Is It Time for Law Abiding American Citizens to Stop Paying Their Taxes and Start a New Government? By David DeGraw

Via: AmpedStatus Report.

The evidence is now overwhelming. The United States government has facilitated the theft of trillions of dollars of national wealth and 99% of the US population no longer has political representation.

• I: The Ongoing Theft of Trillions
• II: Off-the-Books, Off-the-Record
• III: Osama bin Bank of America
• IV: New Mafia World Order
• V: The Goldman Sachs Obama Illusion
• VI: American Heroes Speak Out on the Financial Reform Ruse
• VII: Economic Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMDs)
• VIII: Hank “Pentagon Sachs” Paulson
• IX: $5.4 Trillion a Year Bullion Market Ponzi Scheme
• X: Ponzi Nation: Welcome to America, Sucker
• XI: Economic Shock and Awe
• XII: Time for a Second American Revolution – The 99% Movement
• XIII: How You Can Get Involved

Now that I have your attention, I want to make it clear to you that I am being rational and serious when I ask this question: Is it time for law abiding American citizens to stop paying their taxes and start a new government?

Before you roll your eyes and dismiss me as some “extremist,” let me explain the situation to those who are unfamiliar with my past reports. In my report on the Economic Elite Vs. The People of the United States, I lay out the case proving that our economy and tax system has become an organized criminal operation. I defy anyone who spends time researching and analyzing the facts and overwhelming evidence to support this claim to prove otherwise. I invite anyone who thinks I’m wrong to a debate on national television. I’m talking to you, Tim Geithner, Ben Bernanke, Larry Summers, Lloyd Blankfein, Jamie Dimon and President Obama!

I torturously spend 60 plus hours a week researching this and the torrent of devastating news and evidence is mounting by the minute. The staggering level of theft continues unabated. As I am watching this unfold, I am horrified thinking about the severe consequences that have only just begun to reap their toll. Our nation is being raped and pillaged. Our future is going up in flames and our government isn’t even making the slightest effort to put out the fire. In fact, they are purposely pouring gasoline all over it.

“There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can’t take part. You can’t even passively take part. And you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop. And you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it that… the machine will be prevented from working at all.”– Mario Savio

So let me take a deep breath and back up for a minute… and explain the urgent gravity of our current crisis. Read the rest Here.

Ending Aparthied

Via: CAIA.

On March 30, 2010 the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) marked the Global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Day of Action with flash mob protests at Chapters Indigo and Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC): watch the video!

BDS Day of Action

In 2005, over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations called on people of conscience around the world to join a campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law. Over the past 5 years, the BDS campaign has become a global force, uniting student groups, trade unions, faith-based organizations and grassroots activists in the struggle against Israeli Apartheid.

Last year, in the wake of Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza, the BDS National Committee declared March 30th the Global BDS Day of Action. This day of action coincides with Palestinian Land Day, which symbolizes Palestinian resistance to Israel’s ongoing land expropriation, colonization, occupation and apartheid. On March 30th, BDS activists around the world engaged in demonstrations and creative actions to mark the day of action. In Toronto, CAIA focused on two Canadian BDS targets – Chapters Indigo and Mountain Equipment Coop.

Boycott Chapters Indigo!

Since 2006, CAIA has called for a boycott of Chapters Indigo bookstores because of its ties to Israeli Apartheid. The owners of Chapters Indigo, Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz, are the founders of the Heseg Foundation. Heseg provides scholarships and other support to former “lone soldiers” in the Israeli military – individuals from outside Israel with no family in the country who join the Israeli military and participate in all aspects of its repression of Palestinians. In January 2009 HESEG Representatives handed out $160,000 worth of “thank you” gifts to Israeli soldiers participating in the attacks on Gaza. People of conscience across Canada are boycotting Chapters Indigo until Reisman and Schwartz cut their ties to Heseg.

MEC – Drop Israeli Products Now!

Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC) prides itself on its ‘ethical sourcing policy’. Many MEC members are committed to the environment and social justice and want their cooperative to behave in a responsible, ethical manner. Across the country, members were shocked and outraged to discover that MEC, despite its ethical sourcing policy, is doing business with Israeli Apartheid. They carry over 30 Israeli products, including equipment manufactured by Source Vagabond, an Israeli military contractor. The same hydration packs used by soldiers in Gaza are being sold at MEC stores in Canada. MEC members are demanding that MEC live up to its own policies and drop all Israeli products immediately.

