John Sez: Author Jeremy Scahill is still hot on the trail of XE (formerly Blackwater) and the killers-for-hire company’s clandestine actions being conducted at the behest of the Obama administration. The latest shocking report by Scahill wonders why no one seems to want to comment on exactly what XE is up to in Pakistan; or why,  when the question is posed by the press, a massive game of ‘pass-the-buck’ is perpetrated on the journalist who begs the question, much in the style of a classic cover up.

Even more concerning is the intimidation tactics being used by the Joint Chief of Staff’s office to scare Scahill off the story. A representative of Admiral Mullin (the chief muckety-muck of the Joint Chiefs) called Scahill to categorically deny Scahill’s findings – before the story itself was even published!

This pre-emptive strike on a journalist tells me that Scahill is very close to the truth of the matter, or he’s close enough to the mark  make some very powerful people very uncomfortable. Either way, this attempt to chill the freedom of the press and speech is dangerious.

Respect to Mr. Scahill – he is a very courageous man who should be the template for all modern journalists. Imagine if we saw this kind of dogged reporting on the TV news every night...

Story from Rebel Reports:

Why Is the State Department Speaking for JSOC?

By Jeremy Scahill

Interesting chain of command issues seem to be emerging in the official “denials” being offered about my story in The Nation magazine on Blackwater and the Joint Special Operations Command operations in Pakistan. A few hours before the piece was published, I received a call—unprompted—from the office of Admiral Mike Mullen, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I had not called them. The representative that called would not officially—named and on-the-record—deny the story. Instead, I was offered a comprehensive denial from a “defense official” on “background.”

The DoD spokesman Geoff Morell was asked about it on Tuesday. He said the appropriate agency to address this was the State Department, but he did characterize the story as “conspiratorial:”

""REPORTER: Thank you for taking the question.  Does the Pentagon have any comment on a report in The Nation today that, puts Blackwater, now Xe Services, firmly at the center of a covert operation in Karachi in Pakistan, from an anonymous source within the military.  And my question is —
MR. MORRELL:  Yes, I — I —
REPORTER:  The question is, you keep denying covert operations in Pakistan, but isn’t this yet more evidence of one?
MR. MORRELL:  Okay, the best person to address this would be the State Department spokesman, who has already put out a statement, or a correction, basically saying these accusations are entirely false. Okay?  But I — for more clarity and more specificity, I urge you to talk to them. As for what we are doing in Afghanistan — or in Pakistan, rather, I think we have been incredibly forthright about this.  And we have basically, I think, a few dozen forces on the ground in Pakistan who are involved in a train-the-trainer mission.  These are Special Operations Forces.  We’ve been very candid about this.  They are — they have been for months, if not years now, training Pakistani forces so that they can in turn train other Pakistani military on how to — on certain skills and operational techniques.  And that’s the extent of our — our, you know, military boots on the ground in Pakistan. Despite whatever conspiratorial theories that, you know, magazines or broadcast outlets may want to cook up, there is nothing to it. And obviously, we’ve also made it perfectly clear that we are willing and able and happy to help the Pakistani military in any other ways that they may see fit.  But at this point, that’s the extent to which they would like our help, in terms of American boots on the  ground.  And so we are totally respectful of that.  And that’s what it’s limited to at this point. ""

Since when is the State Department spokesman the official spokesperson for JSOC? Since when is the DoS the appropriate party to address allegations regarding US military operations?

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John Sez: Wow, just a few days after ‘Climategate” breaks and now we have even more pieces of the puzzle falling into place.

The next few weeks should be interesting for this story.

Story from the Telegraph:

Climategate: the scandal spreads, the plot thickens, the shame deepens…

Wow! The scandal just gets juicier and juicier. Now it seems that the Kiwis may have been at it too – tinkering with raw data to make “Global Warming” look scarier than it really is. (Hat tip: Watts Up With That; Ian Wishart)

The alleged villains this time are the climate scientists at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NiWA) – New Zealand’s answer to Britain’s Climate Research Unit. And to judge by this news alert by the Climate Science Coalition of NZ, both institutions share a similarly laissez-faire attitude to scientific accuracy.

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John Sez: It seems that hackers have broke into the e-mail system of the University of East Anglia (the most prominent center for research into the supposed theory of ‘global warming’) and what they found and later released are thousands of correspondences that seem to indicate that the most prominent people in the movement have fudged scientific data, manipulated research to suit their agenda, concealed evidence that went against their theory, made a concerted effort to publicly demonize anyone who argued with their agenda, and even suppressed doubt from scientists in their own community about the theory of global warming itself.

