Your humble host is not a big fan of John Stewart but occasionally one of his skits is hilarious. This is one such example.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Project "Gunwalker" Updated
Since 14 December of last year when two semiautomatic AK 47 "assault" rifles were recovered at the scene of a "shootout" between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and Mexican criminals in southwest Arizona leaving Agent Brian Terry dead, the "mainstream" media has finally been dragged kicking and screaming into reporting the story. Also, US government agencies such as ICE and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) have been less than forthcoming on the circumstances and background surrounding the incident.
What is gradually emerging from this tragic event is the liklihood that federal agencies are being used as tools in the pursuit of a political agenda undermining rights guaranteed by the second Amendment.
For many months it has been alleged by spokespersons at the highest levels of the Administration that the violence of the drug cartels in Mexico has been fueled by weaponry supplied by private legal sources in the US; thus justifying additional regulations on gun transactions by heretofore legally licensed firearms dealers.
The ATF keeps statistics on the origin of "cherry-picked" weaponry seized at crime scenes in Mexico and has been massaging them to make it appear their major sources were gun shops and gun shows in the US. This practice proving insufficient in generating public support for additional gun control regulations has apparently resulted in the policy of sanctioning the transfer of larger masses of weapons into Mexico (project gunrunner). This project would serve two bureaucratic purposes: 1) a justification for additional funds and personnel for ATF and 2) mobilizing political support for more stringent gun control legislation.
Apparently our bureaucratic and political "servants" failed to realize that the historic ability to control cultural memes via the MSM no longer obtains in the era of "alternative" media. Two dedicated and unpaid members of that alternative media, Mike Vanderboegh and David Codrea have, virtually unaided, engaged in the investigative digging, reporting and prodding which has resulted in the exposure of this scandal which in the opinion of this observer far exceeds the importance of the Watergate affair in that the resulting deaths in both the US and Mexico are yet to be enumerated. A daily perusal of both of the above web sites is highly encouraged in order to obtain an understanding of the scope of our rulers efforts to eliminate our liberties.
The most outrageous facet of this scandal is the spin produced by not only the federal agencies complicit in the coverup but the traditional media outlets who serve as government apologists and spin doctors.
By far the best illustration of the of the mentality of these government employed creeps is recorded in an exchange between Mike Vanderboegh and an un-named veteran of government operations which is here reproduced with permission of the author:
Interestingly enough, this humble blogster has in a previous life attended and participated in similar "meetings".
Updated 9 March 2011 @ 17:10 EST
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ!
What is gradually emerging from this tragic event is the liklihood that federal agencies are being used as tools in the pursuit of a political agenda undermining rights guaranteed by the second Amendment.
For many months it has been alleged by spokespersons at the highest levels of the Administration that the violence of the drug cartels in Mexico has been fueled by weaponry supplied by private legal sources in the US; thus justifying additional regulations on gun transactions by heretofore legally licensed firearms dealers.
The ATF keeps statistics on the origin of "cherry-picked" weaponry seized at crime scenes in Mexico and has been massaging them to make it appear their major sources were gun shops and gun shows in the US. This practice proving insufficient in generating public support for additional gun control regulations has apparently resulted in the policy of sanctioning the transfer of larger masses of weapons into Mexico (project gunrunner). This project would serve two bureaucratic purposes: 1) a justification for additional funds and personnel for ATF and 2) mobilizing political support for more stringent gun control legislation.
Apparently our bureaucratic and political "servants" failed to realize that the historic ability to control cultural memes via the MSM no longer obtains in the era of "alternative" media. Two dedicated and unpaid members of that alternative media, Mike Vanderboegh and David Codrea have, virtually unaided, engaged in the investigative digging, reporting and prodding which has resulted in the exposure of this scandal which in the opinion of this observer far exceeds the importance of the Watergate affair in that the resulting deaths in both the US and Mexico are yet to be enumerated. A daily perusal of both of the above web sites is highly encouraged in order to obtain an understanding of the scope of our rulers efforts to eliminate our liberties.
The most outrageous facet of this scandal is the spin produced by not only the federal agencies complicit in the coverup but the traditional media outlets who serve as government apologists and spin doctors.
By far the best illustration of the of the mentality of these government employed creeps is recorded in an exchange between Mike Vanderboegh and an un-named veteran of government operations which is here reproduced with permission of the author:
Let me tell you what this was, and where it came from, based on a conversation I had with a long-time, well-informed veteran of American government intelligence operations the other day.
"Do you think," he asked me, "that this happened accidentally in a vacuum?" Meaning that one day "Gunwalker Bill" Newell, Phoenix SAC, just got a wild hair and decided to invent his own foreign policy. "Things like this happen because of meetings. People sit in meetings and they decide what they want to happen. And then they take decisions, make policy and implement that policy to achieve those ends." He added, "That's why State is so nervous. They signed off on this. In a meeting."