Want to be part of the growing BDS movement?

The Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid is always looking for new activists who want to join the struggle to end apartheid.

Join us! www.caiaweb.org or endapartheid@riseup.net

Submitted by Jenny.

***

Dam-Ihda (Dedication)

More Apartheid News.

Israel-U.S. Relations, Obama Visits Afghanistan, and Another Occupation Election· By Phyllis Bennis

Via: Institute for Policy Studies.

Talking points on the aftermath of Biden’s trip to Israel, the president’s trip to Afghanistan, and the elections in Iraq.

The recent tensions between the U.S. and Israel are real: Powerful voices in the U.S. are acknowledging that the U.S.-Israeli “special relationship” is dangerous and the settlements at the heart of the current spat really are illegal. With the legitimacy of the entire U.S.-backed “peace process” once again being challenged, President Obama is using firmer diplomatic language with Netanyahu. But there’s no evidence yet that the administration is ready to use this moment to actually change U.S. policy.

Obama visited Afghanistan as conditions there continue to deteriorate, with violence spiking in Kandahar in anticipation of the imminent U.S./NATO escalation there and new evidence of the rising numbers of Afghan civilians killed by U.S. troops at checkpoints. And Iraq held its most recent election, with the country still occupied by 98,000 U.S. troops and more than 100,000 U.S.-paid mercenaries.

But first, a bit of good news. The U.S.-Russian agreement for a new version of the long-stalled START could begin the process of realizing Obama’s vision of a world free of all nuclear weapons.  If the agreement is signed and implemented, it would be a small but significant step towards making good on the U.S. (and Russian) obligation, under Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to move towards “nuclear disarmament, and on a Treaty on general and complete disarmament.” For decades the U.S. has stood in violation of the NPT, and Washington’s focus solely on nonproliferation, its obsession with other countries’ nuclear programs while continuing to disdain its own disarmament obligations, made that hypocrisy blatantly obvious.

An agreement to cut the thousands of nuclear warheads and missiles in the U.S. arsenal by less than 25 percent is obviously insufficient — each of these current weapons makes the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs pale into insignificance. But if the pressure remains, it could be a first step towards real nuclear disarmament. Only then will U.S. calls for nonproliferation have any legitimacy.

AFRICOM and the USA’s Hidden Battle for Africa

Via: Accra Mail.

What is the current meaning of “War against Terror” for Africa? The true intention of America’s recent military interventions in the African continent (both covert and open) is nothing other than the expansion and consolidation of Western capital. It all started in 2001 when George W. Bush declared his “War on Terror” in the continent, but has developed in a manner that has gone beyond human imagination in the body counts on the streets of Somalia, in the jungles of Uganda and Congo, and deserts of Sudan. The chief of the US African Command, General E. Ward, explained this in language more clear than that of any US politician when he stated that an Africa in which “African populations are able to provide for themselves, contribute to global economic development and are allowed access to markets in free, fair, and competitive ways, is good for America and the world…”

AFRICOM (or USAFRICOM) is a Unified Combatant Command of the US Department of Defense, responsible for US military operations and military relations with 53 African nations (excepting Egypt). Africa Command was established October 1, 2007, and formally activated October 1, 2008 at a public ceremony at the Pentagon attended by representatives of African nations. It has become clear that the idea was not primarily to fight against the Islamic terror, which was said to be growing in influence, but to protect and help expand American military and economic (mainly energy) interests.

Pending legislation, “The Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act 2009,” being pushed by Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) would empower AFRICOM not only to give technical support but to physically go to war with the armed groups that both Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo Forces have not been able to dislodge. Royce said:

Africa’s emerging potential as a major oil producer and supplier to the United States, has been of interest to the Sub-Committee on Africa that I’ve chaired for some time. The sub-committee held a hearing to look at this topic in 2000. It’s clearly in our national interest to diversify our energy supply, especially given the turbulent political climate in key parts of the world today. The expansion of energy production in Africa matches to that interest…

Rachel Corrie Tribute

Rachel Corrie has become the international symbol of bravery and justice.