One could say that the data recovered by the hackers is a fake perpetrated by those who oppose the theory…after all, the debate (where it is allowed to happen) is hot and heavy. But representatives of The University of East Anglia have admitted to the press that these are indeed their e-mails.

In other words, everything that we have been told by proponents of the global warming theory is a potential fraud.

Science, no matter the discipline, is always plagued by a certain amount of politics and internal pressure. But the outright lies which have built up the case for global warming have caused a great deal of global damage.

The entire ‘climate bill’ passed by Congress a few months ago (which basically sets up a frame work for  a new economic stock market of sorts centered around carbon emissions as well as an excuse for the government to spy on your home with carbon emission monitors) and similar laws passed in numerous countries around the world, the amount of money that has gone to organizations who are supposedly on the ‘right side’ of the debate and into the pockets of the already super-wealthy (like Al Gore), and the hundreds of billions  of tax dollars which have been sunk into projects to combat something which may not even exist, are now shown in a new light – a light that tears down the wall put up by the cronies of the corporations and politicians who have been fronting this special interest group, and replaces it with a large, open field of debate which will hopefully destroy this fraudulent movement once and for all.

Now don’t get me wrong – I know full well that the amount of pollution on our planet can only prove disastrous to everything that lives upon it. We can only rape the planet for so long, before ‘mother’ decides to scold her children.

But imagine if all the energy, money and political power were going towards stopping the real reasons our planet is falling apart (in my opinion the massive dumping of waste by corporations, the suppression of real alternative energy by the powers that be, the amount of junk floating around in our orbit, and the wanton destruction of the last remaining bits of untamed land are great places to focus these resources) instead of backing a fraudulent neo-religion, which does nothing more than allow for a destruction of civil liberties and moves massive amounts of wealth into the same pockets of those who have screwed up our planet in the first place.

What a wonderful world.

For the full story read here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

And here is video break down of the story and what it could mean from film maker and radio host, Alex Jones:

 
 
John Sez: Author Jeremy Scahill in a recent interview with Rachel Maddow on Obama and Blackwater poses an interesting proposition. With all the bad that Blackwater has done, ranging to bribery to outright mass murder, why are they still garnering contracts from the federal government worth billions of dollars? One would think that Nobel Peace Prize recipient Obama would put his foot down and cancel the contracts of these goons and psychopaths. One would think that, but one would be proven wrong as Blackwater is still on the job.

Scahill offers up the premise that the reason that these murderers for hire are still in business due to their knowing a whole lot of dirty little secrets about the wars we are fighting and, perhaps, knowing where all the bodies are buried so to speak. Basically his claim is that the government is being blackmailed by Blackwater in order to keep them on the payroll.

At first, such an accusation would seem ludicrous on its face. But considering what lengths Obama has gone through to protect the last administration from facing a huge variety of charges (including war crimes) and how hard he has fought to keep the torture photos from ever seeing the light of day, it makes all too perfect sense that he would do the same for the cream-of-the-scumbag crop known as Blackwater (or Xe, or whatever they are calling themselves these days), all in the name of saving the Federal government ‘embarrassment’.

I guess this may be more of that change we can believe in, eh?

Story from Raw Story:

Scahill: Obama may be afraid of Blackwater

Despite news reports that the security contractor formerly known as Blackwater has seen its contracts dry up and its influence wane, the company continues to do brisk business in Iraq and Afghanistan -- and the Obama administration may be too afraid of the firm to do anything about it, says investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill.

"You know who's guarding Hillary Clinton in Afghanistan right now? Blackwater," Scahill told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Tuesday night. "You know who guards members of Congress? Blackwater. They have half a billion dollars in contracts in Afghanistan right now. CIA, State Department, Defense Department. Why is President Obama keeping these guys on the payroll? There has never been a company in recent history that made the case that corporations are corrupt, evil organizations [better] than Blackwater."

Scahill was on The Rachel Maddow Show discussing the New York Times' revelation that senior Blackwater executives allegedly arranged for bribes of up to $1 million for Iraqi politicians in a bid to retain its contracts and silence criticism of the company in the wake of the Nissour Square massacre in 2007, in which 17 Iraqi civilians died after Blackwater guards opened fire.

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John Sez: It wasn’t that long ago that I posted about Dr. Oz making the rounds on the TV news telling people how they should all go get their swine flu shot. The first alarm bell that rang in my head concerning Oz’s campaign to get people vaccinated was that he admitted during a news interview (video at bottom of story, or go here for the original post) that he would not be vaccinating his own children even though he was pushing for others to get the shot or to have thier children innoculated.

