Rex 84: Government Silently Positions for Martial Law as Financial Collapse Arrives in America

Global Research

Susan Posnell The US government has been scheming on how to provide for continuity of government for many decades now. According to Peter Santilli, an informant who is an ex-marine and worked on portions of the contingency plans known as Rex 84, civil unrest will come after a financial collapse. The Readiness Exercise 1984, a.k.a. Rex 84, outlines continuity of government wherein the US Constitution is suspended, martial law is declared and the US military command take over state and local governments in order to ensure stabilization of our nation at any cost. Any American who is deemed a “national security threat” would be detained in an interment or FEMA camp. The author of Rex 84 was Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, National Security Council (NSC) White House aids and NSC liaison to FEMA. Rex 84 is the plan; the triggers are a series of executive orders . It is the continuity of government under specific contingency strategies that are laid out in various operations guide manuals. Operation Garden Plot is a subprogram of Rex 84. Twice before, Rex 84 was implemented – during the LA riots and on 9/11. In these scenarios, only small portions of the entire set of documents were used. Within the series of contingency plans, implementation of them depends on the severity of the situation. Some of the plans include internment camps where all or portions of the active or inactive military bases would be transformed into work camps where all considered to be dissonant would be held. The NORTHCOM army manuals clearly state that NATO forces will be used in every phase of the operation. According to Santilli, procedures to move conventional, chemical and nuclear bombs across the nation without detection have been facilitated without notice by the US military. Back in 1986, during his military service where he was involved with weapons transportation, Santilli describes how an unmarked refrigerated trailer driven by a civilian driver was used to transport chemical or conventional weapons to various strategic bases both above and underground. Santilli was a specialist in aviation deployed weapons, which made him the perfect candidate to the assignment of weapons transportation. The refrigerated truck, allocated by the administration department on base, was directed to the commissary, where the unsuspecting driver believed that he was transporting food. The weapon was placed at the head of the trailer, and covered up with either food stores (like cans of soup) or body bags. In the event that the truck is stopped en route, the weapon would be well hidden and go undetected by inspectors on the public highways. A US Marine Corp bill of lading was the paperwork necessary to move the commercial refrigerated truck through weigh stations on public highways without any question. Santilli remembers that there was not one incident where he had to enact any security measures to ensure the delivery was made. Santilli, who was assigned to ride in the cab of the truck with the driver, says that his orders were to make sure the truck arrived at its destination. He was informed by his superiors that if there were problems concerning potential civil unrest, he was to radio into his superiors for aid by either air or ground support. Should the situation warrant serious attention; crowd control methods would be implemented. One possible scenario was the use of cluster bomb units (CBUs) that will emit upon detonation, a “sleep and kill” chemical weapon that will not disturb infrastructure, but is lethal to all living things within the effected zone. Santilli describes these particular 3 unit CBUs as shaped like water-heaters with a coned top and plunger-like device. Once deployed in the air, a parachute assists these CBUs to the targeted area. And when detonated, a deadly chemical gas will kill every human and animal in the specified cordoned area. This is just one example, says Santilli, as to the lengths the US armed forces are trained to make sure continuity of government is preserved. Santilli explained that the use of foreign troops on US soil, as described in Rex 84 and other subsequent manuals, would have a two-fold purpose. Firstly, to provide extra security in designated areas, cities or highways; and secondly, as scapegoats were violent action used against American citizens should the US military be directed to attack civilians.

The refrigerated truck, carrying the chemical or conventional weapon with Santilli riding shotgun travelled to underground bases like the one at Yuma Proving Ground which is a ammunitions testing range for pilots. Nestled underneath the ground is a secret military base.

Santilli explains that his knowledge of Rex 84 provides that within the document, one of the scenarios that would cause a complete suspension of the US Constitution, Bill of Rights and implement martial law would be a financial collapse. He says once the collapse occurs, the US government and defense agencies estimate they have a 72 hour window to activate all procedures to ensure continuity of government as well as a lockdown of the general population as civilian unrest, riots and outbreaks of violence are anticipated.

A source in the Deutsche Bank claims that in 2008 our financial and monetary system completely collapsed and since that time the banking cartels have been “propping up the system” to make it appear as if everything was fine. In reality our stock market and monetary systems are fake; meaning that there is nothing holding them in place except the illusion that they have stabilized since the Stock Market Crash nearly 5 years ago.

Since this time, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in conjunction with FEMA and other federal agencies have been quickly working to set in place their directives of control under a silent martial law.

The Deutsche Bank informant says that the cause for the bailout of the banks was a large sum of cash needed quickly to repay China who had purchased large quantities of mortgage-backed securities that went belly-up when the global scam was realized. When China realized that they had been duped into buying worthless securitized loans which would never be repaid, they demanded the actual property instead. The Chinese were prepared to send their “people” to American shores to seize property as allocated to them through the securitized loan contracts.

