Puppet MastersS


Dollars

How much "civilization" does your tax money buy?

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© Dees Illustrations
Tax Day, April 15, is traditionally the time of year when liberals trot out that old Oliver Wendell Holmes chestnut: "Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society."

But what kind of "civilization" are we paying for? At the federal level, if you include not only the nominal "Defense" [sic] budget, but Veterans' Affairs, the military aspects of NASA and the Department of Energy, interest on the national debt from past wars, etc., military spending is nearly half the total budget.

The Obama administration complains that sequestration has resulted in cuts to, among other things, law enforcement. But the US has the largest prison-industrial complex in the world, and militarized SWAT teams of black-uniformed Gestapo wannabes in virtually every town in the country, mainly because of government-declared "wars" on consensual activity like drug use and sex work.

But some government spending - infrastructure, education, welfare and so on - is "progressive," right?

We know progressives love infrastructure. You can't sit through an MSNBC commercial break without seeing Rachel Maddow equating the Hoover Dam with "big things" and national greatness.

V

Ben Swann announces break from mainstream media and new alternative platform

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News Anchor Ben Swann
Many people have been predicting that Ben Swann would not last long on Fox 19 with all of the truth that he was putting out over the airwaves. Now it looks like the time has come for him to join us in the alternative media once again, and from the looks of things it was actually his decision to leave. The following post was made to Benswann.com:
A new platform. A new beginning. Here, together, we will shatter the left vs. right paradigm and the news will never look the same.Sign up for the newsletter and receive weekly updates straight to your inbox. Do so knowing you will never have to worry about spam or your email being sold. #LibertyIsRising
Along with this video:


Eye 1

Military readiness center pops up in northern Kentucky on airport property

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Burlington Readiness Center during time of construction.
Are they planning on a war or for civil unrest in America?

A new military readiness center has po[p]ped up rather abruptly according to DAHBOO77 a Youtuber citizen reporter.

According to the report the activity is highly unusual for the area and the facility is constructed on airport property.

In fact, military equipment is even being stored there. Tons of it.


Cult

New photos have surfaced showing Colin Powell at the Bohemian Grove

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Hacked photos show former Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell alongside two well known actors at the exclusive Bohemian Grove in northern California. Cryptome.org published the photos in a PDF file on April 9, Examiner learned yesterday.

Two of the men in the photos appear to be George Kennedy - from Dallas and The Naked Gun - and Malcolm McDowell - from A Clockwork Orange and numerous television shows. Presumably, the photos were attachments in Powell's AOL email account that was hacked by Guccifer, according to Russia Today.

Bohemian Grove is a "two-week, three-weekend encampment of some of the most powerful men in the world," according to the Sonoma County Free Press' (SCFP) website. The grove is split into "camps" and according to SCFP, Powell is a member of most exclusive one - Mandalay Camp. In one photo, Powell and the other men are sitting in chairs with Mandalay printed on the back.

Mary Moore, of SCFP, told Examiner today, " ... a lot of actors do go up there mostly as guests but some do belong. They're considered 'men of use' as are the musicians and others in show biz."

Bizarro Earth

The rise of robot wars: Google chief warns armed drones will soon be in the hands of terrorists and miniature models could be used to spy on neighbors

Eric Schmidt
© Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesAnti-drone: Google boss Eric Schmidt has warned about the spread of drone technology
The head of Google has warned drone technology proves a serious danger to global security and privacy unless an international treaty is put into place controlling the technology fast.

Eric Schmidt today said that the technology for armed unmanned planes will soon pass into the hands of terrorists posing huge security concerns across the globe.

He also said that ever expanding drone technology is making smaller and cheaper models, including nano-drones, which could be used by nosy neighbors spying on each other in a dispute.

The state now requires law enforcement to obtain warrants to collect evidence using drones following in the footsteps of Virginia, which also introduced such a measure.

'We're trying to prevent high-tech window-peeping,' Idaho Senate Assistant Majority Leader Chuck Winder, sponsor of the measure told Reuters.

Laptop

Lawyers for 911 accused discover client emails hacked in latest round of hidden surveillance

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© GETTY IMAGESThe files detail the background to the capture of each of the 780 people who have passed through the Guantanamo facility in Cuba
Lawyers for the five men accused of plotting the September 11 attacks asked a judge Thursday to delay an upcoming hearing after learning that emails with their clients had been monitored.

The surveillance was only the latest instance of compromised confidentiality at Guantanamo Bay, following revelations earlier this year that secret censors could block a public feed of court proceedings and that listening devices masked as smoke detectors were hidden in meeting rooms.

The next preliminary hearing for the September 11 defendants had been set to take place on April 22 at the US military base at Guantanamo.

