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Thursday, January 21, 2010
Fined 471K, Boeing Given 15.9 Million Contract To Clean Up Waste They Caused! Pure Outrage!
0 comments at 11:08 PM
THIS STORY IS SO TYPICAL OF HOW AMERICAN CORPORATIONS DO BUSINESS! THEY POLLUTE AND THEN PAY THE FINE WHICH IS CHEAPER THAN DOING THE RIGHT THING TO BEGIN WITH!
TAKE A LOOK AT THIS MAJOR POLLUTER - http://www.eriecoke.com/index.html
THEY SPEW POLLUTANTS INTO THE SKY AND PAY FINES IMPOSED BY THE EPA AND PA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION BECAUSE IT IS CHEAPER TO PAY THE FINES THAN TO UPGRADE THE PLANT TO BE IN REGULATORY COMPLIANCE.
Erie Coke Corp. was fined $6.1 million on Monday after continued air-quality violations and was ordered to start complying with state environmental regulations immediately.Kelly Burch, the regional director of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, levied the fine against the plant, which is at the foot of East Avenue, and said the company has shown "a flagrant disregard for the well-being of its neighbors."The company has 30 days to appeal the order. Company officials would not comment Monday.The $6,145,748 penalty is in response to repeated violations at the plant, a lack of cooperation in correcting violations and the financial benefit Erie Coke enjoyed by neglecting to replace and repair old equipment, according to the news release from the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Monday's move followed about a year of near-daily inspections at the plant. During that time, DEP inspectors set ash jars at Lampe Marina and at other sites on the city's east side.Several collected evidence of coke residue, Burch said. That indicated the company had exceeded the allowable limits of particulate emissions -- tiny matter that can damage the lungs of people who breathe it."Any time you get fine particulate matter suspended in the air, that's not a good thing," Burch said.Erie Coke operates 58 coke ovens, some of which have run since 1942. The coal is shipped in by rail. Five miles of track crisscross the 60-acre plant.The facility has been operating out of compliance with environmental regulations on a consistent basis since early February 2007. Prior to that time, Erie Coke had regular violations, but those were corrected, according to the DEP news release.
Some Erie residents said Monday it's about time the plant was cited for the consistent violations."This is the first time that the northwest district of the DEP has finally done what they should have done more than a year ago and actually come down hard on Erie Coke," said Marty Visnosky, 55, an environmentalist who is involved with the Public Advisory Committee for Presque Isle Bay.Cory Lisek, 25, used to live about five blocks from the plant.Lisek remembers how the whole house was covered with a dark black dust that she believes was the result of Erie Coke's operations. It was hard to keep the home dusted, and the dark residue also was on vehicles."It's kind of one of those things you just dealt with."
There also was a tar-like smell that was prevalent most days, she said.Lisek now lives on East Lake Road, about a mile from Erie Coke. She gets a whiff of the smell sometimes, but not as often as when she lived closer to the plant.She hopes the fine will help bring about environmental improvements."I think it's wonderful. I think it's a good thing," she said. "It's about time."Monday's order also requires maintenance, repair and daily operational records from the company, and quarterly reports on its progress. DEP will continue its inspections, Burch said.
"It's not going to be an overnight fix," he said.This is not the first time the company has paid a financial penalty for environmental missteps. In 2006, Erie Coke agreed to pay $51,000. As part of that settlement, the company was to develop a plan to reduce emissions at the plant.Burch said Monday that talks with the company seemed to have reached an impasse."There are certain things we expect them to do, and a timeline we feel is accessible. But when you can't agree on these things, it's time to take a unilateral order."SHARLA BARDIN can be reached at 870-1791 or by e-mail.ROBB FREDERICK can be reached at 870-1733 or by e-mail.
About Erie Coke Corp.J.D. Crane acquired the plant and began operations as Erie Coke Corp. in 1987. The 60-acre plant operates 58 coke ovens, some of which have run since 1942. The first blast furnace that operated in Erie was built in 1833. It was powered by a blind horse walking in a circle, hitched to a driveshaft.
Some Erie residents said Monday it's about time the plant was cited for the consistent violations."This is the first time that the northwest district of the DEP has finally done what they should have done more than a year ago and actually come down hard on Erie Coke," said Marty Visnosky, 55, an environmentalist who is involved with the Public Advisory Committee for Presque Isle Bay.Cory Lisek, 25, used to live about five blocks from the plant.Lisek remembers how the whole house was covered with a dark black dust that she believes was the result of Erie Coke's operations. It was hard to keep the home dusted, and the dark residue also was on vehicles."It's kind of one of those things you just dealt with."
There also was a tar-like smell that was prevalent most days, she said.Lisek now lives on East Lake Road, about a mile from Erie Coke. She gets a whiff of the smell sometimes, but not as often as when she lived closer to the plant.She hopes the fine will help bring about environmental improvements."I think it's wonderful. I think it's a good thing," she said. "It's about time."Monday's order also requires maintenance, repair and daily operational records from the company, and quarterly reports on its progress. DEP will continue its inspections, Burch said.
"It's not going to be an overnight fix," he said.This is not the first time the company has paid a financial penalty for environmental missteps. In 2006, Erie Coke agreed to pay $51,000. As part of that settlement, the company was to develop a plan to reduce emissions at the plant.Burch said Monday that talks with the company seemed to have reached an impasse."There are certain things we expect them to do, and a timeline we feel is accessible. But when you can't agree on these things, it's time to take a unilateral order."SHARLA BARDIN can be reached at 870-1791 or by e-mail.ROBB FREDERICK can be reached at 870-1733 or by e-mail.
About Erie Coke Corp.J.D. Crane acquired the plant and began operations as Erie Coke Corp. in 1987. The 60-acre plant operates 58 coke ovens, some of which have run since 1942. The first blast furnace that operated in Erie was built in 1833. It was powered by a blind horse walking in a circle, hitched to a driveshaft.
SEE ALSO;http://www.tonawandacoke.com/
Coke plant officials targeted in EPA raid
Accused of not submitting plan for testing protocols
Accused of not submitting plan for testing protocols
Federal agents raiding the Tonawanda Coke Co.’s plant on River Road Thursday were after company officials who ignored a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency demand to submit testing protocols for hazardous emissions.
An EPA spokesman in New York City declined to comment on any connection to the raid and the EPA demand, which was ignored as Tonawanda Coke officials came under increasing heat from federal lawmakers about the company’s benzene emissions.
The raid Thursday included EPA officials from its criminal investigation division, the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the U.S. Coast Guard and state attorney general’s office.
“We took records and samples,” U.S. Attorney Kathleen M. Mehltretter said after the raid, declining further comment.
J.D. Crane, the owner of Tonawanda Coke, did not return a call to comment.
The inclusion of agents from EPA’s criminal division in the raid marks a change from federal action taken at a coke plant in Erie, Pa., also owned by Crane.
The EPA filed suit against Erie Coke on Sept. 22, alleging continuing pollution, poor maintenance of its coke ovens and lack of required annual inspections of its boilers and smoke stacks.
The federal suit said Erie Coke could be liable for damages of more than $32,500 a day for violations.
Those damages come on top of $6 million that Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection levied against Erie Coke.
The raid against Tonawanda Coke came after New York’s U.S. senators, Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles E. Schumer, and Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, had called on EPA administrator Lisa Jackson to develop a benzene reduction plan for Tonawanda Coke.
The Buffalo News reported in October that a state DEC study had found Tonawanda Coke to be the primary source of benzene, a known carcinogen, that was up to 75 times the recommended guidelines.
The raid was applauded by the Clean Air Coalition of WNY, an agency founded by residents who live near the plant and have complained for years about the smell and chemicals emitted by the plant.
“The community is excited that decisive action is being taken against Tonawanda Coke,” said Erin Heaney, executive director of the coalition. “We’re closer than ever to seeing justice delivered for the residents of Tonawanda.”
EPA records in the Tonawanda Coke case show that Dore LaPosta, director of EPA’s division of enforcement and compliance assistance in the New York region, wrote the company on Oct. 30 about environmental testing the EPA was demanding.
