America Is In A Societal Meltdown

chuckbaldwinlive.com
Jul 8, 2010

“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” So said Founding Father and America’s second President John Adams. And he was absolutely right. And that is what is absolutely wrong with our country today: America is in a complete moral, societal, and cultural meltdown.

Founding Father and America’s first US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay correctly summarized the reason our new nation (and the fight for its liberty and independence) was successful. He wrote in Federalist 2, “With equal pleasure I have as often taken notice that Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people–a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs, and who, by their joint counsels, arms, and efforts, fighting side by side throughout a long and bloody war, have nobly established general liberty and independence.”

In other words, a united constitutional republic can only exist within the framework of certain rather narrow and finite conditions. Remove those conditions and the framework for liberty and limited government falls apart. And the above statements by Adams and Jay succinctly summarize the conditions necessary for freedom’s framework.

“A Moral And Religious People”

At America’s founding, the principles of Christian philosophy and ideology were universally accepted. The vast majority of the colonists were churchgoing, Protestant Christians who firmly embraced and respected the sacred principles taught in the Holy Scriptures. In fact, the reason most colonists placed such a high premium on education was so that children would be able to read and study the Bible for themselves. It is more than interesting that America’s early educators all centered their curriculum upon the Bible. Include in this august list Benjamin Harris, publisher of the New England Primer; the “Father of American Education,” Noah Webster; along with one of early America’s most successful school textbook authors, William Holmes McGuffey.

Beyond that, when we talk about colonial America’s love of worship, we are not talking about what passes for “worship” in modern America. We are not talking about these Disneyland entertainment villages known as mega-churches. We are not talking about espresso Sunday Schools or glorified social clubs. We are talking about a place where preachers were bold and powerful proclaimers of truth and where people went to learn the Word of God (and how to apply it to every walk of life–including politics), not wallow in slurpy, sugary, shallow sermonettes that do nothing to prepare men for Christian warfare.

I challenge anyone to compare any of the sermons by colonial preachers such as Elisha Williams, Charles Chauncy, Jonathan Mayhew, Isaac Backus, Samuel Sherwood, John Witherspoon, Jacob Cushing, Samuel Cooper, Samuel Langdon, John Leland, Samuel Miller, Enos Hitchcock, Ebenezer Baldwin, or Jonathan Edwards with anything preached by Joel Osteen or Rick Warren.

Is it any wonder, then, that one cannot really distinguish the conduct and attitudes of professing Christians from those who make no Christian profession? Is it any wonder that churchgoing “Christians” seem to be as unkind, as deceitful, as lazy, as greedy, as unthankful, and as immoral as those who make no pretense regarding their unbelief? In fact, in some cases, those with no Christian profession put professing Christians to shame in matters of basic morality, decency, and civility. Why? One reason is the fact that the Church as a whole is no longer “the pillar and ground of the truth.” Rather, it is more commonly regarded as being a Big Business enterprise that is focused more on political correctness and entertainment than it is on possessing real conviction or spiritual power.

Add to the collapse of spirituality in America’s churches the collapse of morality in America’s culture. We’re talking about old-fashioned, basic morality. How is it that so many Americans seem to be so ignorant about the simplest moral principles? When did greed and ambition replace a desire for honest character? When did comfort and ease replace conviction for (and understanding of) good government? How is it that even “conservatives” have come to look to Washington, D.C., for answers to State or even personal problems? How is it that the fear of God is no longer relevant when choosing our civil magistrates? How can businessmen continue to sacrifice the sacred principles of liberty on the altar of financial profits? Are money and wealth really more important than liberty and peace? How can politicians blatantly disregard their oaths to the Constitution? How can they continue to grovel before special interest groups–and even foreign interests? How can they–so willingly and easily–violate the liberty principles enshrined in the Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence?

Without an understanding of (and an appreciation for) basic morality, America will collapse. Money and military might cannot and will not replace the time-tested foundations of morality and fidelity. The collapse of basic morality portends the collapse of America itself.

“One United People”

Contrary to what one hears from the politically correct crowd today, unity–not diversity–is the key to America’s greatness. Jay said that early America was united with the same ancestors, language, religion, and principles of government, manners, and customs. And he was right.

By and large, America was a Christian nation, speaking the same language, reading the same Bible, worshipping the same God, understanding (and respecting) the same form of government (a constitutional confederation of free, self-governing states), and embracing the same concepts of culture (law, nature, manners, etc.).

No more!

Thanks to decades of federal dictation, public school indoctrination, and media and entertainment propaganda, the principles that once united us now divide us. And divided we are! I would even argue that America is hopelessly and helplessly divided. We are no longer united in our understanding of (or appreciation for) Christianity; we are no longer united in our English language; we are no longer united in our respect for our ancestors; we are no longer united in our respect for God’s Word; we are no longer united in our respect for the principles of federalism or constitutional government; and we are no longer united in our appreciation for the fundamental principles of self reliance, morality, and freedom.

In other words, it is “crystal clear” that America is in the midst of a complete and total spiritual, societal, cultural, moral, and political meltdown. And what is also abundantly obvious is that as long as Washington, D.C., continues to lord it over us (and who or what is going to stop it?), it is only a matter of time before the final collapse occurs. And at that point, freedom lovers will be fighting against their own countrymen for their very lives and liberty.

Accordingly, I think all this talk about “saving America” is largely a complete waste of time and energy. Instead, we need to be talking about saving our individual states (and the truth is, probably at least half of the states are beyond repair), saving our families, saving our communities, and saving our individual freedoms. To continue to focus on “saving America” or “changing Washington, D.C.,” etc., is utter foolishness! Washington, D.C., is not going to change; it is beyond redemption. Forget it! Circle the wagons around your State; cement your convictions; prepare your family; ready your resolve; and start planning for life after death–the death of liberty and law in America–because the meltdown of American society and culture has already begun.

New York National Guard Policing Streets And Using Gamma Ray Scaning Machines

Fox News

The New York National Guard has been a part of missions across the world, but they also have a very important one right here at home.

Its to keep drugs off of local streets, their technology and training is free to local police departments and agencies, no one has been turned away.

Dust and desert are the images most equate with the New York National Guard, on the front lines in the middle east, fighting the war on terror.

These images are pictures of another fight, a fight here at home.

Col. Alden Saddlemire says, "our people are committed to fight. Its a domestic fight they firmly believe in."

The NY National Guard's Counterdrug task force, providing not only the people, but the equipment law enforcement may need to make drug arrests, seizures.