To stave this off, the American taxpayers were coerced by former President Bush and former US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. During that incident, the US Senate was told emphatically that they had to approve a $700 million bailout or else martial law would be implemented immediately. That money was funneled through the Federal Reserve Bank and wired to China, as well as other countries that were demanding repayment for the fraudulent securitizations.

To further avert financial catastrophe, as well as more debt or property seizure threats by the Chinese, the Euro was imploded there by plunging most of the European countries into an insurmountable free-fall for which they were never intended to recover.

All the money that those banks claimed they needed to avert collapse was also sent to the Chinese to add to the trillions of dollars lost during the burst of the housing bubble on the global market.

The only saving grace has been the US dollar being the global reserve currency. However, now this prop is showing signs of wear as foreign nations like China, Russia, India and Iran are dealing in gold as currency and purchasing gold on the market at an exponential rate.

In 1970, Henry Kissinger made a deal with the Saudi Arabian government that American debt would be purchased in exchange for cheap oil. Since then Iran has taken control over the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) by their use of gold as currency which has threatened the direct value of the US dollar as the global reserve currency.

This scenario with Iran coupled with the massive leaps forward in US military presence on American streets and the emergence of FEMA camps across the nation pose an obvious turn of events and explains exactly why we are witnessing the silent implementation of martial law.

The war with Iran has to do with gold, its use as currency and its exposure of the central banking cartel’s lack of gold which defines a fiat currency’s worth. And right now, the US dollar is absolutely worthless.

The Deutsche Bank informant says that the financial collapse that happened in 2008 will be realized here in America very soon. Once that happens, there must be full implementation of marital law to control the potential riots and control over citizens that will be desperate to feed their families.

The attacks of recent on the 2nd Amendment play a significant role in attempting “amicably” to remove the possibility of civilian retaliation against the US military’s presence throughout the nation. However, if they cannot remove the guns from our hands in time, they will continue on with the guidelines set out in Rex 84 with directives to kill any dissenters that refuse to obey.

THE COUP OF 2012: Encroachment upon Basic Freedoms, Militarized Police State in America

Global Research
Frank Morales

Back in 1992 the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff held a "Strategy Essay Competition."

The winner was a National War College student paper entitled, "The Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012." Authored by Colonel Charles J. Dunlap, Jr. the paper is a well documented, "darkly imagined excursion into the future." The ostensibly fictional work is written from the perspective of an imprisoned senior military officer about to be executed for opposing the military takeover of America, a coup accomplished through "legal" means. The essay makes the point that the coup was "the outgrowth of trends visible as far back as 1992," including "the massive diversion of military forces to civilian uses," particularly law enforcement.

http://www.carlisle.army.mil/USAWC/Parameters/Articles/1992/1992%20dunlap.pdf  

Dunlap cites what he considered a dangerous precedent, the 1981 Military Cooperation with Civilian Law Enforcement Agencies Act, an act that sanctioned US military engagement with law enforcement in domestic “support operations,” including “civil disturbance” operations. The act codified the lawful status and use of military “assets” in domestic police work. 

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/subtitle-A/part-I/chapter-18 

Encroachment upon Basic Freedoms
Since that time the American people have been subject to a series of deeper and deeper encroachments upon our basic freedoms, increasingly extensive deployment of military operations on the home front, perpetrated by a corporate driven military mission creep that now claims the right and duty to arrest and detain us on the word of a Pentagon or White House operative. President Obama’s signing of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) whose Section 1021 sanctions the military detention of American citizens without charge, essentially aims to put the last nail in the coffin of our Constitution, our teetering Republic and our most basic democratic traditions. 

The statute contains a sweeping worldwide indefinite detention provision. While President Obama issued a signing statement saying he had “serious reservations” about the provisions, the statement only applies to how his administration (“you can trust me”) would use the authorities granted by the NDAA, and would not affect how the law is interpreted by subsequent administrations. The White House had threatened to veto an earlier version of the NDAA, but reversed course (of course) shortly before Congress voted on the final bill, which the President signed on the 31st of December 2011, a day that will go down in infamy.

“President Obama's action today is a blight on his legacy because he will forever be known as the president who signed indefinite detention without charge or trial into law,” said Anthony D. Romero, ACLU executive director. “The statute is particularly dangerous because it has no temporal or geographic limitations, and can be used by this and future presidents to militarily detain people captured far from any battlefield.” According to Senator Dianne Feinstein. "Congress is essentially authorizing the indefinite imprisonment of American citizens, without charge," she said. "We are not a nation that locks up its citizens without charge." Think again. (Guardian, 12/14/11)

Under the legislation, suspects can be held without trial  "until the end of hostilities." They will have the right to appear once a year before a committee that will decide if the detention will continue. A spokesperson for Human Rights Watch implied that the signing of such a bill by a President would have once been unthinkable, noting that “the paradigm of the war on terror has advanced so far in people's minds that this has to appear more normal than it actually is." Further, "it wasn't asked for by any of the agencies on the frontlines in the fight against terrorism in the United States. It breaks with over 200 years of tradition in America against using the military in domestic affairs." 

