Street Lights: new tool for spying on Americans

We're excited about a new system that renders street lights capable of spying on the American people and transmitting our messages to them.

Britain's Daily Mail newspaper reports:

Like something out of a sinister Orwellian vision of the future, streetlights with the ability to monitor conversations and announce government warnings are being installed on American streets.

As part of a federally-funded project, manufacturers Illuminating Concepts have begun installing the system, dubbed 'Intellistreets' in the town of Farmington Hills, Michigan.

According to the company’s video presentation the capabilities of the devices include homeland security, public safety, traffic control, advertising and video surveillance features.

Fears the lampposts are a step towards the creation of a police state were further fueled when the firm removed a promotional video from You Tube, rumoured to be a result of negative publicity about the 'Homeland Security' features.

Each street light contains a speaker system to broadcast emergency alerts, and a video display and is also equipped with proximity sensors capable of recording both pedestrian and road traffic.

The speakers and sensors mean they can be programmed to blare out advertisements as people walk past. 

When asked about the system, SecFear Malcolm P. Stag III commented, "When it comes to urban surveillance, redundancy is important.   Drones provide one level of protection, intelligent streetlamps another."

Following is the Intellistreets promotional video.  It explains powerful "homeland security" applications of the new device:

H/t Infowars here and here.

Rules of Engagement for Oakland same as for Iraq

Revised Friday Oct. 28, 2011

On Tuesday October 25th we used tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash grenades to crush the "Occupy Oakland" demonstration against our friends and benefactors on Wall Street.  At least 85 people were arrested.  One protester, Scott Olsen, an Iraq war vet who served two tours, is in critical condition.

One particular incident Tuesday evening showcased the extent to which we now apply the lose and flexible rules that characterized our recent military engagement in Iraq to the streets of American cities.

In April 2010 WikiLeaks (the group led by high-tech terrorist Julian Assange) released a leaked Pentagon file -- the so-called "Collateral Murder" video.  The video depicts the kind of behavior that Pentagon inquiries have deemed to fall within the bounds of our Rules of Engagement for Iraq.  For example, the video shows a badly wounded man bleeding on a Baghdad street.  A mini-van pulls up and some people get out to help the wounded fellow.  Fortunately, one of our helicopter gunships is in a position to uphold our Rules of Engagement and it fires upon the rescuers.

Here's the video.  It's set to begin playing from the spot where our military's attack on the helpers unfolds (9min 12sec):

In the next video, shot in the midst of our violent attack on protesters Tuesday, an Oakland police officer throws a flash grenade at a group of people trying to carry away a badly injured protester.





The Oakland police officer who tossed the flash grenade was undoubtedly familiar with our Rules of Engagement for Iraq.  We applaud the decision of this officer to uphold these rules on American soil.

If we are to exterminate the unruly spirit of altruism and dissent that plagues the streets of Oakland, New York and all the other occupied towns and cities across this great land of liberty, we must treat our own citizens no better than we have treated the inhabitants of the countries we have occupied.  We must train police to behave as if the bottom 99% of society consists of two kinds of American: the terrorist and the potential terrorist.  

Needless to say, we're counting on our news media to cover the attack on the good Samaritans in Oakland the same way CNN covered the attack on the rescue van in the WikiLeaks video.    

Employment prospects for OWS sympathizers

Updated

Politico reports that our efforts to discredit Occupy Wall Street (OWS) have begun to pay off:

Conservatives looking to delegitimize the Occupy Wall Street protests have a new tactic — targeting journalists...

So far, both the Times and NPR have had to distance themselves from freelancers accused of getting too close to the protests, while MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan has come under scrutiny for leaked emails purportedly showing that he had helped the protesters shape their message.

The U.S. Dept. of Fear salutes NPR and the New York Times for caving to agents of our smear-machine, not hesitating to ferret out OWS sympathizers.   Both NPR and the NYT have issued statements suggesting that any targeted journalists will never work for these institutions again.  

On behalf of big business, TimeWarner CEO Jack L. Warner has issued a statement concerning the employment prospects of any persons suspected of being sympathetic to the Occupy Wall Street movement:

Is the message of TimeWarner CEO Jack Warner getting through?

Perhaps.  It was good to see CNN correspondent and anchor Erin Burnett ridicule OWS supporters in a recent report.  TimeWarner is, of course, the parent company of CNN.

Update: Oct 29, 2011 
Since we posted the above article, another journalist has been fired for associating with the #OWS movement!

"The Takeaway's general manager fired me over the phone, effective immediately," writes Caitlin E Curran (@cecurran), a Brooklyn based journalist who happened to be photographed holding a sign by a news photographer.    The Takeaway is a morning news program co-produced by WNYC Radio and Public Radio International.   

