‘Don’t interact, don’t talk, they are not humans’ : Guantanamo, USA – America?

As the Hunger Strike of over 109 prisoners continues at Guantanamo –  that hunger strike now into its  127^th day,  (quote as reported by Carol Rosenburg):

 “As of Wednesday, the prison said it was administering tube-feedings to 43 of the 104 captives it concedes are hunger strikers among the 166 detainees. Four were in the hospital, none with life-threatening conditions.  [Navy Capt. Robert Durand ]Durand has said he is forbidden to include in his force-feeding figures alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed or any of the 13 other ex-CIA captives segregated from the others in a top secret prison called Camp 7.”

Nice that the “Captain,” finally, acknowledges there are more than 100 hunger striking "detainees" (prisoners) and over 40 being force-fed -  more closely resembling the figures given by the lawyers for the prisoners,  and human rights organizations.

Funny thing about truth…  It eventually claws its way into the light of day.

Jason Leopold, now writing for Al Jazeera, is reaching a larger international audience as he reports on the abuses at Guantanamo from the latest policy and procedure of force-feeding  the striking  prisoners to the renewal of some old policies, removing the meager "privileges" they have been allowed post-Obama.

The force-feeding policy is abusive and degrading - to some, is tantamount to torture.

I am reminded of an interview given by former Guantanamo guard, Terry Holdbrooks,  author of an autobiography entitled "Traitor?", in which he discusses his "tour" at the camp.

“Don’t interact, don’t talk, they are not humans,”

............was the standing order.

Terry was at Guantanamo from June 2003 through July 2004 - Before Obama -  but, it appears that “order” is still at work today – at least in the behavior of those running the camp.

In a report from DemocracyNow, one attorney received the following message in a letter from Yemini detainee Bashir al-Marwalah:

“We are in danger. One of the soldiers fired on one of the brothers a month ago. Before that, they send the emergency forces with M-16 weapons into one of the brothers’ cell blocks. ... Now they want to return us to the darkest days under [George W.] Bush. They said this to us. Please do something."

Amid the prison "officials" continued denials as they demand the utilization of abusive techniques to break the hunger strike, there appears to be a growing voice confronting the inhumanity of the force-feeding technique  -  clearly an unethical procedure  - as well as  the potential  intimidation in order to assure the medical personnel’s compliance with the procedure.  The “truth” seems to be clawing its way into the minds of those who have the balls to use their voice .

The New England Journal of Medicine published an editorial , this week, entitled, “Guantanamo Bay: A Medical Ethics–free Zone?”

The authors, Bioethicist George J. Annas, J.D., M.P.H.,  Sondra S. Crosby, M.D., and Leonard H. Glantz, J.D. call for the physicians  at Guantanamo as well as outside the prison  “to take constructive political action” with regards to the ethics violations ordered to be committed by the medical staff and any pressures brought to bear in order to force compliance with unethical procedures or to punish those who refuse to take part.

As noted in the article and elsewhere, the consensus of physicians worldwide concerning the use of involuntary and restrained (forced) feeding of those participating in a hunger strike includes the following:

• Article 6 of The 1975 Tokyo Declaration of the World Medical Association: "Where a prisoner refuses nourishment and is considered by the physician as capable of forming an unimpaired and rational judgment concerning the consequences of such a voluntary refusal of nourishment, he or she shall not be fed artificially."

• Article 21 of The 1991 Malta Declaration of the World Medical Association (as revised in 1992 and 2006): "Forcible feeding is never ethically acceptable. Even if intended to benefit, feeding accompanied by threats, coercion, force or use of physical restraints is a form of inhuman and degrading treatment. Equally unacceptable is the forced feeding of some detainees in order to intimidate or coerce other hunger strikers to stop fasting".

• Conclusion to a Red Cross position paper on the medical and ethical aspects of hunger strikes in custody: “Doctors should never be party to actual coercive feeding, with prisoners being tied down and intravenous drips or esophageal tubes being forced into them. Such actions can be considered a form of torture, and under no circumstances should doctors participate in them, on the pretext of “saving the hunger striker’s life”.

The policy, as stated in the ”Standard Operating Procedure: Medical Management of Detainees on Hunger Strike,” at Guantanamo violates  these tenets.

Even Jeremy A. Lazarus, President of the American Medical Association,  in his recent letter, dated  April 25, 2013, to Chuck Hagel, Secretary of State, states:

"The American Medical Association (AMA) noted in 2005 and 2009, when concerns arose about the treatment of hunger strikers at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, that the forced feeding of detainees violates core ethical values of the medical profession. Every competent patient has the right to refuse medical intervention, including life-sustaining interventions.

