Welcome to POLICE STATE USA 2012, courtesy Pres Obama.

I have been watching this develop for a while. Commentators who are civil rights oriented and have a view of history have been warning about it. Now it is here. Pres Obama has signed away a huge chunk of citizens rights and protection under the name of "Defense". It is so similar to what happened under Hitler that it is scary. God help the USA.

Steve B
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THE INAUGURATION OF POLICE STATE USA 2012. Obama Signs the “National Defense Authorization Act " By Michel Chossudovsky

URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=28441

Global Research, January 1, 2012

With minimal media debate, at a time when Americans were celebrating the New Year with their loved ones,  the “National Defense Authorization Act " H.R. 1540 was signed into law by President Barack Obama. The actual signing took place in Hawaii on the 31st of December. According to Obama's "signing statement", the threat of Al Qaeda to the Security of the Homeland constitutes a justification for repealing fundamental rights and freedoms, with a stroke of the pen.  The controversial signing statement (see transcript below) is a smokscreen. Obama says he disagrees with the NDAA but he signs it into law. "[I have] serious reservations with certain provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation, and prosecution of suspected terrorists." Obama implements "Police State USA", while acknowledging that certain provisions of  the NDAA are unacceptable. If such is the case, he could have either vetoed the NDAA (H.R. 1540) or sent it back to Congress with his objections. The “National Defense Authorization Act " (H.R. 1540) is Obama's New Year's "Gift" to the American People.  He justifies the signing of the NDAA as a means to combating terrorism, as part of a counter-terrorism agenda.  But in substance, any American opposed to the policies of the US government can --under the provisions of the NDAA-- be labelled a "suspected terrorist" and arrested under military detention. "Moreover, I want to clarify that my Administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens. Indeed, I believe that doing so would break with our most important traditions and values as a Nation. My Administration will interpret section 1021 in a manner that ensures that any detention it authorizes complies with the Constitution, the laws of war, and all other applicable law." Barack Obama is a lawyer (a graduate from Harvard Law School). He knows fair well that his signing statement --which parrots his commitment to democracy-- is purely cosmetic. It has no force of law. The signing statement does not in any way invalidate or modify the actual signing by President Obama of NDAA (H.R. 1540) into law.  "Democratic Dictatorship" in America The “National Defense Authorization Act " (H.R. 1540) repeals the US Constitution. While the facade of democracy prevails, supported by media propaganda, the American republic is fractured. The tendency is towards the establishment of a totalitarian State, a military government dressed in civilian clothes. The passage of  NDAA is intimately related to Washington's global military agenda. The military pursuit of Worldwide hegemony also requires the "Militarization of the Homeland", namely the demise of the American Republic. In substance, the signing statement is intended to mislead Americans and provide a "democratic face" to the President as well as to the unfolding post-911 Military Police State apparatus. The "most important traditions and values" in derogation of the US Constitution have indeed been repealed, effective on New Year's Day, January 1st 2012. The NDAA authorises the arbitrary and indefinite military detention of American citizens. The Lessons of History This New Year's Eve December 31, 2011 signing of the NDAA will indelibly go down as a landmark in American history. If we are to put this in a comparative historical context, the relevant provisions of the NDAA HR 1540 are, in many regards, comparable to those contained in the "Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State", commonly known as the "Reichstag Fire Decree" (Reichstagsbrandverordnung) enacted in Germany under the Weimar Republic on 27 February 1933 by President (Field Marshal) Paul von Hindenburg. Implemented in the immediate wake of the Reichstag Fire (which served as a pretext), this February 1933 decree was used to repeal civil liberties including the right of Habeas Corpus. Article 1 of the February 1933 "Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State" suspended civil liberties under the pretext of "protecting" democracy: "Thus, restrictions on personal liberty, on the right of free expression of opinion, including freedom of the press, on the right of association and assembly, and violations of the privacy of postal, telegraphic, and telephonic communications, and warrants for house-searches, orders for confiscations, as well as restrictions on property rights are permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed." (Art. 1, emphasis added) Constitutional democracy was nullified in Germany through the signing of a presidential decree. The Reichstag Fire decree was followed in March 1933 by "The Enabling Act" (Ermächtigungsgesetz) which allowed (or enabled) the Nazi government of Chancellor Adolf Hitler to invoke de facto dictatorial powers. These two decrees enabled the Nazi regime to introduce legislation which was in overt contradiction with the 1919 Weimar Constitution. The following year, upon the death of president Hindenburg in 1934, Hitler "declared the office of President vacant"  and took over as Fuerer, the combined function's of Chancellor and Head of State. The Reichstag Fire, Berlin, February 1933 Germany's President (Field Marshal) Paul von Hindenburg Obama's New Year's Gift to the American People To say that January 1st 2012 is "A Sad Day for America" is a gross understatement. The signing of NDAA (HR 1540) into law is tantamount to the militarization of law enforcement, the repeal of the Posse Comitatus Act and the Inauguration in 2012 of Police State USA. As in Weimar Germany, fundamental rights and freedoms are repealed under the pretext that democracy is threatened and must be protected. The NDAA is "Obama's New Year's Gift" to the American People. ... Michel Chossudovsky, Montreal, Canada, January, 1st 2012 Today, January 1st, 2012, our thoughts are with the American people.

