Is Homeland Security Preparing for Next Wall Street Collapse

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Is Homeland Security Preparing for Next Wall Street Collapse

Postby seemslikeadream » Tue Oct 08, 2013 9:33 am

no Alex is not writing for CounterPunch :P

OCTOBER 07, 2013

The Last Desperate Thrashings of a Dinosaur

Is Homeland Security Preparing for the Next Wall Street Collapse?
by ELLEN BROWN
Reports are that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is engaged in a massive, covert military buildup. An article in the Associated Press in February confirmed an open purchase order by DHS for 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition. According to an op-ed in Forbes, that’s enough to sustain an Iraq-sized war for over twenty years. DHS has also acquired heavily armored tanks, which have been seen roaming the streets. Evidently somebody in government is expecting some serious civil unrest. The question is, why?

Recently revealed statements by former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the height of the banking crisis in October 2008 could give some insights into that question. An article on BBC News on September 21, 2013, drew from an explosive autobiography called Power Trip by Brown’s spin doctor Damian McBride, who said the prime minister was worried that law and order could collapse during the financial crisis. McBride quoted Brown as saying:

If the banks are shutting their doors, and the cash points aren’t working, and people go to Tesco [a grocery chain] and their cards aren’t being accepted, the whole thing will just explode.

If you can’t buy food or petrol or medicine for your kids, people will just start breaking the windows and helping themselves.

And as soon as people see that on TV, that’s the end, because everyone will think that’s OK now, that’s just what we all have to do. It’ll be anarchy. That’s what could happen tomorrow.

How to deal with that threat? Brown said, “We’d have to think: do we have curfews, do we put the Army on the streets, how do we get order back?”

McBride wrote in his book Power Trip, “It was extraordinary to see Gordon so totally gripped by the danger of what he was about to do, but equally convinced that decisive action had to be taken immediately.” He compared the threat to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Fear of this threat was echoed in September 2008 by US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, who reportedly warned that the US government might have to resort to martial law if Wall Street were not bailed out from the credit collapse.

In both countries, martial law was avoided when their legislatures succumbed to pressure and bailed out the banks. But many pundits are saying that another collapse is imminent; and this time, governments may not be so willing to step up to the plate.

The Next Time WILL Be Different

What triggered the 2008 crisis was a run, not in the conventional banking system, but in the “shadow” banking system, a collection of non-bank financial intermediaries that provide services similar to traditional commercial banks but are unregulated. They include hedge funds, money market funds, credit investment funds, exchange-traded funds, private equity funds, securities broker dealers, securitization and finance companies. Investment banks and commercial banks may also conduct much of their business in the shadows of this unregulated system

The shadow financial casino has only grown larger since 2008; and in the next Lehman-style collapse, government bailouts may not be available. According to President Obama in his remarks on the Dodd-Frank Act on July 15, 2010, “Because of this reform, . . . there will be no more taxpayer funded bailouts – period.”

Governments in Europe are also shying away from further bailouts. The Financial Stability Board (FSB) in Switzerland has therefore required the systemically risky banks to devise “living wills” setting forth what they will do in the event of insolvency. The template established by the FSB requires them to “bail in” their creditors; and depositors, it turns out, are the largest class of bank creditor. (For fuller discussion, see my earlier article here.)

When depositors cannot access their bank accounts to get money for food for the kids, they could well start breaking store windows and helping themselves. Worse, they might plot to overthrow the financier-controlled government. Witness Greece, where increasing disillusionment with the ability of the government to rescue the citizens from the worst depression since 1929 has precipitated riots and threats of violent overthrow.

Fear of that result could explain the massive, government-authorized spying on American citizens, the domestic use of drones, and the elimination of due process and of “posse comitatus” (the federal law prohibiting the military from enforcing “law and order” on non-federal property). Constitutional protections are being thrown out the window in favor of protecting the elite class in power.