In fact, the heads of several “security agencies,” including the FBI, CIA, the director of national intelligence and the attorney general objected to the legislation. Even some within the Pentagon itself said they were against the bill. No matter, and no matter the intention inherent in lip service opposition, the corporate elite who drive the disastrous and inhumane polices of this country see it otherwise, and they, not the generals or anyone else, call the shots! 

And they’ve been at this for some time. A persistent and on-gong counter-insurgency directed against the American people, the detention provisions embedded in the NDAA are about more than “social control.” It amounts to a direct attack on the person, an “unreasonable search and seizure” in the cause of maintaining the shaky capitalist ship of state; suppressing popular resistance, dissent and protest, movements of peace and justice, recast as “civil disorder,” “civil disturbance” and “domestic terror.” 

POLICE STATE USA: The Paranoid Style of American Governance

Global Research
Prof. James F. Tracy

In 1964 Harper's magazine published the now famous essay, "The Paranoid Style of American Politics," by historian and public intellectual Richard Hofstadter. Appearing in the wake of President John F. Kennedy's assassination and Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater's Republican presidential nomination, the tract remains emblematic of liberal anxiety toward serious and in many cases unresolved questions regarding the forces behind American governance. "The Paranoid Style" overall helped establish the term "conspiracy theory" as perhaps the most powerful epithet in the American political lexicon.  "American politics has often been an arena for angry minds," Hofstadter wrote.

"In recent years, we have seen angry minds at work, mainly among extreme right-wingers, who have now demonstrated, in the Goldwater movement, how much political leverage can be got out of the animosities and passions of a small minority. But, behind this, I believe, there is a style of mind that is far from new, and that is not necessarily right-wing. I call it the paranoid style, simply because no other word adequately evokes the sense of heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy that I have in mind." (emphasis added)

Americans typically comfort themselves in the notion that they live in a democracy, with a government that is rational, responsible, and accommodative of their needs. Yet what if the government Americans look to for protection of personal property, the creation and enforcement of fair and just laws, and defense of the nation's borders and interests abroad exhibits the paranoia Hofstadter attributed to John Birchers and Goldwater supporters, complete with deep suspicions and conspiratorial fantasies toward those it is supposed to serve and protect?

The New York Times Health Guide explains a prevailing symptom of Paranoid Personality Disorder as being "highly suspicious of other people." Those afflicted "often feel that they are in danger, and look for evidence to support their suspicions. People with this disorder have trouble seeing that their distrustfulness is out of proportion to their environment." Other symptoms include "concern that other people have hidden motives, expectation that they will be exploited by others, inability to work together with others," "detachment"  and "hostility."

US legislation exhibiting undue suspiciousness toward allegedly strange "others" suggests how the paranoid style has thoroughly imbued American governance, particularly over the past 10 years. An especially strong onset of symptoms is evidenced in the blizzard of new laws, programs, and executive orders dating from September 11, 2001.

Indeed, the US government's dramatic increase in suspicion and contempt toward others over the last decade, combined with its accelerated violent and criminal aggression toward innocents at home and abroad, indicates a potential onset of what might even be deemed paranoid schizophrenia. With the development of such a condition the subject as a whole suffers from acute delusions of persecution and is tormented by illusory forces that it perceives as seeking to inflict harm on it.

Free Presentation of “Blueprint for Truth” Coming to a Library Near You

The Portland Action Group of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth is bringing a presentation to your local library.  Neighborhood screenings of the two hour film, "Blueprint for Truth: Architecture of Destruction," provide a perfect opportunity for those who may have missed architect Richard Gage at the Moreland Theater last month.  "Blueprint for Truth" is a professional production of Richard Gage's live presentation and will be shown at seven Portland-area public libraries within two months.



Architect Richard Gage appeared at the Moreland Theater
in Portland, OR on February 19th

Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth (AE911Truth) consists of more than 1600 degreed architects and engineers and 14,000 affiliates calling for a new investigation into the events of September 11th, 2001.  This position is informed by rigorous analysis of the evidence surrounding the complete annihilation of the three World Trade Center buildings.

AE911Truth identify key points where evidence contradicts the official story provided by governmental agencies like FEMA and NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technologies).  This information will prove to be a valuable resource once the best path is determined for obtaining justice on behalf of the victims, the victims’ families and all who were affected by the events of 9/11.

