Regime Change Begins at Home

Stephen Lendman

Charles Derber's book by that title ["Regime Change Begins at Home"] says it's the only way to free America from corporate rule. It transformed America from "we the people" to what CEOs say goes.

It put monied interests in charge. Presidents, legislators, and high level bureaucrats serve them. Whatever they want they get. Institutionalized injustice follows. It's longstanding. Vital change more than ever is needed.

America had previous corporate regimes. None match today's extremism. Bold, creative strategies are needed to change things. Commitment creates possibilities. Nothing worth struggling for is easy. Failure to try assures disaster.

America's on a fast track to full-blown tyranny. It's a hair's breath away. Preventing it is top priority. It begins with knowledge. It involves knowing what's at stake.

Money power runs America. Fundamental freedoms are on the chopping block for elimination. Preventing it takes commitment.

Challenging authority is essential. Social movements are pivotal forces. They work. Abolitionists, labor movements, and civil rights activists proved it. Collective activism has power. What better time to use it than now.


Governmental Highway Robbery: Asset Forfeiture and the Pillaging of the American People

John W. Whitehead

“This is the problem when police officers and police departments have a financial interest in doing their job. We got rid of bounty hunters because they were not a good thing. This is modern day bounty hunting.”
Public Defender John Rekowski

Long before Americans charted their revolutionary course in pursuit of happiness, it was “life, liberty, and property” which constituted the golden triad of essential rights that the government was charged with respecting and protecting. To the colonists, smarting from mistreatment at the hands of the British crown, protecting their property from governmental abuse was just as critical as preserving their lives and liberties. As the colonists understood, if the government can arbitrarily take away your property, you have no true rights. You’re nothing more than a serf or a slave.

The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was born of this need to safeguard against any attempt by the government to unlawfully deprive a citizen of the right to life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. Little could our ancestral forebears have imagined that it would take less than three centuries of so-called “independence” to once again render us brow-beaten subjects in bondage to an overlord bent on depriving us of our most inalienable and fundamental rights.

The latest governmental scheme to deprive Americans of their liberties—namely, the right to property—is being carried out under the guise of civil asset forfeiture, a government practice wherein government agents (usually the police) seize private property they “suspect” may be connected to criminal activity. Then—and here’s the kicker—whether or not any crime is actually proven to have taken place, the government keeps the citizen’s property, often divvying it up with the local police who did the initial seizure.


BRICS go over the wall

Pepe Escobar

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, is welcomed on his arrival in Durban, South Africa, Tuesday, March 26, 2013. Vladimir Putin is on a working visit and set to meet with South African officials on Tuesday before attending a meeting with the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICS) during an Africa Dialogue Forum in Durban on Wednesday. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, Presidential Press Service, Pool)

Reports on the premature death of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have been greatly exaggerated. Western corporate media is flooded with such nonsense, perpetrated in this particular case by the head of Morgan Stanley Investment Management.

Reality spells otherwise. The BRICS meet in Durban, South Africa, this Tuesday to, among other steps, create their own credit rating agency, sidelining the dictatorship - or at least "biased agendas", in New Delhi's diplomatic take - of the Moody's/Standard & Poor's variety. They will also further advance the idea of the BRICS Development Bank, with a seed capital of US$50 billion (only structural details need to be finalized), helping infrastructure and sustainable development projects.

Crucially, the US and the European Union won't have stakes in this Bank of the South - a concrete alternative, pushed especially by India and Brazil, to the Western-dominated World Bank and the Bretton Woods system.


Cyprus Postmortems: Part II

Stephen Lendman


(Shame!)

Stephen Lendman: Cyprus Postmortems (Part I)

On March 28, Cyrus Mail said banks opened for the first time in almost two weeks. They did so at midday local time. Cypriots face draconian restrictions. How they'll react remains to be seen.

Capital controls limit withdrawals, restrict non-cash transactions, freeze check cashing, and convert checking accounts into fixed-term deposits. Finance Minister Michalis Sarris "signed into law a temporary decree." It caps cash withdrawals "per person per bank at 300 euros." It "effectively ban(s) cheques and control(s) cash outflows from the country."

It permits only 1,000 euros per person to travel abroad per trip. Higher amounts require special approval. Business payments are capped at 5,000 euros per day. Others up to 200,000 euros require approval of a "special four-member committee." Amounts above 200,000 require similar approval.

Distributing company payrolls require supporting documents. They needed for student tuition and living expenses. They're required to send funds to first degree relatives studying abroad. Overseas payments or transfers by debit, credit or prepaid cards are allowed up to 5,000 euros per month per person per bank.