Police pepper spray haka dancers

In early June we reported on the arrest of dancers at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C. (See "SWAT team protects Jefferson Memorial from Dancers")

The latest victory in our War on Dance occurred last week after Utah police witnessed a group of Polynesians perform an unauthorized dance at a high school football game.

Proving they were in control of the situation, police pepper sprayed the dancers. One by one the dancers fell to the ground.

NZ Herald reports:

Spectators, coaches and players told police that everything was fine and they should let the men perform, Jessica Rasmussen said, but officers asked them to make room and started using pepper spray.

Rasmussen said she and other bystanders also got spray in their eyes, ears and mouths.  Union fan Jason Kelly said the way police reacted was an embarrassment to the community of Roosevelt.

"I've never seen anything like it," Kelly said. "It was totally unprovoked."

When asked about the incident, our own Dr. Rebecca Wolf, Undersecretary for Information, said the police action against the dancers was consistent with  U.S. Dept. of Fear guidelines.

Dr. Wolf said, "As you can see from the video, confronted with the spectacle of an Unauthorized Dance Situation, police action was heroic.  We believe police on the scene may have received special training from Homeland Security."
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Video and story h/t mlake9 on Twitter.

11-9-11 is Emergency Alert System Day

Monika, a Security Specialist (SS) at the Department of Infrastructure Protection (DIP) of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), warns us that the Emergency Alert System (EAS) Day is approaching:

...the first national-level test of the Emergency Alert System that will take place on November 9 at 2 p.m. eastern. With the test now less than a month away, I wanted to put out a friendly reminder about what it means for you.

What will people hear and see during the test?

On November 9, the public will hear a message indicating that “This is a test.” The audio message will be the same for both radio and television. However, the image on the screen and the text/crawl at the top of television screen may not be the same for all viewers. When the Emergency Alert System test is over, regular programming will resume.

How long will the test last?

We anticipate that the test will last approximately 3 minutes. While most messages, such as tsunami or hurricane warnings, are limited to two minutes by the emergency alert system, the Presidential message capability (which will be used in the national test) does not have a time limit. So to evaluate if the system properly interprets the Presidential message code in this test, the message duration must be longer than two minutes in length.

At this point, it's not clear whether the president will choose to address the nation during the test, or whether he will wait for an actual emergency to frighten us.

Because the president's message can be of indefinite duration, it would good idea to cancel any future appointments as soon as you hear the EAS warning sirens.

If it's an actual EAS, there's a good chance you won't make it to your appointment anyway.
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Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau posts a list of companies that profit from the new EAS system.  Investors should be sure to consult this page.

"Mountain of Despair" Dedication Ceremony

If our corporate partners are to accumulate ever greater wealth, the people must be taught what to fear.  Americans must learn to live in the shadow of the Mountain of Despair.

-Malcolm P. Stag III, Secretary of Fear

The Mountain of Despair of the United States of America.

President Obama spoke at the dedication ceremony of the Mountain of Despair in the nation's capital Sunday.  The president addressed the nation from a podium at the foot of the mountain.  On account of the imminent risk of another terrorist attack, US citizens and other potential terrorists were seated far away from the president. 

President Obama spoke from the foot of the Mountain of Despair.

The Mountain of Despair is massive.  Its size and height dwarfs the Martin Luther King Stone of Hope. 

Mountain of Despair (left) is larger than the Hope Stone (right).

The Mountain of Despair erupted in the 1950s, leaving behind the so-called Stone of Hope or Hope Stone.  The Hope Stone was discovered by the Rev. Martin Luther King in Montgomery, Alabama.

Mountain of Despair erupted in the 1960s leaving behind a stone.

The Hope Stone isn't to be confused with the Hope Diamond.  The Hope Diamond is on display across the mall in the Museum of Natural History.  

Crowds gather around the Mountain of Despair.

A crowd at the base of the Mountain of Despair

These citizens traveled halfway across the country to have their pictures taken in front of the Mountain of Despair.

People lined up for photographs.

Police harassed two artists after they were caught painting the Stone of Hope.

Police harassing artists in the vicinity of the Mountain of Despair.

A few people have been reported for complaining that Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" line is not engraved into the stone tablets surrounding the Mountain of Despair.  Monument planners had looked into the possibility of including the quote.  However, the U.S. Department of Fear vetoed the idea, viewing it as an incitement to Thought Crime.

Through the Department's ongoing surveillance of the American People -- our colleagues at the NSA read millions of emails a day -- we have identified a number of U.S. citizens who dream of chipping away at the Mountain of Despair.    We like to say that these troublemakers are afflicted by the "Curse of the Hope Stone" (which is not to be confused with the Curse of the Hope Diamond).