SSG. Brian Gillis says, "we can go on the scene and sniff or take a swab with this and it can tell you what it is."

Using ionization, counterdrug's machines can detect chemicals, explosives, narcotics on money, weapons, even fabric. A simple swab can tell you if that surface had contact with those substances.

A simple sweep of an undercarriage or a scan of a car can help find drugs or weapons being brought into the capital region. While the undervehicle inspection system looks for traps or voids where anything could be taped or bolted in, the mobile vehicle inspection system takes it one step further.

Gillis says, "its basically an x-ray. If you zoom in you can see the rifle laid across the bottom."

With a warrant, a department can request a scan. Then, with the swing of an arm, gamma rays outline the car and its skeleton.

Over 1,500 oil cleanup workers sickened says BP’s lead doctor in Gulf

Florida Oil Spill Law
This…is…Jeopardy (i.e. imminence of death, loss, or injury)

1,500+ sick only counts workers who sought care through BP; Area hospital visits NOT included

AC 360, CNN, July 7, 2010:

Transcript Excerpt

Dr. Sanjay Gupta:

Today Dr. Kevin O’Shea — he’s the physician in charge of BP’s medical response in Gulf — he told me that in the four states affected by the spill, more than 1,500 cleanup workers have now complained of some illness or injury.

BP doctor says up to 1,500 cleanup workers sickened…

CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta sat down Wednesday for an exclusive interview with the man in charge of BP’s medical response, Dr. Kevin O’Shea. He said more than 1,500 workers have sought medical care through BP, a significant increase from previously reported numbers.

The Lights Are Going Out For Free Speech On The Internet

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Type the keywords “Internet censorship” into Google News and you will immediately understand to what degree the world wide web is under assault from attempts by governments globally to regulate and stifle free speech. From Australia to Belarus, from Turkey to Vietnam, from Pakistan to Egypt, from Afghanistan to Iran, huge chunks of the Internet are going dark as the Chinese model of Internet regulation is adopted worldwide.

But why should Americans concern themselves with countries halfway across the globe adopting Chinese-style net censorship? Because under Senator Joe Lieberman’s 197-page Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, the United States would formally mimic China’s “great firewall” of web censorship.

When Lieberman himself attempted to debunk claims that the bill provides Obama, and any following President for that matter, with a figurative ‘kill switch’ to disable certain parts of the Internet, he explained that the government was merely seeking to emulate powers over the Internet already enjoyed by the Communist Chinese.

Firstly, despite Lieberman’s spin, the text of the bill clearly gives Obama the power to shut down the Internet for at least four months without Congressional oversight.

Secondly, and even more alarmingly, Lieberman’s acknowledgement that the United States is seeking to emulate China’s policies on Internet control confirm that the entire cybersecurity agenda is primarily concerned with silencing political opposition to the state, since this factor completely dominates the Chinese model which Lieberman openly invokes as the ultimate goal of cybersecurity.

China’s vice-like grip over its Internet systems has very little to do with “cybersecurity” and everything to do with silencing all dissent against the state.

Chinese Internet censorship is imposed via a centralized government blacklist of any websites that contain criticism of the state, porn, or any other content deemed unsuitable by the authorities. Every time you attempt to visit a website, you are re-routed through the government firewall, often making for long delays and crippling speeds.

China has exercised its power to shut down the Internet, something that Lieberman wants to introduce in the U.S., at politically sensitive times in order to stem the flow of information about government abuse and atrocities. During the anti-government riots which occurred in July 2009, the Chinese government completely shut down the Internet across the entire northwestern region of Xinjiang for days. In several regions, the authorities completely cut off the Internet for nearly a year, with many areas only now slowly starting to come back online. Major news and discussion portals used by the Muslim Uighurs in the area remain blocked. Similarly, Internet access in parts of Tibet is routinely restricted as part of government efforts to pre-empt and neutralize unrest.

Major websites like Twitter, Google and You Tube have also been shut down either temporarily or permanently by Chinese authorities.

News websites in China now require users to register their true identities in order to leave comments. This abolition of anonymity is used to chill free speech in that it prevents the user from engaging in criticism of the state for fear that they would be tracked down by authorities.

Chinese authorities are now going further than merely maintaining a “blacklist” of banned websites by instituting a “whitelist” of allowed websites, a move that “could potentially place much of the Internet off-limits to Chinese readers”. Websites not pre-registered with the government would be completely blocked to all Internet users, meaning “millions of completely innocuous sites” would be banned. This equates to requiring government approval to set up a website, which would obviously not be granted if the person or organization making the application has a history of or is likely to engage in dissent against the state.

President Obama himself has criticized Chinese Internet censorship as a hindrance to the free flow of information and allowing citizens to hold their governments accountable, and yet Lieberman wants to hand Obama similar powers.

The model Lieberman has identified as the goal of cybersecurity is centered around keeping people oppressed by eliminating any means of widespread dissent and preventing people from organizing politically. It has nothing to do with providing security against foreign hackers and terrorists and everything to do with strangling free speech critical of the state.

However, this is not merely a war on free speech, it’s a war on Internet anonymity. Even if the government shuts down portions of the web, new networks are guaranteed to pop up to take their place. Indeed, as people who have attempted to downplay concerns about the ‘kill switch’ have rightly pointed out, Obama could already attempt to shut down the Internet using the Communications Act, the PCNAA legislation merely codifies this power formally into law.

The real threat posed by the wider cybersecurity agenda is the implementation of an individual identity system for all Internet users. This is what was proposed by Obama’s cybersecurity co-ordinator Howard Schmidt in a paper compiled with the aid of the National Security Council.

The strategy revolves around, “The creation of a system for identity management that would allow citizens to use additional authentication techniques, such as physical tokens or modules on mobile phones, to verify who they are before buying things online or accessing such sensitive information as health or banking records,” reports the FInancial Times.

Only with this government-issued “token” will Internet users be allowed to “able to move from website to website,” a system not too far removed from what China proposed and rejected for being too authoritarian.

So in this sense, the cybersecurity agenda will ensure a world wide web even more draconian than the Chinese model, where the threat of the government identifying individuals, now that anonymity is removed, who engage in “hate speech” critical of the government and revoking their license to use the Internet, will inevitably chill free speech from the very outset.