"The Portland Action Group is unique among local organizations in our strict focus on the hard evidence behind the destruction of the three World Trade Center skyscrapers" says action group member J.T. Waldron.  "By bringing this evidence into neighborhood libraries, we can offer a convenient, no-cost entry point for those unfamiliar with the evidence uncovered by AE911Truth."

Here is the schedule for library showings of “Blueprint for Truth”:

Local Contact:

David Fura

503-481-8692

PortlandAE911Truth@yahoo.com

www.PortlandAE911Truth.org

‘Contagion’ or How Disaster Movies “Educate” the Masses

The Vigilant Citizen

Hollywood movies are usually presented as a form of entertainment, but their plots often conceal a specific agenda. “Disaster movies”, films about the end of the world through various mass crises, are particularly interesting as they all follow the same basic formula and glorify the same entities. In this article, we’ll look at the disaster movie ‘Contagion’ and how it “teaches” its viewers who to trust and who not to trust during a crisis.


Most people watch movies to be entertained. Well, I for one can say that there was absolutely nothing entertaining about Contagion. In fact, the only difference between this movie and state-sponsored educational movies shown in schools is that with Contagion you actually have to pay to be indoctrinated … and to see Matt Damon. During the cold war, students were shown videos instructing them to “Duck and Cover” in case of a nuclear attack. Contagion conditions the masses to expect martial law and to throw themselves at the first available vaccine in case of a crisis.

Featuring Hollywood mega-stars like Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow, Contagion is a big-ticket Hollywood movie, but also an infomercial promoting specific national and international agencies while encouraging specific behaviors from the public. The plot of the movie appears to follow the big H1N1 scare of 2009 that left many citizens uncertain about the actual risk of the virus. Indeed, after months of terrifying news crowned by a massive vaccination campaign, an important portion of the population concluded that the H1N1 scare was grossly exaggerated and and thought that a vaccine was unnecessary.

This poll taken in November 2009 shows that 53% Canadians
believed that the risks associated with the H1N1 virus were exaggerated.

This poll taken in November 2009 shows that 53% Canadians believed that the risks associated with the H1N1 virus were exaggerated.

In the wake of this “crisis”, the UN’s World Health Organization (known as the WHO) was harshly criticized and even accused of colluding with Big Pharma to sell vaccines. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC) also had its credibility tarnished as investigations revealed that the agency misled the public regarding the number of actual cases of H1N1 (for example, see this report from CBS News). As a result, these two agencies needed a good PR stunt to restore their credibility and to scare the hell out of the public. This is where Contagion comes in.

Directed by Steven Soderbergh, Contagion was produced with the active cooperation of the CDC, the WHO and other governmental organizations and its function is clear: To present a hyper-realistic disaster scenario to justify the vaccination campaigns promoted by these agencies while discrediting those who criticize them.

Nothing in the movie hints that it is a work of fiction. Quite to the contrary, everything in Contagion is made to be as realistic as possible, using actual locations and governmental agencies, to make the story as plausible – and as frightening to the masses – as possible. As the slogan of the movie says: “Nothing spreads like fear” and, boy, does it try to spread fear. This movie’s message is: “Nothing was exaggerated, and next time there’s a virus outbreak, listen to us … or you’ll die”.

The Function of Disaster Movies

Disaster movies are often action-packed thrill rides that venture in the sometimes fascinating “what if that happened” side of things. While some are very over-the-top and border on fantasy, others, like Contagion, emphasize realism and actual events. These movies tend to “hit home” with the viewers because they lead them to think “this could happen to me”. Disaster movies exploit the latent fear that recent events caused on the psyche on the masses, tapping into the anxiety and trauma they cause in order to create tension and terror in the viewers. Then, the “agenda” aspect of these movies kick in as they propose to the viewers the best (and only) way these issues can be resolved. Specific groups and agencies are cast as honorable, helpful and trustworthy during the time of crisis, while others are portrayed as hindrances and even traitors. The drama that follows becomes a case of predictive programming, as the steps taken in the movie to resolve the problem will thereafter appear normal to the masses if they ever occur in real life.

Feds Label Bulk Buying of Food a Potential Terrorist Activity

Prison Planet
Paul Joseph Watson

Despite the fact that FEMA itself spent $1 billion dollars on storable food last year alone

As part of its effort to encourage business owners to spy on their customers, the FBI has labeled the bulk purchase of food as a potential indication of terrorist activity, despite the fact that FEMA itself last year purchased $1 billion dollars worth of storable food.

A flyer aimed at Military Surplus stores produced under the auspices of the FBI’s Communities Against Terrorism project, encourages owners to report people who “make bulk purchases of items to include….meals ready to eat”.

According to the flyer, the FBI advises store owners to demand ID’s from all new customers, as well as asking them questions about their purchase and being aware of “suspicious statements”.

The flyer also characterizes paying with cash or “demanding identity privacy” as an indication of terrorism.