Now it has come out that this Oz character owns 150,000 option shares in SIGA Technologies, a vaccine technology company who’s stock is sure to rise with every vaccine given. To make matters even worse, he’s not just a shareholder of  SIGA, but he is a member of their Board of Directors, and has been since 2001.

To make a long story short: OZ has been seemingly using his position as a TV doctor with millions of viewers to convince people to get a vaccination to make money for him and his companies shareholders and not for the betterment of the health of those who listen to him.

This is absolutely disgusting. This man should have his license to practice medicine revoked immediately due to ethics violations. He is nothing more than an opportunist, a modern-day snake oil salesman whose greed has overshadowed his Hippocratic oath; he has put potentially hundreds of thousands of people’s lives at risk pushing a vaccine which is completely untested for safety FOR THE MONEY.

 Story from NaturalNews:

Conflicts of interest? Dr. Mehmet Oz owns 150,000 option shares in vaccine technology company

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor

(NaturalNews) Dr. Mehmet Oz is a huge promoter of vaccines. He's been on television reinforcing fear about H1N1 swine flu and telling everyone to get vaccinated. But what he didn't tell his viewing audience is that he holds 150,000 option shares in a vaccine company that could earn him millions of dollars in profits as the stock price rises. It is in Dr. Oz's own financial interest, in other words, to hype up vaccines and get more people taking them so that his own financial investments rise in value.

Evidence describing these facts was delivered to NaturalNews by a private investigator named Joseph Culligan (http://webofdeception.com/oprah.html#oz). That evidence includes an SEC document detailing how Dr. Oz. bought options on stocks for SIGA Technologies in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009. SIGA Technologies (stock symbol SIGA) is a vaccine technology company with many advanced developments whose success depends on the widespread adoption of vaccines. According to SEC documents, Dr. Mehmet Oz. currently holds 150,000 option shares on SIGA Technologies, purchased for as little as $1.35 back in 2005.

At the time of this writing, SIGA Technologies is trading at $7.10, making those options bought in 2005 worth $5.75 in profits today. If all the 150,000 options purchased by Dr. Oz. were exercised today, they would be worth roughly $180,000 in profits (they were bought at different prices, not all at $1.35). This is all revealed in what the SEC website calls an "insider transaction" document

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Embedded video from CNN Video
 
 
John Sez: As I mentioned recently, the whole health care reform debacle is a sham; nothing more than the government forcing all Americans to buy health insurance out of their own pocket (much in the same way as auto and homeowner’s insurance) from the same insurance companies who have been screwing us all along, then taxing us on top of that for the privilege of being forced to purchase health insurance out of our own pocket.

One of the more nefarious parts of the recently passed bill is that those who do not buy this government mandated insurance will face fines, tax penalties, and potential jail time.

But Obama, the Nobel Peace Prize winner himself, he would never allow jail time for those who can’t or won’t by this health insurance, right? Let’s see what the President said about that very subject in a recent interview with Jake Tapper of ABC News:

“What I think is appropriate is that in the same way that everybody has to get auto insurance and if you don't, you're subject to some penalty, that in this situation, if you have the ability to buy insurance, it's affordable and you choose not to do so, forcing you and me and everybody else to subsidize you, you know, there's a thousand dollar hidden tax that families all across America are -- are burdened by because of the fact that people don't have health insurance, you know, there's nothing wrong with a penalty.”

Hmmmmm…so can we expect to see our prisons filling up with ‘insurance resistors” in the near future?

It seems to me that many people seem to still think that this is all a good idea, but my guess is that the majority of those people really have no idea what is actually in the bill. It seems that there is this assumption (both from the left and right) that this is some sort of pre-cursor to socialized medicine. In truth, when the corporations dictate a mandate to purchase their products and the government is in the business of enforcing such a mandate, it is nothing more that outright corporatist-fascism.
 
 
John Sez: It’s bad enough that our mainstream media are (very obviously, in my opinion) bought and sold by the powers that be. But now the executive branch is is using movie-mafia tactics to put the muscle on independent journalism…then telling them that they can’t tell anyone that it was done.

This is yet another bad sign that the government is actively working to stamp out dissent and to stop the migration of people from the ‘approved’ news mouthpieces to the largely uncontrolled net-based news sources.

As an aside, kudos to CBS. Although they are part of the big media machine, someone at the company is allowing for some hard hitting news reports to get out on the air lately. Pats on the back to the responsible party or parties.

Story from CBS:

Justice Dept. Asked For News Site's Visitor Lists
Posted by Declan McCullagh

In a case that raises questions about online journalism and privacy rights, the U.S. Department of Justice sent a formal request to an independent news site ordering it to provide details of all reader visits on a certain day.

