Source: Orthomolecular News

by Steve Hickey, PhD; Atsuo Yanagisawa, MD, PhD; Andrew W. Saul, PhD; Gert E. Schuitemaker, PhD; Damien Downing, MD

People have been misinformed about the tragedy at Fukushima and its consequences. There is a continuing cover up, the reactors have not been stabilized, and radiation continues to be released. The Japanese College of Intravenous Therapy (JCIT) has recently released a video for people wishing to learn more about how to protect themselves from contamination by taking large doses of vitamin C.

YouTube Link for Video Series – 4 Parts

Japanese Government Minimizes Danger; Ignores Vitamin C

In the fall of 2011, JCIT presented a study that Fukushima workers had abnormality gene expression, which may be avoided using dietary antioxidants, especially vitamin C. The data was presented in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea. The JCIT sent letters to the government urging the government to tell the people how they may protect themselves from radiation. To date, the recommendation has been ignored by Japanese government and TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company).

Linus Pauling gained the Nobel Peace Prize in part based on his calculations of the number of deaths from nuclear weapons fallout.[1] He was supported by physicist and father of the Soviet bomb Andrei Sakharov, who also later received the Nobel Prize for peace.[2] These and other scientists estimated that there would be an extra 10,000 deaths worldwide for each megaton nuclear test in the atmosphere. A nuclear reactor can contain much more radioactive material than a nuclear weapon. Fukushima had six reactors, plus stored additional radioactive material and nuclear waste.

How Radiation Damages Cells

Ionizing radiation acts to damage living tissue by forming free radicals. Essentially, electrons are ripped from molecules. Removing an electron from an atom or molecule turns it into an ion, hence the term ionizing radiation. X-rays, gamma rays, alpha- and beta-radiation are all ionizing.

Most of the damage occurs from ionizing radiation generating free radicals in water, as water molecules are by far the most abundant in the body. While avoiding unnecessary exposure to ionizing radiation is clearly preferable, people affected by Fukushima do not have the luxury of avoiding contamination.

Antioxidants: Free-Radical Scavengers

Free-radical scavengers, as the name suggests, mop up the damaging radicals produced by radiation. The more common term for free radical scavenger is antioxidant. Antioxidants replace the electrons stripped from molecules by ionizing radiation. Antioxidants have long been used in the treatment of radiation poisoning.[3-7] Most of the harm from ionizing radiation occurs from free radical damage which may be quenched by the free electrons antioxidants provide. Fortunately, safe antioxidants are widely available as nutritional supplements. Vitamin C is the prime example.

Why Vitamin C?

Vitamin C is of particular importance and should be included at high intakes for anyone trying to minimize radiation poisoning. High dose vitamin C provides continual antioxidant flow through the body. It is absorbed from the gut and helps to replenish the other antioxidants. When it is used up, it is excreted in the urine. Importantly, it can chelate, or grab onto, radioactive heavy metal atoms and help eliminate them from the body. Large dynamic flow doses of vitamin C (about 3,000 mg, taken 4 times a day for a total of 12,000 mg) would exemplify antioxidant treatment. Higher doses have been used by Dr. Atsuo Yanagisawa and colleagues. [8,9]

Shortly after the disaster, Dr. Damien Downing described how supplements can help protect against radioactive fallout.[10] OMNS issued an update on the response to Fukushima in Japan.[11] Recently, Dr. Gert Schuitemaker has provided a review of vitamin C as a radio-protectant for Fukushima contamination.[12]

Persons living in the areas affected by radioactive contamination can take antioxidant supplements, especially high doses of vitamin C, to counteract the negative consequences of long-term low dose radiation exposure, as well as to protect the health of coming generations.[12,13] People who have a possible internal or external radiation exposure should take antioxidant supplements to maintain an optimal antioxidant reserve. Because of the enormous size and oceanic spread of Fukushima contamination, this literally applies to everyone.

References:

1. The Nobel Foundation (1962) The Nobel Peace Prize 1962, Linus Pauling Biography,http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1962/pauling-bio.html.

2. Sakharov A. (1975) The Nobel Peace Prize 1975, Andrei Sakharov, Autobiography,http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1975/sakharov-autobio.html.

3. Brown SL, Kolozsvary A, Liu J, et al: Antioxidant diet supplementation starting 24 hours after exposure reduces radiation lethality. Radiat Res, 2010; 173: 462-468.

4. Zueva NA, Metelitsa LA, Kovalenko AN, et al: Immunomodulating effect of berlithione in clean-up workers of the Chernobyl nuclear plant accident [Article in Russian]. Lik Sprava, 2002; (1): 24-26.

5. Yamamoto T, Kinoshita M et al. Pretreatment with ascorbic acid prevents lethal gastrointestinal syndrome in mice receiving a massive amount of radiation. J Radiat Res (Tokyo) 2010; 51(2):145-56

6. Gaby A. Intravenous Nutrient Therapy: the “Myers’ Cocktail”. Alt Med Rev 2002; 7(5):389:403

7. Narra VR, Howell RW, Sastry KS, Rao DV. Vitamin C as a radioprotector against iodine-131 in vivo. J Nucl Med 1993; 34(4):637-40

8. Yanagisawa A. Orthomolecular approaches against radiation exposure. Presentation Orthomolecular Medicine Today Conference. Toronto 2011http://www.doctoryourself.com/Radiation_VitC.pptx.pdf )

9. Green MH, Lowe JE et al. Effect of diet and vitamin C on DNA strand breakage in freshly-isolated human white blood cells. Mutat Res 1994; 316(2):91-102

10. Downing D. (2011) Radioactive Fallout: Can Nutritional Supplements Help?, A Personal Viewpoint, OMNS, May 10,http://www.orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v07n04.shtml.

11. OMNS (2012) Vitamin C Prevents Radiation Damage, Nutritional Medicine in Japan, Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, February 1.http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v08n06.shtml

12. Schuitemaker GE. Vitamin C as protection against radiation exposure. J Orthomolecular Med 2011, 26: 3; 141-145. [Also in Dutch: Schuitemaker G.E. Radioactiviteit in Japan: Orthomoleculair antwoord. Ortho 2011:3, June.http://www.ortho.nl ]

13. Yanagisawa A, Uwabu M, Burkson BE, Weeks BS, Hunninghake R, Hickey S, Levy T, (2011) Environmental radioactivity and health. Official JCIT Statement, March 29.http://media.iv-therapy.jp/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Statement.pdf

Related posts:

1. Fukushima Radiation Taints US Milk Supplies at Levels 300% Higher than EPA Maximums
2. Japanese Duo Treks Through Fukushima Nuclear Wasteland on Film, 350x Normal Radiation Readings
3. Japan: Radiation 8x Normal Near Fukushima Nuclear Plant, 1,000x Normal in Control Room

Source: Business Insider - Michael Brendan Dougherty

Related posts:

1. State Dept Claims ‘War on Terror is Over’ – So Can We Get Rid of the Police State?
2. The Police State Responds: Kevin Hayden Receives Threats for Speaking Out Against Police Corruption
3. Police State 2012: No Need to Wait, It’s Already Here

Source: Times Picayune via Cryptogon

Louisiana is the world’s prison capital. The state imprisons more of its people, per head, than any of its U.S. counterparts. First among Americans means first in the world. Louisiana’s incarceration rate is nearly triple Iran’s, seven times China’s and 10 times Germany’s.