James Connell, a lawyer for Pakistan's Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, said he had filed an emergency motion to the military judge presiding over the case "to pause proceedings in the 9/11 trial after revelations that defense email communications and computer files have been compromised."

Binoculars

'Significant measures' will be taken against North Korea if it tests another nuclear weapon, G8 ministers say

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© ZHAOWANG ZHAO/AFP/Getty ImagesA Korean man takes a rest on the banks of the Yalu River at the North Korean town of Sinuiju across from the Chinese city of Dandong, in northeastern Liaoning province on April 10,2013. The biggest border crossing between North Korea and China has been closed to tourist groups, a Chinese official said as nuclear tensions mounted, but business travel was still allowed.
The G8 powers have urged tougher sanctions against North Korea if it launches a missile or tests another nuclear weapon, William Hague said Thursday.

The British Foreign Secretary said there was united support for "further significant measures" in the event of another North Korean provocation and condemned the "aggressive rhetoric" from the regime after chairing a meeting of G8 foreign ministers in London.

Hinting at a missile launch, North Korea delivered a fresh round of war rhetoric Thursday with claims it has "powerful striking means" on standby. Seoul and Washington speculated that it is preparing to test-fire a missile designed to be capable of reaching the U.S. territory of Guam in the Pacific Ocean.

On the streets of Pyongyang, North Koreans shifted into party mode as they celebrated the anniversary of leader Kim Jong Un's appointment to the country's top party post - one in a slew of titles collected a year ago in the months after his father Kim Jong Il's death.

North Korea's provocations, including a long-range rocket launch in December and an underground nuclear test in February, "seriously undermine regional stability, jeopardize the prospects for lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula and threaten international peace and security," the ministers said in a statement.

Nuke

North Korea can launch nuclear missiles, U.S. spy agency says

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© REUTERS/Kim Hong-JiSouth Korean soldiers stand guard at an observation post near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) which separates the two Koreas in Paju, north of Seoul April 11, 2013.
North Korea has the ability to launch nuclear-armed ballistic missiles, although they would likely be unreliable, a Pentagon spy agency has concluded, as the United States and South Korea kept watch on Thursday for a missile test-launch by Pyongyang.

The Defense Intelligence Agency study, dated last month, appeared to be the first time the agency had reached such a conclusion.

"DIA assesses with moderate confidence the North currently has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles, however the reliability will be low," said Republican U.S. Representative Doug Lamborn, who disclosed the conclusion during a congressional hearing on Thursday.

Lamborn said the agency reached the conclusion in a mostly classified March 2013 report. He did not say what range the nuclear-capable North Korean missiles might have.

Bad Guys

North Korea states 'nuclear war is unavoidable' as it declares first target will be Japan

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Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force soldiers prepare its missile interceptor
North Korea has warned Japan that Tokyo would be the first target in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula, as it increased threats of an attack.

In a commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the communist country lashed out at Tokyo's standing orders to destroy any missile heading toward Japan, threatening such actions will result in a nuclear attack against the island nation.

If Japan executes its threat to shoot down any North Korean missile, such a "provocative" intervention would see Tokyo - an enormous conurbation of 30 million people - "consumed in nuclear flames", KCNA warned.

"Japan is always in the cross-hairs of our revolutionary army and if Japan makes a slightest move, the spark of war will touch Japan first," the report added.

An official at Japan's defence ministry said that the country "will take every possible measure to respond to any scenario", while the US Secretary of State John Kerry warned that a North Korean missile launch would be a "huge mistake".

"The rhetoric that we are hearing from North Korea is simply unacceptable by any standards," he told a news conference in Seoul alongside South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se.

"The United States, South Korea and the entire international community... are all united in the fact that North Korea will not be accepted as a nuclear power," Kerry added.

Radar

U.S. sea radar tracking N. Korean threat

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© U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 2nd Class Ryan C. McGinle
With North Korea's launch of a mid-range Musudan missile believed to be imminent, a U.S. official confirms that the SBX radar has been deployed to the Pacific to assist with tracking the missile if it is launched. That tracking could help bring a missile down if needed.

The Sea-Based X-Band Radar looks like a giant golf ball placed atop a platform that resembles a floating oil rig.

It contains a precise long-range radar that is part of the integrated missile-defense system and helps track launched missiles so they can be brought down by missile interceptors.

With North Korea threatening to launch missiles against the United States, the Pentagon reportedly sent the radar system out to sea April 1 from its home port of Pearl Harbor to assist with tracking a potential missile launch.

The next day, Pentagon spokesman George Little denied that was the case, underscoring that the radar had gone to sea as part of previously scheduled sea trials. "They're undergoing semiannual system checks," Little said. "Decisions about further deployments have not been made to this point."