Fwd: American delusions, er innocence

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John H

Linked below is an excellent article, Unlearning the myth of American innocence, and a review I wrote for Dan Kovalik's excellent new book The Plot to Scapegoat Russia.  Both the article and Kovalik's book deal with very similar subject matter, how the United States deals with the rest of the world and the fact that Americans are the least aware of all the peoples of the world of the horrendous impact of our national policies – and I just don't mean recent policies.  The United States has been invading, overthrowing and supervising the massacre populations since the very founding of the nation – and even before.  There is a giant hole of trained ignorance in the American psyche which tends to prevent Americans from even asking the appropriate questions about our relations with the rest of humanity.  We are, for the most part, a delusional population unable to even conceive of the possibility that the policies of our nation are not as pure and necessary as the driven snow. 

Read this article, then buy a copy of Dan Kovalik's wonderful book and expose yourself to a reality which will never be told by mainstream media in this nation.  Without understanding what we do as a nation in the world and why we do it (hint:  it has nothing to do with spreading democracy and helping others in need or protecting the helpless and downtrodden) we Americans will never be able to confront the our own direct responsibility for many of the ills which continue to befall humankind.  And, above all, come to the realization that neither of our mainstream political organizations are in any way or fashion innocent or even one better than the other in this regard.  And, don't be deceived by the title of Kovalik's book, it's not really about Russia.  It's about United States policies in the wider world and Dan Kovalik has been there, seen the results and reports on the reality of our depredations.    

John

Links

• Unlearning the mytho of American innocence, PDF article, 384k
• Dan Kovalik, The plot to scapegoat Russia - PDF article 198k

Fwd: Threats abound

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John Hemington 

These days it seems as if threats of various enormity abound almost everywhere.  Cable news seems never to stop selling fear and loathing – regardless of which political agenda is being cast as the evil one.  But there is one very real threat that few media of any stripe are reporting and it may be, in many respects, the most serious of all.  That is the accumulation derivatives by the four major Wall Street mega-banks as detailed in the attached article by Pam and Russ Martens of Wall Street on Parade.  One bank, Citi, holds derivatives with a notional value of $54.8 trillion dollars.  To get an idea of just how problematic this is, the global GDP of all nations is estimated to be only $75.6 trillion in notional value.  As stated in the article, there is no way that there could ever be sufficient counter-parties to cover this in the event of another financial crash.  More importantly, little or nothing has been done since the Great Financial Crisis of 2008 (GFC) to correct the problems in the financial industry which led to the 2008 crash.  Dodd-Frank when passed was too little, too late and it has since then diluted and de-toothed at the behest of these financial titans.  When the next crash comes, and it almost certainly will, since the same basic players remain in charge both in and out of government, it is likely to be far more devastating and destructive than the one which preceded it.

If there was not a sufficient threat from nuclear war given the insane policies put in place by the Trump administration, not to mention the two previous administrations, cataclysmic financial crises almost always lead to global warfare.  We got lucky in 2008 because the financial bleeding was stopped, but the non-financial victims were never made whole as were the bankers who got to keep all of their ill-gotten gains as well as all of their power to continue operating multi-trillion dollar gambling operations – which is what derivatives really are.  Unfortunately, the main stream media will almost never pay attention to the criminals in high places and instead focus on crime in the streets.  As a result, it is likely that, as before, the crisis will almost certainly find most Americans unprepared (though it is certainly difficult for one to know how to prepare for such a collapse).   Because the victims of the 2008 GFC have never been made whole and have since been ignored and/or denigrated by both major political parties, we have the rise of right-wing nationalism and the election of a very dangerous president with little capacity for restraint or for rational decision making.  As such these are extremely volatile times in which almost any event can lead to catastrophic consequences for us all. 

John

Link:

• Why Wall Street Should Be Viewed as a Major National Threat

Police use acoustic warfare to disperse crowds - quote from Catherine

Catherine Palmer, director of audiology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said 140 decibels can cause immediate hearing loss. But there's no way to know if anyone was exposed to sounds that loud without knowing how far away they were, she said.

Catherine is my wife.

Research and testing on these sound machines should be done by someone at Pitt. I don't think we've heard the last of this.