To trust the federal government with the power to regulate free speech by means of a licensing system for the Internet and not expect the state to abuse such power is the height of stupidity. Cass Sunstein, Obama’s information czar, openly wrote in a 2008 paper of his desire to combat “conspiracy theories” (ie any information communicated primarily through the Internet which represents a threat to the image of the state) by empowering the government to tax or even ban outright opinions of which it disapproves. This is what cybersecurity is all about, eliminating the voices of the oppressed as big government seeks to quicken its takeover of America with the aid of silent obedience.

Full article HERE

Bob Chapman: Global Governance is A Corporate Takeover by The illuminati

TheAlexJonesChannel | July 02, 2010

Max Keiser: Goldman Sachs - The Real Pirates behind America's Economic Implosion

TheAlexJonesChannel | July 02, 2010

Gerald Celente: We're Going into The Greatest Depression and WW 3

TheAlexJonesChannel | July 02, 2010

California Implodes

Richard Fine is a a tax payer advocate who exposed massive judicial corruption in LA County and is rotting away in prison.

California is the wealthiest and most populous State in America, and Los Angeles County is the largest county in America, so both the State and LA County wield unbelievable power in Washington D.C. The corruption in California affects you directly.

• How would you feel if you knew your federal tax dollars were being used to finance California’s corruption?

• You may be surprised to learn that the California State Legislators and the LA County Supervisors went to Washington D.C. to obtain the maximum federal funding for their extensive welfare, medical and illegal alien imprisonment programs, in order to claim the federal tax payer money in an end run around the other states.

• Imagine the end of the democratic process through judicial corruption, like that in LA County, replicated in your community.

Richard Fine is a a tax payer advocate who exposed massive judicial corruption in LA County and is rotting away in prison. While there has been no trial, sentence or conviction against him, he has been in solitary confinement for the last 15 months. The discovery of judicial corruption, coupled with a violation of the Brown Act by the Los Angeles County Supervisors could justify the firing and criminal charges against the LA County Supervisors, the California State Los Angeles Superior Court Judges, the California State Legislators and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, among many others.

[ . . . ]

THE DEADLY CLOSED CIRCLE

The importance of the wide-sweeping judicial corruption case and the LA County Supervisors’ violation of the Brown Act is that is is a model for decay for the rest of the country. The big picture objective seems to be the federal government trying to make states financially reliant upon federal money so that state sovereignty is weakened while federal power is increased and centralized.

Richard Fine connected the dots, with his discovery of massive judicial corruption that protects those with power and money. LA County is a closed system, a loop that circles back on itself. Our government was created as a Republic that values individuals’ rights and representatives are elected by democratic process. However, this system has been circumvented in LA County and is a model for the destruction of the democratic process.

• The LA County Supervisors authorized illegal payments to the LA Superior Court judges (over $50,000 per judge this year) in order to rule on cases in favor of the county which the county’s own statistics bear out (only 3 cases have been won against the county since 2005 when a judge decided the case).

• The LA Superior Court judges in turn support the LA County Supervisors.

• The California State Legislators and Arnold Schwarzenegger protected the LA Superior Court judges, LA Supervisors and all other government officials who facilitated the illegal payments to the judges by granting them retroactive immunity for criminal prosecution in bill SBX211. This retroactive immunity from criminal prosecution includes the State Legislators and Arnold, and therefore, incriminates them!

• The LA Supervisors authorized a lawsuit, using taxpayer money, for Sheriff Leroy Baca to overturn his term limits imposed by voters in 2002. The voters’ own money was used against them! Remember that term limits curb corruption by preventing long term corrupt relationships.(6)

• The LA Supervisors authorized a lawsuit, using taxpayer money, for District Attorney Steve Cooley to overturn his term limits imposed by voters in 2002. Cooley also received a $55,000+ raise from the LA Supervisors. It would seem naive to believe Cooley is not beholden to the LA Supervisors.

• The LA Supervisors authorized a lawsuit, using taxpayer money, for LA County Assessor Rick Auerbach to overturn his term limits imposed by voters in 2002.

In other words, the LA Supervisors authorized the use of tax payer money to extend the term limits for the Sheriff, the DA and the Assessor. The LA Superior Court judges allowed the nullification of the term limits. And the tax payers ponied up the money to underwrite a system that is corrupt and works in opposition to public interest and voters’ wishes. By the way, should there be any contest or disputes regarding the voting process, it would fall within the jurisdiction of the corrupt LA Superior Court.

CONCLUSION

Professor Daniel Gottlieb has estimated that there are over TEN MILLION felony cases of corruption by the LA Superior Court judges and the LA County Supervisors for bribery, misappropriation of funds and obstruction of justice.(7)

Has Richard Fine has been locked up, and key thrown away, for exposing this information?

Judicial Watch’s victory in the case Sturgeon vs. LA County determined that the payments to the judges are illegal.

Would it be more appropriate for the LA Superior Court judges, the LA County Supervisors and the other government officials (including the California State Legislators and Schwarzenegger) who received retroactive immunity from criminal prosecution to be wearing orange jumpsuits?

What will it take to end the closed loop of apparent injustice? The door is open now for anyone who has lost a case against LA County to request a re-trial to be heard in a jurisdiction where no judges have accepted illegal payments, because the LA County Superior Court judges could be considered compromised. Requests for re-trial for people who have lost cases against LA County, when a LA Superior Court judge decided the case, could include any type of case against LA County, including land use cases, Child Protective Services cases, criminal cases, wrongful termination cases and election contest cases- virtually any case against the county that was lost.

Full article HERE

Paul Craig Roberts: Military has more power than the people

RTAmerica | July 06, 2010



Military spending makes up a large percentage of the US budget. Is this spending contributing to the downfall of the empire? And is there any chance the people can counter this spending? Paul Craig Roberts says that the companies that make up the military industrial complex pull all the strings.

Double Dip? Great Depression II? Game Over. Bye-Bye Bull. Crash Dead Ahead. Sell. Get liquid. Now. Dow’s “Slam Dunking” Below 6470 (Again!)

by Paul B Farrell, JD, PhD

“This game’s in the refrigerator! The door’s closed, the lights are out, the eggs are cooling, the butter’s getting hard, and the Jell-O is jiggling …” That was legendary Lakers’ radio announcer Chick Hearn’s signature way of calling a game early, telling fans the home team won … you can head for the exits before the final buzzer. Chick wrote the book with popular sports phrases like “slam dunk,” “airball,” “charity stripe,” and a “bunny hop in the pea patch” for a traveling violation.