The AMA has long endorsed the World Medical Association Declaration of Tokyo, which is unequivocal on the point:  'Where a prisoner refuses nourishment and is considered by the physician as capable of forming an unimpaired and rational judgment concerning the consequences of such a voluntary refusal of nourishment, he or she shall not be fed artificially. The decision as to the capacity of the prisoner to form such a judgment should be confirmed by at least one other independent physician."

We urge you to ensure that this matter receives prompt and thorough attention and to address any situation in which a physician may be asked to violate the ethical standards of his or her profession.  The AMA remains committed to providing whatever assistance we can.”

So,  America......

The men at Guantanamo, left without hope, without due process, without charge (only  5 have been formally charged but all have been tortured) are the reason we cannot call ourselves “the land of the free” ….nor are we even remotely close to being “The bright and shining beacon”

The innocent men (86 men found totally innocent - without any association with terrorism, terrorist activity, association with anyone who is "trying to do us harm," or even commission of questionable acts) at Guantanamo are risking the only thing they have left – their lives.

They are willing to die waiting for our humanity - When are we going to find it?

Transparency and Accountability in the Obama Age - Police State tactics against defenders of the people

I bet a number of the readers thought I was going to bring up the NSA wiretaps again - nope.  Not here.  I will leave that to those who still think there is something new with that.

As I mentioned to a friend last night, people have been listening in on conversations since the telegraph was invented.  Doesn't make it right or insult me any less - people who demand security should be careful of that for which they wish.

No, today's piece is about the injustice meted out to the defenders of the people - whistleblowers, information dissemination by hacker groups sworn to transparency and holding the secretive corruptors of our rights, accountable.  Those who act on their moral compass instead of just sayin', "ain't it awful".

Aaron Swartz, Bradley Manning, KyAnonymous - hell Anonymous around the planet, Julian Assange, Wikileaks.....All demonized by a corporatist press, vilified by the Obama Administration, attacked on the floor of Congress.  If there is anything that brings the WH, DOJ, FBI, CIA, Pentagon, Secret Service, MI6 and MI5, The British government, the GOP, DNC, a corrupt polish government, N. Korea's Kim Jong-Un,  Assad, and Mubarek  together, it is the attempt to destroy the defenders of the people - a war on the messengers.

 KyAnonymous, the guy that brought national focus and pressure to bear on the corrupt sheriff and judicial system in Steubenville - outing rapists and forcing criminal investigation and action - is looking at a potential of 10 years in prison.

More on FreakOutNation here.

Bradley Manning is on trial held in secrecy. He had plead guilty to every charge but one - aiding the enemy of the US. He is guilty of giving information to the people of the planet of the continued evil done in the name of the American people.

More on Bradley Manning (without the filters of corporatist MSM) here 

Aaron Swartz committed suicide - much because his country's government wanted to put him in prison for 50 years for trying to bring information and education to the people for free. 

Julian Assange and Wikileaks are a threat to those who hide behind the wall of "security" as they commit atrocities; who cover-up their illegal activities to include war crimes...

Barack Obama, the man with stated “Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency” has led an administration that has declared war on the messengers of truth.  

The front line defenders of transparency and accountability are hunted and harassed for their message of truth. 

"America knows war. They are war masters" - "Dirty Wars"

Jeremy Scahill,  journalist from "The Nation", is known for his reporting on the Middle East, from the Middle East.

He brought us the story of Blackwater, the Bush Administration's "Praetorian Guard", and now brings us the reality of  America's continued and perpetual war through a covert, secret army, the elite Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), whose existence was denied by both the Bush and Obama Administrations until they took out Bin Laden and have been viewed as unerring heroes of the nation...

From Military.com...

..........Despite its innocuous sounding charter, JSOC has made strides in the special operations field and is comprised of rigorously screened and accessed Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Civilians.  These men and women possess unique and specialized skills, and are routinely among the best in their field.  Among them are seasoned combat veterans who cut their teeth by participating in joint special operations liked the Son Tay Prison Raid in Vietnam War which took place in 1970, long before JSOC was activated. 

More recent members of the Command include active duty special operations veterans of all services who have successfully completed the toughest training regiments and demonstrated their mettle under the most challenging and difficult circumstances, including combat.  As a result, past and present members of JSOC have participated in all of our nation's wars and contingency operations since it was activated in 1980. 
Included among the places that military and civilian members of the Command have previously served are Desert One in Iran (1980), Grenada (1983), the Mediterranean Sea during the Achille Lauro hijacking (1985), Panama (1989), the Mideast during the Gulf War (1991), Somalia (1993), Haiti (1994), the Balkans (1996-2002), Afghanistan (2001-present), and Iraq (2003-present).
The Command is always decisively engaged in working to fulfill its charter and typically has members located throughout the world at any given time. An incredibly busy Command, JSOC accomplished its assigned missions successfully in the face of expanding commitments largely due to the quality, dedication, and patriotism of its military and civilian members and the family members who support them.

