The Fed is a secret, bank-owned institution that has complete control of the US money supply. If the US Government wants to increase its bank account, it has to exchange government securities (treasury bills, notes and bonds) for money supplied by the Fed. Of course, if the Fed wants to increase its bank account, it just creates it out of thin air. In 2006, the Fed. ceased publishing M3, large-denomination time deposits, repurchase agreements and Eurodollars. The Fed refuses Freedom of Information Act requests and is (and always has been) exempt from audit. The Fed makes stealth payments and secret bailouts to domestic as well as foreign banks. The creation of the Fed in 1913 may very well be the greatest fraud ever perpetrated on the American people.
In 2010, the Fed paid a statutory 6% dividend to its member banks of around $3 billion. The member capital of the Fed must be approximately $50 billion so that 6% of 50b equals $3b. (Sources: NY Times and Wikipedia). It is possible that there is a backout clause that would allow the US government to buy back the Federal Reserve for $1 billion or $500 million. (backout clause and fed inflates itself)
If the government can truly nationalize (take-over) the Fed for any amount of money, we can end the siphoning off of the US Treasury - the people's money. Imagine the corruption to keep congress or the president from actually doing during the last 98 years. Oddly enough, when the Fed "creates" money, it doesn't consider that money "profit" - only the interest.
Affiliates: Working Group on Financial Markets (The Plunge Protection Team), Counterparty Risk Management Group (CRMPG), Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), The USD of the Treasury.
Constitution watch:
The Congress shall have Power...To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin...(Article I, Section 8)The Trend: More secrecy, more stealth payments, more secret bailouts and more QE (quantitative easing).
The Institution: Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)
Although "only" a think tank on foreign relations, it is made up of many people in currently and formerly high places. It has significance influence over the IMF, World Bank and WTO (see below). Created in 1922.
Affiliates: Chatham House, the British sister organization.
The Institutions: International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, World Trade Organization (WTO)
These are the US's main weapons of world domination: enslavement by debt. Through these basically US organizations, the object is to corrupt the ruling government and indebt the country beyond its
ability to sustain payments. Then the IMF/World Bank move in to dismantle social programs, open up the country to free trade, install a floating-rate currency, deregulate the country and lower taxes to almost nothing. Good for US multinational corporations, not so good for the people of that country.
The USD of the Treasury
The US Treasury has a legit and open set of books, but there is a hidden side of the US Treasury. From 'The Secret History of the American Empire', by John Perkins:
Details behind the strategy I helped engineer--the Saudi Arabian Money-laundering Affair (SAMA)--are provided in Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. In summary, as far as the media was concerned, the House of Saud agreed to three important conditions; it would: 1) invest a large portion of its petrodollars in U.S. government securities; 2) allow the U.S. Treasury Department to use the trillions of dollars in interest from these securities to hire U.S. corporations to westernize Saudi Arabia and 3) maintain the price of oil within limits acceptable to the corporatocracy. For its part, the U.S. government promised to keep the Saud family in power.
There was an additional agreement, one that made few headlines but was crucial to the corporatocracy's need to maintain the dollar as the standard global currency. Saudi Arabia committed to trading oil exclusively in U.S. dollars. With the scratch of a pen, the dollar's sovereignty was reestablished. Oil replaced gold as the measure of a currency's value.It's clear that the banking cabal, the oil conglomerates and the US military are all closely intertwined in a powerful financial-petroleum-national-security complex.
The Institution: National Security Council (NSC)
The NSC (along with the CIA) was created by the Truman administration with the National Security Act in 1947, establishing the framework for a national security state.
Oversees no less than the following organizations: ODNI - CIA (independent!), USD of Defense (AFISRA, INSCOM, DIA, MCIA, NGA, AFOSI, NCIS, NRO, NSA, ONI), Department of Energy (DOE - OICI), USD of Homeland Security (I&S, CGI), USD of Justice (FBI, DEA), USD of State (INR), USD of the Treasury (TFI).
The Institution: The CIA
The only intelligent intelligence agency that is independent of executive branch and presidential control. JFK once said, "I want to splinter the CIA in a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds". It didn't happen. The CIA is a shadowy government with its own agenda, air force, navy, fundraising mechanism and it's free of oversight and the rule of law. It has been involved in drug trafficking and flipping military weapons for profit. Source: 14:18 minute mark of the following video:
The Trend: It will continue to overthrow legitimate and democratically-elected governments by any means necessary and install pliable dictators. The CIA will continue to operate in secrecy, it will continue to torture or oversee torture, it will continue to operate outside of and with no regard for the rule of law.
Affiliates: MI5 (The British Secret Service).
