And then you see shit like this:

That’s right. I’m not kidding. Britney’s sister is more important.

On November 26, 2007 the Venezuelan government broadcast and circulated a confidential memo from the US embassy to the CIA which is devastatingly revealing of US clandestine operations and which will influence the referendum this Sunday, December 2, 2007.

The memo sent by an embassy official, Michael Middleton Steere, was addressed to the Director of Central Intelligence, Michael Hayden. The memo was entitled ‘Advancing to the Last Phase of Operation Pincer’ and updates the activity by a CIA unit with the acronym ‘HUMINT’ (Human Intelligence) which is engaged in clandestine action to destabilize the forth-coming referendum and coordinate the civil military overthrow of the elected Chavez government. The Embassy-CIA’s polls concede that 57 per cent of the voters approved of the constitutional amendments proposed by Chavez but also predicted a 60 per cent abstention.

The memo then recommends that Operation Pincer (OP) [Operación Tenaza] be operationalized. OP involves a two-pronged strategy of impeding the referendum, rejecting the outcome at the same time as calling for a ‘no’ vote. The run up to the referendum includes running phony polls, attacking electoral officials and running propaganda through the private media accusing the government of fraud and calling for a ‘no’ vote. Contradictions, the report emphasizes, are of no matter.

The CIA-Embassy reports internal division and recriminations among the opponents of the amendments including several defections from their ‘umbrella group’. The key and most dangerous threats to democracy raised by the Embassy memo point to their success in mobilizing the private university students (backed by top administrators) to attack key government buildings including the Presidential Palace, Supreme Court and the National Electoral Council. The Embassy is especially full of praise for the ex-Maoist ‘Red Flag’ group for its violent street fighting activity. Ironically, small Trotskyist sects and their trade unionists join the ex-Maoists in opposing the constitutional amendments. The Embassy, while discarding their ‘Marxist rhetoric’, perceives their opposition as fitting in with their overall strategy.

Hmmm… didn’t the U.S.A. hate communism? Why are they recruiting “ex-”communists to do their dirty job?

Apart from the deep involvement of the US, the primary organization of the Venezuelan business elite (FEDECAMARAS), as well as all the major private television, radio and newspaper outlets have been engaged in a campaign of fear and intimidation campaign. Food producers, wholesale and retail distributors have created artificial shortages of basic food items and have provoked large scale capital flight to sow chaos in the hopes of reaping a ‘no’ vote.

Oh God, let’s not turn this into another Allende, please!

When the fuck will the U.S.A. stop meddling in other countries’ affairs?

And it is happening, no doubt about that. In the “land of the free and home of the brave” — the U.S.A. Directly in the Defense Authorization Bill for 2008 (HR 1585), TruthNews has found some very troublesome words:

Section 1621 of the bill describes how they intend to increase the number of people in USNORTHCOM. Below is the appropriate subsection in which the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will submit a review of civilian and military positions within USNORTHCOM with the goal of increasing the number of reservists and civilians employed by USNORTHCOM. Clearly, they are anticipating massive civil unrest in this country if they intend on increasing the manpower available to USNORTHCOM.

USNORTHCOM is the U.S. Northern Command. Of the several U.S. commands around the globe, USNORTHCOM’s area of responsibility is none other than American turf. Why aren’t those soldiers placed under CENTCOM’s command where the “action” is? Because they need the soldiers to shoot U.S. citizens dead for what’s coming. In total disregard of the ancient Posse Comitatus Act (Google it up — I don’t feel like linking to the Wikipedia page today).

All the political tools for martial law are already in place; it’s all there: massive, newly built (by Halliburton) prisons to hold tens of thousands of dissidents, a plan to dismantle Congress and the courts (in another Executive order) under the pretense of “continuation of Government”, the secret No-Fly List with tens of thousands of enemies of the regime already on it. It’s just a matter of flicking the switch, and that switch is under the finger of the itinerary U.S President. The most convenient time to trigger it would be right before elections.

