a decade how beautiful she is, would be a better example of "compassionate" lying...and to be honest (I love when people say that, like it's the first time), she is beautiful...on the inside, where it counts, right?

Anyway, lying, IMHO, is an essential component of civilized living. The question is where do we draw the line? The first example I gave, many would argue, is not at all a requisite to co-existing benevolently; I'm obviously sparing only myself. The "beautiful" homeless woman illustration is humane; emphasizing humanistic values and concerns, which differentiates the barbaric "community" versus an enlightened one.

A University of Arizona study on lying in children reveals that lying increases as children age, and that the majority of these are "pro-social", or “white lies", intended to benefit or help others. "Pro-social” lying can be an indicator that kids are developing their ability to sympathize or empathize, vital to connecting with others. Professor Talwar's hidden-camera tests with children show that fibbing is part of normal brain development.

So, when does lying turn into a bad thing? What about Ken Starr, Linda Tripp and the Republican Party "catching" Bill Clinton in a lie? Well, considering the elaborate effort Starr, Tripp etc. made to deceive Monica Lewinsky in order to set up the President of the United States for a fall, Bill Clinton's lie pales in comparison with the conspiracy to bring about that little lie.

Oddly enough, lies associated with girls in blue dresses with stains and splashes bring about the wrath of God whereas lies that blow off men's toes and eyelashes, or what I call body-count lies, barely register on the radar.

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Deliberate acts of deceit

The army's treatment of the death of Pat Tillman was an egregious attempt to manipulate the public using calculated lies.

Kevin Tillman, the brother of Corporal Pat Tillman who was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan, gave the following testimony to a congressional hearing in Washington.

Two days ago marked the third anniversary of the death of my older brother, Pat Tillman, in Afghanistan.

To our family and friends, it was a devastating loss. To the nation, it was a moment of disorientation. To the military, it was a nightmare. But to others within the government, it appears to have been an opportunity.

April of 2004 was turning into the deadliest month to date in the war in Iraq. The dual rebellions in Najaf and Fallujah handed the US forces their first tactical defeat as American commanders essentially surrendered Fallujah to members of Iraq resistance, and the administration was forced to accede to Ayatollah Sistani's demand for January elections in exchange for assistance in extricating US forces from its battle with the Mahdi militia.

A call-up of 20,000 additional troops was ordered, and another 20,000 troops had their tours of duty extended.

In the midst of this, the White House learned that Christian Parenti, Seymour Hersh and other journalists were about to reveal a shocking scandal involving massive and systemic detainee abuse in a facility known as Abu Ghraib.

Then, on April 22, 2004, my brother Pat was killed in a firefight in eastern Afghanistan. Immediately after Pat's death, our family was told that he was shot in the head by the enemy in a fierce firefight outside a narrow canyon.

In the days leading up to Pat's memorial service, media accounts, based on information provided by the army and the White House, were wreathed in a patriotic glow and became more dramatic in tone. A terrible tragedy that might have further undermined support for the war in Iraq was transformed into an inspirational message that served instead to support the nation's foreign policy wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

To further exploit Pat's death, he was awarded the Silver Star for valour.

The abridged version went like this: only after his team engaged this well-armed enemy did it appear that the enemy's volume of fire into the kill zone diminished.

Above the din of battle, Corporal Tillman was heard issuing fire commands to take the fight to an enemy on the dominating high ground. Always leading from the front, Cpl Tillman aggressively maneuvered his team against the enemy position on a steep slope.

As a result of Cpl Tillman's effort and heroic action, the trail element of the platoon was able to maneuver through the ambush position of relative safety without suffering a single casualty.

In the fight that ensued, Cpl Tillman's position increased in intensity. Cpl Tillman focused all his efforts on keeping the men of his team safe while continuing to press the attack himself, without regard for his own personal safety.

In the face of mortal danger, Cpl Tillman illustrated that he would not fail his comrades. His actions are in keeping with the highest standards of the United States army.

This was an error that inspired countless Americans, as intended. There was one small problem with the narrative, however: It was utter fiction. The content of the multiple investigations reveal a series of contradictions that strongly suggest deliberate and careful misrepresentations.

