Epinoia's Blog

For Those Who Don't Believe the US Would Run False Flag Ops

2008-08-01T01:57:00.000-04:00

During the journalism conference event, I asked Hersh specifically about this meeting and if he could elaborate on what occurred. Hersh explained that, during the meeting in Cheney’s office, an idea was considered to dress up Navy Seals as Iranians, put them on fake Iranian speedboats, and shoot at them. This idea, intended to provoke an Iran war, was ultimately rejected:

HERSH: There was a dozen ideas proffered about how to trigger a war. The one that interested me the most was why don’t we build — we in our shipyard — build four or five boats that look like Iranian PT boats. Put Navy seals on them with a lot of arms. And next time one of our boats goes to the Straits of Hormuz, start a shoot-up.

Might cost some lives. And it was rejected because you can’t have Americans killing Americans. That’s the kind of — that’s the level of stuff we’re talking about. Provocation. But that was rejected.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/31/cheney-proposal-for-iran-war/

Downright Inhumane

2008-07-24T18:55:00.005-04:00

Our Beloved Ally -- caught once again.

Cut them off -- stop sending our money to Israel. Stop selling them our top-of-the-line military equipment. Let Israel stand on its own two feet, and perhaps it will then find the gumption to make peace.

This is not how one treats human beings. Indeed, if this were done to even a dog, this soldier would be brought up on charges of cruelty.

Will ABCNNBCBS show this to the US Public? Of course not. Why are we, the supposedly most free country in the world, having our news censored? Who is doing the censoring?

If there's any truth to the adage "You can judge a person by the friends he keeps", then one must wonder how we're being judged for having Israel as such an 'ally'.

McCain Refused to Leave Captivity?

2008-07-01T16:02:00.001-04:00

I, for one, would like to learn more about this notion that McCain was offered a chance to leave captivity in North Vietnam, but then refused.

It doesn’t smell right to me. It doesn’t seem like the North Vietnamese would have ASKED whether he wanted to leave. They would likely have just TOLD him he was leaving.

Put it in today’s reference — some terrorist down at Gitmo saying to his captors “No, no — I don’t want to leave. I want to stay here with my men.”

What do you think the US response would be? It surely wouldn’t be “Sure thing. Go back to your cell.”

Carlin: We Like War

2008-06-29T20:44:00.001-04:00

A 3-Minute History of the USA

2008-06-29T04:13:00.001-04:00

Retroactive Immunity For Telecoms

2008-06-25T23:00:00.001-04:00

"Retroactive immunity is on the table today; but also at issue is the entire ideology that justifies it, the same ideology that defends torture and executive lawlessness," Dodd said.

Source

I once wondered how it was that the German people could have allowed Hitler’s power-grabs. Now I see how. It’s a sad day for our nation. Our enemies must be laughing their asses off — their sucker punch on 9/11 has turned our country into a caricature of its stated values.

We are no longer a nation of laws. ‘Rule of law’ has been quickly replaced with something one expects to find in a Kafka or Orwell novel. When a government can break the law, then retroactively make it legal, every person, of every political persuasion, should be quite worried.

Bring Back "V"!!

2008-06-24T05:03:00.001-04:00

Okay -- they brought back Galactica after nearly 30 years. Let's hope they'll bring back V.

R.I.P. George Carlin

2008-06-23T02:18:00.001-04:00

'Aliens' being Tortured

2008-06-19T20:10:00.002-04:00

'Cursed is he who distorts the justice due an alien, orphan, and widow.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

Deuteronomy 27:19

Many right-wingers, such as Newt Gingrich, want to tell us that the US Constitution doesn't apply to aliens. Such forms of Justice are reserved to US Citizens only, claims Newt.

Perhaps Newt, Bush, Yoo, etc., need to be reminded of this passage in their Bibles.

How Bad is it?

