Video of the Day – CNN Anchor Wonders Why Police Aren’t Using Water Cannons in Ferguson

The following short video clip is simply incredible. Not just because of the incredibly insensitive comment made by CNN anchor Rosemary Church, but even more so due to the horrified and confused look on the face of black co-anchor, Errol Barnett. While CNN may not be particularly good at covering news or understanding racial sensitivities, you have to give the network credit for providing the world with one of the most memorable clips of 2014.

See for yourself.

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Jamie Dimon’s Big $13 Billion Secret – The Truth Behind the JP Morgan Settlement

“Afterward, West went into the office, where his first meeting of the day was with Holder and James Cole, the deputy attorney general, in Holder’s conference room. Just as he was telling the two men about his call with Dimon, his cellphone rang. It was Dimon again. West took the call, pacing back and forth at the far end of the room. Dimon proposed a meeting on September 26 and assured him that the bank would come back with a significantly increased offer. West agreed to recommend that Holder postpone the filing of Wagner’s complaint and meet with Dimon. That was an unprecedented move. It’s not every day that the attorney general of the United States postpones the filing of a civil complaint against a powerful Wall Street bank at the request of its CEO so that the two sides can cut a deal in private. Whatever was in Wagner’s complaint, Jamie Dimon did not want it to become public knowledge.”

– From William Cohan’s excellent article, Jamie Dimon’s $13 Billion Secret

Those of us who have been following the outrageous, unaccountable theft and criminality of the banking industry for many years reacted in a similar manner to the announcement of a $13 settlement late last year between JP Morgan and the Department of Justice. The first thought that crossed our minds was “no criminal prosecutions, another settlement of course.” Then, once the reality of the size of the settlement sunk in, we couldn’t help but come to the conclusion that no organization is going to cough up $13 billion unless there is some serious criminality at play.

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Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist on Obama: “The Greatest Enemy of Press Freedom in a Generation”

Screen Shot 2014-08-18 at 11.31.29 AMJames Risen is not just a phenomenal reporter, he is also an extremely courageous and honorable American patriot. His case is a very disturbing one, and it has justifiably received a great deal of national attention. In a nutshell, the Obama Administration is threatening the pulitzer prize winning journalist with prison unless he reveals the source behind one of his stories. This is something no journalist worth his salt would ever do, but the fact our own government would resort to threats of incarceration in order to instill fear in the press to prevent it from doing its job is quite telling and extremely dangerous.

Mr. Risen understands this danger more than just about anyone else, which is why he has previously stated he is prepared to go to jail in order to defend the First Amendment from Obama, who he calls the greatest enemy to press freedom in a generation.”

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Human Rights Watch USA – Amnesty International Deploys in America

“We criticize dictators for quelling dissent and silencing protestors with tactics like curfews, we’ll certainly speak out when it’s happening in our own backyard. The people of Ferguson have the right to protest peacefully the lack of accountability for Michael Brown’s shooting.”

– Amnesty International USA’s executive director, Steven W. Hawkins

I’m sure most of you have heard by now of Missouri Governor Jay Nixon’s decision to deploy the National Guard to the unrest in Ferguson, but what you may not have heard is that human rights organization Amnesty International is also on the ground. In fact, it has been there for several days now and is quite disturbed by what is happening.

Specifically,  Amnesty International USA announced on August 14, that it had sent a 12-person human rights delegation to Ferguson. Yet while the organization has been there for several days, it wasn’t until last night that I started seeing considerable media coverage on the subject. Buzzfeed went so far as to say that some of the resources deployed have never before been used in the United States:

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South Carolina Woman Arrested for Cursing in Front of Her Kids

Screen Shot 2014-08-16 at 3.42.16 PMYou gotta love America. In the same week that the entire world witnessed how U.S. polices forces have been transformed into paramilitary organizations, a woman is arrested in a South Carolina supermarket for cursing in front of her children.