We appeal to this committee because we believe this narrative was intended to deceive the family, but more importantly to deceive the American public.

Pat's death was clearly the result of fratricide. It was due to a series of careless actions by several individuals in our own platoon after a small harassing ambush. During this uncontrolled shooting, the driver of the vehicle himself recognized friendlies immediately, but kept driving for approximately 400 meters while the soldiers in the back of his truck continued to shoot at the hillside, where the US soldiers were - and civilians.

The vehicle saw arms and hands waving. An Afghan soldier was immediately recognized. They never felt threatened. And they still shot up the village unprovoked. The vehicle behind them clearly saw the U.S. soldiers on the hillside and were calling cease-fire. The end result were the death of Pat and the Afghan soldier, as well as two more soldiers wounded in the village. The signs were available, but the decision to shoot was made.

This was not some fog of war. They simply lost control.

According to the sworn statement on April 26 by the fellow soldier who was right next to Pat - literally right next to Pat:

"I remember watching the friendlies just shooting at us. A .50 [calibre gun] rolled up into our sights and started to unload on top of us. They would work in bursts, .50 for 10 to 15 seconds, 240-B 10 to 15 seconds, back and forth.

"Specialist Tillman and I were yelling, 'Stop! Stop! Friendlies! Friendlies! Cease fire!' But they could not hear us.

"Tillman came up with the idea to let a smoke grenade go. This stopped the friendly contact for a few moments.

"And that's when I realized the AMF [Afghan Military Forces] soldier was dead.

"At this time, the GMV rolled into a better position to fire on us.

"We thought the battle was over, though, so we were relieved, getting up, stretching out and talking with one another, when I heard some 5.56 [millimetre] rounds coming from the GMV [Ground Mobility Vehicle]. They started firing again. That's when I hit the deck.

"Specialist Tillman at this time was hit by small-arms fire. I know this because I got - I know this because I could hear the pain in his voice as he called out, 'Cease fire, friendlies. I am Pat f---ing Tillman, damn it.'

"He said this over and over again until he stopped."

The facts of this case clearly show Pat and the Afghan soldier were killed by fellow members of his platoon as well as the wounded soldiers on the hillside, and they knew this immediately.

Revealing that Pat's death was a fratricide would have been yet another political disaster during a month already swollen with political disasters and a brutal truth that the American public would undoubtedly find unacceptable. So the facts needed to be suppressed. An alternative narrative had to be constructed.

Crucial evidence was destroyed, including Pat's uniform, equipment and notebook. The autopsy was not done according to regulation and the field hospital report was falsified.

An initial investigation completed with eight to 10 days before testimony could be changed or manipulated and which hit disturbingly close to the mark disappeared into thin air and was conveniently replaced by another investigation with more palatable findings.

This freshly manufactured narrative was then distributed to the American public. And we believe the strategy had the intended effect: It shifted the focus from the grotesque torture at Abu Ghraib and a downward spiral of an illegal act of aggression to a great American who died a hero's death.

Over a month after Pat's death, when it became clear that it would no longer be possible to pull off this deception, a few of the facts were parceled out to the public and to our family.

General Kensinger was ordered to tell the American public May 29, five weeks later, that Pat died of fratricide - but with a calculated and nefarious twist. He stated: "There was no one specific finding of fault." And that he "probably died of fratricide".

But there was specific fault. And there was nothing probable about the facts that led to Pat's death.

The most despicable part of what General Kensinger told the American public is when he said: "The results of this investigation in no way diminish the bravery and sacrifice displayed by Cpl Tillman."

This is an egregious attempt to manipulate the public into thinking that anyone who would question this 180-degree flip in the narrative would be casting doubt on Pat's bravery and sacrifice. Such questioning says nothing about Pat's bravery and sacrifice, any more than the narrative for Jessica [Lynch] diminishes her bravery and sacrifice. It does, however, say a lot about the powers who perpetrated this.

After the truth of Pat's death was partially revealed, Pat was no longer of use as a sales asset, and became strictly the Army's problem. They were now left with the task of briefing our family and answering our questions. With any luck, our family would sink quietly into our grief and the whole unsavory episode would be swept under the rug.