The characterization by the feds of those who choose to protect themselves against rising food prices or a potential interruption in the food supply by purchasing storable food as potential terrorists is not only chilling – it is also completely hypocritical.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) itself ordered $1 billion dollars worth of dehydrated food in just one instance last year, purchasing a total of 420 million meals.

Are we to follow the FBI’s advice and treat this as a suspicious activity? Should FEMA be reported to other law enforcement agencies as a potential terrorist threat?

Indeed, the Department of Homeland Security is also busy stockpiling storable food and seed varieties in underground bunkers as part of preparations for domestic emergencies. Under its Resolve to be Ready program, the DHS even encouraged Americans to store food as part of a “basic emergency supply kit”.

Richard Gage to Appear in Portland, Oregon

1,600 Architects & Engineers Deliver 9/11 Explosive Evidence

Engineers for 9/11 Truth, will be returning to Portland . Gage will be delivering the evidence for explosive demolition in the compelling dynamic multi-media presentation “9/11: Blueprint for Truth - Re-Examining the Destruction of the Three World Trade Center Skyscrapers.” The presentation will take place at the Moreland Theater in southeast Portland at 2 pm on Sunday, February 19.

The Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth (AE911Truth.org) have examined in great detail the destruction of all three World Trade Center skyscrapers on 9/11 and are calling for a new independent investigation. They have found that the evidence and eyewitness testimony is completely at odds with the official explanation of events. Such an investigation will ensure that the evidence
ignored by prior building reports by governmental agencies like FEMA and NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technologies) is properly considered and that the truth sought by victim family members is finally delivered.

“My introduction to the problems with the official 9/11 narrative occurred several years after 9/11,” says Mr. Gage. “I was listening to the radio and heard Dr. David Ray Griffin describe how over 100 first responders reported explosions on 9/11.” Adds Mr. Gage: “I was shocked that this vital information was not being considered by the official investigations or reported by the media. As I looked into
these matters further, I discovered that this was only the tip of the iceberg.”

The Portland Action Group of Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth is sponsoring this event and is proud to carry on the work begun by the family members of the 9/11 victims in seeking a new investigation.

ALSO:
Monday, Feb 20, at PCC Sylvania, Noon-2:30pm

In the Cedar Room of the College Center (CC Building), next to the cafeteria

(12000 SW 49th Ave. Portland, OR 97219)

A guest appearance by San Francisco Bay Area architect Richard Gage, AIA

(Founder of Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth)
Co-sponsored by PCC 911 Studies

Local Contact:
David Fura
503-481-8692
PortlandAE911Truth@yahoo.com
www.PortlandAE911Truth.org

THE US GOVERNMENT DID NOT FAIL ITS MISSION IN THE WAKE OF HURRICANE KATRINA

Freedom Force International

There has been widespread criticism of the response of US officials to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005. The tone of these complaints is that the authorities failed to do their job quickly enough. Some commentators have said this is a racial issue, claiming that the government would have acted more promptly if the majority of victims had been white instead of black. Others have said it was an issue of the rich against the poor, the oil companies against the consumers, the land developers and contractors seeking to force people out of the city so they can rebuild without interference at taxpayers' expense. Democrats have said the problem is that Republicans were in control, and Republicans are indifferent to the plight of the common man. 

In news coverage of this tragedy, the most significant events often were buried beneath a blanket of heart-wrenching stories of personal survival, scenes of awesome destruction, reports of looting, and interviews with experts. However, the key to understanding can be found in the following list of news headlines, most of which did not make it into mainstream coverage. These reports make it clear that the government did not fail to respond in a timely fashion. The problem was that it did respond - but in such a way as to actually hinder rescue operations. There were too many instances for this to be merely a mistake or a bureaucratic snafu. There is a clear pattern here that cannot be denied. Why this should be so will be discussed in a moment, but first, here is the amazing record.

(If the original sources are no longer active, click on (Cached). 

FEMA tells first responders not to respond until told to do so. FEMA News 2005 Aug 29 (Cached)

FEMA won't accept Amtrak's help in evacuations. FEMA News 2005 Aug 29 (Cached)

Offer of helicopters for rescue work is rejected. Narcosphere 2005 Sept 1 (Cached)

FEMA blocks 500 Florida airboat pilots from rescue work. Sun Sentinel 2005 Sept 2 (Cached)

FEMA to Chicago: Send just one truck. Chicago Tribune 2005 Sept 2 (Cached)

FEMA turns back volunteer Sheriff's deputies and medical team. Unknown News 2005 Sept 2 (Cached)

FEMA bars morticians from entering New Orleans. Tri Valley Central 2005 Sept 2 (Cached)

Pentagon says military mission in New Orleans is combat, not rescue. Army Times 2005 Sept 2 (Cached)