2008-06-02T15:35:00.001-04:00

Spin

2008-05-23T05:09:00.000-04:00

Disappointing Idol Results

2008-05-21T23:32:00.005-04:00

I confess, I didn't watch all of this season's American Idol episodes. But I did watch the final two shows, and was simply shocked at the results.

While David Cook certainly is a fantastic singer and performer, David Archuleta has far more vocal range and control. Archuleta's performance Tuesday night was, as Simon put it, a 'knock out'.

My American Idol 2008 winner, hands-down is:

I am curious, though... Both artists can play instruments -- Cook is great on guitar, and Archuleta is wonderful on piano. Why is it, then, that Cook was constantly seen with guitar in-hand, while Archuleta was deprived of his piano?

Money as Debt

2008-05-06T12:31:00.000-04:00

I Want One!

2008-04-29T10:40:00.000-04:00

New York Times Picks up on McCain's Eligibility Issue

2008-02-28T07:02:00.004-05:00

Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and one of Mr. McCain’s closest allies, said it would be incomprehensible to him if the son of a military member born in a military station could not run for president.

“He was posted there on orders from the United States government,” Mr. Graham said of Mr. McCain’s father. “If that becomes a problem, we need to tell every military family that your kid can’t be president if they take an overseas assignment.”

Source

Lindsey, you can't have it both ways. You can't argue that the US Military bases are not US Soil for the purposes of US Court jurisdiction, and then turn around and argue that they are for the purposes of presidential eligibility.

Retroactive Immunity = Ex Post Facto

2008-02-24T06:45:00.003-05:00

No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

---U.S. Constitution - Article 1 Section 9

3.4 Billion Dollar Senator

2008-02-22T08:01:00.002-05:00

But Keating was more than a constituent to McCain--he was a longtime friend and associate. McCain met Keating in 1981 at a Navy League dinner in Arizona where McCain was the speaker. Keating was a former naval aviator himself, and the two men became friends. Keating raised money for McCain's two congressional campaigns in 1982 and 1984, and for McCain's 1986 Senate bid. By 1987, McCain campaigns had received $112,000 from Keating, his relatives, and his employees--the most received by any of the Keating Five. (Keating raised a total of $300,000 for the five senators.)

After McCain's election to the House in 1982, he and his family made at least nine trips at Keating's expense, three of which were to Keating's Bahamas retreat. McCain did not disclose the trips (as he was required to under House rules) until the scandal broke in 1989. At that point, he paid Keating $13,433 for the flights.

And in April 1986, one year before the meeting with the regulators, McCain's wife, Cindy, and her father invested $359,100 in a Keating strip mall.

Source

Leaving aside the question of McCain's not having been born on US Soil (he was born at Coco Solo Air Base, in the Panama Canal Zone), it seems McCain is hoping that the US Taxpayer's have forgotten about his Keating Five scandal.

Sin of Omission

2008-02-22T07:54:00.003-05:00

DALLAS, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- The Secret Service told Dallas police to stop screening for weapons while people were still arriving at a campaign rally for Barack Obama, a report said.

Police stopped checking people for weapons at the front gates of Reunion Arena more than an hour before the Democratic presidential hopeful appeared on stage Wednesday, the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram reported.

Police said the order to stop using metal detectors and checking purses and laptop bags constituted a security lapse, the newspaper reported.

Dallas Deputy Police Chief T.W. Lawrence -- who heads the department's homeland security and special operations divisions -- told the Star-Telegram the order had been intended to speed up seating of the more than 17,000 people who came to hear the candidate speak.

Lawrence said he was concerned about the large number of people being let in without being screened, but that the crowd seemed "friendly," the newspaper said.

Several Dallas police officers -- speaking on condition of anonymity because the order came from federal officers -- told the newspaper it was worrying to see so many people get it without even a cursory inspection.

The Star-Telegram said the Secret Service did not return a call seeking comment.

Source

In Dallas, nonetheless...