However, they miscalculated our family's reaction. Through the amazing strength and perseverance of my mother, the most amazing woman on earth, our family has managed to have multiple investigations conducted.

However, while each investigation gathered more information, the mountain of evidence was never used to arrive at an honest or even sensible conclusion. The most recent investigation by the department of defense inspector general and the criminal investigative division of the army concluded that the killing of Pat was, quote, an accident. The handling of the situation after the firefight were described as a compilation of, quote, missteps, inaccuracies and errors in judgment which created the perception of concealment.

The soldier who shot Pat admitted in his sworn statement that just before he delivered the fatal burst from about 35 meters away, that he saw his target waving hands. But he decided to pull the trigger anyway.

Such an act is not an accident. It's a clear violation of the rules of engagement.

Writing up a field hospital report, stating that Pat was, quote, transferred to intensive care unit for continued CPR, after most of his head had been taken off by multiple 5.56 rounds is not misleading.

Stating that a giant rectangle bruise covering his chest that sits exactly where the armor plate that protects you from bullets as being, quote, consistent with paddle marks is not misleading.

These are deliberate and calculated lies.

Writing a Silver Star award before a single eyewitness account is taken is not a misstep. Falsifying soldier witness statements for a Silver Star is not a misstep.

These are intentional falsehoods that meet the legal definition for fraud.

Delivering false information at a nationally televised memorial service is not an error in judgment. Discarding an investigation that does not fit a preordained conclusion is not an error in judgment.

These are deliberate acts of deceit.

This is not the perception of concealment. This is concealment.

Pat is, of course, not the only soldier where battlefield realities reach the family and the public in the form of a false narrative.

First Lieutenant Ken Ballard died in the Najaf, Iraq, just one day after Pat's fratricide went public. His mom, Karen Meredith, was told that Ken was killed by a sniper on a rooftop.

Fifteen months later, she found out that he was killed by an unmanned gun from his own vehicle.

Private Jesse Buryj was killed May 5, 2004, in Iraq. His family was told he was killed in a vehicle accident. A year later, they received the autopsy report and they found that he was shot in the back. The army was forced to concede that he was accidentally shot by a Polish soldier.

Just recently, out of nowhere, a lieutenant showed up at their family's house and told them that an officer in his own unit had shot him. They are still looking for answers.

Sergeant Patrick McCafferty was killed June 22, 2004, from what the family was told was, quote, an ambush by insurgents.

Two years later, they found out that those, quote, insurgents happened to be the same Iraqi troops that he was training.

Before his death, he told his chain of command that these same troops that he was training were trying to kill him and his team. He was told to keep his mouth shut.

About a year ago, I received a phone call. I was at my mom's house. And it was an emergency breakthrough from the operator. It happened to be a woman named Dawn Hellerman from North Carolina.

It was two o'clock in the morning, her time. Her husband, Staff Sergeant Brian Hellerman was killed in Iraq. She was tired of receiving new official reasons why her husband had died. She was desperate for help, so she called us.

The system had failed her. Those soldiers deserve better. And their families deserve better.

Our family has relentlessly pursued the truth on this matter for three years. We have now concluded that our efforts are being actively thwarted by powers that are more interested in protecting a narrative than getting at the truth or seeing that justice is served.

That is why we ask Congress, as the sovereign representative of the whole people, to exercise its power to investigate the inconsistencies in Pat's death and the aftermath, and into all the other soldiers that were betrayed by this system.

The one bit of truth that did survive these manipulations was that Pat was and still is a great man. He is the most wonderful older brother to ever exist.

Pat wanted to leave a positive legacy based on his actions, and he did that.

But Pat's death at the hands of his comrades is a terrible tragedy. But the fact that the army, and what appears to be others, attempted to hijack his virtue and his legacy is simply horrific.

The least this country can do for him in return is to uncover who was responsible for his death, who lied and covered it up, and who instigated those lies and benefited from them; then ensure that justice is meted out to the culpable.

Pat and these other soldiers volunteered to put their lives on the line for this country. Anything less than the truth is a betrayal of those values that all soldiers who have fought for this nation have sought to uphold.

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Screenshots of Fox News Lies.

Welcome to Pottersville put together screenshots of Fox New's lies.

Here is a small sample:

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