The Institutions: The FBI and the NSA
Codename: ECHELON. The FBI and the NSA are busy spying on the world including here at home. From 'Rogue State', by William Blum:
In 1999, the House Intelligence Committee of the US Congress sought internal NSA documents about its compliance with the law that prohibits it from deliberately eavesdropping on Americans, either the United States or overseas, unless the Agency can establish probable cause to believe that they are agents of a foreign government committing espionage or other crimes. NSA just stonewalled the committee.The FBI greatly enhanced its surveillance and wiretapping powers during the Clinton Administration. I've written about that here. More: Revisiting Echelon: The NSA’s Clandestine Data Mining Program and
Big Brother in the Wires: Wiretapping in the Digital Age. Congressmen Ron Wyden and Mark Udall, in a letter to the Justice Department state:
In our judgment, when the legal interpretations of public statutes that are kept secret from the American public, the government is effectively relying on secret law. (Public Said to Be Misled on Use of the Patriot Act).The Justice Department retorts:
While the national security court’s opinions interpreting the Patriot Act are classified, the law itself is public. (Public Said to Be Misled on Use of the Patriot Act).Constitution watch:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. (Bill of Rights, Article IV)Now the FBI is busy thwarting its own Terrorist plots.
The Institution: The US Military
Aggressive invasion of foreign territories. They call it 'preemptive war' but it's really been 'perpetual war' since the creation of the National Security Act in 1947.
The day before 9/11, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced that the Pentagon cannot account for $2.3 trillion (TRILLION!) in transactions. 'Undocumentable adjustments', they are called. It goes up every year. This year, the US lost $6.6 billion in cold hard cash. It may or may not have been stolen they say. (Report: $6B missing in Iraq may have been stolen). To get an idea of what $6.6 billion looks like
in cash, see http://usdebt.kleptocracy.us. They lost it? I don't think so.
Drone attacks
Congressman Dennis Kucinich writes:
Think of the use of drone air strikes as summary executions, extra-judicial killings justified by faceless bureaucrats using who-knows-what "intelligence," with no oversight whatsoever Full Article: Drones Direct Hit Upon Rule Of Law.On September 30, Anwar al-Awlaki was killed by a US drone attack. He was a US citizen and a Muslim cleric who spoke out against America and preached to Muslims to fight back. Glenn Greenwald called it a due-process-free assassination: The due-process-free assassination of U.S. citizens is now reality. See also: Execution by secret WH committee.
Special ops
American secret commandos are carrying out raids in 70 countries--just today. By the end of the year, the number will probably be close to 120. Our Commando War in 120 Countries: Uncovering the Military's
Secret Operations In the Obama Era
Collateral murder video
Wikileaks released the video of innocent people (including women, children and foreign reporters) being fired upon by US soldiers. Later, it came out from Ethan McCord (who was in the video) that the ground troops had orders from their Battalion Commander:
Listen up, new battalion SOP (standard operating procedure) from now on: Anytime your convoy gets hit by an IED (improvised explosive device), I want 360 degree rotational fire. You kill every motherf****r in the street! (360 Degrees of Rotational Fire By Ethan McCord)Bradley Manning has been accused of providing Wikileaks with the 'collateral murder video', the Afghan War Diary, the Iraq War Logs and the embarrassing US diplomatic cables. If true, he is a heroic whistle-blower to some and a traitor to others. Of course, the government position has been the latter. Manning has been subject to torturous treatment while in custody and to-date has not been provided with a fair and expedient trial due to endless government delays. Reuters has reported that Bradley Manning has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
Blowing the whistle on war crimes is not a crime! http://www.bradleymanning.orgGuantanamo Bay detention camp is not the United States' only secret outside the rule-of-law detention camp where inmates are tortured and/or held indefinitely without so much as access to a lawyer. Not just for foreigners anymore! No Habeas Corpus.
Endless war without Congressional approval (most recently Libya) and without a 'declaration of war' (every war since WWII).
Constitution watch:
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation. (Bill of Rights, Article V)
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense. (Bill of Rights, Article VI)
The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it. (Article I, Section 9)
The Congress shall have Power...To declare War...(Article I, Seciton 8)
No standing Army or Body of Forces shall be kept up by any Colony or Colonies in Times of Peace, except such a Number only as may be requisite to garrison the Forts necessary for the Defence of such Colonies...(Articles of confederation, ART. IX)
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. (Article III, Section 3)The Institution: NATO
Another de facto US institution (1947). Contrary to public opinion, NATO was created before the Warsaw Pact (1955). Since the fall of the USSR, the US has refused to disband it.
The Institution: The Trilateral Commission
A think thank created by David Rockefeller in 1973 to foster closer cooperation between the US, Europe and Japan. David Rockefeller also sat as chairman of Council of Foreign Relations, set up the Bilderberg group and was instrumental in founding the IMF and the World Bank. Good guy!
The Institution: The Bilderberg Group
Don't laugh. When the world's most influential people get together in secret, it's collusion and it is a big deal. And yes, the biggest players are mostly American so it's effectively an American organization.