The grand jury subpoena also required the Philadelphia-based Indymedia.us Web site "not to disclose the existence of this request" unless authorized by the Justice Department, a gag order that presents an unusual quandary for any news organization.

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John Sez: Back in mid October, there was a conference held at the Council of Foreign Relations where the Swine Flu vaccine was discussed (video of the pertinent part at bottom of post). One of the speakers makes the point (which the attendees seem to think is funny) that the way to get people to take the vaccine is to CREATE a scarcity scare so people would rush to line up thinking they might not get the shot.

A few seconds later there is a mention that there already is a shortage of the Vaccine, but the speaker corrects that statement, saying that initially 2 shots were supposed to be given for each person but because they are only giving one dose per person there is really double the amount of vaccine and thus no real shortage.

Now, folks, think about this for a second: haven’t we been hearing for the last month how we were short on vaccines so we should rush out and line up to get it? Is anyone out there getting pissed at being played by these contemptible bastards in suits?
 
 
John Sez: Why the two law enforcement officers are still on the job or not in jail is beyond me. And the judge’s attitude is altogether way too mild to my mind as well.

Constitutional law scholar, Jonathan Turley, Had this to say about the matter:

This is one of the most incredible videos that I have seen. In the video, Officer Adam Stoddard with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is clearly shown reading confidential papers of defense attorney Joanne Cuccia while she is addressing the court on behalf of jail inmate Antonio Lozano (accused of fighting with another inmate). He then pulls a sheet from the file on the defense table and gives it to another deputy to be copied.

What is equally amazing is the relatively weak response from Judge Lisa Flores, who could presumably see Stoddard’s actions from the bench. It is possible that she was blocked in her view by counsel. In the video, Lozano appears to be the only person who clearly notices the removal.

When told, however, Flores reacts a bit defensively to objections from Cuccia and tells her repeatedly to calm down, even though Cuccia seems determined but professional in her statements to the court. Flores also immediately offers a justification that Stoddard is there to protect the court — apparently by copying confidential material. Eventually, she suspends the sentencing hearing.

A hearing was later held before Judge Gary Donahoe and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s office defended Stoddard, insisting that he must screen all defense documents that are passed to an inmate. He insisted that, when he walked near the defense attorney’s table, he recognized some documents that weren’t previously screened.

It is true that some courts allow deputies to thumb through papers to be certain that they do not contain contraband or weapons, but this is a cursory inspection. It is a somewhat controversial practice but it is so limited that most attorneys are not concerned because the officers do not read the papers. Most courts do not have this practice. While your papers can be inspected at jails in face-to-face meetings, courtrooms are generally not subject to such inspections. After all, most courts have metal detectors at the entrances. Weapon transfers, therefore, are not a serious threat in counsel-to-client interactions in court. That leaves contraband, which is not a justification (in my view) for such intrusion. We have seen lawyers arrested on such charges (here and here), but it is incredibly rare. It is more common to see deputies arrested for contraband rackets than attorneys.

I have never heard of an officer copying a document at a prison or a court in such an inspection. This document was found by Donahoe to be subject to attorney-client privilege. Stoddard is clearly reading the document and proceeds to take it without notifying Cuccia and making a copy. It is a simply amazing violation of constitutional and confidentiality rules. I am surprised not to have seen a strong statement and intervention from the Arizona state bar in the case, but I hope that will be coming this week.

For the full story, click here.

 
 
John Sez: Taking a page from the former AG’s playbook (or vice versa) DICK apparently used the ‘I don’t remember’ ploy 72 times as he was interviewed by former prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald over the Valerie Plame leak in 2004.

72 TIMES!

So either he was lying (gee, what a shock there) or he was totally unfit for the office he held. Maybe it was a bit of both.

Why these people from the last tyrannical administration are not in jail or executed for treason is beyond me. But, then again, considering how corrupt our  government is it really doesn’t surprise me at all.

Story from Raw Story (and video which follows dedicated to Dick and Alberto):

AP admits: Cheney equivocated to the FBI

Federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald famously declared in the Valerie Plame affair that "there is a cloud over the vice president." Last week's release of an FBI interview summary of Dick Cheney's answers in the criminal investigation underscores why Fitzgerald felt that way. On 72 occasions, according to the 28-page FBI summary, Cheney equivocated to the FBI during his lengthy May 2004 interview, saying he could not be certain in his answers to questions about matters large and small in the Plame controversy.

The Cheney interview reflects a team of prosecutors and FBI agents trying to find out whether the leaks of Plame's CIA identity were orchestrated at the highest level of the White House and carried out by, among others, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Cheney's chief of staff.

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