Disney tried to trademark them, "Zero Dark Thirty"  a myth created about them, Americans who lost friends and family, and a sense of "it can't happen here",  cheered them, but Scahill discusses the real world of JSOC ...

But are they the perfect American heroes?  Or are they just the beginning of a new, elite bully sent out by an administration whipped into fear and loathing by the Pentagon, the CIA, the NSA and the FBI who will do anything (to include spying on the American people) in order to perpetuate their existence.

The Killing Anwar al-Awlaki...

Anwar  al-Awaki is never going to be looked at as a "victim" by the mainstream in America.  He has been vilified and  "convicted" of terrorism by the mainstream media and the Obama Administration. He was summarily dispatched (executed) without benefit of trial, without so much as a legal defense, without a single statement allowed....and so has his son, who was no more than a son looking for his father when he was taken out by a drone.

It took 2 years for the administration to cop to this act of murder.

As Scahill asks this question, in a recent interview with John Fugelsang, "Viewpoint" :

"How do you surrender to a drone?  If you haven't been charged with a crime, how do you surrender?""

The simple and obvious answer as determined by the Obama Administration is played out with every strike from a drone and every covert action by JSOC

Scahill has great insight on how Obama came to be the "warhawk" he is today.  The Constitutional Lawyer willing to corrupt that very promise (the Constitution) to further an agenda of "counter-terrorism" and "national security" to include murder without due process........

"If we are going to decide that certain of our citizens are so reprehensible that we will fast-forward past the judicial process - due process - and just sentence them to death then we are living in a different country and we should just re-write the Constitution..."

Scahill has released his new book, "Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield", and film....

Real transparency in the Obama Era

Is the US a Corporatist nation hell bent on self destruction? More evidence ...Welcome to MonsantoLand

Monsanto - a huge conglomerate of international greed and hybrid, genetically manipulated seed - has been handed the key to the nation and a jackboot-hold on the neck of the planet by the obstructionist, can't-get-​a-bill-pas​sed-or-rea​ch-any-agr​eement Congress and signed into law by Barack Obama

The Monsanto Protection Act, a bill of Monsanto, by Monsanto and for Monsanto, assures that even if it is proven their "seed" is the direct cause of cancer, death, disease, or any apocalyptic destruction, they are not accountable, responsible or liable...

Great news for Monsanto.... more proof that our government is little more than the legal and enforcement arm of the corporations, by the corporations and for the corporations for which it stands.

And what of the people? That commodity to be used like oil, minerals, water..

(I am wondering just when we will be bought and sold on the Big Board)...


Monsanto Protection Act Signed By Obama, GMO Bill “Written By Monsanto” Signed Into Law



Read it and weep for the people, for the nation, for the planet....

America, WTF? "Guantanamo prisoners allege widespread abuse" - Just Another Day in Paradise

"Exclusive: Attorneys for Guantanamo detainees ask federal judge to intervene in order to end widespread prisoner abuses."

Jason Leopold has done it, again... 

Releasing facts and documents about the continued abuses of illegally held prisoners at Guantanamo. Regardless of the silly rulings of Congress and a court system as corrupt as the administrations that appointed the judges, the kidnapping and purchase of human flesh is, at its very core, illegal, as is holding them without trial, without basic human rights... 

And, yes, it is on Obama's watch..... 

America, WTF? 

Guantanamo - Bad for humanity, bad for democracy, bad for America & bad for Obama's legacy

Lantern above is made by detainee Fayiz Mohammed al-Kandari
and his brothers. It is made of paper, cardboard,
a sanded water bottle, paint and fruit juice, held together by pressure

It's been five, horrific, abusive and nightmarish years for the 86 innocent men in Guantanamo, since Obama made his promise to shut it down.  It has been 5 years of continued denial of human rights, civil rights and justice for all the men at Guantanamo.

It has been millions in tax dollars spent by this administration in "upgrades"  and remodels of the old air base occupying the mainland of Cuba against the wishes of that country - a bad tenant that can't be evicted as it he holds raucous and depraved orgies.

5 years later, America's diseased underbelly expressed in her flagship of injustice, inhumanity and hubris,  "Guantanamo" stands high and proud,  hiding anything good we may achieve as a nation on this planet.

Though Bagram is bigger (and has, finally been returned to Afghanistan ..... well mostly)  and no better - some even say worse  (for more information on the US, an old Russian base and the criminal regime of Afghanistan, there is more information  here and to be listed below) - Guantanamo has been touted as the place to send all those "terrorists" who are named such by the ignorant, the arrogant and the vengeance filled in the halls of Congress, the RW media and their supporters who fear anyone not quite them (paraphrasing Wade Davis, - Guys, everyone else is not just a failed attempt at being us.  Nor are they jealous of us...Nor do they hate us for our freedom.) in Congress, the Pentagon and the pundits who actually love to hate anyone not them.