Proles dream of ways to chip away at it.

To prevent citizens from chipping away at the Mountain of Despair, "Prohibited Items" on the grounds include various hard metal objects such as scissors, screw drivers, poles, and Leatherman brand tools.

 i

Prohibited items help keep mountain safe.

The outsourcing of American jobs to China has made our corporate partners very wealthy.  Only goods shipped in boxes labeled "Made in China" were allowed onto the grounds of the Mountain of Despair in advance of the dedication ceremony.

Only "Made in China" items allowed into grounds for the ceremony

If our corporate partners are to accumulate ever greater wealth, the people must be taught what to fear.  Americans must learn to live in the shadow of the Mountain of Despair.   

American child faces the Mountain of Despair.

OWS increasing terrorism risk to financial district

"What marijuana is to crack cocaine, social activism is to terrorism."  - SecFear  

When corporations or their politicians are confronted with social activism, we believe they need to focus on the geography of the protest site and talk about its national security implications.

There are various ways to link fear of terrorism to the geography of civil society campaigns.  BP adopted one approach during the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico when CEO Tony Hayward tightened security on the beaches and his guards questioned and obstructed potential terrorists (see "Terrorists monitoring BP oil spill response?").  

With regard to the Occupy Wall Street problem, Brookfield Global Real Estate is trying another approach.  Occupy Wall Street protesters are camped in Zuccotti Park which is owned by Brookfield.  Dick Clark, CEO of Brookfield, doesn't get paid a salary of $5 million a year for doing nothing.  When he asked the city of New York to evict the protesters from his park, the CEO knew to closely follow U.S. Department of Fear guidelines.  

We've quoted from Dick's letter which comes to us via Public Intelligence (our emphasis):

Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly
New York City Police Department
One Police Plaza
Room 1400
New York, New York 10038
Facsimile: (646) 610-5865

Dear Commissioner Kelly:

As you know, for over three weeks, Zuccotti Park (the “Park”) has been used by “Occupy Wall Street” and other protesters as their home base....

We are also concerned with the constant deliveries of materials to the Park. Delivery vehicles have now been appearing on a daily basis with packages of all shapes and sizes for the Park’s occupants. None of these deliveries are being screened by our security team or the police for suspicious or harmful materials. The Park’s location in the financial district makes this activity particularly concerning.

... In light of this and the ongoing trespassing of the protesters, we are again requesting the assistance of the New York City Police Department to help clear the Park so that we can undertake this work at the earliest possible time ...

I appreciate your time and consideration in addressing this important and pressing matter. Please call me at (212) 417-7063 with any questions or if you wish to discuss our request further.

Richard B. Clark
Chief Executive Officer

ric.clark@brookfield.com

Brookfield Office Properties
Brookfield Glooal Real Estate
Three World Financial Center
New York, NY 10281-1021

T 212.417.7063
F 212.417.7272

As you can see, Dick writes state of the art eviction letters.  The Brookfield CEO wants packages entering the park "screened by our security team or the police for suspicious or harmful materials."  We believe police or private security guards have the right to search protesters' property at will.  American citizens should not be allowed to exercise their First Amendment rights without ceding their Fourth Amendment rights.  

Dick's comment that "The Park’s location in the financial district makes this activity particularly concerning" brings to mind everyone's worst nightmare.  We think it goes without saying that if persons and property entering the park are not subjected to screening, some kind of doomsday device could be smuggled into the park under the cover of the protest.

These are dangerous times.  The American People need to be reminded from time to time that social activism opens the door to terrorism.   

CNN, once a headache, is now only a nuisance to us

In 1984 CNN founder Ted Turner decided to start an overseas network for a global audience. He called it CNN International (or CNNI).

Ten years later, Ted Turner decided to upgrade CNN International so it could compete with the BBC Wold Service. Turner intended to build a major new newsroom and studio complex. Turner said US content would not suffice for the new CNN International. Overseas audiences, Turner explained, were turned off by the vapidity of the US programming schedule. For example, foreigners were demanding thoughtful interviews with people other than celebrities. The wider world, he said, wanted real news.

Although the U.S. Department of Fear was apprehensive, we didn't object. After all, the audience would be foreigners. However, we stipulated that original thought-provoking CNN International content must not be broadcast to American audiences.

It's probably worth mentioning that, by this time, we had Ted Turner under 24 hour surveillance. Over time, Turner had begun to talk more like a social activist than a capitalist. By the late '90s, Turner was scaring the hell out of us. Of course we eventually came up with the scheme that would deliver CNN to Time Warner. We would wrestle control of the world's most important news network away from the grasp of that peace-loving social activist.