FEMA blocks 500-boat citizen flotilla from delivering aid. Daily Kos 2005 Sept 3 (Cached)

Homeland Security won't let Red Cross deliver food. Post Gazette 2005 Sept 3 (Cached)

Military turns back flood survivors trying to leave city. Thousands held at gunpoint and locked up in Superdome. Reuters 2005 Sept 3 (Cached)

FEMA fails to utilize Navy ship with 600-bed hospital onboard. Chicago Tribune 2005 Sept 4 (Cached)

FEMA cuts local emergency communications phone lines. Meet the Press 2005 Sept 4 (Cached)

FEMA turns away experienced firefighters. Daily Kos 2005 Sept 5 (Cached)

FEMA turns back Wal-Mart supply trucks. NY Times 2005 Sept 5 (Cached)

FEMA prevents Coast Guard from delivering diesel fuel. NY Times 2005 Sept 5 (Cached)

Navy pilots who rescued victims are reprimanded. NY Times 2005 Sept 7 (Cached)

US government turns back German plane with 15 tons of aid. Star Tribune 2005 Sept 10 (Cached)

FEMA officials forbid stores from re-opening. Sheriff defies their order and threatens to arrest them. (Article near the bottom of page.) Times-Picayune 2005 Sept 11 (Cached)

FEMA declines volunteer firemen for rescue operations. Uses them to distibute public relations pamphlets. Salt Lake Tribune 2005 Sept 12 (Cached)

FEMA orders doctor to stop treating hurricane victims.
Advocate 2005 Sept 16 (Cached)

FEMA ignores offer of busses for evacuation of New Orleans.
Chicago Tribune 2005 Sept 23 (Cached)

So what is going on here? Were agents of the federal government trying to kill American citizens? Were they trying to obtain the maximum death toll and the highest level of human suffering? It would seem that way at first, but I would like to suggest that this incredible behavior stems from something else - something equally unsettling. 

The only legitimate function of government is to protect the lives, liberty, and property of its citizens. In New Orleans, however, it was clear that the primary job of the military, FEMA, and Homeland Security was, not to protect citizens, but to protect the government and keep it functioning. It can be argued that, if government does not protect itself first, it may not be able to protect its citizens, so that should be its first obligation. However, the government was not in danger in New Orleans. Aside from one or two snipers, its forces were never under attack, and its ability to function was never threatened; so the self-preservation argument is not valid in this case. 

It was clear from the start that the goal of FEMA and Homeland Security was, not to resue people, but to control them. Their directive was to relocate families and businesses, confiscate property, 

commandeer goods, direct labor and services, and establish martial law. This is what they have been trained to do. The reason they failed to carry out an effective rescue operation is that this was not their primary mission, and the reason they blocked others from doing so is that any operations not controlled by the central authority are contrary to their directives. Their objective was to bring the entire area under the control of the federal government - and this they succeeded in doing very well. 

William Anderson, in an article posted to the the web site of the von Mises Institute, came to the same conclusion but from a slightly different perspective. He calls attention to the need for politicians and government agencies to be in the spotlight during emergencies so they can look good to the voters and claim credit for all positive results. They are not interested in sharing the praise. Williams writes:

The huge outpouring of private aid, from donation of money, food, clothing, time, and housing (many people simply have taken in refugees — white and black — in their own homes) stands in contrast to [Anne] Rice's "America is hopelessly racist and hates the poor" [as Rice claimed in the New York Times] and demonstrates that the will to sacrifice for those truly in need certainly exists in this country. While it is not surprising that the elitist New York Times would take this as its standard view, it also is a shame when the country's "newspaper of record" can't even record the right things. Yet, for all of the public angst over the federal government's — and especially FEMA's — post-disaster response, most observers have missed what is painfully obvious: the government's response was perfectly in character to how people in government act in such situations. To say this in an alternative way, government was being government the same way that a dog is a dog. As anyone knows, dogs are territorial animals, and governments are territorial entities. The first rule that a government agent follows when confronted with an "emergency" is to "secure the area." For example, when two young men were merrily going on a murder and mayhem spree at Columbine High School in 1999, the vaunted police "SWAT" team stayed outside and encircled the complex because someone said that the area had to be "secured" before police actually could try to save anyone. (Of course, we found out later that not only did police fail to save people, but at least one person bled to death because police refused to get help until the man had died. This was not incompetence; it was the normal workings of the "I am in charge and don't you forget it" mentality that permeates government at all levels.) Immediately after the hurricane had stopped in New Orleans, for example, a Wal-Mart had brought a truckload of bottled water; FEMA officials turned the truck away, declaring that it was "not needed." Before we dismiss this incident as yet another example of incompetent government, we should realize that the official's actions were completely within the character of government. When governments act to provide services to individuals, they are done within a very different context than what occurs when private organizations provide services. The post-Katrina services performed by the Red Cross and other organizations such as civil groups and churches did not come with the threat of force attached to them. Church volunteers cannot arrest or even kill someone in those circumstances, but a representative of the government can perform such things without recrimination (and on more than one occasion did just that post-Katrina). Moreover, government services are performed in as visible a manner as possible. Anyone who has watched some of the post-hurricane coverage has seen press conference after press conference after photo-opportunity of government officials from President George W. Bush to mayors, governors, FEMA and military personnel and the like, people whose job is to be seen doing "good" for political constituents. These things are done with the podium and the TV camera in mind. The FEMA official who waved off the Wal-Mart truck was correct; FEMA did not "need" Wal-Mart to help. In fact, people from FEMA did not want Wal-Mart to help, as the company would have been able to steal some of the thunder that "rightfully" should belong to FEMA and other government agencies.