LaPosta, following up on talks between the EPA and Mark L. Kamholz, Tonawanda Coke’s manager for environmental control, gave the company 30 days to submit protocols for the testing, known as differential absorption light detection and ranging, or DIAL.
Also included in the letter was a list of 26 different testing items that EPA and Tonawanda Coke differed on.
“The company has responded to EPA by objecting to the state-of-the-art tests that we are requiring,” the EPA said in a November community update.
EPA said the testing should be done by April 30, and preparations for the test should be completed by March 31.
The environmental agency gave Tonawanda Coke 30 days to respond with a plan and protocol for the testing.
Elias Rodriguez, an EPA spokesman in New York, was asked if the company met its deadline.
“No,” he said, declining further comment.
In Erie, the federal government gave Erie Coke 60 days to respond to its charges, and then filed suit after the company did not respond.
The lawsuit charged Erie Coke with numerous instances of smoky emissions, poor maintenance of its coke ovens — “many of the ovens are in poor condition” — and lack of annual inspections of its smokestacks.
The suit charged that Pennsylvania environmental authorities had found that Erie Coke had not conducted tests for nitrous oxide emissions on one boiler since December 1999 and another since October 2003. The tests are required annually.
“Erie Coke is subject to injunctive relief and civil penalties of up to $32,500 per day for each violation occurring on or after Mar. 15, 2004,” the lawsuit charged, “and $37,500 per day for each violation occurring after Jan. 12, 2009.”
mbeebe@buffnews.com
An EPA spokesman in New York City declined to comment on any connection to the raid and the EPA demand, which was ignored as Tonawanda Coke officials came under increasing heat from federal lawmakers about the company’s benzene emissions.
The raid Thursday included EPA officials from its criminal investigation division, the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the U.S. Coast Guard and state attorney general’s office.
“We took records and samples,” U.S. Attorney Kathleen M. Mehltretter said after the raid, declining further comment.
J.D. Crane, the owner of Tonawanda Coke, did not return a call to comment.
The inclusion of agents from EPA’s criminal division in the raid marks a change from federal action taken at a coke plant in Erie, Pa., also owned by Crane.
The EPA filed suit against Erie Coke on Sept. 22, alleging continuing pollution, poor maintenance of its coke ovens and lack of required annual inspections of its boilers and smoke stacks.
The federal suit said Erie Coke could be liable for damages of more than $32,500 a day for violations.
Those damages come on top of $6 million that Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection levied against Erie Coke.
The raid against Tonawanda Coke came after New York’s U.S. senators, Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles E. Schumer, and Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, had called on EPA administrator Lisa Jackson to develop a benzene reduction plan for Tonawanda Coke.
The Buffalo News reported in October that a state DEC study had found Tonawanda Coke to be the primary source of benzene, a known carcinogen, that was up to 75 times the recommended guidelines.
The raid was applauded by the Clean Air Coalition of WNY, an agency founded by residents who live near the plant and have complained for years about the smell and chemicals emitted by the plant.
“The community is excited that decisive action is being taken against Tonawanda Coke,” said Erin Heaney, executive director of the coalition. “We’re closer than ever to seeing justice delivered for the residents of Tonawanda.”
EPA records in the Tonawanda Coke case show that Dore LaPosta, director of EPA’s division of enforcement and compliance assistance in the New York region, wrote the company on Oct. 30 about environmental testing the EPA was demanding.
LaPosta, following up on talks between the EPA and Mark L. Kamholz, Tonawanda Coke’s manager for environmental control, gave the company 30 days to submit protocols for the testing, known as differential absorption light detection and ranging, or DIAL.
Also included in the letter was a list of 26 different testing items that EPA and Tonawanda Coke differed on.
“The company has responded to EPA by objecting to the state-of-the-art tests that we are requiring,” the EPA said in a November community update.
EPA said the testing should be done by April 30, and preparations for the test should be completed by March 31.
The environmental agency gave Tonawanda Coke 30 days to respond with a plan and protocol for the testing.
Elias Rodriguez, an EPA spokesman in New York, was asked if the company met its deadline.
“No,” he said, declining further comment.
In Erie, the federal government gave Erie Coke 60 days to respond to its charges, and then filed suit after the company did not respond.
The lawsuit charged Erie Coke with numerous instances of smoky emissions, poor maintenance of its coke ovens — “many of the ovens are in poor condition” — and lack of annual inspections of its smokestacks.
The suit charged that Pennsylvania environmental authorities had found that Erie Coke had not conducted tests for nitrous oxide emissions on one boiler since December 1999 and another since October 2003. The tests are required annually.
“Erie Coke is subject to injunctive relief and civil penalties of up to $32,500 per day for each violation occurring on or after Mar. 15, 2004,” the lawsuit charged, “and $37,500 per day for each violation occurring after Jan. 12, 2009.”
mbeebe@buffnews.com
HOWEVER, BACK TO BOEING----
This 1963 image depicts an overall view of the vertical test stand for testing the J-2 engine at Rocketdyne's Propulsion Field Laboratory, in the Santa Susana Mountains, near Canoga Park, Calif. Boeing, which was fined for dumping a toxic stew of pollutants at this site, has won a no-bid stimulus contract to clean it up. (NASA)
Boeing Reaps Stimulus Millions to Clean Up Site It Was Fined for Polluting
by Alexandra Andrews, ProPublica - January 11, 2010 12:37 pm EST
One would think that the best candidate for a $15.9 million stimulus contract [2] for environmental cleanup and monitoring might not be a company fined for dumping a toxic stew of pollutants at the same site. But one would be wrong, at least according to the federal government, which awarded the no-bid job to Boeing in July, reports the new investigative-reporting outfit California Watch [3].
Boeing's environmental rap sheet features a $471,000 fine from a regional California water-quality board in 2007 for 79 pollution violations involving toxic wastewater streaming into the Los Angeles River. According to California Watch:
Boeing had discharged 118.5 million gallons of water laced with pollutants like chromium, lead and mercury, according to the water board. At one point, the company exceeded the allowable concentration of cancer-causing dioxin by 6,900 times. The water board said the chronic violations created a risk to public health and, given Boeing's resources and sophistication, were "exceedingly serious."
Nevertheless, the Department of Energy tasked Boeing with environmental monitoring at that very site, without taking bids from other companies. The pollution at the site stems from rocket engine testing and nuclear power development at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory. The cleanup does not, as far as one can tell from the article, seem to involve Boeing's water violations, but Boeing does now operate the lab [4], which it co-owns with NASA. Laura Chick, California's inspector general for stimulus funds, told California Watch, "It is very upsetting that the government doesn't do more due diligence before it hands money out."
For its part, Boeing says that it has made significant progress on the cleanup, to which it is "fully committed." An Energy Department spokeswoman said that Boeing's good track record and expertise justified the contract.
The California Watch report touches on two other California companies that got stimulus cash -- one under federal investigation, the other $3 million shorter after settling a lawsuit brought by San Francisco over the safety of its residential properties. But, as the report acknowledges, "most major companies in America face lawsuits and regulatory action."
In October, ProPublica’s Michael Grabell reported on other questionable stimulus payouts [5]: The Defense Department awarded nearly $30 million in stimulus contracts to six companies while they were under federal criminal investigation on suspicion of defrauding the government.
Write to Alexandra Andrews at alexandra.andrews@propublica.org [6]
Boeing had discharged 118.5 million gallons of water laced with pollutants like chromium, lead and mercury, according to the water board. At one point, the company exceeded the allowable concentration of cancer-causing dioxin by 6,900 times. The water board said the chronic violations created a risk to public health and, given Boeing's resources and sophistication, were "exceedingly serious."
Nevertheless, the Department of Energy tasked Boeing with environmental monitoring at that very site, without taking bids from other companies. The pollution at the site stems from rocket engine testing and nuclear power development at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory. The cleanup does not, as far as one can tell from the article, seem to involve Boeing's water violations, but Boeing does now operate the lab [4], which it co-owns with NASA. Laura Chick, California's inspector general for stimulus funds, told California Watch, "It is very upsetting that the government doesn't do more due diligence before it hands money out."