Chick’s our inspiration today: March 2009 I wrote “6 reasons we’re calling a bottom and a new bull.” We scored a bullseye. It was a great run. Net gains over 50% in 2009. Now it’s time for a new call: “Game over, head for the exits.” Bears trashing bulls.

No, no, “it’s a buying opportunity,” says another legend, hedge fund manager, Barton Biggs. Buying opportunity? For who? Remember, Biggs isn’t advising Joe Lunchbox about what to do with his little 401(k). Biggs’ customers are mega-millionaires in his $1.5 billion Traxis Partners Fund. Main Street investors like Joe are prey in his casino. Read on, you decide: As you stare from high up in the nose-bleed bleachers watching the game, staring at a Dow that not long ago was above 11,000 and heading for 12,000. Now the Dow’s sitting on the bench, ready for the showers, weak after a couple airballs around 10,000. No more timeouts. “This game’s in the refrigerator.”

How bad is your bookie’s point spread in this game? A blowout? Will the Dow drop below 9,000 again? Now that it’s broken technical supports, will it drop below 6470, where the last bull rally started in early 2009? Can you handle the nerve-racking volatility generated by Wall Street’s high-frequency traders playing the game at warp-speed with algorithms making thousands of micro-bets in milliseconds, betting billions daily? So who should you listen to? Barton and I arrived at Morgan Stanley about the same time. He stayed decades longer, became one of the world’s leading strategists, advising the kind of high-rollers who also bet at private tables in a Vegas casino.

You remember Biggs: In his book Wealth, War & Wisdom he advises his high rollers to prepare for a “breakdown of the civilized infrastructure.” Buy a farm: “Your safe haven must be self-sufficient and capable of growing some kind of food … It should be well-stocked with seed, fertilizer, canned food, wine, medicine, clothes, etc. Think Swiss Family Robinson.” Biggs is not advising small investors on what to do with their 401(k)s. If you’re gambling at “Wall Street’s Casino” folks, the odds-makers are betting against Biggs. It’s “game over.”

Wake up! Main Street lost 20% of your retirement last decade …
Only a fool would trust Wall Street another 10 years!
Yes, if you’re channeling Chick, here’s your “mixed metaphor” cue card: “This game’s in the refrigerator … Wall Street won (proof, Goldman’s $100 million profits trading days and Blankfein’s $68 million bonus) … Main Street’s headed for another losing streak … Congress’ lights are out … the refrigerator door’s closing on financial reforms … the lobbyists are laying some rotten eggs, poisoning capitalism … the Tea Party-of-No-No ideologies are hardening … the bull’s Jell-O is jiggling to a flatline … and this market’s going into hibernation, with the bears … run, don’t walk, to the exits, folks.”

But will Main Street exit? Will we ever learn? No. The “Wall Street Casino” makes mega-billions for insiders like Blankfein and the Goldman Conspiracy. Yet “The Casino” is still below the 2000 record of 11,722. So after accounting for inflation, Wall Street lost over 20% of Main Street’s 401(k) retirement money between 2000 and 2010. Yes, Wall Street’s a big loser the past decade. Their advice is self-serving. Period. Given their miserable track record, only a fool would bet with Wall Street. Betting odds are Wall Street will lose another 20% in the next decade from 2010-2020. Yes, today’s market is a “buying opportunity,” but only for “Wall Street Casino” insiders like Biggs, Blankfein and even low level staffers inside “The Casino.” But not for our 95 million Main Street investors, there’s more pain ahead, this market’s dropping.

Correction? New crash imminent, worse than 2008 … Great Depression II?
More proof: Earlier economist Gary Shilling said P/E ratios are at a “nosebleed 22.5 level.” The Dow was around 11,000. Money manager Jeremy Grantham recently said the market’s “overvalued” 40%. That could mean a collapse to 6600. Last week in Reuters “Markets Could Be Derailed Again,” George Soros echoed a “game over” warning with a “stark warning … that the financial world is on the wrong track and that we may be hurtling towards an even bigger boom and bust than in the credit crisis.” Now Dow Theory’s Richard Russell is warning the public of an imminent crash: “Sell … get liquid … by the end of this year they won’t recognize the country.”

A bigger meltdown than the credit crisis? Yes, Bush’s team drove America into a ditch. But now Obama and his moneymen, Summers, Geithner, Bernanke, are digging the hole deeper. Soros says we have not learned “the lessons that markets are inherently unstable.” As a result, “the success in bailing out the system on the previous occasion led to a super-bubble.” Now “we are facing a yet larger bubble.” Worse than 2008? Yes, the game may be “in the refrigerator,” the lights will go out, but as Soros hints, the electricity may get turned off too. Get it? This may not be a correction. Not even a bear. What’s coming could be worse than the 2000 dotcom crash and the 2008 meltdown combined, a “Super-Bubble” says Soros.

And the biggest reason, Nouriel Roubini and Stephen Mihm tell Newsweek is that “the president’s half-measures won’t fix our failed financial system” because he refuses to “bust up the too-big-to-fail banks.” Instead, not only did the Senate pass a weak financial reform bill, there are the seven key areas many commentators now must happen in the Senate to keep business as usual:

1. No Fed audits, no transparency, no matter how much money Fed prints.
2. A toothless Consumer Protection Agency.
3. No new statutory fiduciary duties owed to investors.
4. Wall Street must continue controlling rating agencies.
5. Unregulated derivatives trading with loopholes for most derivatives.
6. No new Glass-Steagall separation of hi-risk trading & retail deposits.
7. Taxpayers must remain liable for all future bailouts in unlimited amounts.

So yes, Congress will pass something. But unfortunately as MSNBC reports, Senator Dodd, the reform bill’s sponsor, is a turn-coat, working overtime with Wall Street lobbyists “to weaken financial reform,” leave us vulnerable to a new, bigger crash in the near future. And Wall Street lobbyists are spending hundreds of millions to kill reform.

“White Swans:” 2000 and 2008 crashes were predictable, next one too
Recently Roubini was interviewed by Charlie Rose in BusinessWeek. His message confirms the worst. Roubini was questioned about his new book, Crisis Economics. Rose began by asking, “what have we learned from these crises of capitalism?” Roubini could easily have been, “nothing, we learned nothing.” His actual reply:

“The first lesson is that crises are not ‘black swan’ events … they’re not just random outcomes. They are the result of a buildup of financial and policy vulnerability and mistakes—excessive risk-taking, leverage, debt, and so on.” They are White Swans “because these events are predictable. But generation after generation, we seem to forget the past. When there’s a bubble, there’s euphoria. There’s irrational exuberance. Consumers can use their homes like ATM machines. Governments and policymakers are happy because they get reelected. Wall Street makes billions of dollars of profits. Everybody’s delusional.”

