When I was starting to unravel the puzzles I needed first to understand why and how people could do this…below is some suggested reading~
“Political Ponerology” by Andrew Labaczewski [very hard to find]
“Without Conscience” by Robert D. Hare PHD
“the sociopath next door” by martha stout phd
“The Myth of Sanity” by Martha Stout, PHD
“Emotional Vampires” by Albert Bernstein phd
~jude
SOTT Editors
Sott.net
Sat, 28 Feb 2009 14:30 EST
In the context of the global economic crisis, we are witnessing an important shift in the rhetoric of the media and the elite. Their warnings of riots and social upheaval seem to be implying that harder measures of control will be required; this way, the ‘War on Terror’ has served its purpose as a template for a ‘War on People’.
Contrary to the expectations of its population, the new government of the United States is not moving away from the path set by the Bush administration; the changes so far have only been a matter of appearance.
Making it worse
It is now common knowledge that the global economy – including that of the United States – is in a sorry state. We hear about it in both the mainstream and alternative media. You have probably been reading our economic analyses too. However, the difference is that in many of the mainstream and alternative sources we find much alarmism, confusion and disinformation, and few attempts to analyze responsibly and objectively – which is what we humbly try to achieve here. We suspect that the dark tone of the reports in the media is a significant fact in itself, and here is why:
The media is not just a descriptor of events. It is also a powerful tool of manipulation. It is in fact, so powerful, that it can have a decisive role in the creation of explanations of reality that people rely on for their daily lives. The media is constantly used to shape our assumptions and to direct our focus of attention. People in power know it. If politicians find themselves in hot water because of revelations that harm their image they may try to create a larger issue out of a non-event in order to shift the spotlight elsewhere (see the movie Wag the Dog for an amusing caricature of how it works). Likewise, populist leaders and their allies in the media will seek to spread out the news about governmental deeds or policies that make them look honest, patriotic, strong, smart or capable. This is the general rule.
Therefore, if a certain issue is a matter of concern and the language of the media and the elite tends to stress the negativity, we must ask why. Perhaps the question is even more important for economic issues, given that our capitalist model largely depends on the confidence of consumers, investors and financial speculators. What is said about the economy is a significant fact in itself, quite apart from the economic reality on the ground. If people in power were in agreement to bring the economy back to its pre-collapse state, we would be getting constant reassurances that even if things are a bit tough for the moment, the way back to prosperity is just around the corner thanks to the medicine that has been so well administered by our wise leaders.
In general that is not the message we are getting. So we need to ask where the alarmist and pessimistic atmosphere is leading us, and why.
Where? It is clear that it is leading us into a state of despair and confusion that will accelerate the economic dive.
Why? From what we have seen so far, we can think of two reasons: for the time being, to justify the bailouts that will save the pockets of the elite; and to hystericize the global society about the possibility of riots, looting, the collapse of the social fabric itself and even civil war.
Billion dollar cybersecurity industry at the forefront of ‘Top Secret America’ complex
Steve Watson
Prisonplanet.com
Wednesday, Jul 21st, 2010
An increasing clamour to restrict and control the internet on behalf of the government, the Pentagon, the intelligence community and their private corporate arms, could result in a staged cyber attack being used as justification.
Over recent months we have seen a great increase in media coverage of inflated fears over a possible “electronic Pearl Harbor” event, with reports claiming that the U.S. could be“felled within 15 minutes”.
Vastly over-hyped (and in some cases completely asinine) claims that the power grids and other key infrastructure such as rail networks and water sources are wired up to the public internet have permeated such coverage.
Threats against computer networks in the United States are grossly exaggerated. Dire reports issued by the Defense Science Board and the Center for Strategic and International Studies “are usually richer in vivid metaphor — with fears of ‘digital Pearl Harbors’ and ‘cyber-Katrinas’ — than in factual foundation,” writes Evgeny Morozov, a respected researcher and blogger who writes on the political effects of the internet.