The Trend: As long as we permit it, the Bilderberg Group will continue to push the, 'New World Order' on the world. The best explanation I've seen for 'New World Order' is 'One World Company Limited'. Paraphrasing: An aristocracy of purpose of Western elites through a global network of giant cartels to control the necessities of life for the rest of the world. (Bilderberg 2011 Discussions Leaked Via Moles Inside)
The Institutions: Wall St. and the US Banks
They are largely responsible for the Financial meltdown of 2008 and the austerity measures that have followed. To sum up, they conned (and approved) people into mortgages that they couldn't afford. They then insured the mortgages with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, bundled them up as 'Mortgage backed securities and sold them as AAA securities. When the house of cards collapsed, they insisted that they be bailed out by the government and later by the Fed. As interest rates collapsed, they refused to refinance home owners' mortgages at a lower rate and often foreclosed on homeowners with fake documents. "Everything's f***ed up and nobody goes to jail," said a former Senate investigator to Matt Taibbi. One final note: inevitably the biggest US corporations get involved in banking. GM and GE come to mind. (Why Isn't Wall Street in Jail?)
The Institution: The Republican-Democrat Duopoly
Both parties are controlled by moneyed interests: different interests sometimes, but moneyed interests nevertheless. When there's wind of a third party or independent candidate, it's largely ignored by the
mainstream media and vilified by the other two parties.
The Institution: The Super Committee or Super Congress
A six Democrat - six Republican super committee (6 congressmen and 6 senators) is tasked with reducing the government's budget deficit. This is another organization which is now more powerful than the 'regular' Congress. Undemocratic and unconstitutional.
The Institution: FEMA
FEMA is more and more becoming an intelligence agency. FEMA apparently has powers outside constitution and has been dubbed the 'secret government'. (FEMA Executive Orders)
The Institution: Supreme Court/US Judicial System
Citizens United may be the worst decision ever made by the Supreme Court, allowing organizations to amke unlimited campaign contributions with very little disclosure. When it comes to corporations versus the people, the corporations always win. Recent examples: student loan debt not dismissed after bankruptcy, less whistle-blower protection and it's now more difficult to join a class action lawsuit.
The Institution: United Nations
Although the US does not have the same influence on the UN today as when it was first created, the US routinely vetoes everything in the UN that pertain to individual rights or limiting the US empire. See Chapter 20 The United States versus the World at the United Nations in 'Rogue State' by William Blum.
Conclusion:
In order for democracy to work, we need to live in an open society with transparency, accountability, free speech and free elections. With powerful institutions outside of the rule of law and 14 million classified documents a year, we live in an increasingly closed society along the lines of a totalitarian, authoritarian, corporatist, corporate fascist, plutocracy. If there is to be peace and prosperity for the entire world, we have to restore democracy and end the US empire. Then the rest of the world has a fighting chance. Each country has to have its own sustainable economy first before fair trade can even be contemplated. A country has the right to self-determination and to be free from extortion by international powers. Bad debts need to be forgiven. The UN needs to be more powerful and more democratic. War can and must be eliminated worldwide.
The Trends:
In the meantime, we are going to see more secrecy, more austerity measures, less democracy, less representation, more cooperation between industry and government, more revolving doors, more conflict of interest, more welfare for the wealthy, more bailouts, fewer regulations, greater poverty, a disappearing middle-class, more corporate mergers, more authoritarianism, more surveillance, an ever increasing police state, more propaganda, more brainwashing, less consumer protection, less bankruptcy protection, less whistle-blower protection, fewer living wage jobs, fewer civil liberties - the Constitution be damned, less religious freedom, less individual freedom, less rule-of-law, less habeas corpus, more incarceration and more executions.
Additional trends: The Day America Died, The Big Picture: A 40-Year Scan of the Right-Wing Corporate Takeover of America
Catherine Austin Fitts, Former Asst. Secretary of Housing (1:02 of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orHVNUnRKlI but the whole second half is good starting at 0:57) :
The decision was made. Let's get all the debt up. Let's move the jobs abroad. And instead of re-engineering your skills, we're going to dumb down America. And so the middle class will disappear.
10 Things that you can do right now
1) Stop buying stuff you don't need that will just end up being thrown away in a few years. Ask yourself, 'Do I really need this?' Become a saver, not a consumer.
2) Boycott companies who have a poor human rights record or a poor environmental record.
3) Stop consuming manufactured food. Whole foods, natural, organic, local. Limit meat and milk products to 10% of your caloric intake. Exercise.
4) Support your local economy. Imagine a world without non-renewable energy sources. Local is the key to sustainability.
5) Move your money from big banks to local credit unions. Many have free checking and online banking.
6) Turn off the mainstream media and cancel your mainstream newspaper subscriptions. Educate yourself. Use the Internet to do your own research on the right, left and middle. Think for yourself and make your own decisions. Broaden your world view. Try foreign media sources for international news as well as their view of us. Read "1984" by George Orwell.
7) Engage in civil disobedience. Start a blog. Join an organization in your community. Fight oppression. Stand up for what you believe in.
8) Help someone in need.
9) Stop voting Republican or Democrat. It's not working.
10) Refuse to be afraid. Be happy. Take time to enjoy life.
From John Singleton's movie, "Baby Boy":