The hidden engine behind the state’s well-oiled prison machine is cold, hard cash. A majority of Louisiana inmates are housed in for-profit facilities, which must be supplied with a constant influx of human beings or a $182 million industry will go bankrupt.

Hayden’s Note:

This is a product of the War on Drugs, poor education, and corrupt public officials who fail at managing money, all the while lining their own pockets.  Fact.

Several homegrown private prison companies command a slice of the market. But in a uniquely Louisiana twist, most prison entrepreneurs are rural sheriffs, who hold tremendous sway in remote parishes like Madison, Avoyelles, East Carroll and Concordia. A good portion of Louisiana law enforcement is financed with dollars legally skimmed off the top of prison operations.

If the inmate count dips, sheriffs bleed money. Their constituents lose jobs. The prison lobby ensures this does not happen by thwarting nearly every reform that could result in fewer people behind bars.

Meanwhile, inmates subsist in bare-bones conditions with few programs to give them a better shot at becoming productive citizens. Each inmate is worth $24.39 a day in state money, and sheriffs trade them like horses, unloading a few extras on a colleague who has openings. A prison system that leased its convicts as plantation labor in the 1800s has come full circle and is again a nexus for profit.

Continue Reading ->

Related posts:

1. NOPD Drug Searches Handled Correctly, Louisiana Supreme Court Rules
2. North Dakota, Louisiana Call for Constitutional Amendment Barring Federal Debt Increase
3. Former NYPD Commissioner and Top Spot for Homeland Security Director Pleads Guilty; Receives 4 Years in Prison

Source: Policy Mic

Ron Paul supporters came up short in securing all of Oklahoma’s national delegates during a raucous state convention — hindered by fights over rules and a physical altercation between opposing delegates.

Backers of Paul booed Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a onetime 2012 GOP presidential contender, when both encouraged the approximately 1,400 delegates to support the presumed Republican Party presidential nominee, Mitt Romney.

Paul supporters, who numbered about 600 and made up about 40% of the convention, used various parliamentary procedures to contest rules.

They complained the state party violated its own rules by failing to have a roll-call vote on the slate of national delegates and voted against adjourning the convention.

Related posts:

1. Okla GOP State Convention – Streaming Live
2. OK County GOP Excludes RP Delegates, Supporters Fight Back and Win Majority
3. Romney Family Members Campaigning for Ron Paul

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/suriyahfish

Related posts:

1. Okla Gov. Mary Fallin Booed Off Stage by Ron Paul Supporters at State GOP Convention
2. Antimatter Caught Streaming from Thunderstorms Here on Earth
3. America’s Last Hope: Constitutional Sheriffs Convention in Las Vegas

Source: Don Rasmussen Contributor at the Blaze

MEDIA SHOWS NO SIGNS OF UNDERSTANDING THE RON PAUL STRATEGY, SO LET ME EXPLAIN IT

Over the last couple of weeks, the Ron Paul campaign has picked up a majority of delegates in Iowa, Colorado, Maine, and Nevada.  He’s on pace to also pick up the majority of delegates in at least four additional states…and those are just the sure things.  This is all part of a process that actually started over 4 years ago when Paul ran for President and his deputy campaign manager, Debbie Hopper, did yeoman’s work with the grassroots to recognize the intensity and develop this strategy.

The media is now belatedly noticing that this has been happening.  It has already succeeded in taking control of slews of local and county GOP organizations, putting at least seven Paul backers on the Republican National Committee, and completely taking over the party in multiple states…and counting.

The question that much of the legacy media is now starting to ask is “Why?”  As with so much reporting, they then go on to attempt to answer their own question and fail. The supposition has included…

•     He still thinks he can win

•     He’s laying the groundwork for Senator Rand Paul in 2016

•     He wants a convention floor speech

•     He want to force Romney to make Senator Paul the veep

•     He seeks to influence the platform

•     They want to make floor motions about pet issues

The funny thing about this is that these reporters and opinion makers could know the answer to their own questions if they had bothered to listen.  There is no great mystery.  Ron Paul, his staff (Full Disclosure: I’m a former staffer to both Dr. Paul and Campaign for Liberty), his activists, and his backers have been talking about this, writing about this, and meticulously implementing this strategy for years!  Ron Paul himself has been going on national television and discusses this strategy for months!  Heck, they started laying the groundwork by winning local GOP boards and committees in 2008.

The current project for all of those folks is nothing less than to take control of at least 77 seats in the RNC and a majority of state parties. That’s the first step.

They don’t care about floor speeches. This is a revolution. They’re taking the party. Then they’re taking the government so they can eliminate the Federal Reserve, the IRS, the domestic spy apparatus, the military-industrial complex, and every coercive federal power except for those enumerated by the Constitution.

They are doing this because they studied history and learned about the causes of the post-ISI crash in Latin America and the rise of the military dictatorships in the 1970’s. They learned about the Versailles treaty and how it forced the German state to destroy its currency trying to make war reparations, imploding the economy and seeding the ground for the Third Reich.  They learned that the Federal Reserve is a private banking system that has destroyed 97% of the value of the dollar by using inflation to transfer our wealth to a small ruling class. They learned that right versus left is an illusion; a football game for the masses.  They learned that the real battle is and has always been up towards freedom or down towards tyranny.

I was first presented the case of public opinion and the revolutionary war in Ron Paul’s 2008 campaign headquarters. Did you know that only about 10% of the US population actively supported the American Revolution?  The rest of the population was pretty well split.  You hear a lot of talk about “tipping points” from Paul people, often with quotes from the book of the same name or emphasized with Margaret Mead…

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has”

Spend a little time with them and you will also likely hear about Eugene Debs. Debs was a socialist. He ran repeatedly for president a hundred years ago, once from prison. Eugene Debs never won a state, but today his entire platform is the law of the United States. Last year, an overwhelming number of Republican congressmen voted to pass Ron Paul’s Audit of the Fed bill after failing for over 20 years. It has already started.

Another common meme is about human psychology. As it goes, even after Kristallnacht (the first coordinated pogrom against the Jewish people by the German state), over three quarters of a million Jews remained in Germany. Why? Because it was just so far beyond their experience that they could not accept that their government intended to kill them to the last child. Would you?

Americans aren’t dealing with what’s coming because we won’t accept it. Tomorrow will always be like yesterday because it always has, right?

You will also hear that if one carries all of our debt obligations out to the life of the loans or programs, we are actually in the hole to the tune of about 105 trillion dollars. That is more money than has been created in the whole sum of human history. You will hear that our debt to GDP ration is over 100% and no country has ever recovered from that condition without collapse or revolution.

Are they radical? Yes, they believe that nothing less than radical action has a chance to change the trajectory and save the country. Ron Paul and the millions that have been inspired and informed by him believe these things, even if journalists and the masses don’t.