For its part, Boeing says that it has made significant progress on the cleanup, to which it is "fully committed." An Energy Department spokeswoman said that Boeing's good track record and expertise justified the contract.
The California Watch report touches on two other California companies that got stimulus cash -- one under federal investigation, the other $3 million shorter after settling a lawsuit brought by San Francisco over the safety of its residential properties. But, as the report acknowledges, "most major companies in America face lawsuits and regulatory action."
In October, ProPublica’s Michael Grabell reported on other questionable stimulus payouts [5]: The Defense Department awarded nearly $30 million in stimulus contracts to six companies while they were under federal criminal investigation on suspicion of defrauding the government.
Write to Alexandra Andrews at alexandra.andrews@propublica.org [6]
Ron Paul: After ‘CIA coup,’ agency ‘runs military’
US House Rep. Ron Paul says the CIA has in effect carried out a "coup" against the US government, and the intelligence agency needs to be "taken out."
Speaking to an audience of like-minded libertarians at a Campaign for Liberty regional conference in Atlanta this past weekend, the Texas Republican said:
There's been a coup, have you heard? It's the CIA coup. The CIA runs everything, they run the military. They're the ones who are over there lobbing missiles and bombs on countries. ... And of course the CIA is every bit as secretive as the Federal Reserve. ... And yet think of the harm they have done since they were established [after] World War II. They are a government unto themselves. They're in businesses, in drug businesses, they take out dictators ... We need to take out the CIA.
Paul's comments, made last weekend, were met with a loud round of applause, but they didn't gather attention until bloggers noticed a clip of the event at YouTube.
Paul appeared to be referring to news reports that the CIA is deeply involved in air strikes against Al Qaeda targets in Afghanistan and Pakistan. A suicide bombing late last year against Forward Operating Base Chapman in Afghanistan took the lives of seven of CIA operatives, including two contracted from Blackwater. The event highlighted the CIA's deep involvement in the war effort.
Speaking to an audience of like-minded libertarians at a Campaign for Liberty regional conference in Atlanta this past weekend, the Texas Republican said:
There's been a coup, have you heard? It's the CIA coup. The CIA runs everything, they run the military. They're the ones who are over there lobbing missiles and bombs on countries. ... And of course the CIA is every bit as secretive as the Federal Reserve. ... And yet think of the harm they have done since they were established [after] World War II. They are a government unto themselves. They're in businesses, in drug businesses, they take out dictators ... We need to take out the CIA.
Paul's comments, made last weekend, were met with a loud round of applause, but they didn't gather attention until bloggers noticed a clip of the event at YouTube.
Paul appeared to be referring to news reports that the CIA is deeply involved in air strikes against Al Qaeda targets in Afghanistan and Pakistan. A suicide bombing late last year against Forward Operating Base Chapman in Afghanistan took the lives of seven of CIA operatives, including two contracted from Blackwater. The event highlighted the CIA's deep involvement in the war effort.
Paul's reference to the CIA being "in the drug business" refers to long-running allegations that the CIA has funded some of its covert operations with proceeds from drug-running. That claim was most famously made in a 1996 investigative report from the San Jose Mercury-News, which alleged that cocaine from the Contra-Sandinista civil war in Nicaragua was making its way to the streets of L.A. via the CIA.
The following video was uploaded to YouTube by user TNSONSOFLIBERTY, Jan, 15, 2010.
The following video was uploaded to YouTube by user TNSONSOFLIBERTY, Jan, 15, 2010.
Following Are Comments Extracted From This Post
yea check out mena arkansas n July 1994, in the Arkansas Crime Inc. paper, an editorial linked Clinton to Iran-Contra. In October, 1994 Clinton denied any knowledge of the operation at Mena. Shortly afterwards evidence started to surface that documented Clinton’s link to Iran-Contra. People began coming forward and alleging under sworn statements that that Clinton profited from the operation at Mena by laundering money through the newly created Arkansas Development Finance Authority. That was just the tip of the iceberg regarding what was really going on at Mena. A larger number of people testified under oath that the airplanes returning from Central America were loaded with cocaine, which was then dropped over Arkansas for distribution to larger U.S. cities.During 1995, mounting documented evidence continued to support the Mena claims. A KGB spy talks about his knowledge of Mena. The picture of the Mena operation became more clear. In July 1995, new information and evidence confirms drug smuggling is going on at Mena. Why? Because a State Trooper L.D. Brown and a Arkansas National Guardsmen, who were also pilots flying the planes put Clinton in the loop by testifying. In July 1995, Clinton responded to L.D. Brown’s account with denial. We’ve heard that before. In October, 1995 in formal hearings, now a former State Trooper, L.D. Brown elaborates in great detail, on his flights to Central America in the service of the CIA, on Clinton's link to the CIA. He also details the negative treatment he received from the American press. In August, 1996, Noriega attacks George Bush on Contra Drug dealing. And who is Barry Seal? ( read the article by Daniel Hopsicker for Washington Weekly ) How could this go on for years without detection? In February, 1995, the Washington Post is accused of a grand scale political coverup of the Mena affair. However, a statement issued by Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Jim Johnson at this time reveals government efforts to block investigations of the Mena affair and investigations of Clinton's fraudulent Whitewater loans, and explains how business interests, news media, politicians, and courts in Arkansas manage to block the truth from coming out. Who is Terry Reed? Terry Reed describes how CNN concocted an interview with him, misquoting him all over place. In June, 1995, the Washington Post suppresses another story about the Mena investigations. In November, 1996, Caspar Weinberger is accused of participation in the Iran-Contra affair. However, prior to that in December, 1995, documents prove that the U.S. Government pressured Costa Rica to keep the Mena operations secret. Who Is Richard Ben-Veniste?
This is where Terry Reed comes into the picture I mentioned earlier. Terry Reed testifies. Terry Reed is a pilot and a subcontractor who worked for the CIA Iran-Contra operation. When he discovered that drugs were shipped to the U.S., ( the MENA operators) he left the operation in disgust. He soon found himself and his family the target of a retaliation lawsuit claiming insurance fraud. However, the Reed family was cleared of the allegations in federal court in Wichita, Kansas. Shortly thereafter, the Reed family filed a civil suit against those who had brought the wrongful suit against them. And here folks is where it gets really interesting. Two employees of Bill Clinton, Buddy Young and Tommy Baker were charged with fabrication of evidence and other civil rights violations against the Reed’s. Now this is where is gets even more interesting. In September, 1995 Buddy Young is linked to the Iran-Contra/Mena operation. Clinton's former security chief, now a defendant in Reed's Mena trial, appears to have been more involved than previously known. After years of a legal circus, the lawsuit by the Reed family finally began in earnest in late1995. Depositions were taken from a number of people and they all told the same story under oath. They also revealed that U.S. senators (both parties) tried to block investigations into money laundering at Mena. All of these witnesses have sufferedharassment and intimidation because of their explosive testimony. In early 1996, the judge in the case ruled to suppress all evidence relating to Mena, CIA, and the Clintons from the trial. Reed discouraged at this point, gave up and dropped the trial. One honest policeman, Russell Welch supplied much of the material and proof of the Mena case, he too has suffered harassment and intimidation. Who is Julius "Doc" Delaughter. It is December, 1995. Delaughter appears on a British Mena documentary, telling about the whole Mena operation, however it is banned from distribution in the U.S. Remember Barry Seal, ( read the article by Daniel Hopsicker for Washington Weekly ), he comes out of the closet too. Also a certain lady is found in Florida connecting all this. In April, 1996, there is a massive Anthrax poisoning case in Mena and in August, 1996, State Trooper L.D. Brown is ordered to assassinate Terry Reed. And the CIA begins an investigation, (interesting, they are investigating their own operation?) of the Mena operation. The White House is asked about it, and they deny everything. At this same time, Reed drops the lawsuit and the murder of two teenage boys, Don Henry and Kevin Ives occurs in Benton, a town near Mena. Due to persistent parents and a few honest Arkansas policemen, their murders are traced back to the drug smuggling operations at Mena. A British documentary exposes the murders and the link to Mena. No U.S. major news network picks this story
"Crack" is a weapon invented by the CIA and used against Americans on a daily basis .Google Gary Webb ,he was "suicided" by shooting himself in the head TWICE ,yep two shots to the head .Talk about committed. He exposed the CIA and paid the ultimate price and Americans didn't give a fuck that it cost him his life. He gave all to help "the people" and "the people" let him down .Hunter.S.Thompson was "suicided" ,Paul Wellstone was "suicided",JohnJohn was "suicided",Raymond Lemme was "suicided"...fuck the list is sooo long ...The CIA has a history of "wet work" going back decades.