By Alistair Barr, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — American International Group said Friday that it agreed to pay $725 million to settle a securities class-action lawsuit filed in the wake of a 2004 scandal.
AIG (AIG 35.64, -1.74, -4.65%) must pay $175 million within 10 days after a judge issues preliminary approval of the settlement, the company said in a regulatory filing Friday.
AIG’s obligation to pay the $550 million balance depends partly on whether it can raise the money by selling new common stock before final approval, the insurer added.
The suit, led by three Ohio public pension funds, stems from late 2004, when AIG was embroiled in an accounting scandal over alleged artificial inflation of claims reserves.
“This historic settlement is an excellent result for all shareholders harmed by AIG’s misconduct,” said Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, who represented the pension funds. “Ohio is determined to send a strong message to the marketplace that companies who don’t play by the rules will pay a steep price.”
Recoveries from the case are expected to total more than $1 billion, making it the tenth-largest securities class action settlement in U.S. history, he added.
If AIG doesn’t come up with the $550 million before court approval of the settlement, the plaintiffs can terminate the agreement, elect to acquire freely transferable shares of AIG common stock with a market value of $550 million provided AIG is able to obtain necessary approvals, or extend the period for AIG to complete a stock offering to fund the rest of the settlement, Cordray said in a statement.
AIG shares fell 4.7% to close at $35.64 on Friday.
Alistair Barr is a reporter for MarketWatch in San Francisco.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/aig-to-pay-725-mln-in-class-action-settlement-2010-07-16
It seems like a miracle that our anointed leader was able to convince BP to establish a $20 billion slush escrow fund to compensate those hurt by the ongoing oil plume in the Gulf of Mexico. After all, he had no constitutional power to force them to do so; so had to resort to Chicago-style arm twisting.
But, let us take a closer look at the effect on BP’s finances:
1. BP will establish a $20 billion fund, but will pay only $7 billion into it during 2010.
2. BP is a British corporation, but has a very large operating entity in the US.
3. By Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAP), BP must book the entire $20 billion expense in the year accrued, i.e., year the liability is incurred. Therefore, they will book a $20 billion expense in 2010, reducing their US tax liability by $7 billion.
4. Our anointed leader also convinced this massive corporation to show their concern for the “small people” by withholding dividends to their shareholders for the last 3 quarters of 2010. This reduces their outward cash flow by about $7.5 billion, including approximately 40% of that amount to US citizens. Assuming that the Bush tax cuts will survive through 2010, the US Treasury will lose another $450 million in taxes on that amount. We won’t even discuss the effect on the US economy.
Let us put the results into a table easily understood by the “small” people:
BP Cash Flow:
o Escrow funding ($7 billion)
o Dividend saving $7.5 billion
o Tax savings $7 billion
o Net favorable cash flow : $7.5 billion
US Treasury Tax Receipts:
o BP Corporate income tax (-$7.5 billion)
o BP Shareholders (-$0.45 billion)
o Net unfavorable tax receipts ($7.95 billion)
I guess we really should expect this. After all, our annointed leader is the most inexperienced man in any room he enters.
Scorecard:
BP Corporate Bean Counters – +1
Washington Tax Cheating Ambulance Chasers – 0
American People – We Got BP (Bean @#$%&!)
This isn’t so hard to understand – BP made their largest political contributions to Obama’s campaign. Obama plays politics acting tough on BP. We pay. Anything different from Obama’s corrupt deals?
Actually, I admire BP for their deal-making ability. After all BP is not a fly by night operation and Obama thought he and his minimal business experienced tax cheats could take on BP.
The Psychopathic Criminal Enterprise Called America
The Government uses the Law to Harm People and Shield the Establishment
By Prof. John Kozy
Most Americans know that politicians make promises they never fulfill; few know that politicians make promises they lack the means to fulfill, as President Obama’s political posturing on the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico makes perfectly clear.