The Looming Debt Ceiling Crisis

The next crisis on the agenda appears to be the October 17th deadline for agreeing on a federal budget or risking default on the government’s loans. It may only be a coincidence, but two large-scale drills are scheduled to take place the same day, the “Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drill” and the “Quantum Dawn 2 Cyber Attack Bank Drill.” According to a Bloomberg news clip on the bank drill, the attacks being prepared for are from hackers, state-sponsored espionage, and organized crime (financial fraud). One interviewee stated, “You might experience that your online banking is down . . . . You might experience that you can’t log in.” It sounds like a dress rehearsal for the Great American Bail-in.

Ominous as all this is, it has a bright side. Bail-ins and martial law can be seen as the last desperate thrashings of a dinosaur. The exploitative financial scheme responsible for turning millions out of their jobs and their homes has reached the end of the line. Crisis in the current scheme means opportunity for those more sustainable solutions waiting in the wings.

Other countries faced with a collapse in their debt-based borrowed currencies have survived and thrived by issuing their own. When the dollar-pegged currency collapsed in Argentina in 2001, the national government returned to issuing its own pesos; municipal governments paid with “debt-canceling bonds” that circulated as currency; and neighborhoods traded with community currencies. After the German currency collapsed in the 1920s, the government turned the economy around in the 1930s by issuing “MEFO” bills that circulated as currency. When England ran out of gold in 1914, the government issued “Bradbury pounds” similar to the Greenbacks issued by Abraham Lincoln during the US Civil War.

Today our government could avoid the debt ceiling crisis by doing something similar: it could simply mint some trillion dollar coins and deposit them in an account. That alternative could be pursued by the Administration immediately, without going to Congress or changing the law, as discussed in my earlier article here. It need not be inflationary, since Congress could still spend only what it passed in its budget. And if Congress did expand its budget for infrastructure and job creation, that would actually be good for the economy, since hoarding cash and paying down loans have significantly shrunk the circulating money supply.

Peer-to-peer Trading and Public Banks

At the local level, we need to set up an alternative system that provides safety for depositors, funds small and medium-sized businesses, and serves the needs of the community.

Much progress has already been made on that front in the peer-to-peer economy. In a September 27th article titled “Peer-to-Peer Economy Thrives as Activists Vacate the System,” Eric Blair reports that the Occupy Movement is engaged in a peaceful revolution in which people are abandoning the established system in favor of a “sharing economy.” Trading occurs between individuals, without taxes, regulations or licenses, and in some cases without government-issued currency.

Peer-to-peer trading happens largely on the Internet, where customer reviews rather than regulation keep sellers honest. It started with eBay and Craigslist and has grown exponentially since. Bitcoin is a private currency outside the prying eyes of regulators. Software is being devised that circumvents NSA spying. Bank loans are being shunned in favor of crowdfunding. Local food co-ops are also a form of opting out of the corporate-government system.

Peer-to-peer trading works for local exchange, but we also need a way to protect our dollars, both public and private. We need dollars to pay at least some of our bills, and businesses need them to acquire raw materials. We also need a way to protect our public revenues, which are currently deposited and invested in Wall Street banks that have heavy derivatives exposure.

To meet those needs, we can set up publicly-owned banks on the model of the Bank of North Dakota, currently our only state-owned depository bank. The BND is mandated by law to receive all the state’s deposits and to serve the public interest. Ideally, every state would have one of these “mini-Feds.” Counties and cities could have them as well. For more information, see http://PublicBankingInstitute.org.

Preparations for martial law have been reported for decades, and it hasn’t happened yet. Hopefully, we can sidestep that danger by moving into a saner, more sustainable system that makes military action against American citizens unnecessary.



The White Man’s Last Tantrum?
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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Re: Is Homeland Security Preparing for Next Wall Street Coll

Postby brainpanhandler » Tue Oct 08, 2013 12:17 pm

It may only be a coincidence, but two large-scale drills are scheduled to take place the same day, the “Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drill” and the “Quantum Dawn 2 Cyber Attack Bank Drill.”


I could find no evidence that a Quantum Dawn 2 Cyber Attack Bank Drill is scheduled for oct 17 2013. Anyone else?
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Re: Is Homeland Security Preparing for Next Wall Street Coll

Postby Wombaticus Rex » Tue Oct 08, 2013 12:20 pm

seemslikeadream » Tue Oct 08, 2013 8:33 am wrote:no Alex is not writing for CounterPunch :P


Ellen Brown is not a huge improvement over AJ.

