Twelfth Bough

Russell Tice, the (Republican, Bush supporting) NSA whistleblower who some of the right think is a paranoid, embittered loon, said this back in January 2006 : In my case, there’s no way the programs I want to talk to Congress about should be public ever, unless maybe in 200 years they want to declassify them. You should never learn about it; no one at the Times should ever learn about these things. Whatever he’s talking about there (and it sounds pretty horrifying), it’s not fusion centers . Russell Tice refers to something much worse that remains a mystery. Fusion centers, on the other hand, proudly operate in full view as part of the Department of Homeland Security. Imagine that somewhere close to your local community there exists a secret computer center. Equipped with powerful mainframe computers and the database integrating powers of XML, this government-funded facility gathers data from thousands of sources including local, state and federal law enforcement, social welfare ag...

I wrote about fusion centers a few weeks ago. These state-run agencies funded by Homeland Security have been busy bees. You see, ever since 9/11 it has been necessary to treat American citizens like criminal suspects. The attacks of 9/11 justify this utter invasion of privacy and the fact that it's done in secret. Intelligence centers run by states across the country have access to personal information about millions of Americans, including unlisted cellphone numbers, insurance claims, driver's license photographs and credit reports, according to a document obtained by The Washington Post . One center also has access to top-secret data systems at the CIA , the document shows, though it's not clear what information those systems contain. Dozens of the organizations known as fusion centers were created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to identify potential threats and improve the way information is shared. The centers use law enforcement analysts and sophisticat...

In "41 guards arrested over prison break in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico" we learn: Forty-one guards at the prison have been arrested in connection with the escape December 17th of 151 inmates. Prison officials broke the law and will be prosecuted. "We are confident that in the next few days we will clear up what (happened), who is guilty and we can move ahead with their punishment."~ Tamaulipas Gov. Eugenio Hernandez "Authorities have not been able to capture any of the escaped inmates so far." The whereabouts of warden Efrain Hernandez are unknown. "It is clear that the warden, who is missing at this time, is involved or was threatened or extorted." Gov. Eugenio Hernandez According to Gov. Hernandez, the identities of all the escaped inmates have been provided to the federal government, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and the FBI. Nuevo Laredo is across the border from Laredo, TX. (map source) The identities of ALL the escaped inm...

Fun fact: Alabama is the birthplace of ace terrorist Rashid Ruif . Rauf, 27, from Ward End, Birmingham –an Al Qaeda suspect said to be the “key player” behind the alleged liquid bomb plot to blow up transatlantic airliners – was killed in a missile strike last Saturday in North Western Pakistan by an unmanned US drone. So they say. At the time of his death Rauf was meeting with Egyptian extremist and senior Al Qaeda field commander Abu Zubair al-Masri in the tribal heartland of Waziristan. Indian investigators will now probe the significance of that meeting, thought to have been a “council of war” to discuss jihadi attacks against western targets, and examine connections between LET, JEM and the Mumbai attacks. Unbelievable. Well, you never know with these wily terrorists. For all we know, he could be alive and well, right? I mean, look at Tim Osman/Osama bin Laden. Alive and plotting against Western Civilization...dead since 2001...what's the difference? For all intents and purpo...

I've written about abusive military technology before. It's a little pet peeve of mine. super creepy mind control experiments a laser beam? laser technology use your imagination coverup in full swing who killed benazir bhutto? fusion centers another PR problem sick minds make sick weapons a logical conclusion close enough to see the whites of their eyes bullshit detector - activated (complete with comment thread military suck-up troll who I would dispatch differently today (link fixed)) the holy grail of crowd control message control So now we have the military and militarized police forces abusing the G20 protesters in Pittsburgh. And here's three big goons doing a terrible job trying to blend in with some students. h/t Dissecting the New Age (on the blogroll) What is the point of all this? It is to control the way you think. The war against our minds has many dark levels, all of which attempt to hide truth which is not sanctioned by the police state, replacing it with a ...