Sure, we can choose to try and justify the 180++ waterboardings of Khalid Sheik Mohammed (and chemical abuse, URFing,  as well as a variety of other acts ) - a man tortured and abused in the best Mengele manner we could muster.  Yes, KSM is probably guilty of assisting in the planning of  actions that endangered and killed Americans but do we have to prove to be as evilly inhumane as those we claim to be evilly inhumane?

We can try and point to the  few of the over 600 prisoners released under  Bush; Released after Bush's Boys of the CIA and (questionable) "Intelligence" agencies got through with their series of torture and abuse then determined that they had nothing on which they could even invent charges.  Some - around 16% depending on whether or not one actually understands the criteria used by the Office of National Intelligence - have "returned to the battlefield" or, rather, are involved in or participating in activities that the US deems as a threat to our security.   After all, how could anyone, after being treated so well at our little resort,  harbor any ill feelings towards a nation that destroyed their lives, their families, their homes, their health and their reputations!

I'm certainly not happy that people hate us for what we do to others nor do I want to see the people of this nation hurt by those victimized by our "carefully" elected officials and their chosen henchmen, then manipulated into acting out by more "carefully chosen" leaders and their henchmen - but I certainly can understand it.  Vengeance is a powerful driving force - we prove it daily.

Does any of this really justify abusing 166 men in Guantanamo?  

Does it justify the murder of our own constitution and our justice system?  Does it justify our international disgrace and status as war criminals?

And then there is the financial drain of that shining beacon off Florida's coast.

And then we look at the costs.  Over $1.066 million dollars per prisoner in 2013.  That is only for 2013.  Guantanamo has been open for TWELVE years....with numbers ranging upward to 779 at one time.  Do the math - THE REAL MATH

Let's add to those numbers, the costs of continued acts of violence against our military, our embassies, our people and the clean up after those acts; the loss of freedoms; the increased "security" from TSA at airports looking for box cutters and plastique to G-Men running into every possible "terrorist situation"  even if it wasn't really a "terrorist situation"; concrete barriers in front of every building; armed guards and police; new "intelligence"agencies; more equipment; more fear, more anger, more vengeance seeking.

From Yemen to Libya to Somalia to Afghanistan to Pakistan...

There are 166 men in Guantanamo, most for over a decade now; 86 have been cleared by not just one independent commission but TWO yet they continue to sit  while the White House, Congress, media  and the American people FINALLY decide to start paying attention again.

There are 166 men in Guantanamo, most for over a decade now; 86 have been cleared by not just one independent commission but TWO yet they continue to sit  while the White House, Congress, media  and the American people FINALLY decide to start paying attention again.

What's different now?  Maybe it has to do with the prisoners finally losing all hope - they have lost everything else....what is left to them but their lives?

Letter written by prisoner in Guantanamo, Fayiz Mohammed al-Kandari, to his attorney,
March 21, 2013, discussing the lantern (shown in the 1st photo above)

Since February, they have been on strike - over 100 men, more like 130 men,  have refused to eat and as some are near death...NOW we pay attention.

Guantanamo must be closed - it should have never been opened but it's too late for that debate now.  It is high time we do what needed to be done long ago...CLOSE that hell that proves us to be nothing what we claim to be so we can save what we have left.

For more information:


Bagram:

"From Bagram to Abu Ghraib, For nearly three years U.S. military authorities have been investigating evidence of torture at American prisons in Afghanistan. But instead of disciplining those involved, the Pentagon sent them to Iraq." By Emily Bazelon, March/April 2005 Issue, "Mother Jones"

"Bagram Revisited," Fri May. 20, 2005 1:12 PM PDT, "Mother Jones"

"Habeas at Bagram," By Kevin Drum ,Tue Feb. 24, 2009 1:42 PM PST, "Mother Jones"

"The Blight of Bagram," Adam Serwer, Feb. 25, 2009 1:42 PM PST, "The American Prospect"

"The Left Splits Over Bagram: Is sending some Guantanamo detainees to Bagram a good idea?," Adam Serwer, NOVEMBER 13, 2009, "The American Prospect"

"Still Abusing Detainees At Bagram." ADAM SERWER, MAY 14, 2010, "The American Prospect"

"Obama's First Military Tribunal Tries Child Soldier Tortured at Bagram and Gitmo," By James Ridgeway and Jean Casella, Tue Aug. 10, 2010 11:04 AM PDT, "Mother Jones"

 Guantanamo:

"The failing state of Guantanamo Bay: Amid reports of hunger strikes and deteriorating conditions, we examine why the US has given up on closing the facility.", 12 Mar 2013 14:41, "Al Jazeera"

"The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison," by Andy WorthingtonClose Guantanamo website - http://www.closeguantanamo.org/

"Petitioning President Obama: President Obama: Close Detention Facility at Guantanamo Bay," Change.org

Jason Leopold's Gitmo Updates, "Truthout"

"Center for the Study of Human Rights in America: The Guantanamo Testimonials Project"

The Psycho-Babbling of Michele Bachmann: AHA “kills” women and children and seniors… huh?