From a young age, she was an advocate for human rights. When she became a young woman, she was a volunteer for a human rights organization that journeyed to Gaza. There, their mission was to save the homes of the innocent Palestinian families from the wrecking ball of the Israeli demolition squads who were seizing land ILLEGALLY in gaza. She was murdered trying to save the home of a Palestinian pharmacist and his family.

Rachel’s bravery will never be forgotten. Everyday, more and more people become aware of Rachel’s work in Palestine and the positivity she left behind. Her parents have tirelessly been working for the last 7 years to bring justice for the shocking and disgraceful behaviour shown by the Israeli and American governments regarding Rachel’s death.

I sincerely hope you will help Rachel, her parents and supporters by spreading this video and learning more about her. Please visit the Rachel Corrie Foundation:

http://www.rachelcorriefoundation.org

I’d like to give a huge thanks to FarhanK501 and THELIGHT for making this video. Please subscribe to their channels: http://www.youtube.com/user/FarhanK501 & http://www.youtube.com/THELlGHT

Via: Youtube.

Pacified. By Kathy Kelly

Via: Voices for Creative Nonviolence.

If the U.S. public looked long and hard into a mirror reflecting the civilian atrocities that have occurred in Afghanistan, over the past ten months, we would see ourselves as people who have collaborated with and paid for war crimes committed against innocent civilians who meant us no harm.

Two reporters, Jerome Starkey (the Times UK), and David Lindorff, (Counterpunch), have persistently drawn attention to U.S. war crimes committed in Afghanistan. Makers of the film “Rethink Afghanistan” have steadily provided updates about the suffering endured by Afghan civilians. Here is a short list of atrocities that have occurred in the months since General McChrystal assumed his post in Afghanistan.

December 26th, 2009: US-led forces, (whether soldiers or “security contractors” (mercenaries) is still uncertain), raided a home in Kunar Province and pulled eight young men out of their beds, handcuffed them, and gunned them down execution-style. The Pentagon initially reported that the victims had been running a bomb factory, although distraught villagers were willing to swear that the victims, youngsters, aged 11 – 18, were just seven normal schoolboys and one shepherd boy. Following courageous reporting by Jerome Starkey, the U.S. military carried out its own investigation and on February 24th, 2010, issued an apology, attesting the boys’ innocence.

February 12, 2010: U.S. and Afghan forces raided a home during a party and killed five people, including a local district attorney, a local police commander two pregnant mothers and a teenaged girl engaged to be married. Neither Commander Dawood, shot in the doorway of his home while pleading for calm waving his badge, nor the teenaged Gulalai, died immediately, but the gunmen refused to allow relatives to take them to the hospital. Instead, they forced them to wait for hours barefoot in the winter cold outside.

Despite crowds of witnesses on the scene, the NATO report insisted that the two pregnant women at the party had been found bound and gagged, murdered by the male victims in an honor killing. A March 16, 2010 U.N. report, following on further reporting by Starkey, exposed the deception, to meager American press attention.

As Tires Burn, Clinton and Buch Make Historic Photo-Op. By Kim Ives

Via: Haiti Analysis.

Burning tires and protestors welcomed former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush when they arrived at the half-crumbled National Palace on Mar. 22 for a visit which Haitian President René Préval called “historic.”

In fact, the visit was little more than an expensive photo-op to reinforce the world public’s perception that the U.S. government, even more than Préval’s, is leading international efforts to help Haiti recover from the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake.

The three leaders posed in front of the Palace’s ruins and held a brief press conference (two questions) in the Palace garden. “It’s one thing to see it on television but it’s another thing to see it with your own eyes,” said Bush in a typically penetrating observation. “That’s why on our return, we are going to explain the situation here to Americans.”

Clinton, who as the UN’s Special Envoy to Haiti has made regular stops in the country over the past year, even before the Jan. 12 earthquake, spoke like the senior partner of the trio. “We spent most of our time talking today about what needs to be done now so that the Economic Plan and the Donor Conference to be held at the end of this month has a chance to work,” he said, referring to the Mar. 31 international gathering at United Nations headquarters in New York, where $11.5 billion in reconstruction aid is to be raised.

Clinton also said that they wanted to see Haitians move from living “day to day” to living “month by month and to make sure they can eat, take care of their children, and find medical care.”