Quantum Dawn 2 already happened, I watched it go down from the office this summer.
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Re: Is Homeland Security Preparing for Next Wall Street Coll

Postby brainpanhandler » Tue Oct 08, 2013 12:30 pm

Wombaticus Rex » Tue Oct 08, 2013 11:20 am wrote:
seemslikeadream » Tue Oct 08, 2013 8:33 am wrote:no Alex is not writing for CounterPunch :P


Ellen Brown is not a huge improvement over AJ.


I'd never heard of her until I was looking at this article yesterday. Could find no evidence that the cyber attack bank drill was scheduled for oct 17 2013. Seemed like a sloppy error to make. I looked at her blog and smelled something fishy. A bit more looking around and I decided it was not worth my effort.

This:
http://www.garynorth.com/public/department141.cfm

was amusing though.

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Re: Is Homeland Security Preparing for Next Wall Street Coll

Postby seemslikeadream » Tue Oct 08, 2013 12:37 pm

wow Huffington Post will let anyone in these days...I wonder when I can expect to see a InfoWars youtube vid there

and Common Dreams...what next? TruthDig? Max Keiser? :shock:

et tu Michael Moore?

I guess I am a DNCer :P

or am I an Alex Joneser...so confusing these days :jumping:


although I have been called much worse here lately so no biggie :)
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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Re: Is Homeland Security Preparing for Next Wall Street Coll

Postby elfismiles » Wed Oct 16, 2013 5:06 pm


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saumVxbc_p8


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hhtHUvylQA

Role players help troops train for riot control
Posted on October 16, 2013
by Rose L Thayer

After a dozen years of training to go into combat zones filled with enemy combatants, some soldiers are now training to manage themselves in peaceful situations involving civilians.

Troopers with Charlie Company, 2nd Squadron, 38th Cavalry Regiment, 504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, underwent crowd and riot control training last week at Fort Hood’s Elijah urban training site.

“A lot of the training we are doing now, Armywide, is full-spectrum operations,” said 1st Lt. Steven Shaw, the officer-in-charge of the three-day training event, which ended Thursday in an exercise using role players as rioters.

“This teaches them how to react to a situation in a different way,” he said. “They are keeping themselves safe and mitigating any danger for the people on the other side.”

The potential use for crowd control ranges from peaceful protesters to full on riots to a scenario such as Hurricane Katrina, where thousands of people were being relocated.

Sgt. 1st Class Nicholas Ford, a platoon sergeant, said his unit was sent to New Orleans, La., in 2005 for hurricane relief, and this sort of training would have been helpful.

“I had never dealt with civilian areas where people live,” he said. “We were not there to break in doors, we were there to help. ... How can we help while still accomplishing our mission?”

Beginning at the team level, soldiers learned formations and verbal and hand signals used to unify themselves against a crowd from 89th Military Police Brigade soldiers. Eventually the formations grew to platoon-sized shapes. Soldiers learned to chant, “Get back,” while stepping forward in unison with their left feet toward the crowd.

This sends a clear, concise message that’s not demeaning or harmful to the crowd, Ford said.

Sgt. Tyler Holt, a team leader, said the training was easy to grasp, because it built off what soldiers already do.

“I always like trying new things,” he said. “All the guys seem to enjoy the fun training. It’s also team-building.”

Last week’s round of training was prefaced with classes from the San Antonio Police Department, Shaw said.

“It may be that nothing bad ever happens,” Ford said. “They may be mad, but never had hostility toward soldiers. You may be able to walk in with your shields down and speak in a calm tone.”



http://kdhnews.com/fort_hood_herald/acr ... f6878.html


Ft. Hood Gears Up For Financial Collapse
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Soldiers receive “riot control” training

Julie Wilson
Infowars.com
Oct. 16, 2013

Soldiers at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas received training last week on how to “manage themselves in peaceful situations involving civilians,” reports KDH News.