The Encirclement of Russia: U.S.-NATO Interceptor Missile Anaconda Loop Around Russia

I have been saying for some time now that countries formerly not solidly aligned with the USA or Russian after the iron curtain collapsed would be pushed into one of these major camps as time passed. Russia has been trying to regain its might by forming alliances and moving west. NATO and USA have been pushing east. What I did not see clearly however is that USA has been encircling Russia with a missile defense barrier. Don't believe this is just about defense, these missiles and facilities will have the capacity to be used for 'first strike' also. Read on, and marvel at how far the USA has progressed with this.

Steve B
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-"Their task is to neutralize our nuclear weapons and push us out of the major areas of the world's oceans. In this case - even from the Black Sea.
Turkey, of course, has its own views on the missile defense system, but Romania is a pawn in the hands of the U.S., and its elite exist only because of American support. The same can be said about Poland. As a result, there is a chain of U.S. missile defense sites along the Russian border, stretching from Turkey through Romania and Poland to Norway."

The U.S. and Romania signed an agreement on deployment of the elements of a U.S. missile defense system. Earlier it was reported that some elements of the EUROPRO system will appear in Turkey. Everything indicates that the U.S. military machine and NATO are inexorably approaching the Russian borders.


The US-Romanian agreement was signed on September 13 during a visit to Washington of Romanian President Traian Basescu. The document was signed by the foreign ministers of the two countries - Hillary Clinton and Theodore Baconschi. Later Barack Obama met with the participants of the talks, although initially he was not planning to meet with Basescu.

According to the document, by 2015 elements of a U.S. ground-based missile defense system will appear at the former Romanian Air Force Base in Deveselu. They will include a radar (SAR) complex Aegis, an operational control center, and mobile missile batteries with Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor missiles. Approximately 200 U.S. military personnel will reside at the base, but if necessary this number will be increased to 500.

Nothing was said with regard to the fact of who the missile base will be directed against. Earlier, U.S. officials and Basescu had repeatedly reiterated that the missile defense is not directed against Russia. However, recently there was another event that made the Russian side doubt that statement.


Some time ago the United States and Turkey announced that Turkish territory would host an early warning radar system, EUROPRO. Spokesman of the Turkish Foreign Ministry Selcuk Unal said that the decision to implement a projected system of protection against missile attacks by the U.S. and NATO was adopted at the Lisbon summit in 2010. Turkey has actively contributed to these original plans and made a significant contribution to the work. He added that there have been negotiations on the extent of Turkey's participation in this system, which have finally entered into the final stage.

According to the Turkish diplomat, the radar will be located in the southeastern part of the country. This will allow "scanning" the area with a radius of several thousand kilometers. Turkey insists that the new object is not directed against anyone, especially against Russia. This will only allow the country to contribute to the development of a new security system of NATO.


According to the American plans, Turkey will first host a mobile radar detection system AN/TPY-2. By 2015 there will be a new sea-and land-based modification of the SM-3. Subsequently, the system will be improved further so that it successfully reflects the threat against the United States and Europe from missiles of medium and long range.

The appearance of the two similar objects in the immediate proximity of Russian borders could not but worry the leadership of the country. In his statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed the need to sign a special agreement clearly stipulating that the elements of a U.S. missile defense are not directed against Russia. "The developments only increase the urgency of the need to obtain solid, legally binding assurances from the U.S. and NATO that missile defense facilities being deployed in Europe are not directed against Russia's strategic nuclear forces," commented MFA.


"The agreement with Romania to deploy a ground-based version of SM-3 missile system and Aegis at the former air base at Deveselu, as well as the recent announcement of the impending deployment of the U.S. forward based anti-missile radar AN/TPY-2 in Turkey, suggests that the implementation of U.S. and European missile plans is quick and smooth. This is happening amid a lack of progress in the NATO-Russian and Russian-American dialogue on the subject of missile defense," the Ministry commented.

"Scheduled for deployment in Romania by 2015, regardless of the evolution of real missile challenges,a  missile defense base is another link in the strategic infrastructure of the global missile defense system developed by the U.S. The NATO-Russia Council needs to develop effective and targeted decisions about the purpose and architecture of the missile defense in the region", stressed the Russian Foreign Ministry.


It may be added that the objects in Romania and Turkey are not the only ones of this kind. The United States and Poland agreed to deploy Patriot interceptor missiles at a Polish base in the town of Morag. The distance from this object to Kaliningrad is no more than 100 kilometers. As in the case of Romania, the Polish authorities also have repeatedly stated that Russian missile defense is not threatened. Initially it was planned to place these missiles near Warsaw, but they were eventually "pushed" to the Russian border. 
Finally, further north there is an American radar in Norway, in the town of Varde, located near the Russian border.

Although officially its function is to monitor space debris, the Russian military and diplomats suspect that it was placed in violation of the ABM Treaty of 1972. Russia conducts regular talks on the operation of this facility with both the U.S. and Norway.