While the world is preoccupied with trying to fix the blame for the government's failure in New Orleans, the reality is that it did not fail at all. It was a huge success in promoting its own agenda. Unfortunately, that agenda was not to rescue American citizens. Once this simple fact is understood, everything that happened in the wake of Katrina becomes understandable and logical. 

If there are new terrorist attacks against the United States or Great Britain or any other country, what we witnessed in New Orleans may have been but a fleeting glimpse into the future of global collectivism. 

Populations Around Aging US Nuke Plants Soar

Common Dreams
Jeff Donn

BUCHANAN, N.Y. – As America's nuclear power plants have aged, the once-rural areas around them have become far more crowded and much more difficult to evacuate. Yet government and industry have paid little heed, even as plants are running at higher power and posing more danger in the event of an accident, an Associated Press investigation has found.

Populations around the facilities have swelled as much as 4 1/2 times since 1980, a computer-assisted population analysis shows.

But some estimates of evacuation times have not been updated in decades, even as the population has increased more than ever imagined. Emergency plans would direct residents to flee on antiquated, two-lane roads that clog hopelessly at rush hour.

And evacuation zones have remained frozen at a 10-mile radius from each plant since they were set in 1978 — despite all that has happened since, including the accidents at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima Dai-ichi in Japan.

Meanwhile, the dangers have increased.

More than 90 of the nation's 104 operating reactors have been allowed to run at higher power levels for many years, raising the radiation risk in a major accident. In an ongoing investigative series, the AP has reported that aging plants, their lives extended by industry and regulators, are prone to breakdowns that could lead to accidents.

And because the federal government has failed to find a location for permanent storage of spent fuel, thousands of tons of highly radioactive used reactor rods are kept in pools onsite — and more is stored there all the time.

These mounting risks, though, have not resulted in more vigilant preparations for possible accidents.
The AP found serious weaknesses in plans for evacuations around the plants, including emergency drills that do not move people and fail to test different scenarios involving the weather or the time of day.

Some plans are merely on checklists, and never have been tested. In drills, responders typically go to command centers and not to their emergency posts. There is no federal requirement for how fast an evacuation must be carried out.

And disaster planners from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have made dubious assumptions about the public response to a major accident. They insist, for example, that people who are not called upon to evacuate will stay put; they're now saying that they might under some circumstances tell people to hunker down at home even in the 10-mile evacuation zone, and they believe people will do it.

That advice flies in the face of decades of science and policy, millions of dollars in planning and preparations — and common sense.

Time for a Revolt against the TSA

The Legal Satyricon

First the government says that we need more people who speak Arabic. Then, the TSA handcuffs and detains a student for carrying Arabic flashcards into an airport.

Kids’ pillows are a threat to national security, as is Play Doh.  TSA agents force a disabled four year old boy’s parents to remove his leg braces before he can pass through security. Then, to add insult to that injury, demand that the poor kid hobble through the metal detector unassisted. When the dad got upset, the reaction of the local flunky was that he needed to “calm down and enjoy his vacation.“
None of this idiocy makes us safer.

The TSA operates on the premise that terrorists are as stupid and inflexible as the dipshits who work for the TSA. They presume that since one guy tried to make a bomb out of his shoes, that this is such a threat that millions of people a day need to have their shoes screened. You can’t bring a full sized tube of toothpaste or a bottle of water through security, because…I don’t even fucking know. Water might be a bomb? Meanwhile, you could strap 80 ounces of “deadly” water to your belly with this bad boy, but I’m sure that there are no terrorists who know how to use the internet. You can’t bring a rock on a plane, because it is a “dual use item,” a potential low-tech weapon. Meanwhile, though, you can carry a solid-metal Macbook Pro on a plane, and even the wimpiest hipster can turn the average NFL
linebacker’s skull into brain pudding with a swift swing of that stylish goodness.

We. Are. Not. Safer. When. Fucking. Idiots. Are. In. Charge.

