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Concentration Camps in America?
by Stephen Lendman
Post-9/11 repressive laws transformed America into a police state. US prisons already overflow with political and other unjustly incarcerated victims.
It's a short leap to filling concentration camps with dissidents - anyone publicly opposing America run by monied interests and warlords, governed lawlessly, waging endless wars of aggression abroad, persecuting its own people, leaving anyone potentially vulnerable to abuse.
FEMA detention camps were established years ago. Perhaps many more are planned. They're used to incarcerate undocumented immigrants before deportations to countries of origin. In 2002, Bush Attorney General John Ashcroft called for Americans designated "enemy combatants" to be detained indefinitely - extrajudicially, uncharged and untried unless ordered otherwise.
Unaccountable Killer Cops in America
by Stephen Lendman
US streets in minority communities are battlegrounds. The good news is more police killings make headlines though nowhere near as many warranted. Justifiable public anger is noticeably more visible.
The bad news is cops in America kill innocent (mostly Black) victims hundreds of times annually with impunity.
Activist police brutality critic Sandra Bland was lawlessly arrested after being stopped for a dubious traffic violation. Waller County, TX police lied claiming she assaulted arresting state trooper Brian Encinia. Video evidence showed him harassing, threatening and abusing her. He opened her car door, aggressively demanded she "(s)tep out of the car." She justifiably hesitated saying "(y)ou do not have the right to do that. Don't touch me. I'm not under arrest."
Encinia threatened her with his taser, saying "(g)et out of the car. I will light you up. Get out. Now. Get out of the car." Bland was pinned to the ground, assaulted, handcuffed, arrested and jailed. She was found hanged to death in her cell.
Jon Stewart Blew Last Chance to Ask Obama a Question
By David Swanson
Jon Stewart interviewed President Obama for the last time and told jokes instead of asking questions.
If Stewart retires, where will we find someone willing to let Obama spew nonsense at such length unchallenged?
I discussed Obama's interview on RT on Wednesday, and someone asked me to post the Youtube, but RT has to do that, not me. So here's the gist of what I think.
Stewart said to Obama: you've tried bombing and overthrowing leaders and arming rebels and ... what's that new thing ... oh yeah, diplomacy.
OPINION: Concentrated Wealth + Widespread Stupidity = End of Democracy
Eric Zuesse
Today’s America is not a democracy:
“Dark Money Groups Are Funded By Dark Money Groups That Fund Dark Money Groups That Fund…"
That terrific investigative news report by Paul Blumenthal at Huffington Post, on 9 November 2013, penetrated beyond what the U.S. oligarchy — or more traditionally called aristocracy — requires its dark-money groups to disclose to the Federal Election Commission; and so Blumenthal researched also into what dark-money groups are required to report to the IRS (America’s tax-authorities).
This way, Blumenthal was able to discover, for example, that a "dark-money shell game allowed the Wisconsin Club for Growth to influence the elections with both its own ads and those of seemingly unrelated conservative groups with different public agendas. … The trail of cash moving from dark money nonprofit to dark money nonprofit can be traced, in part, through public records of the groups contributing it,” but only by accessing both FEC and IRS public records. And, even then, the picture was incomplete, because the 5-Republican bare majority, on the infamous pro-aristocracy 2010 U.S. Supreme Court Citizens United decision, by five traitors to the U.S. Constitution (which all judges are sworn to protect), prohibits public access to a complete picture of how (like in that Wisconsin election) a few psychopathic billionaires, plus millions of faith-driven fools they sucker with myth-affirming lies, can destroy government of the people, by the people, for the people, and turn it instead into government of the people, by the aristocracy, for the aristocracy. Blumenthal also showed the same billionaires+suckers system replacing democracy in other states. (Today’s Greece is a more extreme case of the same thing. Perhaps what’s today in Greece will be tomorrow in America.)