Related posts:

1. OK County GOP Excludes RP Delegates, Supporters Fight Back and Win Majority
2. “Coffee Party” Founder is Obama Campaign Operative & NY Times Strategy Analyst
3. Senior Official in Afghanistan Resigns Over US Strategy

Source: SurvivalBlog

I’ve often mused about how fun it would be to have a time machine and travel back to the early 1960s, and go on a pre-inflation shopping spree. In that era, most used cars were less than $800, and a new-in-the box Colt .45 Automatic sold for $60. In particular, it would be great to go back and get a huge pile of rolls of then-circulating US silver dimes, quarters, and half dollars at face value. (With silver presently around $30 per ounce, the US 90% silver (1964 and earlier) coinage is selling wholesale at 22 times face value–that is $22,000 for a $1,000 face value bag.)

The disappearance of 90% silver coins from circulation in the US in the mid-1960s beautifully illustrated Gresham’s Law: “Bad Money Drives Out Good.” People quickly realized that the debased copper sandwich coins were bogus, so anyone with half a brain saved every pre-’65 (90% silver) coin that they could find. (This resulted in a coin shortage from 1965 to 1967, while the mint frantically played catch up, producing millions of cupronickel “clad” coins. This production was so hurried that they even skipped putting mint marks on coins from 1965 to 1967.)

Alas, there are no time machines. But what if I were to tell you that there is a similar, albeit smaller-scale opportunity? Consider the lowly US five cent piece–the “nickel.”

Unlike US dimes and quarters, which stopped being made of 90% silver after 1964, the composition of a nickel has essentially been unchanged since the end of World War II. It is still a 5 gram coin that is an alloy of 75% copper and 25% nickel. (An aside: Some 1942 to 1945 five cent coins were made with 35% silver, because nickel was badly-needed for wartime industrial use. Those “War Nickels” have long since been culled from circulation, by collectors.)

According to www.Coinflation.com, the 1946-2011 Nickel (with a 5 cent face value) had a base metal value of $0.0733 in February, 2011. That was 146.7% of its face value. Because of the global recession and the fact that both nickel and copper are primarily industrial metals, the melt value of a nickel declined to just $0.0516 in October, 2011. I predict that as inflation resumes–most likely beginning in 2012–the base metal value of nickels will rise substantially, regardless of the weakness in the industrial economy.

The Root of the Problem

It is inevitable that any country that issues a continually-inflated fiat paper currency will run into the problem of their coinage eventually having its base metal value exceed its face value. When this happens, it is one of those embarrassing “emperor’s new clothes” moments. Unless a government takes the drastic step of lopping off a zero or two from their currency, this coinage problem is inevitable. In essence, we were robbed by our own government when silver coins were replaced with copper sandwich coins in the 1960s. I predict that essentially the same thing will soon to happen with nickels.

Helicopter Ben Bernanke will inflate his way out of the current liquidity crisis through artificial lowering of interest rates, massive injections of liquidity, and monetization of the Federal debt. That can only spell one thing: inflation, and plenty of it. Mass inflation will mean much higher commodities prices (at least from the perspective of the US currency.)

Starting in 2009, I began warning my readers that a nickel debasement was coming. But since then, I’ve pleasantly surprised to see that the government moved at a snail’s pace, in implementing the change. In February, 2010 it was announced that the Obama administration had endorsed a change in the metal composition of pennies and nickels. And then, in November 2010, President Obama signed “The Coin Modernization, Oversight, and Continuity Act of 2010“. Then, in late 2011 came news of the introduction of H.R. 3694 (the Saving Taxpayer Expenditures by Employing Less Imported Nickel ACT — aka the “STEEL Nickel Act”. It now appears likely that the STEEL Nickel Act the will be signed into law in 2012 and the U.S. mint will begin producing debased steel nickels in 2013.

In January, 2012 this was reported: Mint begins trial strikes in composition tests. The good news is that the trials strikes are part of a two year study. (The contract runs through June 30, 2013.) So we may have some extra time to stockpile nickels before the debasement. Once this change is implemented, you will then have to manually sort the “old” from the “new” debased nickels! But for now, there is still an open window of opportunity, during which time SurvivalBlog readers can salt away countless rolls, bags, and boxes of nickels. I am grateful for the delay in the nickel debasement, but this window of opportunity is likely to close in 2013. Act accordingly.

Within just a few years, the base metal value of a nickel is likely to exceed two times (“2X”) its face value. (10 cents each.) The nickel will then begin to disappear from circulation. (Gresham’s Law is unavoidable.) Unlike the mid-1960s experience, the missing nickels will not cause a crisis, since pennies will suffice for making small change, and most vending machines now use dimes as their smallest purchase increment. Meanwhile, most bridge tolls and toll roads have inflated so that tolls are in 10 or 25 cent increments. The demise of the nickel will hardly cause a ripple in the news.

Unless the Treasury decides to drop the issuance of nickels entirely, the US Mint will within the next three years be forced to introduce a “new” nickel with a debased composition. It will possibly be stainless steel, zinc (flashed with silver) or possibly even aluminum.

Why Not Pennies?

You may ask, why not accumulate 95% copper (pre-1982 mint date) pennies? They already seen a spike in their base metal value to 2.2 cents each. But unfortunately, pennies have two problems: confusion and bulk. They are confusing, because 95% copper pennies are now circulating side-by-sidewith 97.5% zinc pennies. They are also about four times as bulky (per dollar of face value) as nickels.

With nickels you won’t have to spend time sorting out pre-1982 varieties. At present, visually date sorting pennies simply isn’t worth your time. Although Ryedale Coin makes an automated density-measuring penny sorting machine, it is still very time consuming, and unless you have a lot of pennies to sort, it would take a long time for the machine to pay for itself. As background: The pre-1982 pennies recently had a base metal value of about $0.0295 each.) Starting in mid-1982, the mint switched to 97.5% zinc pennies that are just flashed with copper. Those presently have a base metal value of only about $0.0067 each.

Pennies are absurdly bulky and heavy to store. Nickels are also quite bulky, but are at least more manageable than pennies for a small investor’s storage. (Storing pennies would take a tremendous amount of space and constitute a huge weight per dollar invested.)

The biggest advantage of nickels over pennies is that there is no date/composition confusion. At least for now, a nickel is a nickel. Even the newly-minted “large portrait” nickels have the same 75/25 cupronickel composition. But that is likely to change within just a couple of years. The US Mint cannot go on minting nickels at a loss much longer. My advice: start filling military surplus ammo cans with $2 (40 coin) rolls of nickels.

The standard U.S. military surplus .30 caliber size can is the perfect size for rolls of nickels. They will hold $188 of rolled nickels per can. Any larger containers would be difficult to move easily. (Avoid back strain!) Cardboard boxes are fragile, and lack a carry handle. But ammo cans are very sturdy, have an integral handle, and they are relatively cheap and plentiful. They are available at military surplus stores and gun shows. The current difference between a nickel’s base metal value and its face value is fairly small, but trust me, it will grow! Someday, when nickels are worth 4X to 8X their face value, your children will thank you for it. Consider it an investment in your children’s future.

In December of 2006, the US congress passed a law making it illegal to bulk export or melt down pennies and nickels. But once the old composition pennies and nickels have been driven out of circulation, that is likely to change. In fact, a bill now before congress would remove pre-1982 pennies from the melting ban. In any case, once the base metal value exceeds face value by about 3X, an investor’s market will develop, regardless of whether or not melting is re-legalized. Count on it.