Full article:

Police use acoustic warfare to disperse crowds By JOE MANDAK, AP

PITTSBURGH — Police ordered protesters to disperse at the Group of 20 summit last week with a device that can beam earsplitting alarm tones and verbal instructions that the manufacturer likens to a "spotlight of sound," but that legal groups called potentially dangerous.

The device, called a Long Range Acoustic Device, concentrates voice commands and a car alarm-like sound in a 30- or 60-degree cone that can be heard nearly two miles away. It is about two feet square and mounted on a swivel such that one person can point it where it's needed. The volume measures 140-150 decibels three feet away — louder than a jet engine — but dissipates with distance.

Robert Putnam, spokesman for the manufacturer, San Diego-based American Technology Corp., said it's "like a big spotlight of sound that you can shine on people."

"It's not a sonic cannon. It's not the death ray or anything like that," Putnam said. "It's about long-range communications being heard intelligibly."

During the Pittsburgh protests, police used the device to order demonstrators to disperse and to play a high-pitched "deterrent tone" designed to drive people away. It was the first time the device was used in a riot-control situation on U.S. soil, according to American Technology and police.

Those who heard it said authorities' voice commands were clear and sounded as if they were coming from everywhere all at once. They described the "deterrent tone" as unbearable.

Joel Kupferman, who was at Thursday's march as a legal observer for the National Lawyer's Guild, said he was overwhelmed by the tone and called it "overkill."

"When people were moving and they still continued to use it, it was an excessive use of weaponry," Kupferman said.

Witold "Vic" Walczak, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union in Pennsylvania, said the device is a military weapon capable of producing permanent hearing loss, something he called "an invitation to an excessive-force lawsuit."

The operator of the device is usually behind it and not in the path of the focused beam of sound.

Catherine Palmer, director of audiology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said 140 decibels can cause immediate hearing loss. But there's no way to know if anyone was exposed to sounds that loud without knowing how far away they were, she said.

Putnam and public safety officials said the complaints prove the device worked as designed.

"You have to put your hands over your ears and cover them, and it's difficult to throw stuff," said Ray DeMichiei, deputy director of the city's emergency management agency.

Police said they used the device last Thursday to issue prerecorded warnings to disperse when hundreds of demonstrators, including self-described anarchists, without a protest permit held a march that threatened to turn violent.

Aware of concerns about the volume, police were careful to use it about 12 feet off the ground mounted on a tactical vehicle, so no individual would be directly in its path or too close to it, Assistant Chief William Bochter said.

"The only way anybody gets hurt is if the deterrent is on full blast and they stand directly in front of it," Putnam said.

A regional counterterror task force bought four of the devices from American Technology using $101,000 in federal Homeland Security funds, DeMichiei said. Because the amplified message was prerecorded, police could be sure the protesters heard exactly the instructions police desired and have confidence those in the back of the crowd could hear, Bochter said.

Such devices also have military and commercial applications. Putnam said the primary purpose is to transmit specific orders loudly and clearly.

They have been used against protesters overseas, and police in New York threatened to use one during demonstrations near the Republican National Convention in 2004.

He said the city of San Diego uses them to instruct people to leave large sections of beach after festivals. It has also been used in SWAT operations.

In military applications, it allows ships to hail approaching vessels and determine their intent, the company says. Cargo ships use them to tell pirates that they had been spotted. When the pirates know they have lost the element of surprise, they will not attack, Putnam said.

Putnam said those complaining about the device have probably exposed themselves to sounds nearly as loud at rock concerts, and for longer periods of time. Walczak, the ACLU attorney, isn't buying the analogy.

"People don't flee the front row of a rock concert. Why would they be fleeing here?" Walczak asked. "Because it's loud, it's painfully loud."