Sound familiar? Yes indeed, in This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly, economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff pinpoint the key signal that will blow the whistle and call the game: The “90% ratio of government debt to GDP is a tipping point in economic growth.” For 800 years “you increase it over and beyond a high threshold, and boom!” Warning fans, the numbers on the game-clock are flashing wildly. America’s ratio is now 92%, thanks to Obama’s $1.7 trillion budget, future deficits, exploding debt. Soon, Ka-Booom! Another great nation bites the dust. Depression follows. Goodbye retirement.

Warning: 800 years of history are calling “game over”
But can’t we change destiny? Or is Dodd, Congress, Obama, Wall Street, the Party of No-No and 300 million Americans all just playing their parts in a historical script well-known to historians like Reinhart and Rogoff, Kevin Phillips, Niall Ferguson and others? The message of This Time Is Different is very simple:

“We have been here before. No matter how different the latest financial frenzy or crisis always appears, there are usually remarkable similarities from past experience from other countries and from history. … no country, irrespective of its global importance, appears to be immune to it. The fading memories of borrowers and lenders, policy makers and academics, and the public at large do not seem to improve over time, so the policy lessons on how to ‘avoid’ the next blow-up are at best limited.”

So please listen closely: All the TARP bailouts, stimulus debt and Fed loans won’t work. Neither will a new conservative government. This is not a basketball game. We are not channeling Chick Hearn, calling this game before the final buzzer. While we prefer the illusion that “this time really is different,” eight centuries of history suggest otherwise:

“The lesson of history, then, is that even as institutions and policy makers improve there will always be a temptation to stretch the limits. … If there is one common theme to the vast range of crises … it is that, excessive debt accumulation, whether it be by the government, banks, corporations, or consumers, often poses greater systemic risks than it seems during a boom. … Highly indebted governments, banks, or corporations can seem to be merrily rolling along for an extended period, when bang—confidence collapses, lenders disappear and a crisis hits. … Highly leveraged economies … seldom survive forever … history does point to warnings signs that policy makers can look to access risk—if only they do not become too drunk with their credit bubble-fueled success and say, as their predecessors have for centuries, ‘This time is different’.”

No, “this time” it’s never different. Get it? In the end, it doesn’t matter what happens to the Dodd-Obama financial reforms. The endgame’s never a Black Swan, it’s a very White Swan well known to historians—guaranteed, inevitable and inescapable. This time is never different. The clock’s flashing. Huge point spread. Think bear, think crash, think end of capitalism, think “Great Depression II” … This is no buying opportunity, this game’s in the refrigerator, call it.

Iceland Wakes Up To The Bankers Debt Money System

Iceland's situation is dire, but the people of Iceland are tired of the bankers tricks. They are waking up to the fact that there is another way to run a country other than perpetual debt.

Is America Really Free, If A Privately-Owned Central Bank Controls Our Currency And Runs Our Economy?

Business Insider | July 5, 2010
Michael Snyder

This weekend we celebrated America's Independence Day. But are we really a free nation? The truth is that it is really hard to argue that we are "free" when our currency system and our economy are run by an unelected privately-owned central bank.

You see, the truth is that the U.S. government does not "print money" whenever it wants. Under the current system, in order to get more U.S. currency, the U.S. government has to borrow it. The Federal Reserve creates the new currency out of thin air and then either keeps the "U.S. Treasury bonds" they get in return from the U.S. government or they sell them off to others. But what kind of sense does that make? Why does a "free government" have to go into debt to print its own currency? It is the U.S. government that should be printing U.S. currency - not a privately-owned bank called the Federal Reserve.

(From Jefferson To Greenspan: The Complete History Of People Freaking Out About The National Debt -->)

The truth is that the Federal Reserve is about as "federal" as Federal Express is. And no unelected private central bank should be "running" our economy. Actually the free market should be running our economy, but if anyone is going to run it, it should at least be the government that we have elected. But instead we have a group of unelected bureaucrats making our interest rate decisions, determining our money supply levels and deciding which of their friends get big bailouts. That isn't the American Dream! What kind of "democracy" and "freedom" is that? The sad truth is that as long as we allow an unelected privately-owned central bank to run our economy we will not be truly free.

The reality is that the Federal Reserve desperately needs to be audited. The Federal Reserve has never undergone a true comprehensive audit since it was created back in 1913. The truth is that we have very little idea of what is really going on inside that institution.

And yet they control our currency and our economy.

U.S. Representative Ron Paul had introduced a bill that would have mandated a comprehensive audit of the Federal Reserve, but it has now officially been defeated.

Ron Paul’s proposal to audit the Federal Reserve, which had previously been co-sponsored by 320 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, failed by a vote of 229-198.

Every single Republican in the House voted in favor of the measure, and even 23 Democrats crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans, but it was not enough.

You see, the Federal Reserve convinced 122 Democrats who were originally co-sponsors of Ron Paul's proposal to jump ship and vote against the measure.

It was truly a sad day for America.

Ron Paul has released a video expressing his disappointment over the defeat of the "audit the Fed" provision....

Congress just can't seem to do anything right these days.

What in the world is so threatening about actually getting to see what is going on inside the Fed?

After all, they print all of our currency and they basically run our economy.

Don't the American people have the right to examine what is going on?

Well, apparently the Democrats do not think so.

How "free" can we be when a private central bank has so much power over us and yet we cannot even examine what they are doing or how they are doing it?

In fact, Ron Paul told MSNBC that he believes that the Federal Reserve is more powerful than Congress.....

"The regulations should be on the Federal Reserve. We should have transparency of the Federal Reserve. They can create trillions of dollars to bail out their friends, and we don’t even have any transparency of this. They’re more powerful than the Congress."

When we allow such powerful institutions to rule over us without any kind of accountability whatsoever, we dishonor the sacrifices that our founding fathers made to give us liberty and freedom.

Full story HERE

Dow Repeats Great Depression Pattern: Charts

CNBC

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is repeating a pattern that appeared just before markets fell during the Great Depression, Daryl Guppy, CEO at Guppytraders.com, told CNBC Monday.

“Those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it…there was a head and shoulders pattern that developed before the Depression in 1929, then with the recovery in 1930 we had another head and shoulders pattern that preceded a fall in the market, and in the current Dow situation we see an exact repeat of that environment,” Guppy said.