Pre-mobilization Training Assistance Element
Soldiers whose training has always revolved around enemies in foreign combat zones, is now focused on American civilians. Troops underwent “crowd and riot control” training at Fort Hood’s Elijah urban training site last week.

The exercises, which were originally reported by Killeen’s local news and painted in a very positive light, also involved the use of “role players.” The report states the potential uses for the crowd control training ranges from “peaceful protestors to full on riots,” and also includes how to deal with natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina.

In an obvious attempt to normalize the training, and prevent the public from panicking, the paper’s report quoted military personnel as basically loving the new exercises.

“I always like trying new things,” said team leader Sgt. Tyler Holt. “All the guys seem to enjoy the fun training. It’s also team-building.”

Soldiers reportedly learned unifying formations, verbal and hand signals, and chants including “Get Back”– which is meant to be spoken while soldiers step their feet towards the crowd in an intimidating fashion.

Sgt. 1st Class Nicholas Ford, a platoon sergeant says the learned actions send a “clear, concise message that’s not demeaning or harmful to the crowd.”

His statement to the paper defending the training is to be expected, however, we know that the training is not meant to help soldiers deal with civil unrest peacefully, but in a police state-like manner meant to suppress, injure, arrest and potentially kill peaceful protestors.

Inside military sources have repeatedly confirmed the military is planning and training for civil unrest. The federalization of the police force is one of the best indicators of this.

Police departments all over the nation, even tiny rural communities, are receiving robust, intimidating military equipment designed to be used against civilians for next to nothing in costs.

The Ala. Cullman Police Department recently received a $400,000 armored MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected) surplus military vehicle for free, meant for use by the tactic unit.

“The department applied for the military surplus vehicle, much like other police departments are receiving military vehicles to be used for tactical purposes,” said the police chief.

They argue it will be used to respond to active shooter scenarios and “certain situations” that may occur in the community.

In February Infowars broke the story exposing a DHS supplier that was providing the government agency with shooting targets featuring pregnant women, mothers in playgrounds and elderly American gun owners.

Also, the DHS has been arming themselves to the teeth with over 2 billion rounds of ammunition throughout last year, which is enough to wage a 30-year war.

Last March Infowars writer Adan Salazar broke some disturbing news when he came across a Department of Defense training manual obtained by a conservative watchdog group that labeled people who embrace “individual liberties” and honor “states’ rights,” as potential “extremists.”


http://www.infowars.com/ft-hood-gears-u ... -collapse/
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Re: Is Homeland Security Preparing for Next Wall Street Coll

Postby Carol Newquist » Thu Oct 17, 2013 3:20 pm

So, I'm confused who would be rioting if Wall Street collapses, and I assume what's meant by Wall Street is the Stock Market. According to the following article, the Top 10%, let's call them the Elite or the Plutocrats, quite literally own the U.S. and that includes the Stock Market. So, if it crashes, how does that affect the impoverishing plebs who hold no stock, therefore no losses? I doubt the Plutocracy or the Elite are going to riot. The DHS may be gearing up for something, and if they're not, they'll cook something up, no doubt, because they don't want all that time, money and training to go to waste (that which you manifest is before you), but I doubt it would be because of riots by The Masses from a Stock Market crash.

http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

The top ten percent have 81% to 94% of stocks, bonds, trust funds, and business equity, and almost 80% of non-home real estate. Since financial wealth is what counts as far as the control of income-producing assets, we can say that just 10% of the people own the United States of America
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Re: Is Homeland Security Preparing for Next Wall Street Coll

Postby Wombaticus Rex » Thu Oct 17, 2013 3:36 pm

I seem to recall something similar happening in 2008, and I seem to recall the plutocrats didn't foot the bill for that one.