Titus North, former candidate for Mayor and US Congress on the Pitt situation on the G-20 weekend

Friday night in Oakland was clear proof that the government is simply trying to get us used to living in a police state. It had nothing to do with protecting property. The dispersal order was coming from Schenley Plaza, where there is no property to protect other than the grass. I was watching from in front of the library when the dispersal order came at about 10:45. The kids dispersed. The left the "immediate vicinity," as ordered by police. Some went to the Cathedral lawn, where they were arrested. Some went down by O's, where they were sprayed. Some when back to the dorms, which the police tried to raid only to be stopped by the University Police. I know some of the kids who were arrested and I can guarantee that the ones I know didn't riot after the Superbowl or leave broken beer bottles in the street. The party kids and the political kids are two different tribes.
On Friday night there were no G-20 leaders in the neighborhood to protect. Schenley Plaza was still open. The kids there weren't acting unlawfully. What made it an "unlawful assembly" other than an arbitrary and baseless decision by the police? Why should the students who disperse but continue to watch from a block or two away be subject to arrest? Why should people who have come to the perimeter only to witness and record events be pepper sprayed? This was a simple matter of getting people to accept arbitrary curtailments of their freedoms. It had nothing to do with the kids' behavior or even their politics. Police broke up an orderly anti-Fed demonstration in the Strip District also.

Giving the police arbitrary powers to prevent us from assembling and to arrest anyone who watches them should not be one of the demands of a "pro freedom" movement.

Titus

Saturday's police pinch

Bram is still scratching his head wondering about the most serious injury or serious few injuries sustained by protesters/students on Friday night.

--

Where to begin? ....

The constitution got its ass kicked.

The oath of office taken by the police bullies got its eyes smoked.

The trust in the mayor, county executive and chief got toasted.

My rights and their rights as well as your rights are intimately linked.

The loss of rights of a single student is a serious loss to us all.

I wasn't there. But I care. Those rights are my rights too.

Windows can be replaced. Property has cash values that can be measured. But there is a different kind of damage done by the police then, there, that holds no price tag. That damage cut very deeply.

We all lost plenty. As this unfolds, we may never be the same again.

G20 Sports Opportunity at CMU for Women - Soccer Pitch Needs You

Orginal post from 9 am on September 24, 2000. Updated below:

Larry Evans, friend, Mt. Lebo guy, soccer and sports person, organizer from way back, sent this message and could use some helpers / players / running mates for a G-20 sports cooperative venture -- right away.

We're looking for players for an intergenerational coed team which will compete in a friendly (and publicized) symbolic soccer match this Friday morning 10 am to noon, September 25 at the CMU Stadium field versus an squad from Iran (persian). Their pick-up team is made up of 10 women (ages 22-27) and 5 fellas (their coaches).

This match will be played rain or shine to highlight women's rights during the ongoing G20 Conference.

Soccer competence need not be very high. The team formed just this past month for the purposes of this symbolic game.

The CMU playing field, the site for the game, was just obtained today. This game was originally scheduled for this Friday evening at Schenley Park as part of an International Citizen Athlete SoccerFest but was cancelled weeks ago over G20 permitting issues. Some sorority and intramural soccer players at CMU have already expressed interest, but some veteran help is most welcomed. This was another injury in the permit process.

So, you can go play soccer on Friday, go to The Great Race Expo on Saturday and run in The Great Race on Sunday.

So, if you want to play, and you are in high school or older, then you should send an email to Larry Evans, cell = 412-445-2951, leifevans@comcast.net. Tell him your name and where you are from and what position(s) you'd prefer to play. Larry will insert your name into a quick line-up / program.

You can play in sneakers or spikes. The squad from Iran is wearing green, so don't wear green, unless you want to cheer for them on the sidelines. Other colors are fine -- colors of the world. Better to wear shin guards and tall socks too. The World Team will wear yellow pennies unless a better offer / uniform can be delivered in time for the game.

I don't think the soccer players would want to wear water polo caps, so I can't really help.

Update:

Mark Rauterkus and event organizer, Larry Evans.


Player photo after the game. The world team won, 5 to 2.

September 28, 2009

Iranian Solidarity Soccer Match at CMU

Wrap-Up

A friendly coed soccer game was brilliantly played this Friday morning, September 25th at 10am-Noon at Carnegie Mellon University’s Stadium. A Persian team - wearing green to show their solidarity with the Iranian reform movement was coached by Arash Farsi, a graduate student from CMU. They fought gamely against a Pittsburgh team made up of student women and adult men players from all over Western PA and coached by Larry Evans. Pittsburgh won 5-2 in an 80 minute match officiated by veteran referee Frank Correnti.