 

Psycho-Babbling

I am quite sure that portion of the fringy "mental health" community still firmly embedded in the thinking of the  1970's-1980's will be taken aback with my use of the terminology, “psychobabble”- a term for the verbal bullshit tinged with misused psychotherapy and psychological buzzwords emanating from con men and women (Werner Hans Erhard, nee John Paul Rosenberg,  of EST; the surviving L. Ron Hubbard family's Dianetics,  along with their “adoptees” from Cruz to Stallone to Travolta of Scientology; the bastardized  "rebirthing" and con game "past-life regressors") out to fleece the unsuspecting naive and all-too-often those truly in need of help; the unknowledgeable and uneducated who have heard a term and worked it into their lingo in order to sound “hip”; or “para-professionals” (another 1980’s creation) who were given the keys to psych wards across America in the “de-warehousing” or "de-institutionalization" (another psycho-babble term) that was no more than a justification to privatize and gut any treatment services offered to citizens resulting in throwing chronic long term patients into the street without a support system (creating much of what is now the homeless population), dumping low functioning or non-functional individuals onto families ill-equipped to care for them,  replacing professional staff with minimum wage, untrained, somewhat human fillers to meet legal requirements for institutional  care.

“Psycho-Babble” has grown up and gone mainstream.  Terminology  from “psychopath” to “sociopath” to  “psychotic” and even “projection” , “denial,” “defense mechanism”  and “identification” are thrown around in the Halls of Congress to describe anyone that may disagree with an idea or  to demonize an individual or group.  Circular logic tinged with just enough old time psycho-babble is used to justify fear, angst and anger – new words with a psycho-twist from “Islamophobia” to “Sharia-phobia”   - many used as an excuse to justify new legislation.

“Psycho-Babble” .....

What  better term for the bullshit espoused by the  inflated, self-perpetuating industry of “quick fix” and “sure-cure” (more 70’s-80’s terminology  for trendy techniques used to separate those in pain from their cash) promoted by politicians proving to be separating those in need from actual assistance and those hard workers from their financial security?

What better term for the bloviating from members of  the Wall Street and C Street  subsidiary called Congress, especially those most ardent and adamant promoters of the protracted war on the poor and middle class, the GOP?

What better term for the over-the-top ignorance espoused by the "fringiest" of extremists promoted to mouthpiece for the debased base to whom they pander (eg, Gohmert, Ryan, Paul I - the elderly self-absorbed - and Paul II -the younger like-kind but with a marmoset atop his head)?

The rantings of circular logic and attacks mixed with just enough buzzwords to sound “knowledgeable” and caring used to justify one's own, often baseless ideology and self-made reality is exactly that...

"Psycho-Babble"......

Michele Bachmann has become the posterchild for Psycho-babble.  With every speech and appearance, she demands a new call for some fear driven "investigation" or legislation - whether it is channeling her inner Frank Gaffney, in a letter writing campaign calling for investigation of the  'Muslim Brotherhood" that has "infiltrated" the government. (Letter to Inspector General Office of the Director of National Intelligence).  (Even Boehner and McCain thought this to be dangerous and over the top), or  calls for a "media investigation" of the "Anti-American activities of liberals,"  and who can possibly forget the continuation of the Palin "death panels"  meme (that is now being channeled once again)...........  

Michelle epitomizes Psycho-babbling.

In her latest, this week, as the Paul Ryan "Budget" (or plan for repealing Affordable Healthcare Act, AHA,  for the 36th time - a tremendous waste of taxpayer funds -  and call for shredding the social safety net) came to the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote, Michelle, in her usual emotion driven, uneducated and false delusion makes her appeal ............

 The  American people, especially vulnerable women, vulnerable children, vulnerable senior citizens, now get to pay more and they get less. That’s why we’re here, because we’re saying let’s repeal this failure before it literally kills women, kills children, kills senior citizens. Let’s not do that. Let’s love people. Let’s care about people.

Michele, as usual, needs a little fact-checking and confrontation with the real world:

1. March, 2012, 22 covered preventive services for women, (including pregnant women, a group denied coverage under many medical plans) previously not covered or covered only by added premium on a separate rider, are now covered without additional cost.