US Consumer Confidence Plummets

2008-02-17T04:44:00.004-05:00

Confidence among US consumers has fallen to a 16-year low, as fears grow about a recession and job cuts, a closely-watched survey has found.

The University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment fell to 69.6 in February, from 78.4 in January.

The report said the index had only been this low during past recessions.

Its findings come a day after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke warned that the outlook for the US economy in 2008 is deteriorating.

Source

The so-called 'service economy' is a farce. The USA is shipping both jobs and money overseas in record amounts, and selling the whole charade as good for America. It's not good. Correction. It's not good for the majority of people in the USA. It is, however, good for those people who own businesses (stock holders) that profit from lower wages found overseas.

The free-trade plan these globalists have in mind will have a leveling effect on wages and skills across the world. Citizens in countries where there are many skilled workers will find themselves chasing lower and lower wages, or risk seeing their jobs sent overseas. And citizens in countries where there are many unskilled workers will find themselves with record employment levels, albeit at slave-like wages. Given enough time, such a system, if allowed to play out completely, will create balance -- great if you're currently on the low end of the scale, in say Africa or so. But not so great if you're in the majority of Western countries and watching your wages drop and jobs sent away.

Notice how Hillary Clinton loves to take credit for the successes of her husbands Presidency? Well, when was the last time you heard Hillary talk about how great NAFTA has been for the USA?

InfraGard

2008-02-12T07:36:00.000-05:00

Today, more than 23,000 representatives of private industry are working quietly with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. The members of this rapidly growing group, called InfraGard, receive secret warnings of terrorist threats before the public does—and, at least on one occasion, before elected officials. In return, they provide information to the government, which alarms the ACLU. But there may be more to it than that. One business executive, who showed me his InfraGard card, told me they have permission to “shoot to kill” in the event of martial law.
InfraGard is “a child of the FBI,” says Michael Hershman, the chairman of the advisory board of the InfraGard National Members Alliance and CEO of the Fairfax Group, an international consulting firm.
...
“The meeting started off innocuously enough, with the speakers talking about corporate espionage,” he says. “From there, it just progressed. All of a sudden we were knee deep in what was expected of us when martial law is declared. We were expected to share all our resources, but in return we’d be given specific benefits.” These included, he says, the ability to travel in restricted areas and to get people out.

But that’s not all.

“Then they said when—not if—martial law is declared, it was our responsibility to protect our portion of the infrastructure, and if we had to use deadly force to protect it, we couldn’t be prosecuted,” he says.

Source

IRS Above the Law?

2008-02-11T18:55:00.000-05:00

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is flouting three court orders requiring it to regularly provide a nationally recognized researcher with the statistical data she needs for her studies, according to a court action brought today by the researcher.

The new motion was by filed by Public Citizen and the Seattle, Wash., law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine on behalf of Susan B. Long, a professor at Syracuse University’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management. For more than 30 years, Long has used the IRS’s own statistical data to examine how this powerful agency has been enforcing the nation’s tax laws.

Source

Who Runs The World?

2008-02-10T16:18:00.001-05:00

A picture is worth...

2008-02-10T01:59:00.000-05:00

Welcome Bythios

2008-02-09T12:25:00.000-05:00

Bythios has joined this blog as an author. I've known him for nearly 20 odd years now, and it will be interesting to see his 'lawyerly' approach in action.

Cold War Re-Ignites?

2008-02-08T16:23:00.000-05:00

In a nationally-televised speech, he condemned Nato's expansion and the US plan to include Poland and the Czech Republic in a missile defence shield.

"It is already clear that a new phase in the arms race is unfolding in the world," Mr Putin said.

"It is not our fault, because we did not start it," he said.

Source

Poor people are not generally the ones who are paid to manufacture these instruments of death. They are generally manufactured by the upper class -- people who make more than the mean income of the nation. These are exactly the people that Bush and his Republican party are expected to keep happy, in order for their campaign donations to continue coming in.