The spirited event was organized by Citizen Athlete Games, Organizing for America, the Persian Panthers, a Persian Student Organization and the University of Pittsburgh-Iranian Cultural Organization. The match’s symbolic intent was to highlight Iran’s situation after its rigged presidential election during the excitement and madness of the G20 Conference.
The Persian team’s flag and banner waving supporters chanted UNITED FOR IRAN and DEMOCRACY IN IRAN throughout the contest while Yinzer team fans just stuck with their old chestnut “RAH RAH REE, KICK ‘EM IN THE KNEE. RAH, RAH, RASS, KICK ‘EM IN THE OTHER KNEE. No G20 celebrities viewed the game unless possibly from one of the many fly-over helicopters buzzing around the Oakland demonstrations. Although invited to kick out the first ball and thus use the universal body language of soccer to send a message to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an very busy President Obama instead chose to deal with the increased tensions with Iran by issuing some stern words at the G20 Conference. Oh well, Barack’s bad.

The Game rosters:

Persia

Hassan Takabi - Goal Keeper
Christina Colosimo - Defender
Amirreza Masoumzadeh - Defender
Elham Khatami - Defender
Sarah Gad - Defender
Amir Soltani - Defender
Gaby Vargas - Midfielder
Matt Falzon - Midfielder
Somayeh Nassiri - Midfielder
Sepehr Nemati - Midfielder
Diana Gomez - Striker
Anahita Khojandi - Striker
Jaime Tupino - Striker
Kerri Gatti - Striker
Coral Wright - Striker
Arash Farsi - Coach


Pittsburgh

Kurt Lesker III – Wing
Kurt Lesker IV - Left Fullback
Richard Papp - Midfield
Mike Page - Forward
Dan Rogan - Right Fullback
Dave Paschel - Goalie
Len Scheinman – Stopper
Miriam Feiler – Striker
Kate Smith – Wing
Ian McIntyre - Sweeper
Mark Rauterkus - Midfield
Larry Evans – Coach/Midfield

Pittsburgh's Freedom Conference 2009 - Protest of Knowledge - Prior to the G-20

The Libertarian Party of Pittsburgh helped to sponsor this event. It made me proud -- and -- it made many think again about what the heck is going on with our world, financial concerns, the G-20, freedom, the Federal Reserve, Central Banking, IMF, and so forth.

Part 1 has an intro from Tom. Then comes Dimitri Vassilaros to introduce the speaker(s). First up: Joan Veon. Running time about 52 minutes.



Part 2:



Part 3: The best is last, of course.

Conservatives chime in on global money ills in G-20 precursor

I was there. It was a great event. I've got it on video too. Stay tuned.

Conservatives chime in on global money ills in G-20 precursor - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Conservatives chime in on global money ills in G-20 precursor by By Mike Wereschagin of the Trib

Railing against the G-20: It's not just for liberals anymore.

"You don't have to be a socialist to be concerned about the G-20," said Thomas Woods, one of three speakers at Freedom Conference 2009, a conservative forum billed as a "free-market alternative to the G-20."

The event Tuesday night attracted about 100 people to Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum in Oakland.

"They tell us no one could've predicted" the global economic crisis, said Woods, an author and economist. "There were people who did predict and, by and large, it was free-market economists who predicted it."

Sounding at times like marchers who have been protesting the Group of 20 economic summit since Sunday, speakers and attendees repeatedly blamed "the system" for creating the recession and saving only the wealthy and well-connected.

"We agree on what's wrong. We don't agree on the right way to fix it," said Tom Kawczynski, president of the Republican Assembly of Greater Pittsburgh. One of the organizing groups, the assembly is not part of the official local party structure but touts itself as the "Republican wing of the Republican Party."

"This system attracts predators," said author and activist G. Edward Griffin. "They call themselves statesmen, but they are predators."

Others warned that huge debt owed to central banks around the world has created a behind-the-scenes government to which elected leaders are beholden.

"The countries of the world owe the banks 67 percent of their GDP," said Joan Veon, founder of the Women's International Media Group and another speaker. "This is what we call world government."

Tribune-Review columnist Dimitri Vassilaros served as master of ceremonies.