Today, CNN's US network isn't FoxNews, but the Department of Fear considers it pretty harmless. As of 2011, CNN International is available in over 200 countries, but not the United States --of course, we don't give most Americans the option to watch Al-Jazeera or BBC World either.

Now and again CNN does something really stupid. Today we were appalled to discover that a link to an interview made for CNN International -- intended only for CNN's overseas audience -- was posted on CNN's American website. We asked CNN to remove the link. CNN has since complied.

We thought we would post a copy of the interview. For one thing, the interview illustrates the appalling diversity of opinion that CNN International indulges. 

News of foiled Iranian terror plot scaring Americans

SecFear to Occupy Wall Street: We'll burn your tents

"Occupy DC" encampment in Freedom Plaza.

During a press conference at DoF Center on Tuesday afternoon, Secretary of Fear Malcolm P. Stag III spoke about the Occupy Wall Street protests.

"Occupy Wall Street encampments have cropped up in towns and cities across the country.  More than an eyesore, they broadcast a message of disunity at a time when Americans should be coming together in preparation for war with Iran or Pakistan," said the Secretary in his prepared statement.

After noting that "we're not talking about a legitimate popular movement like the Tea Party," a Fox News reporter asked how much longer the U.S. Department of Fear planned to tolerate the Occupy encampments.

SecFear replied, "President Herbert Hoover taught us several important things -- not just about the need to cut spending when the economy stalls.   In 1932 Hoover sent in the army to burn down a tent city in Washington D.C..  Hoover showed us the way to deal with tent protests is to set them on fire."

The Secretary of Fear, holding a remote control, pushed a button and a giant multimedia screen descended from the ceiling of the DoF Center auditorium.  SecFear said, "This documentary ought to give you an idea what we have in mind for Occupy Wall Street."




A reporter for MSNBC asked SecFear whether, under the terms of the Posse Comitatus Act, it would be legal for the U.S. Dept. of Fear to send in the U.S. Army.

SecFear replied: "It's probably a job for Northcom. Under the terms of that arrangement we have twenty thousand Canadians at our disposal. Governor Harper [Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada] pretty much does whatever I tell him to do. Of course, if all else fails, we have drones."

At the close of the press conference, SecFear affirmed that he had confidence that President Obama would do the right thing.

"First, in the interest of bipartisanship, the President has substantially embraced Herbert Hoover's economic prescription. Second, I believe this President, having received the most campaign contributions from Wall Street of any politician in history, will naturally feel inclined to follow Hoover's example with respect to the present generation of malcontents."

Recommended reading: Protest Safety Handbook

Journalist William Rivers Pitt shares a document that is likely to prove a life-saver for the frightened citizen who inadvertently enters the vicinity of an "Occupy Wall Street" protest.  Pitt writes:

The document, titled "Protest Safety Handbook," explains what a bank employee should do when confronted with the horror and terror of an OWS protest.... Some tidbits (Emphasis added): 

The movement in New York has begun to publish a four page news paper titled "The Occupied Wall Street Journal." The current edition of the published document loosely outlines the group's manifesto and intentions. The group has indicated that they have been inspired by the results from similar groups involved in the "Arab Spring" in the Middle East. The group's publication cites an intention to first to protest and then to march, escalating to civil disobedience when necessary.

These types of groups are reaching out to the disengaged and disenfranchised population of the United States for members, often encouraging the unemployed and homeless to join the movement. Often these marches and protests are unplanned and result from instant notification on "Social Networks" that produce "Flash Protest Mobs" in a matter of minutes. While this group has not yet resorted to violence the possibility exists that they can.

Safety Tips:

• Avoid poorly lit areas and isolated locations that may make you vulnerable to an attack. 

• Keep the cars doors locked while driving in the area of a mob or protest march.Project an image of confidence and strength. 

• Walk with a purpose and avoid hesitation, keep your head up, shoulders back and make eye contact with people you pass. 

• Avoid confrontation and unnecessary contact with protesters.Avoid walking or driving alone. 

• There is safety in numbers.Carry purses close to the body.Wallets and cash are best kept in a front pocket. 

• Avoid wearing Bank ID or logo items outside the bank if possible.

• Keep your cell phone charged and close at hand. 

• Have emergency contact information pre-programmed into your phone. 

• Have your keys out and ready before you need them. 

• If you feel that you're in danger or if you observe suspicious or illegal activities, call the police or dial 911.

• If confronted or attacked, try to remain calm and cooperate by following the attacker's instructions. 

• Do not attempt to reason or argue with the protesters.  Cooperate and do not risk your personal safety. 

• Be a good witness and try to remember as many details of what occurred as you can. 

Makes it sound like you're walking through a war zone, right? Not a peaceful protest, but some actively dangerous Thunderdome where instant and horrible death might reach out at any time to cut you down.