What if Uncle Sam Decides to Drop a Zero?

As previously noted in SurvivalBlog, inflation of the US dollar has been chronic, cumulative, and insidious. So much so that turns of phrase from old movies like “penny candy” and “its your nickel” (to describe the cost of a call on a pay phone) now seem quaint and outdated. When inflation goes on long enough, the number of digits required to express a price grows too large. (As has been seen with the Italian lira, the Zimbabwean dollar, and countless other currencies. One whitewash solution to chronic inflation that several other nations have chosen is dropping one, two, or even three zeros from their currency, in an overnight revaluation, with a mandatory paper currency exchange. The history of the past century has shown that when doing so, most governments re-issue only new paper currency, but leave the old coinage in circulation, at the same face value. This is because the sheer logistics of a coinage swap would be daunting. Typically, this leaves the holders of coinage as the unexpected beneficiaries of a 10X, 100X.or even 1,000X gain of the purchasing power of their coins. Governments just assume that most citizens just have a couple of pocketfuls of coins at any given time. So if a currency swap were to happen while you are sitting on a big pile of nickels, then you would make a handsome profit. To “cash in”, you could merely spend your saved nickels in the new currency regime.

How To Build Your Pile of Nickels

How can you amass a big pile-o-nickels? Obviously just saving the few that you normally receive as pocket change is insufficient. Here are some possibilities:

1.) If you live in a state with nickel slot machine gambling (such as Nevada or New Jersey), or near an Indian tribal casino with nickel slots, go to a casino frequently and buy $50 in nickels at a time. Do your best to look like a gambler when doing so, by carrying a plastic change bucket with a few nickels in the bottom.

2.) Obtain nickels in rolls from your friendly local bank teller. Most “retail” banks are already accustomed to handing over rolls of coins to private depositors because of collector demand for statehood commemorative quarters and the new presidential dollar coins. Ask for $20 or $30 of nickels in rolls each time that you visit to do your normal banking deposits or withdrawals. It is best to ask for new “wrapped” (fresh Federal Reserve Bank issue) rolls. This way, you might have the chance of getting rolls with valuable minting errors–such as “double die” strikes. These are usually noticed and publicized a few months after the fact, and can be quite valuable. You will also be assured that you are getting full 40 coin rolls. (Getting shorted with 38 or 39 coin rolls is possible with hand-rolled coins.) If the tellers ask why you want so many, you can honestly tell them: “I’m working on a collection for my children.” (You need not tell them how large a collection it is!)

3.) If you live in or near an urban area and you operate a business, you can effectively “buy” rolled coinage at face value from your commercial bank. (They generally will not do any business with anyone unless they have an account.) It might be worth your while to on paper start a side business with “Vending Service” in its name, and have business cards and stationary printed up in that name. Have that “DBA” business entity name added to your commercial bank account. At a high-volume commercial bank you could conceivably buy hundreds or even thousands of dollars worth of nickels on the pretense of stocking change for a vending business. Depending on your relationship with the bank, they may waive any fees if you ask for a few rolls of coins. Be advised, however, that if you ask for any significant quantity at one time, they will probably charge you a premium. (Down in the small print of your account contract, there is probably wording something like this: “Coin Issued – Per Roll: .03 Currency Issued – Per $ 100: .08″ Before you cry “foul”, be aware that the Federal Reserve actually charges your bank a small premium when they obtain wrapped rolls of coins. (Most folks have held to the convenient fiction that a paper dollar was the same as a dollar in change. Obviously, it isn’t.) In effect, your commercial banker will just be passing along this cost to you. Unless they charge you a heavy fee, then don’t worry about it. Ten years from now, when a $2 roll of nickel is worth $16, you’ll be laughing about how you obtained $4,000 face value in nickels at just a small fraction over their face value.

4.) If you know someone that has a machine vending business, offer to buy all of their excess nickels once every month or two, by offering a small premium.

5.) If you operate a “mom and pop” retail business with a walk-in clientele, put up a small sign next to your cash register that reads: “WANTED: Rolls of nickels for my collection. I pay $2.25 per 40 coin ($2) roll, regardless of year!” Once the nickel shortage develops (as it inevitably will), you should raise you premium gradually, to keep a steady stream of coin rolls coming in.

An Aside: Nickel Logistics

Nickels are heavy! Storing and transporting them can be a challenge.

In October, 2011, it was reported that Texas hedge fund manager Kyle Bass had invested $1 million to buy 20 million nickels. It was not reported where and how he had them stored. That is a lot of weight!

Some SurvivalBlog readers and I have done some tests:

$300 face value (150 rolls @$2 face value per roll) fits easily fit in a standard U.S. Postal Service Medium Flat Rate Box (This is the USPS “FRB1″, with dimensions 11″ x 8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″). Full of Nickels, it weighs about 68 pounds. They can be mailed from coast to coast for less than $25. Doing so will take a bit of reinforcement. Given enough wraps of strapping tape, a corrugated box will securely transport $300 worth of Nickels. At ULINE you can get a corrugated box to fit inside the corrugated Medium Flat Rate Box, to reinforce it. It is item #S-4517. It measures 10″x8″x5″. These boxes presently cost 54 cents each in lots of 25.

The standard US .30 caliber ammo can works perfectly for storing rolls of Nickels at home. Each can will hold $188 of nickels in rolls. You can stack the nickel rolls vertically (on end, standing up) four to a row across the width of the ammo can.  (Think of it like stacking one shotgun shell on top of another.) Each of the two layers takes 11 rows of 4, plus one odd row of 3.  That makes 47 rolls per layer equaling 94 rolls total.  This makes for $188 of coins per can.  I’ve read that others have fit as much as $192 in rolled nickels (96 rolls) in a .30 caliber can, by carefully positioninghorizontal rows, but this takes a bit more time for precise positioning.

The larger .50 caliber cans also work for storing nickels, but when full of coins they are too heavy to carry easily.

If you buy more than a few hundred dollars worth of nickels, do not over-stress your house. Do not store them upstairs or in an attic. Storing the boxes or ammo cans on a concrete slab floor is ideal.

Conclusion

I’ve already had some ridicule, with e-mails accusing me of “hoarding.” So be it. Let me preemptively state that I realize that money tied up in coins will not benefit from the interest that a bank deposit would earn. But foregoing interest is not a major concern. Why? Because I think that it is a fairly safe bet that commodity price inflation will outstrip the prevailing interest rates for at least the next five years. In five years, the circulating nickel as we now know it, will be history, and it will be treated with nearly the same reverence that we now give to pre-’65 silver coinage.

We saw what happened when clad copper dimes, quarters and half dollars were introduced in 1965. We should learn from history. Something comparable will very likely soon to happen with nickels. You, as a SurvivalBlog.com reader, are now armed with that knowledge. You can and should benefit from it, before Uncle Sugar performs his next sleight of hand trick and starts passing off silver-plated steel tokens as “nickels”.

About the Author:
James Wesley, Rawles is a former U.S. Army Intelligence officer and a noted author and lecturer on survival and preparedness topics. He is the author of “Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse” and is the editor of SurvivalBlog.com–the very popular daily web journal for prepared individuals living in uncertain times.