Woods blamed the Federal Reserve and other central financial institutions -- the World Bank and International Monetary Fund among them - for the depth of the recession.

"We can talk about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but that's small potatoes to the Federal Reserve," Woods said.

Disconnecting U.S. currency from the gold standard allowed the congressionally created bank to manipulate interest rates by printing more money whenever it wanted, he said. That kept interest rates too low and ended the post-dot-com recession before the market could correct itself, he said. "The system contributes to this problem."

Melina Brajovic, 42, an attendee from Blawnox, gathered signatures for a petition asking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring to the floor a bill, sponsored by Libertarian hero and Texas Rep. Ron Paul, calling for an audit of the Federal Reserve.

"We need to bring our currency back to the gold standard," said Brajovic, who immigrated to the United States in 1985 from Serbia.

Among her signatories was Mike Ott, 48, of Hampton.

"I believe we should audit the Federal Reserve and take back the right to print our own money," Ott said. He called the nation's central banking authority "unconstitutional" and "morally wrong."

The forum was organized by a coalition of conservative groups looking for an excuse to get together. The G-20 summit provided that excuse, Kawczynski said.

"The entire world has come to talk of what will be, and we know we need to be a voice in these discussions," Kawczynski said.

While liberal groups march against the G-20's role in promoting international trade and globalization, the Freedom Conference's problem with the gathering is that world leaders are putting too many restrictions on trade.

"Look at carbon caps," Kawczynski said, referring to proposals being discussed among world leaders to limit countries' carbon emissions. "They're creating a market, putting a price on something you didn't have to pay for before."

Liberals have blamed the bank collapses and home foreclosures on free-market excesses, while the conservatives said the blame lies with government meddling in the market, mostly through its monetary policy.

"It doesn't matter what race you are. It doesn't matter what class you are. Bad monetary policy affects you," said Herman Bauer, 25, of Mt. Oliver Borough.

Bauer worries policies such as the 2008 bank bailouts and 2009 stimulus package required the Federal Reserve to print so much money, the dollar was emptied of its value.

"I definitely think the worst is yet to come," Bauer said. "The dollar is completely devalued."

Bailing out financial firms whose risky behavior led to the global credit crisis last year encourages entrepreneurs who are "crazy, risk-prone drunkards, basically," Woods said.

Distrust of the Fed runs so deep, Bauer insinuated it is responsible for the assassination of President Kennedy, who he said was the "last president that seriously worked to get us off the Federal Reserve."

Been there. Done that. Welcome on Green Signs. Big Hair Hello.

How unoriginal can the city and county leaders aspire to be?

For the G-20, if we really wanted to welcome folks, we'd construct one of these out by the Parkway West from the airport:

From Water Town in East China

As as we are cleaning up around town, what about this as a redd up item.

Building used to sell tombstones. Go figure. And, it sits between Oakland and Downtown as well as between Oakland and South Side. It is next to a highway. Put a big sign to cover that!

G-20 Logo for your use

The G-20 talk is heating. It will be over before you know it. Feel free to use this logo on your site and pound away at the G-20 wiki too.

New G-20 Logo

This is in the public domain.

There can't be school on the days of the G-20 event in Pittsburgh, can there?

What is the deal with school days on and around the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh. I'm wondering. Is anyone going to give any insights?

Will it be off for the entire week of the G-20?

Will it be off for only the two days, Thursday and Friday?

Last year as China hosted the Beijing Olympics and the Paralympics -- all school was off for more than a month. The schools didn't meet. However, the universities were open for dorm space for the students so that they could be doing informal studies and working as 'volunteers.'

A day or two after the Olympics ended, the Para Games and Athletes were in town too. So, it was a double header for them as well.

Pittsburgh Public School officials should make the decisions NOW and get the word out so schedules can be understood.

Secret Service will lead security for G-20 summit

So here is the third set of OVERLORDS that the city was looking for.

Secret Service will lead security for G-20 summit: "The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has named Pittsburgh's G-20 summit in September a 'National Special Security Event,' meaning the Secret Service will take the lead role in security planning for the gathering of world leaders.

So, we'll have the gambling vice in August. The SS in September.

Thank goodness it is a draft day! That's the only good news.