And this is all happening at the most unpleasant juncture of all: the collapse of the U.S. dollar. It’s been falling steadily in the last months, but it’s getting worse by the day. Don’t believe me? Here’s something noteworthy: the dollar fell 0.5%… in 5 minutes!

Whether you want to accept it or not, U.S. citizens will stage massive, violent upheavals once (note: I didn’t say “if”) the currency collapses. Still don’t think The People will explode in seething anger once they lose their homes, jobs, cars and good health? Imagine L.A.’s unrest during the last civil riots, multiplied throughout the whole country, and you might get an idea of how bad things will get.

If I were a bookie, I would start collecting bets and using that money right now to place my own, lump-sum bet on the possibility that the U.S. is months away from martial law and generalized military control. Of course… not in my wildest dreams would I accept dollars — instead, I would most likely collect bets from all incumbents in either Euros or solid gold.

I seriously hope this won’t happen. Because, if it does, it’ll basically be poor people shooting and smashing one another’s heads with baseball bats, and citizens that once were once fully free (they no longer are, by the way) will be completely powerless to stop the madness. And, of course, robber barons — those who have already wrecked the U.S. economy — will be safe and protected, secluded in their McMansions and guarded by private mercenaries, or in foreign land, happily enjoying the proceeds of their misdeeds.

p align=”left”>Or at least Correa seems to think so.  And why not?  Here’s an excerpt from an article in Reuters UK:

NAPLES (Reuters) - Ecuador’s leftist President Rafael Correa said Washington must let him open a military base in Miami if the United States wants to keep using an air base on Ecuador’s Pacific coast. Correa has refused to renew Washington’s lease on the Manta air base, set to expire in 2009. U.S. officials say it is vital for counter-narcotics surveillance operations on Pacific drug-running routes.

“We’ll renew the base on one condition: that they let us put a base in Miami — an Ecuadorean base,” Correa said in an interview during a trip to Italy. “If there’s no problem having foreign soldiers on a country’s soil, surely they’ll let us have an Ecuadorean base in the United States.” The U.S. embassy to Ecuador says on its Web site that anti-narcotics flights from Manta gathered information behind more than 60 percent of illegal drug seizures on the high seas of the Eastern Pacific last year.

Rather interesting idea, if you ask me.  It all goes along the lines of quid pro quo, you know.  You may want your pound of flesh, but you ain’t getting a single drop of blood — it’s only fair, isn’t it?

Come to think of it — how convenient and self-serving is the last paragraph of my quotation, right?  It almost sounds like it had been written by the masterminds of this occupation.

Watch the video closely. Andrew was tasered gratuituously. He was already subdued and (I don’t get to see it from the angle but) you can hear the cuffs snap. So why did the cops tase him?

Right at the end of the video you can see why — the fat cop at the right is having fun:

This ugly fuck is having fun while the student screams in agony. Now, I don’t have anything against having fun on the job, but do you think it’s right and fair to have fun inflicting pain at the expense of other people?

I may never be able to convince you of how wrong the police acted here, but it’s plain to see for anyone who won’t willfully ignore it. Well, I guess empathy is dead.

• 29 have been accused of spousal abuse
• 7 have been arrested for fraud
• 19 have been accused of writing bad checks
• 117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses
• 3 have done time for assault
• 71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
• 14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
• 8 have been arrested for shoplifting
• 21 are currently defendants in lawsuits
• 84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year

Can you guess which organization this is?

Give up yet?

It’s the 535 members of the United States Congress. The same group that cranks out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of us in line.

Shamelessly stolen from here.

It’s times like these when I wonder aloud: democracy doesn’t work. The problem is fascism, absolutism, and other forms of government don’t either. What are we to do? Are they really that stupid that we can’t seem to get decent guys elected?

And then I see videos like these:

And everything falls into place in my head, and I just want to cry. Yes, they really are that stupid. Mike Judge got it right on Idiocracy.