The same goes for comparable amounts overseas by debit, credit or prepaid cards.


It Can Happen Here: The Confiscation Scheme Planned for US and UK Depositors

Ellen Brown

Confiscating the customer deposits in Cyprus banks, it seems, was not a one-off, desperate idea of a few Eurozone “troika” officials scrambling to salvage their balance sheets. A joint paper by the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Bank of England dated December 10, 2012, shows that these plans have been long in the making; that they originated with the G20 Financial Stability Board in Basel, Switzerland (discussed earlier here); and that the result will be to deliver clear title to the banks of depositor funds.

New Zealand has a similar directive, discussed in my last article here, indicating that this isn’t just an emergency measure for troubled Eurozone countries. New Zealand’s Voxy reported on March 19th:

The National Government [is] pushing a Cyprus-style solution to bank failure in New Zealand which will see small depositors lose some of their savings to fund big bank bailouts...

Open Bank Resolution (OBR) is Finance Minister Bill English’s favoured option dealing with a major bank failure. If a bank fails under OBR, all depositors will have their savings reduced overnight to fund the bank’s bail out.


Plans to vastly expand drones in US

Fred Mazelis

The extension of drone surveillance for domestic purposes lays the basis for the use of armed drones as well. [This is] only the beginning of what is raised by the relentless militarization of daily life in America.

The enormous expansion of the use of drones - Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) - over US territory has received increasing bipartisan support within the political establishment, and has provoked growing popular opposition.

Attention was called to the subject of official use of drones for surveillance purposes by a recent comment from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. In a radio interview, the billionaire mayor offhandedly dismissed the growing concern over drone use by critics who raised issues of privacy and civil liberties. Bloomberg compared drones to surveillance cameras already in use around Manhattan. “What’s the difference whether the drone is up in the air or on the building?” Bloomberg said on a WOR-AM program. “We’re going into a different world, uncharted…you can’t keep the tide from coming in.”

The mayor’s remarks were significant not because they announced a brand new policy, but because he was signaling the growing approval in ruling class circles for measures that amount to the scaffolding of a police state. Bloomberg does not worry that his own privacy will be infringed – he regularly uses his private jet for weekend trips to his luxury beach house in Bermuda with barely a mention in the media. For the lower orders, however, Bloomberg’s advice can be summed up in four words: “Get used to it.”


In the Arms of Dictators: America the Great… Global Arms Dealer

Andrew Gavin Marshall

The American imperial system incorporates much more than supporting the occasional coup or undertaking the occasional war. Coups, wars, assassinations and other forms of overt and covert violence and destabilization, while relatively common and consistent for the United States – compared to other major powers – are secondary to the general maintenance of a system of imperial patronage. A “stable” system is what is desired most by strategic planners and policy-makers, but this has a technical definition. Stability means that the populations of subject nations and regions are under “control” – whether crushed by force or made passive by consent, while Western corporate and financial interests have and maintain unhindered access to the “markets” and resources of those nations and regions. Since the 19th century development of America’s overseas empire, this has been referred to as the “Open Door” policy: as in, the door opens for American and other Western economic interests to have access to and undertake exploitation of resources and labour.

As the only global imperial power, and by far the world’s largest military power, America does not merely rely upon the “goodwill” of smaller nations or the threat of force against them in order to maintain its dominance, it has established, over time, a large and complex network of imperial patronage: supplying economic aid, military aid (to allow its favoured regimes to control their own populations or engage in proxy-warfare), military and police training, among many other programs. These programs are largely coordinated by and between the Defense Department, State Department, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).


Washington Escalates War on Syria

Stephen Lendman

Ousting Assad was planned years ago. At issue is replacing him with a pro-Western puppet. After two years of conflict, he hangs on resiliently. Whether he'll survive is uncertain. Syria's military is strong and supportive. Free Syrian Army and US-recruited death squads are weak by comparison.

Reports suggest direct US intervention appears likely. NATO commander Admiral James Stavridis said he's ready to act if asked. Saying it suggests planned escalation. Two Press TV reports raise concerns. One headlined "US military has plans to bomb and send forces in Syria: Washington Post."

[Plans include] "aerial bombings to deploying troops to 'seize (chemical) weapons sites….' " Washington "sent thousands of protective suits and more than 150 military personnel to help special forces teams…."

They're in Jordan near Syria's border.

"More aggressive US military options….involve….'destroy(ing) Assad's air force to prevent it from using aerial munitions.' "

A second Press TV report said Israel established ties to militants in Golan. Doing so suggests direct intervention. Arab Media Watch chairman Sharif Kikmat Nashashibi was interviewed. He thinks Israel and Turkey will "join forces against Syria." They're preparing the ground to intervene, he said.