Related posts:

1. Saving Money with LED Christmas Lights
2. Saving Women and Preventing Genocide: The New “Reason” We’re in Afghanistan
3. Utah Bill Recognizes Gold and Silver as Legal Tender; Full Value of Metal and No Capital Gains Tax

Source: ITS Tactical – Really great resource, listed in sidebar ->

Now that you have your routes planned out and have a basic knowledge of surveillance detection its time to talk about attack recognition and the ambush.

We are going to continue to focus on your route from home to work and attacks to your vehicle. I want to focus on your vehicle and travels and not worry about avoiding a sucker punch on the street.

Attack recognition is a whole other animal when you talk about self defense (Tony Blauer has excellent information on physical attack recognition and response).

What’s an Ambush?

An ambush is a surprise attack, from a concealed position. It’s used on a moving or temporarily halted enemy to destroy or capture him and his equipment. This definition is taken right from Infantry 101.

Ambushes have been around since the beginning of ancient warfare and are still in use today in modern combat. So long as there’s war, there will be the art of the ambush.

Attack Recognition

When you can recognize an attack you can use your pre-planned tactics to escape the assault. Your attackers have several advantages; they select the target (you), the time, place and the nature of the attack. Your planning, analysis and vigilance can help take away this advantage.

Since you have a good route survey and have identified potential attack sites you should have developed a response if attacked. You also have a good understanding of when and where each attack might occur which allows you to be at peak alertness at critical points along your route.

The Good News

Within each critical point, your attackers also have certain disadvantages. These are often recognizable and evidence of an impending attack.

• Prior to the attack someone must observe your approach and signal the attack team. Most likely this will be from a fixed location just outside or just inside the kill zone.
• You may also detect the communications between the surveillance (target identification) and the disguised attack team. They may initially appear unrelated but if you are being surveilled or set up for an attack they’ll have to communicate. If the communication appears urgent or just blatant then an attack my be imminent.
• In the age of cell phones, blue-tooth, computers and electronic communications you may think you can’t tell who is talking to who. Think about your drive today; you see people talking “to themselves” all the time in their cars and on the sidewalk. But human nature is human nature and people who are involved with a stressful event such as being involved in an ambush will tend to show it in some way. If you are/were in the military or law enforcement you know how you get right before an ambush or take down. Look at your buddies on the next operation and see how their body language and demeanor changes right before “go”.
• The attack is most commonly initiated by a ruse or disguise. You see this in the movies all the time (the movie HEAT has a great ambush scene of a armored truck). The garbage truck pulls into the roadway blocking your path, the attractive woman with the broken down car, or a staged crash. These type of ruses are used to slow you down in the kill zone and allow them to start the assault. This is very popular with the Mexican drug cartels. They are very good at using large trucks and buses to block and trap their targets in the kill zone.
• If a vehicle pulling out is legit it will continue on its way and the people around it will also continue with whatever they were doing. If it is a ruse the car will stop completely and the people who were previously disassociated with it will start directing their attention toward you.
• The attack has to transition from the disguise to the action (attack). People will have to break from their concealment or cover. If this happens on one of your pre-planned attack sites thisshould offer the opportunity to escape.
• You must be totally dialed in when entering each chokepoint. If you recognize any pre-incident indicators hold well back of the problem. If it’s nothing it will quickly dissolve. If not, then you hopefully haven’t entered the kill zone (or the “X”). Separate yourself with time and distance to disrupt the attack plan using evasive tactics (J-turns, Bootlegs, etc).

Certain chokepoints like blind corners, sharp hills, or bridges may prevent you from seeing a upcoming attack. Since we’re talking individual tactics, you wont have that advance team clearing your route for you. This means you may drive right into a potential attack site. Stand-off attacks or IEDs/VBIEDs may not offer you any opportunity to recognize the impending attack.

Here in the states the likelihood of someone shooting an RPG at your vehicle from a rooftop is pretty remote. This goes back to your route survey and analysis; think about your potential threat and try to plan accordingly. You shouldn’t plan for driving into a pack of zombies (no matter how fun that would be).

Remember, attack recognition is only a single part of your personal security posture. Our next article will be about searching your vehicle for the three Bs’: bombs, bananas, and bad things. If you have never had any training on searching a vehicle I hope this will be a eye opening (and fun); another tactic to add to your toolbox.

Related posts:

1. Protective Intelligence Lessons from an Ambush in Mexico
2. New e-Passport Issued; Facial Recognition & Digital Chips
3. US Army Tactical Combat Casualty Care Handbook

Georgia opens first jail devoted to U.S. veterans

Little Caution Used in U.S. Drone Assassinations, Authorities Say

The BIJ estimates the U.S. has killed some 3,000 people in 319 drone strikes. Of these, 600 were civilian bystanders and approximately one in four of those were children.

Scientists switch mouse’s genes off and on with radio waves

Tiny r(E)volution Tiny House Build

Ron Paul: “The Next Crisis Will Be Even More Destructive”

Thousands of pills ‘filled with powdered human baby flesh’ seized in S Korea…

Sandbags: Unconventional Tools for Functional Strength - ITS Tactical

Fukushima reactor No. 4 vulnerable to catastrophic collapse; could unleash 85 times Cesium-137 radiation of Chernobyl; human civilization on the brink

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2. 18 Brilliant Storage Ideas for Tiny Homes
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Source: Reuters via Cryptogon.com

Amish children raised on rural farms in northern Indiana suffer from asthma and allergies less often even than Swiss farm kids, a group known to be relatively free from allergies, according to a new study.

“The rates are very, very low,” said Dr. Mark Holbreich, the study’s lead author. “So there’s something that we feel is even more protective in the Amish” than in European farming communities.

What it is about growing up on farms — and Amish farms in particular — that seems to prevent allergies remains unclear.

Researchers have long observed the so-called “farm effect” — the low allergy and asthma rates found among kids raised on farms — in central Europe, but less is known about the influence of growing up on North American farms.

Holbreich, an allergist in Indianapolis, has been treating Amish communities in Indiana for two decades, but he noticed that very few Amish actually had any allergies.

…

The study did not determine why the kids who grew up on farms were less likely to develop asthma and allergies, but other research has pointed to exposure to microbes and contact with cows, in particular, to partially explain the farm effect (see Reuters Health story of May 2, 2012).

Drinking raw cow’s milk also seems to be involved, Holbreich said.

The going theory is this early exposure to the diverse potential allergens and pathogens on a farm trains the immune system to recognize them, but not overreact to the harmless ones.

As for why the Amish kids have even lower allergy and asthma rates than the other farming kids, “that piece of the puzzle we really haven’t explained,” Holbreich told Reuters Health.

Related posts:

1. FDA Raids Another Amish Farm for the Horrendous Act of Selling Raw Milk to Happy Customers
2. Top 10 Herbs and Spices for Boosting Immune System
3. EcoCity Urban Farm Takes Root Amid Strip Malls

Source: RT News – Editorial by Hayden

An American military document just uncovered appears to detail a US Army plan that calls for detaining “political activists” at re-education camps staffed by military-hired “PsyOps officers” in both America and abroad.

The website Infowars.com has unearthed the smoking gun, a copy of a United States military manual entitled FM 3-39.40 Internment and Resettlement Operations, which appears to offer Defense Department insiders instructions on dealing with the imprisonment of anyone considered an enemy to the American way of life and how to go about indoctrinating them with an “appreciation of US policies and actions” through psychological warfare.