I expect more of the same. Riots would be about second order effects, not the current status of the S&P 500 or a VIX tidal wave.
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Re: Is Homeland Security Preparing for Next Wall Street Coll

Postby elfismiles » Wed Nov 06, 2013 5:55 pm

DHS Publicly Denies Preparation for Riots, Civil Unrest
Flip-flop: While admitting equipment and armed guards are for “civil disturbances,” federal agency claims otherwise
Paul Joseph Watson / Infowars.com / November 6, 2013
The Department of Homeland Security has denied that it is preparing for domestic unrest despite the purchase of riot gear and the hiring of armed guards which the federal agency freely admits are for “riot control situations” and “civil disturbances”.
http://www.infowars.com/dhs-publicly-de ... il-unrest/


Homeland Security Refutes Conspiracies About 1.6 Billion Rounds Of Ammo, Pepper Ball Gun And Riot Gear Purchases
By Connor Adams Sheets
on November 05 2013 11:03 AM

The Department of Homeland Security has refuted a series of conspiracy theories alleging that it is purchasing ammo and riot gear to prepare for mass domestic dissent. REUTERS
A range of conspiracy theories have arisen over the past year alleging that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is taking steps to hire a new squad of law enforcement officers and acquire an arsenal of riot gear, pepper spray-spewing guns and as many as 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition, as part of a specific plan to quash dissent, monitor public events, and infiltrate peaceful protest groups.

But the DHS denies such claims, saying it has indeed posted solicitations for security and gear contractors but only as part of normal operations or to augment existing programs, and that the conspiracies being floated by certain reporters and bloggers are baseless.

The department’s Federal Protective Service posted an Oct. 10 solicitation on the Federal Business Opportunities website seeking a company to fulfill an $75 million to $80 million contract to provide qualified people to serve about 400,000 hours as Protective Service Officers (PSOs) in upstate New York.

The agency said the newly contracted officers would be used to guard “IRS building(s) during tax season” and other federal sites, and to provide security during “public demonstration(s)” and “civil disturbances, or other unanticipated events on an as-needed basis.” PSOs have been used in the past to monitor protesters and guard federal buildings.

RelatedShare on facebook_like
Homeland Security To Create $6B Cybersecurity Hub
New Occupy Report Calls FBI, Homeland Security Tactics 'Orwellian' That language seems to suggest the department wants to maintain wide freedom to deploy such officers, which has sparked a range of fears, including that “the federal agency is preparing for food stamp riots, anti-tax demonstrations or some other form of domestic unrest,” according to an article by Paul Joseph Watson at right-wing news site InfoWars.com.

Though DHS has not publicly disclosed any specific events the PSOs are needed for, it directly addressed the rumors in an emailed statement.

“These reports are false. The referenced Federal Protective Service (FPS) acquisition request for Protective Security Officers will replace an existing contract due to expire November 2014, which provides security and screening within federal facilities throughout upstate New York,” DHS spokesman S.Y. Lee said in the statement. “This routine acquisition planning is not in response to, or anticipation of, any potential situation.”

In perhaps the best-known recent big-ticket purchase the DHS has floated, the agency stated its intention to potentially buy more than a billion of rounds of live ammunition.

Breathless bloggers posted pieces after the ammunition solicitations appeared on the Web, alleging that the need for so many bullets represents an unprecedented effort to arm domestic law enforcement agencies.

“Another possible conclusion is that the bullets are intended to coerce and, if need be, kill us,” Catholic Online opined. “This conclusion would be outrageous if taken alone. However, combined with leaked, secret Justice Department memos that authorize the killing of Americans without due process, and other unusual developments, it would seem that the government is preparing for something that we, the people, are as of yet unaware.”

Reports listed the number as being as high as 1.6 billion rounds of ammo, but Lee rejected the theories that the proposed purchase was unusual, stating that the total count is lower and actually just a ceiling, and that the agency will most likely not buy or use anywhere near that many bullets.

He and the DHS have repeatedly said that these sourcing contracts help the agency secure good prices on ammunition by buying in bulk, adding that actual ammo purchases have remained fairly steady over recent years. And a document released earlier this year by the agency shows that DHS bought between 100 million and 150 million rounds of ammunition annually between 2010 and 2012, totalling between $36 million and $48 million per year, in line with the $37.3 million it budgeted for fiscal year 2013 ammunition acquisitions. It added that the department had about 264 million rounds of ammo in its inventory as of Nov. 20, 2012, the vast majority of which it expects will be used for law enforcement training.