When will the CIA be declared a state-sponsored terrorist organization? How different are they from Iran's Revolutionary Guard or Hezbollah? The CIA has more funding, more weapons and technology, and has infiltrated almost every nation on this planet. And they have the approval of the most powerful nation to murder innocent people. Those are the differences and they are quite stark. In my mind, they are much more of a dangerous threat to the population of this planet than Al Qaeda. I challenge anyone to add up the number of civilian deaths and casualties from their drone strikes reported in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the last few years, and compare them with civilians killed by the Revolutionary Guard (which has been designated a terrorist group by the US). And those are only just the ones we've found out about. Remember, the United States has actually used nuclear weapons against civilians, uses depleted uranium in Iraq, bombs and kills civilians in poor third world nations, supports the drug trade, and the CIA tortures prisoners. Why is any of this not considered terrorism? I'll tell you why. . . Because all of it is done against people who are not White Caucasians.
00:00 → 00:19
(SUBTITLES BEGIN AT 00:19) 00:19 → 00:23
RON PAUL: There's been a coup, have you heard? It's the CIA coup. 00:23 → 00:26
The CIA runs everything, they run the military. 00:26 → 00:30
They're the ones who are over there lobbing missiles and bombs on countries. 00:30 → 00:36
And of course the CIA is every bit as secretive as the Federal Reserve. 00:36 → 00:45
And yet think of the harm they have done since they were established [after] World War II. 00:45 → 00:48
They are a government unto themselves. 00:48 → 00:53
They're in businesses, in drug businesses, they take out dictators. 00:53 → 00:56
We need to take out the CIA.
(SUBTITLES BEGIN AT 00:19) 00:19 → 00:23
RON PAUL: There's been a coup, have you heard? It's the CIA coup. 00:23 → 00:26
The CIA runs everything, they run the military. 00:26 → 00:30
They're the ones who are over there lobbing missiles and bombs on countries. 00:30 → 00:36
And of course the CIA is every bit as secretive as the Federal Reserve. 00:36 → 00:45
And yet think of the harm they have done since they were established [after] World War II. 00:45 → 00:48
They are a government unto themselves. 00:48 → 00:53
They're in businesses, in drug businesses, they take out dictators. 00:53 → 00:56
We need to take out the CIA.
"There’s been a coup, have you heard? It’s the CIA coup. The CIA runs everything, they run the military. They’re the ones who are over there lobbing missiles and bombs on countries. … And of course the CIA is every bit as secretive as the Federal Reserve. … And yet think of the harm they have done since they were established after World War II. They are a government unto themselves. They’re in businesses, in drug businesses, they take out dictators … We need to take out the CIA."
Haiti Has Larger Oil Reserves Than Venezuela Says Scientists (An Olympic Pool Compared to a Glass of Water)
I have heard rumors that Haiti has vast oil reserves -- and that the globalists want these reserves. However, the globalists cannot get the reserves, because the oil belongs to the Haitian people. So the globalists do not allow the Haitians to exploit the oil reserves, because it would allow the Haitian people to prosper. It would allow the Haitians to build proper infrastructure, so that 7.0 earthquakes do not have such a devastating effect.The article below is translated from French (read the original here) using Google, so it may not be 100% translated and of course verify whether these scientists are to be believed. Nevertheless, as I stated in my previous article Haiti Has Huge Resources of Gold and Iridium Says Former Dominican Petroleum Refinery President Leopoldo Espaillat Nanita, it is interesting that Bill Clinton and George Soros have been recently talking about rebuilding Haiti's infrastructure and starting business ventures in the country. Perhaps Clinton, Soros and the many other globalists have confirmed that these oil, gold, uranium, zyconium and iridium deposits DO exist in Haiti and they want to gain control at the expense of the Haitian people.
I have heard rumors that Haiti has vast oil reserves -- and that the globalists want these reserves. However, the globalists cannot get the reserves, because the oil belongs to the Haitian people. So the globalists do not allow the Haitians to exploit the oil reserves, because it would allow the Haitian people to prosper. It would allow the Haitians to build proper infrastructure, so that 7.0 earthquakes do not have such a devastating effect.The article below is translated from French (read the original here) using Google, so it may not be 100% translated and of course verify whether these scientists are to be believed. Nevertheless, as I stated in my previous article Haiti Has Huge Resources of Gold and Iridium Says Former Dominican Petroleum Refinery President Leopoldo Espaillat Nanita, it is interesting that Bill Clinton and George Soros have been recently talking about rebuilding Haiti's infrastructure and starting business ventures in the country. Perhaps Clinton, Soros and the many other globalists have confirmed that these oil, gold, uranium, zyconium and iridium deposits DO exist in Haiti and they want to gain control at the expense of the Haitian people.
Haiti is full of oil say Daniel and Ginette MathurinScientists Daniel and Ginette Mathurin indicate that under Haitian soil is rich in oil and fuel fossible which were collected by Haitian and foreign experts. "We have identified 20 sites Oil, launches Daniel Mathurin stating that 5 of them are considered very important by practitioners and policies.The Central Plateau, including the region of Thomond, the plain of the cul-de-sac and the bay of Port-au-Prince are filled with oil, he said, adding that Haiti's oil reserves are larger than those of Venezuela. An Olympic pool compared to a glass of water that is the comparison to show the importance of oil Haitian compared to those of Venezuela, "he explains.Venezuela is one of the world's largest producers of oil.Daniel Mathurin reveals that investigations of several previous governments have allowed to verify the existence of these large deposits of oil. It reminds a document of Lavalas party to power in 2004, had specified the number of sites in Haiti hydrocarbons.According to Daniel et Ginette Mathurin, the lake region, with cities like Thomazeau and Cornillon, contains large deposits of oil.Asked about the non-exploitation of these sites, Ginette Mathurin said that these deposits are declared strategic reserves of the United States of America. While stating his incomprehension of such a situation, it reminds that the Caribbean is considered the backyard of the United States.But Daniel and Ginette Mathurin indicate that the U.S. government in 2005 authorized the use of strategic reserves of the United States. This door must be used by the Haitian political négiciations to launch with U.S. companies with a view to exploiting these deposits adds Daniel MathurinExperts argue that the government acted Jean Claude Duvalier had verified the existence of a major oilfield in the bay of Port-au-Prince shortly before its fall.Moreover, Daniel et Ginette Mathurin show that uranium 238 and 235 and the deposit zyconium exist in several regions including in Jacmel. Uranium is used in nuclear reactors to produce electrical energy.