Obama has made the following statements:
He told his “independent commission” investigating the Gulf oil spill to “thoroughly examine the disaster and its causes to ensure that the nation never faces such a catastrophe again.” Aside from the fact that presidential commissions have a history of providing dubious reports and ineffective recommendations, does anyone really believe that a way can be found to prevent industrial accidents from happening ever again? Even if the commissions findings and recommendations succeed in reducing the likelihood of such accidents, doesn’t this disaster prove that it only takes one? And unlikely events happen every day.
The president has said, “if laws are insufficient, they’ll be changed.” But no president has this ability, only Congress has, and the president must surely know how difficult getting the Congress to effectively change anything is. He also said that “if government oversight wasn’t tough enough, that will change, too.” Will it? Even if he replaces every person in an oversight position, he can’t guarantee it. The people who receive regulatory positions always have ties to the industries they oversee and can look forward to lucrative jobs in those industries when they leave governmental service. As long as corporate money is allowed to influence governmental action, neither the Congress nor regulators can be expected to change the laws or regulatory practices in ways that make them effective, and there is nothing any president can do about it. Even the Congress’ attempt to raise the corporate liability limit for oil spills from $75 million to $10 billion has already hit a snag.
16%20-%20Ron%20Sweatman.pdf
Annular and Casing Volumes calculations.xlsx
Annular%20Pressure%20Buildup%20-%20DW%20Tech%20(Aug%202000).pdf
APB Mitigation BP Presentation.pdf
APB Mitigation Presentation.pdf
AP/July 9: From left, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, and Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen in Boston.
Democratic governors expressed “grave” concerns to White House officials this weekend about the Obama administration’s suit against Arizona‘s new immigration law, warning it could cost the party in crucial elections this fall, The New York Times reported late Sunday.
The closed-door meeting took place at the National Governors Association in Boston on Saturday, according to two unnamed governors who spoke to the Times.
“Universally the governors are saying, ‘We’ve got to talk about jobs, and all of a sudden we have immigration going on,’” Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee, a Democrat, was quoted as saying. “It is such a toxic subject, such an important time for Democrats.”
The Arizona law, which is facing a U.S. Justice Department challenge, requires police to question people about their immigration status while enforcing other laws if there’s reason to suspect someone is in the country illegally.
by John Galt
The dramatic headline on the Drudge Report tonight might seem logical and innocent to the uninitiated:
‘PERFECT CITIZEN’ PROGRAM PLACES ‘SENSORS’ THROUGHOUT WEB
The truth behind the headline though is that our nation has been bleeding its freedoms away one bureaucratic paper cut at a time. The idea is that the NSA wishes to use the logical approach of government mandated monitoring of the flow of data to “protect” critical utility infrastructure and corporations from external attack. Unfortunately, the mentality of those in charge of the operation is best reflected in this quote from an “unnamed” military official from the Wall Street Journal report:
A U.S. military official called the program long overdue and said any intrusion into privacy is no greater than what the public already endures from traffic cameras.
Really unnamed U.S. military official? I don’t hold my credit card number up to traffic cameras. My spending habits and purchases, bills and personal pictures are not visible to the traffic camera. My personal emails are not visible to the traffic camera. My communications with my family are not visible on the traffic camera. If I wish to engage in lawful dissent the traffic camera does not pass judgment or use it as a perverted form of evidence against me in a trial. Apparently the attitude is that the real threat to America is not the cleansing sunlight of freedom, the ultimate disinfectant to prevent the disease of totalitarianism, but instead the free thoughts and actions of the United States citizen. This thought from above should disturb every patriotic American and chill them to the bone.
The story continues though, with further ideas being thrown against the wall, which will ultimately open Pandora’s Box and lead to the monitoring of not just “critical infrastructure” but the individuals who think they are living their lives as normal Americans, unaware that they are already being monitored but now able to put the friendly name of ‘Perfect Citizen’ as the software program which sponges up their activities on the internet and probably lift it off of their hard drives if you “trip” one of their sensors. This portion of the story is most disconcerting:
Some companies may agree to have the NSA put its own sensors on and others may ask for direction on what sensors to buy and come to an agreement about what data they will then share with the government, industry and government officials said.
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