Hayden’s Note:

I’m still doing my own research on this topic, but wanted to go ahead and post it so that you might be aware of it.  We’ve all heard about the Internment and Resettlement Specialist positions that were being offered within the US Army last year, but this is the first I have heard about any domestic confirmation for camps, aside from the hysteria created by the old ‘Civilian Inmate Labor’ document a few years ago (which turned out to be nothing nefarious, simply a policy on how to handle civilian inmates on military installations).  Check out the summary below, especially the parts instructing soldiers how to silence uncooperative detainees, how people are categorized, and how you could end up in one of these lovely camps as a displaced person after a natural or man-made disaster.

Stay tuned.  We’ll see how this pans out and I’ll be writing up my own interpretation shortly.

The PDF made available is dated February 2010 but has only now been leaked online. A copy of the document has been uploaded to the website PublicIntelligence.net for viewing, and additionally, a version appears to be hosted on the US Military’s Doctrine and Training Publications page at armypubs.us.army.mil, although access to papers published there are unavailable to those without Pentagon authorization, therefore making it impossible to verify the authenticity of the manual at this time.

The military site that appears to host a copy has also implemented security measures on its servers that it cautions visitors are “not for your personal benefit or privacy.”

Further, the title page of the manual warns that the material contained in its 326 pages is be distributed to US Defense Department and its contractors only, and that must be “destroy[ed] by any method that will prevent disclosure of contents or construction of the document.”

“This manual addresses I/R [Internment and Resettlement] operations across the spectrum of conflict, specifically the doctrinal paradigm shift from traditional enemy prisoner of war (EPW) operations to the broader and more inclusive requirements of detainee operations,” the paper’s authors explain in the first paragraph of the documents preface. From there, it goes on to explain that the methods of psychological warfare and brainwashing of persons applies to“US military prisoners, and multiple categories of detainees (civilian internees [CIs], retained personnel [RP], and enemy combatants), while resettlement operations are focused on multiple categories of dislocated civilians (DCs).”

The manual continues by describing categories of personnel whom are certain guidelines of the manual apply. A detainee, for example, is any person captured by an armed force, but does not include personnel held for law enforcement purposes — except where the US is the occupying power. Civilian internees are described as anyone“interned during armed conflict, occupation, or other military operation for security reasons, for protection, or because he or she committed an offense against the detaining power.”

“An adaptive enemy will manipulate populations that are hostile to US intent by instigating mass civil disobedience, directing criminal activity, masking their operations in urban and other complex terrain, maintaining an indistinguishable presence through cultural anonymity and actively seeking the raditional sanctuary of protected areas as defined by the rules of land warfare,” reads the paper. “Commanders will use technology and conduct police intelligence operations to influence and control populations, evacuate detainees and, conclusively, transition rehabilitative and reconciliation operations to other functional agencies.”

Continue reading at RT News ->

Summary from PublicIntelligence.net below

Civilian Internees

1-10. A CI is a civilian who is interned during armed conflict, occupation, or other military operation for security reasons, for protection, or because he or she committed an offense against the detaining power. (JP 3-63) CIs, unless they have committed acts for which they are considered unlawful combatants, generally qualify for protected status according to the GC, which also establishes procedures that must be observedwhen depriving such civilians of their liberty. CIs are to be accommodated separately from EPWs and persons deprived of liberty for any other reason.

1-11. Protected persons are persons protected by the Geneva Convention who find themselves, in case of a conflict or occupation, in the hands of a party to the conflict or occupying power of which they are not nationals. (AR 190-8). Protected persons who are interned for imperative reasons of security are also known as CIs. Protected persons under the Geneva Conventions include—

• Hors de combat (refers to the prohibition of attacking enemy personnel who are “out of combat”).
• Detainees (combatants and CIs).
• Wounded and sick in the field and at sea.
• Civilians.

Note. If protected persons are detained as spies or saboteurs or are suspected of or engaged in activities hostile to the security of the state or occupying power, they may be interned or imprisoned. In such cases, they retain their status as a protected person and are granted the full rights and privileges of protected persons.

…

DISLOCATED CIVILIANS

1-19. The term dislocated civilian is a broad term that includes a displaced person, an evacuee, an expellee, an internally displaced person, a migrant, a refugee, or a stateless person. (JP 3-57) DCs are individuals who leave their homes for various reasons, such as an armed conflict or a natural disaster, and whose movement and physical presence can hinder military operations. They most likely require some degree of aid, such as medicine, food, shelter, or clothing. DCs may not be native to the area or to the country in which they reside. (See chapter 10.) The following DC subcategories are also defined in JP 3-57:

• Displaced person. A displaced person is a civilian who is involuntarily outside the national boundaries of his or her country. (JP 1-02) Displaced persons may have been dislocated because of a political, geographical, environmental, or threat situation.
• Evacuee. An evacuee is a civilian removed from a place of residence by military direction for reasons of personal security or the requirements of the military situation. (JP 3-57)
• Internally displaced person. An internally displaced person is any person who has left their residence by reason of real or imagined danger but has not left the territory of their own country.Internally displaced persons may have been forced to flee their homes for the same reasons as refugees, but have not crossed an internationally recognized border.
• Expellee. An expellee is a civilian outside the boundaries of the country of his or her nationality or ethnic origin who is being forcibly repatriated to that country or to a third country for political or other purposes. (JP 3-57)
• Migrant. A migrant is a person who (1) belongs to a normally migratory culture who may cross national boundaries, or (2) has fled his or her native country for economic reasons rather than fear of political or ethnic persecution. (JP 3-57)
• Refugee. A refugee is a person, who by reason of real or imagined danger, has left their home country or country of their nationality and is unwilling or unable to return.
• Stateless person. A stateless person is a civilian who has been denationalized or whose country of origin cannot be determined or who cannot establish a right to the nationality claimed.

…

AGENCIES CONCERNED WITH INTERNMENT AND RESETTLEMENT

1-40. External involvement in I/R missions is a fact of life for military police organizations. Some government and government-sponsored entities that may be involved in I/R missions include—

• International agencies.
• UN.
• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
• International Organization of Migration.
• U.S. agencies.
• Local U.S. embassy.
• Department of Homeland Security.
• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
• Federal Emergency Management Agency.

1-41. The U.S. Army National Detainee Reporting Center (NDRC), supported by theater detainee reporting centers (TDRCs), detainee accountability, including reporting to the ICRC central tracing agency.

1-42. There are also numerous private relief organizations, foreign and domestic, that will likely be involved in the humanitarian aspects of I/R operations. Likewise, the news media normally provides extensive coverage of I/R operations. Adding to the complexity of these operations is the fact that DOD is often not the lead agency. For instance, the DOD could be tasked in a supporting role, with the Department of State or some other agency in the lead. (See appendix E.)

…

SUPPORT TO CIVIL SUPPORT OPERATIONS

2-39. Civil support is the DOD support to U.S. civil authorities for domestic emergencies, and for designated law enforcement and other activities. (JP 3-28) Civil support includes operations that address the consequences of natural or man-made disasters, accidents, terrorist attacks and incidents in the U.S. and its territories.