2. January 2011, AHA , assisted seniors by making changes to Medicare Part D and the donut-hole or gap (Part D covers allowable costs for medication and drugs).  Under the original, Bush plan for Medicare Part D, the plans only covered to a certain dollar amount paid out by the plan or to a gap. The plan would  stop covering the cost of medication up to and until the senior pays, out of pocket, the full cost for medications up to the next tier or  the other side of the gap at which coverage kicks back in.  The  original plan would drive seniors completely out of the plans - poor and middle class seniors on little or fixed incomes would have to make a choice - food vs medication, a roof over their head vs. medication. Under AHA, seniors now automatically get a 50% discount on covered brand-name drugs, 7% discount on generic drugs, and these percentages change for the better every year until 2020 - in other words, assisting seniors to survive.

3. And for children, AHA extends funding for CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program).

Three facts for Michelle and the GOP that will never be admitted into the seldom-right-but-always-certain diatribe perpetuating the war on the poor and middle class..................

More psycho-babbling

***Special thanks to Rock Cosmos

****Cross post from FreakOutNation - Thanks Anomaly100

Too big to Jail? I don’t think so – Elizabeth Warren takes the case to Washington

The Tower of Babel

The crash of 2008 was just the latest and bloodiest battle in war raged on the American Middle Class brought on by Ronald Reagan and his neo-liberal/neo-con cohorts.  In that wake, emerged a powerhouse named Elizabeth Warren.

Not satisfied by their slowly growing coffers, the neo-liberals of Wall Street with their growing marketing arm on K Street decided, not only,  to steal the goose laying golden eggs, but also, to eat it for supper.  Once that feast began, the buy off of government and the buy out of America began in earnest.

Corruption is nothing new to Wall Street nor is it new to Washington, DC.  After a few successful tries at the legalized theft and con game created by the deregulation of the mortgage industry in the 70's (enter the Sub-Prime Mortgage), Wall Street (with the help of their MSM) delivered their first full Neo-Liberal/Neo-Conservative president - one Ronald Reagan.

Reagan was the man named "god" by the GOP and many followers who brought the psychosis called "trickle-down" and "supply side economics" to America, allowed the warning signs of the sub-prime mortgage market and privatization of lending to be ignored and that behavior carried through Bush 1, Clinton, and Bush 2.  The most publicized of those warnings were the national S&L debacle and the Silverado scam with hedonist Neil Bush (yes, the SAME Bush family that brought us Prescott and the support of the NAZI German war effort in the 30's; GHWB,  CIA director using his position to manipulate government and cover-up Nixon to Cheney as well as Iran-Contra;  Jeb, a charter member of the Project for a New American Century neo-cons, manipulator of religious zealots and "pro-lifers",  wanting national attention and big headlines, as he jumped out of his legal purview as governor, merging religion with government, using a woman in permanent vegetative state, a brain liquifying, on full life support as his national calling card; and GW, SCOTUS installed president, arrogant bully,  liar to congress and the People, torturer and war criminal.

Even today, people still try to justify the mess created by the Reaganites as they claim "regulation" created the mess.

The corruption in  the mortgage and lending industry grew with a mass conning of everyone (not just citizens) into believing it is  "the right of everyone in America to own a home."   The purpose?  To fleece unsuspecting, uneducated and sometimes, willfully ignorant and deluded citizens of everything for which they worked.

Legislation introduced regularly from the 1980's through 1999 assured our downfall.  From the Business Law Journal, 2007, "THE SUBPRIME LENDING INDUSTRY: AN INDUSTRY IN CRISIS"

...1980, Congress adopted the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act (“DIDMCA”). DIDMCA helped the Savings and Loan (“S&L”) industry stay competitive with nonfederally chartered banks where consumers received higher rates of return (Howell, 2006). DIDMCA also enabled the S&Ls to recoup the higher interest rates they were paying by allowing them to preempt state usury laws for loans to consumers secured by first liens on their homes (Howell, 2006).

In 1982, deregulation continued with the passage of the Alternative Mortgage Transaction Parity Act which extended federal mortgage-lending regulations to most residential loans, including the permitted use of variable interest and balloon payments (Howell, 2006).

These laws opened the door for the development of a subprime market, but subprime lending would not become a viable large-scale lending alternative until the passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (“TRA”) (Chomsisengphet and Pennington-Cross, 2006). The TRA increased the demand for mortgage debt because it prohibited the deduction of interest on consumer loans, yet allowed interest deductions on mortgages for a primary residence as well as one additional home (Chomsisengphet and Pennington-Cross, 2006). Next, the Financial Institutions Reform Act of 1989 (“FIRREA”) addressed the costly S&L failures of the 1980s and created incentives for S&Ls to operate as thinly capitalized mortgage brokers relying on the secondary market for loans (Howell, 2006). Finally in 1999, Congress passed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act permitting financial service providers to merge with insurers (Howell, 2006). Thus, banking deregulation enabled lenders to offer more varied loan products, which were attractive to more varied consumers, and further gave incentives for more lenders to enter the market.