UPDATE: Report: Significant cheating by FBI agents on exam. "Fine called on the bureau to discipline the agents, throw out the results and come up with a new test to see if FBI agents understand new rules allowing them to conduct surveillance and open files on Americans without evidence of criminal wrongdoing." Perhaps we would all like to understand what sort of rules ALLOW the FBI to conduct surveillance and open files on Americans WITHOUT EVIDENCE OF CRIMINAL WRONGDOING. "...the surveillance guidelines themselves... enable the targeting of people for investigation when there is "no factual basis to support that speculative belief."" ^^^^^^ Pretending that they don't already watch and read anything they want to, at anytime.... "Federal law enforcement and national security officials are preparing to seek sweeping new regulations for the Internet, arguing that their ability to wiretap criminal and terrorism suspects is “going ...

All right. We know that Big Pharma plans to cash in Big Time on the vaccines no matter what, but in order to get the full benefit from a pandemic many people and events must be coordinated on the ground so that the desired changes to the way society operates become permanent. That's what the International Swine Flu Conference in Washington DC taking place this Wednesday through Friday ( via Lew Rockwell and Jane Burgermeister , pdf ) is all about -- making sure that the businesses and health care professionals and fire and police and first responders all have their marching orders and work together. Do you think they will go to all these preparations and then say Nevermind? Yeah me neither. Here's my very cynical take on this in green : Know How To Respond Recognize problems earlier. Make the right decision faster. Rush people through the decision making process, don't give them time to think, keep the sense of panic and fear heightened. How to Plan Make everyone a stakehol...

The other day I lamented that the sources are never good enough for people who don't want to see the truth. If someone wants to believe that the economy will recover and cave-dwelling Muslims did 911 and the judicial system works and all soldiers are boy scouts, their minds will remain impervious to the truth. These Americans believe the onus lies on those who question, not on those who accept. We are all innocent until proven guilty, right? Not exactly. But just so, in the land of narratives, the happy narratives must be true until proven otherwise. And if you suggest that anyone might be guilty of something, other than the Muslims of course, they want proof. Iron clad proof. Like whip some classified documents out of your pocketbook or something. Otherwise shut up. Whack job. Citing source data is the "scientific method," but does not seem to apply to "Conspiracy Theories." A thousand sources may be quoted, yet will not convince the ...

With a few keystrokes, it is now possible for an investigator to determine a target’s location, activities, finances, sexual orientation, religion, politics, habits, hobbies, friends, family, their entire personal and professional histories… even accurately predict what they will do and where they will go in the future. Without leaving the office, a government agent can surveil a subject and “watch” their activities 24/7/365: where they drive, when they walk down the street, if they attend a church or synagogue or mosque or a demonstration or visit an abortion clinic or a “known criminal activity location” or meet with a “targeted person” or a disliked political activist. There is no longer any place to hide. Follow The Money: Privacy, A Postmortem So... d oes that include pedophiles? Or are they some sort of protected group? Because there is no privacy. Certainly no online privacy. So how do the pedophiles get away with it? ...and human beings are prisoner...

Philadelphia area attorney charged in sex tourism case by KYW's Tony Hanson A Philadelphia area attorney, who formed a foundation to assist aspiring performing artists reach their goals, is now charged in a sex tourism case involving a former student at the Bolchoi Academy. The defendant, who allegedly sexually assaulted the victim for years beginning in 1998, has been arrested in Cyprus and is awaiting extradition. The Apogee foundation's stated goal is to discover, develop and celebrate the creative potential of mankind, but  federal authorities alleged the president and founder of Apogee, Kenneth Schneider, used his wealth and position to victimize a pre-teen boy for years - starting at age 12. Federal authorities say the boy's family could no longer afford the Bolshoi fee and Schneider offered to help. The boy would live with him.  The federal complaint says the boy's parents had serious reservations, but agreed. U-S Attorney Michael Levy: "An...