President Obama's response to the tragedy in Haiti has been robust in military deployment and puny in what the Haitians need most: food; first responders and their specialized equipment; doctors and medical facilities and equipment; and engineers, heavy equipment, and heavy movers. Sadly, President Obama is dispatching Presidents Bush and Clinton, and thousands of Marines and U.S. soldiers. By contrast, Cuba has over 400 doctors on the ground and is sending in more; Cubans, Argentinians, Icelanders, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans, and many others are already on the ground working--saving lives and treating the injured. Senegal has offered land to Haitians willing to relocate to Africa.The United States, on the day after the tragedy struck, confirmed that an entire Marine Expeditionary Force was being considered "to help restore order," when the "disorder" had been caused by an earthquake striking Haiti; not since 1751, 1770, 1842, 1860, and 1887 had Haiti experienced an earthquake. But, I remember the bogus reports of chaos and violence the led to the deployment of military assets, including Blackwater, in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. One Katrina survivor noted that the people needed food and shelter and the U.S. government sent men with guns. Much to my disquiet, it seems, here we go again. From the very beginning, U.S. assistance to Haiti has looked to me more like an invasion than a humanitarian relief operation.On Day Two of the tragedy, a C-130 plane with a military assessment team landed in Haiti, with the rest of the team expected to land soon thereafter. The stated purpose of this team was to determine what military resources were needed.An Air Force special operations team was also expected to land to provide air traffic control. Now, the reports are that the U.S. is not allowing assistance in, shades of Hurricane Katrina, all over again. On President Obama's orders military aircraft "flew over the island, mapping the destruction." So, the first U.S. contribution to the humanitarian relief needed in Haiti were reconnaissance drones whose staffing are more accustomed to looking for hidden weapon sites and surface-to-air missile batteries than wrecked infrastructure. The scope of the U.S. response soon became clear: aircraft carrer, Marine transport ship, four C-140 airlifts, and evacuations to Guantanamo. By the end of Day Two, according to the Washington Post report, the United States had evacuated to Guantanamo Bay about eight [8] severely injured patients, in addition to U.S. Embassy staffers, who had been "designated as priorities by the U.S. Ambassador and his staff."On Day Three we learned that other U.S. ships, including destroyers, were moving toward Haiti. Interestingly, the Washington Post reported that the standing task force that coordinates the U.S. response to mass migration events from Cuba or Haiti was monitoring events, but had not yet ramped up its operations. That tidbit was interesting in and of itself, that those two countries are attended to by a standing task force, but the treatment of their nationals is vastly different, with Cubans being awarded immediate acceptance from the U.S. government, and by contrast, internment for Haitian nationals. U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral James Watson IV reassured Americans, "Our focus right now is to prevent that, and we are going to work with the Defense Department, the State Department, FEMA and all the agencies of the federal government to minimize the risk of Haitians who want to flee their country," Watson said. "We want to provide them those releif supplies so they can live in Haiti." By the end of Day Four, the U.S. reportedly had evacuated over 800 U.S. nationals.For those of us who have been following events in Haiti before the tragic earthquake, it is worth noting that several items have caused deep concern:1. the continued exile of Haiti's democratically-elected and well-loved, yet twice-removed former priest, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide;2. the unexplained continued occupation of the country by United Nations troops who have killed innocent Haitians and are hardly there for "security" (I've personally seen them on the roads that only lead to Haiti's sparsely-populated areas teeming with beautiful beaches);3. U.S. construction of its fifth-largest embassy in the world in Port-au-Prince, Haiti;4. mining and port licenses and contracts, including the privatization of Haiti's deep water ports, because certain off-shore oil and transshipment arrangements would not be possible inside the U.S. for environmental and other considerations; and5. Extensive foreign NGO presence in Haiti that could be rendered unnecessary if, instead, appropriate U.S. and other government policy allowed the Haitian people some modicum of political and economic self-determination.Therefore, we note here the writings of Ms. Marguerite Laurent, whom I met in her capacity as attorney for ousted President of Haiti Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Ms. Laurent reminds us of Haiti's offshore oil and other mineral riches and recent revivial of an old idea to use Haiti and an oil refinery to be built there as a transshipment terminal for U.S. supertankers. Ms. Laurent, also known as Ezili Danto of the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network (HLLN), writes:"There is evidence that the United States found oil in Haiti decades ago and due to the geopolitical circumstances and big business interests of that era made the decision to keep Haitian oil in reserve for when Middle Eastern oil had dried up. This is detailed by Dr. Georges Michel in an article dated March 27, 2004 outlining the history of oil explorations and oil reserves in Haiti and in the research of Dr. Ginette and Daniel Mathurin."There is also good evidence that these very same big US oil companies and their inter-related monopolies of engineering and defense contractors made plans, decades ago, to use Haiti's deep water ports either for oil refineries or to develop oil tank farm sites or depots where crude oil could be stored and later transferred to small tankers to serve U.S. and Caribbean ports. This is detailed in a paper about the Dunn Plantation at Fort Liberte in Haiti."Ezili's HLLN underlines these two papers on Haiti's oil resources and the works of Dr. Ginette and Daniel Mathurin in order to provide a view one will not find in the mainstream media nor anywhere else as to the economic and strategic reasons the US has constructed its fifth largest embassy in the world - fifth only besides the US embassy in China, Iraq, Iran and Germany - in tiny Haiti, post the 2004 Haiti Bush regime change."Unfortunately, before the tragedy struck, and despite pleading to the Administration by Haiti activists inside the United States, President Obama failed to stop the deportation of Haitians inside the United States and failed to grant TPS, temporary protected status, to Haitians inside the U.S. in peril of being deported due to visa expirations. That was corrected on Day Three of Haiti's earthquake tragedy with the January 15, 2010 announcement that Haiti would join Honduras, Nicaragua, Somalia, El Salvador, and Sudan as a country granted TPS by the Secretary of Homeland Security.President Obama's appointment of President Bush to the Haiti relief effort is a swift left jab to the face, in my opinion. After President Bush's performance in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the fact that still today, Hurricane Katrina survivors who want to return still have not been provided a way back home, the appointment might augur well for fundraising activities, but I doubt that it bodes well for the Haitian people. Afterall, the coup against and the kidnapping of President Aristide occurred under the watch of a Bush Presidency.Finally, those with an appreciation of French literature know that among France's most beloved authors are Alexandre Dumas, son of a Haitian slave, and Victor Hugo who wrote: "Haiti est une lumiere." [Haiti is a light.] Indeed, Haiti for millions is a light: light into the methodology and evil of slavery; light into a successful slave rebellion, light into nationhood and notions of liberty, the rights of man, and of human dignity. Haiti is a light. And an example that makes the enemies of black liberation tremble. It is precisely because of Haiti's light into the evil genius of some individuals who wield power over others and man's ability, through unity and purpose, to overcome that evil, that some segments of the world have been at war with Haiti ever since 1804, the year of Haiti's creation as a Republic.I'm not surprised at "Reverend" Pat Robertson's racist vitriol. Robertson's comments mirror, exactly, statements made by Napoleon's Cabinet when the Haitians defeated them. But in 2010, Robertson's statements reveal much more: Haitians are not the only ones who know their importance to the struggle against hatred, imperialism, and European domination.This pesky, persistent, stubbornly non-Western, proudly African people of this piece of land that we call Haiti know their history and they know that they militarily defeated the ruling world empire of the day, Napoleon's France, and the global elite at that time who supported him. They know that they defeated the armies of England and Spain. Haitians know that they used their status as a free state to help liberate Latin Americans from Spain, by funding and fighting alongside Simon Bolivar; their example inspired their still-enslaved African brothers and sisters on the American mainland; and before Haitians were even free, they fought against the British inside the U.S. during its war of independence and won a decisive battle in Savannah, Georgia, where I have visited the statue commemorating that victory.Haitians know that France imposed reparations on them for being free, and Haiti paid them in full, but that President Aristide called for France to give that money back ($21 billion in 2003 dollars).Haitians know that their "brother," then-Secretary of State Colin Powell lied to the world upon the kidnapping and second ouster of their President. (Sadly, it wouldn't be the last time that Secretary of State Colin Powell would lie to the world.) Haitians know, all-too-well, that high-ranking blacks in the United States are capable of helping them and of betraying them.Haitians know, too, that the United States has installed its political proxies and even its own soldiers onto Haitian soil when the U.S. felt it was necessary. All in an effort to control the indomitable Haitian spirit that directs much-needed light to the rest of the oppressed world.While the tears of the people of Haiti swell in my own eyes, and I remember their tremendous capacity for love, my broken heart and wet eyes don't dampen my ability to understand the grave danger that now faces my friends in Haiti.I shudder to think that the "rollback" policies believed in by some foreign policy advisors to President Obama could use a prolonged U.S. military presence in Haiti as a springboard for rollback of areas in Latin America that have liberated themselves from U.S. neo-colonial domination. I would hate to think that this would even be attempted under the Presidency of Barack Obama. All of us must have our eyes wide open on Haiti and other parts of the world now dripping in blood as a result of the relentless onward march of the U.S. military machine.So, on this remembrance of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I note that it was the U.S. government's own illegal Operation Lantern Spike that snuffed out the promise and light of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Every plane of humanitarian assistance that is turned away by the U.S. military (so far from CARICOM, the Caribbean Community, Médecins Sans Frontieres, Brazil, France, Italy, and even the U.S. Red Cross)--as was done in the wake of Hurricane Katrina--and the expected arrival on this very day of up to 10,000 U.S. troops, are lasting reminders of the existential threat that now looms over the valiant, proud people and the Republic of Haiti.For further reading:
Avatar - even in 2D - reportedly too hot a property for China censors
Patriotic biopic of Confucius to replace blockbuster that draws parallels officials fear may cause unrest, report says.