“One solicitation under Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) has a contract ceiling of UP TO 750 million rounds of training ammunition, a maximum quantity allowing FLETC flexibility over the next 5 years for training of over 90 federal agencies,” Lee wrote. “A separate 5-year departmentwide contract allows the purchase of UP TO 450 million rounds of duty ammunition for our law enforcement officers and agents.”

Online observers have also repeatedly questioned why the DHS needs the riot control equipment it has been accumulating in recent months.

Earlier this year, the department also solicited the purchase of full suits of riot gear requiring a number of protective pieces including the following, as compiled by Government Security News magazine based on an official DHS request for bids:

- 111 Centurion CPX2500 Soft Shell Riot Control System upper-body and shoulder protection, which must “effectively protect the torso and shoulders from blunt force trauma,” the solicitation said.

- 123 Centurion TPX200 thigh/groin protection systems “designed for blunt trauma protection during riot control situations,” said the solicitation. The gear “protects the thigh area and has an adjustable and removable groin protector.”

- 110 Hatch TS70 Centurion hard-shell shin guards, which must provide “substantial protection from flying debris. Non-ballistic weapons, and blows to the leg.”

- 189 MaxPro-Police riot helmets, which have a “high-impact molded half-shell helmet with integral visor and neck protector.”

The agency also posted a solicitation last month on the Federal Business Opportunities website seeking 100 Tac 700 pepper-ball launchers along with tens of thousands of pepper-spray-filled projectiles.

The posting set off a firestorm among some online commenters, as concerns again arose that the federal government may be arming itself to head off domestic unrest.

“Whether the DHS is preparing for riots targeting government buildings remains to be seen, but this will do little to dampen concerns that big government is arming itself to the teeth while Americans are being lectured about relinquishing their Second Amendment rights,” InfoWars wrote after the riot gear request went live.

But the agency vehemently denies such assertions as baseless fearmongering, stating that the solicitations are in line with past purchases and that they have legitimate purposes that don’t represent preparations for mass-scale disturbances.

“The reports about the Department of Homeland Security preparing for any extraordinary situation or domestic unrest are unequivocally false. DHS’ Federal Protective Service routinely purchases equipment for training purposes,” Lee wrote. “This routine acquisition contract, through U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, will provide essential training equipment for FPS federal law enforcement officers who are charged with protecting more than 9,000 federal buildings and 1.4 million federal employees and visitors who occupy them throughout the country every day.”

http://www.ibtimes.com/homeland-securit ... -riot-gear


See Also...

[quote="Re: U.S. Military Prepares for Global Unrest Amid Climate Fe
elfismiles » 13 Jul 2013 16:35
"]When I saw this thread I assumed it was about Nafeez Ahmed's recent article:

Pentagon bracing for public dissent over climate and energy shocks
Nafeez Ahmed: NSA Prism is motivated in part by fears that environmentally-linked disasters could spur anti-government activism

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/e ... -nsa-prism[/quote]
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Re: Is Homeland Security Preparing for Next Wall Street Coll

Postby elfismiles » Tue Dec 17, 2013 1:54 pm

Good-fucking-riddance!

In Focus
BAE's Army trucks sold for scrap metal? (Video)
Monday, December 16, 2013

Tags:sealy, in focus, ted oberg
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Ted Oberg

SEALY, TX (KTRK) -- After seeing expensive military trucks at a Sealy scrap yard, Eyewitness News and US Senator Ted Cruz are asking the same question: What will become of the $300 million worth of military trucks sitting outside a plant in Sealy and how many of them are destined for the scrap yard?


Related Content
more: Ted Oberg InvestigatesWe started asking questions after Tommy Quinton, an Eyewitness News viewer, saw nearly a dozen of the $300,000 trucks sitting at Torres Metal Recycling in Sealy.

They were haphazardly hidden behind a tractor trailer and hard to see from the road, but plainly visible from our SkyEye HD helicopter. As we approached, it appeared a worker was climbing atop one of the MRAPs to cut it to pieces. They stopped work while we were overhead.