The Dow retreated 457.33 points, or 4.5 percent last week, to close at 9,686 Friday. Guppy said a Dow fall below 9,800 confirmed the head and shoulders pattern.

The Shanghai Composite is seeing a very rapid collapse, falling below 2,500, which suggests the major fall in the Dow, he added.

In the European markets, Guppy says Frankfurt's Dax is witnessing a different pattern to London's FTSE.

Guppy uses the broad trading band as measurement- giving the Dax a downsize target of 1,500. The same head and shoulders pattern seen in the Dow can also being seen in the FTSE, he added.

50 Random Facts That Make You Wonder What In The World Has Happened To America

By Michael Snyder - BLN Contributing Writer

Our world is changing at a pace that is so staggering these days that it can be really hard to fully grasp the significance of what we are witnessing. Hopefully the collection of random facts below will help you to "connect the dots" just a little bit. On one level, the facts below may not seem related. However, what they all do have in common is that they show just how much the United States has fundamentally changed. Do you ever just sit back and wonder what in the world has happened to America? The truth is that the America that so many of us once loved so much has been shattered into a thousand pieces. The "land of the free and the home of the brave" has been transformed into a socialized Big Brother nanny state that is oozing with corruption and has accumulated the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the world. The greatest economic machine that the world has ever seen is falling apart before our very eyes, and even when our politicians actually try to do something right (which is quite rare) the end result is still a bunch of garbage. For those who still love this land (and there are a lot of us) it is heartbreaking to watch America slowly die.

The following are 50 random facts that show just how dramatically America has changed....

#50) A new report released by the United Nations is publicly calling for the establishment of a world currency and none of the major news networks are even covering it.

#49) The state of California is so broke that Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered California State Controller John Chiang to reduce state worker pay for July to the federal minimum allowed by law -- $7.25 an hour for most state workers.

#48) A police officer in Oklahoma recently tasered an 86-year-old disabled grandma in her bed and stepped on her oxygen hose until she couldn't breathe because they considered her to be a "threat".

#47) In early 2009, U.S. net national savings as a percentage of GDP went negative for the first time since 1952, and it has continued its downward trend since then.

#46) Corexit 9500 is so incredibly toxic that the UK's Marine Management Organization has completely banned it, so if there was a major oil spill in the North Sea, BP would not be able to use it. And yet BP has dumped over a million gallons of dispersants such as Corexit 9500 into the Gulf of Mexico.

#45) For the first time in U.S. history, more than 40 million Americans are on food stamps, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that number will go up to 43 million Americans in 2011.

#44) It has come out that one employee used a Federal Emergency Management Agency credit card to buy $4,318 in "Happy Birthday" gift cards. Two other FEMA officials charged the cost of 360 golf umbrellas ($9,000) to the taxpayers.

#43) Researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo received $389,000 from the U.S. government to pay 100 residents of Buffalo $45 each to record how much malt liquor they drink and how much pot they smoke each day.

#42) The average duration of unemployment in the United States has risen to an all-time high.

#41) The bottom 40 percent of all income earners in the United States now collectively own less than 1 percent of the nation’s wealth.

#40) In the U.S., the average federal worker now earns about twice as much as the average worker in the private sector.

#39) Back in 1950 each retiree's Social Security benefit was paid for by 16 workers. Today, each retiree's Social Security benefit is paid for by approximately 3.3 workers. By 2025 it is projected that there will be approximately two workers for each retiree.

#38) According to a U.S. Treasury Department report to Congress, the U.S. national debt will top $13.6 trillion this year and climb to an estimated $19.6 trillion by 2015.

#37) The federal government actually has the gall to ask for online donations that will supposedly go towards paying off the national debt.

#36) The Cactus Bug Project at the University Of Florida was allocated $325,394 in economic stimulus funds to study the mating decisions of cactus bugs.

#35) A dinner cruise company in Chicago got nearly $1 million in economic stimulus funds to combat terrorism.

#34) It is being reported that a 6-year-old girl from Ohio is on the "no fly" list maintained by U.S. Homeland Security.

#33) During the first quarter of 2010, the total number of loans that are at least three months past due in the United States increased for the 16th consecutive quarter.

#32) According to a new report, Americans spend twice as much as residents of other developed countries on healthcare, but get lower quality and far less efficiency.

#31) Some experts are warning that the cost of bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could reach as high as $1 trillion.

#30) The FDA has announced that the offspring of cloned animals could be in our food supply right now and that there is nothing that they can do about it.

#29) In May, sales of new homes in the United States dropped to the lowest level ever recorded.

#28) In 1950, the ratio of the average executive's paycheck to the average worker's paycheck was about 30 to 1. Since the year 2000, that ratio has ranged between 300 to 500 to one.

#27) Federal border officials recently said that Mexican drug cartels have not only set up shop on American soil, they are actually maintaining lookout bases in strategic locations in the hills of southern Arizona.

#26) The U.S. government has declared some parts of Arizona off limits to U.S. citizens because of the threat of violence from Mexican drug smugglers.

#25) According to the credit card repayment calculator, if you owe $6000 on a credit card with a 20 percent interest rate and only pay the minimum payment each time, it will take you 54 years to pay off that credit card. During those 54 years you will pay $26,168 in interest rate charges in addition to the $6000 in principal that you are required to pay back.

#24) According to prepared testimony by Goldman Sachs Chief Operating Officer Gary Cohn, Goldman Sachs shorted roughly $615 million of the collateralized debt obligations and residential mortgage-backed securities the firm underwrote since late 2006.

#23) The six biggest banks in the United States now possess assets equivalent to 60 percent of America's gross national product.

#22) Four of the biggest U.S. banks (Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup) had a "perfect quarter" with zero days of trading losses during the first quarter of 2010.

#21) 1.41 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009 - a 32 percent increase over 2008.

#20) BP has hired private security contractors to keep the American people away from oil cleanup sites and nobody seems to care.

#19) Barack Obama is calling for a "civilian expeditionary force" to be sent to Afghanistan and Iraq to help overburdened military troops build infrastructure.

#18) On June 18th, two Christians decided that they would peacefully pass out copies of the gospel of John on a public sidewalk outside a public Arab festival in Dearborn, Michigan and within 3 minutes 8 policemen surrounded them and placed them under arrest.

#17) It is being reported that sales of foreclosed homes in Florida made up nearly 40 percent of all home purchases in the first part of this year.