TSA has given us idiotic rules that make absolutely no sense — all in a quest to give us “security theater,” or to just make us get used to following moronic rules laid down by bigger morons, who then delegate enforcement to complete flunkies.

The greatest threat to America is not terrorism. Flunkiedom, not terrorism, is the greatest threat to America. We have seen this in FEMA and the DOJ, we have seen it in Wall Street, and we now see it in TSA, the agency responsible for our in-air safety.

We have become a nation that operates like this:

Step 1: Imagine the absolute worst thing that could ever happen. This thing is the 1 in 1,000,000 event. Imagine the event while watching Dateline NBC or Fox News. 

Step 2: Make a rule to keep the 1 in 1,000,000 event from EVER happening – regardless of how that rule affects the other 999,999 events.


Step 3: Hire an abject freakin moron to implement the rule. That person must either be so stupid that they could never exercise an independent thought, or they must be completely disempowered to do so.

And that, my friends, is how the new America works!

What should we do about it? 

Honestly… hasn’t the time come for us to revolt? I mean, somehow? Professor Bainbridge says that we should, but offers no practical suggestions as to how we can really “revolt.”
While we plan our revolt, lets get one thing out of the way. You are a complete and total pussy. Yes you are. Don’t be offended; I am too. 

By rights, we should arm ourselves, storm the TSA’s offices, and start cutting throats. We won’t; we’re pussies. When we see TSA agents going full-moron, we should all rush the gate, grab the asshole, and stuff him (or her) in the X-Ray machine and shove the hand-wand metal detector in his (or her) ass. If TSA agents were concerned about that happening to them if they over-reacted, you can bet they’d be a bit more careful with our supposedly precious civil liberties.

Getting a little more realistic, we could at least commit acts of civil disobedience at airports. 

We won’t. We’re pussies.

Seriously, even if you live a relatively modest life, you’ve just got too much to lose by standing up for your freedom in any direct manner. You wouldn’t risk your LCD television for “freedom,” let alone your personal liberty for the freedom of others. Not even the most bad-assed Marine would risk losing his 1992 Firebird to protect your freedom, and I’m not putting my shit on the line either.
So what are we supposed to do? VOTE! That’s the ticket!

Are you going to vote against your congressman’s re-election over it? That’s a laugh. Incumbents have won reelection at rate over 90% for almost two decades. Are we really going to marshall armies of voters to toss out incumbents who don’t crack down on the TSA? Good luck, Skippy. Lets say we could even get 1,000 voters together to agree on that issue, all the incumbent would have to do is toss a god, guns, or gays issue in the middle of us and we’d be at each others throats like starving rabid coyotes.

So what can we do?

Here is a suggestion: Everyone who knows a TSA employee — no matter what their level of authority, no matter how close they are to you, treat them like shit. 

Absolute shit. Be mean. Be demeaning. Be insulting.

Watch the movie The Elephant Man, and make TSA employees wish they could switch places with John Merrick.

If someone walks into your business wearing a TSA uniform, refuse to serve them. (Loudly proclaiming “we don’t serve your kind in here!”) If you see them on the bus, stand in their way so that they miss their stop. If you live near them, call the police on them for any minor transgression (rules are rules, after all). If you’re on their condo board, enforce every single rule against them, no matter how petty or stupid it may be (ditto). If you’re related to one, make fun of them at family gatherings. If you know a TSA employee, don’t let them in your house until you make them take off their shoes and undergo some humiliating bullshit at your door. Better yet, just tell them that they can’t come in your house. Tell your kids to stay away from the TSA employee’s kids or they’ll catch a loathsome disease. If you know one on Facebook, post mean shit on their Facebook page.

If we all collectively treat them badly, eventually maybe they will all start wondering whether they are really doing the right thing. Maybe they’ll bitch at work. (It might backfire for a little while, so be forewarned). No matter how high or how low the TSA flunkie is, make them wish that they would be struck down with leprosy so that at least then they could be objects of pity. Make them quit their jobs.
Look, the Third Reich couldn’t have committed its crimes without the petty little shits who carried the nightsticks. And America can’t turn into a complete Flunkie-Idiocracy without the flunkie idiots. We can’t resist directly, because we’re materialistic pussies. However, we can be petty and cruel. Just be petty and cruel as fuck to a TSA employee, any TSA employee — every day, everywhere, and all the time.

Treat a TSA employee like shit today, tomorrow, and the next day. Treat them so harshly that they weep in the goddamned corner and choose between their job and complete social social ostracism. If they quit their jobs, embrace them, love them, and make it up to them — but until we beat the living crap out of them emotionally, these foot soldiers of idiocracy will continue to do their jobs with aplomb.

Do your patriotic duty! — Be mean to a TSA employee now.

And yes, I’m sure that my name will be on a list for this. Fuck it, I can be a little bit less of a pussy. I get “randomly” selected all the time anyway.