Later the Pentagon confirmed the 12 trucks we saw are battle damaged and not worth repairing. A spokesman said they will be scrapped for pennies on the dollar.

"Cut up?" Tommy Quinton told us, "It makes no sense. No sense at all."

The trucks are what the military calls Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles. The trucks unique V-shaped bottom saved countless lives; the V-shape directed energy from an IED away from the troops inside.

The MRAPs were part of a $45 billion Pentagon program to rush thousands of these trucks into production as insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan attacked our forces with roadside bombs.

It is a monster, monster truck -- 18 tons of armor-plated protection America was willing to pay a hefty price for just a few years ago.

Now, the wars are winding down.

The Secretary of Defense's office tells us, the US military is getting rid of 13,000 of the 24,000 mine resistant trucks made since 2007.

The ones we saw at the scrap yard are part of the ones the Pentagon is disposing of.

The plan is to offer the others to allies or domestic law-enforcement agencies free of charge, but thousands will still likely be scrapped. The Pentagon says it is just way the way programs like this are brought to an end. It is cheaper to dispose of them than maintain thousands of unneeded trucks.

But now what happens to the more than 1,000 MRAPs still sitting at the Sealy plant?

Scott Gossett who lives next door noticed the knee-high grass growing between the tires.

"It's been 2,3, 4 months since I've seen one go out of there," Gossett said.

BAE, the company that made the trucks says they don't know nothing about them, that those trucks belong to the Army now. In other words, US taxpayers have paid for them.

It is more than $300 million worth of trucks without a certain future.

"It's a shame," Gossett told us. "A lot of people put a lot of work into those."

The military doesn't know or won't say what the plan is for those trucks. But if they can't give them away, they will be scrapped.

A vehicle that cost $300,000 to $500,000 when it was new will be sold by the pound to recyclers for roughly $3,500, one percent of its original value.

We're not the only ones asking the Army what will becomes of the Texas made trucks now parked at that soon to be shuttered Sealy plant. When we found out about it, we asked Senator Ted Cruz, who sits on the Armed Services Committee, now he wants to know too.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?secti ... id=9362783

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Re: Is Homeland Security Preparing for Next Wall Street Coll

Postby elfismiles » Mon Jun 27, 2016 1:03 pm

FEMA Contractor Predicts 'Social Unrest' Caused by 395% Food Price Spikes
Written by Nafeez Ahmed / Columnist
June 26, 2016 // 10:00 AM EST



The US national security industry is planning for the impact of an unprecedented global food crisis lasting as long as a decade, according to reports by a government contractor.

The studies published by CNA Corporation in December 2015, unreported until now, describe a detailed simulation of a protracted global food crisis from 2020 to 2030.

The simulation, titled ‘Food Chain Reaction’, was a desktop gaming exercise involving the participation of 65 officials from the US, Europe, Africa, India, Brazil, and key multilateral and intergovernmental institutions.

The scenario for the ‘Food Chain Reaction’ simulation was created by experts brought in from the State Department, the World Bank, and agribusiness giant Cargill, along with independent specialists. CNA Corp’s Institute for Public Research, which ran the simulation, primarily provides scientific research services for the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Held from November 9-10 in 2015, the “game” attempted to simulate a plausible global food crisis triggered by “food price and supply swings amidst burgeoning population growth, rapid urbanization, severe weather events, and social unrest.”

Image: Wikimedia Commons/Bill Koplitz.

By 2024, the scenario saw global food prices spike by as much as 395 percent due to prolonged crop failures in key food basket regions, driven largely by climate change, oil price spikes, and confused responses from the international community.

“Disruptions affected developed and developing countries alike, creating political and economic instability, and contributing to social unrest in certain areas,” the project’s technical report states.

The report notes that at the end of the simulation, the teams highlighted the important role of “extreme weather events” and “food insecurity” in exacerbating “instances of significant internal and external migration and social unrest.” These, in turn, greatly “contribute to conflict.”
National security

Although the scenario was not produced as a forecast, it was designed to provide a plausible framework to test the resilience of the national security system from the perspective of the US government, private industry, and civil society.