Chemical weapons use increases the odds. So does confirmation that Washington is arming Syrian insurgents. It's been ongoing since conflict began. Now it's public knowledge. More on that below.


President Obama’s Second Term: Selling Death and Buying Assassins In the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia

James Petras

Introduction: As President Obama enters his second term with a new Cabinet, the foreign policy legacy of the past four years weighs heavily on their strategic decisions and their empire-building efforts. Central to the analysis of the next period is an evaluation of the past policies especially in regions where Washington expended its greatest financial and military resources, namely the Middle East, South Asia and North Africa.

We will proceed by examining the accomplishments and failures of the Obama-Clinton regime. We will then turn to the ongoing policy efforts to sustain the empire-building project. We will take account of the constraints and opportunities, which define the parameters resulting from imperial military ambitions, Israeli-Zionist influence in shaping policy and the ongoing anti-imperialist struggles. We will conclude by examining likely polices and outcomes resulting from current strategies.

The Clinton-Obama Imperial Legacy: The Accomplishments

The greatest success of the Obama-Clinton (OC) imperial legacy was the virtual elimination of organized domestic anti-war dissent, the demise of the peace movement and the co-optation of virtually the entire ‘progressive’ leadership in the US – while multiplying the number of proxy wars, overt and covert military operations and ‘defense’ spending. As a result, the entire political spectrum moved further to the right toward greater militarization abroad and increased police-state measures at home.

Facing mass revolts and the overthrow of long-standing client regimes in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen, the Obama-Clinton (OC) Administration moved rapidly to reconfigure new client regimes while preserving the state apparatus – the military, intelligence, police, judicial and civilian bureaucracy. The empire dumped incumbent regimes in order to save the repressive state, the key guarantor of US strategic interests.


At Ben Gurion 'Palestine' is a four-letter word

Nejwa Ali

Concluding my first week in Palestine after a seven year absence has been emotionally and mentally challenging. In addition to spending time with family, I was full of optimism, hoping to notice a progression in Palestinian-Israeli relations. Unfortunately, some things haven’t changed.

Traveling to Palestine is convoluted in itself. Due to Israel’s continuous military occupation, Palestine has not been able to govern itself independently, let alone establish its own airport. Therefore, the two major points of entry are through Amman, Jordan and Tel Aviv, Israel, neither of which are ideal. The Jordanian route is usually a last resort, infamous for its exhausting delays at the Allenby Bridge, in comparison to equally unattractive prolonged delays via Israel. Still, any person with Palestinian identification is prohibited from traveling through the Ben Gurion Airport (Israel). As a Palestinian-American citizen, I’m fortunate to be able to avoid Jordan yet face plenty of harassment in Israel.

Notorious for treating passengers of Arab descent with excessive questioning, searches and delays, I remained patient as I anxiously awaited my turn to pass Israeli security. Finally, the security official glanced at my passport, read my name aloud and then started to question me about my grandfather’s first name, last name and place of birth. Once I mentioned Palestine, she immediately directed me to go to the waiting area for additional questioning.


Cyprus Postmortems

Stephen Lendman

Solutions worse than problems don't resolve them. Cypriots face protracted hard times. Former IMF chief economist Michael Mussa explained three kinds of crises: liquidity, solvency and stupidity.

BoomBustBlog's Reggie Middleton says "economic depression is the new success." It's the new normal. Scoundrel media reports downplay the damage done.

"The danger of Cyprus' bankruptcy (and) tragic consequences for the economy and society are just getting started." [Eurocrats lied. They claim] "boiling slowly in a pot of austerity flavored depression is preferable to a quick and clean exit and rebirth." "Ready! Set! Bank Run!!!"

Cyprus reflects a watershed moment. Confiscating personal wealth becomes official government policy. Eurocrats and Cypriot officials bypassed parliament. Ordinary people had no say. Euro Group head Jeroen Dijsselbloem said extracting wealth from depositors becomes a model for other troubled economies. He left no doubt what he means. He wants grand theft made official policy.


Expanding Guantánamo

Stephen Lendman


BBC torture experiment replicates Guantánamo and secret
prisons: how to lose your mind in 48 hours.
Source: A.W.

In 2008, candidate Obama promised to close Guantánamo. Straightaway as president, he issued Executive Order titled "Review and Disposition of Individuals Detained at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base and Closure of Detention Facilities." Sec. 3 states:

"Closure of Detention Facilities at Guantánamo. The detention facilities at Guantánamo for individuals covered by this order shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than 1 year from the date of this order."