2-40. The I/R tasks performed in support of civil support operations are similar to those during combat operations, but the techniques and procedures are modified based on the special OE associated with operating within U.S. territory and according to the categories of individuals (primarily DCs) to be housed in I/R facilities. During long-term I/R operations, state and federal agencies will operate within and around I/R facilities within the scope of their capabilities and identified role. Military police commanders must closely coordinate and synchronize their efforts with them especially in cases where civil authority and capabilities have broken down or been destroyed.

…

PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS OFFICER

3-55. The PSYOP officer in charge of supporting I/R operations serves as the special staff officer responsible for PSYOP. The PSYOP officer advises the military police commander on the psychological impact of military police or MI actions to prevent misunderstandings and disturbances by detainees and DCs. The supporting I/R PSYOP team has two missions that reduce the need to divert military police assets to maintain security in the I/R facility. (See appendix J.) The team—

• Assists the military police force in controlling detainees and DCs.
• Introduces detainees or DCs to U.S. and multinational policy.

3-56. The PSYOP team also supports the military police custodial mission in the I/R facility. The team—

• Develops PSYOP products that are designed to pacify and acclimate detainees or DCs to accept U.S. I/R facility authority and regulations.
• Gains the cooperation of detainees or DCs to reduce the number of guards needed.
• Identifies malcontents, trained agitators, and political leaders within the facility who may try to organize resistance or create disturbances.
• Develops and executes indoctrination programs to reduce or remove antagonistic attitudes.
• Identifies political activists.
• Provides loudspeaker support (such as administrative announcements and facility instructions when necessary).
• Helps the military police commander control detainee and DC populations during emergencies.
• Plans and executes a PSYOP program that produces an understanding and appreciation of U.S. policies and actions.

…

DETAINEE PROCESSING TECHNIQUE

4-33. Upon capture, Soldiers must process detainees using the “search, silence, segregate, speed, safeguard, and tag (5 Ss and T)” technique. This technique provides a structure to guide Soldiers in conducting detainee operations until they transfer custody of detainees to another authority or location. Complete the “5 Ss and T” technique as follows:

• Search. Neutralize a detainee and confiscate weapons, personal items, and items of potential intelligence and/or evidentiary value.
• Silence. Prevent detainees from communicating with one another or making audible clamor such as chanting, singing, or praying. Silence uncooperative detainees by muffling them with a soft, clean cloth tied around their mouths and fastened at the backs of their heads. Do not use duct tape or other adhesives, place a cloth or either objects inside the mouth, or apply physical force to silence detainees.
• Segregate. Segregate detainees according to policy and SOPs (segregation requirements differ from operation to operation). The ability to segregate detainees may be limited by the availability of manpower and resources at the POC. At a minimum, try to segregate detainees by grade, gender, age (keeping adults from juveniles and small children with mothers), and security risk. MI and military police personnel can provide additional guidance and support in determining the appropriate segregation criteria.
• Speed. Quickly move detainees from the continuing risks associated with other combatants or sympathizers who may still be in the area of capture. If there are more detainees than the Soldiers can control, call for additional support, search the detainees, and hold them in place until reinforcements arrive.
• Safeguard. Protect detainees and ensure the custody and integrity of all confiscated items. Soldiers must safeguard detainees from combat risk, harm caused by other detainees, and improper treatment or care. Report all injuries. Correct and report violations of U.S. military policy that occur while safeguarding detainees. Acts and/or omissions that constitute inhumane treatment are violations of the law of war and, as such, must be corrected immediately. Simply reporting violations is insufficient. If a violation is ongoing, a Soldier has an obligation to stop the violation and report it.
• Tag. Ensure that each detainee is tagged using DD Form 2745. Confiscated equipment, personal items, and evidence will be linked to the detainee using the DD Form 2745 number. When a DA Form 4137 is used to document confiscated items, it will be linked to the detainee by annotating the DD Form 2745 control number on the form.

…

6-8. When constructing a facility, planning considerations may include, but are not limited to—

• Clear zones. As appropriate, mission variables determine the clear zone surrounding each facility that houses detainees. Construct at least two fences (interior and exterior) around the detainee facility and ensure that the clear zone between the interior and exterior fences is free of vegetation and shrubbery.
• Guard towers. Locate guard towers on the perimeter of each facility. Place them immediately outside the wall or, in case of double fencing, where they permit an unobstructed view of the lane between the fences. The space between towers must allow overlapping observation and fields of fire. During adverse weather, it may be necessary to augment security by placing fixed guard posts between towers on the outside of the fence. Towers must be high enough to allow an unobstructed view of the compound and low enough to permit an adequate field of fire. The tower platform should have retractable ladders and should be wide enough to mount crew-served weapons. Another consideration involves using nonlethal capabilities from guard towers.
• Lights. Provide adequate lighting, especially around compound perimeters. Illuminating walls and fences discourages escapes, and illuminating inner strategic points expedites the handling of problems caused by detainees. Lights should be protected from breakage with an unbreakable glass shield or a wire mesh screen. Ensure that lights on the walls and fences do not interfere with the guards’ vision. Provide secondary emergency lighting.
• Patrol roads. Construct patrol roads for vehicle and foot patrols. They should be adjacent to outside perimeter fences or walls.
• Sally ports. A sally port is required to search vehicles and personnel entering and leaving the main compound. It is recommended that a sally port be placed at the back entrance to the facility.
• Communications. Ensure that communication between the towers and the operation headquarters is reliable. Telephones are the preferred method; however, ensure that alternate forms of communication (radio and visual or sound signals) are available if telephones are inoperable.

6-9. The facility layout depends on the nature of the operation, terrain, building materials, and HN support. Each facility should contain—

• Barracks (may be general-purpose medium tents in the early stages of an operation).
• Kitchen and dining facilities.
• Bath houses.
• Latrines.
• Recreation areas.
• Chapel facilities.
• Administrative areas with a command post, an administrative building, an interrogation facility, a dispensary, an infirmary, a mortuary, and a supply building.
• Receiving and processing centers.
• Maximum security areas with individual cells.
• Parking areas.
• Trash collection points.
• Potable water points.
• Storage areas.
• Hazardous materials storage areas.
• Generator and fuel areas.

…

Related posts:

1. Army Embeds Active-Duty PSYOPS Soldiers at Local TV Stations
2. Joint Special Operations University: Blogs and Military Information Strategy
3. CIA Director: We Will Not Halt Operations in Pakistan, Regardless

Source: TechDirt - Editorial by Kevin Hayden

We’ve discussed this a few times in the past, but the FBI’s main counter-terrorism initiative these days appears to be centered around creating its own terrorist plots to thwart. First, they find clueless, easily manipulated people, who have no actual connections with terrorists. Then, they concoct entire terrorism plots, where every other person is an FBI agent, and any tools, “weapons” and money are supplied by the FBI. Finally, they “bust” the guy just before he carries out the plot that never would have happened anyway. We see this pattern again and again – and each time the press uncritically hypes up how the FBI successfully stopped a real “homegrown” terrorist.

Of course, it’s happened once again, and the basic plotlines are identical to ones in the past. And, of course, the press is describing it like it was an actual terrorist plot, pretending that people was actually at risk.