Outside the Palace fence, some 500 demonstrators loudly protested. “George Bush is a criminal! George Bush is a killer!” they chanted, referring to Bush’s role in backing the Feb. 29, 2004 coup d’état against former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who remains in exile in South Africa. “If you think you’re not a killer, then bring Aristide back. If you think you’re not a kidnapper, then bring Aristide back.” The demonstrators were closely monitored by a large intimidating force of UN soldiers, US troops and Secret Service agents, as well as Haitian riot police.

Soap Opera. By Gilad Atzmon

Via: Gilad Atzmon.

“Montreal Jew sells concentration camp soap”, says today’s Ynet.

Abraham Botines, the owner of a World War II collectibles shop, is under fire for selling bars of soap made in 1940 Nazi death camps. The items are for sale for just $300.

Botines, 73, the holocaust souvenir merchant, is the owner of a small antiques shop in Montreal and has recently added the soap, made in the concentration camps in Poland, to his list of collectibles.

The Spanish-born Jew sells numerous items from World War II, including Nazi soldiers’ former belongings. Apparently, his recent decision to sell soap from the concentration camps has evoked the anger of many members of Montreal’s Jewish community.

I am left puzzled here. I really fail to grasp the holocaust exchange rate. Apparently, to ethnically cleanse Palestine in the name of the holocaust is ‘totally fine’.  To keep Palestinians in concentration camps, starve them and pour white phosphorous over their heads in the name of the shoa is ‘kosher’.  To invade Iraq or nuke Iran in the name of Jewish suffering is ‘totally acceptable’, yet, pocketing $300 out of a ‘shoa soap bar’ is regarded as a crime by some Jews in Montreal.

Harper: Egypt’s Christians matter but not Palestine’s

Via: The Canadian Charger.

Pierre Poilievre, Prime Minister Harper’s Parliamentary Secretary, attended on February 11 a memorial service in Ottawa for six Copts murdered in Egypt as they were coming out of church on January 7, Christmas day on the Copt calendar.

He spoke passionately on behalf of the rights of these Christians in Egypt and on the valuable contribution that Coptic citizens are making in Canada.

Right after the service, the Canadian Charger went up to him:

“We wonder why it is that you are so concerned about Christians in Egypt but not about what is happening to Christians in Israel, occupied Arab East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.”

He responded that Christians in Israel were not subject to religious persecution.

In further conversation, he raised question about the contention that Palestinians in Jerusalem were being cut off from adjacent Palestinian populations.

The Charger promised to send him information on these matters.  Four days later we began to send him the evidence.

We began with information about cutting Arab East Jerusalem off from Beir Nabala and Beit Hanina with an extension of the separation wall, severing “the traditional connection between occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank.”

Victory For The Overlords – Obama’s Healthcare Reform

Via: Media Lens.

In November 2008, the “historic” importance of Barack Obama’s presidential victory was a relentless theme across the media spectrum. Even the pretence of a mainstream commitment to balanced reporting vanished from sight in deference to the self-evident Truth. The Guardian led the way, gushing almost exactly as it had over Blair in 1997:

“They did it. They really did it. So often crudely caricatured by others, the American people yesterday stood in the eye of history and made an emphatic choice for change for themselves and the world… Today is for celebration, for happiness and for reflected human glory. Savour those words: President Barack Obama, America’s hope and, in no small way, ours too.” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/ commentisfree/2008/nov/06/barackobama-uselections2008)

The former Europe minister and arch-Blairite, Denis MacShane, sounded a rare, unwitting note of caution:

“I shut my eyes when I listen to this guy [Obama] and it could be Tony. He is doing the same thing that we did in 1997.” (Tom Baldwin, ‘Blair team look in mirror of history,’ The Times, November 8, 2008)

The passing of Obama’s health reform bill on March 23, was again greeted as “historic” across the media. A Guardian leader declared:

“… a piece of history was made on Sunday night, and yesterday Republicans were scrambling to come to terms with it. It is not just that the United States finally has healthcare legislation that will ensure near-universal coverage (although it will take until 2019 to acquire it). America yesterday also woke up to the comparatively new spectacle of a Democratic president who can get things done…” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/ 2010/mar/23/united-states-healthcare-barack-obama)

In an Observer article titled, ‘Principled and passionate: how Obama sealed his place in history,’ Henry Porter quoted the Leader of the Free World:

“This is one of those times where you can honestly say to yourself, doggone it, this is exactly why I came here. This is why I got into politics. This is why I got into public service… we are not bound to win, but we are bound to be true.” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/ 2010/mar/28/barack-obama-healthcare-israel)

Porter commented: “these words represent the highest political endeavour and give the sense of a cause that remains just and noble despite all the compromises he had to make”.