"If any individuals covered by this order remain, they shall be returned to their home country, released, transferred to a third country, or transferred to another United States detention facility in a manner consistent with law and the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States."

Obama ordered an "immediate review of all" detainees within 30 days. He halted all proceedings in the "United States Court of Military Commission Review to which charges have been referred but in which no judgment has been rendered." He mandated "humane standards of confinement" be observed in accordance with international humanitarian laws.


European Union imposes bank bailout on Cyprus

Jordan Shilton & Chris Marsden

EU officials insist on installing an economic dictatorship over the Cypriot economy.

The Cypriot government and the European Union (EU) arrived at an agreement early yesterday morning to secure a bailout of Cypriot banks and avert state bankruptcy in Cyprus.

The terms set by the bailout amount to the economic devastation of the island country in the interests of Europe’s financial elite. Cyprus’s financial sector, accounting for around half of economic output, will immediately be reduced by up to half. Laiki bank, the second largest, is to be wound up with its debts to the ECB taken on by the Bank of Cyprus. Further losses are inevitable, as banking done in Cyprus is shifted to other euro zone countries’ banks.

The dictates of the EU and the criminal financial practices of Cyprus’s ruling elite alike have paved the way for massive attacks on working people. With unemployment at more than 14 percent, there will inevitably be thousands of job losses in banking, Cyprus’s main employer, and from restructured companies and privatised services.

The bailout, which is massively opposed by the Cypriot population, is to be imposed without a vote in the Cypriot parliament. To this end, the original proposal to impose a levy on bank deposits, which had been rejected by the Cypriot parliament, was removed from the final agreement. The new plan provides for the freezing of all deposits over €100,000 to cover the bailout. Depositors and shareholders in Laiki will see their assets transferred to a “bad bank” and could lose everything.

These measures, together with a privatisation programme and tax increases, are projected to raise the €7 billion Cyprus has been ask to contribute to the €17 billion bailout from the EU, ECB and International Monetary Fund.


Cyprus Update

Stephen Lendman

It's all over but the post mortems. Eurocrats demanded their pound of flesh. Cypriot officials surrendered. They sold out their people. They deserve better. Expect greater than ever hard times. Expect growing poverty, unemployment and despair. Expect public anger. At issue is whether it'll bubble up and explode.

Zero Hedge headlined "Next Up For Cyprus: Depression." It forecasts real GDP declining over 20% by 2017. "Risks are clearly on the downside." Ahead expect more bailout help needed.

With tongue in cheek perhaps, European Commission economic chief Olli Rehn said "It's clear the depth of the financial crisis in Cyprus means the near future will be very difficult for the country and its people." He omitted saying Cyprus' trouble is protracted. Ordinary people will suffer most. Responsible solutions weren't chosen.

They'd have softened crisis conditions if implemented. They'd have hastened recovery. They'd have mitigated pain and suffering. Bailing out bankers matters most. "Congratulations Cyprus." Sacrificing sovereign rights benefits German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Her September reelection chances improved.


Attorney General Eric Holder: If the President Does It, It's Legal

John W. Whitehead

"I never thought I would see the day when a Justice Department would claim that only the most extreme infliction of pain and physical abuse constitutes torture and that acts that are merely cruel, inhuman and degrading are consistent with United States law and policy, that the Supreme Court would have to order the president of the United States to treat detainees in accordance with the Geneva Convention, never thought that I would see that a president would act in direct defiance of federal law by authorizing warrantless NSA surveillance of American citizens. This disrespect for the rule of law is not only wrong, it is destructive." ~ Eric Holder, June 2008 speech to the American Constitution Society

Since the early days of our republic, the Attorney General (AG) of the United States has served as the chief lawyer for the government, entrusted with ensuring that the nation's laws are faithfully carried out and holding government officials accountable to abiding by their oaths of office to "uphold and defend the Constitution."

Unfortunately, far from holding government officials accountable to abiding by the rule of law, the attorneys general of each successive administration have increasingly aided and abetted the Executive Branch in skirting and, more often than not, flouting the law altogether, justifying all manner of civil liberties and human rights violations and trampling the Constitution in the process, particularly the Fourth Amendment.

No better example is there of the perversion of the office of the AG than its current occupant Eric Holder, who was appointed by President Obama in 2009. Hailed by civil liberties and watchdog groups alike for his pledge to "reverse the disastrous course that we have been on over the past few years" and usher in a new era of civil liberties under Obama, Holder has instead carried on the sorry tradition of his predecessors, going to great lengths to "justify" egregious government actions that can only be described as immoral, unjust and illegal.


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