Patriotic biopic of Confucius to replace blockbuster that draws parallels officials fear may cause unrest, report says.
China is to pull the plug on screenings of Avatar at most cinemas and replace the Golden Globe-winning film with a patriotic biopic on the life of Confucius, according to reports.
Hong Kong's Apple Daily said the state-run China Film Group has ordered cinemas across China to stop showing the 2D version of the film and to show only the 3D edition, amid concerns from China's censors that it could cause unrest. Because there are so few 3D cinemas on the mainland, the order effectively prevents general distribution of the James Cameron blockbuster.
Parallels have reportedly been drawn between the plight of the Na'vi, who face the threat of eviction from their woodland home, and those in China vulnerable to displacement by predatory property developers.
Bloggers are speculating about the toll Avatar could inflict on home-grown films. The Confucius picture is directed by Hu Mei and stars Chow Yun-fat as the sage.
"The Central Publicity Department is said to have issued an order to the media prohibiting it from hyping up Avatar," the newspaper said.
The film opened on 4 January to queues across the country, with Imax cinemas said to be booked for weeks ahead. It was due to run until 28 February, including over Chinese new year. Instead, the reports said, the 2D version will close on 23 January.
According to one reputable blog, the Wuxi Big World Cineplex posted the following notice to its website: "China Film Group Company and the distribution network have given notice that Avatar (all versions) will close immediately on 23 January all across the country! We ask your understanding! Viewers who have purchased tickets for the 23rd and the 24th may obtain a refund from the box office before the 22nd! To satisfy the viewing needs of the audience, the cinema will add midnight showings from the 21st and 22nd. Grab them quickly!"
The posting was later taken down, with the China News Agency, which spoke to the cinema, saying it had been an error. The 2D Avatar was to close on the 23rd but 3D showing would continue.
Parallels have reportedly been drawn between the plight of the Na'vi, who face the threat of eviction from their woodland home, and those in China vulnerable to displacement by predatory property developers.
Bloggers are speculating about the toll Avatar could inflict on home-grown films. The Confucius picture is directed by Hu Mei and stars Chow Yun-fat as the sage.
"The Central Publicity Department is said to have issued an order to the media prohibiting it from hyping up Avatar," the newspaper said.
The film opened on 4 January to queues across the country, with Imax cinemas said to be booked for weeks ahead. It was due to run until 28 February, including over Chinese new year. Instead, the reports said, the 2D version will close on 23 January.
According to one reputable blog, the Wuxi Big World Cineplex posted the following notice to its website: "China Film Group Company and the distribution network have given notice that Avatar (all versions) will close immediately on 23 January all across the country! We ask your understanding! Viewers who have purchased tickets for the 23rd and the 24th may obtain a refund from the box office before the 22nd! To satisfy the viewing needs of the audience, the cinema will add midnight showings from the 21st and 22nd. Grab them quickly!"
The posting was later taken down, with the China News Agency, which spoke to the cinema, saying it had been an error. The 2D Avatar was to close on the 23rd but 3D showing would continue.
CEO: Google "committed" to being in China, will change censorship policy
January 22, 2010
Google CEO Eric Schmidt said the company wishes to remain in China but will make changes to its policy of censoring search results in a "reasonably short time," Dow Jones reported. Schmidt said Google is in conversation with the government about the decision but as of today Google's business in China remains unchanged. Last week Google threatened to pull out of the China market following allegations that the Chinese governments had hacked Chinese human-rights activists email accounts. The company also announced it would delay the Chinese launch of two mobile phone models that will use its Android operating system. Google's fourth-quarter results outperformed expectations. In related news, Microsoft announced it has no plans to change its policy of compliance with China's requirement to censor search results.
http://www.chinaeconomicreview.com/dailybriefing/2010_01_22/CEO:_Google_committed_to_being_in_China_will_change_censorship_policy.html
January 22, 2010
Google CEO Eric Schmidt said the company wishes to remain in China but will make changes to its policy of censoring search results in a "reasonably short time," Dow Jones reported. Schmidt said Google is in conversation with the government about the decision but as of today Google's business in China remains unchanged. Last week Google threatened to pull out of the China market following allegations that the Chinese governments had hacked Chinese human-rights activists email accounts. The company also announced it would delay the Chinese launch of two mobile phone models that will use its Android operating system. Google's fourth-quarter results outperformed expectations. In related news, Microsoft announced it has no plans to change its policy of compliance with China's requirement to censor search results.
http://www.chinaeconomicreview.com/dailybriefing/2010_01_22/CEO:_Google_committed_to_being_in_China_will_change_censorship_policy.html
Google Agrees to Censor Encyclopedia Dramatica Entry in Australia
Google self-censors certain results in countries like France or Germany, and Australia as well. The Sydney Morning Herald writes:
Google has agreed to take down links to a website that promotes racist views of indigenous Australians.
Aboriginal man Steve Hodder-Watt recently discovered the US-based site by searching “Aboriginal and Encyclopedia” in the search engine. (...)
Mr Hodder-Watt then undertook legal action, that resulted in Google acknowledging its legal responsibility to remove the offensive site.
When searching Google Australia for [Aboriginal and Encyclopedia], there will be a disclaimer at the bottom reading “In response to a legal request submitted to Google, we have removed 1 result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read more about the request at ChillingEffects.org.” The page at Chillig Effects reads:
Google received a complaint about a website that allegedly violates the Australian Anti Discrimination Act. Accordingly, Google removed the website from Google.com.au.
The Encyclopedia Dramatica page in question can be seen normally down the middle of the search results when using google.com. The page has now been updated to reflect on the current events, suggesting that satire was used (and pointing to a very graphical page for people who are offended by it). Encyclopedia Dramatica is not a serious site, but tries to go for humor and hoaxes. Other races or countries aren’t spared as well; at this encyclopedia, Spain is described to be “Devoid of any culture whatsoever”. Another country’s citizens are called “the human scum of the world”, and so on. Encyclopedia Dramatica also has an article titled “White People”, which starts with “It is widely known that white people are the inferior race.” It goes on to mention that “One good thing about the white race is their ability to blindly follow their leaders in perfect lockstep, however ridiculous the instructions might sound.”
Wikipedia’s entry on this encyclopedia states:
Encyclopædia Dramatica is a satirical open wiki built on MediaWiki software. Launched on December 9, 2004, it satirizes both encyclopedic topics and current events, especially those related to or relevant to Internet culture. The site’s “elaborate trolling culture”, chronicling of Internet trolling, use of content with shock value, and criticism of other Internet communities have all gained media coverage and commentary. It is also associated with the Internet subculture Anonymous. Some of the content on Encyclopædia Dramatica is sexually explicit or disturbing, including uncensored material taken from shock sites.
Is Google now agreeing to censor satirical speech? Wikipedia’s entry on satire explains:
A very common, almost defining feature of satire is its strong vein of irony or sarcasm ... The essential point ... is that “in satire, irony is militant.” This “militant irony” (or sarcasm) often professes to approve (or at least accept as natural) the very things the satirist actually wishes to attack.
Whether the censored page in question fits your definition of satire or successful satire is probably up for debate, but it seems in free societies, authorities don’t take away that judgment from their adult citizens (and this is only about adult citizens, because the site is even gone when you disable SafeSearch). I wouldn’t want a government to tell me what’s funny and what isn’t... I’d rather be offended on my own terms, at least when I switch my search settings to not filter anything. And if I’d be an activist and a page is indeed racist, I hope a search engine wouldn’t pretend the page didn’t exist; rather, I would want to know about it, because then I could know what my opponents are up to, and potentially put up pages arguing against their points.