Those "varied" loan products were written and produced so rapidly and with so little oversight, that even the lenders and mortgage brokers couldn't comprehend them.  That didn't matter, they knew they would never be held responsible as they placed the loan then sold it out the back door within minutes of closing; or they brokered the deal and left it for the lender (FNMA, FreddyMac or bank) to sort out; and those banks or money lenders sold those loans over and over and over and over, bundled them, chopped them up, insured against them and set them up to fail all under the nose of the FDIC, SEC and the federal government.

And then there is HSBC - a prime example of the big banks' entrenched hubris and greed in the US and UK.

Caught in a money laundering scheme that funded cartel drug deals, terror and dealt death as they funded and funneled money from Mexico, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria...HSBC's U.S. division provided money and banking services that is thought to have assisted and funded al-Qaida and other terrorist groups; ran around the US ban against financial transactions with Iran and other nations with which transactions have been ceased; laundered Mexican drug cartel money from 2002 through 2009; and ignored complaints and reports given by employees trying to warn of the practices for years...but they apologized and struck a sweetheart deal with Holder, so I guess it is all better now.

In Japan, CEOs and Bank presidents caught manipulating power, bribing government officials and stealing from the people have committed suicide; In China they would be given a death sentence; In America they are given bonuses from "bail out" funds paid out of the taxes on the people.

In 2008, after the fall of the house of cards creating the Tower of Babel called the US Economy, Elizabeth Warren,  Harvard Law School professor specializing in bankruptcy law was appointed to chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel created to oversee the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).  Warren came to the public's attention as chairperson for that oversight panel and the work she did setting up the newly formed  U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in 2011.

When Obama proposed Ms. Warren for Director of that Bureau, all manner of  kvetching, screeching and gnashing of teeth ensued, led by the kings of corporatist whoredom...The GOP members of the senate.

With the usual lack of balls or bravery exhibited by the appeasing Obama Administration on issues of corporate criminality and oversight, Warren was replaced (but even that wasn't good enough for the banksters pulling GOP strings but I digress)

Elizabeth Warren, advocate for the Middle Class, wasn't deterred.  Today, Elizabeth Warren is a force in Congress - a voice that will not sit idly by, even for the Obama Administration's minions....

When Holder, the judge who came to his confirmation hearings claiming liberal ideals and a fire for going after corruption (but proving to be little more than a supporter of corporate malfeasance while becoming a prosecutor of free thought and enemy of transparency and accountability), claimed that "Banks are too big to jail"....

...and when administration minions scramble for excuses to justify their inaction on blatant criminal behavior on the part of banks (eg, HSBC money laundering for Drug cartels)...

Warren takes no prisoners...

 Cross-posted from "FreakOutNation"

Obama’s spooky choice for CIA head, John Brennan

John Brennan is career CIA.  The man who stood by and fully supported everything from kidnapping, torture and indefinite detention of thousands (not just the few hundred in Guantanamo but thousands from Bagram, to Guantanamo, to hundreds of black sites across the planet); a CIA bigwig who has helped to turn the CIA into so much more than an ”intelligence agency”.   The CIA is a paramilitary group acting undercover and behind the backs of the American people.  That is what the bouncing baby spooks have grown to be under the tutelage of the likes of George Herbert Walker Bush, Porter Goss, Dick Cheney, Leon Panetta ........

 

John Brennan - Chosen for Chief Spook.

.......... and now, it appears, John Brennan.



The CIA, under such "upstanding men", has gone rogue - all mavericky.  One could argue that the only difference between the CIA and a rag-tag group of paranoid militiamen in Idaho is the size of their budget - an enemy under every rock, behind every tree....ALWAYS, "us" vs "them", the vague "them" always, always, out to "get" us.

The CIA is the manifestation of the darkness - the sociopathy -  called "American Exceptionalism" -  everyone is just a failed attempt to be us,  everyone is jealous of us and "everybody" awakens every morning wishing to find a way to bring 'us" down.

In September, Human Rights Watch tried to blow the cover on the CIA's use of torture in Libya, Egypt and other countries. The CIA’s support of the oppressive and criminal regimes from Qaddafi to Mubarek -  Torturing those who stood up to the brutality of those heinous dictators and working with governments around the globe to torture anyone deemed "possibly, maybe...could be...or we just don't like him, her, them anyway."

That report was met without a whimper by the American public.  Publicized just enough to bring 1 or 2 articles :

CIA torture techniques in Libya included prolonged diapering and insects

U.S. Used This Torture Box to Interrogate Gadhafi’s Enemies

........Then buried before the end of the news cycle.  The people of the US chose to ignore it.  After all, we have more important things to worry about now don't we?   Ah...The new "Survivor" season was about to begin; Football (how 'bout them Broncos?) and wasn't there a new season for "Game of Thrones"?