What does the emergence of a chain of objects of a U.S. missile defense system at the Russian borders mean? Military expert and senior vice president of the Academy of Geopolitical Issues Konstantin Sivkov spoke on this subject in an interview with Pravda.ru:
 "The U.S. and NATO continue the policy of encirclement of Russia with their bases in the framework of the project 'Anaconda loop.' Our country is still perceived by the Americans as the main strategic adversary, and they do not even make any secret of it. 

"Their task is to neutralize our nuclear weapons and push us out of the major areas of the world's oceans. In this case - even from the Black Sea.
Turkey, of course, has its own views on the missile defense system, but Romania is a pawn in the hands of the U.S., and its elite exist only because of American support. The same can be said about Poland. As a result, there is a chain of U.S. missile defense sites along the Russian border, stretching from Turkey through Romania and Poland to Norway."



source: http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=26595

US-Australia treaty: 'Cyber is the battlefield of the future,' Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says

Freedom of speech is a vital thing. It has been increasingly legislated against by supposed democracies such as USA, Canada, Australia & N.Z. 

These countries also conduct extensive siphoning and data mining of communications, including fixed & mobile phones, email and other internet based activities. There is no privacy.

In addition to removing privacy, there are of course moves to limit free speech and access to the Internet. I support moves to deal with pornography, but not at the expense of freedom of speech. Time has repeatedly proved that governments cannot be trusted with this kind of power.

With that said, this is an interesting article about US/AU cooperation on cyber security. It concerns me that AU enters into significant international agreements without consultation and approval from the people the government is supposed to serve.

Steve B=========

By Lolita Baldor

updated 9/14/2011 8:44:22 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO — U.S. and Australian officials have decided to include cooperation on cyber security as part of their defense treaty, marking the first time the Obama administration has formally carved out that kind of partnership with a country outside NATO.

The agreement is particularly critical considering the ongoing cyber threat emanating from the Pacific region, especially China and North Korea. It also reflects the Obama administration's stated goals earlier this year to work aggressively with other nations to combat cyber crime, improve law enforcement cooperation against cyber terrorists and hackers, and create broad international policies to help make the Internet more secure.
"Cyber is the battlefield of the future," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday. "We are all going to have to work very hard not only to defend against cyber attacks, but to be aggressive with regards to cyber attacks as well."
The best way to accomplish that goal is to work with allies such as Australia, Panetta told reporters traveling with to California. Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton were to meet Thursday in San Francisco with their Australian counterparts for their annual talks on security cooperation.
Cyber security is just one element of the efforts by U.S. and Australian officials to expand their defense cooperation in the tumultuous Pacific region, where both China and North Korea have moved aggressively to increase their military posture.
Officials expect to announce the expanded cooperation during the bilateral meetings.
U.S. and Australian leaders are also expected to make progress on an agreement to allow the United States to expand its military presence in Australia, including positioning U.S. equipment there, increasing American access to bases, and conducting more joint exercises and training. The plan could allow the U.S. to use port facilities.

U.S. officials said they are not looking to establish any American bases in Australia, but instead want increased military access and cooperation that will allow the U.S. to broaden its posture in the restive region.
The decision to add cyber space to the two nations' bilateral treaty, along with every other warfighting domain, would clarify that the two allies will work together in the event of a computer-related attack.
A senior defense official said the move would underscore that the existing security cooperation between the U.S. and Australia would apply in a digital attack, just as it would in a bombing or other kinetic assault. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision has not yet been announced.
NATO allies have already included cyber space in their security framework.
While the problem of cyber threats from China is not new, the Pentagon's 2010 report on the state of Beijing's military publicly laid out those worries in greater detail. It said that numerous computer systems around the world, including those owned by the U.S. government, continued to be the target of intrusions that appear to have originated within the People's Republic of China.
Those attacks, the report said, "focused on exfiltrating information, some of which could be of strategic or military utility." It warned that the Chinese military is using civilian computer experts in clandestine cyber attacks aimed at American companies and government agencies.
Cyber security experts, meanwhile, have said that North Korea or its sympathizers were likely responsible for a cyber attack against South Korean government and banking websites earlier this year.
An analysis by computer security software maker McAfee Inc. concluded that the attack that targeted more than two dozen sites in South Korea was a type of reconnaissance mission to see how quickly South Korea's government detected the problem and recovered from it.
The McAfee report also said the attack appears to have been linked to the massive computer-based assault in 2009 that brought down U.S. government Internet sites
Cyber criminals, unfriendly nation states and terrorists are routinely using the Internet to steal money, ferret out classified secrets and technology, and attempt to disturb or destroy critical networks. Officials say they must work more closely together to protect government and corporate networks, including those that control critical infrastructure, ranging from the electrical grid and telecommunications networks to nuclear power plants and transportation systems.
The White House released its international cyber security strategy in May, as part of an effort to improve cooperation on global cyber crime and set guidelines for Internet oversight.
Cyber security experts have argued that the Internet cannot become a safer place until nations implement international agreements that better define and regulate cyber crime, provide oversight of the Internet, and set out new standards and rules for industry as it increasingly moves its business into the largely ungoverned online world.