Google self-censors certain results in countries like France or Germany, and Australia as well. The Sydney Morning Herald writes:
Google has agreed to take down links to a website that promotes racist views of indigenous Australians.
Aboriginal man Steve Hodder-Watt recently discovered the US-based site by searching “Aboriginal and Encyclopedia” in the search engine. (...)
Mr Hodder-Watt then undertook legal action, that resulted in Google acknowledging its legal responsibility to remove the offensive site.
When searching Google Australia for [Aboriginal and Encyclopedia], there will be a disclaimer at the bottom reading “In response to a legal request submitted to Google, we have removed 1 result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read more about the request at ChillingEffects.org.” The page at Chillig Effects reads:
Google received a complaint about a website that allegedly violates the Australian Anti Discrimination Act. Accordingly, Google removed the website from Google.com.au.
The Encyclopedia Dramatica page in question can be seen normally down the middle of the search results when using google.com. The page has now been updated to reflect on the current events, suggesting that satire was used (and pointing to a very graphical page for people who are offended by it). Encyclopedia Dramatica is not a serious site, but tries to go for humor and hoaxes. Other races or countries aren’t spared as well; at this encyclopedia, Spain is described to be “Devoid of any culture whatsoever”. Another country’s citizens are called “the human scum of the world”, and so on. Encyclopedia Dramatica also has an article titled “White People”, which starts with “It is widely known that white people are the inferior race.” It goes on to mention that “One good thing about the white race is their ability to blindly follow their leaders in perfect lockstep, however ridiculous the instructions might sound.”
Wikipedia’s entry on this encyclopedia states:
Encyclopædia Dramatica is a satirical open wiki built on MediaWiki software. Launched on December 9, 2004, it satirizes both encyclopedic topics and current events, especially those related to or relevant to Internet culture. The site’s “elaborate trolling culture”, chronicling of Internet trolling, use of content with shock value, and criticism of other Internet communities have all gained media coverage and commentary. It is also associated with the Internet subculture Anonymous. Some of the content on Encyclopædia Dramatica is sexually explicit or disturbing, including uncensored material taken from shock sites.
Is Google now agreeing to censor satirical speech? Wikipedia’s entry on satire explains:
A very common, almost defining feature of satire is its strong vein of irony or sarcasm ... The essential point ... is that “in satire, irony is militant.” This “militant irony” (or sarcasm) often professes to approve (or at least accept as natural) the very things the satirist actually wishes to attack.
Whether the censored page in question fits your definition of satire or successful satire is probably up for debate, but it seems in free societies, authorities don’t take away that judgment from their adult citizens (and this is only about adult citizens, because the site is even gone when you disable SafeSearch). I wouldn’t want a government to tell me what’s funny and what isn’t... I’d rather be offended on my own terms, at least when I switch my search settings to not filter anything. And if I’d be an activist and a page is indeed racist, I hope a search engine wouldn’t pretend the page didn’t exist; rather, I would want to know about it, because then I could know what my opponents are up to, and potentially put up pages arguing against their points.
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Clearing out the high power analog tv emissions will improve signal to noise ratio for RFID emitting in the 700MHz band, and potentially allow passive satellite tracking of these RFID signals.
I’m thinking about getting a stainless steel wallet to protect against having any “enhanced” RFID cards tracked or skimmed remotely.
————
(AFP/dprogram.net) According to a former 31-year IBM employee, the highly-publicized, mandatory switch from analog to digital television is mainly being done to free up analog frequencies and make room for scanners used to read implantable RFID microchips and track people and products throughout the world.
So while the American people, especially those in Texas and other busy border states, have been inundated lately with news reports advising them to hurry and get their expensive passports, “enhanced driver’s licenses,” passport cards and other “chipped” or otherwise trackable identification devices that they are being forced to own, this digital television/RFID connection has been hidden, according to Patrick Redmond.
Redmond, a Canadian, held a variety of jobs at IBM before retiring, including working in the company’s Toronto lab from 1992 to 2007, then in sales support. He has given talks, written a book and produced a DVD on the aggressive, growing use of passive, semi-passive and active RFID chips (Radio Frequency Identification Devices) implanted in new clothing, in items such as Gillette Fusion blades, and in countless other products that become one’s personal belongings. These RFID chips, many of which are as small, or smaller, than the tip of a sharp pencil, also are embedded in all new U.S. passports, some medical cards, a growing number of credit and debit cards and so on. More than two billion of them were sold in 2007.
Whether active, semi-passive or passive, these “transponder chips,” as they’re sometimes called, can be accessed or activated with “readers” that can pick up the unique signal given off by each chip and glean information from it on the identity and whereabouts of the product or person, depending on design and circumstances, as Redmond explained in a little-publicized lecture in Canada last year. AFP just obtained a DVD of his talk.
Noted “Spychips” expert, author and radio host Katherine Albrecht told AMERICAN FREE PRESS that while she’s not totally sure whether there is a rock-solid RFID-DTV link, “The purpose of the switch [to digital] was to free up bandwidth. It’s a pretty wide band, so freeing that up creates a huge swath of frequencies.”
As is generally known, the active chips have an internal power source and antenna; these particular chips emit a constant signal. “This allows the tag to send signals back to the reader, so if I have a RFID chip on me and it has a battery, I can just send a signal to a reader wherever it is,” Redmond stated in the recent lecture, given to the Catholic patriot group known as the Pilgrims of Saint Michael, which also is known for advocating social credit, a dramatic monetary reform plan to end the practice of national governments bringing money into existence by borrowing it, with interest, from private central banks. The group’s publication The Michael Journal advocates having national governments create their own money interest-free. It also covers the RFID issue.
“The increased use of RFID chips is going to require the increased use of the UBF [UHF] spectrum,” Redmond said, hitting on his essential point that TV is going digital for a much different reason than the average person assumes, “They are going to stop using the [UHF] and VHF frequencies in 2009. Everything is going to go digital (in the U.S.). Canada is going to do the same thing.”
Explaining the unsettling crux of the matter, he continued: “The reason they are doing this is that the [UHF-VHF] analog frequencies are being used for the chips. They do not want to overload the chips with television signals, so the chips’ signals are going to be taking those [analog] frequencies. They plan to sell the frequencies to private companies and other groups who will use them to monitor the chips.”
Albrecht responded to that quote only by saying that it sounds plausible, since she knows some chips will indeed operate in the UHF-VHF ranges.
“Well over a million pets have been chipped,” Redmond said, adding that all 31,000 police officers in London have in some manner been chipped as well, much to the consternation of some who want that morning donut without being tracked. London also can link a RFID chip in a public transportation pass with the customer’s name. “Where is John Smith? Oh, he is on subway car 32,” Redmond said.
He added that chips for following automobile drivers – while the concept is being fought by several states in the U.S. which do not want nationalized, trackable driver’s licenses (Real ID ) – is apparently a slam dunk in Canada, where license plates have quietly been chipped. Such identification tags can contain work history, education, religion, ethnicity, reproductive history and much more.
Farm animals are increasingly being chipped; furthermore, “Some 800 hospitals in the U.S. are now chipping their patients; you can turn it down, but it’s available,” he said, adding: “Four hospitals in Puerto Rico have put them in the arms of Alzheimer’s patients, and it only costs about $200 per person.”
VeriChip, a major chip maker (the devices sometimes also are called Spychips) describes its product on its website: “About twice the length of a grain of rice, the device is typically implanted above the triceps area of an individual’s right arm. Once scanned at the proper frequency, the VeriChip responds with a unique 16 digit number which could be then linked with information about the user held on a database for identity verification, medical records access and other uses. The insertion procedure is performed under local anesthetic in a physician’s office and once inserted, is invisible to the naked eye. As an implanted device used for identification by a third party, it has generated controversy and debate.”