Yep, this is not a joke. Apparently, under North Augusta law “disorderly conduct” includes if a person “utters, while in a state of anger, in the presence of another, any bawdy, lewd or obscene words or epithets.” Sounds like one of those ridiculous laws that remains on the books but isn’t really ever enforced. Except in North Augusta, where apparently police have nothing better to do.

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Congressman Hank Johnson of Georgia Will Introduce Bill to Stop the Militarization of Police

Screen Shot 2014-08-15 at 2.53.02 PMAs I pointed out yesterday in my detailed thoughts on Ferguson, President Obama has once again proved his irrelevance and uselessness by failing to say anything meaningful on the disturbing events of the past week. In fact, he only decided to address it personally and publicly yesterday after being heavily criticized for issuing a press release about the party he attended in Martha’s Vineyard as civilians in Missouri clashed with a paramilitary police force.

Despite Obama’s complete apathy, there are some Congressmen forcefully speaking out against the trend from “both sides” of the increasingly meaningless Republican and Democrat divide. The most noteworthy thus far appears to be Democrat Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia’s 4th Congressional district. In fact, he has sent a Dear Colleague letter to fellow representatives of his intention to introduce the Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act in September when Congress returns from recess.

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“A Good Time Was Had By All” – The Obamas Dance the Night Away as Ferguson, Missouri Burns

Screen Shot 2014-08-14 at 10.32.19 AM“My administration has been closely monitoring the situation in Egypt, and I know that we will be learning more tomorrow when day breaks.  As the situation continues to unfold, our first concern is preventing injury or loss of life.  So I want to be very clear in calling upon the Egyptian authorities to refrain from any violence against peaceful protestors.

The people of Egypt have rights that are universal.  That includes the right to peaceful assembly and association, the right to free speech, and the ability to determine their own destiny.  These are human rights.  And the United States will stand up for them everywhere.”

– U.S. President Barack Obama, January 28, 2011 (official statement here).

The events in Ferguson, Missouri went from what could have been just another all too common and tragic incident in which an unarmed black man is killed by an overly aggressive and unprofessional police force, to what may be a historically significant event in American history. So how did this transformation occur and what does it mean going forward? Those are the two questions I intend to address in this post.

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“360 Burgers per Hour” – Meet the Burger Flipping Robot that Could Change Fast Food Forever

Screen Shot 2014-08-13 at 11.14.54 AMPoliticians aside, I think that the vast majority of people pushing for a higher minimum wage are well intentioned. A good example of this is Nick Hanaeur in his recent article about how pitchfork’s are coming for the 0.01%. His article garnered an incredible amount of attention, and rightly so, but was in my opinion greatly lacking in solutions. While he accurately identified the perilousness of the current transformation of America into an undemocratic oligarchy, his primary solution revolved around raising the minimum wage. This is a superficial and largely meaningless answer to a symptom of a very structural problem.

If you want to solve structural problems you need structural solutions, and raising the minimum wage is not a structural solution. In case you missed it, I outlined my thoughts on the matter in the post: The Pitchforks are Coming…– A Dire Warning from a Member of the 0.01%.

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Picture of the Day – Iraq or the United States? A Photo from Ferguson, Mo

I’m sure all of you have heard about what is going on in Furguson, Mo by now. Nevertheless, often times a picture says a thousand words. Here’s that picture: h/t to @radleybalko for the photo. In Liberty, Michael Krieger Like this post? Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G Follow me on Twitter.

Video of the Day – Man Easily Crosses U.S.-Mexico Border Dressed as Osama bin Laden

Screen Shot 2014-08-12 at 12.26.52 PMI’m not posting this video to drum up fear of terrorism or anything like that. Regular readers know that I think the “war on terror” is a total sham and fraud. I believe the power structure has been intentionally using fear of terrorism to eliminate the civil liberties and freedom of the American public. Washington D.C.’s apathy at the porousness of the U.S.-Mexican border serves as further proof that the entire surveillance state that has been put in place to supposedly stop terrorist attacks has an ulterior motive.

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