#16) During a recent interview with Larry King, former first lady Laura Bush revealed to the world that she is actually in favor of legalized gay marriage and a woman's "right" to abortion.

#15) Scientists at Columbia University are warning that the dose of radiation from the new full body security scanners going into airports all over the United States could be up to 20 times higher than originally estimated.

#14) 43 percent of Americans have less than $10,000 saved for retirement.

#13) The FDIC's deposit insurance fund now has negative 20.7 billion dollars in it, which represents a slight improvement from the end of 2009.

#12) The judge that BP is pushing for to hear an estimated 200 lawsuits on the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster gets tens of thousands of dollars a year in oil royalties and is paid travel expenses to industry conferences.

#11) In recent years the U.S. government has spent $2.6 million tax dollars to study the drinking habits of Chinese prostitutes and $400,000 tax dollars to pay researchers to cruise six bars in Buenos Aires, Argentina to find out why gay men engage in risky sexual behavior when drunk.

#10) U.S. officials say that more than three billion dollars in cash (much of it aid money paid for by U.S. taxpayers) has been stolen by corrupt officials in Afghanistan and flown out of Kabul International Airport in recent years.

#9) According to a report by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the baggage check fees collected by U.S. airlines shot up 33% in the first quarter of 2010 to $769 million.

#8) Three California high school students are fighting for their right to show their American patriotism - even on a Mexican holiday - after they were forced to remove their American flag T-shirts on Cinco de Mayo.

#7) Right now, interest on the U.S. national debt and spending on entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare are somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 to 15 percent of GDP. By 2080, they are projected to eat up approximately 50 percent of GDP.

#6) The total of all government, corporate and consumer debt in the United States is now about 360 percent of GDP.

#5) A 6-year-old girl was recently handcuffed and sent to a mental facility after throwing temper tantrums at her elementary school.

#4) In Florida, students have been arrested by police for things as simple as bringing a plastic butter knife to school, throwing an eraser, and drawing a picture of a gun.

#3) School officials in one town in Massachusetts are refusing to allow students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

#2) According to one new study, approximately 21 percent of children in the United States are living below the poverty line in 2010.

#1) Since 1973, more than 50 million babies have been murdered in abortion facilities across the United States.

NASA's 'foremost' mission is now to improve relations with Muslim world...

Fox News

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a recent interview that his "foremost" mission as the head of America's space exploration agency is to improve relations with the Muslim world.

Though international diplomacy would seem well outside NASA's orbit, Bolden said in an interview with Al Jazeera that strengthening those ties was among the top tasks President Obama assigned him. He said better interaction with the Muslim world would ultimately advance space travel.

Full article HERE

At least 4 dead in last 10 days after swimming at oil-tainted Gulf beaches

Florida Oil Spill Law

By oilflorida, on July 6th, 2010

Tragedies are on the rise for swimmers in the Gulf of Mexico. My heart and prayers are with the families who have lost a loved one. Please let your friends and relatives know about the risks to swimmers in the Gulf.

Potential Health Effects of Oil Spill, KRIV Channel 26 Houston (Fox), June 22, 2010:

Dr. Harish Seethamraju . . . → Read More: At least 4 dead in last 10 days after swimming at oil-tainted Gulf beaches

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• BP now using EIGHT types of chemical dispersants in Gulf

• Pulmonary Specialist: “Never seen such enormous amounts of exposure”; Swimming in Gulf waters can cause “respiratory failure”

Senate Dems: Republicans Block Investigative Power for Oil Spill Commission

(maybe the Democrats really want to "get" BP, or maybe this is all staged, with the Senate Republicans playing "bad cop" . . . )

You Tube
July 5, 2010

Senate Democrats today asked unanimous consent to pass legislation that would give the BP Oil Spill Commission the subpoena power it needs to do its job. “Frankly, it’s time we have a vote after so many Republican objections to this commonsense legislation,” said Sen. Robert Menendez. “[This bill] asserts that we want to protect those families, taxpayers, not oil company profits.”

Military Patrols Beach in Panama City

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
July 5, 2010

In the middle of June it was reported that BP hired private security contractor to keep the media away from sites the transnational corporation claims it is cleaning. “BP, in a move destined to go down as one of the bestest public relations moves ever, has apparently hired a private security company to help to keep pesky reporters from covering the unfolding catastrophe on the beaches of the Gulf Coast,” Adam Rawnsley writes for Wired.

	It is no mistake National Incident Commander Thad Allen often wears a military uniform — even though he is retired from the Coast Guard — when he talks with the media.

Last week the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN reported on the government’s effort to keep pesky journalists exercising the First Amendment from reporting on the supposed oil cleanup and the environmental impact of the worst oil disaster in history.

“Under threat of a federal felony, National Incident Commander Thad Allen has banned all media access to boom operation sites and clean up sites,” writes Yobie Benjamin. “Allen’s orders effectively bans all media — print, television, radio and Internet bloggers from talking to to any clean-up worker or to even come close to take pictures or videos of booms, clean-up workers, oil soaked birds, dead dolphins, dead marine life, burned and dead endangered sea turtles.”

In addition to acting as National Incident Commander Thad Allen is a retired United States Coast Guard four-star admiral. The Coast Guard is a branch of the United States armed forces and one of seven uniformed services. It operates under the Department of Homeland Security during peacetime. Allen was appointed deputy to FEMA director Michael D. Brown by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff during Hurricane Katrina.

The presence of the military in the wake of Hurricane Katrina was designed to violate the Posse Comitatus Act and condition the public to accept military integration within Homeland Security and the domestic response to natural disasters (and supposed acts of terrorism).

Allen’s appointment as National Incident Commander by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano gives the federal response to the oil disaster a quasi-military cover. Allen’s decree banning the media has the appearance of a militarily-imposed command. It is no mistake Allen often wears a military uniform — even though he is retired from the Coast Guard — when he talks with the media.

Now citizens are reporting the presence of soldiers on Florida’s beaches. In the video below, several soldiers in combat fatigues were photographed driving vehicles on the beach in Panama City, Florida.

On May 4, up to 17,500 U.S. Army National Guard troops were mobilized by the Pentagon “to help various states with the oil spill,” according to the Associated Press. “Defense Secretary Robert Gates has granted requests to send troops of up to 6,000 by Louisiana, 3,000 by Alabama, 2,500 by Florida and 6,000 by Mississippi.”

The military pictured in the video do not appear to be engaged in clean-up activities. It appears their presence on a crowded beach during a holiday weekend has but one purpose — to acclimate citizens to the prospect of troops patrolling public spaces.