Agency to Enslave Greeks Is Established
Eric Zuesse
Late on Thursday, July 16th, German Economic News headlined “Greece: Debt Restructuring Through the Back Door,” and reported that, “The majority of Greece’s national debt is to be moved in the next three years gradually to the euro bailout fund ESM [European Stability Mechanism], so that the IMF will continue to remain as a lender. The euro zone countries will thereby provide Athens a longer grace period [a temporary postponement of payments, while the 18% annual interest-rate soars Greece’s debt even higher], and longer repayment periods.”The super-secretive European Stability Mechanism was set up in 2012, in order to handle Greece’s anticipated virtual receivership, which it now will do.
US and Cuban Embassies Open for Business
By Stephen Lendman
On January 3, 1961, Dwight Eisenhower severed relations with Cuba - two years after Fidel Castro replaced dictator Fulgencio Batista with governance serving all Cubans, not just its privileged few.
Two months later, Kennedy's failed Bay of Pigs invasion followed. He refused another. US relations with Cuba remained frozen until Obama began talks two years ago to change things.
On Monday, the Havana Times published Democracy Now's report on restoring diplomatic ties, saying:"History is being made in Washington today when Cuba raises its flag and officially reopens its US Embassy after 54 years."
Victoria Nuland Threatens Russia
by Stephen Lendman
She's one of many neocon lunatics infesting Washington. She was Hillary Clinton's hand-picked choice for Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.
She wrecked Ukraine. Maybe she has starting WW III in mind. In an interview on Ukrainian TV, she said if war on its territory escalates, "the costs will go up" for Russia - economically and militarily.
"As you know, the sanctions that the international community has put in place - that the US and the EU have in place - are there to change the policy of Russia, to encourage it to fulfill its obligations." "We’ve made clear that they will stay in place until Minsk is fully implemented, including an end to the violence, including a return of hostages, a return of the border."
Iran Nuclear Deal Aftermath: Greater Regional Destabilization?
by Stephen Lendman
Pouring arms into a region is a prescription for greater conflict and instability. Israel and Saudi Arabia are already armed to the teeth with sophisticated weapons freely used - including banned ones.
Reports indicate Washington intends increasing annual (almost entirely military) aid to Israel by almost 50% - another $1.5 billion on top of over $3.1 billion already supplied plus frequent add-ons for various projects like ineffective missile defense. Additional aid beginning in 2018 would continue for a decade. Much of it would be for increased numbers of (problem plagued, hugely expensive, performance-deficient) F-35 warplanes.
Iran Nuclear Talks: Washington's Real Objective
by Stephen Lendman
Washington's diplomatic history reflects longstanding double-dealing duplicity - an odious record of broken promises showing it can't be trusted.
US deals are made to be reinterpreted post facto and/or breached - blaming negotiating partners for its perfidy. Rogue states operate this way - by their own rules and standards, excluding all others, America most of all.
Longstanding irresponsible US hostility toward Iran remains unchanged - compounded by pressure from Israel, its Lobby and bipartisan, lunatic fringe elements, infesting Congress, the administration, and legions of area influence peddlers, reflecting a deeply malignant system too corrupted to fix.
Iran's Basij (volunteer) Force commander General Mohammad Reza Naqdi is right saying:
"Agreement is not the end of the road…(I)t is the start of evil excuses, and we will witness new US games and excuse-seeking after the agreement too. They will present their own interpretation at every stage and buyer's remorse in every issue, even after the deal" - if one is reached.
What Are Foreign Military Bases For?
By David Swanson
http://davidswanson.org/node/4825
If you're like most people in the United States, you have a vague awareness that the U.S. military keeps lots of troops permanently stationed on foreign bases around the world. But have you ever wondered and really investigated to find out how many, and where exactly, and at what cost, and to what purpose, and in terms of what relationship with the host nations?
A wonderfully researched new book, six years in the works, answers these questions in a manner you'll find engaging whether you've ever asked them or not. It's called Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Harm America and the World, by David Vine.
Some 800 bases with hundreds of thousands of troops in some 70 nations, plus all kinds of other "trainers" and "non-permanent" exercises that last indefinitely, maintain an ongoing U.S. military presence around the world for a price tag of at least $100 billion a year.
Why they do this is a harder question to answer. Even if you think there is some reason to be able to quickly deploy thousands of U.S. troops to any spot on earth, airplanes now make that as easily done from the United States as from Korea or Japan or Germany or Italy.
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