Capitalist Diplomacy, the US and Israel. By John Reimann

Via: The Daily Censored.

In the natural world, different animals – especially those who live in packs, such as wolves – have developed a complex set of signals in order to avoid outright physical confrontation. At some point, however, tensions either within the pack or between different packs can become so great that a fight, sometimes even to the death, cannot be avoided.

The world of capitalist diplomacy can be seen similarly, and the signals being sent by the Israeli and US regimes are one such example. Recently, US vice president Joe Biden visited Israel. Part of the purpose of his visit was to get so-called peace talks between Israel and the (officially recognized) Palestinian leadership started once again. Such talks in the past have yielded nothing but pieces of paper which Israel promptly violated before the ink was even dry on them (especially as far as building the illegal settlements). Under the Bush regimes, the US dropped all pretense of being the “honest peace broker” for the region and simply wrote Israel a blank check. Among other things, this put the US’s Arab allies, such as the Saudi regime, on the spot a little. Therefore, the Obama regime is seeking to return to the previous role. In order to do this, they must push a little on the issue of the settlements.

Biden Visits Israel

Within Israel, however, the politics have shifted even further to the right, with such far-right, nearly openly racist parties as Shas now in the cabinet. Far from accommodating US pressures, they are moving closer to outright ethnic “cleansing” of ever larger portions of the West Bank, and “peace” talks are seen as an obstacle to this goal. Biden’s recent visit illustrate the tactical differences that are developing. This goal of his visit conflicts with that of Shas and other such forces in Israel. Their goal is to stir up as much conflict with the Palestinians as possible in order to justify accelerated ethnic cleansing in the West Bank as well as in Israel itself. Thus, while Biden was in Israel, the ministry of the interior (run by Shas) announced the building of 1600 new settlements in East Jerusalem. This timing clearly intended to undermine the purpose of Biden’s visit. Netanyahu claimed that he didn’t know the announcement was gong to be made while Biden was in Israel, and it’s possible that he was telling the truth. He also claimed that the timing of this announcement was an “accident”. This is definitely false.

This diplomatic signal was a slap in the face to the Obama administration, and his administration replied with the unusually blunt comment that the timing was an “insult” to the US. (The fact that it was an announcement of further ethnic cleansing is secondary to the US regime.)

Is a US attack on Iran imminent? By Alex Lantier

Via: WSWS.

In recent weeks there has been a series of press reports as well as statements by military experts that strongly indicate that either the Obama administration or the Israeli government, or both, may be moving toward an attack on Iran.

Some of the press reports have been so detailed and provocative that it is difficult to determine whether they are describing actual plans for military action or whether they are “merely” intended to ratchet up pressure on the clerical regime in Tehran. Even if the United States and Israel are primarily engaged at this point in a war of nerves, the political and military logic of their actions leads inexorably to war.

Yesterday the World Socialist Web Site reported on the Brookings Institution’s simulated war games in which Iran was the target (see: “Washington ratchets up war threats against Iran”). Teams of US officials—“playing” the US, Israel, Iran, and other regional powers—tried to determine the outcome of an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear plants. The war game tried to present the conflict as initially remaining limited to exchanges of targeted strikes between Israel and Iran.

US policymakers let it be known, however, that they envisaged ultimately mounting a massive assault on Iran. The war game was halted a week into the war—which, by then, had spread to Iranian or pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon, Israel, the Occupied Territories, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Persian Gulf—with the US preparing strikes to annihilate large sections of the Iranian military.

This was the most prominent of a series of provocative announcements against Iran in the US press. Last week saw reports that the US was stocking bunker-busting bombs at airfields on Diego Garcia, to destroy Iran’s suspected nuclear facilities, and reports of Israeli plans to drop nuclear bombs on these same facilities.

There is an obvious connection between the intensification of preparations for military action and the apparent failure of the US-backed “Green Revolution” to gain the political momentum and social support necessary to topple the Tehran government.