Hayden’s Note:

In the FBI’s latest screenplay, they would have you believe that a 6’5, 350 lb. black man named Shaquille Azir approached a group of five motley Occupy protesters – who are self-described anarchists – and talk them into bombing a bridge with C-4 explosives.

Of course, he would front the money to purchase it (from an undercover FBI agent) and would offer a location to store the explosives, followed by days of talking to the group, encouraging them, and determining a location.  Azir has earned over $6,000 for his service to the FBI.

However, he is also currently facing numerous felony charges in a check fraud case. His record shows that he spent several years in prison for robbery and various financial crimes, along with declaring bankruptcy 12 times – twice to clear out six-figure debt!

Oh, sure, Your Honor, Azir is a credible witness and a reliable, vested informant. We promise.  

In my humble opinion, this is merely a way to keep the anti-terrorism funding flowing in while offering “terror” headlines.  It’s business as usual.

(“Shaquille Azir and the Occupiers” – sounds like the name of a band!)

Glenn Greenwald’s summary of this and other cases is pretty spot on:

None of these cases entail the FBI’s learning of an actual plot and then infiltrating it to stop it. They all involve the FBI’s purposely seeking out Muslims (typically young and impressionable ones) whom they think harbor animosity toward the U.S. and who therefore can be induced to launch an attack despite having never taken even a single step toward doing so before the FBI targeted them. Each time the FBI announces it has disrupted its own plot, press coverage is predictably hysterical (new Homegrown Terrorist caught!), fear levels predictably rise, and new security measures are often implemented in response.

Over the last few years, we’ve noticed that nearly every victory the FBI celebrates against terrorism is actually about stopping its own terrorist plots that it feeds to hapless individuals, often nudging them and pushing them down the road to “become” terrorists, despite commonly displaying little to no aptitude for actual terrorism.

Add the NY Times to the newspapers who are beginning to question the FBI’s penchant for setting up its own plots for the sake of a high profile arrest of some clueless individuals.

The United States has been narrowly saved from lethal terrorist plots in recent years – or so it has seemed. A would-be suicide bomber was intercepted on his way to the Capitol; a scheme to bomb synagogues and shoot Stinger missiles at military aircraft was developed by men in Newburgh, N.Y.; and a fanciful idea to fly explosive-laden model planes into the Pentagon and the Capitol was hatched in Massachusetts.

But all these dramas were facilitated by the F.B.I., whose undercover agents and informers posed as terrorists offering a dummy missile, fake C-4 explosives, a disarmed suicide vest and rudimentary training. Suspects naïvely played their parts until they were arrested.

As the article makes clear, claims of entrapment rarely work in these cases, but it certainly raises questions about whether the FBI is actually protecting us from real plots or spending time creating publicity stunts that leave some people in jail. No doubt, some of these setups bust people who could potentially be interested in taking part in attacks if they had any real opportunity to do so. But, in most cases, it doesn’t seem like they would ever have the opportunity (unless the FBI was helping). In one case, the judge — even as she was sentencing the guy to decades in prison — admitted that the guy wouldn’t be a “terrorist” if it weren’t for the FBI:

“Only the government could have made a ‘terrorist’ out of Mr. Cromitie, whose buffoonery is positively Shakespearean in its scope….”

This is the same guy who laughed at earlier attempts by an FBI informant to get him to get involved in a plot.

There’s no doubt that there are real plots being attempted. But wouldn’t the FBI be better off focusing on those, rather than play acting all the time?

Related posts:

1. Friday Headlines – Financial Meltdown, Fake Terror Plots, JFK, and More
2. Ahmadinejad: US Behind Terror Attacks
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Source: Daily Caller

In a shocking development in the Operation Fast and Furious investigation, documents show Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents allowed grenade parts to walk into Mexico in addition to guns.

The emails also show Obama administration officials acknowledging that they may lose track of grenades but would still be able to accomplish their original objective even if the grenades explode.

“Even in a post blast, as long as the safety lever is recovered we will be able to identify these tagged grenades,” an official wrote in one email.

According to an internal email that was provided to Congress by the Department of Justice and first reported by CBS News’ Sharyl Attkisson — who’s been the media’s most dogged reporter in tracking down facts on Fast and Furious – ATF began watching accused smuggler Jean Baptiste Kingery’s AK-47 purchases in 2004. In the 2009 internal ATF email, Obama administration officials admitted they believed Kingery was “trafficking them into Mexico.”

The 2009 email shows the ATF officials had then become aware of Kingery’s alleged grenade trafficking.

The administration officials then put together a plan: They secretly intercepted Kingery’s grenade parts after he ordered them online, marked them with special paint and gave them back to him. Then, they allowed him to take those grenade parts into Mexico. ATF was going to try to find his weapons factory there — even though the U.S. government and its federal law enforcement agencies have no jurisdiction in Mexico — with the apparent goal of building a bigger case against Kingery.

ATF agents had planned to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials — who, unlike ATF agents who ultimately report to Attorney General Eric Holder, report up the chain to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

The emails show ATF agents were aware they might lose track of Kingery while they allowed him to transport the grenade parts into Mexico. The emails also show ATF agents knew that the grenades could end up exploding and killing innocent people if they proceeded with the plan. That didn’t stop the Obama administration’s ATF from allowing the grenades to walk.

Related posts:

1. ATF Chief Resigns Over ‘Fast And Furious’ Gun Trafficking Operation
2. CBS News Reporter Says White House Screamed, Swore at Her for Reporting on Fast and Furious Gun Scandal
3. Leading Headlines – Fast and Furious Files Missing, TSA, #Occupy, and the SEC

Source: Activist Post by Patrick Gallagher

Recently there has been a new victory in the ongoing, undermanned, and heavily justified war on water fluoridation in the southwest United States.

The city of Albuquerque, New Mexico has made the auspicious decision to effectively end all artificial water fluoridation within the city’s water supply.

It was reported first by local news authority, KOB news channel 4, earlier this month that the city, in order to save money and consequently save the over half million local population from the many detrimental effects of fluoride in the water supply, had removed the addition entirely.

Read more »

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Source: Washington Times (Excerpt from Inside the Ring: the Muslim Brotherhood Threat)

EMP WARFARE

Military officials say the threat of electromagnetic pulse weapons in future warfare is growing.

The threat is prompting the Pentagon to take steps to harden its computers and electronics against the devastating effects of EMP weapons, which simulate the debilitating effect on electronics produced by a nuclear blast.

A military source tells Inside the Ring that Russia has already developed battlefield EMP weapons and used them in combat.

During the early 2000s, Russian military forces fired an EMP mortar round that deployed a small metal-coated parachute. As it floated to earth, the EMP energy burst was reflected downward by the underside of the parachute and also spread by the cords attached to the shell. The result was a cone of anti-electronic energy that disrupted all electronics within its area.

The mortar was used by Russian forces to attack hand-held cellular telephones used by Chechen rebels to communicate.

Related posts:

1. Solar Flares May Impact GPS and Communications This Weekend
2. NATO Air Strikes Can No Longer Target Houses in Afghanistan, says Karzai
3. US to Arm Libyan Rebels; Rebel Commander Admits Fighters are al-Qaeda Members – Wha?