Florida has yet to experience oil washing up on beaches to the extent occurring in Louisiana and other Gulf of Mexico states.

No word if they are enforcing Allen’s command that the media will be arrested for a felony if they dare report the disaster to the American people.

Thomas Jefferson Lives: He's Ron Paul

truthineducation | July 05, 2010



Presidential historian, Doug Wead is interviewed on FOX by Arthel Neville. July 4, 2010. Asked about what Americans influenced our birth he starts talking about Thomas Jefferson and says, "Thomas Jefferson lives, he is Ron Paul." Quoting Jefferson, "The less power we use the greater it becomes."

Join the rEVOLution!!!! http://CampaignforLiberty.com
http://DailyPaul.com

Poison Spreads: Gulf air turns toxic after oil spill 'relief effort'

RussiaToday | July 1, 2010

As Hurricane Alex is sweeping towards the American coastline, it has already disrupted the oil spill containment efforts in the Gulf of Mexico ...and drawn the crude to environmentally sensitive regions. Meanwhile further inland, people are starting to complain about strange symptoms and illnesses that could be related to the clean-up work.

Emergency S.O.S: America Falling to Foreign Bank Takeover - Fourth of July

This Fourth of July, the United States is indeed in peril; it is not only the Gulf Oil Spill, Russian spies and threats of war with Iran which Americans must worry about. Instead it is the quiet but deadly conquest by private, central banks, who lobbied Congress to once again vest new powers in the Federal Reserve and, by all indicators, further weaken the U.S. economy through its future actions.

The financial crisis has indeed been developed in such a way that no nation can ever repay all the debt, and control by global economic forces is all but inevitable.

"This is as big as World War I or World War II," Alex Jones warns.
"What is happening now is bigger than the banking takeover of 1913... it is a worldwide financial coup d'etat."

Drug Raids: Las Vegas Narc on Marijuana Hunt Kills Father-to-Be in Home

StoptheDrugWar.org

6/18/10

A 21-year-old father-to-be was killed last Friday night by a Las Vegas Police Department narcotics officer serving a search warrant for marijuana. Trevon Cole was shot once in the bathroom of his apartment after he made what police described as "a furtive movement."

Trevon Cole with fiance Sequoia Pearce (photo from Sequoia Pearce via the Las Vegas Review-Journal

Police have said Cole was not armed. Police said Monday they recovered an unspecified amount of marijuana and a set of digital scales. A person identifying herself as Cole's fiance, Sequoia Pearce, in the comments section in the article linked to above said no drugs were found.

Pearce, who is nine months pregnant, shared the apartment with Cole and was present during the raid. "I was coming out, and they told me to get on the floor. I heard a gunshot and was trying to see what was happening and where they had shot him," Pearce told KTNV-TV.

According to police, they arrived at about 9:00pm Friday evening at the Mirabella Apartments on East Bonanza Road, and detectives knocked and announced their presence. Receiving no response, detectives knocked the door down and entered the apartment. They found Pearce hiding in a bedroom closet and took her into custody. They then tried to enter a bathroom where Cole was hiding. He made "a furtive movement" toward a detective, who fired a single shot, killing Cole.

"It was during the course of a warrant and as you all know, narcotics warrants are all high-risk warrants," Capt. Patrick Neville of Metro's Robbery-Homicide Bureau said Friday night.

Actually, narcotics warrants are fairly low-risk for police, if the numbers are a guide. With 1.5 million drug arrests per year, an average of just four police officers per year lost their lives conducting them during the past decade. Last year, no police officers were killed during drug raids.

A person identifying himself as Pearce's brother, who said he had spoken with his sister, had a different version of events from the police: "The police bust in the door, with guns drawn to my little sister and her now deceased boyfriend," he wrote. "My sister is 8 1/2 months pregnant, two weeks until the due date. But they bust in the door, irritated they didn't find any weapons or drugs, drag this young man into the restroom to interrogate him and two minutes later my sister hears a shot. They shot him with a shotgun, no weapon. For what? My sister is a baby, this young man is a baby, now my sister is at his house telling his mom her son is dead, and he is barely 21."

Pearce herself told the Las Vegas Review-Journal Monday that police forced her to kneel at gunpoint in the bedroom and that she could see Cole in the bathroom from the reflection of a mirror. According to Pearce, police ordered Cole to get on the ground, he raised his hands and said "Alright, alright," and a shot rang out.

According to Pearce and family members, Cole had no criminal record, had achieved an Associate of Arts degree, and was working as an insurance adjustor while working on a political science degree at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. He was not a drug dealer, Pearce said.

"Trevon was a recreational smoker. He smoked weed, marijuana. That's what he did," she told KTNV-TV. "They didn't have to kill him. We were supposed to get married next year, plan a black and white affair," she said. "He was all I ever knew, we were gonna make it."

LVPD Monday identified the police shooter as narcotics detective Bryan Yant, a 10-year veteran of the force. This is the third time Yant has controversially used his police firearm. In 2002, he shot and killed a robbery suspect, claiming the suspect, who was on the ground, aimed a weapon at him. But although the suspect's gun was found 35 feet away, coroner's inquest took only half an hour to find the shooting justified.

The following year, he shot and wounded a man armed with a knife and a baseball ball who had been hired to kill a dog that had killed another neighborhood dog. Yants claimed the man attacked him and that he mistook the bat for a shotgun, but the man said he was running away from Yants when Yants fired repeatedly, striking him once in the hip. Because there was no death in that case, no inquest was held, but the department's use of force board exonerated Yants.

By Wednesday, anonymous law enforcement "sources" were feeding derogatory information about Cole to at least one local media outlet, KTVN-TV, which was happy to repeat it. "Sources" told the TV station Coles' "furtive movement" was "threatening enough detective Yant fired his AR-15 rifle once, hitting Cole, who had been flushing marijuana down the toilet." "Sources" added that the undercover officers had bought pot from Cole four times, although there was no name on the search warrant. (Coles and Pearce had only moved into the apartment a month earlier.) "Sources" also told the TV station police were extra cautious because undercover officers "were investigating another possible deal with Cole, involving cocaine and guns."

Time will tell if there is a scintilla of fact in anything these "sources" are selling. In the meanwhile, Yants is on paid administrative leave while the department investigates, and the family has hired an attorney to pursue a civil action. And another American has apparently been killed for no good reason in the name of the war on drugs.