The circles will keep widening, Redmond predicts. Chipping children “to be able to protect them,” Redmond said, “is being promoted in the media.” After that, he believes it will come to: chip the military, chip welfare cheats, chip criminals, chip workers who are goofing off, chip pensioners – and then chip everyone else under whatever rationale is cited by government and highly-protected corporations that stand to make billions of dollars from this technology. Meanwhile, the concept is marketed by a corporate media that, far from being a watchdog of the surveillance state, is part of it, much like the media give free publicity to human vaccination programs without critical analysis on possible dangers and side effects of the vaccines.
“That’s the first time I have heard of it,” a Federal Communications Commission official claimed, when AFP asked him about the RFID-DTV issue on June 2. Preferring anonymity, he added: “I am not at all aware of that being a cause (of going to DTV).”
“Nigel Gilbert of the Royal Academy of Engineering said that by 2011 you should be able to go on Google and find out where someone is at anytime from chips on clothing, in cars, in cellphones and inside many people themselves,” Redmond also said.
To read Redmond’s full lecture, go to this online link:
Full Lecture – Click Here
I’m thinking about getting a stainless steel wallet to protect against having any “enhanced” RFID cards tracked or skimmed remotely.
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(AFP/dprogram.net) According to a former 31-year IBM employee, the highly-publicized, mandatory switch from analog to digital television is mainly being done to free up analog frequencies and make room for scanners used to read implantable RFID microchips and track people and products throughout the world.
So while the American people, especially those in Texas and other busy border states, have been inundated lately with news reports advising them to hurry and get their expensive passports, “enhanced driver’s licenses,” passport cards and other “chipped” or otherwise trackable identification devices that they are being forced to own, this digital television/RFID connection has been hidden, according to Patrick Redmond.
Redmond, a Canadian, held a variety of jobs at IBM before retiring, including working in the company’s Toronto lab from 1992 to 2007, then in sales support. He has given talks, written a book and produced a DVD on the aggressive, growing use of passive, semi-passive and active RFID chips (Radio Frequency Identification Devices) implanted in new clothing, in items such as Gillette Fusion blades, and in countless other products that become one’s personal belongings. These RFID chips, many of which are as small, or smaller, than the tip of a sharp pencil, also are embedded in all new U.S. passports, some medical cards, a growing number of credit and debit cards and so on. More than two billion of them were sold in 2007.
Whether active, semi-passive or passive, these “transponder chips,” as they’re sometimes called, can be accessed or activated with “readers” that can pick up the unique signal given off by each chip and glean information from it on the identity and whereabouts of the product or person, depending on design and circumstances, as Redmond explained in a little-publicized lecture in Canada last year. AFP just obtained a DVD of his talk.
Noted “Spychips” expert, author and radio host Katherine Albrecht told AMERICAN FREE PRESS that while she’s not totally sure whether there is a rock-solid RFID-DTV link, “The purpose of the switch [to digital] was to free up bandwidth. It’s a pretty wide band, so freeing that up creates a huge swath of frequencies.”
As is generally known, the active chips have an internal power source and antenna; these particular chips emit a constant signal. “This allows the tag to send signals back to the reader, so if I have a RFID chip on me and it has a battery, I can just send a signal to a reader wherever it is,” Redmond stated in the recent lecture, given to the Catholic patriot group known as the Pilgrims of Saint Michael, which also is known for advocating social credit, a dramatic monetary reform plan to end the practice of national governments bringing money into existence by borrowing it, with interest, from private central banks. The group’s publication The Michael Journal advocates having national governments create their own money interest-free. It also covers the RFID issue.
“The increased use of RFID chips is going to require the increased use of the UBF [UHF] spectrum,” Redmond said, hitting on his essential point that TV is going digital for a much different reason than the average person assumes, “They are going to stop using the [UHF] and VHF frequencies in 2009. Everything is going to go digital (in the U.S.). Canada is going to do the same thing.”
Explaining the unsettling crux of the matter, he continued: “The reason they are doing this is that the [UHF-VHF] analog frequencies are being used for the chips. They do not want to overload the chips with television signals, so the chips’ signals are going to be taking those [analog] frequencies. They plan to sell the frequencies to private companies and other groups who will use them to monitor the chips.”
Albrecht responded to that quote only by saying that it sounds plausible, since she knows some chips will indeed operate in the UHF-VHF ranges.
“Well over a million pets have been chipped,” Redmond said, adding that all 31,000 police officers in London have in some manner been chipped as well, much to the consternation of some who want that morning donut without being tracked. London also can link a RFID chip in a public transportation pass with the customer’s name. “Where is John Smith? Oh, he is on subway car 32,” Redmond said.
He added that chips for following automobile drivers – while the concept is being fought by several states in the U.S. which do not want nationalized, trackable driver’s licenses (Real ID ) – is apparently a slam dunk in Canada, where license plates have quietly been chipped. Such identification tags can contain work history, education, religion, ethnicity, reproductive history and much more.
Farm animals are increasingly being chipped; furthermore, “Some 800 hospitals in the U.S. are now chipping their patients; you can turn it down, but it’s available,” he said, adding: “Four hospitals in Puerto Rico have put them in the arms of Alzheimer’s patients, and it only costs about $200 per person.”
VeriChip, a major chip maker (the devices sometimes also are called Spychips) describes its product on its website: “About twice the length of a grain of rice, the device is typically implanted above the triceps area of an individual’s right arm. Once scanned at the proper frequency, the VeriChip responds with a unique 16 digit number which could be then linked with information about the user held on a database for identity verification, medical records access and other uses. The insertion procedure is performed under local anesthetic in a physician’s office and once inserted, is invisible to the naked eye. As an implanted device used for identification by a third party, it has generated controversy and debate.”
The circles will keep widening, Redmond predicts. Chipping children “to be able to protect them,” Redmond said, “is being promoted in the media.” After that, he believes it will come to: chip the military, chip welfare cheats, chip criminals, chip workers who are goofing off, chip pensioners – and then chip everyone else under whatever rationale is cited by government and highly-protected corporations that stand to make billions of dollars from this technology. Meanwhile, the concept is marketed by a corporate media that, far from being a watchdog of the surveillance state, is part of it, much like the media give free publicity to human vaccination programs without critical analysis on possible dangers and side effects of the vaccines.
“That’s the first time I have heard of it,” a Federal Communications Commission official claimed, when AFP asked him about the RFID-DTV issue on June 2. Preferring anonymity, he added: “I am not at all aware of that being a cause (of going to DTV).”
“Nigel Gilbert of the Royal Academy of Engineering said that by 2011 you should be able to go on Google and find out where someone is at anytime from chips on clothing, in cars, in cellphones and inside many people themselves,” Redmond also said.
To read Redmond’s full lecture, go to this online link:
Full Lecture – Click Here
Department after January 1 will have always-on radio frequency identification chips, making it easy for officials – and hackers – to grab your personal stats. Getting paranoid about strangers slurping up your identity? Here’s what you can do about it. But be careful – tampering with a passport is punishable by 25 years in prison. Not to mention the “special” customs search, with rubber gloves. Bon voyage!
1) RFID-tagged passports have a distinctive logo on the front cover; the chip is embedded in the back.
2) Sorry, “accidentally” leaving your passport in the jeans you just put in the washer won’t work. You’re more likely to ruin the passport itself than the chip.
3) Forget about nuking it in the microwave – the chip could burst into flames, leaving telltale scorch marks. Besides, have you ever smelled burnt passport?
4) The best approach? Hammer time. Hitting the chip with a blunt, hard object should disable it. A nonworking RFID doesn’t invalidate the passport, so you can still use it. http://current.com/19mo64c
1) RFID-tagged passports have a distinctive logo on the front cover; the chip is embedded in the back.
2) Sorry, “accidentally” leaving your passport in the jeans you just put in the washer won’t work. You’re more likely to ruin the passport itself than the chip.
3) Forget about nuking it in the microwave – the chip could burst into flames, leaving telltale scorch marks. Besides, have you ever smelled burnt passport?
4) The best approach? Hammer time. Hitting the chip with a blunt, hard object should disable it. A nonworking RFID doesn’t invalidate the passport, so you can still use it. http://current.com/19mo64c
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