What "evil men do" in the name of the War on Terror is laid at the doorstep of America and the blood is on all our hands.  We have become that which we claim to abhor.

From the darkness of bull and bear fights replaced by televised gladiator sports - beating the crap out of each other...the bloodier the better - to the acceptance of kidnapping  indefinite detention  and torture of innocent men, women and children (wringing of hands until we realize there is a sale at Nordstrom’s), to the over-the- top national day of   “HOO-RAH” and glee with the news that we slaughtered Bin Laden (vengeance over humanity), we have assured our place in history as a warring society that cares little for concepts of "Justice", "due process" and human rights.

There will be those who read these words and claim..."BUT, Obama stood against torture, closed all the Black Sites, tried to close Guanatanamo..." and "...but, but the Muslims..."

To that I say:

1. Guantanamo is a "Black Site" and the flagship of the "Black Sites"  under Obama - Bagram was expanded as was Guantanamo UNDER Obama;

2. Obama passed the NDAA allowing  the potential of naming American citizens for kidnapping and indefinite detention;

3. Obama is in  full support of the Patriot Act allowing for spying on the US citizenry, among other things (try buying real estate, traveling to another country - hell, traveling at all)

4. Obama supports and expanded Cheney's "Kill List", making him the new leader of Murder USA, Inc.

5. Drones coming to a city near you

6. "but, but..." Nothing.  We cannot live by comparing ourselves to the actions of others - that is corrupt, narcissistic and manipulative.  A nation of conscience; a nation of moral compass doesn't depend on the acts of others to justify its actions - It strives for RIGHT not excuses.

Bringing us back to John Brennan - the new choice by the Obama Administration for head of the secret paramilitary group of spooks called the CIA.  The guy who flips positions on a dime in order to keep gaining power over a secret cabal of self-important men of hubris - claiming the right to become a death squad.  A group of men who decided that they have the right to determine who lives, who dies, who can be killed and if those who just happen to be in the way can be counted as "human" or not. More of the same - from Panetta to Gates to Patreaus to Goss to Bush senior – murder and torture for hire and business is good .

As response?  We couldn’t be bothered to even care other than “look at that silly Code Pink”!

Diane Feinstein, that big “liberal” from California, made sure they were removed.  Afterall, they were screaming about the very thing she was promoting…

Not ONCE did anyone really confront the hypocrisy and lies of the Obama Administration, John Brennan or Diane Feinstein…What about the slaughter of children swept under the rug that all three have been lying about repeatedly?

Do "We the People" really not care about the slaughter of innocents on our heads?



(Jeremy Scahill on Democracy Now about the Brennan Confirmation Hearings.....)

For those who care a little, or a lot:

Delivered Into Enemy Hands - Human Rights Watch report released September 6, 2012

Report: These 54 Foreign Governments Helped the CIA Torture, Detain, and Transport Suspects After 9/11- Mother Jones, February 5, 2013

 "Globalizing Torture: CIA Secret Detention and Extraordinary Rendition,"  from Open Society Justice Initiative

"The dangerous rebranding of John Brennan" , Mark LeVine is professor of Middle Eastern history at UC Irvine, AlJazeera


More on Guantanamo:

Andy Worthington's "The Guantanamo Files"  as well as  his ongoing work with Wikileaks that can be found at his website

"Accountability for Torture"  - ACLU

"Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas", UC Davis:  "Guantanamo Testimonials Project"






Special thanks to Rock Cosmos - the "Monk" to my "Warrior"

Today's Mendacious Prevaricator (Lying Liar) Award Goes to (drum roll please) Wayne LaPierre

by Pat Bagley - The Salt Lake Tribune

Dana Milbank and I don't always see eye to eye...In fact, I often find him lacking in substance in that straddling the middle rail middle of the road kind of way BUT today's Opinion piece for the "Washington Post" syndicated out (to the Denver Post and other tabloids) was right on target.

"Wayne LaPierre caught with his facts down,"

It looks like even Mr. Milbank has had just enough of the arrogant bullying...The absolute HUBRIS... of the the NRA and their testosterone addicted lackies....

The piece covers LaPierre's appearance before the Senate...

As stated in Mr. Milbanks Op-Ed piece:

"From beginning to end, LaPierre's appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee was a study in vainglory. The written testimony he submitted to Congress came with a biography describing him as a 'Renaissance man,' a 'skilled hunter,' and an 'acclaimed speaker and political force of nature' as he preserved freedom."

Dana - you are being too nice here.

LaPierre is the epitome of hubris...in fact, he is cartoonish and one dimensional ...a buffoon.