Gunrunner, I pointed out to him, predated the Obama administration. "Yes, but 'walking guns' didn't." I told him it seemed to me that given the dates on the documents that the meetings crafting this policy must have taken place sometime in mid-2009. "And who took power in January, 2009?" he replied.
He continued, summing up this way. The gun issue was known to be radioactive. Every time the Democrats embraced it they got killed at the polls the next election cycle. What was needed, in Rahm Emanuel's parlance, was a good crisis to exploit, something to change the paradigm. The gun confiscationists had always danced in the blood (my term, not his) of every mass shooting and gotten nowhere, to their chagrin and frustration. What was needed was a game changer. Something that fit the meme of "we've got to tighten up on American gunowners, gun stores and gun shows because they are feeding the slaughter." Mexico was perfect. The ATF controlled the reporting of the statistics, the headlines were lurid and if the rest of us gunnies knew that you don't get automatic weapons, hand grenades and RPGs from gun shows and gun stores, most of the American people were too ignorant of the issue to care about the distinction. But the fact was, as the IG report and other sources concluded, the amount of weapons from those legitimate American sources did not meet the allegation. More importantly the statistics didn't meet the policy need. So, how to "fix" that? Project Gunwalker. If there weren't enough semi-auto "assault rifles" in Mexico, the ATF could fix that. And the murders would follow, justifying the policy change of cracking down on "assault rifles," gun shows and the like.
"So," I said, "you're saying that this was a deliberate attempt by policymakers at the highest levels of the Obama administration to subvert the Second Amendment and further diminish the free exercise of firearm rights of honest citizens?"
"You got it. Sucks, huh?" He laughed bitterly.
I thought of Zed in "Men in Black."
He added, "Of course the meeting transcripts won't reflect the truth so plainly, but then neither did the Wannsee Conference. These bastards always talk in riddles about what they're really after. Watch what they do, not what they say."
Sucks, huh?
Interestingly enough, this humble blogster has in a previous life attended and participated in similar "meetings".
Updated 9 March 2011 @ 17:10 EST
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ!
Sunday, March 06, 2011
A "Brave New World"
Mostly absent from the recent reporting of widespread unrest in the Mideast is a curiosity concerning the underlying cause of such a seemingly tectonic shift in the political fortunes of so many "tyrannical" governments. The casual references to a sudden awakening of interest in "democratic" governance begs the question as to why after the better part of a century following the departure of the European colonial powers such events would emerge within the span of less than 100 days.
The common denominator throughout the region encompassing the upheaval is the relative poverty of the masses of the population even in regions blessed with substantial natural resources such as petroleum. Those populations are forced to expend larger percentages of their incomes on necessities especially food which has undergone exponential price increases over recent months. This brings to mind the aphorism: "a hungry man is an angry man".
Those of us in "western" society appear to have difficulty grasping such a concept but the likelihood of our experiencing such a reality increases inexorably day by day. The main reason? Enter stage left Mr. Benjamin S. Bernanke and his fellow banksters:
Until August of 1971, international financial accounts were settled with gold. Subsequently, the means for settlement has been (printable) US dollars i.e. the world's "reserve currency". When US dollars are printed or created by electronic fiat irresponsibly the result as we know is inflation and it is exported globally to foreign central banks who are also engaged in currency inflation.
Gold closed last Friday above $1432.00 per troy ounce.
Welcome to the brave new world of inflation.
The common denominator throughout the region encompassing the upheaval is the relative poverty of the masses of the population even in regions blessed with substantial natural resources such as petroleum. Those populations are forced to expend larger percentages of their incomes on necessities especially food which has undergone exponential price increases over recent months. This brings to mind the aphorism: "a hungry man is an angry man".
Those of us in "western" society appear to have difficulty grasping such a concept but the likelihood of our experiencing such a reality increases inexorably day by day. The main reason? Enter stage left Mr. Benjamin S. Bernanke and his fellow banksters:
Remarks by Governor Ben S. Bernanke
Before the National Economists Club, Washington, D.C.
November 21, 2002:
".... Like gold, U.S. dollars have value only to the extent that they are strictly limited in supply. But the U.S. government has a technology, called a printing press (or, today, its electronic equivalent), that allows it to produce as many U.S. dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost. By increasing the number of U.S. dollars in circulation, or even by credibly threatening to do so, the U.S. government can also reduce the value of a dollar in terms of goods and services, which is equivalent to raising the prices in dollars of those goods and services. We conclude that, under a paper-money system, a determined government can always generate higher spending and hence positive inflation."
Until August of 1971, international financial accounts were settled with gold. Subsequently, the means for settlement has been (printable) US dollars i.e. the world's "reserve currency". When US dollars are printed or created by electronic fiat irresponsibly the result as we know is inflation and it is exported globally to foreign central banks who are also engaged in currency inflation.
Gold closed last Friday above $1432.00 per troy ounce.
Welcome to the brave new world of inflation.
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