CNA Corporation is a government contractor established in 1942 to provide scientific research for the US Navy and Marine Corps. Its CEO, Dr. Katherine A. W. McGrady, is a scientific analyst to the US military’s Chief of Naval Operations and the Vice Chief of Naval Operations.

Four different organisations commissioned CNA Corp to conduct the exercise: the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Center for American Progress, giant food corporation Cargill, which controls a quarter of US grain exports, and Mars Inc., the global sweet manufacturer.

One outcome was a panel hosted on Tuesday by the Center for American Progress on ‘The National Security implications of Climate Change and Food Security’, featuring Nancy Stetson, the US State Department’s Special Representative for Global Food Security.
From crop failure to system failure

The game begins in 2020 with a reasonably healthy global economy and oil prices that have now rebounded to $75 a barrel. Food prices climb steadily due to “weather-related disruptions to agricultural production,” affecting South and Southeast Asia, Australia, and North America. Global crop production falls 1 percent short of expectations leading to decreases in stock and further modest price increases.

Part of that optimistic scenario involves fortuitously massive Band Aid-style worldwide donations to the UN’s World Food Programme

Things get really rough after 2023 due to serious droughts and heatwaves in China, India, Russia, and Ukraine, coinciding with oil prices that rapidly increase to above $100 a barrel.

By 2024, heat and drought hit the European Union, Russia, and Ukraine, while subsiding elsewhere, triggering a food price spike “reaching 395 percent of long-term averages,” and a global economic slowdown.

By 2027, these conditions begin to calm only because an economic slump has diminished demand, while high prices stimulate food production. A respite from weather-related disruptions allows food stocks to be re-built, and prices then come down gradually.

The game closes with an optimistic scenario of food prices dropping from 395 to 141 percent of long-term averages and a recovering global economy.

Image: Flickr/Alex Morse.

Part of that optimistic scenario involves fortuitously massive Band Aid-style worldwide donations to the UN’s World Food Programme, which thankfully “leave the world well prepared to handle the catastrophe in areas humanitarian groups can reach.”

Stranger things have certainly happened. This is not, though, the kind of thing one expects a crack team of handpicked food crisis planners to be hinging their hopes on.

On the other hand, some simulations that have explored business-as-usual scenarios for a global food crisis—such as a complex model created by Anglia Ruskin University’s Global Sustainability Institute with funding from the British Foreign Office—forecast that current trends could result in a wholesale collapse of industrial civilization.

The role of Cargill and Mars Inc. in sponsoring the exercise could explain why the project failed to address the deep-seated problems of the prevailing industrial food system. Let’s just hope that CNA Corporation’s main backer—the US government—doesn’t simply wait for a climate-driven food crisis to kick in. That would leave FEMA little choice but to invoke draconian emergency measures to maintain national order amidst hunger and anger.

Topics: Earth, food, food crisis, FEMA, food shortages, cna, simulation, National Security


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Re: Is Homeland Security Preparing for Next Wall Street Coll

Postby NeonLX » Mon Jun 27, 2016 2:58 pm

Sweet! I think I'll retire while I can still enjoy life.
America is a fucked society because there is no room for essential human dignity. Its all about what you have, not who you are.--Joe Hillshoist
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Re: Is Homeland Security Preparing for Next Wall Street Coll

Postby Wombaticus Rex » Mon Jun 27, 2016 3:33 pm

NeonLX » Mon Jun 27, 2016 1:58 pm wrote:Sweet! I think I'll retire while I can still enjoy life.


Old (2013) story getting brought up for completeness & Failed Prophecy LULZ.

Anyone remember when Jade Helm white genocide'd the entire population of the southwest and gave the territory back to the Mexican Communists? Because I sure do! #NeverForget
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Re: Is Homeland Security Preparing for Next Wall Street Coll

Postby NeonLX » Mon Jun 27, 2016 4:20 pm

I'm always getting tripped by somebody on my way back to my desk.
America is a fucked society because there is no room for essential human dignity. Its all about what you have, not who you are.--Joe Hillshoist
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